Crowne Plaza gears up for Fathers’ Day Motown spectacular!

Stars of Motown are brought to life this Fathers’ Day, 16 June with a sensational Sunday afternoon of entertainment at Liverpool’s Crowne Plaza, the first in a brand new series of events at this 4 star hotel situated at the city’s famous Pier Head.

As well as some iconic music, the Motown Summer Gold Show audience will also be treated to a delicious terrace barbecue and free welcome drink – those looking for a way to treat the ‘old man’ this year could do a lot worse than taking him along to the Crowne Plaza for an afternoon of music and merriment!

Nurturers of top Liverpool music talent Positive Impact and organisers Orb Events are excited to present top tributes to favourite acts from the golden days of Motown including The Jackson 5, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Stevie Wonder and many more; the very best from an era of sheer style and glamour.

This fun begins on arrival as guests are greeted with a welcome drink, then escorted to enjoy the sunshine and atmosphere of the terrace.  A 60’s soul DJ will provide the entertainment playing a fantastic collection of tunes to warm up the crowd while they enjoy a mouth watering selection of delicious barbeque food. What a better way to kick off the Summer?

Then the curtain is lifted for the main attraction and all the magic of Motown is released! The audience will take a trip back in time to witness the fabulous and colourful costumes and sensational, mesmerizing performances from the incredibly talented artists.

With the drinks flowing, energy rising and music playing, The Motown Summer Gold Show is set to be an afternoon of high class entertainment guaranteed to wow the crowds. So let the stars of soul whisk you away on a journey down memory lane, as the music sets off a ‘chain reaction’  you won’t be able to do anything but boogie the night away as you sing along to all your favourite sounds of the 60’s.

The organisers of the Motown Summer Gold Show are proud to be supporting Roy Castle with a collection at the event and a chance to enter a fund raising prize draw.
Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation is the only charity in the UK wholly dedicated to the defeat of lung cancer – giving help and hope to lung cancer patients now and in the future.

Tickets for Motown Summer Gold Show are available for just £25 and can be purchased from the Crowne Plaza Reception or on-line at www.skiddle.com. Don’t delay, get your tickets today.

The charity funds lung cancer research, provides support, helps people to quit smoking and gives a voice to all those affected by lung cancer through their campaigning.

Performance Details:

Motown Summer Gold Show
Sunday 16 June, 1-6pm
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Liverpool City Centre
Tickets £25 (includes BBQ food and welcome drink)

Yes, I’m Irish.
I’ll clear that one up to begin with.  Having lived in Liverpool for over 7 years, when I tell people that I am actually Irish, they say my name doesn’t lend itself traditionally.
Can I also say, I am a little newbie to Team Orb. I’m loving my job setting up the volunteer programme for Brazilica this year.  The team are all great,  thanks for the fantastic welcome!  Orb HQ is a great place to work and we all have good craic whilst working very hard. The best mix!

Thursday was another exciting day at Orb. The talk of what I and fellow Irishman Lance were getting up to on Saint Patricks day, proved for a very interesting discussion. It started off with a given. How us Irish line our stomachs before the day’s festivities get underway.  Myself especially, as I’ve earned the embarrassing nickname of ‘Natalia one glass of wine’ – don’t ask! The day therefore, must begin with a traditional Irish breakfast.

The Irish brekkie is made up of your usual greasy favourites (egg, bacon, sausage), but we have the added accompaniment of bread.  Not just your normal white loaf toasted… us Irish scoff on soda bread, potato bread and if we’re feeling particularly peckish, we will throw a little bit of wheaten bread on the side!

The guys in the office had never heard of such things. They wanted to know how these breads were made, what they contained and so on.  Me and Lance hadn’t a clue, so I did a little research. Below, find a recipe for wheaten bread as my gift to you all. It’s amazing.  I am making it on Thursday and bringing it to the office, so Orbsters be very excited!

After the breakfast, it’s time for your first alcoholic beverage of the day.  This year I will be going to my local Shenanigans on Tithebarn Street.  It’s owned by Conor, a Dublin native who understands the need to serve the Irish cheap beer and traditional Irish stew (for when the brekkie has worn off and the beer is kicking in). They have a variety of Irish performers who live in Liverpool who provide the soundtrack to the day. Irish music has been described by a scouser to me as ‘fiddle de de’ music – which I find hilarious.  Although Shenanigans is on the small side, they have a wacky idea to actually take the pane of glass at the front window of pub completely out. This serves to aid flow of Guinness. Fab idea, and all of my friends couldn’t agree more. Behind shenanigans is a car park that will be kitted out with a marquee, barbeque and mini bar which will be great!

Most people the world over will celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day annually and down their shamrock (a lot), but we seem to forget what it’s about.  Saint Patrick’s greatest feat was in fact to drive the snakes out of Ireland after they attacked him at a banquet. It usually freaks me out to think: did he get all of them for sure? Eek!

Well, I hope you all enjoy Saint Patrick’s Day this year.  You know where I will be, so join me for some Irish craic if you’re around.
SLAINTE

Ingredients
Serves: 10
140g bread flour
350g wholemeal flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons caster sugar (optional)
60g butter
450ml buttermilk
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
Preparation method
Prep: 15 mins | Cook: 1 hour
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (gas mark 6). Lightly flour a baking tray or 23x12cm loaf tin. Sift together the bread flour, wholemeal flour, salt, bicarb of soda, and 2 teaspoons sugar in a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour mixture. Make a well in the centre of the mixture and pour in the oil and buttermilk. Stir with a spatula until dry mixture is completely moistened. Move the dough to a lightly-floured surface. Lightly knead the dough for no more than 1 minute. Shape and place the dough on a baking tray (or into the prepared tin). Cut a cross into the top of the loaf with your finger. Brush the top with milk or buttermilk.
2. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 180 degrees C (gas 4); rotate tin and bake another 30 minutes.
3. Allow loaf to cool on a wire rack before slicing.

I’m warming up with buckets of coffee. Bad I know, but I can’t help it. They say a coffee drinker needs a caffeine hit to feel just as alert as a non-coffee drinker in the morning. If that’s true then I’m in trouble. It’s a doubly bad habit because I work until 9pm every night which means I have to be drinking the stuff up until at least 8pm. Not sure how I manage to sleep.

This week, I’m all about The Walking Dead. Admittedly I got a little bored during the second season, it was just a bunch of good-looking people hanging around on a farm. I skipped around the last 5 episodes and dove right in at season three after persistent pestering from my peers. I must say, I’m liking it. I’m a zombie movie fan anyway but I’m ecstatic to see David Morrissey not only adding to the Brit count, but representing the greatest city in the world. Who’d have thought The Guv’nor was a Scouser?

 I first saw him in Blackpool a few years back, and then again in Doctor Who.If you know me, you know I’m a bit of a raging Whovian. Any friend of The Doctor is a friend of mine. David is rather splendid in the role, who else could pull of an eye patch villain and make it convincing? I’m glad I started watching again. It’s a good idea to regularly catch up on Z productions, it helps make you ready for when the real thing happens. Admit it, you have a plan don’t you? In this day and age, I think most of us would be equipped to deal with Z-Day, we’ve all had a lifetime of theoretical training on the subject. When it came to it, It wouldn’t be like the movies with a sparse scattering of survivors. I can imagine an almost full population being secretly disappointed that everyone else was as good as they are.

Me? I’m counting on an invasion of type 1′s (That’s slow moving zombies). My personal experience of type 2′s (The buggers who can run) I did not fare so well. Last year a friend and I took part in a live game were players are given a map to safety, and have to negotiate a city full of progressively able bodied Walkers. Naturally, I was first to be caught. Then I was caught again, and again, and again. By the end, I was so out of breath I didn’t care. “Go for it” I told them “I’m not long for this world anyway.” It’s a tactic I should have used to begin with, they simply shrugged their shoulders and shuffled off.

I finally arrived back and base and was put through the ‘screening devices’. Basically, when you’re caught they scribble on you with a UV pen. At the end, if you’re infected an alarm sounds and you get a snazzy stamp and some pretty funky zombie make up.

It was a wake up call though, I was concentrating too much on Resident Evil, what if it’s more 28 Days Later? I need to be better prepared incase we are faced with a type 2 epidemic, perhaps a flame thrower?

@rebeccahatch12

Today at Orb HQ

Did you manage to catch a peek of Brazilica on this weeks Embarrassing Bodies? We should be featuring more later on in the series so we will keep you well informed. I’m glad to say that none of our Orbsters were patients, all healthy and (mostly) non-embarrasing thank you very much! Check out our Rachel with Dr Christian backstage.

 

Rach and Dr Christian

Miguel from MD Productions is back in the office today looking very cool in red. I’m sorry for snapping you just out of the gym, but you look amazing so don’t worry about it. He was chatting to our Director, Debbie about some very exciting upcoming projects. I was eavesdropping in the background, but I distinctly heard the word ‘Dubai’! I wonder what that could mean for Orb….

 

Miguel and Deb bringing down the house at Orb HQ

Miguel was also here discussing some Christmas events. It’s March Miguel, what are you talking about! Far too early for my liking. I suppose we’d better be prepared though. It’s all very exciting.

Natalia is working hard on our volunteer program for Brazilica. In case you didn’t know, we’re now accepting applications. It’s a fab opportunity to gain experience in live event management. We’re looking for people to do everything from costume making to stewarding. I think Natalia has one of the best jobs today, I love bringing people in. She’s currently looking at volunteer organisations for us to work with. Of course, you can contact her directly at natalia@orb-events.co.uk if you want to get involved. Here she is looking horrified at my camera pointing at her.

 

Natalia looking gorgeous as ever

Duncan is doing boaty things. That’s what we call it now. He has been very busy this past few weeks recruiting exhibitors for The North Wales Boat Show. It’s a mammoth task, have you seen the size of that event? Hats off to Dunc for taking care of that. Speaking of The Boat Show, Barney is living it up in Conwy as we speak with our dedicated events manager. While he’s away I’ve taken charge of his desk, it’s closer to the heater.

 

Duncan loves his boaty things

The main reason I love my Thursdays at Orb is because everybody is in. A full office is a good office. Chloe is having a research day. We’ve got yet another new event in the pipeline and Chloe is beginning the first stages. She’s currently hard at work looking for potential exhibitors and drawing up sponsorship documents.

 

Chloe all in white

How snappy does Lance look? Very dapper sir! Another Brazilica project worker today. He’s doing our very first press release of the year. An Irish boy through and through, he seems to have started us off on a tangent about our plans for St Patricks day. Having been on a few Orb nights out, I’m frightened at the prospect of trying to keep up with that lot.

 

Talking beer at 11:52. New record?

We’ve just been informed that Lance looks like Russell Tovey. I’d not thought of it before, but I can totally see it. What do you think?

 

Separated at birth?

As for me? I’m spending my day blogging, Tweeting and Facebooking. I’ve got some really cool video blogs coming up, so if I have time I might get some editing done too. Someone here seems to be playing songs from the early noughties. Nostalgia is rife, who doesn’t love a bit of Natalie Imbruglia?

Rebecca.

We’ve once again scoped out the Epstein Theatre to house the performance (following the success of the Positive Impact showcase we produced last year) and chief choreographer Migel Deforo is not only working incredibly hard in rehearsals with his very talented dance students, he’s also gathered the cream of the crop of Liverpool talent to join the show.

Taking to the stage alongside the MD Productions crew are girlband The Estrelles (of X Factor fame) and teen-hearthrob boybands MIC Lowry and The Valentine Brothers.

The show itself features top-notch covers of some of B’s best-loved hits including Crazy In Love, Dance 4 U, Diva, Halo, Bootylicious and many more so get practicing your dance moves and get yourself down to the Epstein Theatre. Tickets are selling like hot cakes and once they’re gone, they’re gone!

It’s all taking place on Sunday 24th March and doors open at 7pm. To get your hands on tickets, visit www.epsteinliverpool.com or call 0844 888 4411. See you there!

Dates for 2013

Festival Week: Fri 12th – Fri 19th July

Carnival & Parade Day: Sat 20th July

About Brazilica

Brazilica is the UK’s biggest Samba Carnival – an event run in partnership by Orb Events and the Liverpool Carnival Company. Now approaching its third year, the festival attracted an audience of over 80,000 people in 2012 and is quickly becoming a firm-favourite in Liverpool’s summer events calendar.

It is an exciting festival that brings a taste of Brazil’s carnival atmosphere to the streets of Liverpool’s city centre that offers something for everyone including music, dance, art, sport, culture, food, film and much more. All of which provide the backdrop to the Liverpool Carnival Company’s spectacular Saturday night-time parade!

Since its inception in 2010, the event has been nominated for a Brazilian International Press Award (Best Cultural Event, 2012), City of Liverpool Business Award (Best Marketing, 2012) and a Juice FM Style Award (The Culture Award, 2011 & 2012). As the eyes of the world turn to Brazil as it prepares to host two of the world’s biggest sporting events in 2014 and 2016, we are excited at the very bright future for Brazilica.

What we do

Project Management & Festival Development

Branding and Marketing

Site Production Management

Stage Production (Williamson Square)

Trader Opportunities & Concession Management

Sponsorship Management

Event Planning (Press Launch Party, Carnival Queen Competition)

Volunteer Management

What people say

“Brazilica is fast becoming a firm favourite in Liverpool’s events calendar and it certainly brought the sunshine to the city centre. The city council is proud to support this family-friendly festival which really does bring wonderful carnival sights and sounds to the streets of Liverpool, and I’m delighted so many people came along and supported this samba spectacular!”  Councillor Wendy Simon, Liverpool City Council’s cabinet member for culture and tourism

—

“Once again Brazilica drew the crowds into the city and there was a real buzz throughout the weekend. Footfall was visibly increased with the streets packed with people eager to watch the colourful parade and get involved in different activities. Brazilica is an event unique toLiverpooland a real highlight of the events calendar.” Ian Ward, Centre Director of St John’s Shopping Centre

—

‘’To see thousands upon thousands of families enjoying Brazilica was a wonderful sight and shows why Liverpool is such a popular destination. With Brouhaha and City Steps it was a true carnival weekend and the atmosphere was electric. The really exciting thing for everyone is that there’s even more great events still to come to the city centre this summer.’’ Ged Gibbons, Chief Executive of City Central BID

http://orbevents.wordpress.com/

http://orbevents.wordpress.com/

We’re currently in the process of moving Orb HQ from our current home to the fabulous Baltic Triangle. Whilst we’re in the process of moving our phone line and interweb materials, please do bear with us whilst we pick up any signal that we can in between.

Thank you all for a fabulous 2012 and we wish you all the best for the New Year. Call in for a cuppa in our new home from Monday 7th January onwards.

Team Orb x