Dick Valentine (Acoustic Live) [Review - Fibbers - May 27th 2012)

Dick Valentine (Acoustic Live) Fibbers, York (Sunday 27th May 2012)

And so it was back to Fibbers, my old stamping ground, in York on a balmy Sunday night to see Dick Valentine, lead singer of Electric Six, performing an acoustic set for the first time in six years at the venue. Back in 2006 I had seen him on his ‘American Troubador’ show where he debuted as-then-unheard tracks such as album Switzerland’s ‘Night Vision’ and ‘Pink Flamingos’ and ‘I Don’t Speak French’, finally released on his solo LP this year ‘Destroy The Children’, a CD available digitally but in limited physical copy at this, and other, shows.

Fibbers, as noted by the second support act of the night, had changed since his particular last appearance in the venue and that, on the new stage, he would have previously been performing in the toilets. But, since I saw the full band there not that long ago, the new Fibbers was familiar to me in all its glowing step, chipboard-walled toilet glory.

Opening support ‘Nico Cara’ didn’t have much of an audience to perform to – it was only just into double figures – but his acoustic original songs were engaging, catchy and well performed and definitely worth a listen at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nico-Cara/363744760302524. Sounding very much like Jamie T in full on ‘Sheila’ mode, his understated music was a joy to hear and a great start to the gig.

It was second support, though, that really kicked up the pace. In a similar style to ‘The Re-entrants’ that supported ‘The Lancashire Hotpots’ at a recent Fibbers gig, Jake Radio’s schtick was to mix a couple of songs from his full piece band “Be Quiet Shout Loud” (found online at http://www.myspace.com/bequietshoutloud) including the fun and tongue-in-cheek “Jesus Is Coming” which folk reimaginings of the most unlikely songs possible, from the opening version of Limp Bizkit’s ‘Rolling’, making the frankly stupid lyrics sound much more credible, to a concluding crowd-interacting version of ‘The Final Countdown’ which the audience were more than happy to sing along with, with crowd engagement being high on Jake Radio’s hit list. With a suit as sharp as the points on his white shoes, Radio also entertained with perhaps the best style-change song I’ve heard ever, even beating The BossHoss, Richard Cheese and their like, in the Bloodhound Gang’s ‘The Bad Touch’. Even though he couldn’t quite keep up with the fast pace of the song it was a cover both funny to hear and masterfully performed. There was though, a roll of eyes from me and my friend when he whipped out a folk version of ‘Gold’ by Spandau Ballet which ‘The Re-Entrants’ had done previously. It was no better or worse than their version but it seems to be becoming Fibbers’ support theme song.

With hardly five minutes between the excellent Jake Radio leaving the stage it was the turn of Electric Six frontman Dick Valentine’ to appear on stage, dressed casually in a green top and a hat with a black guitar slung around his shoulders.

Opening with ‘Hey’ by the Pixies which melded into the titular track of his album-to-promote, Valentine showed far more confidence on stage than six years previously or even on bootlegs from the past few years, playing all the songs flawlessly and with skill, even the songs adapted from full band efforts. “Destroy The Children”, with its hilarious pop culture lyrics, sounded indistinguishable from the album version and was greeted well by the larger, but still disappointingly cosy, crowd. This was to be an excellent night of music and the numbers in the room didn’t justify the quality, but those that were there enjoyed it, ignoring the handful of people who felt it necessary to talk during his songs, which can be covered up at full gigs but not at one where the loudest instrument is a non-electric guitar.

New album opener ‘Counterattacks’ lost its second half instrumental, instead segwaying neatly into ‘Detroit Sandwich’ from the Valentine-song-written ‘Bite Me’ internet video series, a song I’d not heard but one that sounded great live.

It was into more familiar territory next with great performances of ‘Steal Your Bones’ and the cult classic ‘Jimmy Carter’ from ‘Kill’ and ‘Senor Smoke’ albums respectively before ‘Earth Side of the Moon’ from his solo release was delivered with aplomb. Old Wildbunch classic ‘I’m On Acid’ was a welcome appearance next before the as-yet-unreleased ‘I Killed Our Love’ was whipped out and performed well, with some short but witty banter between various tracks by Valentine. ‘Mr Shadow’ moved the set on, again sounding as good as the album version, before personal favourite ‘I Don’t Speak French’ got the crowd singing and laughing, showing a good mix between people familiar with the album and those experiencing it for the first time.

There was a slight break while he sold four copies of the album to lucky people on the stage, an extra fiver being their cost for meeting Valentine on stage and after this unusually lengthy interlude it was back to rattling through the Electric Six classics with ‘When I Get To The Green Building’ and ‘Pink Flamingos’, both sung back to him by the crowd and great versions of them.

The reason for a second mic on stage was revealed next after it had spent much of the stage standing there awkwardly, with Jake Radio appearing back on stage for a well-constructed duet of Tom Waits song ‘Dirt In The Ground’ which, though depressing in tone, was a great match of their vocals.

With some cracking one liners dispensed to the crowd (“Do you know about the Jubilee?” / “What did you say about my friend Billy?”) and a few verbal smackdowns of some crowd idiots, his version of “Evil Cowards” stand-out track ‘Sex Wars’ was very welcome and a much loved addition to the set. It was great to hear it performed acoustically, and the same could be said for ‘I Am Repulsed By My Daughter's Lover’ from his solo album and ‘Vengeance and Fashion’ from ‘Fire’ which were both performed excellently both in relation to guitar and his vocal tricks.

His set continued to be rooted in the past with ‘She’s White’ receiving the stripped-back treatment, but with snippets of Keane’s ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ and Peter Gabriel’s ‘Book of Love’ slotted proficiently between the verses. I’m not familiar enough with the latter to comment on it but Valentine certainly gave Tom Chaplin a run for his money in the vocal stakes.

The encore was a well-decided trilogy of songs, from personal new favourite ‘One Policeman Leads To Another’, where he certainly pulled the crowd into singing along and Electric Six classic ‘Dance Commander’ which continued the crowd going mad. It was also fantastic to hear his Bruce Springsteen cover as his closing number, as Valentine’s version of ‘Beautiful Disguise’ is incredible.

Overall, we were treated to nearly eighty minutes of music on the night with a well-balanced cross section of music from his various bands, collaborations and influences and though it would have been great to have perhaps heard something like ‘Night Vision’ performed again there are few complaints from me regarding the track selection, especially with inclusions such as ‘Jimmy Carter’, ‘Sex Wars’ and ‘Pink Flamingos’ from the back catalogue.

Another cracking night of music from an under-appreciated singer-songwriter who showed off his vocal and songwriting skills away from the exhuberance of the full band.

I just hope we can destroy the children before songwriters similar to all three acts on the night are replaced by autotuned dancers. Full Set Hey (The Pixies) Destroy The Children (Dick Valentine) Counterattacks (Dick Valentine) Detroit Sandwich (Bite Me) Steal Your Bones (Electric Six) Jimmy Carter (Electric Six) Earth Side Of The Moon (Dick Valentine) I'm On Acid (The Wildbunch) I Killed Our Love (Electric Six) Mr. Shadow (Dick Valentine) I Don't Speak French (Dick Valentine) When I Get To The Green Building Pink Flamingos (Electric Six) Dirt In The Ground (Tom Waits) Sex Wars (Evil Cowards) I Am Repulsed By My Daughter's Lover (Dick Valentine) Vengeance And Fashion (Electric Six) I Invented The Night (Electric Six) She's White (Inc. 'Somewhere Only We Know' and 'Book Of Love') (Electric Six / Keane / Peter Gabriel) One Policeman Leads To Another (Dick Valentine) Dance Commander (Electric Six) Brilliant Disguise (Bruce Springsteen)

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The Next Big Thing?

It's not often I hear a new single by a band and immediately fall in love with it. OK, it happens occasionally with tracks such as 'Danger! High Voltage' by Electric Six, 'Our Velocity' by Maximo Park, The Futurehead's 'Beginning of the Twist' and Moby's 'Slipping Away' to name four of a selection, but here is a track by a band that I think can join them.

Featuring a catchy verse and chorus, a Kaisers-style breakdown, song-and-echo lines from the rest of the band and a one-like breakdown that slaps you right round the face, this is indie pop at its finest and if you don't have it stuck in your head after a few listens then I'd be surprised.

I'm definitely getting their album come August. A marvellous track and deserving of success.

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Tim Vine is Going Out as He Leaves Sitcom

In the same week that the fifth series of hit BBC sitcom ‘Not Going Out’ came to an end, gaining an impressive 4.69m viewers for its final episode in such a competitive environment, and Den of Geek running an article on how it is one of the best shows on television - http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/not-going-out/21369/not-going-out-an-appreciation - a rumour circulating before series four has now been confirmed as true.

Tim Vine quits 'Not Going Out' after six years? - http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a382313/tim-vine-quits-not-going-out-after-six-years.html

Sitcom in chaos as Vine quits - http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/4323718/Chaos-for-BBC1-comedy-Not-Going-Out-as-Tim-Vine-quits.html

Yes, Tim Vine has announced he has quit ‘Not Going Out’ as the BBC announces two more series have been commissioned.

Though ‘sitcom in chaos’ may be an overstatement – ‘Not Going Out’ has survived the departure of Megan Dobbs and Miranda Hart – both replaced with Sally Bretton and Katy Wix respectively – but neither was as key a character as Tim, played by Vine. In Dobbs case she was only in for one series and before it really hit the big time and Hart only a supporting character and has been replaced, and bettered, by Katy Wix. Tim, the mild-mannered innocent foil to Lee (Tim Mack), is much more central to the premise, even more so than the will-they won’t-they relationship between Lee and Lucy. He is the perfect complement to Lee’s more rowdy humour, much more innocent in style and though Vine has no writing credit to the series, his style of puns and one liners is clear in the series and his presence is undoubted in the sitcom.

The BBC have promised new characters in the sitcom when it returns next year for a sixth series but I feel they will have a difficult job replacing Vine. It’s not an impossible task. Lee Mack is a strong writer and it can be argued that the series now is even better than it was at the start, but it has evolved. However, Mack and Vine have a great working relationship and work well off each other and if Vine goes then that dynamic will be missing. Furthermore, how will Katy Wix as Daisy, Tim’s ditsy girlfriend, be kept in the series? Also, the humour of Tim being wary of Lee’s advances on his sisters, will be absent.

Vine has said “He’s got lots of other work coming in and is keen to try other things” and I don’t blame him for wanting to be known for other things opposed to his stand up and his sitcom but it upsets me – perhaps not the right word when discussing a television sitcom – that when the series has survived cancellation and now gone on to do not only another two series in the can but another two series on top of that and it’s stronger than it’s ever been in popularity and ratings that it’s losing a key element.

I love ‘Not Going Out’. It’s not only one of my favourite programmes and a fantastic, consistent sitcom, it’s one of the few shows on television that I wouldn’t want to miss. I have every faith that Lee Mack well make another cracking series of the show but I can’t help feeling that Tim Vine, who is such a talented comedian both in stand up and in the show, is making a mistake in leaving the sitcom. I’m all for trying new things and not being stereotyped but he’ll be sadly missed and I think it’ll be a major stumble point for the series.

I only hope that he’ll come back for the start of series six to at least make a proper exit and what he goes onto do justifies his exit. He’s a great performer but equally Mack, I believe, will continue to make a fantastic sitcom.

Oh, and if the BBC are after someone younger who can replace Tim but see fulfil the cheesy puns and the sort of innocent-looking humour, then they can always e-mail me. My rates are reasonable.

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The Hunger Games review

It’s taken me a while to get round to seeing it but I’m glad I did manage to see ‘The Hunger Games’, film adaptation of Suzanne Collins first book of her trilogy.

'The Hunger Games’ tells the story of the country of Panem which, since a revolt, have run an annual televised competition where one young boy and girl from each of the twelve districts, are offered up to fight to the death with only one victor coming out alive at the end, all as a threat to the population about revolting.

We follow the story through Katniss Everdeen who volunteers to replace her sister as the ‘tribute’ for District 12 and her time taking part in the games.

Plot wise the film is enjoyable to follow and its length 140 minute running time doesn’t drag. The plot itself is pretty predictable at times as Katniss takes part in the game, with many of the outcomes expected but, even though the inclusion of a young love subplot makes a nod towards it, it has much more depth than the Twilight films. There are many emotional scenes through the film and these are managed well next to action scenes and the universe is well set-up through the film, with the pacing spot on, never seeming like they’re glossing over anything.

Jennifer Lawrence as the lead actress carries the film very well and plays the character with great conviction but Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson and Amandla Stenberg are all worth mentions for the portrayals of their characters.

An enjoyable film with some small amounts of effective CGI and a highly detailed focus on costume and design which certainly makes the film stand out. The plot isn’t particularly revolutionary but there is much to enjoy but is quite a depressing film to watch with its theme so don’t expect to leave the film feeling smiling.

(7/10)

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Dick Valentine – Destroy The Children [Review]

Over ten years since his last solo album, 2001’s ‘Smog Cutter Love Story’ recorded under the artist name of ‘The Dirty Shame’, the lead singer of Detroit band Electric “Danger! High Voltage” Six has released a new album, “an acoustic exploration of uneasy topics” as the minimalist album cover labels “Destroy The Children”.

Coming in at just over a lightweight thirty minutes, I was interested to hear what a solo album by Electric Six’s frontman would sound like as a big fan of the under-rated rock band. Don’t let the inclusion of the word acoustic put you off the record as, though it as naturally much more stripped back than, for instance, the last E6 record ‘Heartbeats and Brainwaves’, there is still much more to the record than a man and a guitar.

Album opener ‘Counterattacks’ kicks off with a Wonderwall-esque guitar before Valentine’s familiar vocals oohs and eccentric lyrics kick in, and he’s supported not only by his guitar but a rather melancholy violin. After a minute of lyrics the two-minute long song then bursts into a down-beat violin and drum-led instrumental started off with a roll of drum thunder and more anguished aaahs before fading back away.

It’s followed by ‘Maria Sangrienta’, mostly sung in Spanish, and if you can get the image of Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story 3 out of your mind while he sings it, you’ll find it to be quite a touching ballad with more violin work, though I have no idea what he’s actually singing about. Capturing the Spanish feel in the music as well as the lyrics, it’s something very different and refreshing.

Though the title of track three does sound like a parody of an Electric Six track, it’s in fact one of the best songs on the album with a fast-paced verse and a short, but catchy chorus, thanks to the metronome effect. ‘One Policeman Leads To Another’, with regular fade outs and repeated resurgences of music works really well and even when the closing repeating of the title starts to border on irritation the production steps up a gear and cranks out a great sounding choral effect that will stick firmly in your head.

‘I Am Repulsed By My Daughter’s Lover’ is just another wacky title that looks weird on paper but in the context of the song works. Very much a story song, it does at time perhaps sound a little off compared to the music but it’s a fun song to hear and the witty lyrics and imaginative rhyming keep the song afloat.

Onto ‘Mr Shadow’ and it sounds very much like a classic old Electric Six song, from when they were the Wildbunch, with a familiar-sounding but interesting acoustic guitar riff. A little like ‘Smoke on the Water’ mixed with their old hit ‘She’s Guatemala’ and more recent song ‘Night Vision’, it’s another story-led song that doesn’t outstay its welcome but sounds great and even throws in a Groundhog Day reference. It’s followed by the skit ‘Driving Into Certain Death’, a fast-paced fun little snippet of a song with quite a layered guitar riff for its short running time.

Title track ‘Destroy the Children’ is a definite highlight of the album with not only an eclectic mix of guitar and violin and intriguing lyrics but a catchy chorus that concludes with a string outro, and some well observed and sharp lyrics and reasons to ‘Destroy the Children’ including “before they replace the singer-songwriters with autotuned dancers” and “Imprison Lindsey Lohan before she becomes a mother… polluting all our souls with Hollywood dysentery”.

Entering the second half of the album in both track number and length, ‘The Termite Queen sees Valentine in falsetto mode and is a much more low-key number. Not the most interesting song on the album lyrically or musically, it’s still worth a listen and the mix of instrumentation works well. Follow up ‘The Earth Side of the Moon’ is my least favourite song on the album and doesn’t really go anywhere, but there are some bits to enjoy in the chorus.

‘The Wild Rose of Boise’ includes some more wacky lyrics and is an enjoyable three minutes with its folk song feel. Thankfully after this the good, but nothing special, three songs are replaced with three far stronger numbers. ‘Emergency Funding For The Arts’ is a speedy lyrically-fun ‘Dance Commander’-esque number with a short, but catchy deep chorus, over an enjoyable guitar line. Then, the track flips to become the most unusual on the album with a synth line poking fun at modern music before switching back to the more acoustic stylings of the album but with a well-layered closing.

‘Fresh Faces’ is more of the same style wise but with some catchy ‘woo’s here and there in the chorus, lyrics continuing the art theme set by track eleven, and a general uptempo feel. But its penultimate tune ‘I Don’t Speak French’ that is the true highlight of the album. Performed live on the circuit for at least six years, this is Valentine at his very best both in singing in guitar play, with lyrics that both manage to tell a story, sound great and make you smile. Plus, we finally get the harmonica put into the song. A well written, great-sounding hit with some truly funny lines (ending on a cracker!) and plenty of hooks and hopefully at some point deserving a fully produced version.

‘Destroy the Children’ comes to a close with short song ‘Meet Mr. Monkey’, no relation though to the similarly titled and themed Robbie Williams track. With a country-twang feeling to it, it thematically sums up the album and though it isn’t the strongest title, it’s a pleasant enough end.

Any fans of Electric Six will find much to enjoy here with Valentine’s fun lyrics and ear for catchy hooks as present as ever. Clearly acoustic in style, but with plenty of interesting production to compliment it, ‘Destroy The Children’ is well worth a punt. Though it’s relatively short running time might seem a negative, with most tracks failing to break the three minute barrier there is always something new coming along if there’s something you don’t enjoy.

It’s not particular serious, it’s perhaps not as bombastic or as imaginative as the band’s full albums, but it’s certainly a fun and involving thirty-three minutes and successfully balances enjoyable music with witty lyrics and strong compositions. (7.5/10)

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Primeval Series Five To Make Terrestrial Debut

The odds may be against it but, in my opinion, fantastic sci-fi drama Primeval is to return to ITV this June as its fifth series, already shown on digital channel Watch and released on DVD and blu-ray, makes its terrestrial debut.

Though the series has already got its short-term future secured in its Canada-based spin off 'New World', the success of this fifth series - which is due to start on June 16th - will dictate its future in the UK.

Cash-strapped ITV will not be willing, or at least able, to take a punt on another series unless this series hits high on the ratings. But it's not exactly got a lot in its favour. The big fans will already have seen the series either on Watch or on disc and ITV's questionable decision to schedule it in early summer and, no doubt, with little publicity won't help.

It'll be a shame if the viewing figures are not great as series five is perhaps just behind series three in the rank of best series' with some great plotlines and fantastic CGI.

I just hope it gets a new series commissioned by the UK's biggest commercial channel so we can see what the answer is behind the final cliffhanger of the series that regular terrestrial viewers will see when this six-strong series reaches its conclusions this summer.

You can read what I'd like to see from Primeval this year at http://www.denofgeek.com/television/1189671/the_10_things_wed_like_to_see_from_primeval_in_2012.html or, if you don't mind spoilers, read my reviews of all series five episodes at http://cybaria.net/tag/primeval/

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Stream of Consciousness

Tonight, the world waits, for the impending new Official Streaming Chart, to be revealed on Monday according to http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-uks-first-official-streaming-chart-has-arrived-1385/.

It will track the one-hundred most streamed songs on the internet, from sites such as Spotify, Deezer (is that an indie band said with a cold?), Napster, We7, Zune and ChartsNow, so instead of tracking downloads which people have invested in it will be only for songs listened to over the internet for free.

Now I have enjoyed streaming software but I’m not a big fan: I’d rather own the music and listen to it at my own convenience, however and wherever I want, especially without adverts, but I can see the appeal of the sites and understand their popularity.

It will be interesting to see how the chart differs from the download chart, when there has already been talk of how Adele’s ‘21’ album has been commercial successful and it’s not on streaming sites. What impact has streaming had on other artists who have embraced the technology?

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What Have They Done To The Gadget Show?

The Gadget Show, Channel 5’s technology answer to BBC’s Top Gear, has been a show I’ve watched since practically it started thanks to being introduced to it by my granddad who, despite falling outside the demographic of the whizz-bang-geek television show, was an avid fan.

Over the years the show has gone through lots of changes, adding and subtracting presenters like that game on Nintendo’s Brain Training where people walk on and off the screen, but Jason, Suzi and Jon have always been the firm trio presenting the show.

In the past couple of years my granddad stopped watching it, complaining that it had become too frenetic and crazy and less about the technology and, though I continued to watch it and enjoy it, couldn’t help agreeing that it had perhaps jumped the shark a little and needed to reign itself in with fewer repetitive tested-to-destructions and crazy running-around challenges and go back to straight forward testing, but keeping the element of fun. It had started to retrace its steps a lot and doing the same thing series after series. So the message would be to give it a bit of a kick up the iArse. Sort of, keep the competitions but not spend ten minutes of having someone running around a house naming them, that sort of thing.

Sadly, after a gap of a few months, the team behind the show have really dropped the ball. Yes, I agree that the show needed some refreshing but what they’ve done is ridiculous. Gone are Suzi, Jon and Ortis, leaving just Jason and Pollyanna behind. Basically the show has lost the eccentric, but knowledgeable Jon, the enthusiastic Ortis and the sexy but informative Suzi, leaving Jason who, though he knows his stuff, is like a whippet on speed at the best of times and Pollyanna who is a little bit meh. It’s a bit like getting rid of Jeremy Clarkson and James May, giving Richmond Hammond speed and partnering him with Tulisa from N-Dubz.

Now this may sound like bitterness toward change but really, what have they done? The show is shallower than ever and filmed in a weird blurry soft focus. One shot I saw of the beach looked like the cameraman had been filming from the next country it was so distant. The show seems to now be like Katie Price: looks good on the surface but you wouldn’t trust it to recommend a DSLR with good optical zoom.

I have to confess that it’s the first episode of the show I’ve had to give up on. There’s refreshing the formula then there’s ripping it apart, gluing it together and dipping it into the shallow pool of bleurgh. It’s now even more superficial and the ‘world tour’ theme, which I hope is a one-off, losing everything that made the studio-based show successful.

Sorry The Gadget Show, you’ve lost a long-time fan. 1 ‘G’.

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BUSOM – Boys vs Girls (2012 Summer Concert) [Review]

BUSOM – Boys vs Girls (2012 Summer Concert) [Review] Escape, Student Central – Thursday 3rd May 2012

And here we come to the final BUSOM (Bradford University Society of Operettas and Musicals) performance of the year, the Summer Concert that took place in Escape. With the chorus split into boys vs girls (well, roughly) and raffle tickets available for the interval draw, it was time for a ninety-minute exploration of songs from musicals and television shows on the theme of the battle of the sexes. So, let the fight commence!

The first act opened with the chorus performing ‘Anything You Can Do’ from ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ which was a popular song to open with, with the chorus split into a fun call and response set-up. There were some early nerves and a handful of missed cues but the song was delivered well and with funny punctuations from Jon Carter and comedic acting from Emelie Ollila and Zoe Howe. Tom Lehrer’s ‘When You Are Old And Grey’ followed with Dave Jennings bringing his usual spot-on character acting to the fore. Both him and Zoe tackled the fast-paced and lyrically-tricky song well after a few tongue-ties early on, both bringing the song about an arguing married couple of life.

‘Crazier Than You’ from the ‘Addams Family’ musical was a fun performance by Melissa Barret and Anna Garlick, both singing powerfully. It wasn’t the strongest of the night’s performances with a few pacing and key issues but it was a fun performance nonetheless. ‘Master of the House’ came next and Carl Mitchell, leading the ‘Les Miserables’ piece, was full of character and delivered the lines well and in character but it was Helen Plant with her Cockney accent and exciting performance, bringing the words to life, that stole the number and with Carl and the chorus made this song one of the highlights of the show.

‘You Can Drive A Person Crazy’ from ‘Company’ was a song dominated by Lyndsey Niven’s vocals but timing between her, Catrina Lodge and Joanne Brotherton was spot-on. Poppy Brooks continued the act with a strong solo performance of ‘I’m Not That Girl’. It’s not one of the better songs from ‘Wicked’ in my opinion but Poppy sung it beautifully, matched by a simple, touching piano backing.

The female chorus of ‘Men’ from ‘Calamity Jane’ saw a strong performance, particularly from the front row of vocalists, compensating from a slightly quieter line up at the back. The strong musical side was backed up by some complimentary acting from Christine and Anna on the “boys” side who added an extra dimension to the performance.

Alice De Jong, the musical director for the night who was a great personality bridging between the songs, joined up with Nick Smith for Rent’s ‘Tango Maureen’, creating a pleasing partnership but they struggled with some of the higher notes and the volume of the piano for this number, but it was a great listen.

Up next was ‘Guys and Dolls’ from the musical of the same name, brought to the filled-up Escape Bar by Stuart Sellens and Jon Carter, a double-act I always look forward to and wouldn’t be disappointed. Stuart delivered his lines with vigour and enthusiasm as ever and, though the stronger of the pair through the number, they bounced off each other well to bring the story to life and was a great way to head towards the final number of the act, which was ‘I’ll Make A Man Out Of You’ from Disney’s ‘Mulan’.

With Anna Garlick in a bright yellow hat she was as enjoyable, enthusiastic and bubbly as ever as the soldier performing the song, grasping the character well, even if her vocals of the song were more shouted than sung, though that fits in with the army nature of the tune. The female chorus were a little subdued for this number, but the male side really kicked up the delivery when teamed with Anna’s vocals.

It was then time to grab a drink during the interval and see if anybody was lucky enough to win something in the raffle. The highlight of this break for me was either winning a Body Shop gift pack or hearing the line to the winner of the mystery prize “come and see me after and I’ll give you the surprise” (ooh, err, missus), I’m not sure which.

It was back to ‘Guys and Dolls’ for the opening of the second act with famous hit ‘Luck Be A Lady’, with both sides of the chorus bouncing off each other well, creating a very good recreation of the hit, complimented by a bouncing piano tune.

Heading into the world of the internet next with Christine and Naomi Fowler singing ‘My Eyes (On The Rise)’ from act two of ‘Dr Horrible’s Sing-along Blog’, and they did a great performance, working well together, even if the actual song itself wasn’t the best choice from the amusing collection of songs from Joss Whedon.

Next up was ‘Song That Goes Like This’ from ‘Spamalot,’ a song I heard for the first time in a previous BUSOM production and loved, and enjoyed it just as much the second time around with lots of effort both vocally and in acting from James Wheeldon and Emily Grace Bennett, with a brilliant ending that segwayed into far and away the key moment of the show, ‘Two Ladies’ from ‘Cabaret’, performed by James, Emelie and Stuart, the latter camping it up in a blonde wig and high voice as the second of the two ladies. The number sounded great and was a fine performance, with the audience in stitches over Stuart’s performance, which he clearly had put lots of time into. James and Emelie equally had a ball and the three of them stole the show in my opinion.

Heading back into the territory of the women, Lyndsey Niven was at her best performing ‘I Hate Men’ from ‘Kiss Me Kate’, even jokingly referencing her own husband in her characteristic portrayal, generating some laughs with her tongue-in-cheek acting. Never has the word ‘men’ ever said with so much venom, like an angry female Basil Fawlty.

‘Avenue Q’ ditty ‘The More You Ruv Someone’ followed and Emelie’s performance was very strong with support from Lyndsey and Emily, and she stayed on to duet with Bill Harding for ‘I’ll Never Tell’ from the musical episode of ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ which was a great performance with smatterings of Bill’s creepy-smiley alter-ego and a well-timed cameo from Stuart Sellens as a blonde-Buffy complete with crucifix.

Penultimate number ‘It’s A Scandal! It’s An Outrage!’ from ‘Oklahoma’ was a song that was slow to get going but the chorus worked well aside Nick Smith on lead vocals, who performed with gusto, and Stuart in his wig alongside Christine and Anna, brought the song to an end with much laughter.

The spirit of Barry Manilow was channelled for the final number with the uptempo, singable ‘Copacabana’ creating a cracking ending to the ‘Boys vs Girls’- themed evening.

The 2012 Summer Concert was another top show from BUSOM with some hilarious stand out moments plus, of course, some excellent performances. Stuart, who was both entertaining to watch with or without his blonde wig, was as great to hear and see as ever, alongside strong performances by all of the cast especially Dave, Carl, Helen, Lyndsey, Poppy and Emelie. The song choices were a fun selection from across the spectrum and there was very little not to enjoy about any of the performances. Another fun production from BUSOM.

7.5/10 See photos at http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.532035592084.19502.283300391&.

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Ten Days With My HTC One S

[You can read part one of my article at http://it-is-phil-time.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/one-day-with-htc-one-s.html]

So it has been ten days now with my new HTC One S phone and it’s been, in the most a fun experience. I’m getting my head around my apps and, though I’ve not bought any paid-for apps yet I’ve enjoyed grabbing the Amazon app for quick shopping, including a snazzy bar code reader, a QR-code reader, the great Daft Punk app where you can play along to ‘Harder Better Faster Stronger’ and ‘Technologic’ (though with a little delay before pressing the button) and the IMDB app. I’ve also been looking around for useful recording apps such as RecForge Lite which is a powerful but simple to use .wav recording tool, and even the Comrex Arc app, though it only worked one way when trying it with my local radio station, against the fully working iPhone version.

I’ve also got an app to control the sub.tv system at work and the iPlayer app which works really well but only on wi-fi.

It’s not been all smooth sailing app-wise though. The Virgin Media app, which allows you to set programmes on your player when away from home, only works with their new Tivo box not mine which is a disappointment. Happily I can download the Sky+ one and now cause chaos by setting programmes to record on my parents Sky box, which is funny but not particularly useful. There is even a mock TV remote for my television... well, the model up from mine. It’s often quite frustrating with these compatibility things.

But it’s been fun playing ‘Draw Something’ and ‘Words With Friends’ and though I can’t complain about the choice and ease of use of the Android app store, there are certain things that bug me. I recently purchased a triple play of ‘Johnny English Reborn’ that comes with a digital download element “for your PC or mobile device”. The mobile device element should read “for Apple mobile devices” as the .wmv file doesn’t work on Android phones. Pathetic.

Otherwise I’m really enjoying the phone. I’ve just about got used to the keyboard and the 8mb outer camera takes some really good shots and the ability to upload to Facebook or Twitter is very straight forward.

The one thing I am noticing, though, is the quality of signal. Though I’m on the same network – T-Mobile – as my last phone, I am finding the signal to be less strong in areas than on my previous phone and sometimes connecting to a caller takes five or so seconds, but it’s not been too major a problem at the moment.

The major event I’ve had in the past week is having my Hotmail account hacked into and having to reset it (that’s a different story, but perhaps related to the bug that’s going round) and I’m not sure if it’s coincidence that it happened a few days after I set up push e-mails...

But, overall, a good mobile experience and we’ll see what the next week of smartphone use brings!

[On a side note my mum has now upgraded to a contract and got the Nokia Lumia 710 and though it has a lot of the same abilities as mine its Windows Phone app store is not comparable and the GUI not as fun, but it’s simple to use and powerful, but I think in paying the extra £150 to get a HTC rather than that I made the right decision.]

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American Reunion [Review]

I have fond memories of the original American Pie film as a thirteen year old boy, wondering if that was really what college life was going to be like (it wasn’t, it was more evening working, lunchtimes in the Tesco canteen and coursework) and enjoying the moment when, at the end of the school year, our RE teacher asked us to bring videos in to watch and someone brought this in, before it was hastily turned off and we went to do rounders instead. So, when it was announced that the whole cast was reuniting for a third sequel after the various straight-to-DVD releases I knew it was something I’d have to see.

Sadly, like several films recently, lots of the best moments were spoilt by the trailer; when will film makers stop doing this? However, there are still lots of great moments and, aside from a few cringey shoe-horned references to the first film that seem to have only been put in for nostalgia purposes but seem awkward, it’s back to the, erm, quality of the original films. The story revolves around the original gang – Jim, Oz, Kevin and Finch – meeting up a few days ahead of a thirteenth (read it’s too late for a tenth) reunion of the class of ’99. Jim is now a father with Michelle and struggling with balancing the relationship between being a father and a husband (the opening scene hinted in the trailer is a funny opening); Oz a television celebrity with all the trappings that has come with; Kevin a stay-at-home househusband; and Finch a globe-trotting adventurer, or so he says.

But, their meeting is crashed by Steve “Stifmeister” Stifler, still living in the area having never really grown up and thus chaos ensues as the group get themselves into a string of random, awkward and disgusting scenarios, against a backdrop of how their lives have changed from the sexless marriage of Jim and Michelle, to the awkward minor-celebrity lifestyle of Oz, to the realisation of Steve Stifler that he is no longer in high school and should behave accordingly, though this maturing does not last long.

As always with the films it’s the excellent Seann William Scott who steals the film, getting the best lines and set-pieces. Though he appears to have turned into an impression of a young Jim Carrey, it’s Scott that keeps the film together and is the highlight of the piece. Credit should also go to the ever reliable Eugene Levy as Jim’s dad who, though not getting the laughs of previous films, still has his moments and is as awkward as ever, and as the two-hour film nears its conclusion he gets his own key moments and a cracking credits scene.

American Reunion is a worthy addition, and supposed conclusion, to the franchise and, though it fails to have that one key scene that defines the film like, for instance, the superglue and porn tape sequence of American Pie 2, it has its great moments alongside, unusually, its moments of real character building, though they are often overshadowed by naked and sex jokes. Key moments include Steve’s revenge on some contemporary high school kids and an awkward moment between Jim and MILF Guy with a girl passed out in his lap and the ensuing farce that follows.

Mentions should also go to the soundtrack, which includes a great mix of songs from the period and beyond, and to the actors who, though this franchise is mostly what they’re only known for, are willing to give it their all.

American Reunion was never going to be a high-brow comedy or indeed laugh-out loud funny but it is well worth a watch with some great comedic scenes, some great cameos from characters from the first films (and Neil Patrick “I’ll cameo in any film” Harris) and at times some genuine, touching observations on how their lives have changed, and not always for the better. It also has its fair share of fart, nob and sex jokes so you won’t be disappointed in that area, either. Ooh err.

(7/10)

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The Avengers Assemble [Review]

Joss Whedon’s super movie finally hit cinema screens this month. Receiving overall positive praise across reviews I was looking forward to see the film that sees Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, the Black Widow and Hawkeye teaming up under the stewardship of SHIELD’s Nick Fury to do battle with evil God Loki and his army of alien invaders – a sort of cross between the Terminator and Ivan Ooze from Power Rangers – whilst also overcoming their own interpersonal issues.

Having only seen the Hulk and Iron Man films that led into this ensemble piece I was worried that I wouldn’t follow the characters and although the opening is a scattergun of introduction scenes and plot set-up I don’t feel that I missed much in not seeing Captain America and Thor, though there is plenty of hokum, gobbledy-gook and jargon in the first fifteen minutes that could leave you scratching your head. I think I would understand more of the opening with these films under my belt but if you haven’t seen them it’s not a deal breaker.

The premise of the Avengers Assemble (Assemble added so we don’t confuse superheroes in spandex with agents in bowler hats led by Joanna Lumley) is an ambitious one and does require a bit of suspension of belief to get all the characters together. The star of the show is without doubt Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark / Iron Man who gets lots of the quality one liners and the best of the script, and is to all intents and purposes the main character of this piece. This is really what the lacklustre Iron Man 2 should have been like. Credit also to Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / The Hulk whose acting style is perhaps not as incredible as everyone seems to be saying (he sounds rather bored in the first half), with him being neither better or worse than the recent two portrayals of the character, but the Hulk makes a big impact, pardon the pun, and comes runner up as the character with the best lines and scenes.

The rest of the cast is rounded up with a mish-mash of superheroes from Marvel’s back catalogue but most are pretty redundant in the scheme of things compared to the might of Iron Man and the Hulk and it feels at times that they’re shoe-horned into the plot to make use of their limited powers. Out of them only Thor really seems useful with the others basically fodder for killing off the minions whilst the others battle the big boys.

The first hour of the Avengers Assemble is very hard work and drags as it flips between storylines and set-pieces. The opening with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury is a kick-starting opening but it’s Scarlet Johansson as the Black Widow who gets the best opening. Captain America’s de-frosting and the origins of the power source that is central to the plot gets a bit of a muddy explanation and, at least in the screening I went to, the muddiness and blurriness of the darker action scenes was disappointing.

However, from the half-way point as the characters work out their personal issues in a superhero-style soap, the film improves and though the big ending battle is a, admittedly excellent, CGI-fest there is still time for some well-scripted moments and key battle scenes.

I really wanted to enjoy the Avengers. There are lots of good lines in it, especially from Tony Stark, and some very good performances from all the actors including Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and the CGI was, in the most very good, aside from some obvious green-screen scenes near the end. Sadly, though, the film is just missing something that I’ve enjoyed in previous superhero pieces. The mix of superheroes, myth and magic and reality doesn’t quite piece together properly and the film tries to do too much during its running time, though granted this was always going to be a challenge. None of the set pieces are particularly thrilling and it’s mostly just fight scenes with little tension, and a lot of the films big pieces like the battle on the flying craft look like someone carrying the script for Transformers collided with someone reading that of Battleship and ending up mixing up the paperwork in the ensuing flurry of paper. Thank God from Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson who brought some life into the film alongside Downey Jr.

I enjoyed The Avengers Assemble as a popcorn film and its witty lines but the opening hour was too lacklustre for my liking and the end battle not exciting enough to redeem the film. If you want a fun popcorn superhero flick then you’ll enjoy it but it’s certainly no Spider-man 2 or The Dark Knight. There’s only so many times I can see Thor bashing someone with a magical hammer, Hawkeye firing an arrow at someone or Captain America, er, protecting himself with a multi-coloured shield in one film before I get bored.

6/10

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