Arts Archives - Page 17 of 31

Iron Broo Christmas Ceilidh A “Brilliant Night”

Dec 242015

Iron Broo earlier the same day at the Winter Wonderland Festival on Union Terrace.

With thanks to Charlie Abel.

It really was a brilliant night. The 2015 Iron Broo Christmas ceilidh went with a swing at St. Margaret of Scotland’s Church hall at the Gallowgate, Aberdeen on Saturday the 19th of December.
Keen ceilidh goers traded their winter blues for their dancing shoes in preparation for the Christmas holidays.

As promised it was a good old-fashioned Scottish evening where guests were invited to bring their own beverage and snacks and enjoy a ‘reel’ ceilidh.

Families and friends came and took part in the dancing, which knew no barriers to age with children, young people and the more experienced taking part. All the dances were called and everyone was invited to join in.

Nobody was left a stranger by the end of the night.

The raffle and a ‘throw coins at the whisky’ game were held to raise money for ‘Charlie House’ a local Aberdeen children’s charity.

Iron Broo would like to thank The Devenick Dairy who donated a ‘Big Beast’ Christmas hamper, full of cheeses and goodies and Makro Aberdeen for donating a bottle of malt whisky for our whisky game. A respectable £173 was raised for Charlie House.

Congratulations to Lydia Van Beers for winning the Devenick Dairy ‘Big Beast’ hamper and to Jonathan Scott for winning the Makro Whisky game with a bottle of 12 year old Old Pulteney.

“Everyone who came tonight had a fantastic time. You can’t beat a ceilidh in a wee hall for a friendly welcoming atmosphere. It’s a really great low-cost night out for anyone. Especially welcome at this time of year. Everyone is smiling,” said Charlie Abel, Iron Broo’s accordionist and band leader.

The ceilidh at St. Margaret’s was the second performance for Iron Broo on this particular day having entertained an appreciative lunchtime crowd at the winter wonderland festival on Union Terrace. The next public ceilidhs from Iron Broo are being planned already.

Keep an eye out on their Facebook page and website www.IronBroo.scot

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Dunt, Dunt, Dunt, Dunt – Gordon Duthie’s New Album

Featured, Opinion No Responses »

Dec 242015

Reviewed by Duncan Harley.

Described by Tom Robinson on BBC Radio 6 as “Wildly different but never not interesting”, Gordon Duthie has yet again hit the sweet spot with the release of his new album Dunt Dunt Dunt Dunt.

In this, his fourth album release, the NE singer/songwriter/musician reflects on work-related themes and engages in an often humorous take on club dance music to get his point across.

A year in the making, this new offering looks deeply into the soulless existence of those micromanaged Gen-X Millennials who, says Gordon:

“will IM you. Then ignore you to your face … Millennials have no empathy and are socially a bit awkward … social media has pretty much changed the world”.

The noun ‘dunt’ can of course be used in various contexts.

“In Aberdeen at the moment lots of people are getting the dunt and it affects everyone engaged in the oil business either directly via job losses or indirectly to do with the threat of redundancy,” says Gordon.

It can also be a wake up call. The pounding lyrics of Hadephobia refer to the sky falling in – a clear reference to getting the dunt big time:

“I looked and saw the fear in your eyes, like a long hot summer, burning the sky.”

Dead Dreams reflects on “Sitting for hours in a solid chair, listening to a man who sold his life … dead dreams inside us, fight an old child’s mind.”

“It’s about PowerPoint Hell” says Gordon, “we’ve all sat through it.”

In Young Kenny – A melodious but slightly mournful piece – Gordon describes a composite character struggling with isolation and loneliness. “Young Kenny didn’t know who he was … it all came to a head … the mystical beauty of the coast, brought his mind back again.”

With previous albums Thran, Shire and City and Multimedia Monster under his belt, Westhill-based Gordon’s new release is a powerful mix of social comment set solidly within a framework of electric ambient club music.

As Gordon himself says, the lyrics

“Wink nicely at local events.”

Mixed and Mastered by Thaddeus Moore of Sprout City Studios, Dunt Dunt Dunt Dunt is available from most digital music stores and also direct from Gordon at www.gordonduthie.com

First published in the December Leopard Magazine.

Star Wars, The Force Awakens – Andrew Watson Reviews

Aberdeen City, Opinion No Responses »

Dec 172015

The American epic space opera Star Wars began again with its seventh instalment, The Force Awakens. Aberdeen Voice’s Andrew Watson was there the day of its general release.

There were maybe just over a dozen people at Vue on Shiprow during the Thursday midmorning showing; which would be about right, given there were midnight and crack of dawn showings preceding it.
Generally speaking, with films of this nature, and magnitude, it can go one of two ways. This being faithful to the originals; or overcompensating lack of good storytelling with supreme focus upon special effects, fight sequences and otherworldly landscapes.

This however, seems to straddle the two. It’s not mind blowing; yet not too bad, either.

Basically, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) has gone missing, and the Resistance (what used to be the Rebel Alliance) are seeking him out for help against the odious First Order (what used to be the Galactic Empire). The latter has all but one of the fragments of data detailing his location, and the good guys have that one last piece of vital information.

So far, so good. This is the kind of solid underdog tale that the series has so successfully relied upon since its debut in 1977.

Though the best of the original characters are reprised with the same actors and actresses as before; the two or three main protagonists of the film aren’t so long in the tooth.

You’ve got Daisy Ridley as Rey, who’s basically this generation’s Luke Skywalker in the female form. She’s a scavenger and quite self-sufficient. There’s also rogue Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) who’s integral to the Resistance standing a chance of defeating the First Order.

On top of all that, Oscar Isaac plays ace pilot Poe Dameron with all the attributes of a non-greying Han Solo. Everyone else in the film more or less plays a supporting role to these three, including Harrison Ford (the aforementioned Han Solo) and Carrie Fisher (General Leia Organa).

Antagonist wise, there’s the triumvirate of Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) and General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson). This could also be read as the Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine and Governor Tarkin equivalent of the film.

Come the end of the film, there are a couple of surprises. There’s yet another father and son divide, and someone of stellar importance to the series dies. The former might anger people. The latter, however, could definitely be very contentious among Star Wars fans.

All in all, it manages to come to a reasonable enough conclusion to stand by itself without the remaining two sequels. On the other hand, enough happens and enough is left unresolved to urge the viewer to watch the next instalment.

Festive Bitter Sweetness Captured On New EP

Aberdeenshire, Information No Responses »

Dec 032015

With thanks to Cindy Douglas.

Aberdeenshire based Jazz vocalist Cindy Douglas has just released a seasonal EP entitled Snow Falls. The EP sensitively captures the bitter sweetness of the festive season.

One of the emerging talents on the UK jazz scene, vocalist and songwriter Cindy Douglas has carved a niche for herself with her broad repertoire, charming conversational style and engaging personality.

Her collaborations with such lauded musicians as Konrad Wiszniewski (New Focus, Brass Jaw, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra) and Tim Richards (Great Spirit, Hextet), have further enhanced and strengthened her reputation as a creative and ‘in demand’ jazz musician.

This latest project has Cindy joining forces once again with the musicians that featured on her critically acclaimed debut release My New Jive, namely: Tim Richards (piano), Dominic Howles (bass) and Jeff Lardner on (drums).

Cindy’s songwriting features on two tracks on the album. The title track, a gentle bossa nova tune and the traditional carol Holst and Rossetti’s In the Bleak Midwinter, here titled Bleak Midwinter has been updated with a soulful and bluesy additional verse from Cindy.

Another favourite and familiar tune Christmas Time Is Here is given an up-tempo treatment which perfectly suits Cindy’s interpretation of the song as representative of a happy and childlike anticipation of Christmas. The original version from Charlie Brown’s Christmas can be heard on The Peanuts Movie, out in cinemas on 21st December.

The closing track is a lesser-known yet very beautiful Hoagy Carmichael song Winter Moon a tune whose atmospheric melody and lyric showcases Cindy’s vocal range and interpretive skills.

The EP will be available via Cindy’s website www.cindydouglas.com, and via iTunes and Amazon later in December. Individual tracks will also be available for purchase.

The original cover artwork was designed by Morven Douglas, Cindy’s 17 year old niece and is available as a free download with any purchase.

Cindy commented:

“Like many, the festivities over winter bring a mixture of emotions and memories. From the inner child’s wonderment at the magic in the air when waking up to snow, to the melancholy and sadness when thinking of longed for loved ones. These thoughts were very much in mind when putting this EP together.”

Track listing:

Snow Falls – Cindy Douglas/Tim Richards
Bleak Midwinter – Holst/Christina Rossetti
Christmas Time Is Here – Vince Guaraldi/Lee Mendelson
Winter Moon – Hoagy Carmichael.

9th Dan Award For City Karate Master

Aberdeen City, Featured, Sport No Responses »

Dec 032015

By Charlie Abel.

Aberdonian karate students will have great cause to celebrate this week with the news that their very own Ronnie Watt OBE ORS, chief instructor of the NKF (national karate federation) and director of Shotokan for the WKC (world karate confederation) has been awarded a 9th Dan black belt (Kudan). It is believed to be the highest ever Dan grade awarded to an Aberdonian or a Scotsman.

This is a major achievement for Ronnie and for karate in Scotland.

Ronnie Watt’s name is already famous and well respected throughout the city of Aberdeen and the karate world. Being graded a 9th Dan Ronnie joins the elite ranks of the worlds most repected Karate masters.

Obtaining a black belt is very difficult, very few people manage to train hard enough, it takes at least three years and most people give up, perhaps one in a hundred achieve a black belt. Some will go on and get a 2nd Dan or higher. However, it is almost unheard of to achieve a 9th Dan in karate. Very few manage to reach this level, most are Japanese and it takes a lifetime of training.

This is a first for Scottish Shotokan Karate and it’s a great honour for the city having a home grown 9th Dan teaching and training karate, here in Aberdeen, Ronnie’s home town.

The 9th Dan will be presented to Ronnie by the International Shotokan-ryu Karate–do Shihankai (ISKS). The ISKS was set up in 2004 by an international group of world karate masters to protect and maintain the tradition of karate, which they see is sadly being diluted by many outside ‘fashionable’ influences. The ISKS is one of the most respected orders in the world of Karate today.

Karate has been a way of life for Ronnie and his family. He has won many competitions both home and internationally. To date he has trained over 25,000 students in his 50 years, many of them achieving black belt and going on to higher Dan grades, his students are well known for returning from World Championship tournaments laden with medals and golden trophies.

His wife Gail has been indispensible in running Ronnie’s NKF Karate Academy and his children, now adults are also very much following in his footsteps with Son Reeve (5th Dan) and Daughter Roxy (5th Dan) training karate regularly and teaching classes. Grandson Cooper (age 4) has also recently started training, keen to join his grandpa in the dojo.

Ronnie who has trained karate ‘religiously’ as a way of life for 50 years was recently entered into the European Hall of fame for Martial Arts (November 2015).

Ronnie has previously been awarded an OBE from the Queen. In 2010 was recognised by the Emperor of Japan with an Order of the Rising Sun – a very special award rarely given to foreigners. Ronnie joins good company with famous people such as Clint Eastwood, Gustav Eiffel of France, George Takei (Sulu, Helmsman of the Starship enterprise on Star Trek) Bobby Charlton, and ex UK Prime minister Sir John Major.

In 2014, Ronnie was awarded a Commemorative Medal of the Trnava Self-Governing Region (TSGR) of Slovakia by the TSGR’s president, Tibor Mikus for promotion of friendship between Scotland and Slovakia. Ronnie is also a Free Burgess of Guild member of the city of Aberdeen, (Freedom of the city) and is a banner bearer to the Knights of the Most Holy Trinity, who are a heraldic based charity organisation raising funds for good causes.

When asked about his 50 years in Karate and his 9th Dan Ronnie says,

“I’ve just loved karate, being karate. It’s what I’ve always done.

“I see a lot of people and see what it can do for them. The discipline, the training, the Budo (the way) it changes them. It changed me. Karate improves people. It’s beautiful….My 50 years have not been easy, but I’d do it again tomorrow..”

“ I’m very happy and really humbled to receive the 9th Dan. It’s amazing…I’m still learning!”

Having one of the worlds most decorated and respected Karate masters living and teaching in Aberdeen is a massive advantage to anyone wishing to learn more about Karate-do.

Visit www.karate-scotland.info for more info.

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From Broomsticks To Fiddle Sticks And Indian Beatboxing

Aberdeen City, Featured, Opinion No Responses »

Nov 162015

Jyotsna Studio Mahesh Padmanabhanagar 2010 (53)

Jyotsna Srikanth will be appearing at the Blue Lamp on Thursday Nov 19

With thanks to Rob Adams.

Jyotsna Srikanth has become used to people telling her that she makes her instrument sing.

It’s a compliment that the violinist from Bangalore appreciates for sure but as she points out, it’s actually just confirmation that she’s doing her job properly.

“In the Carnatic tradition that I trained in everything is based on the voice,” she says.

“To play any phrase, whether your instrument is a melody instrument or a drum, you have to be able to sing it. So it’s always lovely to hear someone say I make the violin sing but if I wasn’t doing that, back home I wouldn’t be considered very good!”

Srikanth’s first experience of violin music, at a concert in Bangalore at the age of five, was life-changing. So taken was she by the instrument that when she got home she ran to the kitchen cupboard, dragged out two brooms and started scraping them together to try and recreate the sound she’d just heard.

“My mother thought I’d gone mad,” says the now London-based violinist who brings her Bangalore Dreams group to the Blue Lamp on Thursday, November 19.

“But I was desperate to hear that sound again.”

Srikanth’s mother, a respected singer in Indian music, had already begun training her to follow in her footsteps with six hours of daily practice. So it took a lot of pleading from Srikanth to persuade her mother to buy her a violin.

Even then, Srikanth’s mother used her motherly wiles to ensure that practice schedules were maintained. There was a bakery next door and by four in the afternoon the aromas of fresh baking would waft into their house.

“I’d get promised a bun or something else tempting if I worked on the exercises I’d been given,” says Srikanth.

“And the bribery worked!”

She made her concert debut at the age of nine and then in her mid-teens she started her training in Western techniques at Bangalore School of Music, going on to gain her grades from the Royal School of Music in London before studying to become a pathologist.

“Playing music for a living is a precarious lifestyle and I was unsure about turning fully professional until my husband got the chance of a job in London in 2004,” she says.

Combining pathology with music didn’t hinder her playing time, however, and she worked on some 250 Bollywood film soundtracks as well as playing concerts, eventually establishing a reputation that has now seen her regarded as the leading Indian violinist in Europe.

With Bangalore Dreams, where she’s joined by keyboardist-pianist Shadrach Solomon and drummer Manjunath NS, she ventures into jazz and rock rhythms while still using the techniques and expression she’s developed through her Carnatic music training.

“It’s a lot of fun to play with these musicians,” she says.

“They’re very serious about their music but they’re always looking to try new ideas and to bring modern ways of playing together with traditional values. Manjunath NS is brilliant. People will love what he does especially as he can play Indian percussion, is a fantastic, swinging kit drummer and he has the skill of vocalising what he’s playing, so what you get in Bangalore Dreams is strong melodies, a lot of improvisation and rhythmical vocals that are the equivalent of Carnatic beatboxing.”

Jyotsna Srikanth
Blue Lamp, 121 Gallowgate.

Thurs Nov 19, 8pm

£12 admission.

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Shooglenifty Lemon Tree Tour Date – Thurs Nov 12

Aberdeen City, Featured No Responses »

Nov 092015

With thanks to James Soars Media Services.

2015 has been an epic year for Shooglenifty, a band formed 25 years ago in Edinburgh.

Retaining four of their original members plus their bass player of 12 years standing, the line up has been invigorated in the past year by fiery young mandolinist Ewan MacPherson who contributes four tunes to their critically acclaimed new CD release The Untied Knot.

Also new in 2015 is ‘puirt a beul’ vocalist Kaela Rowan who graces the album with the first ever collection of Shoogle songs.

Shooglenifty’s sound springs from traditional Scottish dance music, energised by the beats and bass line of something altogether more contemporary. It is not a sit-down kind of music, it’s a join-in, and get on your feet kind of vibe.

Attempts to describe this almost uncatagorisable band include: ‘dub-diddly’,‘hypno-folkadelic-ambient-trad’ and ‘Acid-Croft’. Whatever it is, it has endured, evolved and, above all, entertained for quarter of a century.

The band are most at home playing live, and matching the excitement of releasing the new album, 2015 has been a year of very special gigs. They enjoyed not one, but three(!) 25th Anniversary Parties – they sold out the city’s iconic Old Fruitmarket venue at Celtic Connections in January, they blew the roof off a packed Glenuig Hall in April, and, in May, celebrated at a late night album launch at La Belle Angele, Edinburgh, scene of their first residency in the early 90s.

Summer 2015 is packed with appearances at festivals at home and abroad: they include HebCelt in the Isle of Lewis, Cambridge, Rainforest World Music Fest in Borneo and Interceltique in Brittany (with current collaborators the Dhol Drummers of Rajasthan). The year is top and tailed by hogmanay celebrations on opposite sides of the earth – Woodford, Australia for 2014/5 and Edinburgh’s Hogmanay for 2015/6.

But before we hit the fireworks at midnight on 31 December, Shooglenifty is coming to a village/town/city near you. There will be dancing.

Celebrating their 25th anniversary, this is Shooglenifty’s seventh studio album. The breathtaking ‘puirt a beul’ (mouth music) of Gaelic vocalist Kaela Rowan brings a captivating and energising new element to the band’s sound, and the grittiness of the songs further confounds any attempt to categorise them.

The Untied Knot drops additional pins in the Shoogles’ map of international influences, this time hitting the road from Scotland to Rajasthan. Watch out for James Mackintosh and Kaela Rowan’s ‘The High To Jodhpur’, a tune that makes that connection explicit, whilst Burn’s Tam O’Shanter is the ‘closer to home’ substance to the title track by Quee MacArthur.

Former band member Luke Plumb’s fresh compositions – the psychedelic ‘Arms of Sleep’ and ‘The Highway Carpark,’ a ‘hurry up and wait’ classic – are included, whilst new mandolinist Ewan MacPherson makes his mark with three tunes. His ‘Somebody’s Welcome To Somewhere’, a tongue-in-cheek Highland march, features the princely pipers of a guesting Ross Ainslie. Ewan also contributes a dark nautical romp ‘The Devil’s Breath Hornpipe’, and a speedy pair of reels clearly spawned by the Shoogle dance gene, ‘Samhla Reel/Scolpaig’.

A dazzling contribution by Garry ‘Banjo’ Finlayson ‘The Scorpian’ (sic) is a fascinating and enigmatic creature, whilst ‘Fitzroy’s Crossing’, the striking Antipodean closing track by Shooglenifty front man Angus R Grant, is proof positive that there is no musical journey this band can’t take.

The cover was designed by renowned John Byrne who previously created album sleeves for Gerry Rafferty, Stealers Wheel, Billy Connolly, and The Beatles, among others.

“This is a class act, truly in line for album of the year” – fROOTS.

“Remarkably exciting, and fresh *****” – Songlines.

“Top to bottom The Untied Knot is a fine piece of work awash with spectacular displays of musicianship and bewildering levels of innovation” – Folk Words.

“Gaelic vocalist Kaela Rowan fits Shooglenifty’s skilfully-knitted left-field sound as snugly as a kilt” – The Australian.

THE UNTIED KNOT TOUR:

Friday 6 November 2015 | The Up Front Gallery | Cumbria | Find the venue | Buy tickets

Saturday 7 November 2015 | Mac Arts | Galashiels | Find the venue | Tickets available soon

Thursday 12 November 2015 | The Lemon Tree | Aberdeen | Find the venue | Buy tickets

Friday 13 November 2015 | Gardyne Theatre | Dundee | Find the venue | Buy tickets

Saturday 14 November 2015 | Gordonstoun | Elgin | Find the venue | Tickets available soon

Friday 27 November 2015 | Inchyra Arts Club | Perth | Find the venue | Buy tickets

Saturday 28 November 2015 | Sabhal Mòr Ostaig | Skye | Find the venue | Buy tickets

Friday 4 December 2015 | Applecross Community Hall | Applecross | Find the venue | Buy tickets

Saturday 5 December 2015 | MacRobert Memorial Hall | Tarland | Find the venue | Buy tickets

Friday 11 December 2015 | The Canteen | Bristol | Find the venue | Tickets available soon

Saturday 12 December 2015 | The Borderline | London | Find the venue | Buy tickets

Sunday 13 December 2015 | The Crescent | York | Find the venue | Buy tickets

Friday 18 December 2015 | Stereo | Glasgow | Find the venue | Buy tickets

Saturday 19 December 2015 | Memorial Hall | Resolis | Find the venue | Buy tickets

Sunday 20 December 2015 | The Old Bridge Inn | Aviemore | Find the venue | Tickets available soon

Monday 28 December 2015 | Astley Hall | Arisaig | Find the venue | Buy tickets

Tuesday 29 December 2015 | Tolbooth | Stirling | Find the venue | Tickets available soon

For more information and the latest tour news, please visit:www.shooglenifty.com

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension Reviewed

Aberdeen City, Opinion No Responses »

Nov 062015

The found footage supernatural horror series Paranormal Activity has now reached its sixth and final instalment. Aberdeen Voice’s Andrew Watson reviews The Ghost Dimension, more or less a sequel to Paranormal Activity 3.

Not many people came for the Tuesday midmorning showing at Union Square’s Cineworld, the film having being released almost a fortnight ago. It perhaps serves to prove that this franchise has run its course. Though not hackneyed in the sense it shows cupboard doors flapping of their own free will, it’s largely predictable.

Having said that, the you-know-it-is-coming moments frighten because you can never totally anticipate that split second they’ll make you jolt; though that’s the case for just about every horror film, good or bad.

Plus points, however, include when the besieged protagonists explore the nature of the demonic presence they seek to be rid of.

The plot itself generally revolves around father Ryan Fleege (Chris Murray), wife Emily (Brit Shaw) and daughter Leila (Ivy George). Ryan’s brother Mike (Dan Gill) joins the family for Christmas after breaking up with his girlfriend.

Suspicions regarding the house are roused when family friend Skyler (Olivia Taylor Dudley) comes on the go. She’s somewhat of a Feng Shui expert and her comment upon its ‘energies’ validate what soon takes hold.

Whilst preparing the house for the festivities they find a box of tapes they’ve never seen before. Out of curiosity, brothers Ryan and Mike view some of them not realising that they’re family videos belonging to the previous family that lived there.

In fact, the current house is built upon the site of that very family’s house, which burnt down. The footage, which is not only weird and potentially satanic, references the current householders despite being recorded years ago; describing them in great detail.

The main debate with this is whether this girl with her eyes closed in the video is picturing the future, or is in fact viewing these viewers in some sort of spiritual plain within the present. Being honest, it seems a tad reminiscent of the girl coming out of the screen of the television in The Ring.

Leila starts acting up, though it begins innocently as what they think is her talking to an imaginary friend. It turns out that this imaginary friend seeks the young girl in a bid to take a physical form.

Things escalate to the point where they call in Father Todd (Michael Krawic), a priest. Despite being bitten by Leila during a fit of rage, he doesn’t think that she’s possessed. He therefore elects for a cleansing, and not an exorcism.

Concern had already grown for Leila, and they’d placed a camcorder in her room in a bid to get a handle on what’s going on. During another very active night, Leila is seen via this surveillance walking through a passageway that has appeared in a crack above the headboard of her bed.

Perhaps this is the same spiritual plain within the present in those family videos, ‘the ghost dimension’.

One thing you cannot knock these films for is a lack of unhappy, and in turn conceivably realistic, endings. No psychics battling spirits of the netherworld, at least not this time round. Just feeble, mortal men and women clinging onto life; logic and reason leaving them as panic overtakes them.

‘And Then There Were None’ At HMT: Reviewed.

Aberdeen City, Featured, Opinion No Responses »

Nov 062015

Duncan Harley reviews And Then There Were None at HMT.

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the birth of Agatha Christie, and is also the tenth anniversary of the founding of The Agatha Christie Theatre Company.
To mark both occasions, her best-selling thriller ‘And Then There Were None’ has returned to the stage for a full UK tour.

Originally published in novel form in 1939 and entitled ‘Ten Little Niggers’ after the children’s nursery rhyme of the same name, this classic whodunit ranks high amongst the best-selling crime novels of all time.

The politically incorrect word ‘Nigger’ was soon dropped and the word ‘Indians’ substituted. The rhyme ‘Ten Little Indians’ remains central to the plot.

First adapted for the stage in 1943, this current adaptation is set in August 1939 just weeks before war is declared. The island setting off the coast of Devon represents not only a prison for the players but also perhaps the national mood of the time, as conflict looms and the spectre of death from abroad beckons.

A group of complete strangers is lured to a hotel on a remote island using a variety of pretexts. On arrival they discover that the host is not present. A gramophone recording is played in which each in turn is exposed to all present as having a guilty secret worthy of extreme punishment. One by one the assembled guests begin to die horribly.

Judicial hanging is not an option, and vigilante style justice arrives by various means including poison, drowning and of course shooting. The unfortunate butler, Mr Rogers, suffers the Cluedo-like indignity of being ‘murdered with the axe in the scullery’ and Anthony Marston’s demise occurs after drinking cyanide-laden whisky. Perhaps oddly, some of the guests continue to dice with death via poisoning by raiding the drinks trolley, virtually right through to the end of the play.

There is obviously a homicidal lunatic on the loose, and the race is on to identify the likely culprit.

By the final curtain no-one is left alive on stage. Don’t expect a Reservoir Dogs style corpse-strewn set, however. Many of the murders occur offstage.

This is high art classic crime fiction performed pitch, word and even letter-perfect. Despite a fast diminishing cast, the tension and suspense build throughout the performance and on occasion the theatre audience audibly gasps at the finely delivered plot twists.

Throughout the unfolding drama, there is a fair amount of subtly accented wry humour. Indeed, one victim dies not once but twice.

There is also a modicum of romance, or is it simply carnal lust on the part of Ben Nealon’s revolver-wielding Captain Lombard towards the young but not quite so innocent Ms Claythorne?

Deborah Grant’s eccentric spinster, the fusty Emily Brent provides an engaging foil for Kezia Burrows’ feisty Vera Claythorne, in a distinctly ‘maiden aunt versus femme fatale’ sort of way.

Simon Scullion’s distinctly minimalist Art Deco set is nothing short of impressive; and costumes by Roberto Surace provide complete authenticity to this high-energy period crime drama.

All in all, this is a finely crafted, immensely entertaining and professionally delivered tribute to the Queen of Crime and is a definite must-see.

Oh and Vera’s sexy red ultra-low-backed red evening gown has to be seen to believed!

Directed by Joe Harmston and produced by Bill Kenwright – ‘And Then There Were None’ plays at HM Theatre Aberdeen until Saturday 7th November.

Tickets from Aberdeen Performing Arts Tel: 01224- 641122

Spear of Destiny Meets Krakatoa

Aberdeen City, Featured, Opinion No Responses »

Nov 062015

Staring up from the depths of a fluorescent blue cocktail served in a fishbowl is a beautifully carved goldfish made of pumpkin. Skull-splitting metal of some sort is making conversation nearly impossible. A Ninja in full regalia at the door is having a pint with a goth who’s wearing fangs as neon Tiki figures shimmer on the walls in the black light. If not for Spear of Destiny playing in an hour’s time, this could have been your average night at Krakatoa.

Suzanne Kelly goes to her third SoD Moorings – sorry Krakatoa – show.

Tonight is the penultimate night of the current Spear tour; tomorrow they have to be in Whitby headlining a goth festival, as you do. Would they be pulling their punches and going through the motions tonight? Other acts have done so when hitting Aberdeen, but resting on past successes isn’t part of the ethos for Spear.

Opening Act Mark Ayling (pictured below) said:

“I had a great night, Spear of Destiny were on form and played a great set and it was nice to see a good crowd out to support live music.

“it’s the biggest crowd I’ve seen at an Aberdeen gig for a while.”

Some of the wiser, more experienced fans, or ‘Spear Family’, prudently decided to stay back from the front of the stage.

Tonight wasn’t quite as frenzied and bruise-inducing as usual, perhaps in some part due to the presence of Spear virgin Alan Gray. I was a bit concerned about him, as he happens to be a wheelchair user.

Knowing that anyone in vicinity of the dance floor at a SoD show is likely to wind up covered with bruises and marinated in beer, I mentioned to a few nearby guys to please keep an eye out for Alan.

Before I could finish speaking, they’d opened up a path for him to the front of the stage.

Only once towards the end was I worried about him, but I needn’t have been when the floor turned into the expected frenzy.

So – did Alan like his first ever Spear live show?

“I waited 30 years to see them live. It was everything I wanted it to be and a lot more.”

He left with a copy of their latest album, 31, and a huge smile on his face.

It’s been said I’m partial to this band, and indeed I am, but you’d not be able to find any fault tonight. The pacing of the set, the well-honed but fresh, energetic musical calibre – all great stuff. I’d love to give you the full set list but for the fact I was looking after others’ limbs, my own limbs, drinking a pint and trying to write in a little notebook at the same time.

At any rate they opened with World Service; most of the audience naming that tune and screaming for it before the first measure had been played. Never Take me Alive soon followed, then to Roddy Kennedy’s delight Once in Her Lifetime.

From the most recent album 31, Spear played Sputnik, Fascinations (single from the album) and The Failure.

In all these pieces you can hear subtle or large differences from the studio work; at the risk of repeating myself from previous reviews, this is why you come to live performances; to hear something new brought to the arrangements.

For many bands displaying basic musical competence outside of a studio is a stretch; for SoD playing live seems to be something they truly relish.

For others, the reason to go see a band has to be to take selfies and record the show on a mobile, so you can watch it back later, and don’t have to stop talking to your friends about who’s going to win either celebrity bake-off or the ladies’ Queen of the South v Hearts match. I pity these people.

Truly, some people are incapable of letting a 3 minute song go without speaking; tuning them out seems to be becoming an art form.

This is not to be confused with the people who for instance wouldn’t normally speak to each other at all, but when hearing Mickey (my favourite anti-war anthem) will sing every word and dance with their arms around each other’s shoulders. And that’s how it should be.

WE also had Everything Has A Price, Soldier Soldier, and close with I Liberate. Brandon said something about Edward Snowdon – or at least I think he did. The only fault was that it was over too soon.

The band genuinely seemed to have had an enjoyable evening in Aberdeen; Aberdeen loved having them.

When they got to Whitby the next night they did a stunning version of The Sisters of Mercy’s Temple of Love (on a cobweb-decorated stage no less) with Craig Adams taking lead vocals. Have a look at that here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WANdYppeJVU&feature=youtu.be

But yes, it was all over in a flash; the band, the cocktail with the fish and the Ninja all disappeared. But I dare say Aberdeen will welcome Spear with open arms again next time.

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