'Sunny Afternoon' - Harold Pinter Theatre

'Sunny Afternoon' is the story of The Kinks in the 1960s. The play has transferred from the Hampstead Theatre to the Harold Pinter Theatre in the West End with the same cast. I saw it at Hampstead earlier this year and enjoyed it so much I had to return and I'm pleased I did.

It's billed as being 'based on the music of The Kinks' but it's really the story of Ray and Dave Davies and portrays Ray as an almost reluctant pop star while Dave embraces it and lives up to his nickname of Dave the Rave. Ray is credited as being responsible for the original story (as well as for the songs, of course) and, given that he likes to keep us guessing about what really happened in the past, I suspect some of the episodes aren't necessarily 100% accurate, but it's all good fun anyway. It has the same cast and staging as at Hampstead and if anything that means it's better and tighter since they're more used to each other by now.

The play opens with The Kinks as a backing band for a toff singing a toff's party until Dave lets rip with some energetic guitar and the toff and his friend become their managers. We see Dave inventing the riff to 'You Really Got Me' in his bedroom with Ray, making it dirtier by destroying the speaker and then their struggles in the studio and on tour. Ray gets married and has a daughter while the band want more songs out of him.

The second half opens with The Kinks on tour in America and getting banned, while Ray has a breakdown at home. He sues the management and writes 'Sunny Afternoon' to be sung on the terraces at Wembley for the World Cup in 1966. They return to Number 1 with 'Waterloo Sunset' and we jump forward to 1970 for a closing version of 'Lola' (with the audience on its feet, singing along) mixed with 'All Day And All Of The Night'.

The beauty of a musical based on Ray's songs is that he's got a song for every mood and every circumstance so nothing is strained or bent to make it fit. There are some lovely scenes and one of my favourites was Ray singing 'Long Way From Home' to Dave before signing the contract with Alan Klein that he didn't want to sign.

The cast were excellent and, having performed together at Hampstead, are already tight and on the ball.  John Dalgleish and George Maguire were excellent as Ray and Dave, playing off each other nicely even though they don't look at all like brothers. John does tortured genius very well and George lives up to the Rave nickname effortlessly.

The play is quick paced and keeps going at a gallop from scene to scene, packing in the action and the  music. There's still a runway out into the stalls and this gives the cast a lot of space to play and run around. The set is the same as Hampstead with mainly the amplifier background for most of the scenes, with an American flag for the American tour. There are approximately 2,357 costume changes for the girls, from fans at concerts to go-go dancers on telly shows and I applaud their quick-change skills.

It is, all in all, great fun and should be seen by anyone who appreciates music or some good sibling rivalry. The audience was definitely of a certain age to have seen the Kinks the first time around and it was great for the whole audience to get to our feet to sing along to 'Lola' (just as everyone does at Ray Davies shows). What is it about that song that drags people to their feet and sing a love song to a transexual? It was, of course, as I've mentioned before, my first ever 7" single.

I loved it. I even loved the lady behind me and a few seats over feeling the need to sing along to a few of the songs (especially 'Days'). It's the music, as well as the play, that's opening her mouth and making her sing (and she had a nice voice). The only downside was there was no programme and no merchandise. A West End theatre that runs out of programmes? What? And please, 'Sunny Afternoon' management, get some Kinks and Ray and Dave solo merch in - people will buy it y'know. Audiences like having something to take home as a memory. A cast recording with, I think, 28 songs, will be available at the end of this month so I'll certainly be getting that.

I hope this show runs for a long, long time. I'll be going back again, maybe a few rows nearer the stage so I get showered in confetti when… well, that would be telling. Go on people, go and see this excellent show. Keep it alive, keep it vibrant and keep it Kinky!

'Sunny Afternoon' at the Hampstead Theatre

There's a new musical on the block and this time it's about The Kinks with the original story, music and lyrics by Ray Davies. At one level it's another jukebox musical but this seems to work if only because it's not trying to shoe-horn the songs in to fit the story since Ray has written songs for every mood and every eventuality.

'Sunny Afternoon', named after the song that was at No 1 in the chart in 1966 when England won the World Cup, is the tale of the Kinks in the '60s as recalled by Ray. It says in the programme that it reflects Ray's memories rather than 'the truth' (whatever that might be) and that Dave remembers things slightly differently in some places. It's nice that Dave plays such a large part in the play from the schoolboy with a guitar to the rock star drunk and in a dress after nights of excess.

The majority of the play deals with the early Kinks carer between 1963 and 1966 - their rise and getting banned in America - before re-surfacing with new management in the form of Alan Klein and ends with 'Lola' in 1970. I have no idea how many Kinks songs are featured in the play since, in some scenes, we get a verse and chorus rather than the whole song or two or more songs mashed together so a lot of music is included, maybe up to 25 songs? Some songs are played in full, of course, with the actors behaving like a band as they blast out some of those klassic Kinks songs.

The staging is interesting, with a catwalk out into the seats to make the setting more three dimensional and more stage space (and I was sitting at the end of the catwalk, afraid I'd trip up the actors as they ran around). The stage had a background of a huge bank of amplifiers that set the scene instantly and these were only covered in the first part of the second half with a giant American flag while the Kinks were being busy being banned from America.

The background of amps made for a really powerful scene when Ray played the riff to 'You Really Got Me' on the piano and Dave played it on his guitar and the brothers agreeing it wasn't right. So they plugged the speaker into an amp and again shook their heads. Still not right. So Ray stuck a screwdriver into the speaker to make a dirtier sound and Dave went TWWAAAAANNGGG and it worked! Then Dave starts bouncing on his bed and riffing away as the rest of the family runs in and so do their managers. The play is full of little moments of humour like this.

Which is just as well because that's when business enters the picture, everyone wanting a piece of the action and the naive youngsters just going along for the ride. And this is where it differs from being a jukebox musical into being a proper musical since Ray and Dave's dad and family sing 'Dead End Street' while they deliberate over signing a contract on Dave's behalf since he's still a minor. The songs don't come in chronological order, they appear when they're needed to take the story forward and that's a good thing.

We see the lads gradually rise and appear on Top of the Pops, Ray getting married against almost everyone's wishes (the publicist points out that John Lennon has been married for years) and the stresses that brings.

The second half kicks off when they're on tour and hassled by musicians union people wanting their cut. The stress mounts on Ray and, to clearly demonstrate this isn't your standard jukebox musical, we have a scene with Ray sitting in his hotel room on the phone to his wife singing 'Sitting In My Hotel' to which his wife replies with a quiet version of 'I Go To Sleep'. That was quite touching.

The stresses of the American tour and law suits against rip-off managers take their toll as Ray hides away at home with exhaustion and re-surfaces to celebrate the World Cup with 'Sunny Afternoon' at No 1 in the chart. The song is played in full with the actors being the band and, at the end, the World Cup is lowered and showered with paper fluttering from the ceiling. That got a rousing applause.

We then see Ray and Dave arguing about whether to sign with Alan Klein as their manager with Ray arguing that they'll just be signing their lives away again. Dave argues it's the only thing to keep the band together and that's all he's got. In a touching moment Ray signs the contract against his better judgement. But that's what brothers do.

The other big hits played in full are 'Waterloo Sunset' and 'Lola' as time flies past in the late 60s and the band suddenly discover flared trousers in 1970! We then get a final song to close the show, a mash-up between 'Lola' and 'You Really Got Me' that got everyone up on their feet and singing along. Yes, even me.

It took a while to get going but the show won me over. Whether it's the lads pretending to be the Kinks or the girls changing for almost every song to be groovy go-go dancers or taking one of the roles. I think I saw the actor playing Ray's dad take four different parts - there are a lot of characters in the show and the actors take multiple roles. I liked seeing Ray's wife who sings backing vocals on the records finally get her wish to appear on stage with the band singing and strumming away - no idea whether this really happened but it worked a treat in the setting of the play.

John Dagleish played Ray and George Maguire was Dave (with a classic Dave haircut too) and I liked Lillie Flynn as Ray's wife, Rasa. I also liked Tam Williams and Dominic Tighe as the original upper class managers Grenville Collins and Robert Wace - the only problem was that Dominic looks just like Tony Hadley from Spandau Ballet, particularly in his sharp suit so I kept confusing the decades when he was on stage!

It's great fun and it's lovely to hear those old songs played live again, even the three I'd never heard before. The majority of the audience were of the age to be original fans (and good on them) but it was also nice to see some younger people in the audience, presumably there out of curiosity or friends of the cast. It would be nice to see this transfer into the West End for a run and see if it can find an audience. Most people will probably recognise most of the songs and there's certainly more of a story behind the show than something like 'Jersey Boys' that's been on in the West End for years now. The Kinks were London lads and Ray wrote about the changing world around him, around all  of us, so, in a sense, it's as much our story as his.

I claim part of the story. 'Lola' was my very first 7" vinyl single and at the tender age of 10 years old I had no idea what it was about but liked it. I recall asking my Mam what a 'dark brown voice' meant. My second or third 12" LP was 'Golden Hour of the Kinks', a compilation of all those great 1960s songs in 1971. The show cries out for a CD of the Kinks songs featured in the show.

The show is only on for another six weeks so book tickets now if you want to see it. It's a good night out and will remind you of those excellent songs that still resonate today. 

The Plastic Bag Awards 2013

Once again it's time for the annual Plastic Bag Awards, the Baggies 2013.

The Baggies offer a great opportunity to look back over the year and mull over things I've done and seen as well as enjoyed and been challenged by. I've seen a few films this year so that category has been reinstated and there's a new category for 'talks' since I've been to quite a few. So let's jump right in and see who wins the first award ...

Best Theatre - Drama

This has been an odd year for drama - I saw some great plays but didn't particularly like the productions ('Othello' and 'Edward II" both spring to mind at the National Theatre) and that narrows down the nominees quite a bit. After a lot of thought, the nominees for this category are:

• The Winslow Boy
• The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time
• The Judas Kiss
• Cocktail Sticks
• The Audience

'The Winslow Boy' was really quite impeccable but failed to engage me with the characters as did 'The Curious Incident', both really good plays and well produced but didn't do anything for me. 'The Audience' and 'The Judas Kiss' were perfect for the respective leads and both were great productions but the award goes to another tour de force performance in 'Cocktail Sticks' by Alan Bennett.

I saw 'Cocktail Sticks' as part of the 'Untold Stories' evening brigaded with another short Bennett play, 'Hymn'. It is an autobiographical tale of Alan Bennett's relationship with his parents over the years as he finds a pack of cocktail sticks at the back of a kitchen cupboard when clearing out the family home after the death of both of his parents. I recognised so many things in the play that helped make it real for me and that's why it wins the Baggie this year.

Best Theatre - Musical

2013 was a great year for stage musicals with some great (and not so great ) revivals as well as new productions. I saw the new production of 'Merrily We Roll Along' back at the start of the year at the Menier Choccy Factory and it just didn't work for me. I know it's been doing well in the West End but it didn't draw me in. On the other hand, I loved  the Choccy Factory's 'Candide' which is well worth seeing. Other productions that just failed to make the nominations were 'Titanic' and 'The Scottsboro Boys', both musicals I'd love to see again.

The nominations for 'Best Theatre - Musical' are:

• The Book Of Mormon
• A Chorus Line
• The Color Purple
• The Amen Corner
• The Light Princess

'The Book Of Mormon' was great fun and very rude and it was great to see Gavin Creel again. 'A Chorus Line' was a joy and I had to see it twice on its short run over the summer. 'The Light Princess' was a feminist fairytale with songs by Tori Amos and a sumptuous production at the National. Also at the National Theatre was 'The Amen Corner' which I saw a matter of days before seeing 'The Color Purple' at the Choccy Factory and it's 'Purple' that wins the Baggie.

'The Amen Corner' was a great mix of drama and song but it was the story and songs of 'The Color Purple' that swung it. Great acting and great voices melded in a great production that made me go back again to see it on its relatively short run. It should have transferred to the West End but a bonus prize is the Baggie for Best Musical.

Best Entertainment

I define 'entertainment' as a staged something that isn't a play or a musical. That makes it quite a wide ranging category. The nominations this year are:

• Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty @ The New Theatre, Wimbledon
• John Cooper Clarke @ The Palladium
• Patti Smith - Words & Music @ The Purcell Room as part of Meltdown
• A Christmas Carol @ Queen Elizabeth Hall
• Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake @ Sadler's Wells

A Matthew Bourne production is almost mandatory in this category and it's nice to have two, one from the national tour in the spring ('Sleeping Beauty') and the latest Christmas show at Sadler's Wells, 'Swan Lake'. Both have won Baggies in previous years that clearly indicates their strengths.

I saw the mastery of John Cooper Clarke for the first time this year despite buying my first record of his 35 years ago. He is a master wordsmith and it was a joy just to hear him talking let alone reciting his verse. And it was the same with Patti Smith who mixed readings from her autobiography ('Just Kids') with stripped back versions of her songs played with her son and daughter. However, the Baggie goes to 'A Christmas Carol', an ensemble reading of the story a week before Christmas. It was enchanting.

Best Talk

This is a new category of award for 2013 and is included because I seemed to attend so many 'talks'. These included staged interviews to promote books or celebrate films and  reminiscences as part of the National Theatre 50th anniversary celebrations. The nominees are:

• Tracey Thorn @ the Royal Festival Hall
• Ray Davies @ The Purcell Room
• Julie Walters & Richard Eyre @ the National Theatre
• Rita Moreno @ the British Film Institute
• Derek Jacobi @ the National Theatre

Sometimes it nice to just turn up and listen to people talk. They're generally set up in an interview format with someone interviewing the star - the best ones ask such open questions that the star can take flight and talk about virtually anything. The worst are where the interviewer has a script and sticks to it (a hideous Patti Smith interview a few years ago springs to mind where all the questions were based on a book she rubbished in the first five minutes - take a hint!).

Thankfully, all the talks I attended this year were good and the interviewers had actually read the book or done their homework. I'm going to single out Sir Derek Jacobi who gave a talk to promote his autobiography because he was so unexpectedly entertaining and human. I loved his stories about his parents and about him growing up as an actor.

Best Film

I've seen a few films this year for the first time in ages, old films and new films, documentaries and unexpected tales. The nominations are:

• I'm So Excited
• Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love
• A Yank At Oxford
• Saving Mr Banks
• The Thirteenth Tale

I saw a not quite finished version of a documentary about Marvin Hamlisch as part of the London Film Festival that reminded me who he was and a delightfully twee 'Yank At Oxford' as part of a festival celebrating Vivien Leigh's centenary. I saw the impossibly camp and colourful 'I'm So Excited' by Almodovar and a preview at the BFI of the new Vanessa Redgrave TV film that was shown over Christmas, 'The Thirteenth Tale'. However, the Baggie goes to 'Saving Mr Banks' for its practically perfect magic.

Best Gig

I went to quite a few gigs last year, particularly over the summer with Yoko Ono's great Meltdown Festival on the Southbank. I saw the Pet Shop Boys bigging it large at the O2 with their new album and I saw Boy George and Marianne Faithfull (separately) at the Queen Elizabeth Hall as part of Yoko's Meltdown. I was privileged to see Siouxsie twice at the Royal Festival Hall, supported both times by Viv Albertine.  The nominees for the Best Gig Baggie are:

• Siouxsie @ the Royal Festival Hall
• Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band @ the Royal Festival Hall
• Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra @ The Roundhouse
• Viv Albertine @ The Purcell Room
• Kim Wilde's Christmas Party @ Shepherd's Bush Empire

All the nominees are women of power who've been around for a while. Siouxsie majestic in white PVC and Yoko screaming into her mic, both at the Royal Festival Hall. Amanda Palmer the rock star at The Roundhouse with the kind of light show and professionalism that says she's moved to another level. Viv Albertine headlining her own show at The Purcell Room with a tight band and so different to her 12Bar Club show back in January 2013.

But the Baggie goes to Kim Wilde for her first full show in London in a  couple of decades and killing it - and us! Tight band, Kim striding along the front of the stage taking us higher then singing Christmas songs - it was her Christmas Party after all! Well done Kim!

Best Live Performance

The best performance award is for a one-off song that just hit it and sends you away with a marvellous memory of the evening. This years nominations are:

• 'Dear Daily Mail' - Amanda Palmer
• 'Spellbound' - Siouxsie
• 'Warrior In Woolworths' - Celeste Bell
• 'Still England' - Viv Albertine
• 'Kids In America' - Kim Wilde

Amanda's 'Dear Daily Mail' was an internet sensation since, while singing a letter to the Daily Mail about her escaped tit at Glastonbury, she strips off her kimono and sings the song naked. Siouxsie delivered a magical 'Spellbound' and Celeste Bell (or Styrene to me) gave us a perfect acapella 'Warrior In Woolworths' at PolyFest. And who could fail to be excited by seeing Kim Wilde singing 'Kids In America' live 30 odd years after it was her first hit?

The Baggie goes to Viv Albertine for what I think of as the disco version of 'Still England' she gave us at the Purcell Room. Halfway through the song it changed into a disco beat and a glitter ball exploded to surround us all with light as she read out the names of people that mean England to her. It was magnificent and shows just how much she's grown as a musician and performer in the last year, from the D.I.Y. 12Bar Club show to her encased in lube and a PVC top. With a glitter ball. Well done Viv, a performance to stick in the memory!

Best New Album

There weren't that many new albums this year that made me go wow so it was relatively easy to list the nominees:

• David Bowie - 'The Next Day'
• Linda Thompson - 'Won't Be Long Now'
• Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band - 'Take Me To The Land Of Hell'
• Boy George - 'This Is What I Do'
• Kim Wilde - 'Wilde Winter Songbook'

The biggest wow factor goes, of course, to Mr Bowie for releasing a new single out of the blue and then followed it up with an excellent album of new material. I still listen to it avidly. Linda Thompson and Yoko Ono take us back to another time and it's great that both are still producing excellent and challenging music. Then we have two '80s stars in the shape of Boy George and Kim Wilde and, while the Boy's new album is excellent, it's out-shone by Ms Wilde's Christmas record. 'Wilde Winter Songbook' is full of excellent songs for singing along to or listening to on a cold winters' day. Well done Kim!

Best Exhibition

This has been a great year for exhibitions from portraits of Native Americans at the National Portrait Gallery to one of the inventors of pop art, Lichtenstein, at the Tate Modern. The nominations are:

• Light Show @ the Hayward Gallery
• Man Ray @ the National Portrait Gallery
• David Bowie Is @ The Victoria & Albert Museum
• George Bellows: Modern American Life @ the Royal Academy
• A Crisis Of Brilliance @ Dulwich Picture Gallery

All were excellent in different ways. I'd be really tempted to award the Baggie to George Bellows or A Crisis Of Brilliance if it wasn't for Mr Bowie. If you weren't in your early teens (or younger) in 1972 when Ziggy pointed straight at you through the telly box while singing 'Starman' then you won't understand the sheer thrill of seeing that costume in a glass case with the model pointing straight out at you. Again. Giant video walls, stage costumes and the keys to his Berlin flat, the exhibition had it all and was a joy to wander through. Well done V&A and thank you to Mr Bowie for blessing it.

And there you have the Baggies for 2013. I wonder what 2014 will bring?

Advent #18 - 'Father Christmas'

Time for a second showing of Ray Davies in this years' advent calendar, this time with The Kinks for 'Father Christmas'.

Advent #12 - 'Postcard From London'

Ray Davies wrote a homage to London in the snow a few years ago and recorded it with ex-partner Chrissie Hynde. I fell in love with the song the first time I heard it - it has the same kind of magic all of Ray's London song have. It picks up on an old theme in Ray's writing with his sister Rosie emigrating to Australia and that's the kind of atmosphere the song evokes. The setting is finding an old postcard ... but listen for yourself:

Southbank Poster

Here is the new artwork to promote the Southbank. I like the Southbank. It has the Royal Festival Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall for concerts, it has the National Theatre and The Old Vic for theatrical productions, it has the Hayward Gallery for art, it has the British Film Institute and the giant iMax cinema and it has eateries and shops. It has the Big Wheel (aka The London Eye). It also has the River Thames and a stunning walk along the south bank of the river, majestic bridges and the beaches at low tide. It has the best railway station in the world in Blackfriars, built in the middle of Blackfriars Bridge that presents amazing views of Tower Bridge and St Paul's Cathedral when you get off the train. It has buskers and living statues and a magic roundabout and Udderbelly every summer and Jubilee Gardens where I took part in the Rain of Poems.

I served as a London Ambassador on the Southbank during the 2012 Olympics when London was pretty and its denizens all wore smiles. We had the sun and summer heat back then. And every winter it has an ice-rink, a Christmas market and lights in the trees and, when we're lucky, snow.

At the moment the views from the Southbank are rather splendid with the nights drawing in, walking east and seeing the lights of the skyscrapers in the City on the other side of the river. Even better to be in the middle of Waterloo Bridge and to look at the lights on both sides of the river. A magical sight.

As Ray Davies sings, 'Waterloo sunset's fine...'. And rather beautiful too, I would add.

Ray Davies at The Purcell Room - 'Americana'

On Saturday we went to see Ray Davies at the Purcell Room being interviewed about his new book, 'Americana', that tells the story of his relationship with America.

It opened with Ray doing a short reading from the book and then showing us a home-made film he'd pieced together on his computer. It's based largely on video clips he took during his Storyteller tour of America a couple of weeks after 9/11 when flights were routinely cancelled so he had to travel mainly by car. Travelling those vast distances on the road with only a driver showed him different aspects of the America he'd travelled so often with The Kinks in the air. It finished up in New Orleans a couple of years later where he'd settled to write but got shot instead.

It was quite fascinating in some respects, if only for the clips he'd chosen to show us, such as the many shots out of hotel bedrooms of the tall buildings everywhere, of driving into cities that all looked the same, of his hotel rooms. The film lasted for about half an hour and then out came Ray for an interview with John Wilson for about an hour, including some random questions from the audience.

I've been to quite a few of these 'in conversation with' things and usually the interviewer isn't terribly prepared or likes to voice their own thoughts and theories (yawn) rather than letting the interviewee talk (and it's them we're there to hear). In this case John Wilson did really well, relevant questions, keeping it flowing and picking some good audience questions.

He tried to get an honest answer about why The Kinks were banned from touring in America in the mid/late 60s and got as much of an answer as Ray is ever likely to give. That was all in the context of Ray writing many of his most English songs over the same period and whether that was a reaction against being banned from touring America. I think the conclusion was that it was since he tends to write about what's around him - which is one reason for going to New Orleans to write.

Some quite random bits of information came out in discussion, like Ray having dinner with Candy Darling and not realising that she was a he, meeting the Warhol people and the back room of CBGB's, and Wayne/Jayne County. He said that after 'Lola' he just seems to attract 'them'. And meeting Candy is not the inspiration for 'Lola' since the meeting was after it was a hit. I saw a film about Candy a few years ago if you're interested.

There was a quite long session on New Orleans and the shooting, him winding up in hospital and asking if he'd chase after the mugger again, to which he answered 'yes' since it was a fight or flight thing and his instinct in that situation was to fight. It was all quite fascinating but Ray managed to say a lot without really answering the question. He has his secrets and will dole out information when he chooses. He finished by teasing us with a new album for which all the songs are written.

Mr Davies was looking in good form, skinny as ever and, when he eventually turned up to sign books he was in his coat and scarf and with a glass of beer. There was a huge queue to get books signed and when it was my turn for a few seconds with him I asked whether there were any plans to record the 'Come Dancing' songs. His answer was that he'd love to. I said I'd seen it four times and also the concert version last year which perked him up a bit and he said it was a great cast to which I had to agree. It was a great cast with great songs and a good show. It should be staged again and recorded.

The book is now on my pile awaiting reading - my pile of rock autobiogs and biogs is growing so I should make a dent in it really...

Yoko Ono's Meltdown 2013

The annual Meltdown festival takes place on the Southbank in London every summer, between June and August, and each year is curated by one of the great and good. Previous Meltdown's have been curated by David Bowie, Morrissey, Anthony Hegarty, Ray Davies, Patti Smith, Richard Thompson and a range of other artists over the years. 2013 was the turn of Yoko Ono.

Yoko was a guest at Patti Smith's and Ornette Coleman's Meltdown festivals so it was about time she had her own festival and what a festival! She, of course, had to include political activism and brought over two members of Pussy Riot from Russia and Peter Tatchell to do a talk, she gave us the Silent Disco (DJs played music into wireless headphones for the dancers to groove along to while we looked on puzzled and guessing what songs were being played), Peaches re-created Yoko's 'Cut Piece', the John Lennon Educational Bus was there and a host of other events and performances as well as the big shows. The other morning Yoko tweeted us to join her on the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hall at sunrise to enjoy the birds singing.

This year I attended more shows than in previous years. I saw the Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band open the festival (and I treasure my Onochord), saw Siouxsie and Viv Albertine twice, saw the powerful 'Battleship Potemkin' with a soundtrack by Pet Shop Boys, Patti Smith give us an evening of words and music, and Marianne Faithfull and Boy George both did gorgeous singing and talking. Ten days and nights of art in all it's various forms, all down to Yoko.

It culminated with a show I didn't see, a live recreation of John and Yoko's 'Double Fantasy' LP with music provided by Sean Ono Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band and guest vocals from Peaches, Patrick Woolf, Lene Lovitch, Patti Smith, Boy George and Siouxsie amongst others. The encore was Yoko and Siouxsie singing 'Walking on Thin Ice'.

All I can say is wow, what a festival! It wore me out so I hope Yoko is going to have a break when she finally gets home. She was tweeting links to videos of the shows this morning so she's still being active. She also tweeted Boy George this morning to say he's looking much younger than she remembered and asked if he was in love. I really love it that Yoko can ask questions like that. She's a treasure.

Thank you, Yoko, for a great Meltdown that brought so many of my favourites to the Southbank to play. I wish I'd met you to say 'thank you' personally. I tied a wish to one of your wish trees at the Serpentine Gallery last year and it came true, for which thank you. You've raised the bar for Meltdown - that's going to be a challenge for whoever does it next year!

Thank you, Yoko!

The Plastic Bag Awards 2012

It's time for the annual Plastic Bag Awards, the Baggies 2012.

2012 has been a special year for us in London with the Olympics and Paralympics over the summer and, before that, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. So much has been going on from Shakespeare plays being acted by actors from all over the world in their own languages at the Globe to pop-up themed musical festivals all along the Thames. As every year, there are revivals and tours, new records released and exhibitions of the great and beautiful. In other words, a lot to choose from.

Best Theatre - Play

The five nominees for best play are:

• She Stoops To Conquer
• What The Butler Saw
• Timon of Athens
• The Last of the Haussmanns
• Much Ado About Nothing

Three of the nominees were from the National Theatre ('She Stoops', 'Timon' and 'Haussmanns') and, of these, I'd pick 'Haussmanns' as the best production, both cheeky and funny with great characters. That came close to winning but the Baggie goes to the wonderful 'Much Ado About Nothing' starring Meera Syal in the innovative Indian version of the play that made me laugh out loud (and I never laugh at Shakespeare, especially the comedies). Meera showed her true acting skills once again, a great actor as well as comedian and writer, wringing every little bit of humour and emotion from the piece. This was the fourth time I'd seen Meera on stage and she keeps getting better. Well done!

Best Theatre - Musical

I didn't see many musicals this year and some of those wouldn't be nominated for a Baggie (such as the time vortex that was 'Starlight Express'). The nominees are:

• Matilda The Musical
• Torch Song Trilogy
• Come Dancing - The Concert
• The Harder They Come - The Concert
• Taboo

'Matilda' was a joy and it was lovely to relive happy memories with the concert versions of 'Come Dancing' and 'The Harder They Come'. It was also good to see 'Torch Song Trilogy' but the award goes to another revival, 'Taboo'!

I saw 'Taboo' a few times in its original run so it was good to see the current revival at the Brixton Clubhouse since it's the Broadway version with some subtle (and not so subtle) changes.  The cast were excellent and it was a delight to see Paul Baker in the role he made his own years ago, playing Philip Sallon. Sam Buttery was great as Leigh Bowery and Katie Kerr delivered a heart-wrenching 'Il Adore' as Big Sue. The production was due to close before Christmas but it's been extended, with a new cast, until March. A hugely enjoyable show with some great songs and performances. See it if you can.

Best Theatre - Entertainment

This is sometimes my favourite Baggies category for all the 'performances' that don't really fit anywhere else and this year was particularly rich in performances.  The nominees are:

• Matthew Bourne's Early Adventures
• Geo Wyeth @ Soho Theatre
• Rain of Poems
• The Unthanks - Songs From The Shipyards
• Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty

Matthew Bourne features twice with his 'Early Adventures' as part of his celebration of 25 years of his New Adventure company and with his new production of 'Sleeping Beauty'. Geo Wyeth is a New York singer, composer and performance artist and had a short season at the Soho Theatre in early summer. The Rain of Poems was a terrific event - and great fun - on the Southbank with poems printed on cards being thrown out of a helicopter in an artistic/political performance about dropping poems on cities rather than bombs. The Unthanks gave a marvellous live performance playing the soundtrack to a film about the growth and death of the shipyards on the Tyne.

All of these have their own merits but the Baggie goes to the magical Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty and its gothic tale of faeries and vampires. The sumptuous design, the story-telling and the twists and turns in the plot made it a joy to behold. I've already got tickets to see it again...

Best Gig

I didn't go to that many gigs in 2012 but did seem to go in multiples - three Amanda Palmer gigs, two Maximo Park gigs and two Buffy Sainte-Marie events (gig and a talk).

• Buffy Sainte-Marie @ Queen Elizabeth Hall
• Amanda Palmer and The Grand Theft Orchestra @ Koko
• Ray Davies @ The Fairfield Halls
• Maximo Park @ Shepherd's Bush
• The Human League @ The Royal Albert Hall

It's always a joy to see Buffy, particularly when she does an extended set and plays some of the songs we rarely hear. Amanda moved to a new level at Koko with her most professional gig yet and Ray Davies and Maximo Park both produced the goods as ever. But, the Baggie has to go to the Human League for their sheer professionalism, the amazing lights and staging, great sound and a set full of hit songs from the last three decades. From the second song the whole audience - including me - stood, clapped and sang along. Well done to Phil, Susan and Joanne - again!

Best Live Performance

I like to single out that special live performance, a performance that brings a song to life adding something above and beyond the recorded version. The nominees are:

• Maximo Park - Hips And Lips (@ Heaven)
• Amanda Palmer and The Grand Theft Orchestra - The Killing Type (@ Art Show)
• Buffy Sainte-Marie - Generation (@ Queen Elizabeth Hall)
• Ray Davies - Come Dancing (@ 'Come Dancing - The Concert' at Theatre Royal Stratford)
• Amanda Palmer and The Grand Theft Orchestra - The Bed Song (@ Koko)

Paul Smith's playing along to 'Hips and Lips', acting out the song for the first time at the launch at Heaven made me hear that song differently every time since then. Amanda opened her Art Show at Village Underground by scraping two knives together as the opening to 'The Killing Type', a perfect opening to a show. Buffy was magnificent singing 'Generation' a song I've never seen her play live before, with her band (aka Bruthers Of Different Muthers) adding an electric backing. Seeing Ray Davies sing 'Come Dancing' is always worth a trip out.

The Baggie goes to Amanda Palmer for her astonishing and emotional performance of 'The Bed Song' at Koko. The band left her on alone on stage as she played her piano and she told us her tale of unsatisfied love down to not talking. It's a tender song and that was a special performance. Thank you Amanda.

Best New Album

This was a very difficult category to judge - how can you compare the first PiL album in 20 years with the first ever record from Viv Albertine or the latest from Maximo Park, an album from Joey Ramone 10 years after he died or the latest crowd-sourced album from Amanda Fucking Palmer? It's impossible, right? We've had a goodly load of great new music this year - and I'll include new albums from Madonna, The Unthanks and Alphabeat in there too - but someone has to win the Baggie...

• Public Image Limited - This Is PiL
• Joey Ramone - Ya Know?
• Maximo Park - The National Health
• Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra - Theatre Is Evil
• Viv Albertine - The Vermillion Border

The judging panel decided to award the Baggie by a smidgeon to Viv Albertine for the excellent 'The Vermillion Border', full of innovative songs, a slight sideways look at life and a great under-produced sound.

Best New Song

Out of the thousands of new songs this year I've picked just five:

• Madonna - Give Me All Your Luvin'
• Amanda Palmer and The Grand Theft Orchestra - Do It With A Rockstar
• Amanda Palmer and The Grand Theft Orchestra - The Bed Song
• Tom Tom Club - Downtown Rockers
• Viv Albertine - I Want More

There's a tendency to either love or hate Madonna and me, I go for whether I like the songs or not, and I fell for the leading single from her latest album 'Give Me All Your Luvin', a great return to danceable pop rather than dance music. It was a treat to finally have some new songs from Tom Tom Club and I love 'Downtown Rockers' that name-checks the late 70s punk scene in New York (I also love how the girls pronounce it 'rockerzzzz'). Viv's album opens with the powerful 'I Want More' - 'no compromise, I want more!'.

The panel shortlisted two Amanda Palmer songs from 'Theatre Is Evil', 'Do It With A Rockstar' and 'The Bed Song'. The latter is a well constructed and emotional journey through a relationship that is beautiful and heart-felt and 'Do It' is a raucous and mad tale of need and threat and desperate lust. Amanda gave away 'Do It With A Rockstar' to people who'd backed her Kickstarter campaign back in May and, later, to anyone in exchange for your email address. I've listened to it countless times and then thoroughly enjoyed the video. So naturally it wins 'best song' since it ticks so many boxes. I would.

Best Exhibition

There's been a mixed bag of exhibitions this year with two great Picasso exhibitions and 'Bronze' at the Royal Academy and a rather ok-ish Pre-Raphaelite exhibition that didn't work for me (and so isn't nominated). Luckily I managed to catch the fascinating Yoko exhibition at The Serpentine and the small but perfectly formed punk exhibition at the Hayward, 'Some Day All The Adults Will Die'.

• Picasso and Modern British Art @ Tate Britain
• Yoko Ono To The Light @ Serpentine Gallery
• Picasso's 'Vollard Suite' @ The British Museum
• Bronze @ The Royal Academy
• Some Day All The Adults Will Die @ Hayward Gallery

The Baggie needs to go to either one of the Picasso exhibitions or to 'Bronze' and the panel decided it should go to 'Bronze' for the wide range of exhibits, the interesting way of collecting them together into themed rooms and for including ancient and modern works together. It lost points for the lighting but gained points for including the magnificent Piggy from Florence.

Olympics and Paralympics London 2012

2012 was an astonishing year for London and the whole country with the Olympics and Paralympics. The summer started off gloomy and wet and then the sun came out for the Olympics and stayed till the end of the Paralympics before the rain returned. It was a magical time in which London changed, people smiled and talked to strangers and I became a London Ambassador dressed in my pink and purple uniform.

I can't possibly choose a single Olympian or Paralympian to receive a Baggie so, instead, have nominated different aspects of London during the Olympics and Paralympics. These are:

• Transport for London Signage
• London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony Rehearsal
• The Olympic Stadium
• London Ambassadors
• The Gift of the Gods - Shot-put
• Olympic Rings on Tower Bridge
• Beverley Knight - I Am What I Am

I loved the way Transport for London plastered pink signs everywhere in the Tube network and stations pointing the way to Olympic venues rather than signposting to different Tube lines. I loved those pink signs. I was privileged to see one of the rehearsals for the Olympics opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium  and will treasure that memory forever, just as will my experience of being a London Ambassador on the Southbank, walking up and down the south of the Thames handing out maps and guides and directing people to wherever they wanted to go.

London was dotted with art and oddness over the summer and one of my favourites was the 'Gift Of The Gods' installations around town in the strangest places. The 'gifts' were giant shot-put balls dropped from a great height that cracked the pavements and stood there as a testament to the powers of the gods ... all an installation of course, but great fun. I couldn't help but tear up the first time I saw the Olympic Rings hanging from Tower Bridge - that meant it was all finally real and was going to happen, the Olympics in London! I was both surprised and delighted by Beverley Knight appearing at the end of the Paralympics opening ceremony singing a newly arranged version of 'I Am What I Am' that worked so well and put Bev on the world stage.

The judging panel knows it's being a daft and a bit out there but it's gone for the London Transport signage if only because it was there every day, right in front of anyone travelling around London. I miss it.

And there you have it, the Baggies 2012.  I wonder what's in store for 2013....?

Ray Davies at the Fairfield Halls

Last week I travelled to the internationally glamorous Fairfield Halls in Croydon to see Mr Ray Davies (yes, the bloke who got out of the taxi to sing 'Waterloo Sunset' at the Olympics Closing Ceremony). He reminded us that he'd gone to the technical college in Croydon in the early 60s that used to be opposite the venue.

I've seen Ray a few times - with his band and with the choir - and never been able to take a good photo of him and it was the same in Croydon. His show generally follows the same same format with an acoustic set followed by a break, a change of shirts and the full band coming on to rock out. On Wednesday, this happened during 'Dead End Street', with the song gradually becoming more electric as it progressed. The good thing is that although the show follows the same format, the songs change. He's got so many to choose from after all.

We had all the '60s classics of 'Dedicated Follower Of Fashion', 'Autumn Almanac' and 'Sunny Afternoon', Ray's hits with The Kinks. His tales of England (and London in particular) that he just can't help but sing about. He's a London boy after all. There were no 'Village Green' songs but we were gifted with an electric version of 'Apeman' that I bought back in 1971 and the environmental message is just as relevant today.

Every now and then he'd coax us into singing and clapping along, even though he can't clap in time and he dances like your dad. But he's Ray Davies and things like that don't matter, they just make me smile that he's having a whale of a time up there on the stage. He was clearly energised in the last third or so of the show when people started congregating at the front of the stage, dancing and singing along - his people - including some young people, not just the middle aged and older fans.

My favourite songs included 'I'm Not Like Everyone Else', 'See My Friends', 'Tired Of Waiting For You', 'This Is Where I Belong' and a massive sing-along 'Victoria'. I sang along quietly to 'Days' with a tear in my eye (and hoped he'd mention Kirsty MacColl who had a hit with the song in the '80s and was from Croydon, but he didn't) and to the exceptional 'Waterloo Sunset'.

But it was 'Lola' that got me to my feet and singing along, his final encore song. There's something about his tale of passion in a sleazy Soho club with a tranny that people have fallen in love with and it's great to hear the middle aged middle class audience sing their love for Lola. Everyone was on their feet and singing along as he took us through his tale of a lost Soho. And then he was gone to hand his guitar to the roadie and wandered across the front of the stage shaking hands with adoring fans as the lights went on and we all started leaving.

It's always a pleasure to see Mr Davies and guess at which songs he might play. I don't think he played any songs from his solo albums (he has every other time I've seen him) but focused on his Kinks years (not just the hits). He also mentioned there'd be a new album of 'private songs' in 2013 and called 'Waterloo Sunset' one of his 'private songs' even though it was a huge hit. Let's see what 2013 brings, shall we?

'Come Dancing - The Concert' - Theatre Royal Stratford East

On Friday evening I went to Stratford to see a concert version of Ray Davies' musical, 'Come Dancing'. I saw the musical a few times on its run at Stratford in 2008 and loved the story and the music. The concert version is part of the Open Stage 2012 season that includes other concert versions of musicals, including 'The Harder They Come' at the end of June.

The stage was set with microphone stands across the front and a couple of risers for the cast to sit at tables when not singing. There was some dialogue to keep the story going inbetween songs but the star of the show was really the songs, some beautiful and some rousing.

I was pleased when the actors started filing the stage to see them coming on in their late '50s costumes and even happier to recognise some of the faces reprising their roles in the original production. That was a bit of a surprise and very welcome.

'Come Dancing' is a tale of change in the late '50s loosely based on Ray's childhood but with lots of invented family details. The local Palais dancehall was the focus of the community and everyone went dancing on a Saturday night. Ray's older sisters and parents go there regularly and that's where most of the action takes place. We're introduced to older sisters Rose and Brenda on the evening of their younger sister Julie's first evening at the Palais. We learn that Julie was disabled by polio, has difficulty dancing and is nervous. As the story progresses we learn more about the family and the community, dead-end jobs and a need to escape, of violence and love. We meet Tosher, the local Borstal boy, Frankie the owner of the Palais and part of the old world of the big bands and Hamilton, recently arrived from Kingston Jamaica.

It's a lovely story with a wistful ending when we learn what happened to the characters over the succeeding 30 years. It's the songs that make it work and they're all original Ray Davies compositions with the addition of 'Tired Of Waiting' and 'You Really Got Me'. In the original production Ray opened the show by strolling on singing 'Tired Of Waiting' but in this version Tosher sings it to Julie on a bomb-site outside the Palais, he's tired of waiting for Julie. 'You Really Got Me' is a new addition and used as Tosher's bands' audition to play at the Palais (it got a rousing cheer).

The songs written for the musical deserve to be recorded - maybe one day. I was mulling them over in my mind on the train home and decided that Julie's songs are personal, written at an individual level looking to the future and yearning for change. The lads songs are more aggressive and about social change and revolution, that things will have to change and they will. From personal to social. I'm not sure I can imaging Ray singing Julie's songs but it's a sign of his skills that he can write convincingly and tenderly for a teenage girl discovering love and freedom for the first time, knowing there's more to the world than her neighbourhood but not knowing how to reach out for it.

I remembered the ending of the play and was ready for it but still got moist eyed when Julie comes on after everyone else has told us what happened to them over the years. Julie went dancing.