Thursday, March 15, 2007
Every time you close your eyes...
Last night Al and myself went up to London Village to celebrate his birthday in the honourable presence of Arcade Fire (look, Al, no definite article! :p) at Brixton Academy.
Supporting was Patrick Wolf, whom I'd heard of but didn't know all that much about. His voice reminded me of Jarvis Cocker, and his music isn't a million miles away either, except with more violins (his lead violinist made all sorts of crazy guitarry noises), but the man himself is a lot more of a spectacle -- some might say too much of one. He came onstage in a medieval nobleman's jacket thing, a shirt and skinny tie, braces, and unnervingly short shorts, with glitter both in his hair and on his legs. Various of these items were shed during his set (thankfully not the shorts!). I quite liked his music, and he's clearly got presence, but he came across as being possibly a little too outrageous for his own good... but maybe that's just the stuffy English male in me talking :)
The Fire themselves were as awesome as we'd been led to believe. Even more so than on record, each of their songs builds into an overwhelming wall of noise... but instead of being created by 3 guys with guitars turned up to 11, the 10 musicians each contribute a small amount to the whole. Three or four of them constantly changed instruments and stage positions, and at different times there was a double bass, a church organ, a hurdy-gurdy, a xylophone, an accordion... all sorts. The only downside was that between songs there needed to be a couple of minutes' gap while they prepared for the next song, during which the cheering would, understandably, gradually subside... but instead of bantering with the audience in these gaps, the lead singer tended to admonish us for not being loud enough. Maybe they're just used to crazy North Americans :p During the songs was a different matter, though -- there was some full-on jumping, moshing and crowd-surfing going on, especially towards the end when "Power Out" and "Rebellion" were played back-to-back!
All in all, a fantastic evening. Cheers, Al! Chal.
Supporting was Patrick Wolf, whom I'd heard of but didn't know all that much about. His voice reminded me of Jarvis Cocker, and his music isn't a million miles away either, except with more violins (his lead violinist made all sorts of crazy guitarry noises), but the man himself is a lot more of a spectacle -- some might say too much of one. He came onstage in a medieval nobleman's jacket thing, a shirt and skinny tie, braces, and unnervingly short shorts, with glitter both in his hair and on his legs. Various of these items were shed during his set (thankfully not the shorts!). I quite liked his music, and he's clearly got presence, but he came across as being possibly a little too outrageous for his own good... but maybe that's just the stuffy English male in me talking :)
The Fire themselves were as awesome as we'd been led to believe. Even more so than on record, each of their songs builds into an overwhelming wall of noise... but instead of being created by 3 guys with guitars turned up to 11, the 10 musicians each contribute a small amount to the whole. Three or four of them constantly changed instruments and stage positions, and at different times there was a double bass, a church organ, a hurdy-gurdy, a xylophone, an accordion... all sorts. The only downside was that between songs there needed to be a couple of minutes' gap while they prepared for the next song, during which the cheering would, understandably, gradually subside... but instead of bantering with the audience in these gaps, the lead singer tended to admonish us for not being loud enough. Maybe they're just used to crazy North Americans :p During the songs was a different matter, though -- there was some full-on jumping, moshing and crowd-surfing going on, especially towards the end when "Power Out" and "Rebellion" were played back-to-back!
All in all, a fantastic evening. Cheers, Al! Chal.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
They are all noblemen who have gone wrong.
I really must write a bit about Pirates of Penzance before the experience fades, but this post is going to have to be written fragmentally, in odd moments, as I'm ridiculously busy this week. So much for recovery! I even for-went (forgoed?) my planned evening off yesterday to go to the pub quiz... but we did come second, so it was worth it.
So, anyway, this weekend just gone saw the first, and quite possibly only, sightings of the PGD on stage (not counting the usual high school nonsense, that is). It wasn't as scary an experience as I feared it might be, but then I did spend a lot of the time hiding at the back! Also, the audience is in darkness, of course, so although you're aware of them, it's only dimly... and perhaps most importantly, you can't make out their faces. And as a chorus member, I always had chorus-mates nearby for support. Overall, it was a fantastic experience, and I'm extremely glad I stuck with it, so I guess thanks go to Jon and Dave for dragging me along in the first place!
The show itself went better than I think some of us were expecting ... in fact, it couldn't have gone much better at all. Almost-full-houses every night (apart from the matinee, which was a little bit pointless!), good audience reactions, principals all on top form, and all the "veterans" said it was one of the best LOpSoc shows for ages. Whoop!
The final night was utterly crazy. After the show, which finished at around 10pm, we had to immediately clear out the entire stage and set, and put everything away in various locations around campus. All that took the best part of four hours... only then did we finally get to party. Myself and James (who had very kindly come to support me, as had Rae the evening before) took a detour back to my flat to get booze, where my housemate Bob and friends were just about to conk out after their own evening shenanigans. This was gone 2am. If we'd sat down at that point, it would've been all over; but we resisted, and headed back out into the night, to the after-show party. And there we stayed, all night, getting steadily drunker, sleepier and sillier; which was, of course, excellent fun!
I now really must try to stop making Gilbert & Sullivan-based responses to anything anyone says....
(Pic courtesy of my Dad -- thanks, Dad!)
So, anyway, this weekend just gone saw the first, and quite possibly only, sightings of the PGD on stage (not counting the usual high school nonsense, that is). It wasn't as scary an experience as I feared it might be, but then I did spend a lot of the time hiding at the back! Also, the audience is in darkness, of course, so although you're aware of them, it's only dimly... and perhaps most importantly, you can't make out their faces. And as a chorus member, I always had chorus-mates nearby for support. Overall, it was a fantastic experience, and I'm extremely glad I stuck with it, so I guess thanks go to Jon and Dave for dragging me along in the first place!
The show itself went better than I think some of us were expecting ... in fact, it couldn't have gone much better at all. Almost-full-houses every night (apart from the matinee, which was a little bit pointless!), good audience reactions, principals all on top form, and all the "veterans" said it was one of the best LOpSoc shows for ages. Whoop!
The final night was utterly crazy. After the show, which finished at around 10pm, we had to immediately clear out the entire stage and set, and put everything away in various locations around campus. All that took the best part of four hours... only then did we finally get to party. Myself and James (who had very kindly come to support me, as had Rae the evening before) took a detour back to my flat to get booze, where my housemate Bob and friends were just about to conk out after their own evening shenanigans. This was gone 2am. If we'd sat down at that point, it would've been all over; but we resisted, and headed back out into the night, to the after-show party. And there we stayed, all night, getting steadily drunker, sleepier and sillier; which was, of course, excellent fun!
I now really must try to stop making Gilbert & Sullivan-based responses to anything anyone says....
(Pic courtesy of my Dad -- thanks, Dad!)
Monday, February 26, 2007
A pair of ducks, a pair of ducks, a most ingenious pair of ducks
Phew! What a weekend. Up at normal worky time on Saturday morning for an all-day rehearsal, by the end of which I was swaying about from tiredness and my throat ached. I'd previously agreed to go along to the final night of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown that evening, and at the time all I really wanted to do was have a nap... but I'm glad I went along because it was damn good. It's basically a series of set-pieces based on the Peanuts comic strips, with a few musical numbers mixed in. All very random, but very funny. After that, I finally went to bed. Sunday I had a bit of a lie-in before heading off to help with set-building for the show. This involved lots of noisy power tools, which was aces, obviously, but again pretty tiring! As my boss is off ill today, I've rewarded myself by not doing terribly much.
Going back a bit now, Thursday was pretty cool, too. Myself, Bob and his office-mates went to see The Science Of Sleep, the new film from Michel Gondry (who directed the excellent Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind). Science Of Sleep is a lot less mainstream, and I'm not sure I quite liked how it ended, but it's very imaginative and the animation sequences are fabulous. It's one of those films where you've just got to go along with it and not worry too much. Anyway, on the way back, we walk past a bar called The Platform Tavern. I mention to Bob that I've never been in there and really must sometime because it looks interesting... and we slow down and glance at each other, then towards the bar, then back at each other...
A thoroughly enjoyable couple of pints and a folk band later, we continue on our way home. A little later we pass The Red Lion, which claims to be the oldest pub in Southampton. "I've never been in here either", say I. So we do. It wasn't quite as fun, and my beer tasted distinctly off, but it's a grand old building -- you can just imagine the medieval revelry -- and they had a pet parrot too!
Finally I should just mention Kombat Opera Presents, a new series for Sunday evenings on BBC2, nicely sandwiched between Top Gear and MOTD2. Bob demanded we watch it, and it was ace. It's from the same people who did Jerry Springer: The Opera, and each week they spoof a different TV show in the style of an opera. Last night it was The Apprentice, with John Thompson as Sir Alan Sugar (he doesn't sing though, unfortunately!). Very silly, in the best possible way.
Going back a bit now, Thursday was pretty cool, too. Myself, Bob and his office-mates went to see The Science Of Sleep, the new film from Michel Gondry (who directed the excellent Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind). Science Of Sleep is a lot less mainstream, and I'm not sure I quite liked how it ended, but it's very imaginative and the animation sequences are fabulous. It's one of those films where you've just got to go along with it and not worry too much. Anyway, on the way back, we walk past a bar called The Platform Tavern. I mention to Bob that I've never been in there and really must sometime because it looks interesting... and we slow down and glance at each other, then towards the bar, then back at each other...
A thoroughly enjoyable couple of pints and a folk band later, we continue on our way home. A little later we pass The Red Lion, which claims to be the oldest pub in Southampton. "I've never been in here either", say I. So we do. It wasn't quite as fun, and my beer tasted distinctly off, but it's a grand old building -- you can just imagine the medieval revelry -- and they had a pet parrot too!
Finally I should just mention Kombat Opera Presents, a new series for Sunday evenings on BBC2, nicely sandwiched between Top Gear and MOTD2. Bob demanded we watch it, and it was ace. It's from the same people who did Jerry Springer: The Opera, and each week they spoof a different TV show in the style of an opera. Last night it was The Apprentice, with John Thompson as Sir Alan Sugar (he doesn't sing though, unfortunately!). Very silly, in the best possible way.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Children of the sun, see your time has just begun
Myself and Bob have just finished watching the final episode of possibly the best kids' cartoon series ever made, The Mysterious Cities Of Gold, which my brother gave me on DVD(*) for Christmas. It was one of the few programmes from the 80s that really stuck in my mind... not coherently, just a few odd images (mostly the golden condor, obv) and a sense that it was something out of the ordinary. It was definitely worth seeing again -- clunky lost-in-translation dialogue, dodgy synth soundtrack and all. And the best part was, the DVD included footage of Philip Schofield presenting the final epsiode from the Broom Cupboard on Children's BBC and singing along to the end credits! How ace is that. How shall we entertain ourselves post-Hollyoaks now? We might have to start talking to each other or something. Imagine that. :p
* unofficial, of course... no commercial English-language version has ever been licensed!
* unofficial, of course... no commercial English-language version has ever been licensed!
Monday, February 19, 2007
Chinese New Year
On Sunday morning, myself and Bob wandered into town to see the Chinese New Year celebrations. As he says on his blog, we saw first of all a "junior" dragon dance, done (and done well!) by kids; then some martial arts displays, lion and unicorn dances, and finally a huge, 120ft-long dragon that eventually escaped out of the Civic Centre and down the high street!
Unfortunately, after the first dance, the batteries in my camera ran out. I had some spares, but due to me being a thicko and not realising that rechargeables don't come fully charged, they didn't work. Arse. Fortunately, Bob took a load more (here).
(and yes, I realise that neither of the kids are Chinese...)
Unfortunately, after the first dance, the batteries in my camera ran out. I had some spares, but due to me being a thicko and not realising that rechargeables don't come fully charged, they didn't work. Arse. Fortunately, Bob took a load more (here).
(and yes, I realise that neither of the kids are Chinese...)
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Meet me on my vast verandah, my sweet untouched Miranda
Well, hello there. I'm a little bored. I have been most of this weekend, to be honest... it's been a bit of a nothingy one. I suppose I shouldn't complain; my "school nights" have been rather fun recently, what with pub quizzes, rehearsals (8th to 10th of March, people... put it in your diaries :p), playing with Flickr's geotagging system (check it out, Flickr types; it's pretty awesome) and seeing bands. Unfortunately, on the down-side, my laptop is very unwell -- both the keyboard and mouse have decided they can't be arsed responding anymore. In the meantime I've taken my work laptop home instead.
Back to the bands, though: on Wednesday myself and Al saw the Bluetones and partied like it was 1996. I was a big fan of theirs back in the day (hell, I still am!), so I was pleased to see they've still got it, both as a live act and as songwriters -- their new stuff, while nothing spectacular, is still very catchy and hook-laden. Mark Morriss seemed a bit annoyed with the crowd's lack of enthusiasm, though!
Then on Friday, and on a whim really (although to be fair some people I knew were going anyway) I saw the fantastic Decemberists. I knew very little about them before the gig, and it was the first time in ages that I felt I'd "discovered" a great new band. They have shades of the Arcade Fire, Belle and Sebastian and Sufjan Stevens, among others; but a little less serious then the first and a little louder than either of the latter two. Live, in addition to the usual guitars and keyboards, they use an accordion, a double bass, a violin, and even a hurdy-gurdy, which I'd heard of but never seen before. Check 'em out if you've not come across them... and if you have, why didn't you tell me? :p
I woke up on Saturday morning feeling slightly dull-headed but fairly relaxed, and thought I'd put the radio on. But hang on -- where have all the Radio 4 Saturday morning/lunchtime comedy panel shows gone?! It was all politics and documentaries... interesting stuff, I'm sure, but I was in the mood for something a little more light-hearted. So what's good to listen to on weekend mornings these days, radio-wise? Cheers!
Ooh, I've just been invited along to the pub for a Sunday roast. Things are looking up!
Back to the bands, though: on Wednesday myself and Al saw the Bluetones and partied like it was 1996. I was a big fan of theirs back in the day (hell, I still am!), so I was pleased to see they've still got it, both as a live act and as songwriters -- their new stuff, while nothing spectacular, is still very catchy and hook-laden. Mark Morriss seemed a bit annoyed with the crowd's lack of enthusiasm, though!
Then on Friday, and on a whim really (although to be fair some people I knew were going anyway) I saw the fantastic Decemberists. I knew very little about them before the gig, and it was the first time in ages that I felt I'd "discovered" a great new band. They have shades of the Arcade Fire, Belle and Sebastian and Sufjan Stevens, among others; but a little less serious then the first and a little louder than either of the latter two. Live, in addition to the usual guitars and keyboards, they use an accordion, a double bass, a violin, and even a hurdy-gurdy, which I'd heard of but never seen before. Check 'em out if you've not come across them... and if you have, why didn't you tell me? :p
I woke up on Saturday morning feeling slightly dull-headed but fairly relaxed, and thought I'd put the radio on. But hang on -- where have all the Radio 4 Saturday morning/lunchtime comedy panel shows gone?! It was all politics and documentaries... interesting stuff, I'm sure, but I was in the mood for something a little more light-hearted. So what's good to listen to on weekend mornings these days, radio-wise? Cheers!
Ooh, I've just been invited along to the pub for a Sunday roast. Things are looking up!
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Ramblin' Man
On Sunday, as it was a nice day, I went for a walk in the New Forest. And very nice it was too, as ever. However, doing this particular walk (4½ miles through woods and somewhat muddy fields following the Lymington River from Brockenhurst down to, er, Lymington) meant that I have now walked a connected path all the way from Bournemouth to the other side of Winchester - over 50 miles in total. Over two or three years, I mean, and not always in the same direction; but still.
I've been going for walks around the area ever since I moved down here, but was only last year that it occurred to me to try to link them up. When I thought about it, I'd done most of it already without even trying, primarily because I have to get the train and walk between stations. The most obvious gap was between Ashurst and my house, which would mean walking along busy roads through Totton and Millbrook (lovely! not) ... or getting the ferry across from Hythe. Much nicer. The walk I did on Sunday I left til last as it looked to have a few too many roads and not enough forest for my liking; but it, too, turned out to be very pleasant. Click the map for Flickr pics :)
I've been going for walks around the area ever since I moved down here, but was only last year that it occurred to me to try to link them up. When I thought about it, I'd done most of it already without even trying, primarily because I have to get the train and walk between stations. The most obvious gap was between Ashurst and my house, which would mean walking along busy roads through Totton and Millbrook (lovely! not) ... or getting the ferry across from Hythe. Much nicer. The walk I did on Sunday I left til last as it looked to have a few too many roads and not enough forest for my liking; but it, too, turned out to be very pleasant. Click the map for Flickr pics :)
