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Golden era: catching up with electronic-rock duo ALT BLK ERA before their Rescue Rooms show

In 2022, sister duo and Notts natives Nyrobi and Chaya Becket-Messam emerged onto the local music scene as electronic-rock act ALT BLK ERA. Since then, they’ve gone from strength to strength, from winning a MOBO award in 2025 to touring late last year with drum and bass band Pendulum. It’s been a while since we’ve caught up with Nyrobi and Chaya, so they set aside time to walk us through their crazy journey to this point.

Fine Fat Funk: Fat Digester talk thirty years of making music ahead of Beat the Streets

Not many Nottingham-based bands and acts can boast a thirty-year longevity, but Fat Digester certainly can. The eclectic, cool and funky collective have been making audiences move and groove in awe since the 90s, and have no intention of stopping or slowing anytime soon. We had a chat with frontman Paul 'Ned' Needham all about the band’s approaches, stage shows and very exciting future plans!

Night Creatures Podcast #4: Nate Coltrane from Mimm on 14 years of parties, Nottingham Street Food Club and Our Yard

Night Creatures is a LeftLion podcast, shining a light on the promoters of Nottingham. Your host and interviewer is Beane, co-founder of Nottingham’s beloved Soul Buggin’ night and he brings with him over twenty years of experience of putting on great parties in the city.

A Cup of Jim: 35 years of Lee & Fletcher coffee

After 35 years of roasting and supplying coffee to some of Nottingham’s best-loved independent businesses, there’s not much Jim Lee, owner of Lee & Fletcher, doesn’t know about a cup of joe. Lucy Campion finds out more about Jim’s journey in the world of java.

Night Creatures Podcast #3: Killer Jim from Out To Lunch on 25 years of Northern soul, jazz funk and jazz dance events in Nottingham

Night Creatures is a new LeftLion podcast, shining a light on the promoters of Nottingham. Your host and interviewer is Beane, co-founder of Nottingham’s beloved Soul Buggin’ night and he brings with him over twenty years of experience of putting on great parties in the city.

Nottingham celebrates ten years as a UNESCO City of Literature with a spectacular gala on 1 December

In 2025, Nottingham turns the page on a remarkable chapter; ten years as a UNESCO City of Literature and the charity is throwing a party worthy of Nottingham’s words!

Night Creatures Podcast #2: Laurence and Steve from Smokescreen Soundsystem on thirty years of club nights, free parties, police, gangsters and more

Night Creatures is a new LeftLion podcast, shining a light on the promoters of Nottingham. Your host and interviewer is Beane, co-founder of Nottingham’s beloved Soul Buggin’ night and he brings with him over twenty years of experience of putting on great parties in the city...

Gig review: Ellur at The Bodega, with Fright Years and Cara Flynn

In the middle of a breathless and busy UK tour, Yorkshire-based indie-pop purveyor Ellur stopped off at The Bodega, bringing happiness and a uniquely collective experience. With Fright Years as main support, the night also gave local songwriter Cara Flynn the chance to shine...

Celebrating 160 years of the Theatre Royal

We look back on 160 years of Nottingham’s Theatre Royal and some of the famous productions and people it has brought to the city…

By youth, for youth: Nottingham celebrates 25 years of International Youth Day

This year marked the 25th anniversary of International Youth Day; we headed down to the pop-up shop organised by Nottingham City of Literature’s Youth Board to join in with the celebrations...

We Chat To Wellington Films About Their 25th Anniversary

For 25 years, Wellington Films has been producing films in Nottingham’s Broadway Cinema. I caught up with Al Clark to hear what producing ten feature films and over forty short films has been like...

We built this city: celebrating twenty years of I'm Not From London with head promoter Will Robinson

Man about town, creature of the night, gig aficionado, and master of mayhem Will Robinson has been keeping Nottingham’s music scene alive and kicking for twenty years with promotion company I’m Not From London. As the fifteenth Waterfront Festival draws close on Saturday 2 August at the Canalhouse, anniversary celebrations in the works and a great roster of gigs coming up, we caught up with Will to hear some highlights from two decades of gigs.

Review: 28 Years Later

We review the sequel to Danny Boyle's classic, 28 Weeks Later. We ask ourselves, 'What if zombies, but pretentious..?'

Connecting the Dots: Celebrating 20 years of Dot2Dot Festival

From intimate beginnings to sprawling across iconic venues in Nottingham and Bristol, Dot to Dot has become a cornerstone of the UK’s festival calendar. Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2025, the festival has been championing emerging artists since the mid-00s indie boom, many of which have risen to international acclaim. 

With this in mind, we decided to take a look back at the festival’s history, speaking to the team behind the UK’s best metropolitan festival and explore the global superstars that have emerged from Dot To Dot over the last two decades…

Exhibition review: The Lovers at New Art Exchange chronicles LGBTQI+ couples over the years

New Art Exchange presents The Lovers, an exhibition of photographic works by Sunil Gupta and Charan Singh. Bringing together two collections of photographs taken forty years apart, the exhibition depicts LGBTQIA+ couples alongside a slideshow of images and a vitrine of publications featuring Gupta’s work.

As Motorpoint Arena celebrates its 25th birthday, we look through the stories from 25 of their seminal gigs

From Beyonce to Bieber and Dolly Parton to the Dalai Lama, Nottingham Motorpoint Arena has brought some of the world’s most famous people into our city. As the Arena celebrates its 25th birthday, we look through the stories from 25 of their seminal gigs…

LeftLion's Latest Listens #17 special edition: Divorce

In this special edition of LeftLion's Latest Listens, we sample the debut album Drive to Goldenhammer from Nottingham's own Divorce...

Coaching confidence: fifteen years of House of Pain Wrestling Academy

With a record-breaking 96 live wrestling shows held throughout 2024, and numerous training classes held throughout Nottingham, House of Pain Wrestling Academy is one of the most highly regarded professional wrestling academies in the UK. As they celebrate fifteen years, we spoke to owner and Head Trainer Stixx, to learn how the business began and how he builds confidence as a coach.

Put your records on: we find out about Revinyl Sessions, a night where anyone can be a DJ

Fancy sharing your music taste with other music lovers? Revinyl Sessions at The Golden Fleece has you covered. With an ethos that celebrates the DJ for their ability to create community in a crowd, Revinyl invites anybody, experienced or first-timer, the chance to get behind the decks and unite the room with their sound. We spoke to organiser Robin Powell to find out more…

LeftLion Interviews Podcast #8: George Akins on Rock City, Beat The Streets, Thekla, Dot To Dot, Massive Attack and 30 years working in live music

A bonus eighth episode  talking with the most influential man in the Nottingham music scene, George Akins; owner of DHP Family, Rock City, Rescue Rooms, Bodega, Stealth, Splendour Festival, Dot To Dot and more...