A brand new season of candle lit Acoustic Nights start again this Friday and every 1st Friday of the month through until July 2011!
New faces include TIM MANNING of BLIND RIVER SCARE from Newport Wales and the TRITONES from Dewsbury. Local lad PHILIP COCKERHAM makes his first solo appearance for us following an incredible set he did in July with Dave Bowie and Tom Bliss. Returning from Nottingham after their fantastic debut performance last May are STARSCREEN. Add to this 'The Man In The Hat' CHRIS MARTIN, FINOLA & JASMINE KENNEDY and you have the entire evening jam-packed with excellent talent.
Please bring some extra cash so you can buy CDs from the artists at special prices!
Pilot Theatre's tour of Romeo and Juliet now at York Theatre Royal is enjoyable and well worth seeing. Marcus Romer and Katie Posner as co-directors do an excellent job of keeping this teenage love story fresh up to date and relevant to modern young people, and they and the whole team are to be congratulated for this. It is action-packed, visually exciting, and with a contemporary sound track throughout. The themes of the play are as relevant to an audience today as they were when it was first performed. Chloe Lamford’s set design is beautiful and simple, with the many silk flowers used throughout to comic effect. Rachel Spicer as Juliet is a revelation, and she really catches the eye as the teenager whose life is to take a tragic turn following a chance meeting with Romeo (Oliver Wilson). Oliver Wilson as Romeo and his Montague family are fantastic together, and for me, are the highlight of this production, as they interact seamlessly together as playful, boisterous cousins and for this, Bryn Holding as Benvolio and Chris Lindon as Mercutio/Paris deserve a lot of credit. Lousia Eyo as “Nurse” steals every scene she’s in. William Travis as Capulet is excellent, and his “Dad dancing” is very funny and worth the ticket price itself! This production kept me entertained, and if this cast and creative team can keep me, a Shakespeare sceptic, entertained, then it must be good. They didn’t change my mind entirely about Shakespeare, but this excellent production made it very enjoyable for me, and that’s a damn good start.
A poignant drama, funny and tender by the Playwright and actress Kate Mellor, ‘A Passionate Woman’ lands at the Hull Truck Theatre skilfully guided by Director Gareth Tudor Price, and after Tuesdays quality, witty and hilarious performance should become a modern classic.
Kay Mellor. Picture by Louise Buckby.
The stage is set as the interior view of an attic; a smorgasbord of discarded paraphernalia. Suddenly an elegant hat appears through the floor closely followed by its wearer, instantly greeted by a great cheer of recognition from the audience.
Kay Mellor, playing Betty took command of the stage and engaged superbly with the audience regaling a tale about her trip to the supermarket. She is joined by her son Mark (played by Anthony Lewis) soon to be married and already dressed in his wedding finery.
Kay Mellor and Stuart Manning. Picture by Louise Buckby.
It is Mark’s wedding day but the story unfolds around Betty and her memories of a romance early into her marriage to Donald with a young Polish neighbour Craze (Stuart Manning). Craze appears as a ghost and the romance of the past is recreated in a dance scene which transformed the feeling of the whole theatre into a 1950s dance hall complete with dancers on the floor and the audience drawn into the scene round the edges of the room. Witty dialogue and action between Betty, Mark and Craze was masterfully choreographed by Julie Venton.
Anthony Lewis and Andrew Dunn. Picture by Louise Buckby.
The second act begins in the same attic but with Mark and his father Donald (Andrew Dunn). Both are concerned that the wedding is now only a short time away and Betty is showing no signs of going to the church. They suddenly realise she is not in the attic and could not have passed them downstairs. The action moves onto the roof of the house.
Humour, pathos and farce combine in this play timed to perfection. Betty recounts poignant moments from her life, provoking a wave of empathy from the audience moving visibly forward in their seats and nodding in agreement. At the very end we briefly meet the poor bride (well portrayed by Emma Potter from the Hull Truck Youth Theatre) who has left the church to find out what has happened to her future husband.
Kay Mellor and Stuart Manning. Picture by Louise Buckby.
A quality play which I predict will join the modern classics such as Abigail’s Party and Shirley Valentine. Brilliantly portrayed under the direction of Gareth Tudor Price this play was well cast, cleverly lighted by Graham Kirk and the stage set and costumes very appropriately designed by Foxton. Julie Venton choreographed the proceedings emphasising the actors timing to a Tee.
As we left to wend our way home we felt that this is how theatre should be. Congratulations to Hull Truck Theatre for this outstanding production.
Denis and Alison for YGG.
A Passionate Woman at the Hull Truck Theatre from Sept 10th - Oct 2nd
For Tickets see http://www.hulltruck.co.uk/
Eve and I clambered out of our tent, recharged the camera’s batteries courtesy of the security people and their hut at the entrance to the field, and made our way to the festival fields in search of breakfast and much needed cups of tea.
After a little reconnaissance and walk we found ourselves listening and thrilled by Ben Barker and the Bob Birch Trio’s funky soulful music on the Main Green Man Stage. Another walk to the ancient stone circle where we enjoyed the Urban Gypsies African dancing before returning to listen to the Gillyflowers.
Refreshed we listened to the exciting Ska of the Bradford Natural Rhythm Band who opened their set with a passionate and courageous call for unity against the backdrop of the ‘fascist’ march through Bradford City that had occurred the day before. Energised rhythms and sparkling harmonies and melody had the festival crowd dancing and cheering and even an outbreak of cold wet windy weather could not dampen the partying.
Time for another cup of tea and so a walk up the hill to the Marvellous Tea Dance Company where the best of tea could be enjoyed in the daintiest of cups.
Invigorated once more we sought out bands we had listened to and did a spot of video interviewing (see below).
Blustery squalls and wetness of weather found us sheltering in the friendly warmth of the Queerinspace Marquee where Terri Shaltiel’s soulful jazz vocals soothed us against the weather.
Then back to the main stage where Ska band The Selector were driving the crowd wild with wonderful rhythms and harmonies.
A thrilling throng of movement greeted Chunky Butt Funky as the band spun into funky soul voice. Then a wonderful group of people from Leeds known as the Voices of The Day Choir joined in with uplifting delicious harmonies and you could sense the emotionally elevating effect on the dancing cheering festival audience. The mood quietened as the festival song ‘Underneath the Limetree’ was sung by Matthew Yates in haunting voice and acoustic guitar an almost melancholy poignancy held in the air. Then the Voices of the Day joined and wrapped a caring optimistic harmonising warmth around the melody and very contemporary lyrics. The mood once more brightened and Chunky Butt Funky along with the ‘Voices of the Day’ sang the festival out in anthemic glory.
The festival crowd cheered and cheered and strangers hugged each other and for a brief moment the crowd held together like one big family in a caring cuddle.
Limetree is a wonderful and special place.
Andrew Sugden
YGG
Beautiful beautiful music enjoy these film clips from the Limetree Finale
The buzzword at the Limetree festival is Green. Limetree is set in a rolling landscape of hill and valley with fields of lush grass and wild flower meadows. Firstly though we had to find the place, eventually throwing aside the Google map which had hindered our progress towards Limetree we drove through a pretty village strangely named Grewelthorpe.
We had arrived and as we drove into the site the attendants scratched their heads; where should we pitch our tent and park the car. We were shown a spot in the overflow field which we thought had enough room and was flat enough but didn’t think that this might be an open invitation for the other five tents which surrounded us when we returned later. I was impressed with the dazzling array of sleeping quarters; tepees, ridge tents, campers, buses, vans. Yes it can be seen that the Limies are an unconventional bunch of festival goers and have an anything goes relaxed attitude to life.
We went for a wander and visited the Jason Rae stage. I was pleased and surprised to discover a band called Blackout Retrospective for whom this was their first real gig. I said surprised because they gave a solid performance, (see film interview and performance below). The crowd and I loved their rocky beats- they are new and vibrant. Dancers seemed impelled to move in a soft robotic action I think the word is techno. There was buzz and air of excitement around the Jason Rae tent and people were thirsty for more. Looking round for refreshment of another kind the bar and food outlets nearby were varied and accessible. So much choice the Thai Yum Yum Tummy, Chicken Brassiere, burger bar and more and that was only the bottom field away from the main stage. These fields show a natural bowl which cradled many activities past and present.
The ancient stone circle was the site of tribal dance workshops where revellers had fun and learned a dance routine to fit all kinds of music. Once the workshop was finished the dancers spilled out in to the Jason Rae marquee and shook their toots to the funky beats of Aria Astrobeat Arkestra (see film clips below).
The atmosphere was a carnival delight, on stage horns blared, an organ excited into frenzy and beats which forced movement through the limbs. Aria Astrobeat Arkestra delivered a great performance and impressive solo’s which lifted the senses. Their jazz afro funk beats delighted the audience and received rapturous applause.
We then bounced from the Jason Rae stage past the drum workshop which was now pounding out beats. These followed us up the field the sound died out as we reached the top. Various stalls fringed the route towards the Green Man stage some nestled together forming a courtyard and invited people to take refreshments others offered goods for sale or activities for children. Most of the tents and stalls suffered the ravages of the wind. Strong gusts whipped up half empty cups and anything and everything that wasn’t held down. As we walked towards the big Green Man stage, the clear voices of a young band replaced the whoosh of the wind.
The Blind Hearts are a good looking band of young men. They played and sung with great clarity, each band member tantalised the audience with crisp sounds that wove and threaded through each other. Their rich tapestries of sounds are contemporary and have influences from the blues. After their set ended we eagerly set up an interview with the band. Finding a quiet place for us to talk is down to luck more than management. Even though the stage closed for a while after each band had finished playing other activities started up and secluded areas either had a generator bubbling away in the background or wind rustling through the trees and hedges. Fortunately the Blind Hearts were unaware of this and chatted easily (see film clips below).
As the evening started to draw in the Limetree took on a new look. We called for a cuppa at the Marvellous Tea Dance Co, a wooden hut decked out with charming cups and doilies. As we ordered under the candlelight Donna served the tea. She looked as pretty as a picture the pale light picked out her features just like a painting by Renoir. While we ate the delicious cakes and drank tea something stirred in the bushes. From the shadows emerged an eight foot high creature which glowed and made weird electronic noises. Excited children followed the creature as it passed by then stole away into the night.
Refreshed we returned to the Green Man stage where a great spectacle hit us. It was the Smoove and Turrel band with gorgeous big brash chunky music. What a combination where saxophone played riff after riff while the lead singer had a raunchy husky voice. They performed some favourites in a pleasing funky jazz style all of their own. The front of the stage was alive with people dancing, cheering and shrieking which blended with the wails from guitar and organ. Smoove and Turrel gave an outstanding performance, each instrument was vivid and like primary colours they contrasted yet complemented each other.
As we walked away orange yellow and green fluorescent batons shone out of the darkness and little and large, people spinning, creating patterns and light shows.
Near exhaustion the tent was now our much needed refuge. The forty winks that we promised ourselves and recharging the batteries were needed.
But just like the true professionals we are we dragged ourselves out of our warm tent and headed back to the main stage to listen to the James Taylor Quartet who played their hit music from the 70's television series ‘Starsky & Hutch’. They wowed the audience with slick rhythms each band member’s solo impressed and delighted. James on his wonderful Hammond Organ and as if we needed an added bonus James Taylor introduced us to Yvonne Yanney. Shimmering in a gold dress this delicate beauty graced the stage then she gave her all. Yvonne was a powerhouse her raunchy at times husky tones had the audience clapping and enjoying every moment.
Now we could head back to bed, thread our way through our neighbours tents and trip wire guy ropes and peacefully rest our heads brimful of beautiful music and rhythms that lullabied us to sleep.
Eve Winterburn
YGG
Colne Blues Festival so many bands and fringe venues, where to start? We headed for Leeds band Poor Boy who's blistering blues and soulful vocals opened the blues fringe and had the audience rocking at the Colne and Nelson Rugby Club Venue.
Next we hotfooted it to the International Stage at the packed to the brim Muni where an excited noisy audience were thrilled by Dr Feelgood's strutting presence, driving rhythm and evocative guitar.
We headed for the acoustic stage where first Lil' Ian Goodsman followed by Charlie White both gave raucously expressive performances to the delight of another fully packed interactive audience.
Back to the Main Stage to catch Nine Below Zero rocking the Muni to a frenzy with full on rhythmic blues, emotional guitar and fun presence.
Then down to the British Stage at the Leisure Centre where an excited loud and exuberant audience was dancing to the hot rhythms and soulful harmonica of the Junkhouse Dog Blues Band, rocking blues excitement continued to thrill with legendary blues singer Carey Bell and his band Atlanta Roots. We finished the night back at the International Stage where Eddie and The Hot Rods iconic, influential and full on rhythm and blues fun finished the evening in style.
Andrew Sugden
YGG
Leeds Festival Fringe finale ended in style at the 'Well' on Wednesday with the Claire Cameron Band hosting a gorgeous night of music.
First up was the Melodicas New Reed reduced to just guitar and vocals, but who set the night up in style.
Then came the 'Moves' with funky soul, pulse quickening uplifting rhythms and harmonies and songs that had the 'Well's' audience clapping whooping and dancing.
Barnsley band Gaia were next with delicious sounds of epic psychedelia combined with anthemically vivacious rhythm and rock that made the heart smile and took emotions on a musically epic journey, enthusiastically cheered by an excited warm hearted audience. Black Water were the penultimate band and they rocked the joint into a frenzy with frenetic beats, writhing rhythmic guitaring, dazzling guitar solos and strong vocals.
Claire Cameron and her band played out the Fringe with flamboyant flair. Energetic, contemporay and unique, Claire's band had the audience writhing and clapping with pulse quickening rhythms combined with delicious harmony and melody and a stunningly visual stage presence.
What a great night at the 'Well' anybody who didn't go missed out! All of these bands are are worth going to see on their own merit-do we really have to wait a year for the next Leeds Fringe?
Andrew Sugden
YGG
New faces include TIM MANNING of BLIND RIVER SCARE from Newport Wales and the TRITONES from Dewsbury. Local lad PHILIP COCKERHAM makes his first solo appearance for us following an incredible set he did in July with Dave Bowie and Tom Bliss. Returning from Nottingham after their fantastic debut performance last May are STARSCREEN. Add to this 'The Man In The Hat' CHRIS MARTIN, FINOLA & JASMINE KENNEDY and you have the entire evening jam-packed with excellent talent.
