Brothers in harmony - review of State of the Union (Boo Hewerdine and Brooks Williams)

State of the Union at Arlington Arts, Newbury, on Saturday, May 2

MOST people (or maybe it’s just me) will have a long-term fondness for one or two musicians/bands who are so deeply ingrained in their psyche that they forget that they’re not as well known to the wider world as they ought to be. For me, one of those musicians is Boo Hewerdine. His work as frontman of Cambridge-formed band The Bible must have had some Radio One play in the late ’80s (for that was all I listened to back then), but they remained mainly a cult band, with their highest charting single having a near-miss with the Top 50.

Probably his best-known composition is Patience of Angels, a hit for singer Eddie Reader in 1994, although I prefer Hewerdine’s warm, mellow version of it, as performed during a two-song solo showcase during State of the Union’s gig at Arlington Arts. The other half of the State of the Union duo, Brooks Williams, got his own moment in the spotlight in the second half, so it was perfectly fair.

Williams is an American-born, Cambridgeshire-based blues/folk guitarist who first teamed up with Hewerdine in 2011, with the aim of recording an album using vintage mics and equipment in five days. In fact, they completed it within two days. Not surprisingly, working at that speed, they have now brought out a second album (speed of recording not confirmed), meaning that they have an impressive number of songs to chose from for their live set.

What the pair have come up with is a blend of English pop sensibilities and raw Americana. Both musically and lyrically, their songs probably nudge the coast of the USA more than that of the UK, but there are still British roots to be found, such as in their cover of the Pet Shop Boys’ most yearning song, Rent, with slide guitar replacing the original’s synth instrumental.

What was surprising is how well Hewerdine and Williams’ voices fit together, blending in a way that would be more usually found arising from sibling harmony rather than the vocals of two men born and raised thousands of miles apart.

One day, I will see Hewerdine perform his two most beautiful songs, Graceland and Honey Be Good, with his band The Bible. But State of the Union were a pleasure to savour, and opened up a whole new avenue of Hewerdine’s work to me; confirming that such a prolific singer-songwriter can never remain rooted solely in a long-ago past when he reached the heady heights of the Top 60.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on May 16, 2013

A Scilly day out

HAVING first visited the Scillies as a teenager, I have always been fondest of the island of St Agnes, with its magical landmarks: The Nag’s Head standing stone, Troytown Maze (created from pebbles, for reasons unknown), and Beady Pool, where the bead cargo of a 17th century shipwreck used to be found in their dozens in the shifting sands. There’s also the beach where generations of locals and visitors have stacked wave-smoothed stones into hundreds of oddly-balanced towers, making it resemble the seaside retreat of Makka Pakka.

Being a Scilly-hardened family - or so we thought - by our third visit, we used the fleet of small boats to take daily trips from the main island, St Mary’s, to the off-islands with as little thought as we would catch a train back home. But there would be one trip to St Agnes which would be unforgettable.

Half of the Scilly passenger boats are 70-year-old wooden launches; the others are more modern. At the time of our holiday, in 2007, only one had an upper deck. It was a sunny day, so naturally we (me, my husband, and son George, then five) plumped for the top deck, settling ourselves on the bench at the back for the best view. It was a little bumpier up there than down below, but we were enjoying the ride, until about halfway between the islands, a freak storm struck, and the gentle swaying of the boat turned to a violent rocking.

Almost immediately a boatman’s head popped up from below. “Stay where you are, and hold on,” he called. The other families, nearer the steps, responded to natural instinct and dived straight down. Sat at the aft, we were furthest away, and clung on tight. But George panicked, and screamed that he couldn’t hold on. I was gripping him, but with him flailing in terror it was hard to feel secure. We decided to make it to the steps.

Lashed with rain, we crouched and crawled along the deck, grabbing at the benches to keep us steady, but still being bumped around like rag dolls. At the steps, hands reached up to grab George, and then I followed, tumbling down in a most ungainly manner, to add to my catalogue of bruises. As passengers and crew checked we were all right, the boatman looked at me. “I told you to hold on,” he said, sagely. Within another minute  or so, the storm had passed, and the sea was calm once more.

So, why is this my favourite holiday memory? Well, clearly I would rather it hadn’t terrified George; but it is still special to me, because it is something we went through as a family. We disembarked at St Agnes, had a fun day in the sunshine, and caught the return boat with no fear of a repeat event. The wonderful boatmen of Scilly steered us safely through the freak storm, and it is a memory that will stay with us after those of sunshine holidays in further-flung locations have long faded.

• Originally written for an Onthebeach.co.uk/ Goodtoknow.co.uk travel writing competition. Again, I lost out to someone who had actually been abroad. Bit of a pattern emerging there. Also noticed that the winner wrote about a "nice" holiday memory. Mine was more "unforgettable" though, which was the theme of the competition. And I was clearly more deserving of the prize holiday by dint of the experience chronicled above.

How I learned to stop Dodgying and love the Olympics

I NEVER knew a festival could get me interested in sport. I only went to the London Live: Hyde Park festival (part of the city’s Olympic celebrations) so that my nine-year-old son could experience - and hopefully learn to love - my favourite band Dodgy playing live. My first attempt to convert him at Portsmouth’s Victorious Vintage festival earlier in the summer had been a quite literal washout. Not even the magnificent backdrop of HMS Victory could tempt him out from behind the hotdog van into the storm to watch Dodgy risk electrocution.

So my continued attempts at Dodgy-conversion brought us to Hyde Park for a free day of big screen sport and “fun” fitness activities. I couldn’t have been less thrilled. But then, unexpectedly, onto the stage, came four actual Olympic medalists - the British Gold and Silver-winning slalom canoeists. Suddenly, I was acting like a teenage Bieber fan. Throwing myself towards these poor men (the nearest I will ever get to an Olympian effort of my own) I just had to touch one of those medals, whatever body part belonging to their owners, or other crowd members, got in the way.

So yes - London Live managed to get me interested in sport, against the odds. And as for my son’s verdict on Dodgy? “They’re alright, I suppose...”

• Written for TNT Magazine Blogs Competition, 2013. I was beaten to first prize by someone who had actually been abroad. Find it in its original posting at: http://blogs.tnttravelshow.com/?p=110

At arm's length - review of Chorus, by Ray Lee

Photograph courtesy of The Corn Exchange, Newbury

Chorus, by Ray Lee, in Newbury Market Place on Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27

THE LATEST presentation in The Corn Exchange’s Outdoor Programme sang in the new season with a more simple performance than many of its predecessors, as artist and composer Ray Lee brought his tripod-legged choir to the Market Place for six performances in dusk and night over the weekend.

As each performance began, speakers on rotating arms on top of the high tripods began to rotate, each emitting a pulsing drone at a different pitch, creating a changing and individual composition of sounds for the visitors who moved beneath and among them. The eye was drawn upwards to the rotating red LED lights on the end of each arm; all visually identical but made unique by their own tonal identities.

Unlike most past Outdoor Programme presentations, there were no fireworks, no live performers, and no real explanation for what was going on. And yet, it was mesmerising: the half-hour performance felt like five minutes, as the soundscape became immersive; so loud and all-pervading, yet surprisingly relaxing and meditative. Although moving between the structures created the most variety of sound, even standing still created its own orchestra, picking out the tones and pulses, each taking turns to come to the forefront of the overall wash of sound.

Chorus didn’t end with a climax, but with an eventual coming-together of the drones in a chord both atonal and harmonic, before each rotating arm began to slow, stop and fall silent at different times, and the Market Place fell back into stillness. It may not have been the most jaw-dropping of the Outdoor Programme’s series of performances, but it was provoking, transfixing, stunning in its starkness - and most certainly memorable.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, May 2, 2013

The least-worst he could be - review of Robin Ince

Robin Ince: The Importance of Being Interested, at Arlington Arts, Newbury, on Saturday, April 27, 2013

PROFESSOR Brian Cox can be credited for many things that are good in the world, but his one achievement for which I give him eternal thanks is his transformation through enlightenment of Robin Ince from workaday observational comedian into comedyland’s biggest science enthusiast. It was Ince’s meeting and subsequent friendship with Cox that called time on his pointing out of the small things and to begin looking at the bigger picture with the wide-eyed enthusiasm of an informed layperson.

Of course, as he pointed out, the problem with looking at universal truths is that they highlight the ultimate futility of individual existence (Ince is a self-defined “liberal atheist”); however, fortunately there is plenty of satisfaction to be gained on our pointless plod through life from the jaw-dropping oddities of nature (“not the best possible design they could be, but the least-worst”) to two of the most excellent and inquisitive minds that mankind has produced: Charles Darwin and Richard Feynman.

Even Darwin’s very being, argues Ince, is proof against the concept of intelligent design - his bulbous nose nearly lost him his berth on The Beagle, as the captain was concerned that it suggested a weak constitution. Eventually he relented, and according to Darwin was “afterwards well-satisfied that my nose had spoken falsely”.

But it was not Darwin’s nose but his fascination with the humblest details of nature that has made his legacy so important. Thinking about it, Darwin would have been an excellent observational comedian: “Have you ever noticed that the earthworm eat their own bodyweight in soil every day?”.

Ince is so very interested in the world that the original running time of the show was four hours (the thought of most ultra-long shows, often performed by rock legends or Ken Dodd, fill me with horror, but I genuinely think that I could cope with four hours of Ince, if regular toilet breaks were allowed). Rather delightfully, although he’s pared it down considerably, he’s kept the discarded slides in his Powerpoint presentation, resulting in tantalising glimpses of other themes on which he would be able to propound at length given the opportunity.

Talking of which, the enormous projection screen at Arlington played its part wonderfully in illustrating Ince’s thoughts; although it will be a long time before I can get the image of a naked Richard Dawkins (represented in a caricature based on The Creation of Adam) out of my mind. But remember: the human male may not be the best possible design, but  it is the least-worst. 

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, May 9, 2013

Perfectly Jolly People - interview with Julian Tulk

LOCAL singer-songwriter JULIAN TULK is setting off an around-the-world trip in the summer - but before he goes, his gift to Newbury is a night of music at Ace Space. “People in Newbury are used to seeing live music for free down the pub”, he tells CATRIONA REEVES, “but they’ll be getting three bands for not much more than the price of a pint”.

HEADLINING the gig organised by Tulk at Ace Space on Saturday, May 18 will be The PJP [aka Patrick James Pearson] Band (pictured above), supported by Tulk’s new outfit, Horse Around Home, and PJP’s tour opener Harry George Johns.

Tulk first came across PJP frontman Pearson when working on his last album at the Devon studio run by producer - and former Newbury musician - Pete Miles, who suggested that he get Pearson involved in the recording. “PJP are based in Plymouth,” explains Tulk. “There’s a really thriving music scene down there; folk and punk, underground stuff, and Pat’s one of the best acts to come out of it.

“He’s an exceptional songwriter, keyboard player and guitarist. Many of his lyrics have an edgy protest edge to them, and it’s really emotional stuff. He’s a great performer, and he’s got a really energetic band around him. When you watch them live, you can’t help but pay attention.”

Tulk’s own new outfit, Horse Around Home, reflects where he feels he is currently at in his life; newly married with a young son, resulting in “quite a lot of family-orientated stuff; it still sounds like me though; good, straight-up folk-rock-pop songs. I sing it like I mean it.”

He may now be a family man, but Tulk isn’t exactly settling down; later this summer he’s due to set off travelling with his wife and son for a year or so, meaning that the Ace Space gig may be the last opportunity to see him play live for quite a while. 

Tulk has a word for those who may be procrastinating about buying tickets for the gig in advance: “People in Newbury are reluctant to commit to spending money because they’re used to being able to pop down the pub and see live music for free. But Ace Space is a great venue, and there’s nothing like going to a real gig, where it’s all about the music and everyone is there to see the bands.”

Tickets for The PJP Band, supported by Horse Around Home and Harry George Johns are £5 in advance from Hogan Music, Ace Space on  07905 590214 or from Julian himself. If your bulging social calendar means that you’re still reticent to commit by buying an advanced ticket, entry costs £6 on the night. Doors open at 7pm - be there early to see all three acts.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, May 2, 2013

Lighting up the gloom - review of James Grant (Love and Money)

James Grant at The Forge, The Anvil, Basingstoke, on Friday, April 5

NEVER meet your teen crushes goes the rule - but luckily it all works out just fine when it turns out that they’ve still got a magnificent head of hair, a gorgeous Glaswegian accent, cheekbones that could cut diamonds, and a voice like velvet. Tennent’s Velvet Ale, maybe....? Nah - it would have to be a smooth malt whisky.

Back in the late ’80s, James Grant was the singer with Love and Money, a band of the Scottish blue-eyed soul genre (think Wet Wet Wet, Deacon Blue, Hue & Cry, Del Amitri - whose singer Justin Currie recently performed at Arlington Arts) who achieved reasonable success; mainly in their homeland, but also, unexpectedly, in the Upper V common room at St Gabriel’s School, Newbury. 

Deprived of much real male contact (well, some of us were, anyway), the band’s songs of love and loss moulded our expectations of adult life and relationships. They were probably a pretty good preparation for the world beyond the common room in fact, as Grant’s “miserablist” style of songwriting offers a realistically pessimistic view on life.

Nearly 25 years on, and Grant has continued writing and performing, both with Love and Money, who reformed in 2011, and as a solo act. While he has released five solo albums, he is not reluctant to play the songs from the past that are best known, and so we had the pleasure of hearing the gorgeous Strange Kind Of Love, from the 1988 album of the same name. Performed by Grant and his guitar, it was maybe even more lovely without the slightly bombastic (over?) production of the original version which set it firmly in an era long gone.

Grant doesn’t do upbeat, either musically or lyrically, and the old themes of love and loss are still foremost; alongside death, most poignantly on My Father’s Coat from his 2009 solo album Strange Flowers -  but the tunes are beautiful, the lyrics touching, and the alternately romantic and melancholy vibes showcase his liquid voice to perfection. An intimate gig in The Anvil’s tiny Forge studio also allowed Grant to display his dark humour as he told tongue-in-cheek tales of his young manhood as a semi-rockstar (he once smashed a typewriter) and the death of his family budgie.

I left the gig vowing to finally replace my cassette tape copy of Strange Kind Of Love, and delighted that at least one of my major teenage crushes had revealed itself to be well founded - and like the best whiskies, ageing very well indeed.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, April 11, 2013

Wild thing - review of Michaela Strachan's Really Wild Adventures

Michaela Strachan’s Really Wild Adventures, at The Haymarket, Basingstoke, on Saturday, April 6

THE DADS of Hampshire must be big fans of poetry, because I observed far more of them in the audience than turn out for most family shows. And they were so devoted to their children as well; queuing patiently to allow them to meet the lovely Michaela Strachan after the show. A truly heartwarming sight.

I am being a bit cheeky there, of course - Strachan has a place in the hearts of many (both men and women) who grew up in the 80s when she was a presenter on Children’s BBC’s Really Wild Show, as well as the cult late night ITV clubbing show The Hitman And Her. I must admit that I was pretty excited to meet Strachan myself - she was central in developing my fondness for earrings at a tender age; as I told her baffled young niece when I discovered that I was sat next to her during the show.

...Really Wild Adventures is based on Strachan’s book of poems of the same name, which in turn are inspired by her own experiences encountering wildlife in all parts of the world for various nature programmes - she will soon be back on our screens presenting BBC’s Springwatch. This was no gentle poetry corner-style performance though; Strachan’s stage show was full of fun, music, audience participation and even acrobatics, as she hung upside down in gravity boots to recite her poem about Wrapped Up Bats.

Strachan’s poems are not just full of facts, but also reflect the emotions drawn from encounters that have genuinely touched her, such as meeting orphaned elephants, rhinos and orangutans; and the thrills of removing a tooth from a polar bear and getting really close to her beloved African penguins on the coast of South Africa, where she now lives.

Her enthusiasm for the natural world was displayed with affection and joy, and although the show was aimed at ages three to 10 (and, I would suggest, more appealing to the younger end of that span), the parents were sparked by her enthusiasm as well - although, oddly, not enough for many of the dads present to volunteer to come on stage to imitate animal noises or play the part of a spitting cobra or an anesthetised polar bear. Luckily, Strachan’s mum was present, and proved herself to be as good a sport as her daughter, who bounced around with as much life-affirming enthusiasm as she did on the telly back when we were young.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, April 11, 2013

Half the Benn he used to be - review of Mitch Benn

Mitch Benn at New Greenham Arts, on Friday, April 5

MUSICAL comedian Mitch Benn is half the man he used to be. Well, very nearly - he lost 10 stone (from a peak of 25st) on an intense diet in 2011, and has kept most of it off. And so, his current tour, Reduced Circumstances, based on his Edinburgh show of the same name, is inspired by his fight to overcome that least rock & roll of addictions - food.

The tour’s name also refers to it being Benn’s first solo tour, without his usual live backing duo The Distractions, and involves a little more conversation and less singing than his past performances. Armed just with a teeny tiny guitar and an iPhone looper app, Benn partly moved away from his usual social commentary to delve deep into his psyche and explore why he had an urge to overeat, although he concluded that it was not down to a traumatic childhood or the fault of his parents “which was a relief to them when they came to see the show”.

Benn didn’t spend the entire show navel gazing - Reduced Circumstances also references the current state of the nation, and his cheeky musings on the subject ranged from the insightful - comparing the banking crisis to his daughter learning to walk - “she was fine until she noticed that nothing was holding her up” - via the educational, in the form of a rap about quantum mechanics; to the delightfully silly, such as his new song Bouncy Druids, inspired by the full-size blow-up Stonehenge featured in the Olympic opening ceremony.

As a stalwart of BBC Radio 4’s The Now Show, Benn composes songs at short notice to reflect the week’s news, but while expressing a little disappointment that the show is currently off-air, he chose  to keep last week’s biggest event on the down-low, other than a comment on the BBC’s decision not to play the Wizard Of Oz song in full was “making a political statement which playing it would not have been”.

As one of the BBC’s most vocal supporters, as showcased in his epic list-song I’m Proud of the BBC, Benn was clearly frustrated that the corporation had bowed to pressure on this occasion. But what has baffled him most about the world in recent times has been the response of some of his larger fans to his weight loss, who have expressed feelings of betrayal. “I didn’t do it to be smug, I just wanted to see my daughters grow up,” he explained. “It was a case of breaking their (the fans) hearts, or literally breaking mine.” 

Aesthetic improvements may be solely a by-product of the health benefits of Benn’s weight loss, but with his twinkling blue eyes, he is looking damn fine these days, and still has a good pair of lungs on him. Reduced Circumstances may be a departure from the performance norm for Benn, but (along with a forthcoming science fiction novel), it suggests a career longevity beyond a back catalogue of current affairs songs, which owing to their very nature, are bound to have a limited shelf life.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, April 11, 2013

Scary monsters and super creeps - review of The Gruffalo's Child

The Gruffalo’s Child, at The Corn Exchange, Newbury, on Friday, March 22 to Sunday, March 24

LIKE the best fairy tales, a lot of young children’s picture books have a slightly scary slant to them; but enough is left to the imagination, and judicious interpretation of a handy grown up, to take the edge off any fear that they may induce.

It is when these tales are transposed into moving images, be it in cartoons, on stage or live action television and film, where the challenges arise, of how to keep the fun frights in, without giving little people the major heeby jeebies. The 2009 Spike Jonze film of Where The Wild Things Are; I’m not sure how much it frightened the children I saw it with, but the constant sense that young Max could be eaten by the beasts he rules over at any minute put the terrors into me.

And so, Julia Donaldson’s much-loved books, The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child, set similar challenges. As monsters go, The Gruffalo is rather cuddly, but let’s face facts: he eats anthropomorphic mice. And owls, foxes and snakes. He is not a beast to be toyed with, despite his cutey-pie face.

In its three-hand hour-long production of The Gruffalo’s Child, Tall Stories gets the balance just right. The Gruffalo spends most of the show asleep, and all of it sat down, as he cuddles his daughter and warns her about the Big Bad Mouse (the never-seen Mrs Gruffalo is presumably out gathering normal-sized mice for breakfast). One or two audience members let out a bit of a wail when he first appeared - a large three-dimensional Gruffalo strikes an imposing figure and bound to create a bit of a stir on first meeting - but it all settled down pretty quickly.

Against his dad’s wise advice, the Child ventures into the deep, dark woods to find the fabled Big Bad Mouse, meeting along the way the snaked-hipped (of course) Snake, RAF officer Owl and a spivving Fox,  all of whom are tempted to turn the mini Gruffalo into their favourite dish until the mouse is mentioned and they make a sharp exit.

Zingy songs and fast-paced scenes added plenty of fun to neutralise the bleakness of the snowy, windy woods with its clawing trees lit by a large, heavy moon, and the three performers worked their socks off to make a jolly old time of it for audience members young and old. The book didn’t feel stretched for the sake of dramatic effect, with each of the predatory animals (played by the same actor) being given a strong character to play with and get the audience involved.

This was a production that treated the source material, and children’s intelligence, with full respect, without veering either towards mawkishness or nightmare-inducing horror. I’m going to let you into a secret now - neither me or my own child (not a Gruffalo) are massive fans of Julia Donaldson’s books - but after seeing this show, we will be giving them another go. Although she will now expect me to do all the voices.

• First published in Newbury Weekly News on March 28, 2013

Geek love - review of Matt Parker

Matt Parker: The Number Ninja, at New Greenham Arts, Greenham on Saturday, March 9

IT is the sign of the high level of nerdiness and geekery that my plus-one for mathematician Matt Parker’s first solo stand up comedy/maths show wore a “Klein bottle” hat, knitted from a pattern created by Parker’s mum to his specifications. For those who need a reminder, the Klein bottle is a non-orientable two-dimensional manifold; like a Mobius strip without surface boundaries. And it makes a surprisingly wearable hat.

Parker is a former maths teacher and current academic who led the way with the whole science + laughter = massive fun formula when he combined his day job with his evening semi-pro career in stand-up comedy. Although his live shows, and appearances on Radio 4’s Infinite Monkey Cage do appeal to self-styled nerds whose brains are very nearly too enormous to be housed by a Klein bottle hat, his clear and enthusiastic insights into the weirder side of maths are accessible to nearly all.

The show was a gathering of maths with the wow-factor, such as the amazing and unexpected shapes created by cutting Mobius strips in half, how the heptagrin is the perfect shape for a pizza slice (it also makes a fab skirt),  the non-transitive Grime dice, which will always beat (or lose) to each other, and hefty use of  self-referential meta-ness.

He also shone a light on the concept of coincidence, proving how there is nothing that coincidental about a couple discovering that they were unintentionally captured in the same photograph in a random location as children (although it is still pretty spooky - and I know a married couple it happened to); and how the triangulation of leylines between Stone Age monuments works as well with those ancient temples of consumerism known as “Woolworths”.

The only part of the show where I completely lost my way was during Parker’s explanation of the application of the largest number that has every been put to applied use in human history. Parker used the X Factor as a way of explaining it, but it was still too enormous a concept for me to grasp, with Parker speeding up with his extrapolation as the number got larger and larger; stopping, thankfully, just before my head actually exploded. 

During the interval I heard a group of audience members commenting that it wasn’t “so much comedy as [Parker] pointing out things”. When I put that to him after the show, Parker retorted “well, that’s what Michael McIntyre does...” I think out of the two, if I’m going to have stuff pointed out to me, I’d prefer it to have meaning. But don’t just take my word for it. Carry out your own research, and review the evidence. If we all welcome a little bit more maths into our lives, things can only get meta...

• First published in Newbury Weekly News on March 14, 2013

Back in town - review of Mark Steel

Mark Steel’s In Town, at Arlington Arts, Snelsmore, on Thursday, March 7

I REALISE that I’ve unintentionally broken my “no reviewing the same act within two years” in covering Mark Steel’s In Town show again (although technically I’m just OK, as he last visited Newbury on February 2011), but he’s such good fun that I couldn’t resist a return trip.

Anyway, although the basic premise is the same - Steel does a bit of reading up on the more quirky history of an area before pitching up in a town and sharing his findings - two further years of touring with ...In Town (as well as three Radio 4 series based on it, with a fourth on the way) have provided lots more glorious anecdotes about his favourite findings.

And so, we we were treated to his thoughts on Basingstoke (“I walked out of the station and into the shopping mall to try and find the town centre... and came out of the other side”), an insight into the life of the long suffering real-life residents of Miss Hoolie’s cottage in Tobermory (aka Balamory in the CBeebies series), and an audience member in Skipton, Yorkshire, describing nearby Keighley as “ sink of evil”.

Steel appears to have a genuine affection for Newbury and its surrounding countryside (particularly the swans), and while none of his discovered facts about the town were revelatory - and indeed I fear that we as the audience may have mislead him into believing that we have an innate rivalry with Wantage, when of course everyone knows our natural foes are Basingstoke - they were told with a fondness that suggests that he may not know a lot about us, but he can see beyond the generic image of Newbury as Vodatown.

From the Walsall hippo (an underwhelming but much-loved town centre statue) to the tall tales of the fishermen of Penzance, Steel wants people to celebrate the quirks of their hometown, whether they are there by birth or circumstances. As most high streets become identical (“the H&M, the Woolworths that’s now a pound shop, the closing-down HMV”), he urged us to look round the corners - quite literally in the case of Newbury, where a turn into Marsh Lane reveals the magnificent Tudor facade of Jack of Newbury’s house, and a trip down to the canal just steps from Northbrook Street takes you into the territory of Steel’s beloved swans.

In the words of a spoof radio tourist advert sent to Steel and played at the start of the second half, where else can you sunbathe in the park and watch the cars passing on the main road just yards away? Newbury - let’s all learn to love it. It’s what Steel would want.

• First published in Newbury Weekly News on March 14, 2013

Straight outta Cowley - review of Stornoway

Stornoway at New Greenham Arts, Greenham on Monday, February 18

NOT actually from the Isle of Lewis as the name suggests but in fact formed in Oxford (they clearly considered it a more atmospheric name than “Cowley”; Stornoway are on the more interesting end of the spectrum of the new folk rock sound so often drowned out by the likes of the ubiquitous Mumford &  Sons. For a start, they have a saw-on-woodblock combo as a percussion instrument, and a large metal cylinder that gets bashed to oblivion. And - possibly most pleasingly - a lot less banjo.

As the first band to be allowed a standing gig at New Greenham Arts, Stornoway conquered the Monday night blues to attract a sell-out crowd, the largest probably seen on the former USAF air base since the Prodigy played in one of the old aircraft hangers in the mid-90s.

They may not have visited their remote namesake town until 2010, but Stornoway’s sound is certainly evocative of the windswept Outer Hebrides: lush layers of music sweep and soar before being stripped back to a soundscape of near-bleakness for acoustic moments and even acapella singing. There are two sets of brothers in the band, and the phenomenon of sibling harmony that arises from a shared vocal timbre is a string to Stornoway’s bow.

A slight naive tilt to some of the lyrics of songwriter and frontman Brian Briggs grated a little with the overall maturity of Stornoway’s music. For the otherwise gorgeous Farewell Appalachia!  Briggs appears to have imbibed a thesaurus of countryside terms: Through the scree at the foot of the bluff/  And I drank from the brook/ And I slept in the lee of the wood. And the line in their UK number four chart hit, Zorbing, “I feel like I just started uni” just makes me feel a bit old.

Aside from traumatising some audience members (ie me) with the realisation that at least some of these immensely talented “songsmiths, scholars, scientists and men of the earth” are young enough to be my offspring, Stornoway attracted a wonderfully wide spread of ages to NGA, and the ability of this band and their ilk to induct a new generation into the folk genre deserves a generous doff of the cap.

And anyway - any band that can produce a song as lovely as The Coldharbour Road can be forgiven a few duff lyrics along the way.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, March 5, 2013

Tougher than Afghanistan - review of Paul Tonkinson

Paul Tonkinson at The Corn Exchange, Newbury on Saturday, February 16, 2013

IT is the mark of an excellent comedian that they can take a gig which is going down a bit of a strange route - with a “contrary” audience who aren’t so much heckling as auditioning the act - and turn it to their advantage. I’m not sure that Paul Tonkinson managed to perform much of his planned routine (one joke, about Northern Rock, was completely abandoned), but I doubt that anyone felt short-changed by his performance, which saw him bouncing off the audience like a raver in an Ibizan superclub.

A rather relevant simile, as it happens, as Tonkinson disclosed (in a planned part of the show) that he is a former raver who has loved-up flash backs to a more hedonistic time whenever he hears a dance tune from that era - even if it’s in a supermarket. But Tonkinson is no addled E-casualty; he’s now the father of three rising teens, who diss him at every opportunity, and who now gets his buzz from buying a butter dish. 

Respect also needs to go to his wife for putting up with being a central part of his act, with her randy return home from a girls’ night out being re-enacted in a toe curling manner. Sex formed a largish part of Tonkinson’s set, but not in an overly blue manner - it was more about the cosy home comforts of pipe-and-slippers relations arising from a 17-year marriage.

Although Tonkinson has been on the stand-up comedy circuit for some 20 years, and won prestigious Time Out comedy awards early in his career, this is his first solo tour.  It may well be extended experience of the UK’s cut-throat comedy clubs and lack of crowd worship as a comedy god, that enabled him to respond so well to a potentially difficult audience. He laughed self-depracatingly at his low public profile, being mistaken for cyclist Bradley Wiggins being the nearest he gets to celebrity.

A regular entertainer of British troops abroad, Tonkinson described The Corn Exchange crowd as “tougher than Afghanistan”, but you could tell that actually this was exactly the sort of crowd that he likes to work with. I think we should clear one thing up for him though - after a palpable outcry from the audience, I fear that he left Newbury under the impression that Slough is not in the Royal County. Paul: Slough is in Berkshire. We just like to pretend that it isn’t.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, February 21, 2013

Spice of life - interview with Hardeep Singh Kohli

TV presenter HARDEEP SINGH KOHLI is celebrating the British love for curry and attempting to track down the best curry house in Britain as he delivers his Indian Takeaway around the UK. CATRIONA REEVES discovers his recipe for  cooking and comedy.

CATRIONA REEVES: Your Indian Takeaway stage show involves a nightly taste-off between a curry that you’ve prepared on stage and one delivered by a local curry restaurant suggested by the audience. Which dish usually gets the thumbs-up?

HARDEEP SINGH KOHLI: The idea of the taste-off is to show the difference in ingredients and style. British-Indian food is incredible, but it’s not what I grew up eating in a Punjabi household; what my mum and gran cooked at home. When I come to a town, we want people to suggest their favourite curry house; somewhere where they eat regularly, and get someone to actually ring up and make their usually order, so they can compare a takeaway they love with the curry that I’ve cooked.

CR: You’ve been taking your live shows on the road and to Edinburgh for about three years - how did come up with the idea of combining cooking and comedy?

HSK: I’m quite good at cooking and quite funny, but not good enough at either on its own - so if one falls down, the other fills the gaps. I’m not a stand-up comic, I’m a raconteur. The stories I tell while I’m cooking are about my love of food, my years of being a waiter, and the culture clash of growing up as a Scottish Indian.

I was runner-up on the first Celebrity Masterchef series in 2006, and after that, I presented quite a few food programmes, and wrote a book, also called Indian Takeaway, before putting on my first show at the Edinburgh Fringe, four or five years ago. I’ve been doing the current show for about a year, and it’s such good fun.

CR: Which is the best curry house that you have discovered through doing this show?

HSK: There’s a  particularly cracking restaurant in Leicester. The audiences there are particularly well versed in good food. I think it’s important for this show that it’s local people that are suggesting the restaurants we order from, so we are really getting the best example of Indian takeaways in that town.

CR: What dish do you cook on stage during the show?

HSK: My recipes change every night, to keep it fresh for me. One of my favourites is lamb curry in black pepper. Pepper provides a different sort of heat - it will make you sweat a bit, but it’s not mental. And because I’m North Indian, I always defer to bread rather than rice to accompany a curry.

CR: Lastly - being from Scotland, do you have a recipe for haggis curry?

HSK: Yes I do. Haggis, tatties and neeps curry. That’s the great thing about curry - everything goes in together, so it saves on the washing up.

• First published in Newbury Weekly News on February 14, 2013

Be Young, be foolish, be Gabby - review of Gabby Young & Other Animals

Gabby Young & Other Animals at New Greenham Arts on Saturday, February 9. 2013

THE GENRE purveyed - and arguably invented - by Gabby Young is described as Circus Swing; and while this comes from its gypsy-style musical roots (a heady mix of Eastern European and English folk, with a hefty dose of swing jazz), Young’s stunning visual appearance and the party mood provided by her performance brings all the fun of the big top to the stage. If you visited Gifford’s Circus during its summer sojourn in Victoria Park, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

The “Other Animals” menagerie was stripped down to a trio for Young’s sell-out New Greenham New Folk performance, with Young’s powerful classically-trained voice being accompanied by guitarist and pianist (and partner) Stephen Ellis, and violinist Milly McGregor. It may have been a small gathering of musicians, but the sound was anything but stripped down - who needs a brass section when you’ve got kazoos?

Wiltshire-born Young’s flamboyant visual persona has received media attention, and she has fun with it - she  has her own internet boutique, called Gabberdashery, and a previous tour saw the Other Animals performing in her favourite vintage clothes shops. The band’s on stage party mood is irresistible, and they soon had the seated audience singing, clapping and stomping along, bringing a summer festival mood to the New Greenham auditorium on a February evening.

Young’s songs are strong and beautiful, and unlike some funtime festival bands, they transfer perfectly to album (the other animals have released two to date; with 2012’s And The Band Called For More being contained in a stunning petal-fold sleeve, worth the money alone purely for presentation). Not all songs are upbeat party numbers, and many appear to be very personal in their sentiment, but all are performed in Young’s powerful yet velvet-smooth voice that grabs and holds you from beginning to end. Think of Florence & The Machine with a sense of humour, and you’re halfway there.

A gorgeous treat for at least two of the senses, Gabby Young & Other Animals are a must-see if they pop up at any festival you might be at this summer. And certainly grab your tickets quickly if Young visits these parts again. I’m hoping that next time, she brings enough kazoos for the entire audience.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on February 14, 2013

Hairs on your chest - review of Chris Addison

CHRIS ADDISON at The Corn Exchange, Newbury on Thursday, February 7, 2013

THERE’S something about Chris Addison that brings out my maternal side (yes offspring, I do have one. Stop sniggering). It’s the angelic face that belies his 41 years that does it, I think. I hope he’s eating well on tour, as he is very slim - although my sister pointed out that his television appearances mainly involve him wearing a suit (as special advisor Ollie Reeder in The Thick Of It) or behind a desk (on Mock The Week), so that is probably his default shape.

I think I may have to send him a tonic to build himself up. He doesn’t need one to put hairs on his chest, that’s for sure. The unexpected combination of cherubic visage and hairs peeking out through his loose top shirt button hasn’t escaped my attention.

But I didn’t just come here to deconstruct Addison’s appearance. I did tear my eyes away from his chest for long enough to focus on the show that has bought him back to Newbury to sell out The Corn Exchange. Called The Time Is Now Again, it follows on from his previous show, The Time Is Now (bet you couldn’t have guessed that) in its scathing look at modern society - but this time it’s political.

Addison’s bon mots fire cross-party, but it was mainly the Tories that got it in the neck, which didn’t go down with gales of laughter from the entire auditorium; however, Addison is aware that his core audience are savvy Radio 4 listeners, so hey - he probably reckons they can take it, even if they don’t agree entirely with the sentiment.

Anyway, that sort of fits in with the main theme of Addison’s show, which was the idea that most people decide what their core beliefs are at a young age - political stance, opinion on the Royal Family and so on - and then chose to absorb the media messages which reflect these, without ever reassessing them.

Addison constantly carries out such introspection himself; as a self-styled “semi celebrity”, he is aware that his decisions are judged, as reflected in his sign-off alluding to his starring role in insurance adverts. Fingers in other pies may be why he threatened that this could be his last stand-up tour; while quite likely that this was a joke, it would be a shame if true.

Addison is an accomplished stand-up whose circuitous tales create an off the cuff feel to a show which must in fact have been pretty well polished over the past 15 months that he has toured it. As long as he continues keeping his top button undone, I will be happy to continue seeing him windmill around the stage for a long time to come.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on February 14, 2013

Lemon-aid - interview with Katherine Ryan

FINDING the sweet centre in life’s bitterest moments, Canadian comedian KATHERINE RYAN has embarked her first solo tour. She tells CATRIONA REEVES why it’s better to be a smiler than a winger.

CATRIONA REEVES: You’re on telly quite a bit - both on comedy panel shows and as an actress - how are you feeling about going it alone on tour? 

KATHERINE RYAN: I’ve opened for others on tour in the past, including [fellow Canadian] Stewart Francis, and have done two Edinburgh shows of my own. For this tour, I’ve taken the best bits of my Edinburgh shows and added some new material. This definitely feels different - I’m a bit nervous, but really excited.

I’ve been really lucky with the telly stuff. The heart of stand-up comedy is on the road, but TV gets people to come to your shows. I used to do shows where six people turned up, and live comedy does need an audience.

CR: How would you describe your comedy?

KR: My material is a bit quirky - I see myself as a bit of a misfit, and other misfits seem to commiserate with me. I’ve been asked if what I do is as a character, because I come across as a big sunshiny person on stage, but really it’s just an amplification of who I am now.

My comedy voice has got stronger as I’ve got older, and now I’m super comfortable with who I am. I’ve been in the UK for five years, and I’m a mum now, and that’s all added to who I am on stage.

Earlier on in my career, I’d go to auditions for TV panel shows and look around the room, and everyone would seem very different from me. I tried to adapt, to be more like them, but what I really needed to be doing was to be myself.

As I’ve grown more confident with that, I’ve been more successful, and now I notice the different when I watch old videos of my performance - it’s the same voice, but not as strong.

CR: How do you find being a female comic on the male-dominated stand up circuit?

The TV shows are probably an accurate representation of the circuit, where the ratio of male to female stand-ups is about 10 to one, although that is changing. The film Bridesmaids seems to have had an impact, and more younger girls are emerging. 

There’s lots of female comedy role models already out there though - Miranda Hart, Jo Brand, and the writer Caitlin Moran - it’s not just about one type of comedy. It’s all about finding your own voice.

CR: What inspired you to become a stand-up comedian?

KR: I actually studied urban planning at university, but when I moved to Toronto, which is like the London of Canada, I knew that I wanted to work in entertainment. I tried presenting, and a bit of acting, but I didn’t feel like I fitted in. I like the power and control that being a stand-up gives me. I get  to write my own material, hopefully saying something with a bit of purpose and making people think.

I’ve never been very good at working in groups; I like that as a stand-up, I’m entirely responsible for what I do.

CR: You say that your show, Nature’s Candy, aims to find the delicious and hilarious side to life’s blacker moments. You seem so cheery - has anything ever threatened to bring you down?

KR: I’ve been through a lot in the last couple of years; I split up with my daughter’s father and  it wasn’t an amicable split - it was nasty. I’ve had health issues; and I’m a single mum in a foreign country. But I’m not a winger, and I like to find the positive in things, so the show basically celebrates that.

I’m a big fan of pop culture, so there’s a lot of that in there - Hollywood relationships and gossip magazine stuff. I like to laugh at it, but not in a mean way.

My comedy has been described as having dark edges, and that seems about right to me. I think it’s possible to find reasons to smile, but still have bite.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on February 7, 2013

Life lottery - interview with filmmaker Raoul Martinez

FILMMAKER and artist RAOUL MARTINEZ speaks about the making of his Raindance Film Festival award-nominated documentary The Lottery of Birth, and explains how he persuaded some of the world’s greatest thinkers to get involved in his Creating Freedom project.

CATRIONA REEVES: What is the idea behind The Lottery of Birth?

RAOUL MARTINEZ: It looks at how personal identity is produced by forces we don’t control - inherited genes, environment, religion, other people and the lives we lead - and the implications that follow through from that.

I came up with the idea for the film while I was working on a book on the same theme. I sent out some emails to the people I’d like to interview - Noam Chomsky, Steven Pinker, Tony Benn, Amy Goodman and Stanley Aronowitz among them - and they responded.

I had no previous experience as a filmmaker, but I booked a ticket to New York, as most of these people were based in the USA, and bought a camera. A friend put me in touch with a filmmaker called Joshua van Praag who helped on the technical side, and we went on a roadtrip for five weeks.

CR: It seems to be a bit of a detour from your previous work as a portrait artist - how did you become interested in the subjects explored in the film?

RM: I’ve worked as an artist since I ws 17, but have developed my own self-study in areas of interest to me. I started a degree in philosophy but it wasn’t answering my needs; I’ve never taken very well to formal instruction and prefer following my own interests.

CR: You’ve started working on the book again as a companion to the film - what else will the Creating Freedom project involve?

RM: The Lottery of Birth is the first of three films. I’m currently editing the second, which looks more in depth at the conflicting paradigms that shape assumptions, and questions how we can create a better world rather than one based on inherited ideas. The third film will look at societal alternatives.

CR: Your sister is the comedian and disability campaigner Francesca Martinez. Do you see any parallels in your work?

RM: I think we’re trying to put across similar ideas in different ways. If you have something to say, you find a way of saying it.

* For more information on The Lottery of Birth and the Creating Freedom project, visit www.creatingfreedom.info

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, January 17, 2013

The Way of Dodgy - interview with Math Priest for Lights Go Out

THEY may have recently been described by the NME as “the Chuckle Brothers of Britpop” (a compliment any day in my book), but reformed 90s pop warriors Dodgy were always far more than three cheeky chappies up for a giggle on Never Mind The Buzzcocks. For a start, they have their own philosophy - the Way of Dodgy; at least one commandment on every recording; now numbering in their 30s. They have a pale ale named after them. And a beer. Beat that, Chuckle Brothers.

On top of all that, Dodgy care. A lot. They care about their fans; they care greatly about the music (new album Stand Upright In A Cool Place, out now!), and they care about the way it is presented to their fans in its myriad forms. Let us worship at their feet and allow drummer Math Priest to tell us more...

LightsGoOut: Who does your artwork, and where did you find them?

Math Priest: A psychedelic warrior called Russell Hardman (www.growabrain.co.uk). Like most things to do with this album, we started working together in quite an organic way. Besides being a cosmic pioneer, he's also an art teacher, and he used to teach the daughter of a great friend of ours, Robin Evans, who helped produce the album.

Russell was a big fan of ours when he was a kid and I think we helped form his psychedelic mind, if you know what I mean ,*wink*.

My brother was the designer for the band back in the 90s and Russell is a massive fan of his work. so we made sure that my bro was on hand for inspiration and approval 

LGO: How much input into the look and feel of Dodgy’s artwork do you have as band members?

MP: Well, everything has to be approved by all of us, which can be a shitty process for the artist as two of us could like something, and then it gets rejected by the third member.

It happened with the cover for Stand Upright In A Cool Place. Russell had designed this really unique-looking sleeve with a penguin on the front and we all approved it, but then Nigel [Clark, singer] changed his mind a few weeks later. This quite understandably infuriated Russell, but Nigel was right to question it as Russell came back with an even better sleeve. I'd even go so far as to say it's an absolute classic album sleeve. One of the greats.

LGO: Nowadays have you got more control over artwork and suchlike than you did back in the 90s when you were on a major label, or did you always have an input? 

MP: We've always had final say on the artwork but as my brother, who was a highly regarded designer back then, was doing the design, we kinda trusted him. He'd known the band from the beginning and totally understood our ethos and where we were coming from. In fact, his ideas and designs were integral to the whole image and vibe of the band.

Within the band, Andy [Miller, guitarist] is very artistic, he has a good eye. And quite an attractive forearm. 

LGO: Which are your fave album and single covers from your catalogue?

MP: My fave album cover has to be this new one, I can stare at it for hours, in fact I have. You can meditate with it. Closely followed by the sleeve to the Ace A's and Killer B's best of; we employed a horticulture school to plant the flowers - it took a bit of planning that one. Sad times, though.

For a single, nothing beats our first-ever sleeve for Summer Fayre/St Lucia back in 1991.

LGO: Your CD booklets have often been quite fun [1994’s Homegrown aptly featured instructions on how to build the perfect spliff] - do you think the CD format is one that works well with good artwork, or do you prefer good old vinyl-size covers?

MP: Of course nothing beats an old LP sleeve but the trick with CDs was about being creative with the restrictions. I like discovering new things every time you pick up the CD.

LGO: Tell us about the Way of Dodgy.

MP: My brother was always a spiritual soul, always trying to find some kind of inner-peace, though he did used to search for it in the strangest places :-)

The Ways of Dodgy appeared on every release since the single Water Under The Bridge in 1993 and were started by him really, so he could dispense some of his little aphorisms. Some made you think, some were just plain silly. We used to chip in with quite a few, my favourites were:

The Way of Dodgy No. 2: The only thing that you should worship, is the ground you walk upon

The Way of Dodgy No. 18a: The only nation you should have pride in is your imagination

LGO: Seeing as you’re appearing in the hallowed pages of LightsGoOut... are you a little bit punk?

MP: Absolutely, Nige was a punk. That's how we bonded in the early days - I would introduce him to lots of soul like Sly and The Family Stone and he would introduce me to The Clash and the Ruts. I had to draw the line on some of the stuff he liked as I felt you kinda had to be there, like Crass, Subhumans etc. But that mistrust of authority that Nige got from punk has certainly permeated everything Dodgy has done.

As for a modern punk band, I fucking love Cerebral Ballzy. Are they punk? [I dunno... Mr T, are they punk?]

Catriona Reeves

• First published in Lights Go Out issue 17, June 2012. To buy a real papery copy and for loads more punk zine fun, visit www.lightsgoout.co.uk