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LeftLion's Latest Listens #50: Notts music we're currently spinning

We have reached the 50th edition of LeftLion's Latest Listens! Thanks to all our writers who have contributed since our first edition in 2024, and a very big thank you to all the Notts artists who have made our lives better with their music. In this edition, our music team reviews new releases from Di$mal, Wayne Banks, Rainbow Frog Biscuits, Laura Williams and ronnietoldus...

Theatre Review: Dyke Systems Ltd by Fag Packet at the Nottingham Playhouse

This award-winning theatre double act come to Nottingham with a comedy show that is part queer fever dream and part corporate seminar, and much more...  

The Thompsons on wrestling at Victoria Lesiure Centre, local restaurants, and poetry

Our latest chat with Nottingham's most opinionated grocers.... 

Out of Time: How Sneinton's Victoria Lesiure Centre once hosted wrestling matches

Wrestling matches at what’s now the Victoria Leisure Centre on Gedling Street happened recently enough to be a childhood memory for some, but for others, it’s an almost forgotten occurrence. Here’s the colourful and chaotic history… 

The Thompsons talk Victoria Centre Market, Light Night and Andy Warhol

Nottingham's most opinionated greengrocers give us their take on Victoria Centre Market, Light Night and Andy Warhol

Market value: the past and present of Victoria Centre Market

Over the last few years, a part of Nottingham’s history has slowly started to vanish, with traders at the Victoria Centre Market being asked to end their hundred year leases partway through. A space that once hosted hundreds of local traders is now home to just a few- who find themselves in a state of limbo. Matteo D’Alesio visits to hear some of their concerns, while taking a step back in time to highlight what made the market special in the first place. 

Our picks from the 2025 event calendar of the Malt Cross: Nottingham's preserved Victorian music hall

There are few locales near Old Market Square quite like the Malt Cross. As a nearly perfectly preserved Victorian music hall, the building toes the line between its status as a treasure trove of architectural history, and an epicentre of some of the city's most enjoyably 'out-there' occasions. Below, we've provided a rundown of what they have coming up this year...

Review: An Audience with Sir Paul Smith at Nottingham Playhouse

The Beeston-born fashion guru took time out from his busy schedule to support Nottingham Playhouse with an evening of conversation...

We met local Reggae and Dub royalty Quantro Tone Sound System

One of Notts first sound systems and originally called Iron City, Quantro Tone Sound System started as a hobby for nine bored young friends. They went on to support some iconic names in Reggae and Dub, from Don Sinclair to The Mighty Diamonds, and perform in cities across the country. On the day of their fifty year anniversary celebration at St Ann’s, we heard more from them about that golden era and how they’ve maintained their strong friendships over the decades. 

The original members were Lenny, Robert, Kenneth, Leslie, Colin, Winston, and Eric as Iron City. Later, they were Quantro with Keith and Johnny. The 'box men' and bouncers were Desmond, Brown, Austin, Fisherman and Devon with Mr Brown and Trevor Mitchell acting as the trusty van drivers.

We revisit The Dungeon Club, home for Nottingham mods during the 1960s

While many nightclubs have transformed over the decades, it’s rare to find one that has inspired long-standing reunion groups over the years. The Dungeon Club on Stanford Street is one such club that welcomed a generation of Nottingham mods. This year, ‘Nottingham’s own Cavern Club,’ will celebrate sixty years since it first opened on July 10 1964. We delve into its history and speak to some of the regulars…

Ebenezer Cobham Brewer: The Victorian writer from Notts who created his own dictionary

For more than 150 years, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable has been a prized possession for imaginative authors. In a house near Sherwood Forest, we remember the man who first wrote it…

We Chat to Holly Williams About Her Highly Anticipated New Novel

A seasoned freelance journalist, Holly Williams has embarked upon another career as a novelist. As NTU WRAP's featured author for this spring she was in town at the new Central Library, so we thought we'd catch up with her... 

Victoria Villasenor Tells Us All About Her Latest Novel ‘Medea: Priestess, Princess, Witch'

Relocating from Los Angeles to the UK back in 2007, Victoria Villasenor started Global Wordsmiths in Nottingham over a decade ago, and has since published books under various pseudonyms including Brey Willows and Ally McGuire. She made the time to chat to us all about her thirteenth book Medea: Priestess, Princess, Witch, which has been released under the name JJ Taylor, writing LGBTQ+ fiction, and her advice to emerging queer authors…

Biscuit & Brew Are Moving to Victoria Street - Support Their Crowdfunder

Biscuit & Brew are moving to Victoria Street, and they need a bit of help to finish their new tea house and lounge...

Mimm’s Nathaniel Coltrane Tells Us All About Their Latest Project ‘Our Yard’, a Detailed Look Into Soundsystem Culture

For the past thirteen years Nathaniel Coltrane has run Mimm (Music is my Motive) from the heart of Nottingham. Starting as a clothing shop, it has evolved into a community hub for the vast amount of creatives residing in the city. We spoke to Nate about his new project Our Yard: a detailed look into the history of sound system culture.

We Chat to Honey Williams About Being a Black Woman in the World of Art

Working as an artist, graphic designer, DJ and musical performer, it seems Honey Williams’ creativity holds no bounds, but the glamour of being a full-time artist comes with its ups and downs. Especially when your work centres on race, size and gender. We dropped in to see Honey at City Arts where she has a studio, to discuss art, creativity and being a Black woman in the art world.

Victoria Centre’s Emett Clock Turns 50 This Year

Between the Market Square lions, Anish Kapoor’s Sky Mirror at Nottingham Playhouse and Les Johnson’s Brian Clough statue, Nottingham has its fair share of iconic public art pieces, but none perhaps more fantastical than Victoria Centre’s Emett Clock, which turns fifty this year.

Left Magpie: September 2023

A run-down of another month of goals and wins at Meadow Lane...

We Chat To Kultur Shock Ahead Of Their Show At The Bodega

Kultur Shock's bass player Guy M. Davis tells LeftLion a bit more about what to expect from the band’s show at The Bodega tonight…

Mimm Studios' Amy Williams Chats Representation in the Creative Industry and Her Upcoming Event

We sit down with Amy Williams ahead of her event exploring the black experience in the fashion industry, coming to Mimm Studios this weekend...

Hockley Hustle are Hosting a Free Silent Disco in Victoria Centre This Saturday

A silent disco in the middle of Victoria Centre? What could this all possibly be in aid of? The return of Hockley Hustle, of course...

We Hear All About Collected Poems: Volume Two, the Brand New Book From Notts Legend Henry Normal

From co-creating the British TV classic The Royle Family to setting up Baby Cow Productions with Steve Coogan, Henry Normal has had an industrious career in the arts. But since retiring, the 65-year-old has turned his hand back to his first love, poetry, and is celebrating his second volume of Collected Poems, published last month by Flapjack Press…

Nottingham Artist Victoria Hayward Discusses Pysanky, the Traditional Egg-Decorating Technique She's Using to Raise Money for Ukraine

Victoria Hayward explains how she is using her artist residency at City Arts to decorate 100 eggs using a traditional Ukrainian batik dye technique, raising money for the Ukraine DEC appeal in the process

A Rich History in Danger: Photographer Nathan Langman Muses on the Iconic Victoria Centre Market.

For the last few months, Notts photographer Nathan Langman has been taking pictures at Victoria Centre’s iconic market - capturing the nostalgic simplicity of a long-running collective tradition. But faced with soaring rent and utility bills, many of these pillars of the community are at risk of collapse, and there is now a fear that this cherished city spot could be lost to history…