By Alfie Linville-Sibley
A Leicester-based music collective brought a fresh batch of fledgling punks to the stage for an International Women’s Day showcase.
The newly formed Riotous Collective in Leicester prepped a fresh set of all-female groups for the stage ahead of the showcase on International Women’s Day. Born out of the Unglamorous Music movement, Riotous formed in 2024, comprised of veteran Unglamorous musicians looking to pay it forward.
“Ruth (Miller) put so much into it, and we knew we could keep it going,” said Caroline McLavy, a founding member of the collective.
The collective piloted their ’66 days to the stage’ programme for the first time, with the new recruits coached by three years of Unglamorous alumni over the course of ten weeks, culminating in the showcase gig at The Firebug on International Women’s Day, on Saturday, March 8.
Offering an on-ramp for women of all ages who want to get into music, no experience was required, seasoned musicians played with bandmates who had not touched an instrument before Riotous. From the first session in January, members were against the clock to learn an instrument, write and practice a 10 to 15-minute set, and perform it live.
Bringing five new acts into the limelight in less than ten weeks is a tall order, but the pressure was met with pure punk determination. Kitt, guitarist for Visceral Vessels, said: “I find it motivating.”
Harmony, the band’s vocalist, mirrored the sentiment, adding: “The deadline makes you try harder.”
“If we had more time, would it be different?” mused Julie, drummer for Tinderbox.
The ‘66 days to debut’ programme was started after the Covid pandemic by Leicester music royalty Ruth Miller (PO!, Ruth’s Refrigerator), who took on double duty teaching and coaching the new musicians while leading by example in her own band ‘The Verinos’. Under her watch the Unglamorous movement ballooned to 70+ women.
Riotous have taken the blueprint laid out by Unglamorous and run with it, keeping the tight deadlines and ‘trial by fire’ ethos but bringing three years of experience within and without the programme.
“It’s a group of women with shared experience going through the 66 days, taking what they learned and building on it together,” said Caroline.
“Having the support of people who have been through it is really useful,” said Hannah, drummer for new band The Manananas. Merinne, drummer for Visceral Vessels echoed Hannah, saying “They taught us how to write a song, how to write together and, how to work together.”
“It’s like adult supervision,” said Natt, keyboard player in Visceral Vessels.
The new bands will graduate into a collective of almost 120 women, split between roughly 30 bands in the city. It’s a seismic shift in Leicester’s musical makeup.
“I’ve been to a lot of gigs where there was only two to three women in the crowd, and they were girlfriends,” said Caroline, who has worked in the city’s music scene since the 90s. “Having so many women in the audience now genuinely makes it much more inviting from the outside.
“It’s a real pool of talent, encouragement and ideas on tap whenever you need. We want to keep that momentum going.”
Visceral Vessels, Tinderbox, The Mananana’s, St. Brigid’s and High Maintenance debuted live at The Firebug on March 8 for International Women’s Day alongside established groups including Venus Attax and The Wonky Portraits, raising money for Leicestershire hospice charity Loros.
