I visit the cinema infrequently these days, however the Christmas break lured me to see Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon”.
Firstly, it is loooong at two hours and thirty eight minutes. Incredibly, it is effectively an edited version of a mini series with over four hours material to choose from
Anecdotal criticism is of historical inaccuracy, I wasn’t there, but I didn’t notice anything grossly wrong. Wellington still wins the Battle of Waterloo, the Americans don’t come to the rescue, instead the Prussians ( awkward) do.
Joaquin Phoenix is resolute in the title role, Vanessa Kirby sizzles as Josephine. Ridley predictably handles the action sequences superbly, and with the battles of Austerlitz and Borodino to tackle he is in his element.
I was brought up on Christopher Plummer’s Wellington defeating Napoleon in Waterloo ( 1970), its narrower focus makes it the better film.
The motivation for “doing the 92” can vary from person to person, and even from season to season. This was my sixth new league ground of the season so far, from the 32,500 capacity PL standard Pride Park, to this, the barely EPL standard Wetherby Rd. On a late autumnal October night, one hundred miles from home, I was reminded that it is cold up north as I queued for the only known antidote, Bovril. I stayed at the Hilton, Majestic, only a mile and a half away. In the bar I was asked by a fellow resident whether I was going to ”the game”? So was he – Man United v FC Copenhagen. I saw the better game- and for a third of the price he paid.
When Villa aren’t playing, I have decided to take in as many Mansfield away games at new unvisited grounds as I can, with league two awash with uncollected scalps. Wetherby rd is small, the smallest league ground I have ever been to. Capacity is somewhere between 4000 and 5000 depending upon how you count. Never have I visited a ground with more stands. Redevelopment at the Myrings south terrace end has resulted in two new stands, one four completed rows low level stand offering around 200 seats which was inexplicably not used ,( maybe an external access issue) , and an adjacent new cantilever bigger stand still under construction. That meant that Mansfield, who took 3,888 to Notts County for their last away were given just 458, 147 seats, 303 standing.
The reality is that Harrogate are poorly supported, the gate of 2304 leaves you with barely 1750 home supporters, their record attendance is 3048 v Portsmouth, an average home attendances hover wound the 2200 mark. This is only their third league season in an area which feeds support to Leeds United, Bradford City and York. I fear for their long term longevity.
The club is in transition. The stand adjacent to the Wetherby rd sits tight against it, and is a respectable side terrace. The north terrace does no run the width of the pitch but is fine, the main stand where I sat has a decent depth and offers excellent views. They have come a long way in a short space of time. In recent decades the non metropolitan northern clubs have had a rough time of it, and I would much rather a Harrogate than a Crawley, Sutton or Stevenage.
As for the game, 18 matches undefeated, the second consecutive away game scoring four goals, the Stags were magnificent.
Before leaving for the theatre I watched the Labour Party Conference highlights on the news. The signature song from Annie “Tomorrow” ( sung by Roosevelt’s 1930’s cabinet in the Oval office!) could easily have been used, thematically demonstrating its contemporaneous relevance.
This musical debuted on Broadway in 1977, written by Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin and Thomas Meehan. It is based on the Little Orphan Annie comic strip created by Harold Gray in 1924.,(which in turn was inspired from the poem Little Orphan Annie by James Whitcomb Riley. There have been numerous film and television adaptations.
Dramatically, the show pivots on the character of orphanage matron Miss Hannighan, for whom Director Nikolai Foster has chosen a man, Craig Revel Horwood, to perform the role. Originally the late Paul O Grady had been listed for the part. Although famous for his judging on television’s Strictly Come Dancing, Craig has a distinguished track record in Musical theatre ( Miss Saigon and Crazy for You) as well as being omnipresent on the Pantomime circuit, he can sing well in addition to being able to dance well. Jodie Prenger takes the part on Saturdays.
I had my reservations about his casting beforehand . They were wholly misplaced. He is brilliant as the booze loving, children hating matron. There is ( thankfully) not a trace of his television judging persona, nor does he assume the role of a pantomime dame, he IS Miss Hannighan.
The cast is large, and child heavy . Inevitably the child roles rotate, suffice to say they are all excellent, and assiduous dancers.
Alex Bourne is imperious as multi–Billionaire Daddy Warbucks whose stoney capitalist heart is melted by orphan Annie. Amelia Adams is sassy, and persuasive as Warbuck’s personal assistant Grace. Paul French enjoys himself as the conniving confidence trickster Rooster, trying to claim both Annie and a reward by presenting himself and leggy girlfriend Lily ( Billy Kay) as Annie’s parents.
The costuming is lush for Warbucks’ scenes, the stage lavishly set, both courtesy of Colin Richmond with period Radio news broadcasting as a backdrop.
On the one hand the story is contrived and manipulative- who can resist a coterie of young female orphans and a dog? On the other hand the story is so well told, and acted , that it becomes irresistible. Director Foster revels in presenting the song and dance scenes, including tap, all bursting with brio, pizzaz and zip. “NYC” was barnstorming. Choreographer Nick Winston must have been looking over his shoulder when Revel Horwood was around!
Essentially this is about Annie, a young girl, and her dreams in a world beset by poverty, homeless ness and economic adversity and her hope, for a family and a better life. I loved it. The standing ovation at the end was richly deserved. Continues until sat 14th then on national tour.
An extraordinary one woman show featuring a table, a chair and Ruby Wax.
This is not her stand up comedy show, instead a stream of consciousness monologue about mental health in general, her mental health in particular with reflections upon all of our mental health. What appears on paper dour and down beat is energetic, vibrant and quixotic in her hands as she promotes her book: “I’m not as well as I thought I was”
The highlight is unquestionably her trip whale watching with some reassuringly offbeat characters. she does meander and go off piste, but not i suspect, off script, whilst always commanding her audience and performance.
Pic Handout
The show is short, about 45 minutes for the first half, and barely 30 minutes for the second, but perfectly formed. Afterwards she was charming for the book signing, around 200 people at £18.99, the best part of £4000 after you have finished work – not bad….
Ruby Wax’s comedy career has been eclipsed by her prodigious campaign work for mental health (for which she was awarded an OBE in 2015). I’m Not as Well as I Thought I Was is her seventh book, and another that mines her life and her experience of mental illness, as well as exploring routes to good mental health. But it was derailed from its original destination: “I didn’t set out to write a book about being in a mental clinic. It was going to be a kind of guide for people who wanted to find something deeper in their lives: find a purpose outside of a job and a partner and living the ‘same old, same old’”.
Wax planned to undertake a series of journeys “with the intention of finding meaning, purpose to life, peace, compassion, joy – whatever you want to call it”. She went on a month-long silent retreat at Spirit Rock, a renowned meditation centre near San Francisco; she sailed from the Dominican Republic with a contingent of American and German “healers” to swim with humpback whales; and she helped in a refugee camp in Greece. But it was during her stay with a Christian community in Yorkshire that Wax’s mind eventually gave in to collapse.
While talking to a priest, she began to feel truly dreadful. She lied, telling him she had a Zoom call, and headed to her bed. Even at her most vulnerable, she couldn’t help her hard-wired defence of humour: “I think he probably knew I didn’t have a Zoom call, but he still looked at me with non-judgemental love. These guys just won’t stop giving”. She was soon admitted to a clinic where she wrote the beginnings of this book. Her depression – at bay for the best part of twelve years – had returned.
One chapter, “Television”, seems to want to remind us, and Wax herself, of her success on screen (with speedy accounts of her most memorable interviews). Yet her relentless output – and desire for affirmation – contributed to her undoing, and she can feel the wounds of her past keenly. (Her parents escaped Vienna in 1938, and the home Wax grew up in was emotionally abusive and unsafe.)
I experienced a classic moment tonight. At the bar I made conversation with a fellow drinker now referred to as the man at the bar ( TMATB). “Have you seen this before? ” I enquired. TMATB replied, ” Several times, have you? And did you like it?”. Enthusiastically I continued ” Yes, It’s one of my favourite pieces of theatre” TMATB replied ” And mine, I wrote it”. At which point Paul Allen revealed himself, and offered numerous brilliant anecdotes.
Paul Allen ( Picture express and Star)
As I prepared to leave for the theatre at tea time, the news was dominated by a Conservative Government abandoning the North at their party conference, the previous week had been dominated by mass job losses at local employer Wilco. “Brassed off” may have been written thirty years ago, but it is a story for our times.
Key to the success of this production is live music onstage in the shape of the Derwent Brass band based in Belper, Derbyshire. The rich plangent tones of brass have an unique quality, rousing, melancholic and nostalgic, and the evening treated us to a mini concert within the play, each number earning deserved extended applause. An audience member told me that she had only come, knowing nothing of the story, because she liked brass bands.
Picture by Pamela Raith
The film upon which the stage play is based is amongst the finest observations of British social history in the past half century, many of the audience will have seen it. As time moves on, the direct connection of audience members to the political social history will inevitably wane – yet the link in Derbyshire remains strong.
The film was released in 1996, Paul Allen’s theatrical adaptation was first seen at the Sheffield Crucible in 1998 after Harvey Weinstein, then of Miramax, who owned the rights to the story, gave Paul Allen permission to produce the play which saved the Crucible theatre from bankruptcy.
I saw the 2015 production which hitherto has been the theatrical high water mark of Derby’s recent history. It retains several of the original cast and creative talent.
Pivotal to the story’s success are band conductor and leader Danny, and Gloria, new band member and management interloper.
Seren Sandham-Davies reprises her role as Gloria. The part of Danny is now played by Gareth Williams, who drives the band, and production, with his obsessive commitment to music and the legacy it offers.
Band leader Danny
Only at the end is he riven with doubt as he delivers an oration on the social injustice of the mine closures in a spine tingling moment.
Gloria and love interest Andy ( Thomas Wingfield) pic Pamela Wraith
Sandham-Davies has a tough job, not only does she have to take a principal role, she also needs to play lead parts with a Fugelhorn. A criteria for the part which thinned out the audition process a little! Fortunately, not only is Seren an accomplished musician, but she also plays Gloria with considerable aplomb, feisty and articulate, and sexy with it, she charms both the defecting band members and audience. Gloria’s longs to belong. She has returned to her hometown, childhood sweetheart and industry which her family worked in at a time when all those things are disappearing as she knew them. That underpins the part, and is well portrayed by a fine young actress.
The huge advantage of the staged version over celluloid is the emotional impact of a live brass ensemble blowing through the music such as Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma” with skill and brio. Tara Fitzgerald merely had to mime the fiendishly difficult flugelhorn solos in the film – Seren performs live.
The original “Concierto de Aranjuez” is replaced by “Nessun Dorma” due to Rights issues, and some of the dialogue has moved, but otherwise this reprises the 2015 production.
In supporting roles, Lee Toomes (Jim) and Howard Chadwick ( Harry) delight and entertain as comedy double act friends. Chadwick has the physique of a miner who probably didn’t need mechanical tools, whilst Harry has the best line of the night as the numbers who might vote for the redundancy package are assessed:” “Nobody ever says they voted Tory either, but somehow the buggers keep getting in.”
Jim Harry and Gloria
Jo Mousely (Sandra) is wonderful as the mother of four trying to keep the family together whilst the bailiffs systematically strip the house.
Paul Allen has done an excellent job adapting Mark Herman’s screenplay for the stage, this is no pallid facsimile of the film . Stage designer Ali Allen opts for a largely minimalist kitchen sink set depicting working class homes and silhouettes of an industrial landscape. The harrowing suicide scene is graphically, and spectacularly, set against the pit head wheel .
Director Sarah Brigham is a stickler for accuracy, and handles the politics well, and sympathetically, never hectoring or lecturing. That authenticity, light touch , and attention to detail is an integral part of this emotional and compelling production which deservedly evoked a standing ovation at the close. “Brassed Off “ runs until Saturday 28th October. Unmissable.
This is a hybrid between a revue and Tribute concert featuring the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. This was their second booking , and on a Saturday night they had pretty much sold it out, a good sign that their previous appearance had been well received.
The original band had dominated the charts. Valli recorded his first record in 1953, but the Four Seasons did not form until 1960. Most of the songs were introduced or included as part of a narration story, pretty much tracking the history of doo wop , barber shop, harmony singing and early rock n roll. With some forty top 40 hits as a solo artist and band member, there was no shortage of material to draw on. The repertoire meant that a significant proportion of the audience was over 70 years old.
My seat was in the balcony which may have been a factor in one of my concerns about the show. The sound was shrill, and some of the harmonies discordant. Frankly in part that reflected the limited vocal abilities of some of the four piece. However the instrumentation was provided by a backing track, and the lack of a live band on stage did dull the immediacy and dynamic range of some of the songs.
Yes, all of the hits were aired, some multiple times: “Sherry” (1962), “Big Girls Don’t Cry” (1962), “Walk Like a Man” (1963), “Rag Doll” (1964) and “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” (1975), song “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” ( 1967), “the Night” ( 1972). “My Eyes Adored You” (1974) and “Grease” (1978) amongst them
There was plenty of cheesy banter with the audience although their preference for talking in the first person about themselves. You are NOT Bob Gaudio and his applause is not yours.
However… the audience lapped it up and the “Four Seasons” ( and Penny in lighting) clearly had a great time too. Entertainment is of the moment, and they delivered it to their fans.
This represents a new adaptation by director Sean Aydon from Titled Wig productions of the original Mary Shelley book, first published 205 years ago in 1818. Although often billed as a horror story, it also offers the credentials of being regarded as the first science fiction story. The name “Frankenstein” is frequently used, erroneously, to refer to the monster, rather than to its creator.
Aydon makes two bold moves, first the setting is wartime Europe, second Dr Frankenstein is a woman. The latter is a neat twist, as Shelley’s author mother was famous for her own book, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”. It also facilitates a 21st Century interpretation of a 19th century novel into an eldritch tour de force.
The power of the Frankenstein legend lies in a man-made scientific abomination that careers out of control, a theme contemporaneously reflected in the current debate on Artificial Intelligence.
Condensing the original novel and locations onto a stage is no easy task, but somehow it is shoe-horned here into a two-hour production using narration, voice over and monologue to fill the gaps.
The mood is tense and remote enhanced by Nicky Bunch’s austere set, Matt Haskin’s eerie lighting and Eamonn O’Dwyer’s spooky sound and music. Frankenstein’s laboratory is spartan, the mountain cabin bleak.
Two characters bestride this tale, Frankenstein herself, and the Creature.
As Victoria Frankenstein, Eleanor McLoughlin has considerable fun with the gender changed role and the possibilities it offers, obsessive, sedulous, querulous and aware eschewing personal relationships for her work. She plays the straight role opposite the magnificent, nuanced Creature of Cameron Robertson, part laboratory freak, part human. Missy Brazier’s Make Up, Wigs & Prosthetics work is outstanding.
The world war two setting enables Aydon to weave in some Nazi allusions. State sponsored doctor Richter is introduced seeking to create super humans and a master race. Basienka Blake is part fascist authoritarian, and part Dominatrix, as other worldly in her own way as The Creature.
The master race dimension is reprised by Frankenstein’s assistant, Francine, , a person of restricted growth whose capacity to work on the complex project is questioned by Dr Richter. Annete Hannah is particularly strong in the part of Francine who presses Frankenstein on whether she should look to improve her as she had done with the Creature. Frankenstein’s partner Henry ( Dale Mathurin) is a man of colour, again at odds with an Aryan Master Race.
Frankenstein- Derby Theatre
****
This represents a new adaptation by director Sean Aydon from Titled Wig productions of the original Mary Shelley book, first published 205 years ago in 1818. Although often billed as a horror story, it also offers the credentials of being regarded as the first science fiction story. The name “Frankenstein” is often used, erroneously, to refer to the monster, rather than to its creator. I approached this reworked version with some trepidation. But theatre at its best can surprise and delight, and this production did exactly that
Aydon makes two bold moves, first the setting is wartime Europe, second Dr Frankenstein is a woman. The latter is a neat twist, as Shelley’s author mother was famous for her own book, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”. It also facilitates a 21st Century interpretation of a 19th century novel into an eldritch tour de force.
The power of the Frankenstein legend lies in a man-made scientific abomination that careers out of control, a theme contemporaneously reflected in the current debate on Artificial Intelligence.
Condensing the original novel and locations onto a stage is no easy task, but somehow it is shoe-horned here into a two-hour production using narration, voice over and monologue to fill the gaps and features that old favourite, a play within a play.
The mood is tense and remote enhanced by Nicky Bunch’s austere set, Matt Haskin’s eerie lighting, and Eamonn O’Dwyer’s spooky sound and music. Frankenstein’s laboratory is spartan, the mountain cabin bleak.
Two characters bestride this tale, Frankenstein herself, and the Creature.
As Victoria Frankenstein, Eleanor McLoughlin has considerable fun with the gender changed role and the possibilities it offers, obsessive, sedulous, querulous and aware, eschewing personal relationships for her work. She plays the straight role opposite the magnificent, nuanced Creature of Cameron Robertson, part laboratory freak, part human. Missy Brazier’s Make Up, Wigs & Prosthetics work is outstanding.
The world war two setting enables Aydon to weave in some Nazi allusions and an eugenics theme. State sponsored doctor Richter is introduced seeking to create super humans and a master race. Basienka Blake is part fascist authoritarian, and part Dominatrix, as other worldly in her own way as The Creature, also playing the mysterious Captain.
The master race dimension is reprised by Frankenstein’s assistant, Francine, a person of restricted growth whose capacity to work on the complex project is questioned by Dr Richter. Annete Hannah is particularly strong in the part of Francine who presses Frankenstein on whether she should look to improve her as she had done with the Creature. Frankenstein’s partner Henry ( Dale Mathurin) is a man of colour, again at odds with an Aryan Master Race.
This is a satisfying reboot for Frankenstein from a talented cast who make the pivotal gender and location changes work. There is plenty of dry ice, Gothic horror fans will not be disappointed and the Frankenstein weekend at Whitby will have some new characters next time around.
It is an ambitious production which pays off in most areas. The bloody, tumultuous finale would make Quentin Tarantino jealous. Literary and philosophical references abound. Aydon is brave to take on John Milton and Shakespeare. However he makes the story his own by bookending the opening and closing scenes in a powerful dramatic device.
Although maryshelley’s story ahs been around for a long time, this interpretation is fresh as a daisy. See it.
Frankenstein playa at Derby until 23rd Sept, then continues touring the UK until November 2023 at eleven venues. For more information and tour dates, visit the Tilted Wig website. https://www.tiltedwigproductions.com/frankenstein
This is a satisfying reboot for Frankenstein from a talented cast who make the pivotal gender and location changes work. Gothic horror fans will not be disappointed and the Frankenstein weekend at Whitby will have some new characters next time around.
Frankenstein playa at Derby until 23rd Sept, then continues touring the UK until November 2023 at eleven venues. For more information and tour dates, visit the Tilted Wig website. https://www.tiltedwigproductions.com/frankenstein
Make no mistake, this production was a big call by Sutton Arts. It is wordy, and worthy, and played out on a single set. Its themes of the American Dream, the anatomy of truth, and fidelity are more fully realised in “Death of a Salesman” written two years later. His exploration of visceral drama is saved for “The Crucible” ,so this was an intriguing choice of production.
This was Miller’s first hit production following the flop of his first play “The Man Who Had All the Luck failed on Broadway, lasting only four performances. Miller wrote All My Sons as a final attempt at writing a commercially successful play , peeling back the specious veneer of the American dream, exposing how guilt and wrongdoing can rot a family from the inside, tainting everything they touch.
All My Sons is based upon a true story. In 1941–43 the Wright Aeronautical Corporation based in Ohio had conspired with army inspection officers to approve defective aircraft engines destined for military use. It explores how two partners in a business can have to take moral and legal responsibility for the other. Idealism is the problem.
Written in 1947 The criticism of that idealism , was one reason why Arthur Miller was called to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee during the 1950s during the McCarthy purge era.
Ricard Clarke’s Joe Keller is an object lesson in good acting. We watch him unfold and unravel before our eyes from businessman, husband and father to a flawed fraudster. He has lost his one son in a wartime plane crash, then loses his other son as his exposure as the peddler of faulty plane parts emerges. Those parts resulted in twenty one crashes with the resultant fatalities representing “All of our sons”
Chris Commander, as Joe’s surviving son forensically unpicks both his father’s commercial wrong doing and his status as head of household.
But it is Liz Berriman as matriarch Kate Keller who dominates the evening. She combines an innate warmth with a nervy anxiety suggested by the way she encases herself in her housecoat as if it were a flak jacket , a protective shield from all that is exploding around her.. In one way she is also the “villain” of the piece in that she puts the sanctity of the home before ethics, yet Berriman’s homely myopic innocence wins through. Hers is a gorgeously calibrated Kate, guilt manifests differently with her, in fragile optimism and occasional flashes of anger.
As Anne’s lawyer brother George , Harry Robins precisely shows a hunger for revenge on the Keller family melting under the influence of their hospitality.
Its attack on the probity of America is a bludgeoning, and so too is Miller’s characterisation of women. Anne’s feminine allure is specifically drawn, but no space is given to her character and the assumption that she would “jump ship” from one brother to another romantically feels clunky. MIller’s eye for a pretty woman is evidenced by his marriage to Marilyn Monroe. But here Amy White plays Anne as the girl next door, not a femme fatale.
This is a strong cast, and my only reservation bout the evening was the frequency of shouting. Don’t shout, act, this isn’t East Enders. However this was th first night of the first production after the summer, a time when it can be difficult during rehearsals to hve the cast all together, let alone fine tune a directorial message.
The single set, an exterior porch, scene of an earlier storm works well, the only lighting demands are for the twilight act from daylight. Curiously the sound eschews contemporary music, if ever a chorus of the “Marines hymn” was required, it was here.
Written seventy years ago, Joes exclamation that what he was doing was “just business” and his observation that not a single military vehicle left a factory without having been paid for first resonates as the profits in British, Israeli, American and south African Arms companies today are boosted by our war in Ukraine. What gives the play its momentum is the force of Miller’s message. In part the play is an assault on the twin American gods of family and profit: Joe’s last line of defence is: “I’m in business.” But this is not simply a play about war profiteering. Miller’s real theme is the way a distorted individualism has replaced the idea of responsibility to the community.
Sutton arts deliver a Miller for our times, In an era of fake news and moral uncertainty, this production of Arthur Miller’s play rings as true as ever At a time of flux and fakery when lies masquerade as truth, we find reassurance in Miller’s moral rigour and appeal to our collective human conscience.
Some lament the turgid fare of contemporary musicals. “ Tony! (The Tony Blair Rock Opera)”, by Harry Hill and Steve Brown challenges that stasis.
Charlie Baker takes the lead as the eponymous messiah, channelling “Smashy and Nicey” into a modern context. The well attended opening night overwhelmingly comprised those who probably voted him in. He is introduced to us on his death bed looking back to the beginning with a funny physical gag showing the moment when he was born.
Although billed as a musical rock opera, in practice it is a smorgasbord of revue, skits, verbal and physical gags and comic songs. The single set stage is simple, featuring a live three piece band and a cast of ten, making it expensive to tour. The production is split into two halves of 50, and 45 minutes, brevity here is a virtue.
Several of the talented cast, in matching Blairite suit and red tie uniforms, double up on characters played, and all of your favourite are present and correct. The script lacks the sophistication and edge of a Ben Elton effort, instead favouring the grotesque caricatures of spitting image. Madison Swan excels as Princess Diana.
Howard Samuels effectively anchors the proceedings as Peter Mandelson with jokes about his sexuality which hover perilously close to homophobia, but Holly Sumpton’s exquisite scouse Cherie Blair is never far away to move things on.
The second act raises the ante on bad taste featuring Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein lamenting “ I Never Done Anything Wrong” together with posters for Assad, Pinochet and Idi Amin. Naturally George W Bush , Alistair Campbell and Gordon Brown get a good run out too.
The rise and fall of Tony Blair is strong source material, unfortunately, subsequently Boris Johnson and Liz Truss easily trump New Labour for duplicity and absurdity. The stakes have been raised again with truth being stranger than fiction. Perhaps that will be Hill and Brown’s next project?
The downside of this production is that its episodic construction means that it lacks narrative cohesion. The upside is that most of the skits are very, laugh out loud, funny , Anyone wanting a good laugh at Tony Blair and new labour’s expense will not be disappointed. A parody of YMCA using T-O-N-Y complete with dance moves does entertain. The show won a standing ovation on this opening night as the curtain fell.
The show continues at Derby until 16th September and then concludes its nationwide tour in Bromley, Manchester and Liverpool to coincide with the Party conference season.
Some bands belong live on stage, Thin Lizzy were one such band. This tour supported their “ Live and Dangerous “album. They were at their absolute peak, and this was one of their three prestige dates at London’s temple of rock, the Hammersmith odeon. Expectations were high.
Lynnot was a charismatic frontman, distinctive for not only being one of the few black men in contemporary rock bands, but also for being a compelling performer, bassist, and vocalist .
I have been coming to the Robin for thirty years now and over the past few months have seen an outstanding show (legend of Springsteen) and a good one (Sound and vision).
Last night the Doors Rising left me conflicted.
There was much that was good. Stuart Capstick is visually, stylistically, and vocally a convincing Morrison. Carl Rice was rock solid on drums, Martyn Gilbert’s lead guitar was fluid, keyboard duties were executed by Colin Hill rather than the historically billed Andy Keegan. To these ears, the keyboard parts sounded learned rather than performed with the trademark organ flourishes fororm”“Light my Fire” largely inaudible. “Riders on the Storm” was stripped of intensity and context
I found the running order clunky with a half time break unnecessary, and a mood killer. Telsen had opened the evening, I was genuinely unsure as to whether or not it was an REM tribute playing lesser known songs.
The Doors last live show was over fifty years ago now and was the apogee of 60’s psychedelia.
They only ever played one UK show, the Isle of Wight festival, so hardly anyone in the Uk has seen them live, and pretty much all of their songs were written in one summer. It is a fairly narrow window, and their contemporaries most notably Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead progressed musically, but Morrisons death has frozen them in time. This produces a fairly limited playing field for a tribute act, compounded by the fact that their acid rock material is so at odds with their best known song, “Light my Fire” which became a MOR standard courtesy of Jose Feliciano.
I have nothing against tribute acts, and am for them as a means to keeping music alive. “Rising” are a decent band with much going for them musically but they face an uphill struggle
Garyswordz 