‘Like with any fantasy, reality has a habit of creeping in through the cracks’ Clod Ensemble & Nu Civilisation Orchestra Mea culpa, mea culpa, this review will be part apology, part whinge and hopefully just a little amusing. Picture this, a rushed theatre critic, invited by a trusted PR person to his favourite venue, quickly skims the show’s blurb, sees ...
‘An evening of such delight’ Full-time country music fan, and a part-time alcoholic, the two have always been a match made in heaven for me. But Phoebe Stringer productions prove that the genre has more to it, much much more. I will explain. Picture the scene: an industrial estate, a clear autumn night, a brewery that specifies in low gluten, ...
‘Everything feels skin deep’ Climate change is all the rage right now.. or at least it certainly is raging… Theatre is especially leading the charge while the thing that mainly pollutes, oil, or methane leaks in Turkmenistan for example are sadly lagging behind. Enter into this frantic scrabble of conscious shows “nature songwriter” Erland Cooper and friends. Now I reviewed ...
‘Beautiful music, beautiful sentiment, and at times beautiful animation’ The world is melting as you may have heard, and with those of us of reading age slowly racing towards senility, the children are our only hope. With climate despair rampant it is important to remind young people of the choice and hope inherent in their future. What better way to do that ...
‘Looking at the works of Russian composers carefully’ Culture and conflict: ever dancing an uneasy waltz. Yet a cleverly comprised program can celebrate the best of a composer while also placing them in the wider geographic and historic concept. Contextualise contextualise contextualise… ….and doesn’t that sound fun? Helpfully the music, along with being informative happens to also be divine. Are ...
‘What Blackbird has is THE voice’ Preferring to paddle in the bluer side of the musical pool, the bubbling Jazz jacuzzi of this metaphor always intimidated me. An artificial aura of “cool” rippling out from its denizens. Although Lady Blackbird supported by DoomCannon hasn’t completely changed my mind on that front, they has pried open my reluctant eyes somewhat. EFG London jazz ...
‘An evening is a glimpse into a country in the grips of great change’ Only a few times in my career as a music reviewer have I experienced the Barbican shucking off its cool yet relatively formal façade and getting downNdirty. One was a 24-hour concert, where any sense of decorum flittered away by about the 7th hour. The second time was ...
‘Birkin is a hard-working singer’ The epitome of a cross-channel-life and 1960s cool, Jane Birkin returns to the stage at the barbican after 3 years of absence. The same charm sits quietly with her, proving she is so much more than an overpriced handbag. Although linked inexorably with the swinging 60s, and Serge Gainsbourg her professional life after their breakup ...
‘Slight cracks in their polished CA charm’ What’s more psychedelic than California? With San Francisco being the multicolored fractalizing centre. The sun, the sea, and the soul. Beginning as an amalgamation of three bands in 2005 in the North Bay music scene . Monophonic’s mind-bending tones, with dashes of classic Motown, has…..soared seems the wrong verb for these deeply relaxed ...
‘Wistful, yet touchingly heartfelt’ An evening of Russian classical music and patriotism sounds like a tough sell currently. But despite the raging argument of cultural-canceling the Barbican and BBC Symphony Orchestra’s clever selection and curation prove to be a thought-provoking event. Framing the work and more specifically Symphony No 5 in D minor of Dmitry Shostakovich alongside one of his ...