Monday 19 December 2016

PAPPY'S PRESENTS: SECRET DUDES SOCIETY @ Soho Theatre, London


Don't you just love comedy, the smile on face only disappeared after I had gone to sleep later that evening. Grinned all the way home.
Pappy's Tom Parry, Ben Clark and Matthew Crosby were joined by a two piece house band and guests, Richard Herring, Stuart Goldsmith and Beasts to provide a perfect antidote to Christmas.
Drinking of Advocat as part of the performance will long be remembered as will the ghost of christmas past which had Tom on the shoulders of Ben staggering around on stage (Tom being the larger of the two and trying to use the lighting conduits fixed to the ceiling above to stabilise).
Great evening and catch them if you can.

Monday 14 November 2016

Calypso Rose @ Jazz Cafe, Camden, London.


First and foremost, a thank you to Cerys Matthews on 6 Music  as hearing her interview with Calypso Rose and listening to her perform two live songs, took us some thirty odd hours later to see her for real.
What a great lady! Frail yes but in front of a mike, with a great band behind her, this was something else. Her zest for performing and singing was infectious, and the audience just loved it.
This was up tempo, jazz rocky calypso music. yet again, what a difference a horn section makes! Only a two piece, trumpet or trombone and sax, but the way it pushes the song along just cannot be replicated by a guitar based band.
She was rude (funny rude), flirtatious, political, and just pure feisty.
We loved it and went away with a big smile on our faces. Just wished we had come across her when we went to Sunday School in Tobago a couple of years ago.
Many thanks, Calypso Rose, for a great evening.

Tuesday 8 November 2016

Ade Edmondson: Bits of Me Are Falling Apart @Soho Theatre


Quickly becoming our favourite venue, two weeks after seeing Richard Gadd, we are back at the Soho Theatre to see Ade Edmonson perform a one man monologue lasting for a solid 60 minutes.
A bitter sweet story of a man looking back at his life following the separation with his partner and 2 year old son.
Touching performance by Ade showing that he has become an actor to be reckoned with. How he remembered that dialogue is beyond me.
Finally, a big mention for the inventive stage set, simple to a degree, but well used to illuminate the act that was evolving below.
Yet again, if you get a chance, go and see.

Tuesday 1 November 2016

P J Harvey @ Brixton Academy, London

I will let the links below bear testament at what a great gig this was, but a few observations first.
I said to my partner about five songs into the set, its a Rock Opera for a Brave New World, with PJ Harvey playing the Pixie Queen with her nine musicians as her commanders.
Highly appropriate that on Halloween, they should be all dressed in black and only black and there was certainly a bit of the Gothic in the performance.
Finally, it was so good to hear a performance that was not driven along by the drummer. It featured percussion heavily, but not the constant bass drum thump, the zing zing of the hi hat, and the crashing of cymbals.
As one of the reviewers below said, PJ Harvey is a class act.

The Guardian  NME  FT  Telegraph

Sunday 30 October 2016

The Girl on the Train


Reasonable psycho-thriller with Emily Blunt on form again. Mash up of timelines in the first half added unnecessarily to the story and it became rather obvious who the real villain was.
Nevertheless, decent film with a number of interview style face on shots of the protagonists gave it an edge above the mainstream.

Tuesday 25 October 2016

Monkey See, Monkey Do, Richard Gadd @ Soho Theatre London


What can I say, was it a total act, and therefore utterly convincing, or was it for real, and therefore rather heartfelt. Yes we all laughed, and to keep running on a treadmill for nigh on an hour is certainly very impressive whist keeping up the comedic effect, Richard Gadd, you were convincing which ever it was. This is certainly not the sort of entertainment you often come across/ever come across and very much worth going to.
Utterly enjoyed, go if you have a chance.

Tuesday 11 October 2016

Meilyr Jones @ The Bullingdon, Cowley Road, Oxford

Five weeks from witnessing Meilyr's appearance at EOTR Festival which included a prolonged 'death' fall followed by countless rounds of band introductions (five in all). Including the sight of one stockinged foot with a large hole in it, we are back again but in the very intimate surrounds of The Bullingdon on Oxford's Cowley Road.
A shortish set over 75 minutes long which run through the usual set numbers by in a different order than before. Meilyr and band constantly swooped instruments, a bloke behind me saying 'Genius, sheer genius' all the time, which we could not contradict, constant time changes within the songs, different melodies also adding to the mix, somewhat reminded me of prog rock back in the 70s (which it wasn;t) and just a performer who clearly enjoys his art.
This being the last gig of their current tour it ended on a high note that wont be forgotten in a long time. Meilyr, his bass and lead guitarists armed with violins ventured into the audience, stood right next to us as everybody gathered around and performed the last number acapella with the drummer playing the flugelhorn 'last post ish' behind us still on the stage. (have you ever seen a drummer blowing the horn and drumming at the same time, well this guy did)
Superb. A quick chat afterwards reminding him of his hole in the sock venture . Well done Meilyr for being unique. (catch him if you get a chance) We went home smiling

Tuesday 6 September 2016

EOTR Festival 2016


6th visit to EOTR and the early forebodings about lineup and weather came to fruition over a damp weekend at the begining of September. Changes were also noted, there appeared to be more here this year then ever before. Has it been increased I dont know but those car parks were very full. And merchenise too. Gone were the Nick Rhodes and Jacknife posters and in comes merchendise, tea towels, mugs, simple bags, tee shirts, and other stuff I have just simply forgotten.
Added to which, carton animals, the bear thefox and the badger were still there but Slyvan scenes with Human–animal hybrids riding on the backs of four legged creatures. So much so that either side of The Woods Stage had been dressed with mirrored scenes. Although this could have done with some better lighting.
To reinforce the settings there were the performers and never before has such a line up of animal related names been present. In the end there were 10 with Stealing Sheep coming in as a last minute substitute for Omar Souleyman. Namely  and in no particular order Animal Collective, Bats for Lashes, Stealing Sheep, Cat People, Cat's Eyes, Goat, Dr Dog, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizards, LionLimbs, Tiger Cats. Add to that both Savages and Local Natives and you wonder if a theme is developing.
The weather certainly spoilt the whole  weekend, but fortunately the site stood up to it. A little mud at a couple of locations but no more than an inch deep at worst. The Garden Stage which had its grass cut short was in rather poor condition by the end, but otherwise we were lucky.

A couple of themes developed with performances and these are reflected in my awards.

Best Performance
Without doubt Savages, Savages and Savages. Breathtaking performance late on Friday afternoon. The sight of Jehnny Beth walking and singing on top of the audience was pure theatre, but their whole performance just outshined everybody else. They have come a long way since we saw them at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles a couple of years back

National (Welsh) Treasure
Meilyr Jones. A great entertaining performance including appearing to die as he fell off the stage before walking up and down in the pit in front of the stage where last year the peacocks strolled. His rapport with the audience a lesson for all.

Bass Playing.
And four women grabbed the attention,
Ayse Hassan of Savages
Emily Lansley of Stealing Sheep
Naomi Griffin of Martha
And the girl from Meilyr Jones's band who name I forget which is appalling given he gave her 5 separate credits from the pit.

Guitar Playing
Gemma Thompson of Savages. The sheer orchestral sound that she produces is gob smackingly brilliant. A real talent.

Drumming
Fay Milton of Savages, Dynamite and she is so small, puts most drummers to shame.
Noah Lennox of Animal Collective. He just powered away behind the three other upfront members. The dias his kit was set on was just rocking away underneath him so much so I was waiting for it to collapse.

Other notables
Whitney, Martha, Goat (too much running around by the singers though) Broken Social Scene, (what a line up with at one point two bass players playing, bit of a mush of sound)

Comedy
The complete Sunday afternoon line up so well compared, I had tears in my eyes, by Katie Mulgrew.

Friday 26 August 2016

Exhibitionism @ The Saatchi Gallery, King's Road, London.


First rate exhibition of the Rolling Stones. So much to see and hear and with the mini mixing desks, so much to play with.
And to finish up with 3D glasses on, for a live video of them doing Satisfaction in Argentina, even better than seeing them live.
Enjoyed the display of various Keith Richard's guitars and the artwork and the costumes and the big stadium stage design and the Martin Scorsese interview and the.....
And what a location, close to where they all lived together in their very early years in Edith Grove, the reproduction that comes very early bringing smiles to everyone's faces.
I would say catch it if you can but it finishes in a weeks time.

Friday 19 August 2016

Georgia O'Keeffe @ Tate Modern, London


A decent exhibition featuring some of, but not all, of her most well known works.Along with the stylised plants/sexual body parts the heavily abstracted works were great, but there was a lot of minor works that did not hold my attention at all.
What I did learn was she friends with my favourite photographer, Ansel Adams and a couple of his prints were on display. One of my favourites being Moonrise over Hernandez, New Mexico was on display, but this one took my eye, quite small no more than 100mm wide, it is of O'Keeffe and Orville Cox. Shot from low down, the definition of the clouds in the background and the creases in their faces are a highlight of the composition.
However an enlightening visit with the addition of visiting Herzog and Murren's extension which I nearly worked on but didnt.

Monday 15 August 2016

Roisin Murphy @ The Globe Theatre, London

https://youtu.be/en_1uFSqttY and https://youtu.be/B3PmWqp7NUw
First and Foremost, I have a new favourite venue. Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on London’s South Bank is it. For those who are standing in the pit, it is open to the elements, but on this clear blue sky of a summer evening it just does not matter. Those sitting in the tired galleries that surround the roofed stage and pit have a modicum of cover above under the circular thatched roof, they have some cover, but the prevailing wind would surely bring any inclement weather onto their laps. Nevertheless, its intimate, The various bars outside of the auditorium (other than the pub) line the external gathering area which overlooks The Thames with St Pauls over on the North Bank opposite. Could there be a better setting, I hardly think so.
So along with Mornington Crescent’s Koko (a winter location) and EOTR’s Garden Stage with its Toucans flying overhead and peacocks strolling around in front of the stage, The Globe now joins that short list. Must look out for more.
So this gig, The Globe’s first ever venture, must be considered to be a notable success. Not only for the fact that it was nearly a rammed full house with the layers of balconies being all full and only the two wing areas to the stage with views restricted to the backsides of the performers left empty but for the performance from Roisin Murphy herself and not to be forgotten, her band..
And the performance?
It started off with a DJ set by Lauren Lerverne, it started off rather tamely but then as the crowd gathered she played out a number of classic 80’s popular disco hits which went down very well with the crowd. Set ended, a very short break, dry ice, some track played, band comes in and opens up with RM coming on in costume.
Whilst possessing Hairless Toys after seeing her on Jools Holland’s ‘Later..’ it had only been heard a track at a time when it came up on random so had a reasonable idea as to what it would sound like as certainy was not disappointed on that front. What I did not expect init is frequency, was the costume changes, she out gaga’d Lady Gaga. Changing, and swapping various items of clothing and masks mid songs, occasionally going back stage to have a full change. I did love the entrance, coming on looking like a cross between Elizabeth I and Margaret Thatcher with a brown leather handbag swinging from her arm. Then there was the construction worker, yellow hi-vis jacket, blue helmet with three flashing LEDs on top and waving around a bunch of yellow plastic ‘do not enter’ site tapes rather like a mass of serpents. And on it went.
Unfortunately for us on our side of the stage she performed mainly to the other side so all the different aides we partially missed out on apart from one notable occasion which I was fortunate to capture on video when literally she towered over and somewhat thrust her crutch region towards me.
So what must have been a two hour set, the gay boys up in the balconies dancing away was amusing given the location, what would the bard have thought about that. RM starting one particular song with the soliloquy ‘To be or not to be’ and there were a number of other Shakespearian references. Amusing to see the various Globe attendants enjoying themselves and dancing along as did all of the audience.
Great. 
Setlist:
Mastermind
Forever More
Dirty Monkey
Dear Miami
Tight Sweater
Tatty Narja
Gone Fishing
Evil Eyes
House of Glass
Ten Miles High
Overpowered
Whatever
Ancora tu
Jealousy
Exploitation

Encore:

Exile
Pure Pleasure Seeker

Wednesday 3 August 2016

Jason Bourne



You have to admire the way Peter Greengrass puts these Bourne films together. Full use of hand held cameras and the incessant cut cut cut of editing. Four major set pieces connected to the four main location of Athens, London, Berlin and finally Las Vegas, with the impressive action taken from central Athens in and around their parliament building the best of all. London, in the form of Paddington Basin, a bit of a damp squib with short distances seeming to take an eternity to get to. Berlin likewise set within the yet developed areas to the south east of the city.
The finale in Las Vegas was just like a console game although at times, shuddering crashes did depict real violence with one memorable ‘snow ploughing’ crash sequence quite shocking in its initial brutality.

Damon has little to say (could have covered one sheet of A4) other than act as an enforcer, most of the dialogue being given to others, Tommy Lee Jones and Alicia Vikander in particular. TLJ face looking like a knarled piece of olive tree bark.

 

But ultimately, all rather predicable, and with an ending that leaves it open for a sequel.

Saturday 25 June 2016

St Paul and the Broken Bones @ KOKO Mornington Crescent, London

Nearly two years after I first saw them at EOTR Festival, so when the chance to see them again at my favourite venue KOKO in London's Mornington Crescent, the tickets were soon purchased. A mixed audience of young and old were all in a relaxed mood started to fill the venue, many gathered on the outside terrace overlooking the southern start of Camden High Street, and for us a quick drink outside the Lyttleton Arms opposite overlooking the whole scene.
The magic wand search outside failed to flag up I was carrying two cameras which was a blessed relief and inside, with the surprisingly good Yola Carter sounding like Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes warming up the not sold out crowd.
 Made our way down to the stage level and secured a good location near the front. It began to fill up and looking back up at the three levels of stepped balconies, so did the auditorium. To a musical fanfare the Broken Bones came onto stage, plugged in and started up with Paul Janeway walking onstage after a minute or two to a tumultuous applause.
And what a show they gave. So good to hear a horn section in a band, just adds to the depth and gives so much more of a funkier sound.
Janeway strides around the front of the stage like the preacher he could so easily have become, clambering up on the wings rather precariously and singing (or is that hollering) his lungs out. A sort of white man's James Brown.
Three encores, including John Lennon's I want you, and it was all over. Everybody was beaming at the end knowing that they had just witnessed one great live act.
Two videos made, including two of the encores, Early Number and Encore

Saturday 14 May 2016

Florence Foster Jenkins


An amusing film, which both Streep and Grant are convincing in their roles (even though you know who they really are) but so to was Simon Helberg (Howard from Big Bang Theory),
The real punch laugh out loud moment was well held back, a couple of women sitting near us just could not stop laughing from that point onwards and they carried on even after the film had ended.
Amazed to read that Liverpool was the prime film location doubling up as NYC.

Good.

Sunday 8 May 2016

The Painkiller

90 minutes of non stop laughter. British Farce at its best. Brydon, was Brydon, but Branagh was just hilarious. To see a Shakespearean actor ham it up, po faced to the extent he did was just a joy to watch. Catch it if you can.

Thursday 7 April 2016

Eddie the Eagle


Look, ignore the fact that the Jackman character was a composite of the numerous trainers that Edwards had. Ignore the awful background music between some relatively well chosen albeit, British pop music of the era. Ignore the face of Jim Broadbent as the possibly David Coleman commentator who dominates the Calgary final section of the film, why they had to concentrate on his face rather than just use his voice as a voice over I have no idea.
And ignore the fact that the real back story is even more amazing than the précised film version.

Then this is a decent little feel good film reminding you what a feat Edwards actually achieved. The stunts of the falling ski jumpers are some of the most realistic I have seen and the flying camera work are something to behold. And mountains covered in snow are always beautiful.

Go and see it and come out at the end with a smile on your face.

Good.

Thursday 17 March 2016

Natalie Merchant @ The Royal Albert Hall, London


A much waited for gig, never thought she would come over to the UK again so when the gig was announced, snapped up two tickets immediately although was rather disappointed with our location.
The ability to get even a half decent video clip disappeared fast, not only because of the ushers who were on the look out, but the sheer distance to the stage. My big Nikon was more than match for that but having a large screen showing would have curtailed that opportunity. Was in fact stopped videoing using the small GoPro I also came armed with, and still amazed that I was stopped because I thought I had disguised it in my hand rather well. Did shot off two songs but the result as I was aiming by instinct was not what I hoped for. Here is that evidence.

But the gig, a very pleasant two and a bit hours including three numbers sung in a continuous encore. She started the first number five times forgeting the lines to her own song. A first for me, was she nervous? That all disappeared once she got going. One number near the end she ended up crying with the emotion she had put into the song. Then at the end another sight I cant recall seeing before as she went down and hugged a large number of the audience.
The band consisted of keyboards, acoustic bass, drums and guitar and a string quartet. Several shouts for various songs was dismissed by reminding the audience that with a string quartet on stage, those sort of songs just would not get performed.
Midway through she gave a very tempered rant against Donald Trump, hoping that he would just implode.
So an evening of introspection, reflection and lament. and THE VOICE, which soared un-restrained through the vast domed cavern that is the RAH.
Final thought, she was rather respectful of the setting, her set totally fitting the venue.

Sunday 13 March 2016

wonder.land @ The National Theatre, London


At times, visually spectacular, musically a great disappointment. The lyricist should be shot imposing old style musical songs into an inner city urban environment. Albarn should also be shot for pandering to such crap, |What happened to Gorillaz, what happened to Blur.
This had the feel of under development, the basic concept is so good but has not been taken through to its logical, and theatrical conclusion, which is a shame on the NT.
If you get to see it, make sure you are in the centre with a viewpoint about head level with the actors. Olivier's stage is just to wide for the production.
And there is one jaw dropping moment that nearly was just worth the entrance fee alone.

Hail Caesar



 Mildly amusing which keeps a grin on your face throughout. One for the film buffs. The on-set sequences are the most interesting and captures the era so well.
Josh Brolin convincing as Mannix, the Hollywood fixer at the time, and on reflection, fixes his own part again in the Hollywood story.
It did however from very early on remind me of Punchdrunk's brilliant production of The Drowned Man (a Hollywood Fable) which we saw in the summer of 2013. I just wonder if the Coens saw that production as it appears that late in 2013 they took an old idea of the shelf and reinvented it.

Good

Thursday 25 February 2016

The Revenant


The first thirty minutes of this film is excellent, they dont come much better. The in your face steady-Cam is something to behold...cannot be faulted.
Thereafter it is all downhill, ponderous and over long. Worth an Oscar (or even two) not in my book.

New review ratings.
First thirty minutes - Excellent
Therafter - Just reasonable


Sunday 7 February 2016

The Big Short


A must see film.
Treats the audience with the respect due to the intellectual grasp you require to understand what the hell is going on.
Good central performances by Bale and Carell and to a lesser degree, Gosling. Nice little cameo from Brad Pitt and full marks to him for co producing.
Will reap a number of Oscars.
The scene of a naked woman (Margot Robbie) drinking champagne in the bath and explaining some  obscure trading terms and what they meant, was just pure joy.

9.5/10

Monday 1 February 2016

Camille O'Sullivan @ The Roundhouse, Camden, London




Looking forward to gig especially when I realised that it was to be 'In the round'. Along with a few photographs from her Facebook site showing what appeared to be the construction of illuminated stage props.
Did not look at the tickets when they arrived from Songkick who had alerted me to the gig and it was only on inspection when we arrived at the Roundhouse did it become obvious that this was a seated event, and we did not have a good location.
So it proved.
The gig was not in the round, but on a thrust stage, we were located stage left in the upper stalls and I had one of the cast iron columns right in my line of sight of the front of the stage.
Then to matters matters worse, the enlarged band from the last time we saw, were far too heavy, and I will point out the drummer and lead guitarist in that respect.
When the songs had little or no musical backing, all was great, but then in the act of unleashing some additional drama into the songs (which was not neccessary) the overwhelming and continuous thud thud from the drums and the scream of the guitar just drowned it all out.
The other half quite rightly commented that it made it sound amateur.
Nice little tribute to Bowie and I was surprised not to hear any mention of Wogan, who had passed away earlier in the day.
Late introduction of the 'Roundhouse Choir' was greatly appreciated and used to great effect on the final number, Nick Cave's The Ship Song. This I managed to video well as the couple in front of me had just left and I was able to from a human tripod with my legs and arms to steady the camera and also shot straight at the stage. Five efforts revealed that I was pointing to high as I tried to shot over the large head sitting down in front of me.

Thursday 28 January 2016

The Assassin


Simply exquisitely beautiful.
Watch on the biggest screen and in the darkest cinema possible.
The timeline is nothing like you have ever experienced before.
It is like a series of matchlessly composed still photographs which slightly move that are pulled together to form this film. That minimal movement is produced by either mist, smoke or sheer curtains floating around in front of you. Not by the cast. This is not a martial arts film by any stretch of the imagination.
9.5 / 10

Saturday 16 January 2016

Meilyr Jones @ Electrowertz, Islington, London


So first gig of the year, and first visit to the eclectic Electrowertz by the Angel tube station in Islington. Great location to get home from. Not a great start to the gig as it appeared that the backing group turned up late and were therefore a good 30 minutes late in starting their set. Then after they had cleared the stage both keyboards and a violin could not be amplified. Much scurrying around, leads changes, Meilyr looking not particularly amused. Then some 30 minutes after he was due to start everything was finally working.
Looking at the audience, aware of the slight resentment that had built up, Meilyr spoke into the mike. “I always wondered if I could change an atmosphere with the click of a finger”  and the band burst into a tremendous version of his single ‘How To Appreciate A Work Of Art’. Energy aplenty
Suddenly, the entire room, which is only 200 cap, are completely locked in astonishment as to just how good this band really are - even though it’s a fully amped gig, people are silent during songs, mouths slightly ajar.
We had caught him by sheer accident at last years EOTR festival, playing a secret set on the piano stage in the woods, The link is the video they made, but annoyingly I cant see us, back in the gloom of the night, but a shot I took and that is on the EOTR entry made back in September shows him singing with the Dutch master's mirror on the rear wall.
YouTube End of the Road Secret Set link
So when an opportunity came up that he was playing in London we jumped up the opportunity to see him again. But the transition from the acoustic set back in the autumn to this rock gig was the difference between chalk and cheese. This was pure energy but with such an engaging personality.
Other than the three singles released all was from the forthcoming album which none of us had heard. The set dipped a little when he sung solo backing himself up on keyboards but then sprang back into life for the last couple of songs to the final one. Referring back to the announcement only three days earlier the passing David Bowie.
"This song is dedicated to a Jones. Usually either me, or that Jones there, he says whilst pointing to his keyboard player. But tonight it’s dedicated to another Jones," he says, with sorrow, as the crowd show him strong support as they celebrate a thin white Jones who has 2016 ready for the taking.
This is the link to the video I managed to make of that song. He goes walkabout into the audience to return back to stage. And that was that, we all filed out and was fortunate to follow Meilyr out and roundly congratulated him.
A fine gig and a rare pleasure especially when you dont know an artists work to be then absolutely bowled over by them. A great start to the year.
Vimeo video link.