Performance, art & music merge in dynamic venue

East London based independent electronic music label Erased Tapes has joined forces with Wakefield’s Neon Workshops to host its first ever Northern showcase.

Electronic music stars including Hatis Noit, Peter Broderick and Rival Consoles will will perform in Neon Workshops’ new project space, 7A Wakefield, for the one-off event. Erased Tapes Northern Showcase takes place between 5pm and 9pm on Saturday, September 15.

Brought together by Wakefield born artist and Neon Workshops founder, Richard Wheater, to shine a light on the creative pulse emanating from Wakefield the showcase will see responses to the live music in the form of large animated neon displays, wearable paper sculpture and aerial performances by several of the regions finest talent.

Leeds-based circus collective Urban Angels Circus will respond to Peter Broderick’s set with a different performance for each song using trapezes, silks and stilts, choreographed by Richard Wheater.

Performers will be wearing striking paper trees, each with lit neon leaves, handcrafted by Wakefield-based artist Andy Singleton (see picture), whose work celebrates both natural and manmade worlds through intricate paper cuttings and paper sculpture. The green colour theme and leaves are significant to Wakefield, as the district tree cover is less than four per cent - substantially lower than the national average.

Since it was founded in 2010 by Richard Wheater, Neon Workshops has become the UK’s leading neon sculpture teaching workshop and fabrication studio, making Wakefield the go-to place for artists from all over the world. Wheater has opened its ‘sister ship’ project space ‘7A Wakefield’, in order to take on larger projects.

“The Erased Tapes Northern Showcase perfectly encompasses what this space is all about; it’s an event attempting something progressive, with serious collaborating talent. We’re going to deck the space out with a stunning neon display and new wearable paper sculpture by Andy Singleton, as well as utilising the warehouse height with aerial performers, so it’s certainly one for the eyes as well as the ears. We hope to see loads of people enjoying this rare space and the sounds,” he says.

Tickets are £17.50 and can be purchased at www.residentadvisor.net/events/1124408.