Yes, we are a city of music!
HOME-GROWN: Foreground, clockwise from left, Chiedu Oraka, Jodie Langford and Pat Dooner. Background, Coldplay
By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor
Award-winning Hull rapper Chiedu Oraka is gearing up for two of his biggest shows so far after being handed highly coveted support slots at Coldplay’s blockbuster concerts at Sewell Group Craven Park next month.
The music megastars will play back-to-back shows in Hull on August 18 and 19 followed by six at Wembley Stadium – the only European dates on the latest leg of their Music of the Spheres world tour.
Chiedu, who revealed he has had to keep his appearance secret for months, told The Hull Story: “I first found out late last year and I’ve had to keep it quiet – I don’t know how I’ve done it!
“It felt amazing – I’m supporting the biggest band in the world, brother. I never thought when I first started rapping that would even be a thing, I just can’t believe it.
“I think it will be a phenomenal experience, something that I’m going to remember for the rest of my life. Things like this don’t happen to kids like me. I’m also thinking I deserve to be on that stage, 100 per cent. This year has been a special year so far and I’m just so grateful and thankful for the opportunity.”
Chiedu was named Newcomer of the Year at this year’s Northern Music Awards and performed at Glastonbury Festival last year.
The announcement of his appearance with Coldplay – he was personally invited by singer Chris Martin – comes at a time of rising interest in and demand for the city’s musical talent, both at home and abroad, despite Hull failing in its bid to become a UNESCO Creative City of Music earlier this year.
Pat Dooner, one half of Hull soundscape artists Broken Orchestra, flies to China this month for four shows with longtime collaborator Lady Paradox. The duo, whose music has notched up more than 10 million streams, will play 400-500-seat venues in four cities between July 17 and 20.
“It’s exciting and a bit of a one-off experience,” said Pat. “Just going by how fans from China have reacted to our music there’s a positivity around it we don’t get anywhere else. We’re looking forward to it; it’s going to be pretty full-on but definitely worth it.”
Another city musician making waves is spoken word artist Jodie Langford, who in May joined Chiedu and two other Hull acts, Fiona Lee and O’Phantom, on the bill at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton.
Longlisted in the Glastonbury 2025 Emerging Talent competition, Jodie has also played Reading & Leeds Festival, had airtime on Steve Lamacq’s show on BBC Radio 6, and will play Humber Street Sesh on August 2 and the Future Yard Festival in Birkenhead on August 24.
She will release her first album, Softly Spoken, with End of Level Baddie, another rising Hull artist, on Warren Records in October.
The Hull Story – Comment
As music fans here, across the UK and internationally already know, Hull is a hotbed of talent.
Across generations and genres, the city has consistently produced artists of substance and style.
There are too many to mention here, but those who have helped shape Hull’s rich musical heritage include David Whitfield, Mick Ronson and The Spiders from Mars, Red Guitars, Paul Denman, Henry Priestman, The Housemartins, The Beautiful South and Kingmaker.
Independent venue The Adelphi has also helped forge the careers of some of the biggest names in the industry, including Oasis, The Stone Roses, Radiohead, Pulp, and Manic Street Preachers.
It was somewhat baffling, then, that Hull’s bid to become a UNESCO Creative City of Music was rejected earlier this year.
It is hugely encouraging, however, that when the next bid is submitted in 2027 the evidence will be even stronger, as the front page of this newspaper shows.
Rapper Chiedu Oraka is set to electrify the lucky thousands with tickets for Coldplay’s back-to-back concerts at Craven Park next month, which along with shows at Wembley are, in a massive vote of confidence for Hull, the megastars’ only European dates on this leg of their world tour.
It promises to be an unforgettable experience for those on and off stage.
We also wish Broken Orchestra’s Pat Dooner every success as he embarks on his first mini-tour of China, where fans are among the millions streaming his music.
It’s also a busy summer for the super-talented Jodie Langford, who with her first album out later this year is one of several ascending Hull musicians on the verge of breaking through to the next level.
So while Hull must wait another two years to find out if it will be accepted into the exclusive UNESCO club, which would bring a range of benefits and is an accolade it richly deserves, let’s support our local musicians and remember and celebrate what this latest generation of talent is showing us – we are already a City of Music whether the officials agree or not.