Indie rock legends will perform huge hits including Ruby and I Predict A Riot

When indie rock royalty the Kaiser Chiefs play in front of thousands of adoring fans at Newmarket Nights this summer, they know that a good time will be had by all.

There was a glorious stretch of the 2000s when British indie bands seemed to arrive in packs – all sharp haircuts, skinny ties, and choruses engineered to detonate inside sweaty student unions. But among them, the Kaiser Chiefs had something extra: They sounded like ordinary people discovering, to their delight, that they could become massive.

With an arsenal of smash hit pop-rock anthems including I Predict a Riot, Everyday I Love You Less and Less, Ruby and Oh My God, the Kaisers remain a much-loved institution.

Their August 22 Newmarket Nights show at Newmarket Racecourses promises to be another memorable moment in their stellar career, but there have also been times when such occasions looked off the cards and the band members asked themselves “should we carry on?”

“We’ve played twice before, I think, and both times there were big crowds,” said the band’s bass player, Simon Rix, as he looked ahead to the show. “We didn’t really know what to expect, to be perfectly honest.

“When we first started doing the racecourse thing at Newmarket, York and a couple of others, we thought it was going to be a 1,000 people in a tent sort of vibe. Then we turned up and there were 25-30,000 people there and it was like a festival show. We obviously love doing that so we love coming back.”

Fronted by the charismatic Ricky Wilson, the Kaisers have a reputation for delivering high-energy shows loved by audiences all over the world. They burst onto the scene in the mid-noughties, their debut album becoming 2005’s fourth biggest-selling record in the UK and spawning four massive hit singles. But the band had not suddenly emerged out of nowhere – their roots go back to when Nick Hodgson, Nick ‘Peanut’ Baines and Rix met at school.

They formed the band Runston Parva, later shortened to Parva, but were dropped by their record label without an album being released.

“I was 26-27 when we started doing well,” said Rix. “We were considered to be an overnight success, come from nowhere. And for the Kaiser Chiefs it was pretty quick – about 18 months or something from starting the band to when the album came out and it was number three when it first came out.

“Then that year, 2005, was absolutely mental – but we’d done a lot of things through school and university. People talk about it being an apprenticeship, learning how to be in a band, learning how to write songs, learning how to play live – so when the opportunities landed for the Kaisers, we were ready.

“We had great songs. We had I Predict a Riot, Oh My God and Every Day I Love You Less and Less and we’d be turned by every single record label. We were chomping at the bit. But there was a guy called Preston who was the front man of the Ordinary Boys, people might remember them, they might not.

“We did a lot of touring with those guys and they really loved the band. Basically Preston nagged his record label every day to sign us until they signed us. We were a bit older – when the Arctic Monkeys signed, they were 17-18. So maybe they were looking for more bands like that?

“One of the good things about the music industry these days is that the age thing seems to have disappeared a bit. But we got told we were too old a lot of times and all that stuff – there was a lot of disappointment. Then, in 2005, it was starting to get wearing after all those years of failure and disappointment, and trying hard.

“So, after we signed, we were trying to enjoy every minute. We did loads of gigs, every gig was bigger, we got lots of awards, we were in the newspapers and on the radio. It was the best time of my life but, what I say to people is that it was such a mad time – the best thing that had happened to me was happening every day.

“You’d get a piece of news that you were going to do the NME Tour or you were going to support U2, the album’s No 3, then eventually No 2, you’re playing at Glastonbury, you’re headlining this. Every day there was some news. You were either doing something or there was news that you were going to do something. That was ace.

“We went to America, all over Europe, Japan, Australia. It was great but so crazy, when I look back at it with all the travel and all that stuff, and we were kind of wiped out. You see pictures of us and we look absolutely knackered. Some of the stuff I don’t remember because it did become a bit of a blur.

“Peanut, our keyboard player, can sleep anywhere – on a plane, in the dressing room, in a corner, wherever. And there’s a picture of us at the NME Awards in 2005. We’d just come back from America and the other four of us look absolutely beaten up – but Peanut looks fine. He looks normal.”

However, there was a time when the band members thought it may never happen.

“When we were in the old band, Parva, we were in healthy competition with other bands around on the music scene in and around Leeds,” said Rix. “Then there was a point when we got dropped by the record company as Parva but we continued – we’d made a record and tried to get someone else to buy the record but no one was really biting. It seemed like it was winding down – we’d had our chance and missed it or wherever.

“So we did a gig and decided that was the last gig for this band. The next day, for whatever reason, we had a rehearsal and the conversation was ‘do we want to continue?’ Everybody was really enthusiastic to be a band and we decided we were still going to try as hard as we could to be as successful as possible.

“But if the highest we’re going to get is playing to 200 people in Leeds or 100 people in London and selling a few CDs, then we still want to be in a band because we love making music and we love getting in the van and going to do a gig.

“I think because we were doing it for ourselves a bit more, we wrote some songs that we really loved – those songs were Modern Way, Oh My God, Born to be a Dancer, stuff like that. Pretty quickly we thought ‘these are loads better than our old songs’ and very quickly the ambitions went straight up again.”

And that wasn’t the only occasion that the band questioned whether they should continue. It happened again when drummer Nick Hodgson, a key songwriter for some of their biggest hits, quit. He was replaced by Vijay Mistry and the Kaiser Chiefs have continued to thrive – the first album without him, Education, Education, Education & War, went to number one – and indeed all eight of their studio albums have reached the top ten.

But when Hodgson left, difficult conversations followed.

“There’s been two spots in the band when we’ve had that conversation and the other one was when Nick left,” said Rix. “Both times we’ve had it, it’s led to really good periods of creativity and enthusiasm for the band. I’ve been in the band, in some description, now for nearly 30 years with some of these people.

“Sometimes the enthusiasm is high, sometimes it’s less high – but those moments where you commit and go ‘this is what we want’ and everyone is on board, they’re the best for the Kaisers.

“So when Nick left there was a bit of a conversation about do we want to continue? And everyone was ‘yeah, yeah, let’s keep doing it’. We knew Vijay from other bands he was in before around Leeds so he seemed like an obvious choice if he was up for doing it.

“But also writing songs and being in the band without Nick, because he was a major part of the Kaiser Chiefs early on. I think the thing is jeopardy. Use football as an example, Leeds United are fighting relegation and there’s some jeopardy that makes you play harder. That helps. In the early days you have no money, you want to be successful, early on people might take it away if you get dropped.

“Then in the middle it was when Nick left. We had a record deal and we said to the record company ‘are you up for releasing records without Nick in the band?’ and they were ‘yeah, that’s fine – you just need to make sure you have some good songs’. We just worked hard and made some more songs.”

The Kaiser Chiefs’ Newmarket Nights show also features special guests Scouting for Girls.

Newmarket Nights is an annual series of outdoor concerts featuring some of music’s biggest names after racing has finished at Newmarket Racecourses. This year’s programme also includes Five (June 19); Basement Jaxx (June 26); Madness (July 17); Aitch (July 31); Jessie J (August 7) and Craig David TS5 (August 14).

For further information, click here.

Tyrone pull out a great performance to edge Roscommon by one-point after a thrilling contest in Dr Hyde Park!

The Red Hands will now progress to round 2A along with Donegal, Cork and Galway.

Roscommon go into round 2B with Kerry, Meath and Kildare.

The eight remaining teams are out in action next weekend.

Club captain Cristian Romero has returned to London from Argentina for Tottenham Hotspur‘s crunch final match of the Premier League season at home to Everton.

The 28-year-old, who was ruled out of the game because of a knee injury, was expected to watch his boyhood club Belgrano play River Plate in the Argentina Primera Division Apertura final on Sunday.

However, the defender is instead at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where a win for the home side will guarantee Premier League survival and a draw will also realistically be enough because of their vastly superior goal difference compared to West Ham United’s.

Earlier this week, head coach Roberto de Zerbi defended his captain’s expected absence from the game but also said he “100%” understood why fans were upset about it.

De Zerbi added that the decision for Romero, who is racing to be fit for the World Cup, to return to Argentina to continue his rehabilitation was agreed with the club’s medical staff.

CAIRO (AP) — The United States is close to reaching a deal with Iran that would end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and see Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, regional officials told The Associated Press on Sunday. They said details and timelines would be worked out later.

Iran has not publicly committed to giving up its uranium — a key demand of U.S. President Donald Trump — and the sides previously seemed close to a deal in recent weeks. Trump on Saturday said a deal had been “largely negotiated,” after calls with Israel and other regional allies.

“The negotiations are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner, and I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal in that time is on our side,” Trump said on social media Sunday. He said the U.S. relationship with Iran is becoming “much more professional and productive.”

The strait’s reopening would begin to ease a worldwide energy crisis sparked by the surprise U.S. and Israeli bombardment of Iran on Feb. 28, which led Tehran to effectively close the crucial waterway. Prices have spiked for oil, gas and several downstream products, jolting the world economy. Experts say it would take several weeks or even months for shipping and prices to recover to prewar levels.

The U.S. has blockaded Iranian ports for over a month, and Trump on Sunday said the blockade “will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed.”

The emerging deal would include Iran giving up uranium

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on a visit to India, said that “significant progress, although not final progress, has been made” in negotiations, and the world would no longer need to fear Iran getting a nuclear weapon, without elaborating.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian told state TV they were ready “to assure the world that we are not after a nuclear weapon.” Iran’s embassy in India responded to Rubio on social media, saying Tehran has an “inalienable” right to nuclear technology.

Iran has always insisted its program is peaceful while enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels.

Under the potential deal, Tehran would agree to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, according to the two regional officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations.

One official, with direct knowledge of the negotiations, said how Iran would give up the uranium would be subject to further talks during a 60-day period. Some would likely be diluted, while the rest would be transferred to a third country, the official said. Russia has offered to take it.

Iran has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Trump has sought greater concessions from Iran than those required under a 2015 Obama-era agreement that the U.S. later withdrew from under Trump.

On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told the state-run news agency that there are “narrowing differences” between the Iranian and U.S. positions, but that Iran is cautious after being attacked twice in the past year during nuclear negotiations.

Pakistani army chief Asim Munir, a key mediator, left Tehran late Saturday after more talks with Iranian officials.

The strait would reopen and Iran would be able to sell oil

Under the emerging agreement, the Strait of Hormuz would gradually reopen in parallel with the U.S. ending its blockade, the officials said.

The U.S. would allow Iran to sell its oil through sanctions waivers, said the second official, who has been briefed on the negotiations. Sanctions relief and the release of Iran’s frozen funds would be negotiated during the 60-day time frame, the official said.

Both officials said the draft deal includes an end to the war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.

Twelve weeks have passed since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, killing its supreme leader and other top officials. A ceasefire with Iran has held since April 7, though the sides have exchanged fire on occasion.

Several countries, including the European Union and the United Kingdom, welcomed progress on a possible deal with Iran.

Israel remains concerned over Hezbollah

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a social media post Sunday, said “President Trump and I agreed that any final agreement with Iran must eliminate the nuclear danger,” and that Trump had reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself “on every front, including Lebanon.”

Science Minister Gila Gamliel, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party and part of his national security cabinet, told Israel’s Army Radio that Israel is taking a “wait-and-see” approach.

Israeli officials are concerned that Hezbollah remains a serious threat to Israel and that Lebanon is ill-equipped to disarm it.

A fragile, U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect in Lebanon on April 17, but fighting has continued, mainly in the south. Hezbollah has launched daily drone and rocket attacks on Israeli forces and northern Israel, and Israel has struck targets across Lebanon while its troops remain in large swaths of the south.

More than 3,000 people have been killed in the latest round of fighting, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Additionally, 22 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians have been killed in northern Israel, according to Netanyahu’s office.

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Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.

“Cristian’s focus is, and has always been, on recovering as strongly as possible, preparing for the World Cup, and supporting Tottenham Hotspur in every way he can. His commitment to the club, his teammates and the supporters has been evident throughout his time at Tottenham and remains unchanged.”

The public are being asked to avoid the area

Lancashire Police are asking people to avoid a street in Chorley this afternoon (May 24) as they deal with a man on the roof of a property who has ‘refused to come down’.

The force said they were called to Bolton Road in Chorley this morning following reports of a man having climbed on to the roof of a residential property.

He was said to have begun setting small fires and throwing objects from the roof at officers, according to reports.

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Local residents spotted police, fire engines and paramedics parked up on the road, with pedestrians and drivers are being turned away from the scene.

In a full statement, Lancashire Police said: “At 9.16am today (24th May) we were called to Bolton Road in Chorley following reports a man had climbed onto the roof of a property and was refusing to come down.

“Officers have attended the scene and the man has begun throwing objects from the roof and setting small fires. Emergency services, including our colleagues from the fire service, remain at the scene.

“We would ask members of the public to avoid the area whilst efforts are made to bring the incident to a safe conclusion.”

The historical drama was filmed at stunning locations across Derbyshire, Kent and Cambridgeshire.

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An ‘epic’ period drama filmed in Cambridgeshire has been hailed as an ‘outstanding’ production that reduces audiences to tears.

The emotionally powerful film, loosely inspired by genuine historical figures, was shot across numerous breathtaking buildings and countryside settings throughout England.

The overlooked 2008 production from director Justin Chadwick features an impressive ensemble cast, including Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, Eddie Redmayne, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirstin Scott Thomas and Mark Rylance.

The IMDb synopsis for the picture simply states: “Two sisters contend for the affection of King Henry VIII.”

The historical drama chronicles the devastating tale of Anne Boleyn (Portman) and her sister Mary Boleyn (Johansson).

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In the film titled The Other Boleyn Girl, both vie for the affections of the perilous monarch Henry Tudor (Bana), notorious for his appalling treatment of his spouses, reports Derbyshire Live.

Viewers flocked to the comments section of Rotten Tomatoes to express their opinions on the production, with one person declaring: “Every scene has been shot brilliantly! The Other Boleyn Girl is a masterpiece.”

“Whoa, shockingly good, a lot better than I expected it to be,” another confessed, while a third remarked: “I cried, and that is a thing per sé, I never cry.”

One audience member noted: “I definitely never expected to like this movie as much as I did. Amazing performances by Johansson and Portman with a really good cast as well. Probably one of the most messed up and tragic love stories I’ve ever seen.”

Another reflected: “It’s a very complex and heartbreaking story. The acting is great, outstanding really. I enjoyed the movie greatly, even though it scared me from time to time. The hardship of literally staying alive in that time frightened me quite a bit.

“It’s a nice epic drama about betrayal,” one viewer remarked, while another added: “Amazing. Brilliant acting, direction and perfect portrayal of the well known and tragic historical story.”

Nevertheless, not everyone was impressed, with one viewer describing it as “overly dramatic and visually unsettling”.

Another contended: “The acting is great but they play so fast and loose with history it is deeply unsatisfying.”

But where was the sweeping Tudor tragedy filmed? Let’s explore some of its most memorable filming locations throughout the UK.

Where was The Other Boleyn Girl filmed?

Cambridgeshire

According to The Worldwide Guide To Movie Locations, the impressive Ely Cathedral, featuring its intricately carved spiral organ stairs, represents the grand ceremonial areas of the palace.

The Cambridgeshire cathedral, situated 12 miles north of Cambridge, was also employed to recreate Westminster Abbey in the 2012 film The King’s Speech.

Derbyshire

The historical drama captured numerous scenes in Derbyshire, particularly around the Peak District.

Multiple Tudor properties were combined to create the interior of the Boleyn family residence, including the historic Haddon Hall, situated just south of Bakewell in Derbyshire.

Meanwhile, Cave Dale, a limestone valley extending south from the village of Castleton, served as the picturesque green valley through which the King and his entourage ride while travelling to the Boleyn estate. Finally, when Mary is exiled from court, she makes her home in the countryside with William Stafford and her children. These sequences were captured at North Lees Hall, Hathersage in Derbyshire’s Peak District.

Kent

The Other Boleyn Girl was filmed across numerous locations throughout Kent, including the stunning Knole House in Sevenoaks, which served as the palace exterior and the rooftops of 16th century London.

The Tower of London sequences featured in the film were not actually captured in the capital, with Dover Castle in Kent substituting for the famous landmark.

Meanwhile, the 14th century Kent manor house of Penshurst Place serves as Baron’s Hall, where Anne is depicted flirting with the king at a banquet.

The Other Boleyn Girl can be rented for £3.49 or bought for £5.99 on Prime Video and Apple TV+.

Cyclists were told they were ‘in a crime scene’ following an e-scooter crash with a police officer near Buckingham Palace.

An area near the royal residence was cordoned off on Friday after the vehicle collided with an officer on Constitution Hill.

The black vehicle and a policeman’s helmet were both discarded at the scene, the BBC reported.

Passing cyclists were told to ‘get out’ of the cordoned area, which they were told was a ‘crime scene’.

The King was not thought to be at the Palace at the time of the incident, as the Union Flag was flying rather than his personal standard.

An air ambulance attended the scene and both the cyclist and the police officer were taken to a major trauma unit, London Ambulance Service confirmed.

Their injuries were not thought to be either life-threatening or life-changing.

A spokesperson said: ‘We were called at 4.01pm today (22 May) to reports of a road traffic collision near Constitution Hill, SW1A.

‘We sent an ambulance crew, incident response officer and dispatched London Air Ambulance via car to the scene.

‘We treated two males at the scene and took them to a major trauma centre as a priority.’

A statement from Met Police said: ‘At around 16:00hrs on Friday, 22 May an e-scooter was involved in a collision with a police officer who was on foot at the eastern end of Constitution Hill next to Buckingham Palace.

‘Both the rider of the e-scooter and the police officer were taken to hospital. Their injuries were assessed as non-life threatening and non-life changing.

‘The scene of the incident was cordoned off while the level of injuries was confirmed.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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