About the gathering

About

The Gathering is not a workshop, and no external structures will be imposed.

The Gathering is not a  concert: everyone in the room is a participant, including those who may be listening.

The Gathering is not a rehearsal or recording session: it is the actual thing itself.

Times

Doors: 7.00 pm, session finishes at 9.00 pm

Special Notice

This is a working train station. You can arrive and leave by train

The schedule 2025

The Gathering is back! the sessions are the second Monday of the month.
Admission is free. Donation maybe requested.

Monday, January 13, 2025
Monday, February 10, 2025
Monday, March 10, 2025
Monday, April 14, 2025
Monday, May 12, 2025
Monday, June 9, 2025
Monday, July 14, 2025
Monday, August 11, 2025
Monday, September 8, 2025
Monday, October 13, 2025
Monday, November 10, 2025
Monday, December 8, 2025

Contact

For more information contact Phil Hargreaves at

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• http://liverpoolgathering.org.uk

Venue

Metal - Edge Hill Railway Station, Tunnel Rd, Liverpool L7 6ND
You can download direction here: Click to download a pdf file

In Liverpool, Metal work from the iconic buildings of Edge Hill Station, the oldest active passenger railway station in the world.  The original 1830s buildings now serve as a cultural and creative hub for artists and the surrounding neighbourhoods, carrying on the building’s proud history of innovation and creativity. Read more about metal here.

Maggie Nicol - on gathering

“The Gathering is a space, place and time where to build confidence in our creativity, where we can sit in silence, sing, play an instrument, draw, be poetic, prophetic, we could talk in tongues, talk to each other, to ourselves. Where we can listen, make sounds, melodies and noise, soft and loud, leave space, fill it up, explore rhythm and time, chaos and rhyme, lullabies and laments, shyly and boldly be in our different rhythms together.” Maggie Nicols

and in the beginning

In 1989, at a meeting of the London Musicians’ Collective, a few of us felt that it would be good to come together in a way that was less stressful than some of our meetings – a Gathering. It started with improvising musicans but quickly expanded to include anyone who wanted to explore and experiment in a welcoming environment. It’s a place where experienced musicians use their skills to encourage rather than exclude others.

It’s possible to participate at any level that feels comfortable. Everyone is musical in some way; a sigh, sounding the breath, one simple strong repeating beat, blowing across a bottle, tapping a glass, singing one note … All these sounds can be just as powerful as knowing an instrument well.

Many experienced musicians have come to respect the challenge of simplicity. Whatever the level of musicianship for me, it’s about trusting our ability to communicate and be expressive through sound and silence. At our Gatherings, things happen at different levels. We can be in the middle of a gentle, intense moment and someone will walk in and be greeted with enthusiasm. Some people chat, while other people play. It’s the nearest thing to freedom of being that I’ve ever experienced.

It’s hard for people to let go of what we’ve been socialised to believe is ‘proper’ music, but in letting go of preconceptions we discover the joy of music as a liberating and healing force.

Maggie Nicols

Office use

 a messy office this is too