Derren Brown – Reading Hexagon
Posted: Sat 7 May, 2005 Filed under: General, Reviews(ish) 3 Comments »While I still haven’t seen the show that Gordon’s referring to, we did see Derren Brown live last night. And it was bloody good.
Rather than “just” being a string of stunts, Derren turned out to be excellent on stage – funny, relaxed, interesting, clever – and more than a little creepy in places. The section where he walks on broken glass was – for me – the weakest part of the show, but it was still interesting to see. It was also fun to see Pix called on stage from the audience – yes, Pix, your “Oh fuck” was easily lip-read off the camera that was on you at the time! Just one of those random occurrences, but still good to see.
The final set piece was excellent too, although I won’t describe it as perhaps it would ruin it for people who have yet to see the show. (There’s still a lot of it to go, including some seventeen days in London’s Cambridge Theatre) The explanation at the end was enough to appease the mind, but still leaves plenty of room for “Yeah, but how did he do that bit”.
And really that’s what a stage “magic” act is all about.
Aliens vs. Predator
Posted: Tue 3 May, 2005 Filed under: Reviews(ish) 2 Comments »Well, I finally got round to watching AVP last night. I know a lot of people have panned it as being shite, but I thought I’d give it a go anyway. Praise the Lord for LoveFilm, which meant I really didn’t even have to pay for it.
And yes, it’s utter shite. Watchable shite – even quite amusing shite – but still shite.
Faithless @ Alexandra Palace, London
Posted: Sun 1 May, 2005 Filed under: Reviews(ish), Thoughts Leave a comment »As some people will know, I missed the last Faithless gig due to a slight problem of it being in Manchester, while I had interviews in Bracknell either side of the day of the gig. Fuck it. So, as soon as we saw the tickets on sale for the gig at Ally Pally. It was only later that we found out it was going to be an 8pm to 2am gig, rather than a more “normal” time – but hey ho, not a problem.
Anyway, last night was the night of the gig, and bloody good it was too. The support was – well, iffy, I suppose would be a tactful way of phrasing it. The first band were (if memory serves) called Overhead, and were abysmal. The sound mix was totally out, and they just weren’t good at all. The second band, Infadels were much better – although in fairness they didn’t really have to work for that praise – and did a good job of warming up the crowd.
It has to be said, Alexandra Palace is bloody huge. I’d never been there before, but want to go again – hopefully this time when cameras are allowed inside the fucking venue. It’s a great place, from all appearances – with a couple of exceptions. But more about that later.
Faithless themselves were – as always – bloody great. This tour was in support of their new greatest hits album Forever Faithless, so the gig involved the best bits from all four albums. Starting off with “Reverence”, and covering all the high points – Insomnia, God is a DJ, We Come One and a bundle of others – they really just showed the support acts (and everyone else) exactly how a big gig at this level should be done. The lighting rig was exceptional, the sound quality spot-on, and the entire thing just rocked.
In fact, the only low points were some of the crowd, who could’ve been under the dictionary definition of “fuckwit cunt”, and the farce at the end. For some reason Ally Pally has never seen fit to sort out the access roads, so when we eventually got a cab back to the hotel (a farce that deserves it’s own post – suffice it to say for now that I’ve never been so glad to get out of a cab intact, and without the (expected) aid of fire-crews and a 999 call) it was stuck on the access road for a good twenty minutes.
It doesn’t take a great deal to organise things like traffic flow, car-parking and the like, but it was the side that Alexandra Palace failed in. And, as a final memory of a superb gig, it does make me think that I wouldn’t go there for another one, despite how good everything else was. Which is a pity.
Kilroy and the Gypsies
Posted: Thu 14 April, 2005 Filed under: Reviews(ish), Thoughts 1 Comment »I didn’t get to see Channel 4’s Kilroy and the Gypsies when it was transmitted, but caught up with it thanks to TiVo knowing my viewing tendencies, and recording it without being prompted.
Much to my surprise, Kilroy – despite starting off as an utter tosser, which was no real shock – actually started to see the point of view of some of the people he was living with. By the end of the programme, when he saw the “gypsies” being evicted from land that they actually owned, he seemed to be almost human, and quite upset by what he saw.
The cynic in me says that he reacted this way because it was on TV – but there’s that nagging optimism that maybe he did see things from their side as well.
I still think Kilroy’s a tosspot, and I don’t know that anything will change that opinion. But as TV goes, the programme actually managed to be quite thought-provoking, and not too “ooh, look at the funny people” in tone.
The Levellers – Oxford Brookes’ SU.
Posted: Wed 13 April, 2005 Filed under: Music, Reviews(ish) 3 Comments »Well, we did make it in the end – and as normal photos will be posted later today, or tomorrow morning. I just haven’t sorted them off the camera yet.
Brookes Uni SU bar isn’t much of a venue, it has to be said. The people behind the bar had obviously suffered some kind of genetic cross-patch with snails, as was made evident by both their speed and their lack of anything resembling a personality. Quarter of an hour to get served, which takes the piss rather than serving it. (Yeah, they had Budweiser on tap, so serving piss is meant literaly)
On the other hand, the gig itself was pretty damn good. The support act, McDermott’s Two Hours were OK – perfect for the “crusty” image of the Levellers and so on. Irish, political, slightly odd, and with a fiddle player to die for. Supposedly they’re one of the main influences on the Levellers, so fair play.
The Levellers themselves were – to me, anyway – a bit of a surprise. In appearance they were far more “pub rock” than “crusty” – well, the bass-player fitted the bill, but the rest were strangely ‘normal’. I found the same with Offspring, among others – and the lead singer does remind me of Offspring quite a lot. Punk and rebellion-type music doesn’t really seem to have stayed with students and teenagers, but instead has grown-up and aged with its original audience.
Anyway, they were bloody good. Right from the start, they were stunning – loud, fast, and just how they should be. All the old favourites were played, along with stuff from the new album.
Thoroughly enjoyed it, even with the bunch of arseholes stood next to us. Oh, and the woman one of them was groping, who could only be described as “rougher than a badger’s arse in Autumn”. But they just provided amusement/bemusement. The gig itself was great.
Dead Can Dance – The Gig
Posted: Fri 8 April, 2005 Filed under: Reviews(ish) 7 Comments »(NOTE : Photos will follow, probably tonight or tomorrow – they’re at home and I didn’t get a chance to crop them etc. yet)
It’s been a fair while since I’ve seen Dead Can Dance – the last time I saw Lisa Gerrard was about seven years ago (in fact, having looked at the album‘s release date, it was probably nine years ago) and it must be back in the early ’90s when I saw DCD. Ye Gods that makes me feel old.
So last night was always going to be a bit special – and it was the last night of the european section of their tour. The Forum has always been a bit of a sweatbox, and last night hasn’t changed my opinion of it – the place was heaving. And sweating. For some reason a huge percentage of the audience was apparently from Scandinavia – no idea why, but there we go. Movement was difficult, it was so busy – for the most part I just stayed in one place, against the wall of the sound-desk and got battered by people shoving past. I wish I knew what it is about people that makes them keep going for drinks, bogs, whatever while the act they’ve paid at least (in this case) £20 per ticket to see is on stage. Or, even more annoying, keep talking to their mates while the main act’s on. It’s fucking annoying – if you want to talk, fuck off. If you want to see the gig, stay. Just don’t do both – because your “talking” is at such a volume that the people all around can hear you too, you self-obsessed spaff-wit tossburger.
This trait is particularly noticeable during a gig like tonights, where the main act isn’t a wall-of-noise type band, and in fact a lot of their stuff is surprisingly delicate. Bass-heavy as chuff in a lot of cases, but not all. In fact, Lisa Gerrard did perform some of her solo-voice almost madrigally operatic stuff, which is truly impressive. By my reckoning her voice covers about five or six octaves – sometimes in one lyric. The only person I’ve seen with a greater range is Diamanda Galas, and she’s just scary. But that’s something for another day.
The gig was excellent – as expected, they performed a lot of their more well-known stuff, with “The Ubiquitous Mr LoveGrove” getting an ovation from the first beat, along with several others. They commanded the Forum amazingly well, especially considering that they hardly said twenty words to the audience all night. A definite presence, but not a personality, if that makes any sense at all.
Unfortunately my MP3 recorder failed utterly to capture the gig decently – if I’m going to attempt that again, I think I’ll need to sort out a proper microphone, or start getting to know people on the sound-desks. The photos came out pretty well – it was a very dimly-lit stage, yet I seem to have finally sussed out the right shutter speed (about 1/25th of a second, if you’re interested) that stops the people being too blurred, but also stops the shots from being too dark. Hell, it’s only taken me a year to sort out.
All things considered, it was a brilliant concert – but I can’t deny, I was glad to get out of the Forum and into the cool night to go home too. Fresh air – even London Fresh – was a joy after that crowd.
Hostage
Posted: Wed 6 April, 2005 Filed under: Reviews(ish) 4 Comments »Last night we went to see “Hostage” – well, the other choice had been “Miss Congeniality 2“, with the dreaded Bullock, so Hostage it was.
The main thing I found myself thinking throughout the film was “How the hell did this manage to end up with only a 15 certificate?”. I’ve seen 18 cert films that were less graphic in their violence, let alone the depiction of dead or dying people. Yet there’s been no comments from certain aspect of the media that I’ve noticed at all.
Anyway – the film itself is pretty stunning. The ending slightly lets it down, there’s a couple of clichés that rankle slightly, but in general it’s bloody good. Not pleasant, not “entertainment” in the strictest sense, but it’s good. Dark as chuff, but it holds itself well in that context.
Bruce Willis’s character is interesting – even with the view of the now-standard White Vest. You keep expecting him to make a comment about having a really bad day a la Die Hard, or say “yippe-kie-aye motherfucker”. But he doesn’t. And that’s no bad thing, just a sign of stereotyping.
It’s also interesting that the girl who plays his daughter in the film actually is his daughter, Rumer. (Stupid name, but hey, that’s life in ‘ollywood)
Overall, Hostage doesn’t make for comfortable viewing, but the atmosphere and darkness of the entire film’s attitude makes it into a superb piece. Just don’t watch it while eating, particularly anything red…