'Much Ado About Nothing' at the Noel Coward Theatre

Last week I went to see the hugely enjoyable new production of 'Much Ado About Nothing', the new Indian version by the Royal Shakespeare Company that is part of the World Shakespeare Festival 2012 and part of the London 2012 Festival.  It stars Meera Syal as Beatrice and Paul Bhattacharjee as Benedick.

The last time I saw this play was in 2008 at the National Theatre with Zoe Wannamaker and Simon Russell-Beale in the lead roles at the National Theatre and I thought it was a great production. It was fun, it was frivolous and it was serious by turns, with both stars falling into a pond at different times. I loved it and I even chuckled a bit. But, this new production went one better - it made me laugh out loud. At a Shakespeare play. At a Shakespeare comedy no less, and I never laugh at Shakespeare comedies. I blame Ms Meera Syal for that.

This great new production blurs (as theatricals will say) the fourth wall, in that the cast engage directly with the audience as we troop in and, occasionally, during the play, and that brings a new lease of life to it, making it real to us. The cast explode from the doors into the stalls and up the steps to the stage as well as entering from the stage and walking down steps from the Indian-style compound that makes up the set. The staging was excellent as was the really atmospheric and carefully judged lighting.

It was also lovely to see half of the 'Goodness Gracious Me' cast on stage together. As well as Meera Syal we also had Kulvinder Ghir as the rogue Borachio, who, by the end of the play was stripped down to just a pair of boxers as he was convicted of high crimes and misdemeanours. Before the play started I met him outside the gents toilets when he was interacting with random people. When he came up to me I put my hands together, bowed my head and said 'namaste' and that shut him up! Phew I escaped....

This is quite possibly the most enjoyable production of a Shakespeare play I have ever seen. I mean that. It made me laugh out loud and Meera and the rest of the cast wrung every possible laugh out of it with a raised eyebrow at just the right moment, a nod or a shake of a scarf.  It was all timed to perfection and I count myself lucky to have seen it.  It's only on for a few more weeks so grab a ticket while you can.

As well as Meera, Paul and Kulvinder, I'd pick out Madhav Sharma as Leonato who trikes the right balance between subject and offended father with many witty asides, milking it for all it's worth. I also liked Simon Nagra as Dogberry and Sharti Patel as Verges who both had great comic timing and engaged with the audience at the start and during the half-time. The only let down was the bloke who played Claudio as a block of wood.

If you get the chance, go and see this production. I don't think we'll be treated to anything like it for years to come so enjoy it now. And thank you to Meera for making me laugh at Shakespeare!

Sufjan Stevens - 'Silver & Gold: Songs For Christmas Vols 6-10'

The latest news from Asthmatic Kitty is that Sufjan Stevens is releasing a new Christmas collection on 13 November, 'Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas Volumes 6-10'. Things like this always put me in a quandary - why am I talking about Christmas at the start of October? On the other hand, if we don't know things are happening how can we plan a good Christmas. O well.

The first song available to hear on Bandcamp is 'Christmas Unicorn', a delightful song  that builds and builds and turns, almost naturally into 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' at the end. Click to listen for yourself. If the rest of the songs are anything like this then it'll be a corker of a record! I already love the cover:

Anyway, the blurb from the Kitty says:

Happy Holidays! On November 13, 2012, Asthmatic Kitty will release (another!) Christmas box-set extravaganza by Sufjan Stevens—Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas, Vols. 6-10, a compilation of 5 EPs recorded between 2006 and 2010.

Expanding on the tradition of the first box-set (Songs for Christmas, Vols. 1- 5 from 2006), Silver & Gold is a generous document of five more years of holly-jolly jubilee undertaken by Sufjan and his various musical cohorts. There's a veritable feast for the eyes of content in the CD and vinyl boxsets. Click here to see all the contents.

Your local record store will be carrying both the CD and Vinyl boxsets. We are offering a special Mail Order edition of the vinyl boxset, which will come with extra goodies shipped especially for you.

  PLEASE NOTE: Vinyl Box Set may not arrive in time for Christmas. Manufacturing for this product is quite elaborate, to say the least; everyone's doing his/her best to facilitate a timely arrival.

Listen to the first single from the boxset, "Christmas Unicorn," on Bandcamp by clicking here. And we've released a page from the coloring book, illustrated by Stephen Halker, right here (share your coloring with us by tweeting #colormexmas).

Some Day All The Adults Will Die - Hayward Gallery

I went along to see 'Some Day All The Adults Will Die: Punk Design 1971-1984', a small exhibition at The Hayward Gallery last week to see the roots of punk design and how it evolved but I think it's over-selling itself somewhat. Bill it as an exhibition of posters, fanzines and limited-edition 7” singles and I'm with you all the way. 

It's only two small rooms plus a corridor upstairs at the Hayward but it was packed with memories and smiles for me. There were lots of references to the Sex Pistols but I saw nothing for The Clash or X-Ray Spex, and only one mention of The Jam. Lots of the names of bands meant nothing to me (but probably meant everything to the curator) since we were in the territory of bands coming together for a few gigs and then splitting into various off-shoots but it was the energy and enthusiasm that seeped from the posters and records that entranced me. This was DIY culture writ large.

I loved glancing around the wall of fanzines and spotting an edition I'd actually bought back in the day. Then looking over the wall of 7” singles and seeing a rather battered cover for the Swell Maps whereas mine is rather more pristine. I also loved looking in a glass case at some cassette singles – were they in a a glass because they were cassettes (a now lost technology to anyone under 30) or because they were rare? I don't know, but it made me smile.

The whole exhibition made me smile. It's rather incomplete in that there's nothing about fashion or any of the other visual or tactile arts – it really is about posters, record covers and fanzines and there's nothing wrong with that. Maybe one day we'll get a more all-encompassing exhibition about punk, but not today. If you're at a loose end on the Southbank with half an hour (or less) to spare the head on over to the Hayward Gallery and take a look.

'Bronze' at The Royal Academy

I went to see the 'Bronze' exhibition of, um, bronzes, at The Royal Academy last week and it's well worth a visit. The blurb on the RA website says:

Arranged thematically, Bronze brings together outstanding works from antiquity to the present. Different sections focus on the Human Figure, Animals, Groups, Objects, Reliefs, Gods, Heads and Busts. The exhibition features stunning Ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan bronzes, through to rare survivals from the Medieval period. The Renaissance is represented by the works of artists such as Ghiberti, Donatello, Cellini, and later Giambologna, De Vries and others. Bronzes by Rodin, Boccioni, Picasso, Jasper Johns, Moore, Beuys and Bourgeois are representative of the best from the 19th century to today.

Bronze has been employed as an artistic medium for over five millennia. It is an alloy consisting mainly of copper, with lesser amounts of tin, zinc and lead. Due to its inherent toughness and resistance, the material’s uses over the centuries have been remarkably varied. A section of the exhibition has been devoted to the complex processes involved in making bronze, enabling visitors to explore how models are made, cast and finished by a variety of different techniques. The exhibition offers a unique exploration of artistic practice, an understanding of the physical properties and distinctive qualities of bronze, and the rare opportunity to see the very best examples in one place.

So there you have it from the horse's mouth. Personally, I prefer to gawp at the art rather than get too precious about it (unless it's worth getting precious about, of course).

The first thing you see on going into the exhibition is the huge 'Dancing Satyr' on a plinth in the middle of the first room. He was pulled out of the sea by fishermen a few years ago and rose head-first, like he was rising from the seabed to revisit the world he last knew a couple of millennia ago. He really is quite impressive and a fitting start to the exhibition.

We then move into a room full of figures, of people cast in bronze from across the centuries and continents, all clustered together in one room. There was something there to suit everyone but I picked out a monumental copy of Cellini's 'Perseus and Medusa' re-cast by Clemente Papi in 1844 for big wows and a tiny figure in a glass case of a naked acrobat performing a handstand by Prieur from around 1600 for the sheer fun and joy of it.

The exhibition then moves on to animals and the first one we see is a chimera from about 400BCE with a lion's head and paws, a snake for a tail, and antelope growing out of his back and all sorts of other weirdness melded together as one animal. The star of this section, though, was the magnificent 'Il Porcellino' from Florence, better known to me as Piggy! A lovely statue of a bronze pig used as a fountain with water dripping from his mouth and surrounded by pond creatures. This is the original that now lives in a museum but I've stroked the snout of his counterpart outside the market in Florence and that means I will go back one day.

In other rooms there was a rather large statue of Shiva Nataraja dancing in his wheel of cosmic fire, Lord of the Dance as he destroys and creates the world, destroying ignorance and welcoming the flame of wisdom. In this room of 'gods' there's also a life-sized statue of Jesus, a pot-bellied Ganesha and one statue of Buddha. Elsewhere there's a small statue of 'Yashoda Nursing the Infant Krishna' which is quite a domestic scene until you notice the baby Krishna has his lips to one nipple and his fingers to the other, tweaking his foster-mothe's nipple.  Well, he is Krishna after all.

Two of my favourite pieces were 'Untitled' by Anish Kapoor from 2012, a big, polished bronze dish hung on the wall in which you can see yourself upside-down as you approach and leave and a bust of Catherine d'Medici from about 1590, an imperious and scary lady. While I loved the Anish Kapoor for its simplicity and fun and kept going back to move around in front of it to see what might happen, I wouldn't want to go to visit Catherine.

So there you go. There's something for everyone at the exhibition and it's a good way of spending a couple of hours out of the rain (and it was pouring down when I went).

Remember Olympic TfL?

The joys of the Olympics and Paralympics may be fading as we move into autumn, but you can still enjoy the memories.

Do you recall those cartoon posters Transport for London plastered everywhere, particularly on the Tube, reminding us not to travel, to travel by different routes, to walk, to cycle, all rather than use public transport as normal? Well, you can now download them if you want and keep as a reminder of a great summer.

They're on the Get Ahead Of The Games website so pop on over there and have a chortle at your favourite (or least favourite) poster. You won't be seeing them again any time soon!

Amanda Palmer & The Flaming Lips

Earlier this summer Amanda Palmer recorded 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' with The Flaming Lips, the Ewan MacColl song made famous by Roberta Flack. She also made a video with them in which she's naked in the bath with everything on display. Don't click on the video below if you're likely to be offended by a naked body - I'm not, I've even written on her naked body (at her London Art Show in June this year).

It's a lovely, and rather interesting version of the song but it hasn't been released yet. I hope it's made available soon.

The Flaming Lips and Amanda Palmer - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face from Delo Creative on Vimeo.

Tom Tom Club - 'Downtown Rockers'

Those bouncy people at Tom Tom Club released a new EP/LP a few weeks back called 'Downtown Rockers' and now there's a video. You must watch it since it is black 'n' white fab with some truly antique video clips of people like Debbie Harry and more of your New York '70s favourites. Personally, I just love the way they sing 'rockerz' with a 'z' rather than an 's'.

Chris names the bands from the New York underground scene in the late '60s and '70s while Tina and Victoria sing the chorus of 'Downtown rockerz, I remember you, Downtoen rockers, I will still love you' with the rest of the band with a spikey guitar riff and drums thumping away. He starts with 'The Velvet Underground, The Modern Lovers, The New York Dolls, Patti Smith...' and moves on to The Ramones, Blondie and everyone you could wish for. He even name-checks The Shirts (I still have their single 'Tell Me Your Plans'). The last name is (appropriately) Talking Heads.

Chris is quoted somewhere as saying that this song is their version of the books that everyone seems to be writing these days about the downtown music scene in the '70s. Immortalise their names (if that's needed) in song rather than print and it's lovely to hear some of the names in the list that risk falling by the wayside. A fitting tribute.

I can't think of Tina and Chris without recalling their show at the Great Eastern Hotel years ago when I caught Tina's warm CBGB knickers when she threw them into the crowd (she was wearing others underneath). Earlier in the evening it was lovely to wander round with Chris and Dawn and marvel at the City media kids pretending to be CBGB punks for the evening (and getting it so wrong) and then, out of the blue, there were Tina and Chris walking up to give Dawn a big hug. They're nice people.

Anyway, watch the video, download the album and enjoy!

Marc Bolan 35th Anniversary Concert 15 September 2012

On Saturday night I went to the anniversary concert celebrating the music of Marc Bolan 35 years after his death in a car accident. Like the 30th anniversary concert, the show was at Shepherd's Bush Empire and had some of the same pop stars on stage. This concert was much better organised (and more professional) than the previous one and I hope it'll be released on DVD like the 30th anniversary show was. It deserves to be!

Marc wrote some of the best pop songs of the early 70s and virtually everyone reading this blog will have heard a T.Rex song since so many have been used on telly adverts over the years. You might not recognise the name of the song but you'll recognise the riff. It was nice to see contemporaries of Marc on stage singing his songs as well as my own generation of fans who became pop stars in their own right like Boy George and Marc Almond. The concert was in aid of the PRS Members Benevolent Fund for musicians and songwriters who need some support in their ageing years - Marc would've been 65 this year so it seems even more appropriate.

Anyway, on to the show. As I noted five years ago at the 30th anniversary show, the children of the revolution have grown fat, gray and beery but we still recognise great sounds and can boogie (slightly ungainly in my case). The show opened with a svelte Lynsey de Paul (cor!) walking on stage in a sparkly silver cocktail frock and ushering on Noddy Holder (double cor!) in waistcoat and trousers (but no mirrored top hat, sadly) as our most welcome comperes for the evening. Lynsey was a delight and Noddy got slightly more racier as the evening wore on but both were lovely.

First up were T.Rextasy, the official T.Rex tribute band, with Danielz channeling Marc from the corkscrew hair, the guitar poses and warbling voice. I liked his green flares.The band were on-stage for virtually the entire show, playing songs on their own as well as supporting all the guest singers.

We had a great array of singers: Mike Lindup (from Level 42), Andy Ellison (John's Children), Linda Lewis, Marc Almond, Alvin Stardust, Boy George, Glen Matlock, Steve Harley and Sandie Shaw. They all came on once or twice (or thrice for Boy George and Marc Almond) to sing their favourite T.Rex songs. We were also treated to Tony Visconti (Marc's producer) and his son, as well as Howie Casey (Marc's saxophonist) and the Dirty Pretty Strings. And, of course, we had an ensemble encore (without George and Steve) at the end.

My favourite moments - other than Lynsey and Noddy walking onto the stage at the start - included Linda Lewis's stonking version of 'Children of the Revolution'. Power chords riffing with her incredible voice creating an astonishingly powerful sound. She has the vocal range to pull it off. She knew Marc in the early days and contributed vocals all over the place (including to Bowie's 'Aladdin Sane') before making it on her own. She played out the glam queen in a golden sequinned frock and peacock jacket, giving it some serious welly!

Alvin Stardust was someone I seriously never thought I'd see live and had assumed had retreated into cabaret but he showed he was still a rocker in his choice of songs. His first song was 'Sweet Little Rock'n'Roller', the only non-Marc song of the evening because Alvin had sung it with him on 'Supersonic' back in the day. That was electric and got everyone moving. He came back later to sing 'I Love To Boogie'. I was terribly impressed with Alvin's effortless professionalism and knowing how to work a crowd - he's been on stage since the '60s and that showed off a mile! Well done Alvin!

Marc Almond threw himself into the show the way he did five years ago, coming on three times to sing songs and having three costume changes, from red velvet to black to gold sequins. He did a variety of songs with T.Rextasy but I liked 'Whatever Happened To The Teenage Dream' best (as it was when he performed it five years ago). He put a lot of glitz and glam into his performance, almost like he was singing in front of a mirror in his teenage bedroom (which I bet he did!). He clearly is a real fan of T.Rex and he's not afraid to show it, getting into the spirit of the evening and giving good show.

Boy George didn't have the costume changes but he also came on three times to sing and my favourite was 'Telegram Sam', a great version with him ripping it up, striking poses and being a glam god for the night. He also looked like he was having great fun, trading poses with Danielz throughout. He wasn't wearing the scarab-based clothes I've seen him in the last few times, which was a nice change. He also won the award for the best shoes - gleaming golden shoes that drew the eye.

Glen Matlock opened the second half of the show with his fast version of 'Debora' and what a good version it was. I met him later coming out of the bar (as I was going in) so he had to walk past me. I said, 'Great song' and replied with 'thank you' and that's fine. I spoke to Glen last year at the end of an ensemble show at Ray Davies Meltdown festival when Glen sat in the row behind me and I couldn't leave without saying something. It's not every day you meet a Sex Pistol! Sandie Shaw was on stage that night as well so I might as well start a rumour...

Noddy and Lynsey did a great job of filling in the gaps when people weren't ready to come on stage and it was in one of these gaps that I learned the story of 'Clean Up Woman' by Betty Wright. Noddy did Brian Matthews' 'My Top 12' on Radio 1 back in 1972 and he chose to play 'Clean Up Woman' which I've loved ever since. When I saw a Betty Wright 'best of' CD a few years ago I had to buy it because this song was on it. It turns out that Marc bought the single in America and brought it back for Noddy because he knew Nod liked soul music. Marc also thought that SLADE should record it. I'm pleased they didn't but I'm happy to know the background story to the record.

Steve Harley came on for a couple of songs - I never really thought of him as glam or a contemporary of Marc's. He started off with a nice version of 'Lofty Skies' and went on to play 'Dandy In The Underworld'. He said that he sang backing vocals on the song so it was fitting for him to sing it (Marc Almond sang it at the 30th anniversary gig). He didn't quite capture Marc's pomp majesty but it was a worthy tribute.

Sandie Shaw only had one song, 'Life's A Gas', but she performed a miracle while on stage. It's not one of my favourite songs and is forever tarnished by the duet between Marc and Cilla Black back in 1972 on the Cilla Show. That performance really rubbed me up the wrong way to the extent that I still recall it and Cilla donning a feather boa to show how glam she was. But Sandie rescued it on Saturday night and I think she'll be the one that pops into my head in future when I hear that song. Thank you Sandie!

And finally, some kudos to Danielz and T.Rextasy for being on stage and playing for most of the evening. They were good sports, part tribute band, part backing band to all the guest vocalists and band in their own right. Best of the night for me was 'Jeepster', a truly electric version that ripped up the night. They also took us into the encores of 'Get It On' and 'Hot Love' with the ensembled stars (minus Boy George and Steve Harley) coming back on stage for loud and cheery versions of those songs. It was lovely to see them trading lines, singing in groups and singly and putting their arms round one another. In a way it was a big beery singalong and I think Marc would've loved it! The last voice of he evening was Noddy Holder shouting out his trademarked 'Keep on rocking'!'.

As I've said, the children of the revolution (me included) have grown fat and beery but we still know how to boogie. And we still love Marc.

SLADE aren't just for Christmas, but ...

Sorry to mention Christmas so early in the year but a very special Christmas present is being planned for all SLADE fans. No, not the fabled reunion (which *will* happen one day, I have faith) but a night devoted to SLADE on BBC4 just before Christmas.

The special night will include the 'It's SLADE' documentary, 'SLADE in Flame' (often referred to as one of the best rock films ever made) and a special 'SLADE at the BBC' programme. This will feature archive performances not seen in full on UK television since they were originally broadcast and, I'm reliably informed, will include a missing performance of 'Coz I Luv You' from Top Of The Pops that has never been seen before. Might I say 'cor!'?  'Coz I Luv You' was the first SLADE single I bought back in 1971 and I still have it.

Last Christmas I was lucky enough to see three quarters of SLADE - Sir Noddy Holder at Union Chapel narrating 'A Christmas Carol' and Dave and Don with their version of Slade at Koko (will the DVD of that show ever be issued?). Sadly, I haven't seen Jim Lea since about 1981 but there's time yet.

I was also lucky to see Noddy compere the Marc Bolan 35th Anniversary Concert on Saturday night (blog to follow about that) and he's looking good. I *think* he even sang along to 'Hot Love' at the end of the show. And his was the final voice of the evening when he shouted out his trademarked 'Keep on rocking!' at the top of his voice. We will, Noddy, we will!

Marc Bolan Concert

In advance of doing a proper blog about the Marc Bolan 35th Anniversary Concert I thought I'd share a selection of photos I took last night. Do you recognise them all?