Shoppers predict ‘demise’ of Welwyn Garden City town centre after store closures announced

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The Howard Centre is losing its Next and M&S stores. - Credit: Picture: DANNY LOO

Welwyn Garden City residents are predicting the ‘demise’ of the town centre after Next and Marks & Spencer confirmed they would both be closing their stores.

Clothing retailer Next will be shutting their store on Saturday, while M&S is set to go in April.

The news has been met with concern from shoppers over the future of both The Howard Centre - where the stores were based - and the town centre as a whole.

Welwyn Hatfield Times reader Sharon Roberts: “Terrible news, with Next closing this weekend and now M&S it’s not going to be long before more shops will go and they can close The Howard Centre and build more flats.”

A number of readers agreed, with another predicting the ‘demise’ of Welwyn Garden City town centre.

“Looks like the demise of another town centre however favoured by the council over Hatfield, next thing it will be full of charity and coffee shops and lots of disgruntled residents,” said Ian Dowse.

“Terrible news. The start of the death of the town centre unless they get another decent retailer in who drives footfall. Fingers crossed,” said Kathryn Lyddon.

Lindsay McMullan said: “This will mark the beginning of the end for the Howard Centre. There really isn’t much else in there to attract people.”

Some shoppers believe that M&S’ decision to close their Welwyn Garden City site is because of the retailer’s new store opening on Stevenage’s Roaring Meg Retail Park.

“This was on the cards as soon as the new ‘out of town’ Stevenage branch was announced, and they wonder why we have the death on the high street,” said Helen Selwyn

“Really don’t understand this at all. It’s all well and good saying there is one in Stevenage, but it’s quite a distance away, especially for those who live south of the county,” added Alison Barker.

After sharing the news of the store closures on Facebook, this newspaper received more than 300 comments from readers, including Susan Griffiths

who said: “Another one bites the dust. Very sad. Not looking good for Welwyn Garden City.”

Noah Barker added: “The closure of the local M&S will really hurt the town. Imagine if John Lewis and Waitrose went.”

BREAKING: Stone faces minimum of 10 years after jury finds him guilty of aggravated assault

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Meet Me @ The Altar announce their debut album will arrive this year

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Meet Me @ The Altar have announced that their debut album will be released sometime this year.

The US pop-punk trio – comprising guitarist Téa Campbell, drummer Ada Juarez and singer Edith Johnson – aren’t giving too much away, but they have assured fans that their first full-length project will definitely arrive in 2022.

“American pop punk band ‘Meet Me @ The Altar’ will release their debut full length album in 2022,” the band said in a tweet on Friday (January 7).

The yet-to-be-titled album will follow last year’s acclaimed ‘Model Citizen’ EP, which NME‘s Jenessa Williams called “the work of a band who are absolutely for the now” in a four-star review.

“The pop-punk revival so far may have platformed big-budget solo artists – including Willow, Machine Gun Kelly, and Olivia Rodrigo – but with ‘Model Citizen’, Meet Me @ The Altar prove there is still nothing quite like rocking out with your best mates, and confronted with the burden that they are what so many needed as younger fans, the weight on their shoulders could have been too heavy to bare,” the review reads.

“But to constantly tie them to the regrets of yesteryear is to deny what is painfully obvious; ‘Model Citizen’ is the work of a band who are absolutely for the now. Mom, this pop-punk thing definitely isn’t just a phase.”

American pop punk band ‘Meet Me @ The Altar’ will release their debut full length album in 2022. — Meet Me @ The Altar 🏅 (@MMATAband) January 7, 2022

The band will return to the UK this spring for a run of tour dates. Following their debut UK live shows with All Time Low last year, Meet Me @ The Altar will embark on a European tour with State Champs, which reaches the UK in May.

The band will take in shows at Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham as well as two gigs at London’s Electric Ballroom. The band are also scheduled to play Slam Dunk and Download Festival this summer. You can see their full list of tour dates below.

MAY 2022 (w/State Champs)

08 – Bristol, Marble Factory

09 – Southampton, Engine Rooms

11 – London, Electric Ballroom

12 – London, Electric Ballroom

14 – Glasgow, SWG3 Galvenisers

15 – Manchester, O2 Ritz

17 – Leeds, Beckett Students Union

18 – Birmingham, O2 Institute

JUNE 2022 (festivals)

03 – Leeds, Slam Dunk festival

04 – Hatfield Park, Slam Dunk Festival

10 – Donington Park, Download Festival

You can get tickets for the shows here.

Knuckle Puck announce EP ‘Disposable Life’

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Knuckle Puck, one of the aggressive pop-punk genre’s preeminent forces have today announced a brand new EP “Disposable Life” (produced by Seth Henderson to be released 4th February 2022 on Wax Bodega.

The record opens with “Gasoline,” which premieres today. A mid-tempo pop punk thunder clap that hammers home the record’s thesis on its chorus and plans for a radical new reality: “With every day spent in the shade, think I’ll watch it burn/Throw gasoline on an open flame,” calls Taylor.

The five song EP, which comprises four originals and a scorching, faithful cover of blink-182’s “Here’s Your Letter” from the trio’s 2003 untitled LP, is a recommitment to the band’s founding sound—the tight, manicured, major-key chaos of ripping guitars, sprinting bass, airtight drums, and harmonised vocals—but it’s also a recommitment to an idea: that every day and moment has meaning, and every life has value.

Vocalist Joe Taylor describes the EP, which follows last year’s LP 2020, as a throwback to when the band first started. “It feels like we’re kind of rebooting Knuckle Puck,” says Taylor. “Making this music has been the most fun we’ve had in a really long time.” That feeling is in part due to the break in working forced by the pandemic, but it’s also a product of a freer approach to writing and recording outside of label pressure. “It was fresh and exciting again,” says Taylor. “It was like ‘Oh man, this feels like it did in 2013.’ We captured some of that magic.”

The result is a record that Taylor says bridges the gap between KP sounds of past and present. The title, Disposable Life, nods to this stretch of time in its own way: what does it mean to lead a meaningful life?

Disposable Life is a reintroduction to Knuckle Puck: it’s a celebration of the past decade of the band and a supercharged mission statement for the future. It’s a sharp inhale, a spring-loaded blast off the starting blocks after the tumult of the past two years. It’s a sign of good things yet to come.

Disposable Life Tracklisting

Gasoline

Levitate

Lonely Island

In The Bag

Here’s Your Letter (cover)

Pre-order here

The band will be on the road from February 2022 with some of the most exciting bands around right now Full dates are below.

Knuckle Puck Spring Tours 2022

With Hot Mulligan, Meet Me @ the Altar, and Anxious

Thur. Feb 10, 2022 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogarts

Fri. Feb 11, 2022 – Bloomington, IL – Castle Theatre

Sat. Feb 12, 2022 – Minny, MN – Varsity

Sun. Feb 13, 2022 – Kansas City, KS – Granada

Tue. Feb 15, 2022 – Denver, CO – Gothic

Wed. Feb 16, 2022 – Salt Lake City, UT – Complex

Fri. Feb 18, 2022 – Vancouver, BC – Imperial

Sat. Feb 19, 2022 – Seattle, WA – Crocodile

Sun. Feb 20, 2022 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne

Tue. Feb 22, 2022 – Sacramento, CA – Ace Of Spades

Wed. Feb 23, 2022 – Santa Ana, CA – The Observatory

Thur. Feb 24, 2022 – Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco Theater

Fri. Feb 25, 2022 – San Diego, CA – The Observatory North Park

Sat. Feb 26, 2022 – Phoenix, AZ – The Pressroom

Mon. Feb 28, 2022 – Austin, TX – Empire Garage

Tue. March 1, 2022 – Dallas, TX – Gas Monkey Bar & Grill

Thur. March 3rd, 2022 – Atlanta, GA – Center Stage

Fri. March, 4 2022 – Tampa, Florida – Orpheum

Sat. March 5, 2022 – Orlando, FL – The Abbey

Sun. March 6, 2022 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle

Tue. March 8, 2022 – Boston, MA – Big Night Live

Wed. March 9, 2022 – Philadelphia, PA – Theatre Of Living Arts

Thur. March 10, 2022 – Baltimore, MD – Soundstage

Fri. March 11, 2022 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza

Sun. March 13, 2022 – Cleveland, OH – House Of Blues Cleveland

Mon. March 14, 2022 – Toronto, ON – The Opera House

Wed. March 16, 2022 – Detroit, MI – Saint Andrew’s Hall

Thur. March 17, 2022 – Pittsburgh, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre

Fri. March 18, 2022 – Chicago, IL – Concord Music Hall

Ticket onsale 3rd December 12pm local time

Buy tickets here

UK/EU dates with Hot Mulligan

Sun. May 22, 2022 – Cologne, Germany – Club Volta

Tue. May 24, 2022 – Hamburg, Germany – Headcrash

Wed. May 25, 2022 – Berlin, Germany – Cassiopeia

Fri. May 27, 2022 – Eindhoven, Netherlands – Dynamo

Sun. May 29, 2022 – Birmingham, UK – o2 Academy

Mon. May 30, 2022 – Glasgow, UK – The Garage

Tue. May 21, 2022 – Cardiff, UK – The Globe

Wed. Jun 1, 2022 – London, UK – o2 Academy Islington

Sun, Jun 5, 2022 – Southampton, UK – The 1865

Ticket on sale 3rd December 10am GMT

Buy tickets here

The band will also play Slam Dunk 2022

3rd June- Leeds Temple Newsam

4th June – Hatfield Park

Top 11 concert picks for Sarasota-Bradenton-Charlotte: Jan. 13-19

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SIRSY

Hailing from upstate New York, indie-rock act SIRSY continues to tour Florida, including Punta Gorda’s Celtic Ray this week. Comprising vocalist-drummer Melanie Krahmer and guitarist Rich Libutti, SIRSY has a sound larger than one might expect from a duo, with the pair known to play multiple instruments live. Releasing the full-length “Coming Into Frame,” with its opening track “Cannonball” used in the Showtime series “Shameless,” the group has also released the 2019 EP “Like a Drum” and the 2020 single “Astronauts.” 9 p.m. Friday; Celtic Ray Public House, 145 E. Marion Ave., Punta Gorda; 941-916-9115; celticray.net

Sarasota Seafood & Music Festival

The three-day festival at downtown Sarasota’s J.D. Hamel Park will feature food, drinks and live music, including some of Florida’s most acclaimed blues artists. Guitarists and singer-songwriters Damon Fowler and Selwyn Birchwood, who both released Billboard blues album chart-topping records last year, are scheduled to play Saturday, while Fowler’s Southern Hospitality bandmate J.P. Soars performs Sunday. Other performers will include Kettle of Fish, Twinkle and Rock Soul Radio and Ronnie Dee & the Super Stars. 4-10 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday; J.D. Hamel Park, 199 Bayfront Drive, Sarasota; free admission; seafoodfestivals.com

Freddie Jackson

The free Palmetto Multicultural Festival is set to return this year to Sutton Park, with R&B singer Freddie Jackson serving as the headliner. Jackson rose to fame in the ’80s with No. 1 R&B hits such as “Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake),” the title track from his platinum 1985 album, and “You are My Lady,” which earned him a Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male Grammy nomination the same year he was nominated for Best New Artist. He’s continued to release music in the following years, including the 2018 album “Love Signals” and 2010’s “For You.” 2-6 p.m. Saturday; Sutton Park, 1036 Sixth St. W., Palmetto; free admission; 941-723-4988; facebook.com/palmettocra

J.P. Soars Gypsy Blue Revue with Anne Harris and Jason Ricci

The Blue Rooster will host a show featuring Florida guitarist and singer-songwriter J.P. Soars joined by two other acclaimed blues artists, violinist Anne Harris and harmonica player Jason Ricci. Soars has received multiple Blues Music Awards nominations, while Harris has earned praise as both a solo artist and playing with other musicians including Otis Taylor, and Ricci is a two-time Blues Music Award winner who also performed at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction for The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Soars and his group The Red Hots will also play Englewoods on Dearborn at 6 p.m. Tuesday ($7 cover charge.) 8 p.m. Saturday; The Blue Rooster, 1525 Fourth St., Sarasota; $35; 941-388-7539; blueroostersrq.com

Johnny Sansone

Bradenton Southern food restaurant and venue Cottonmouth will host New Orleans blues singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Johnny Sansone for a concert. Sansone’s instruments of choice include the harmonica and accordion, earning multiple Blues Music Award nominations for the latter, and winning Song of the Year for the title track to his 2011 album “The Lord is Waiting and the Devil is Too.” His most recent full-length is 2018’s “Hopeland,” produced by Anders Osborne and featuring him and the North Mississippi Allstars’ Cody and Luther Dickinson. 6 p.m. Saturday; Cottonmouth Southern Soul Kitchen, 1114 12th St. W., Bradenton; $15; 941-243-3735; facebook.com/cottonmouthsoul

Dana Lawrence Birthday Bash

Sarasota brewery and venue Big Top Brewing Company will hold a show celebrating area musician Dana Lawrence’s birthday. Lawrence is known to many as the frontman for popular Sarasota rock group Kettle of Fish, who will perform at the birthday bash. The band is set to be joined by special guest Chris Anderson, a Sarasota-raised guitarist and singer-songwriter who was also formerly a longtime member of the Tampa-formed “Green Grass & High Tides” Southern rockers the Outlaws. 7 p.m. Saturday; Big Top Brewing Company, 975 Cattlemen Road, Sarasota; 941-371-2939; bigtopbrewing.com

Shred the Love Fundraiser

Sarasota’s Music Compound hosts this fundraiser organized by students and featuring Grammy-nominated saxophonist Alex Han, with proceeds supporting scholarships for area youth who have lost a loved one to COVID-19 or whose parents have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. Han, whose 2017 full-length “Spirit” earned a Best Contemporary Instrumental Grammy nomination, will perform along with hip-hop jazz group The Ruckus Late Night’s. Other bands and solo artists will also perform at the event, which will feature food, art and a silent auction. 6 p.m. Saturday; Music Compound, 1751 Cattlemen Road, Sarasota; $15; 941-379-9100; musiccompound.com

The Righteous Brothers

Van Wezel hosts famed soul duo The Righteous Brothers, which features original member Bill Medley joined by Bucky Heard, following co-founder Bobby Hatfield’s death in 2003. The group rose to fame in the ’60s with hits such as “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feelin’” and their rendition of “Unchained Melody,” with both songs experiencing renewed popularity decades later for their use in “Top Gun” and “Ghost” and inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, with The Righteous Brothers inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. Don’t be surprised if you also hear “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” Medley’s duet with Jennifer Warnes from “Dirty Dancing,” which was a No. 1 hit and earned him a Grammy. 7 p.m. Sunday; Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; $37-$77; 941-263-6799; vanwezel.org

David Wilcox

Fogartyville’s live music lineup this week includes folk singer-songwriter and guitarist David Wilcox. He was signed to A&M Records from the release of his 1989 album “How Did You Find Me Here” through the early ’90s, and has had his songs covered by other musicians including k.d. lang (“My Old Addiction.”) His most recent album was 2018’s “The View from the Edge,” with Wilcox also winning the Overall Grand Prize and Best Folk Song Award at the USA Songwriting Competition that same year. 7 p.m. Sunday; Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center, 525 Kumquat Court, Sarasota; $30, $25 members, $15 students; 941-894-6469; fogartyville.org

Selwyn Birchwood

Along with Sarasota Seafood & Music Festival, Selwyn Birchwood is scheduled to play The Blue Rooster and Englewoods on Dearborn. Last year, the singer-songwriter and guitarist released the full-length “Living in a Burning House,” his third for renowned blues label Alligator Records, which topped the Billboard blues albums charts. He also earned a Contemporary Blues Male Artist Blues Music Award nomination last year, winning a Best New Artist Debut award in 2015 for his first Alligator album “Don’t Call No Ambulance.” The Blue Rooster show will be an acoustic night with a trio, according to the venue. 7 p.m. Tuesday; The Blue Rooster, 1525 Fourth St., Sarasota; $10; 941-388-7539; blueroostersrq.com; 7 p.m. Wednesday; Englewoods on Dearborn, 362 W. Dearborn St., Englewood; $10; 941-475-7501; englewoodsondearborn.com

Duane Betts, Johnny Stachela and Berry Duane Oakley

Three members of the rock group Allman Betts Band – including ones with ties to Sarasota-Manatee – will visit Osprey’s The Point for an acoustic show on the waterfront restaurant’s back lawn. Duane Betts is a Sarasota native and the son of Allman Brothers Band founding member and longtime Sarasota County resident Dickey Betts, while Berry Duane Oakley has lived in Venice and is the son of fellow Allman Brothers founding member, the late Berry Oakley. Johnny Stachela, who also plays in the Allman Betts Band that’s released the albums “Down to the River” and “Bless Your Heart,” joins them. 6 p.m. Wednesday; The Point, 131 Bayview Drive, Osprey; no cover; 941-786-3890; eviesonline.com

If you would like to be considered for this story, please email ticket@heraldtribune.com with your event information at least 10 days before our Thursday publication date. Show schedules are subject to change; check with venues in advance to confirm or for questions on COVID-19 protocols.

Email entertainment reporter Jimmy Geurts at jimmy.geurts@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.