
The Mel Outsider Reformation
Sat 10th May 2025 7:30pm
Mel Outsider, flamboyant frontman, songwriter and the inspiration behind The Mel Outsider Reformation is a veritable UK musical heavyweight. For over five decades he has continued to be a mainstay of the north west music scene in his native Lancashire and beyond.
Producer, mover and shaker and rock’n’roll groover, he’s rubbed shoulders with a myriad of famous and infamous rockers, blues performers, singer-songwriters but somehow he’s managed to maintain a defiantly positive and upbeat attitude so everything he does is touched with a little hard won magic.
The Mel Outsider Reformation retain the services of musical director and bassist Matt Pawson. Dan Arnold joins on guitar alongside Karl Francis on drums. Barney Boogie Williams from The Milltown Brothers and The Animals takes organ, piano and keyboard duties. Andy Morell plays sax and leads The Pocket Central Horns. Powerhouse vocalist Hayley Gaftarnick and the sublime Ellie Coast are on accompanying vocals. The project was produced in Lancashire by Real World Studios’ Mark Jones. Mark has produced, engineered and worked with such luminaries as Peter Gabriel, Cat Stevens, Patti Smith, The Blue Nile, Wishbone Ash, The Ting Tings, Black Grape and Goldfrapp to name a few. Aided and mastered by Grammy winner Mark Phythian (Coldplay).
Mel has produced twenty-eight albums for artists including Michael Chapman, Heads Hands And Feet along with New York songwriter / poet Angela Costa. He travelled and worked with Delta blues legend David “Honeyboy” Edwards who was the only living musical connection to Robert Johnson and plans to release an album of unheard “Honeyboy”recordings 2025.
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◼ Refreshments
The Hub Bar
Our theatre bar opens one hour before most of our Events and Performances. We serve a selection of locally sourced drinks and snacks including Ilkley Brewery Beers, and Northern Bloc Ice Cream.