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Bar Phono to cease trading.

Bar Phono will formally cease trading on the 30th December 2005, which means that tomorrow night (Thursday 22nd December 2005) will be the last night the club will be open.

The reason the club is closing is simple: the eight year lease on the premises expires on the 30th and the Merrion Centre have chosen not to renew it, as they no longer wish the unit to be used as licenced premises (in other words, what we know as the Phono will not be reopening as another club, bar, restaurant etc etc in the future). This was formally communicated to the leaseholder today.

At the time of writing, "Black Sheep" and "Friday Flock" are technically homeless and you may take it as read that all future dates are now cancelled. Obviously this is all rather sudden and I have yet to make a decision as to whether I'll try to continue these nights elsewhere. Please join the mailing list on sheepish.net for any future updates.

Please disseminate this information as widely as possible, and apologies to people who have read it here first that I should have told personally.

Lamb Of Goth

Welcome to sheepish.net, the home of Black Sheep, probably the longest running Goth night in Yorkshire!

Black Sheep is the only weekly goth night in Leeds, running every Sunday night at the Bar Phono nightclub, underneath the Merrion Centre.  Black Sheep also runs a much larger monthly goth night in Leeds called Friday Flock which has it's own website here, although it does share the same Forums and Gallery as Black Sheep!

So what are the Black Sheep nights like?  We'll there's an unnecessarily huge FAQ here, but all you really need to know is that, whilst it's essentially a clubnight, Black Sheep is generally considered to be the weekly meet-up place for the Leeds Goth community.  On the music side of things Black Sheep has very
request friendly DJs (as does Friday Flock!) and features guest DJs from across the region to ensure there's plenty of variety.  We've also got some very friendly regulars who are bound to make you feel welcome, and you can always introduce yourself in the Forums before coming down!

We've also been know to run Live events in Leeds featuring the cream of contemporary Goth bands.  If you're interested in who has played at Black Sheep in the past, there's a full list here.  We're currently taking a break from promoting gigs while we find a new venue, but if and when we start up again, you'll read about it here first.

So that's Black Sheep and Friday Flock.  There's a massive Gallery devoted to the clubnights here, and you really should come and say "hello" in the Forums here!

October update

Just a small update with information about the incoming live dates.

You can now buy tickets for the Saturday 1st October gig at Josephs Well featuring

Killing Miranda
Screaming Banshee Aircrew
Zeitgeist Zero and
The Way Of All Flesh

by Credit/Debit/Visa/Electron Card here, so you no longer need to have a Paypal account to buy tickets online. I don't need to tell you that this is going to be an excellent gig, but I do need to say "get there early!" - doors are 7pm and the first band are onstage at 7.30pm sharp... and you don't want to miss 'em!

Unfortunately Corrosion have had to pull out of the "Black Oktober 2005" gig on Sunday 9th October, but the good news is that we can now reveal our special guest headliners... so the line up now looks like this:

James Ray Presents 4080 Peru
The Sisters Of Murphy
Rhombus

Tickets for the whole weekend or just the gig on Sunday night are available here.

Black Octobaaa!

It might seem like a bit of an early warning, but we've got two (well, technically four) big events happening this coming October.

The first, on Saturday 1st October (yes! that did indeed say "Saturday"!), is a gig of truely epic proportions: Killing Miranda, Screaming Banshee Aircrew, Zeitgeist Zero and The Way Of All Flesh, and for a special treat we're holding it in the slightly more spacious confines of Joseph's Well!

Full details can be found on the event's own special website here: http://www.sheepish.net/oct1, but yes, it's four of your favourite bands, on a Saturday night, in Leeds!

The second big event is "Black Oktober 2005" which is, essentially, another excuse to go on a three day bender, much like we pioneered back in February!  We start down the Phono on Friday 7th October with Friday Flock, then "party like it's 1985" with Heartland on the Saturday, and then it's an unexpected return to the Bassment on Sunday 9th for The Sisters Of Murphy, Corrosion, plus some very special guests!

All the information you need can be found on the hastily updated website here: http://www.sheepish.net/weekender.

Finally, Friday Flock is as busy as ever, as is Black Sheep itself, which I'm very pleased to say is currently enjoying something of a renaissance on Sunday nights!  Anyway, until next time, here's a lovely flyer for the October 1st gig, just to add a splash of colour!

the end of the wool as we know it

And so it came to pass that Black Sheep held its final monthly gig at the Bassment, and lo it did look something like this:

...and let's face it, it's a corker of a gig to finish on!
Full details, links and all that sort of thing can be found here.

I've left the all the stuff about Black Sheep's from the last update below, because it's still relevant. The good news is that, since the call went out, Sunday nights have improved considerably, and we've been consistently hitting the venue's expectations.

Obviously we're not out of the woods yet, but I'd personally like to thank everyone for showing support, I feel that over the last month or so we've got back to that really great atmosphere that Sunday nights is renown for... and I hope it'll continue for a long time!

a long but important update...

As some of you are probably aware, there may be some changes in the air at sheepish.net.

Whilst Friday Flock is still going strong, with the venue still firmly in support of the night, the Phono management have become concerned with attendance on Sunday nights to the point that they have warned that, unless matters improve, Black Sheep will be cancelled.  The margin between "good" and "bad" attendance in the venue's eyes is very slim (this is, after all, Sunday nights we are talking about) so Black Sheep can easily be saved but only if people want to save it.  There are more details here, and certainly early signs since that announcement have been positive... but good (or at least acceptable) attendance on Sundays over the next month is essential.  Believe me, the future of Black Sheep is very much in your hands.

For various reasons, only partially related to the above, we've reached the decision to end the monthly live events, at least for the time being.  There is a more detailed discussion of this here but it unlikely that we will be hosting any more regular gigs until a more reliable venue can be found.  At present we are working to save the July gig, and things are looking promising, but be advised that at the time of writing, the event is technically cancelled.  

EDIT: The July 24th gig is now definitely on, featuring Misnomer, Faetal and Trauma Pet, it will be only £3 on the door!   Full details here!

Finally, the venue management are very keen to end the practice of having Guest DJs on a Sunday night.  Personally I think the Guest DJs are essential, but it's important that I know what everyone else thinks, so please leave your comments here.

Before I go (and just so it's not all doom and gloom!) I'd just like to thank everyone who either helped run, or came along to, the two live events in May.  They were without doubt two of the biggest and best nights that sheepish has ever run, and each and every one of the five bands (Killing Miranda, Screaming Banshee Aircrew, Action Directe, NFD and Mist Of Avalon) were wonderful both onstage and off.  It's such memorable nights as those that make it all worthwhile!

what sheep may come...

I'd like to say a heartfelt "thank you" to everyone who came down to Black Sheep on the 1st May for the Killing Miranda / Screaming Banshee Aircrew / Action Directe gig. It was also Black Sheep's Fifth Birthday, and I can't think of a better way we could have celebrated it!!

We're moving through our Birthday month at a break-neck pace, and it'll soon be time for this:

Full details (including online ticket ordering) can be found here!  There will also be a full Black Sheep/Friday Flock -style clubnight until 2am, and anyone not coming to the gig can get in for reduced entry after the bands have played - although let's face it, you really don't want to miss this one!

If you haven't heard of NFD before, they're a new(ish!) band comprising former members of Fields Of The Nephilim, Nefilim and Sensorium, with a very Neph-ish sound... you can imagine how excited I am about this one!!

We're still open every Sunday night at the Phono from 7pm, and of course Friday Flock is on the first Friday of the month - the next one being on June 3rd.

black sheep is five years old!!

Black Sheep is still every Sunday night down the Phono, but it wasn't always called "Black Sheep", oh no. It's had many names and been called many things over the years, not all of them repeatable!  But yes, it's been called "Black Sheep" for years now. Five years, to be precise. In fact, to be really precise, it'll be five years in May, so that's why we're doing this:

Full details (including online ticket ordering) can be found here!  There will also be a full Black Sheep/Friday Flock -style clubnight until 2am, and anyone not coming to the gig can get in for reduced entry after the bands have played - although let's face it, you wouldn't want to miss that line-up!!

Friday Flock is on the first Friday of the month as usual - so that'll be 6th May - and later in the month, on the 29th, we got NFD supported by Mist Of Avalon. If you haven't heard of NFD before, they're a new(ish!) band comprising former members of Fields Of The Nephilim, Nefilim and Sensorium, with a very Neph-ish sound... you can imagine how excited I am about that one!!

Anyway, there's plenty happening in May, so I hope you can all come along and celebrate the fifth birthday of all things sheepish!!

happy flockin' birthday!

Friday Flock is a year old!  How did that happen?!  It seems like only yesterday that we launched the night, only for a planned four month run (oh what little faith we had!), and yet not only is it still here, it's now one of Bar Phono's most popular nights!

So yeah, we're celebrating the Flock's first birthday, but we've also teamed up with Heartland and The Sisters Of Murphy for a whole weekend of anniversary shenanigans, full details of which are on the Anniversary Weekender site, but briefly:

Friday 4th February: Thank Flock It's Friday!!
The popular contemporary goth night celebrates it's first birthday - all shades of goth, request friendly DJs, and a refreshing lack of attitude!
Bar Phono, Merrion Centre, Leeds. 9-2ish, £2 before 10pm.

Saturday 5th February: Heartland Party
All welcome to help celebrate the third anniversary of Heartland in uber-trad style, and according to the website, "party like it's 1984"!
The George, Great George Street, Leeds. 8-1am, £2.50 all night.

Sunday 6th February: The Sisters Of Murphy Live
Enjoy a Near Meth Experience with the notorious Sisters doppelgangers, with full clubnight courtesy of the Heartland and Black Sheep DJs.
The Bassment, Wade Lane, Leeds. 7-late, £3 on the door.

Three day weekender tickets are still available from here, and can be collected on the door.

It's a pretty mad start to February, but it doesn't end there, as we're cramming a lot into the shortest month!  On the 13th February we're hosting the launch party for Zeigeist Zero's long awaited debut album - it's Free Entry, and includes a live set from the band themselves!  Finally on the 27th February we end the month with the long awaited return of Psychophile to Leeds, supported by Hull's own Systemyk... full details of all events, as always, in the Live section and in the forums.

So there you go... if you want to keep up with all the news and gig annoucements (and there's quite a few to come!) do join the mailing list, and if you're on LiveJournal, we also have a small (but perfectly formed) community here.

sheepish 2005

We're back!!  It's 2005!!
The next couple of months are going to be hectic!!

It's the first Flock of 2005 this Friday (7th January - wear something red!) followed by the first 'Sheep of the year on Sunday (9th January).  We've then got the welcome return of The Ghost Of Lemora on the 23rd January, swiftly followed by the Anniversary Weekender over the first weekend in February!

The Weekender promises to be a mad affair, celebrating both the Flock's first birthday, plus three years of Heartland.  Full details are on the sub-site here: http://www.sheepish.net/weekender - including details of the Sisters Of Murphy gig on the sunday.

Only a week later, on the 13th February, we're hosting the launch party for Zeigeist Zero's debut album - it's Free Entry, and includes a live set from the band themselves!  Finally on the 27th February we host the long awaited return of Psychophile to Leeds - full details of all events, as always, in the Live section and in the forums.

So there you go... if you want to keep up with all the news and gig annoucements (and there's quite a few to come!) do join the mailing list, and if you're on LiveJournal, we also have a small (but perfectly formed) community here.

Last site update:

02 - 07 - 08