Brian Bilston x The Catenary Wires
Metronome Nottingham
Thursday 13 November 2025
7:00 pm : Doors
Seated
14+ (under 16s must be accompanied by an adult)
Tickets
General admission: £22.00 + booking fee
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Stage times
- 7pm: Doors
- 7:30pm – 7:55pm: Catenary Wires (duo)
- 7:55pm – 8:20pm: Brian Bilston
- 8:20pm – 8:40pm: Interval
- 8:40pm – 9:30pm: Brian Bilston & The Catenary Wires (full band)
Brian Bilston is one of the UK’s most popular poets. Having started out by sharing his poems online, Brian now has over half a million followers on social media and a raft of bestselling books. After a succession of sell-out live shows, Brian is on tour again in the UK (with longtime collaborator Henry Normal) in May 2025.
The Catenary Wires are a group comprising Amelia Fletcher, Rob Pursey and Ian Button. Their critically acclaimed third album ‘Birling Gap’ was released in 2021. Since then, they have been focusing on their other bands, playing around the world with Heavenly (icons of the 90s indiepop scene) and Swansea Sound.
A couple of years ago, word reached Rob and Amelia that Brian had been spotted wearing a Heavenly t-shirt at one of his shows, and was a big fan of their music. Given that they, in turn, were fans of Brian’s poetry, introductions were made, friendships were formed, and ‘Sounds Made By Humans’ took shape.
The album isn’t a set of readings with musical backdrops: it’s a collection of songs, where words and music have become completely intertwined. There are verses, and there are choruses. There is no ‘riffing’, no improvisation. In many ways, Brian’s poems are already like pop songs: brief, direct, and witty; sometimes poignant, sometimes biting and political; but always economical, and always accessible.
Rob took thirteen of Brian’s poems and created melodies and arrangements, which are then played by a full band, with Ian Button on drums and Fay Hallam on keyboard. Sometimes the words of the poems are sung by Amelia or Rob. Sometimes they are spoken by Brian. Sometimes both these things happen at once. This is a pop record where the poetry and the music are equal partners: sounds made by humans in perfect artistic alignment.
Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires will be performing song-poems at selected UK venues in November 2025.
Accessibility
Standing gigs offer accessibility for disabled patrons in our mezzanine. We will always do our best to accommodate individual requirements, and other viewing options may be available at standing gigs following a risk assessment of the event.
Please click here for full accessibility information.
If you have any particular requirements or queries, please email us ahead of the event at [email protected].
Discover More...
Watch "Every Song On The Radio Reminds Me Of You" by Brian Bilston and the Catenary Wires
Listen to the album "Songs Made By Humans" by Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires on Spotify
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Brian Bilston x The Catenary Wires
Stage times
- 7pm: Doors
- 7:30pm – 7:55pm: Catenary Wires (duo)
- 7:55pm – 8:20pm: Brian Bilston
- 8:20pm – 8:40pm: Interval
- 8:40pm – 9:30pm: Brian Bilston & The Catenary Wires (full band)
Brian Bilston is one of the UK’s most popular poets. Having started out by sharing his poems online, Brian now has over half a million followers on social media and a raft of bestselling books. After a succession of sell-out live shows, Brian is on tour again in the UK (with longtime collaborator Henry Normal) in May 2025.
The Catenary Wires are a group comprising Amelia Fletcher, Rob Pursey and Ian Button. Their critically acclaimed third album ‘Birling Gap’ was released in 2021. Since then, they have been focusing on their other bands, playing around the world with Heavenly (icons of the 90s indiepop scene) and Swansea Sound.
A couple of years ago, word reached Rob and Amelia that Brian had been spotted wearing a Heavenly t-shirt at one of his shows, and was a big fan of their music. Given that they, in turn, were fans of Brian’s poetry, introductions were made, friendships were formed, and ‘Sounds Made By Humans’ took shape.
The album isn’t a set of readings with musical backdrops: it’s a collection of songs, where words and music have become completely intertwined. There are verses, and there are choruses. There is no ‘riffing’, no improvisation. In many ways, Brian’s poems are already like pop songs: brief, direct, and witty; sometimes poignant, sometimes biting and political; but always economical, and always accessible.
Rob took thirteen of Brian’s poems and created melodies and arrangements, which are then played by a full band, with Ian Button on drums and Fay Hallam on keyboard. Sometimes the words of the poems are sung by Amelia or Rob. Sometimes they are spoken by Brian. Sometimes both these things happen at once. This is a pop record where the poetry and the music are equal partners: sounds made by humans in perfect artistic alignment.
Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires will be performing song-poems at selected UK venues in November 2025.
Accessibility
Standing gigs offer accessibility for disabled patrons in our mezzanine. We will always do our best to accommodate individual requirements, and other viewing options may be available at standing gigs following a risk assessment of the event.
Please click here for full accessibility information.
If you have any particular requirements or queries, please email us ahead of the event at [email protected].
