Risk A Verse | Heaven & Hell

Welcome to the eleventh (in-person) instalment of Risk A Verse, the night which brings feelgood communal tunery to the fine folk of Leeds!

The concept is this: you sign up for a slot in advance to play and/or sing a song of your choice on the theme, then on the night you sing the verses and everyone else joins in on the chorus.

This time, we're inviting you to sing like an angel or rock like the devil, with an evening of sweet yet sinful singalonging on the theme of HEAVEN & HELL.

If you'd just like to come down and listen to the performances, that's fine - we'd love to meet you!

All the guests and performers at Risk A Verse are really lovely, friendly people - we operate a completely judgement free, supportive environment for people to feel comfortable singing their hearts out.

Over the last 4 years of running Risk A Verse, we've seen some of the shyest people performing for the first time, and getting the warmest welcome.

It's a completely free event, though we might ask for a couple of quid donation to the hire of the room... which is totally optional.

If you'd like to perform on the night, here's what you need to do:

1) Sign up for a slot by sending a message to the event, stating the song you'd like to perform, before SATURDAY 21 MAY. Ideally your song must be well-known enough for people to join in on the chorus!

Hopefully we'll have time to accommodate everyone who wants to perform, but if we're overwhelmed with requests and have to 'close' the list before 21 May we'll let you know via this event page.

2) Performers will then have a month to learn their chosen song! Please note YOU MUST PROVIDE US WITH THE LYRICS (which we'll project onto the wall on the night) and let us know whether you can play it yourself - if not, we'll do our best to find someone to accompany you.

If playing the song yourself, you must bring your own instrument. There is an in-house PA and sound engineer. Percussion (played by you or a friend) is optional, though we don't want to faff around with any drum kits.

If you are concerned about sharing a mic and can bring your own, you are welcome to use it.

3) We also have the option of screening video performances on the night, e.g. for anyone who signs up and learns their song, but is then unable to make it on the night due to Covid or some other nasty beast. Please give us a shout if this is the case! We'll also ask you to add subtitles to your video for singalong purposes.

Unfortunately, the event space at the Fox and Newt is not fully accessible - it's a very old pub with quite narrow staircases, and the space is upstairs.

If you'd like to discuss options for us assisting you into the space, please contact us and we'll definitely help as much as we possibly can.

Risk A Verse is jointly organised by Dan Akers of Not A Thing. and Nicky Bray of Nicky Bray's Musical Menagerie - who have both been running community focused events in West Yorkshire for a couple of decades now. :)

Host or Publisher Not A Thing.