Amanda Palmer Alert!

The ever-arrestable Miss Amanda Palmer will visit these shores over the summer for music and, I hope, hugs. She'll be at the Edinburgh Fringe with Jason Webley and the Evelyn Evelyn twins and then play a few gigs around the place, with two in London. I'm proud to say that I've see Amanda on every musical visit to London since 2005, both with Brian and the Dresden Dolls and her solo gigs, and that tradition will continue. Some things are *important*.

Evelyn Evelyn dates:

WED. AUGUST 17th
EDINBURGH @ ASSEMBLY GEORGE SQUARE TWO
DOORS: 9PM | AGES: 16+ | TIX: £12-£13
TICKETS | RSVP

THURS. AUGUST 18th
EDINBURGH @ ASSEMBLY GEORGE SQUARE TWO
DOORS: 9PM | AGES: 16+ | TIX: £12-£13
TICKETS | RSVP

FRI. AUGUST 19th
EDINBURGH @ ASSEMBLY GEORGE SQUARE TWO
DOORS: 9PM | AGES: 16+ | TIX: £12-£13
TICKETS | RSVP

SAT. AUGUST 20th
EDINBURGH @ ASSEMBLY GEORGE SQUARE TWO
DOORS: 9PM | AGES: 16+ | TIX: £12-£13
TICKETS | RSVP

SUN. AUGUST 21st
EDINBURGH @ ASSEMBLY GEORGE SQUARE TWO
DOORS: 9PM | AGES: 16+ | TIX: £12-£13
TICKETS | RSVP

Amanda solo shows:

THURS. AUGUST 25th
EDINBURGH @ HMV PICTURE HOUSE
DOORS: 9PM | AGES: 14+ | TIX: £14
TICKETS | RSVP

FRI. AUGUST 26th
GLASGOW @ THE ARCHES
DOORS: TBA | AGES: 18+ | TIX: £14
TICKETS (on sale 6/9 at 9am) | RSVP

THURS. SEPTEMBER 1st
BRIGHTON @ CONCORDE 2
DOORS: 7PM | AGES: 14+ | TIX: £14.50
TICKETS (on sale TBA) | RSVP
(under 16s with adults over 18)

FRI. SEPTEMBER 2nd
LONDON @ HEAVEN
DOORS: 7PM | AGES: 14+ | TIX: £16.50
TICKETS (on sale TBA) | RSVP
(under 16s with adults over 18)

MON. SEPTEMBER 5th
LONDON @ ???
SAVE THE DATE (and the night before)
secret-mystery-gig info coming soon! RSVP for info

TUES. SEPTEMBER 6th
VIENNA, AUSTRIA @ ARENA
DOORS: 7PM | AGES: ALL | TIX :€25
TICKETS (on sale 6/10) | RSVP

WED SEPTEMBER 7th
AMSTERDAM, NL @ MELKWEG (Old Hall)
DOORS: TBA | AGES: ALL | TIX: £16.50
Tickets on sale 6/10 | RSVP

Because she's a bit of a minx, there'll also be some secret gigs to be announced on Twitter nearer the time.

It looks like we'll be treated to some new songs for a new album at the gigs so that's good news. Heaven is a bit of a barn but has a nice high stage so should be good for photo opportunities. I shall, of course, be there to avoid being square.

Punk cabaret is freedom!

'Five Blue Haired Ladies Sitting On a Green Park Bench' at The Orchard theatre

On Saturday afternoon I went on a magic carpet ride to the Garden of England otherwise known as Kent. Unfortunately my destination was Dartford, with a nice dual carriageway driving through the centre of town, concrete and brick and a few ailing trees. On the train journey out there I really heard a lad on his phone saying, 'I didn't know he had previous...' (ie had been in prison) and learned that people do actually say things like that in real life. So, all in all, it was useful day out.

Of course, there was a reason for the trip, and that was to see one of Chris's old friends, Nicola Blackman, on the stage as one of the 'Five Ladies' in the title of the play. Nicola divides her time between New York and the UK these days but is on a six-week tour with 'Five Ladies'. It's a new play with an ensemble cast including Anita Harris, Lorraine Chase, Shirley Anne Field, Anne Charleston and Frazer Hines. Now there's a stellar cast to die for. For some peculiar reason, Nicola doesn't get billing despite having the most time on stage, the best lines and laughs and the only song in the show (and a sparkly frock).

The play is ... well, it's in Dartford for a reason. It's the tale of five elderly ladies in New York who meet everyday on two park benches in Washington Square to chat and gossip, and one by one they stop appearing. At the end of the first half we find out that they've died, and the second half is set in heaven. They're all rather stereotyped and fail to elicit any sympathy. The second half of the show could be cut in its entirety. It really was quite poor and the script could do with a re-write or two to give it some direction.

When we went round to the stage door to meet Nicola afterwards she introduced us to Lorraine Chase - I've now shaken Lorraine's hand - and Frazer Hines left while we were standing there. That's Frazer Hines y'know, an original Dr Who companion from the '60s and star of the original 'Emerdale Farm' in the '70s (now, simply called 'Emerdale'). Far from being a star, Frazer just signed out and left quietly. Lorraine had more life to her and I couldn't help but think back to her Luton Airport adverts back in the 70s. Oh, and to be factually accurate, none of the ladies have blue hair and the benches (plural) aren't green. You need to know that.

We went round the corner from the theatre with Nicola for some food at a Greek restaurant. It was hosting a hen party later that evening so was tastefully decorated with phallic-shaped balloons and a blow up doll with a hairy chest drawn on in felt pen... Tasteful, but it served good nosh so that's OK. After a good chinwag it was nice to get on one of the many trains back to London.

Nicola's latest venture is a pilot for a new sitcom in New York called 'Madame Manhatten' and you can see a clip below - I love the line, 'My eyes are up here...'.

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2011

On Friday I made my way to the Chelsea Flower Show while the clouds threatened - but held off from - rain. It was as crowded as ever with couples and elderly ladies from the Home Counties all milling around and queuing up to see the show gardens over one another's shoulders. I don't have the patience to queue so I tend to spend more time in the Grand Pavilion with the gorgeous and imaginative displays of the flowers rather than the gardens. The few gardens I did see seemed to have more stone and brick than plants in any case.

The highlights in the Grand Pavilion for me this year were the Thai temple that looked like Wat Arun in Bangkok, made out of thousands of small flower petals; the displays of tiny Alpines and rockery plants; the strange carnivorous plants dotted around the exhibition (including a prize winner named after Johnny Marr); the many orchid displays and, as ever, the balls and pots of colourful chrysanths and daffodils that always bring a smile. There was also a stand of shirts decorated with flowers that made for interesting viewing.

I'd decided to keep my eyes open for a flower suitable to celebrate Poly Styrene, so I was looking at all the flowers in the broad blue spectrum (including, of course, indigo). I didn't see any that made an instant impression but when I saw the displays of irises I decided to go for the particular clump in the photo below, with interesting shapes and colours, a bit of this and a bit of that, a bit raggedy and a bit stylish. I smiled. I hope someone develops a real Poly Styrene flower for next years' show, just as a rose grower developed the pink 'Natasha Richardson' that won a silver prize. I don't see Poly as a rose - that's probably too stereotyped for Poly - so go on you nursery people, be creative and invent a new flower for Poly Styrene.


If you like these photos there are more in my Flickr stream.

Blondie - 'Panic Of Girls'

The long-awaited new album from Blondie, 'Panic Of Girls' is now available for download so, naturally, I've downloaded it and will get the fan pack when it's available on Wednesday (of course). Debbie and Chris have been over here doing the media to make sure we all know the album is coming out, and they have almost matching hair, which is an interesting look. Debbie is still one of the coolest and most beautiful women on the planet, just as she was all those years ago when I first saw her on Top of the Pops singing 'Denis'.

OK, that's the fanboy bit over with, so what about the album? My first taste of contemporary Blondie came two years ago when they gave away 'We Three Kings' for Christmas through their website. I loved it. Then I saw them last summer at the Indigo2 when they looked and sounded fabulous and played about half the tracks from the new album and the great thing was that they worked as individual songs and as part of a Blondie gig alongside the classics. There's punky powerpop and there's reggae, all overlaid with Debbie's voice and a great, full production.

There's the great new single, 'Mother' (see the video below), a classic Blondie song, along with 'What I Heard' and 'Love Doesn't Frighten Me' with guitars and drums blazing. I've never been a great fan of Blondie's reggae songs, but these songs work for me, particularly the happy, skanking 'Girlie Girlie' and I love 'Sunday Smile' with it's delicate trumpet line. The relentless latin-tinged song, 'Wipe Off My Sweat', is the dance-track from the album, with Debbie singing in Spanish and with a bit of flamenco guitar. To continue the language theme there's also 'Le Bleu' with Debbie singing in French backed with a Left-Bank accordion sound which slows things down a bit. They're all great songs and I need to listen to them lots. Of course, there's a couple of extra songs on the CD that comes with the fan pack, so there's still more joy to come.

Anyway, here's the video for 'Mother' with Debbie in full-on Blondie mode with glitter freaks and zombies - enjoy! Then download the album. You will enjoy it y'know. Trust me.

'Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be' at Union Theatre

This evening Chris took me to see the Lionel Bart musical, 'Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be' at the rather bijou Union Theatre. Now, I suspect that everyone over a certain age will have heard the title song (or at least a version of it) sung by Max Bygraves but don't let that put you off.

It's a tale of old Soho in the late 50s, shaking off the past and looking forward to the 60s, a tale of tarts with hearts and goodtime gangsters, of love and violence and happy endings. I have to say that the first half hour or so didn't endear the show to me. Everyone was in their best cock-er-ney mode with lots of shrieking. It felt a bit forced, a bit false, with everyone shouting and acting in over-drive but it settled down and started drawing me in. I didn't expect to, but I liked it!

The theatre isn't that much bigger than my living room but the show had a huge cast and, once I'd got over the exagerated cock-er-ney stuff, I could start identifying the different (and many) performers. The lingo took a while to get used to, with "brass" apparently meaning "whore", an interior decorator who seemed to speak in polari (as all decorators obviously do) and, of course, East End gangster-speak. The brass all wore elaborate underwear and flowing robes, holes in all the right places, bosoms exploding and legs splayed, with the men in suit and tie. That's one of the oddities of the show, in a way, that the sympathy is with the female characters, probably because they transcend time, but the male characters are stuck in the late '50s with mysogonistic and sexist views. It doesn't travel well, but, on the other hand, it's a nice representation of inner city regeneration and re-growth and could easily represent the changes in Soho in the swinging 60s and again in the 90s. There's a lot in there and it depends on how you want to focus it. Soho ain't the same place I first wandered through in the late 70s.

There's a surprisingly large cast for the show and, for some unknown reason, the leading lady, Hannah-Jane Fox, reminded me of Julie Covington. I'm not sure why, but she did. The two actors who I'd single out are the lovely Suzie Chard as a tart with a heart and Hadrian Delacey as the police inspector. Suzie looked like she was going to fall out of her corset and bra at any moment but she made me pay attention to her and want her to escape the tarts life and make it big as she sings. The same with Hadrian who has a good presence and voice and aligns himself to the future.

I enjoyed it. It's rarely performed so if you're even vaguely interested then I'd suggest you get tickets. It's only on for another week or so, so don't waste any time.

Fever Ray - 'When I Grow Up'

I listened to Debbie Harry's 'Desert Island Discs' on Radio 4 this morning and it was lovely to hear her reminiscing and laughing throughout the programme. She also selected some interesting music including a song from Fever Ray.

Now, I've never heard of Fever Ray before but was quite taken with the sound so I Googled her and found this video on YouTube. For someone I've never heard of, it's a surprise to see this video has had over 4.5 million views. It's very atmospheric, both in sound and vision, so I'll need to explore her work more thoroughly.



Fever Ray is a side project of Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson from Sweden, someone I shall probably have to find out more about. Thanks, Debbie, for introducing me to some new music.

Buffy Sainte-Marie - 'Still This Love Goes On'

Buffy Sainte-Marie is on the road all over the world at the moment and will be coming to the UK in late June. A side benefit is that videos of her shows are popping up all over the place and here is a video for 'Still This Love Goes On', one of my favourite songs from her last album, 'Running For The Drum'.



I love the sentiment behind that song and its deceptively simple but powerful melody. It paints a beautiful picture of Canada.

London Ambassadors Olympics 2012

I like the big sporting events like the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games. Lots of sports all in one place to pick and choose and the added bonus of international competition. London hosts the Olympics in 2012 and, let's face it, it won't happen again in my lifetime so I want to be involved. I thought of volunteering to be part of the Olympics proper but decided I want to see it and not be stuck cleaning the dressing rooms behind the scenes. So I've volunteered to be a London Ambassador to help tourists over the summer find what they want and enjoy London. I thought, 'I can do that!'.

So, I volunteered. I filled in the rather obvious form and then went to a recruitment event last week. I was told that 30-odd thousand people had applied for the 16 thousand places available. Slight hint there. I stayed for the half hour assessment that was undertaken by really nice people who clearly had no idea about recruitment and selection processes and had simply been given their part to play in the process and been told to smile a lot. It finished with an "interview" which was, basically, someone reading out a questionnaire and filling it in for me - I could've done it in less than half the time. I left the recruitment centre with the clear view that these nice people had no real idea what they were doing and were merely part of a bigger plan to weed out people who wouldn't or couldn't be bothered to turn up to the event. Hey presto, a few thousand people instantly weeded out of the process!

The lack of professionalism of this process has been increased in my view by receiving an email today asking if I have any disabilities that might require special access requirements for my trip to the recruitment centre. Um, first of all, I went last week. You should know that.

Secondly, at the recruitment centre I attended there was wheelchair access but the ramp beside the few steps was blocked off at the bottom by a whiteboard on which we were invited to place stickers with our views on why people should enjoy coming to London. There wasn't really any other place to put the whiteboard but c'mon people, that's not rocket science. If I was in a wheelchair I would hardly feel very welcomed if my arrival meant I had to sit patiently behind a whiteboard while the furniture was reorganised for my benefit. It really doesn't take very much thought, really.

There must be cheaper ways of whittling the numbers down.

Blondie - "Mother"

I'm posting this for the sake of it since a new Blondie record and video is never to be sniffed at! It's great to see Debbie in full-on Blondie mode with leather boots, glitter freaks and zombies. Does this mean that the long awaited 'Panic Of Girls' album might actually be coming out at last? I hope so. I saw Blondie last year when they played most of the new album and it sounds great. Enjoy!

Patrice Holloway Compilation

You need to know that one of the great, lost soul voices of the 60s will finally have a retrospective album released, compiling her songs from yesteryear, most of which haven't been available before. Yes, my fellow admirers, Patrice Holloway is finally awarded her own album! And I love that photo on the cover.

Patrice sadly died a few years ago but this is a fitting tribute to her. You might not know her name, but you've probably heard her voice at some point, either through singing in the Josie & The Pussycats cartoon series or the many artists she sang backing vocals for (including Buffy Sainte-Marie). Or you may have heard her work covered by other people - she co-wrote 'You've Made Me So Very Happy' with her sister and that song's been covered several million times in the last 40 years.

Patrice's sister is, of course, the lovely Brenda Holloway who I had the honour to meet at the Divas of Motown spectacular in 2009. I got tongue-tied and shy (naturally) but she was most gracious. I have a photo of us together as proof but I'm not posting it on here. It's *mine*.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the record from Patrice, to have her work collected in one place and, I assume, re-mastered to boot. If you know what's good for you, you'll take a listen to it and then buy it. I will.