Let It Grow/Beard Love - 'Hair'

The version of 'Aquarius' by The 5th Dimension popped up on my iTune shuffle this evening and that created a yearning to hear the real version by the cast of 'Hair' so I played it. And I am now listening to the whole cast recording. As is right and proper.

I saw 'Hair' on my birthday on Broadway in 2009 on the eve of snowmaggedon. I wanted to see it because Alex Harvey played in the Hairband in London in the late 60s. I was stunned by it, great fun, great messages and great love. I was at a be-in and got a love flower all without leaving my seat. My one regret is not getting up on stage to join in the love-in at the end of the show. When it transferred to London with most of the Broadway cast I made a point of seeing it and dancing on stage as often as I could. At one performance when I'd joined the cast on stage Woof said that he liked my beard which was a truly great compliment.

I saw Gavin Creel (who played Claude) at the Jazz Cafe last year doing a show of his own songs. Caissie Levy is currently playing the lead in 'Ghost' in the West End and is well worth a visit. Some of the original cast are still touring the show in America. I can't help but think it'll be a sad day when the show finally closes. We all need some optimism in our lives, some hope and joy. And some hair!

Amanda Palmer - 'Science Fiction/Double Feature'

The most lovely Amanda Palmer appeared on Craig Ferguson's 'Late Late Show' on Hallowe'en to sing 'Science Fiction/Double Feature' from The Rocky Horror Show'. She was supported by Moby (yes, Moby), Stephen Merrit and Mr Neil Gainam (aka Mr Amanda Palmer). A new supergroup?

Enjoy!

Viv Albertine on Pledgemusic

Viv Albertine. Do you know who she is? For shame if you don't, for she was a Slit and will always be a founder member of The Slits in the late 70s. Viv shone bright and then vanished for years, only to reappear a couple of years ago and start a Pledgemusic campaign to raise funding for her to record and release some new music, a solo album. I, obviously, pledged.

Viv has the Pledgemusic ethos at her core. She sends us updates every few weeks about what she's doing, what she's writing and who she's working with. Today she sent a lengthy email about recording with Jack Bruce - yes, *that* Jack Bruce. It read like an excited fan having met a hero and having that hero exceed every expectation. That's what I like about Viv - she's real. She emails about a tee shirt she got from Johnny Thunder and about a particularly good gig the night before. That's important. She involves us pledgers in her life and being a fan means we get a little bit of her even though it's at a distance.

Viv released a four-track EP last year called 'Flesh'. My favourite song from the EP is 'Never Come' that has the classic line, 'And I loved Marc Bolan because of all his curls'. I defy you to make a more generation-defining statement than that. We all loved Marc's corkskrew hair.

I am really looking forward to Viv's album. I'm also looking forward to seeing her play live some day. I keep missing her London shows but I will see her. And I will clap loudly. I might not pogo like in the olden days, but I'm sure she'll understand.

Make a pledge for Viv here - what do you have to lose?

'Sweeney Todd' At Chichester

On Saturday we left dear old London behind to journey back in time to the London of the 1930's to see many, many murders and much madness. Or rather, we went to Chichester to see a fine production of Sondheim's 'Sweeney Todd' as part of the arts festival. This production stars Imelda Staunton and Michael Ball in the leading roles of Mrs Lovett and Mr Todd, a good partnership.

The last time I saw 'Sweeney Todd' on stage was a few years ago in the dire production when the actors filled and emptied endless buckets of blood. Why? Who knows. It certainly didn't work for me. Of course, since then we've had the film with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter so 'Sweeney' is a bit more mainstream and you all probably know the tale by now. The tale of Sweeney returning to London to wreak revenge on the judge who split up his family and sent him to overseas to a penal colony. Of course, revenge is a strange dish and strange things can happen on the way.

Any production needs to get the right actors to play Sweeney and Mrs Lovett, one is dark and brooding and the other brings some light and shade and no little much-needed humour. I've never seen Michael Ball before but can appreciate his voice and abilities now that I've seen him as Sweeney Todd. Imelda Staunton is the perfect foil, never ending talking, perfect comic timing and just the right hint of repressed sexuality wanting Mr Todd. Imelda is the pink-on-pink teacher in the 'Harry Potter' films so you've probably seen her before, and I saw her on stage a few years ago as the repressed middle age woman in 'Entertaining Mr Sloane' (including seeing her virtually naked in a see-through nighty).

The set has been moved forward from Victorian London to the London of the 1930s, mainly signalled by the length of the frocks and the cute little van used for the shaving competition. Sweeney's barbershop was a detached piece of the set that came forward across the stage with sufficient space underneath for the dead bodies to accumulate.

This is quite a harrowing show. There's a bit of everything in there, from old loves to new love, evil and revenge, hope and despair, and some of the scenes of throat slashing and blood spurting got a few odd laughs from the audience but I suspect that was more about relieving the tension than any comedic effect. I thought it was an excellent production and was happy to join in the standing ovation at the end - they've earned it!

As a postscript, I've never been to Chichester before but it seems to be a nice little town near the Sussex coast with a nice cathedral, about 1.5 hours from London. It's built with roads very descriptively and geographically named North Street, East Street, etc, just like a compass. The audience was rather odd but then again it was a matinee and matinees the world over seem to comprise older people in their best theatre-going garb. I don't know if the show was sold out but it was certainly very full, and that's encouraging.

Queen Boudica

The other morning I took a leisurely route to work by getting the bus. My bus goes over Westminster Bridge and, because I sat on a different side of the bus than I usually sat on, then I had a different view of the Thames and the statues on either side of the river. I passed the statue of the mighty Queen Boudica (or Bodiecea) with her arms raised high in anger and pride and might and her horses charged into war. And my heart swelled.

Boudica, a mere provincial queen, took on the might of the Roman Empire and came so close to winning. A woman to inspire Victoria and Empire. Should we be ashamed of the pure nationalism of the statue on the north bank of the river? I say no. Two thousand years ago Boudica was my queen.

Boudica was queen of the Iceni and, when her husband died, the kingdom was annexed under Roman rule, she was flogged and her daughters raped. Is it any surprise that a queen would seek revenge and a return of pride?  Stupid Romans.  Boudica raised an army and destroyed the then capital of Roman Britain, Colchester, before heading to London and then north to fight the usurping Romans. She ultimately failed but she was a bright light in ancient Britain.

We know very little about Queen Boudica but I choose to believe the legends. If you get down to the river then look out for her.  You'll hear her charriot racing towards Parliament as a modern day rebel.

Blog-o-Metrics

I've been having a look behind the scenes of this blog of mine and wondering whether I should change the address to make it more of a plastic bag. It's thrown up some interesting facts:

• the busiest month so far was April 2011 with 3635 visits and 5417 page views;
• as of today, I'm averaging 95 visits per day with a visit length of 1:39 minutes;
• most people find my blog through a google search;
• the most viewed post is the one about my para-umbilical hernia from January 2010.

What does this mean?  I'm not sure really.  It's quite nice that people seem to read my inane ramblings and stay around to read a post or two rather than leaving straight away. 

This blog has been going since 2005 and I think it's time for a makeover, a bit of a re-fresh and maybe make it even more plastic.  Watch this space...

Amanda Palmer ' 'Ukelele Anthem'

Welcome to the new song from Amanda Palmer, 'Ukelele Anthem', that was previewed at her show at The British Library a couple of months ago.  It's now available for download at a price of 'name your price' from Bandcamp so go on, people, download it now and pay a generous price. Play your ukelele!

To read Amanda's blog about this song, visit bit.ly/blog102711

lyrics

sid vicious played a four-string fender bass guitar and couldn’t sing
and everybody hated him except the ones who loved him
a ukulele has four strings, but sid did did not play ukulele
he did smack and probably killed his girlfriend nancy spungen

if only sid had had a ukulele, maybe he could have been happy
maybe he would not have suffered such a sad end
he maybe would have not done all that heroin instead
he maybe would’ve sat around just singing nice songs to his girlfriend

so play your favorite cover song, especially if the words are wrong
‘cos even if your grades are bad, it doesn’t mean you’re failing
do your homework with a fork
and eat your fruit loops in the dark
and bring your etch-a-sketch to work
and play your ukulele

ukulele small and forceful
brave and peaceful
you can play the ukulele too it is painfully simple
play your ukulele badly, play your ukulele loudly
ukulele banish evil
ukulele save the people
ukulele gleaming golden on the top of every steeple

lizzie borden took an axe, and gave her father thirty whacks
then gave her mother thirty-one, and left a tragic puzzle
if only they had given her an instrument, those puritans
had lost the plot completely
see what happens when you muzzle
a person’s creativity
and do not let them sing and scream
and nowadays it’s worse ‘cause kids have automatic handguns
it takes about an hour to learn how to play the ukulele
about same to teach someone to build a standard pipe bomb
YOU DO THE MATH

so play your favorite cover song, especially if the words are wrong
‘cos even if your grades are bad, it doesn’t mean you’re failing
do your homework with a fork
and eat your fruit loops in the dark
and bring your flask of jack to work
and play your ukulele

ukulele, thing of wonder
ukulele, wand of thunder
you can play the ukulele, too
in london and down under
play joan jett, and play jacques brel
and eminem and neutral milk hotel
the children crush the hatred
play your ukulele naked
and if anybody tries to steal your ukulele, let them take it

imagine there’s no music, imagine there are no songs
imagine that john lennon wasn’t shot in front of his apartment
imagine if john lennon had composed “imagine” on the ukulele
maybe folks would have more clearly got the message

you may think my approach is simple-minded and naïve
like if you want to save the world then why not quit and feed the hungry
but people for millennia have needed music to survive
and that’s why i’ve promised john that i will not feel guilty

so play your favorite beatles’ song
and make the subway fall in love
they’re only $19.95, that’s not a lot of money
play until the sun comes up
and play until your fingers suffer
play LCD soundsystem songs on your ukulele
quit the bitching on your blog
and stop pretending art is hard
just limit yourself to three chords
and do not practice daily
you’ll minimize some stranger’s sadness
with a piece of wood and plastic
holy fuck it’s so fantastic, playing ukulele
eat your homework with a fork
and do your fruit loops in the dark
bring your etch-a-sketch to work
your flask of jack
your vibrator
your fear of heights
your nikon lens
your mom and dad
your disco stick
your soundtrack from “karate kid”
your ginsu knives
your rosary
your new rebecca black CD
your favorite room
your bowie knife
your stuffed giraffe
your new glass eye
your sousaphone
your breakfast tea
your nick drake tapes
your giving tree
your ice cream truck
your missing wife
your will to live
your urge to cry
remember we’re all going to die
so PLAY YOUR UKULELE

 

credits

released 31 October 2011
Written and performed by Amanda Palmer
Artwork by Shepard Fairey

Chris Tummings & Victor Romero Evans' 'Big People Show'

Last Friday I visited The Hideaway in Streatham for the first time to see 'The Big People Show' from Chris Tummings and Victor Romero Evans and I'm so pleased I did.  It was great fun and the perfect way to close down the week and welcome in the weekend. To make it even more special, Chris came up to our table to shake hands and say 'hello' which was a very generous touch.

'The Big People Show' is, basically, for old people who remember and still enjoy the old songs so I was perfectly at home!  Chris and Victor were supported by the excellent Skaaville All Stars playing some heavy heavy skaa that got the feet tapping and head nodding instantly.  They came on around 9:15pm and stayed till about midnight with a 20 minute or so interval (shame it wasn't a ganga break).  That's not bad by anyone's standards.  Chris and Victor traded lead vocal on songs all night and both have excellent voices.  They also work well together, as they have since first meeting and becoming friends in 1979, and their on-stage banter could only be that of long-term mates who find it impossible not to say outrageous things about each other.

I last saw them both in 'The Harder They Come', a show I blogged about many times and even went out to Oxford to see it when it was on tour - an excellent show that deserved to stay in the West End much longer than it did. Victor played the pastor who lusted after his ward and Chris played the corrupt police chief who called us all "huggly". Both scary in different ways and a far cry from the blokes on stage wreathed in smiles and jokes and singing some classic songs.  Chris raised my spirits immediately by talking about John Holt's '1000 Volts of Holt' and saying it was played at every family gathering.  I bought that record years ago and am listening to it as I type.

Chris fulfilled a lifetime ambition by playing guitar with a band on stage and Victor sang his hit, 'At The Club' and then at midnight it was all over.  I had a big smile on throughout, enjoying them being daft up there on stage and then singing some great songs with great voices and great music.  They should make a record. It was a lovely way to end the week and I'd be more than happy to see them again - smile and be happy! 

Buffy and Flamenco

Imagine my surprise when I check Twitter this evening on the train home and see a tweet with a link to an article in the National Post about Buffy Sainte-Marie and her band exercising and showing off gym clothes (click here).  In another article in the National Post Buffy talks about exercise (click here).  I don't know why it struck me as noteworthy, but it did.

Buffy puts me to shame.  An extract from the exercise article:

Q: What’s your secret for staying in such great shape?
A: I do lat pull-downs and leg presses and use the Gravitron and do upper-body weights, but that’s not my secret.
Q: OK, we’ll bite. What is?
A: I dance flamenco. It helps me build my core.
Q: What do you think about running?
A: I hate running! I find it so boring. I get on a treadmill, and it’s like, Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! All these ideas take over my head.

Can you claim to do as much?  I certainly can't.  I think I'm more in the territory of Elvis, as Buffy says,

A: Like Elvis. Poor thing. Besides lifting a sandwich, I don’t think he lifted anything.

Well, good on her and keep it up!

 
PS: I must start exercising...
PPS: I don't think Leroy knows what he's doing with that twist...

'The Playboy Of The Western World' at The Old Vic

Last week we went to see 'The Playboy of the Western World' at The Old Vic - I've been waiting for 30 years to see this play and it was well worth the wait. I did my dissertation at university 30 years ago on the works of JM Synge and the Celtic twilight (including Yeats and Lady Gregory) but I've never seen the play.  And, y'know what? I'm quite pleased I waited until this production to see Synge's masterpiece, for masterpiece it is.

I love the words, the lyrical quality of the phrasing and placing of the words, the poetry of everyday language in Synge's careful hands.  I'd downloaded the play onto my Kindle so I was reading the play both before and after seeing it and the language is great, both poetry and everyday speech at the same time that you don't notice when it's spoken in front of you. The poetry I've been used to when reading it is very different when it's part of fluent speech on the stage. And I was lucky enough to have three Irish people in the three lead roles of Christie (the Playboy, Robert Sheehan), Pegeen (the love interest, Ruth Negga) and the Widow Quinn (Niamh Cusack).

It's a very disfunctional play at one level, a play that glorifies a young lad that kills his father to the extent that the owner of a little pub on the coast of County Mayo is happy to leave him as protector of his daughter while he goes out to drink at a wake.And that's the premise throughout, that Christie has killed his father and is to be celebrated by the young women of the village and the old codgers wanting some refreshing gossip.  Of course, it's not as simple as that, and when Christie's supposedly dead dad turns up there are problems and Christie has to kill him again, this time in front of a baying crowd.  And that makes it different, now that they've witnessed a murder they need to make sure he's hanged... except there are more twists to the tale.

Niamh and Ruth are both consummate stage actresses that I've seen before (Ruth was Ophelia in 'Hamlet' last year) so it was Robert who was the unknown quantity.  He's the star of 'Misfits' on E4, one of my surprise likes of last year and, when I heard he was playing this role I thought, 'yes, Christie.' He has the right level of bullshit and arrogance, the can-do blarny, but lacks the acting credentials.  This is his first stage role and it's a pretty challenging one at that.  He needs to learn from his co-stars and then come back and do something really out of character to get us all gasping in surprise.  I think you can do it, so surprise us.

Put simply, I loved it.  The story-telling is excellent (well, it would be, wouldn't it) and the acting was engaging.  I loved the set, with the cottage pub that turned 360 degrees on the stage.  The playboy of the western world isn't who you think he is but he's someone to remember.  Go and see this production if you can, it's well worth it.