I have been a fan for many years and own many of her albums but this was my first opportunity to see her live
Sadly ,I was disappointed. I expected a Jazz, not MOR easy listening set. However we experienced a recital, not a concert performance which would have been better suited to several hundred at Ronnie Scott’s, not a couple of thousand at this prestigious venue.
Her audience interaction was minimal, she was largely obscured to the majority of the audience sitting parallel to the audience offering a profile shrouded by her long hair to some. I had come to hear her playing and singing, not extended double bass and drum solos, worthy as they were.
Of course we were treated to Krall’s exceptional piano dexterity “All or Nothing at All” featured Krall’s eclectic phrasing, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” simmered slowly. “Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me,”, featured her dazzling cascading runs and melodic tension as did a glowing interpretation of “Fly Me to the Moon,”. “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning and “They Can’t Take That Away from Me,” were melancholic class
But The mood was overwhelmingly sombre and downbeat. The set featured a few spotlights and no video screen and just two supporting musicians. That’s £150,000 box office less petty cash. Nice work if you can get it. Several left before the end.
I have attended numerous music festivals, and some Mind Body Spirit festivals , but never a Poetry festival of over a days’ duration. I decided that Morecambe was the perfect opportunity to redress that omission. What follows is not a review, more a capricious record of some fond memories.
I had never been to Morecambe before. It was far enough away (120miles) to be an adventure but close enough to be a comfortable journey. And over four days there were bound to be some poets I liked. There were.
I travelled alone, but with the poetry community you are never alone, and I knew that I would soon find like minded souls. I was right.
Thursday night was an informal welcome night in the Bath pub. It was a large boozer with a small stage in the corner. I wondered how the locals would react to their boozer being occupied by poets. The pub slowly filled, and filled, any locals engulfed ,till around 250 people squeezed in. “Perhaps we should have poetry nights every night! quipped the landlord.
The totemic, charismatic, organiser Matt Panesh opened proceedings serving up – a course of tantalising poetic hors d’oeuvres. It was a bit like seeing Deep Purple open their set with “Smoke on the water” as the winner of last years local poetry competition and joint winner of this years’, Trystan Lewis, produced a scintillating start combining socially aware poetry with physics (you had to be there). Rosemary Drescher and Hannah Wood subsequently caught my ear before we decamped to the upstairs of the nearly next door pub, an old night club.
“We’re running a little late” joked Matt introducing the strapline for the event. ( who cares I was there for five days!). I had come for the event, not names and to be surprised, and delighted- which i was.
On Friday the event proper commenced including the first evening show at the magnificent, full, 800 seater Winter Gardens.
John Hegley topped the bill with a reliably assured set, but it was his support , Jan Brierton, from Ireland who shone , performing extensively from her book “Everybody is a poem”. Catch her while you can, a great poet and a thoroughly delightful person in person. She gave generously of her time to me.
We then decamped to the Kings Arms for Luke Wright who came on stage at around 10.45pm to a “lubricated” audience- he was in his element. Luke is an extraordinary performer and blazed through an incendiary set combining stand up comedy, poetry, and errr, Luke Wright! Unquestionably the performance of the weekend.
Which posed a problem for the fine Lisa Moore, a gifted poet of a more considered,cerebral style who had to come on stage at 11.45pm … she did well, but through no fault of her own, “The time was out of joint”. I felt for her, and told her as much after.
Graham Parker the pub rock great once declared that :“Saturday Night is dead.” Not in Morecambe it isn’t.
Henry Normal opened the Winter Gardens in the evening, urbane, loquacious and eloquent. Nigel Planer stole the evening. Very wittily he came on stage and informed us how much older we were all looking since he last saw us… he romped through a failed relationship with an older woman, two failed marriages and his return to the original woman in a wonderful, humble, self-deprecating performance that Neil would have been proud of.
At the Kings Arms, Geordie Rowan McAbe ripped it up, and my old friend Jonny Fluffypunk fluffed delightfully.
Sunday afternoon was an absurd smorgasbord of talent at the Kings Arms. Manchester’s Rowland Crowland triumphed alongside John Darwin. Heathers Moulson and Sullivan alongside Anna Somerset and Sharon Green performed as a quartet, “Into the Blue” was a deeply affecting poem about a walk in a bluebell wood to remember a deceased friend
In 2011 I attended “Hit the Ode” a poetry night in Birmingham. I started chatting with an extraordinary young woman who used to live in Cambridge, as I did, who then went on to perform an equally extraordinary set. Her name was Hollie McNish. I had an identical sense of impending greatness when I met Louise Fazackerly, who effortlessly combines personality, poetry, pith and pizzaz. Her dazzling set melded pathos, humour, incisive observation and fun. One of my favourite music albums is by the Verve- “Northern Soul”- it sums her, and her poetry up perfectly
Yet at the Winter gardens it was not over. Clare Ferguson Walker blitzed the opening slot, Michael Rosen offered more sedate reflective fare and inexplicably did not reference his outstanding new children’s book “Oh Dear, Look what I got” the natural successor to “Bear Hunt”, but to be graced with his presence was enough. Three of my grandchildren now have a signed dedicated copy each – thanks Michael!
What is the Morecambe poetry festival like? When buying a festival t shirt I discovered that they were out of stock of my size. “Don’t worry” said a volunteer who was the same size as me, you can have mine in an unopened packet…. A word of advice to newcomers. I arrived on the Thursday and left on the Monday morning, essential if you want the full experience and can afford the time.
It returns 18/20th sept 2026, I shall be there, will you?
A fan once said to legendary Liverpool football manager Bill Shankly:
‘To you football is a matter of life or death!’ , he replied: ‘Listen, it’s more important than that’.
The two great loves of my life are football and theatre. I approached this production with trepidation. Could it do justice to either? Football plays are thin on the ground. Peter Terson’s 1967, “Zigger Zagger”, and that is about it. There is a reason for this, it is a very difficult subject to realise convincingly on stage. That difficulty is compounded currently by the wave of nationalist political sentiment popularly expressed by England flag displays swathed in a myriad definitions of what England is about. The moment is both auspicious and dangerous. This production is rewritten from the 2023 original to incorporate subsequent events. This review offers no narrative as there are a number of surprise delights. Rupert Goold directs with vim and vigour, bringing playwright James Howard’s script alive, a local Nottingham boy made good.
Centre stage is David Sturzaker as Gareth. He is magnificent, from my front row seat every trademark eyelash flutter and facial nuance was apparent as he journeys from failed penalty taker to the most successful England Manager since Sir Alf Ramsey.
At his side is sports psychologist Pippa Grange ( Samantha Womack). Womack is a revelation on stage freed from the constraints of her television roles- most notably with East Enders.
The cast of twenty three is massive, how the production can make money is beyond me. The story of the cultural and psychological development of Southgate is interspersed by numerous hilarious comic character cameos ( Allardyce/ Taylor/ Capello/ Boris Johnson/ Theresa May) and a script with laugh out loud comedy.
Yet Howards’ script gently, and powerfully touches on racism, masculinity and national identity in a way which illuminates rather than shouts, and, unlike the England team itself, is consistently, entertaining. Multi- layered, it explores the national team, Southgate himself , our own collective sense of national identity , and how we deal with the past, and trauma, “Dear England is , in the theatrical sense, not the political sense, a populist play. with the audience encouraged to join with the songs “Sweet Caroline ” , “World in Motion ” and “Three Lions” . The terraces meet the stalls.
Director Rupert Goold, choreographer Ellen Kane, and designer Es Devlin combine to create a confident, bombastic feel to the production. A circular floor and ceiling lit circular surround put its characters literally in the spotlight.
If you love theatre, but hate football – or vice versa – I would heartily recommend you watch Dear England, which runs until Saturday, September 27 and continues on National tour
“I always think: ‘What if this is the first play someone ever sees?’ That’s always in my head, whatever the subject matter,” he comments that he didn’t grow up with the theatre, and saw his first play in London in his 20s: “I don’t have an arty family.”
Therefore, he was very aware that it was the football story that attracted thousands of people to see a straight play for the first time in the West End.
This made the opportunity to give the play a regional premiere and a tour even more vital: “I advocated very strongly for it… It’s the national game and it’s the National Theatre. It should go around the nation.”
I went to the same school as Gilmour ( Perse) and lived in the city ( Cambridge). We were not contemporaries at school, but I recall seeing Syd Barrett around Cherry Hinton, a Cambridge suburb and pink Floyd were very much the local boys made good with “Dark Side of the Moon” and “Meddle “ epoch defining records. I was, am, and will continue to be a fan of almost sixty years standing.
Gilmour’s guitar prowess is a given, but this is dreary stuff save for an inevitably majestic “Comfortably Numb” the hymn for the “Comfortably off” who can afford £400 a ticket prices.
The running time is almost 3 hours, and 2 hours in I was checking my watch. This was dreary fare which could have been livened up by some chariot racing. It felt like Dire Straits/ Mark Knopfler or Chris Rea, worthy, meticulously crafted, but dull.
It is September , the children are back at school, temperatures are falling and Derby Theatre has a scorching world premier tour from leading contemporary playwright Torben Betts to open the autumn season.
A strong cast of television veterans includes Jason Durr (Heartbeat, Casualty) as Jonny the Cyclpos, Susie Blake ( Coronation Street) as Shirley, Max Bowden, ( Ben Mitchell in EastEnders) as Paul , and Katie McGlynn (Waterloo Road, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks) as Lisa
Performed by the Original theatre company , Murder at Midnight is a cross-genre piece incorporating, crime, comedy, thriller, murder mystery and madcap farce set on New Year’s Eve in a quiet corner of Kent. There is a killer on the loose. Within are gangster Jonny ‘ Cyclops’, his glamorous girlfriend Lisa , his emotionally volatile sidekick Trainwreck, his clairvoyant mum—who’s seeing things, her very skittish foreign born carer, plus an undercover detective, – and a burglar dressed as a clown. That is quite some New Years Eve gathering.
A safe full of cash and drugs, a stash of deadly weapons, and one unsolved murder spice the evening up.
One house. Seven suspects and a Murder at Midnight…
Philip Franks’ direction is pacy, brisk and energetic. The two hour long halves never outstay their welcome. A split-level single set ( by Colin Falconer, lighting by Jason Taylor) incorporating an open plan lounge/kitchen, study, bedroom and back alley works well, Sound by Max Paapenheim majors on Jonny’s favourite artist Robbie Williams and mercifully eschews Coldplay, the latter of whom are the butt of a very funny series of running gags.
After the success of Invincible, Caroline’s Kitchen, and Murder in the Dark this is Betts’s fourth play at Derby. It is also his best. It borrows from Jacobean revenge drama in the mould of Webster or Middleton. Director Franks has described it as Feydeau meets Tarantino which is particularly apposite for a modern audience.
The dialogue is snappy . The one -liners are whiplash fast and laugh out loud funny. I dare you to wear a Coldplay t shirt to the show. The body count is high, the stage drenched in blood for the brilliant finale. It isn’t just people who meet their maker- Rocjk DJ tragically is despatched to the great kennels in the sky too, where hopefully he will be better fed.
The principal cast are terrific. Betts has created a classic villain in Cyclops for Jason Durr to inhabit. Lisa his girlfriend, sassily played by McGlynn is much more than a dumb blonde. Susie Blake plays the psychotic mother with a wicked gleam in her eye, sometime demotic villainess in a winceyette nightie, sometime forgetful granny.
Betts is a master at teasing wit the motivations for his character’s actions, sometimes we find out, sometimes we don’t. He never seeks to explain why some people like Coldplay.
Cast also includes Callum Balmforth, Peter Moreton, Iryna Poplavska, Bella Farr and Andy McLeod.
Murder at Midnight plays until Sat 13th before continuing on nationwide tour at Birmingham, Cheltenham, Guildford, Malvern, Southend, York, Eastbourne, Cardiff, Fareham, and Bromley and in 2026 Salford, Blackpool, Ipswich, Northampton, New Brighton, Coventry, Salisbury, Bath and Darlington, with further dates to be announced.
My fifth cruise, my third transatlantic repositioning cruise from the Caribbean to the mediterranean on Voyager, my first journey on her.
Once again we were starting from Barbados, a long haul flight from Birmingham Uk and finishing with a relatively short hop from Palma Majorca to home.
Bridgetown Barbados is a curious mix of the ramshackle old town with an obvious drive to reinvent the waterfront as a trendy modern area, basking in the late April summer sun. The only shame is that an afternoon was not nearly enough time to do it justice
Next up was the beautiful island of St Lucia,, my third visit and this time we partook of some whale and dolphin watching which was excellent
the following day was the island of Dominica, not to be confused with the much larger Dominican republic, small, underdeveloped poor and a set for the film “Pirates of the Caribbean”- there was no sign of Johhny Depp.
our final Caribbean stop was a favourite, Antigua at which we island hopped from beach to beautiful beach on a small boat
Seven full sea days then took us to the big surprise of the holiday for m, the glorious island of Maderira, great cake, great wined, great seafoof. Reids Hotel where Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher have stayed ( not at the same time) was superb
I had been to Cadiz before, it remains a wonderful city
Concluding in palma- it was a memorable cruise with madeira the highlight
This is my fourth visit to the show, the first being over two decades ago. In 1975 Jon Landau proclaimed Bruce Springsteen as the future of rock n roll. In 1958 Buddy Holly was the progenitor of the genre. Buddy himself played Birmingham Town hall in 1959.
As a musical theatre production, the statistics underscore the hyperbole for a show which celebrates the songs of an artist whose recording career lasted barely two years, but whose music endures. A jukebox musical, the two halves mainly comprise his rise to fame and studio work in the first half, and an extended concert sequence in the second. Total performances to 2024: 22,124
Number of people up and dancing at the end… 22,979,566
Buddy – the original ‘jukebox’ musical – has enjoyed phenomenal success, playing a record-breaking 4,900 performances over 614 weeks on tour in the UK and Ireland, as well as 5,822 performances over 728 weeks in London’s West End.
The backstory is fascinating.Buddy’s mum said “Charles Hardin was just too long a name for such a little boy”, so nicknamed him ‘Buddy’
Buddy Holly’s first instrument was the piano
Hank Williams was Buddy Holly’s earliest musical influence
The oldest known recording of Buddy is from about 1949, singing ‘My Two Timin’ Woman’ at around the age of 13, before his voice broke!
Buddy and his best friend Bob Montgomery opened for Elvis Presley in February 1955, at the Fair Park Coliseum in Lubbock, Buddy borrowing Presley’s guitar for the show
Buddy’s professional music career lasted just over three years, but he left behind almost 200 recordings made during that span
The original Crickets were Buddy Holly (lead guitar and vocals), Jerry Allison (drums), Niki Sullivan (rhythm guitar), and Joe Mauldin (bass) – their first hit was ‘That’ll Be The Day’
Buddy and the Crickets wrote most of their own material, which was unique at the time. Before Buddy, pop music performance and song-writing were mostly separate endeavours, where composers wrote songs and performers recorded and played them in concert
Buddy and the Crickets played on Ed Sullivan’s popular variety show twice, but refused to appear a third time due to a previous disagreement with Sullivan about what they could play
Buddy used a loan from his brother Larry to buy a $600 Fender Stratocaster, which he would use on his records and in concerts
Buddy recorded seven songs that Elvis Presley also recorded, including ‘Ready Teddy’, ‘Rip It Up’ and ‘Bo Diddley’
Buddy and the Crickets toured Hawaii, Australia and England in early 1958 – the tour of England in March was compered by Des O’Connor
Paul McCartney watched Buddy at home in Liverpool on TV’s Sunday Night at the London Palladium to find out exactly which chords he used
The Crickets appeared on the 100th show of Sunday Night at the London Palladium – Bob Hope was top of the bill
Paul McCartney once said: “If it weren’t for the Crickets, there wouldn’t be any Beatles”
The ‘Chirping’ Crickets was the only group LP with Buddy to be issued in his lifetime. The iconic cover photo was somewhat hurriedly taken on a theatre roof in Brooklyn, before a concert
Buddy played his last concert at the Surf Ballroom, Clear Lake, Iowa, on February 2nd, 1959, along with fellow rock & roll stars Ritchie Valens and J.P. ‘the Big Bopper’ Richardson
Legendary country superstar Waylon Jennings had his first record produced by Buddy Holly
According to the song credits on ‘Not Fade Away’ and ‘Baby I Don’t Care’ Jerry Allison’s instrument was the ‘cardboard box’! On ‘Everyday’ he is credited with ‘knee slapping’!
One of Buddy’s most famous hits, ‘Peggy Sue’, was originally called ‘Cindy Lou’, but he changed it at the request of Jerry Allison, who wanted the song to be named after his girlfriend
Buddy proposed to Maria Elena Santiago on their first date – they were married just weeks later on August 15th, 1958, in a private ceremony in the Holley’s house in Lubbock
The Quarrymen (later to become The Beatles) covered ‘That’ll Be The Day’ in their first recording. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Stuart Sutcliffe (the Beatles’ original bass guitarist) were all huge Buddy Holly fans, and came up with the name The Beatles in homage to Buddy’s band the Crickets
Buddy’s ‘Not Fade Away’ was covered by the Rolling Stones in 1964, and became the band’s first top 10 hit in Britain, reaching number three
Two major films have been made about Buddy Holly; Gary Busey received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Buddy in The Buddy Holly Story in 1979, then in 1987 lifelong fan Paul McCartney narrated The Real Buddy Holly Story documentary
Don McLean’s 1971 classic ‘American Pie’ is all about the fateful plane crash which claimed the lives of Buddy, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson. In the third verse McLean sings, “I can’t remember if I cried, when I read about his widowed bride.” The bride was Maria Elena Holly (née Santiago)
Waylon Jennings gave the Big Bopper his seat on the plane, while Ritchie Valens beat Tommy Allsup in a coin toss for a seat – Ritchie called heads and won
On 1st July 1976 Paul McCartney purchased the rights to Buddy Holly’s entire song catalogue
In 1980 the citizens of Lubbock, Texas, Buddy’s home town, unveiled a heroic bronze statue of their most famous son
Rolling Stone magazine ranked Buddy 13th in its list of ‘100 Greatest Artists of All-Time’ in 2011 — not bad considering Buddy died at the age of just 22!
The musical Buddy has run in London’s West End for many years. Opening in October 1989, it has played at the Victoria Palace, Strand (now Novello), and Duchess Theatres.
A J Jenks takes the eponymous role in this performance ,Angular and enthusiastic, Jenks is credible and lively, . In all Joseph has ten supporting musicians and singers, including a three piece brass section, a luxury which Buddy Holly never had, providing a full, sumptuous and authentic sound.
The plot, such as it is , joins the dots between the musical numbers, but does not shirk the casual misogyny and more pernicious racism which was abroad at the time. The Hippodrome is a magnificent theatre and provides a fitting showcase for a talented cast who gave this matinee performance their all
Amongst numerous satisfying cameos, Marta Miranda shone as Maria Elena who shimmies and strolls in a gorgeous cream pleated skirt as Buddy’s girlfriend then sports a stunning black evening gown as auxiliary saxophonist with the band. Miguel Angel is Ritchie Valens and choreographer. Unsurprisingly he moves well. Josh Barton Bops as the big bopper with “Chantilly Lace”. Matt Salisbury Directs with vim and vigour.
The Hippodrome’s voluminous stage is well suited to a set which incorporates recording studios, concert halls, radio stations, and living space and provides a sense of occasion as the theatre stage becomes a concert stage.
There is no secret to this show’s success and longevity, the songs are very strong. A stripped down “Everyday” is the highlight of the first half, “Rave On” the raucous star of the second. Contemporary hits “Shout” , “ La Bamba” and “Johnny B Goode” flesh out the musical numbers offering variety, shade and musical context. Unfortunately the glorious “La Bamba” is squandered by a poor arrangement and sound mix. The iconic guitar chimes are lost, subsumed in a muddy bass and keyboard murk. Such a waste. I also found the ubiqitous use of the call ad respone ” I cant hear you” irritating.
A fine second performance at the Hippodrome it plays till saturday and then continues its nationwide tour.
In the morning I had been playing in the woods with pre school age grandchildren. I was booked into the hospital for the afternoon for a routine echo sound in response to a feeling of general malaise. An unremarkable day.
The nurse ran the echo sounder over my stomach- the same procedure as millions of pregnant women experience. Suddenly I was overcome by a sense of nausea and stomach cramps. I abruptly informed the nurse that I needed to visit the toilet and left the side room to find it.
The corridor floor felt cold and hard against my back. The ceiling lights were bright. As my vision focussed, I realised that I was surrounded by at least three nurses, two green garbed doctors and three casually dressed consultants. It was quite a crowd.
“oops, sorry about that, I’m feeling better now and want to go home” I imparted.
They smiled as if I had told a rather good joke. “You are coming with us into accident and emergency, now ” they replied.
You need an aortic valve replacement was the verdict
Glenfield Hospital had a specialist heart unit. The surgeon explained the procedure and the risks- 5% mortality risk on the table, 4% stroke risk. I would be dead in two years with decreasing interim health without the operation. The risks seemed to be dwarfed by the rewards.
The day before one of the surgical doctor theatre team came into see how I was. Could I sign the consent form? 10% mortality risk, 4% stroke risk. I could hardly bail out now.
The morning of the operation the anaesthetist came to see me.
“You do realise that there is a 20% mortality risk and a 4% stroke risk?”
Another form to sign- the anaesthetist is only interested in who dies on the table or not. I didn’t even ask about the stroke risk-all of a sudden I wanted to keep the mortality risk at 20%.
Thery had warned me that the operation could take seven hours and that they might put me in an induced coma. Heavily sedated I came to with a young female intensive care nurse asking how I was feeling. Frankly I had felt better. I asked for some water and rewarded her with vomiting all over her. She hasn’t been in touch since.
I tried to come to terms with my surroundings, to make sense of them, and the pain. Out of the ether the nurse intoned :“Gary, we think you are having a stroke”. This was news to me. “How can you tell?” a disembodied voice slurred in reply. Slowly I comprehended that the voice I could hear was mine.
On reflection, if you are going to have a stroke have it in an intensive care ward with your own personal nurse and a team of acute care doctors and consultants on hand.
The following day I woke up in a ward. I couldn’t speak and had no feeling or physical control on my left side nor could I swallow. I was totally unprepared. Hospital affords much time to think. The other recovering patients are gravely ill and have no time for witty badinage. The nurses have no time.
I took stock. My droopy dropped face was the least of my problems- I was not that good looking to start with. My speech was the biggest issue. My voice is my best bit. Getting around was then second- it was useful. Every waking second was then spent on those two things. It was a cold late winter. My covers had slipped off my left side. I was freezing. An auxiliary nurse breezed by.
“Excuse me, nurse could you pick up my covers for me?” I asked.
“Can’t you do it yourself?”
“No”.
I lost (and have still lost all sensation in my left torso, arms, hands, legs and feet) and could not, and cannot, distinguish between hot and cold, A distinct disadvantage when bathing. Compounded by the savage impact on my body of open heart surgery, I resolved to go home an announced my decision to a ward doctor. Strokes wreak havoc on our capacity to understand information, and make decisions.
The Doctor was female, tall and Afro Caribbean . She bore a remarkable resemblance to Tina Turner in the film “ Mad Max beyond Thunderdome”.
” You can, if you want to” she shrugged – “but you will die” before moving on with calculated nonchalance.
On balance I decided to give it a few more days.
The final test was the patient’s kitchen. A room designed to prove that I could pour boiling water for tea, and use a knife to butter toast. Easy.
After a week’s practice, and a month after the stroke, I was out.
A gig almost exactly a year on from the last time, on very hot summer night, a warm up show for the festival season before their full autumn tour. The venue was once agin packed, a place they clearly enjoy playing.
The band was identical to before. As was the setlist:
I have been following the band since the Siouxsie and the Banshees support slot at the Rainbow London in 79 as the Human league. They still play Being Boiled and “You’ve lost that loving feeling”
Stand out songs tonight were “Let Me Go”, Come live with me” and of course “Temptation”.
Garyswordz 