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We Will Rock You: Live at The O2 Dublin – Review

We Will Rock You : Live at The O2 Dublin – Thursday April 4th 2013

We all know the extensive appeal of the music of Queen but delivered in a musical format could it still pack a punch? We Will Rock You came for a visit to Dublin’s O2 and despite a ten year West End run and 12 million people attending the show, I still had my reservations.

The show is based in the future where Earth is now called the iPlanet. Rock n roll is outlawed, there are no instruments and all that exists are boy and girl bands. Underground believers, called ‘Bohemians’ believe that in the past there was a time when people made their own music, this era was called ‘The Rhapsody’. Step forward one brave soul who calls himself ‘Galileo Figaro’ who fires lyrics to fifties rock n roll songs out out of him. He hooks up with a nice girl, who is called, wait for it, ‘Scaramouche’. They battle against the Killer Queen, have to get to the Seven Seas of Rhye.. OK, you get the idea, it’s cheesy as hell.

Ben Elton’s script is a little bit ‘colour by numbers’. Good guy/Bad Guy, will the guy get the girl? Of the main leads, ‘Scaramouche’ gets all the sarky oneliners while ‘Galileo’ comes across as a little bit moany. There are indicators throughout, which give the impression that the script has been updated as the years have past, character names, song titles not long left the Top 40. The revolving sets were clever and gave a Mad Max vibe to the stage.

Musically, the first half of the show’s highlight was Scaramouche’s version of ‘Somebody to Love’. It really did take until halfway through the second act to really grab the attention despite the best efforts from the cast with audience interaction. It didn’t help that the venue was half full, desperately pointing out the need for a proper mid sized venue with a huge stage in the capital. A line or two of a Queen song, just isn’t enough, I was wanting more. And so it seemed that’s what the audience around me wanted too, to ‘Rock’ as the title suggests.

The introduction of the live band and the explosiveness of the finale of ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, delivered what I had hoped from the entire show, but it was a little too late. I left a little disappointed, maybe what I wanted was a full live Queen set but then again, who really could even come close to filling Freddie’s shoes?

April 6, 2013
Guerilla Days in Ireland at The Olympia – Review

Guerilla Days in Ireland: The Olympia Theatre – April 2 2013

Adapted and directed by Neil Pearson, Guerilla Days in Ireland tells the story of Tom Barry, volunteer Commander of the 3rd West Cork Flying Column who became renowned for his military knowledge and guerilla warfare tactics.

The play takes is through a time in Irish history from 1926, when Barry was in the British Army as part of the Mesopotamia Expedition to coming home to Ireland in 1919, right up to the signing of the Treaty.

The story is cleverly told through the older Tom Barry (Brendan Conroy), reflecting on his life, while a younger Tom Barry (Brian Fenton) provides us with the flashback scenes, incorporated almost like a television show. Alongside Michael Grennell and Jack Walsh, who make up the entire cast, yes, just four people, clever onstage props and dips in lighting, change characters from soldiers, Black and Tans, a barman, Eamon De Valera and Michael Collins. Very cleverly done. The direction of how the characters move on stage must also be noted, the soldiers marching when suddenly they seem to move in slow motion, not one of them out of beat.

The set itself is made up of Barry’s desk in the foreground, where he is writing his story. In the background are crosses where clothing of dead compatriots are placed. The mid section of the stage, is taken up by what resembles two stone walls.

Through Barry writing his book, he looks back at the human decisions he’s made, regrets he’s had, not just military and how some of these decisions still niggle at him.

This play has obvious appeal for an Irish audience and diaspora around the world. If the history element isn’t your thing, there’s still so much to enjoy with the actors’ versatile performances and the direction of ‘Guerilla Days’. This is a definite must see.

Guerilla Days is on your around Ireland in April and May

Stage photo from guerilladays.com

April 4, 2013
Culture Cafe on RTE 2XM: Show 89 Apr 3 2013

This week’s show was focusing on music with chats with Brian Connolly about his and Patrick McGlynn’s show ‘Interfaces and Psychoacoustics’, Mal from The Riptide Movement chatting about their new single and recording their third album and Daragh from The Statics speaking about the release of their new EP.

Here’s what happened:
1. Dj Flip & Freezemaster Slick: Crossroads
2. Swords: All the boys
3. Chat with Brian Connolly about Interfaces and Psychoacoustics
4. Brain Connolly: ‘Pitched’ – non periodic sounds.
5. Without The Bird: San Jose
6. Chat with Daragh from The Statics
7. The Statics: As I see it
8. The Strypes: Blue Collar Jane
9. Chat with Mal from The Riptide Movement
10. The Riptide Movement: Hard to Explain
11. Treetop Flyers: Things will change.

Thanks for listening, don’t forget you can listen to the full show again on the RTE Player. The show is broadcast every Wednesday at 1400 GMT and is repeated every Sunday at 2100 GMT. You can also subscribe to the Culture Cafe podcast on iTunes.

April 3, 2013
Download: Travis – Another Guy

Those post Britpop purveyors of fine music, Travis, are back with their first new music since 2008’s ‘Ode to J. Smith’. ‘Another Guy’ is a more mature Travis but still with the tender vocals of Fran Healy. ‘Another Guy’, is taken from Travis’ seventh, as yet untitled album.

The video is retrotastic! Complete with well dodgy green screening, the whole thing was filmed on VHS.. yes, actual real video tape.

You can watch the video below and you can get ‘Another Guy’ is available for FREE download if you fill in the widget below or from the homepage of Travis’ website.

April 1, 2013