Light Night

Friday 10 October 2008 saw the launch of Light Night. Determined to experience the highlights of the event, Klanging Banging kicked off the night with the launch of The Granary Wharf canal side sound installation. Following the balloons down to the Kirkstall Flyboat there were drinks and live acoustic performances to lead into the journey around the installation.

Artist Tom Cookson opened the night presenting Urban Birdsong. Imitated bird song filled the air as the speakers in the trees sounded a mix of traffic noise that had been edited. Urban Birdsong commented on how wildlife in urban environments competes and appropriates elements of noise pollution to make its song heard.

Walking along Neville Street with a set of headphones and transmitters positioned underneath the bridge, Andrea Kirkpatrick presented Dislocated Voices. The sound produced alternative acoustic environment of overlapping and entangled narratives, cut and spliced stories of journeys experienced. It was inspiring and a different concept that engaged listeners with voices from the past. If you missed out the sounds can be heard at the neville street project.

Leeds Met Creative Music & Sound Technology graduates Stuart Childs and Chris Martin presented Junction collaborating on creative sound projects under the name Outpost. Using field recordings, Junction maps the changes in the locality’s distinctive acoustic landscape. Walking around town with a programme of what events were happening for Light Night, it was a great atmosphere to bump into friends that were floating about or on their way to events. Briggate saw the home of the Black Dogs Dose of Summer. A highlight of the event presented umbrellas as clouds, a Cliff Richard look alike, a face paint for either a tan (orange) or sun burn (red), cocktails and of course ice creams.

PLaY part 1: odd shoes presented by Imprint Theatre Company and Jamie Fletcher acted as business people walking barefoot through the city on a quest to find the ideal piece of footwear, using their briefcases like stepping stones. It was a journey that engaged passers by with fun games; a performance; an attempt to find the perfect pair of shoes. Queues to the Town Hall were at some points over an hour long with a keen audience ready to see a range of exciting new installations and tours of the amazing building. The buzz throughout the night was one of anticipation and forward looking, a night enjoyed by many.

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