Review: Cirque

Originally published on 5D Blog:

Cirque: The Greatest Show at His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen on Friday 29th March 2024

This show is obviously geared towards fans of the very successful Greatest Showman movie which a lot of us know and love.  Some of us have watched it repeatedly and been to the outstanding live show with Hugh Jackman.  It was interesting to think how a circus would transform onto a theatre stage and I must say I was impressed with the answer.

The Teenager and I outside HMT before the show

When we went into the theatre the stage backdrop looked like a monochrome room, with a small physical set at the front, of that room.  Complete with a chair and a TV, it turns out that this is the home of a Mime, Christian Lee.  When the show starts he comes in and turns on his black and white TV.  There is a competition advertised on it to win a technicolor TV set.  He enters the competition on his massive mobile phone and in come some people with a new TV.  As he switches it on his little room set moves to the back of the stage as the technicolour wonders from the TV screen transfer onto the main stage in front of him.  

It is a clever way of bringing the TV to life for the stage show.  We then watch the brightly coloured performances with him, and set changes are covered by his room moving back to the front of the stage with him entertaining us whilst they set up the equipment behind him.  This gives a story running through the show as well as not leaving any boring gaps for the audience.

The circus performers were amazing – we had juggling, trapeze artists, contortionist.  Billy George on the Cyr wheel and LED wands had me transfixed whenever he was on the stage.  Adam Boom twirled fire around effortlessly.  Three ladies wowed the crowds with their aerialist work: Dione Hassell, Jennifer Van Gool and Sheonagh Leatherbarrow.  Duo Eclipse spun round in breathtaking fashion on their roller skates.  There were also fantastic dancers in amazing outfits.

All the songs were sung live, including songs from The Greatest Showman and other popular songs like Rocket Man from Elton John.  I felt the singing was not as strong as the performers and costumes and sets but obviously it is nice to have live performers rather than just a recording.

Overall it was a most enjoyable experience and proved that you can have a circus show in a theatre setting!

Stage at the end of the show

Further information.

Review and interview: 218 by The Sun Day

Originally published on 5D Blog:

Following on from our recent piece on local band Hitlist we now are chatting to The Sun Day about their new song.  I was lucky enough to see both bands support Skylights recently in the Beach Ballroom, so its great to get this opportunity to get to know them.  They will both grace the stage at OGV Podium on the 8th December along with Audiokicks and Stonechild.

The Sun Day at Beach Ballroom

Comprised of frontman Connor Ritchie on vocals and rhythm guitar, Luke Doyle on lead guitar, Aidan Forret on bass and Craig Spink on drums, this young band from Aberdeenshire see themselves as a “glowing collective pioneering new things in indie-rock”.

Their new song 218, for which I love the bus graphic, is well worth a listen.  Their explanation of 218: “I think it’s equally about contempt and dependence on someone or something. It’s quite erratic like that, and I think you hear it in the riff as well. That back and forth of wanting to explode but at the same time, being terrified and wanting to shrink back into yourself and not face whatever it is you need to. I suppose I wrote it trying to capture two feelings at once.”

Q1.  What’s the reason behind your band name, The Sun Day?
A1. If we’re being honest there isn’t really a reason behind the name!  We kinda just picked it out of a batch of bad names as it was the best one.  We kinda like to think that we’re called The Sun Day because our music could maybe shine a bit of light into someone’s life. 

Q2.  How did you guys meet?  Who are the band’s main influences, what’s on your playlists?A2. So me (Ritchie), our guitarist, Luke, and our bassist, Aidan, all went to academy together in Alford and have been good friends since.  Me and Luke were the first two to start jamming together and writing songs.  Back then we had a different bassist and drummer in the early days, who both went on to do their own respective things.  Once we left school and went to college we met Craig and things sorta just clicked with him and around the same time Aidan joined the band too.
As for influences it’s quite hard to pin down the main ones, as we all listen to such a wide array of music.  I know in the early days me and Luke were both heavily influenced by Oasis, but nowadays not so much.  We also quite like to keep our influences on the down low as we want people to hear us for us and not try to compare us to anything that’s come before. 

Q3.  You recently played supported Skylights at the Ballroom, which was an ace night.  You’ve got the OGV gig coming up, so what will be next on the band bucket list? 
A3. Beach Ballroom was a massive milestone for us as it was like the biggest crowd we’ve ever played too which was so sick.  As for other things on the bucket list, we’d love to play some of the historic venues in Glasgow like King Tuts and Barrowlands.  We’d love to support some of the bigger bands that are doing amazing right now in the Scottish scene like Gallus and Deadpony. 

Q4.  Both line ups include Hitlist, is it just a local young band thang or is there something more to the relationship?
A4. We’ve got much love for the hitlist boys their doing well for themselves at the moment, as for relationship wise we’re not sure –  they haven’t taken us to dinner yet but we’ll see!  But no, honestly we’re just trying to band together all the Aberdeen bands in the scene to try and work together.  I think the music in the city at the moment is fantastic and if we all work together we could create something larger than life. 

Q5.  I wondered if any of the band are reading anything good at the moment? (I am a Librarian by day, I can’t resist asking!)
A5. That’s a good question.  At the moment I’m (Ritchie) trying to slowly make my way through The Shining whenever I find the time as I’m trying to get into reading a bit more.  Luke is reading Paul McCartney’s A-Z lyrics book at the moment and he’s also making his way through Jimmy Hendrix’s biography.  As for Craig he’s most likely reading a comic and for Aidan.. we’re not quite sure!  He’s more likely to be shredding on his board 6. 

Q6.  Why should we buy tickets for the OGV gig on 8th December, give me your sales pitch?!
A6.  You definitely wanna get yourself there because who knows you could be witnessing history!

Further information.

Review and interview: Dancing in the Rain by Hitlist

Originally published on 5D Blog with band photos by Dod Morrison Photography.

Aberdeen band Hitlist are releasing their latest song “Dancing in the Rain” on the 24th November.  They have dedicated it to “our closest friends & Family who have been there from the start.”  I was thrilled to get the chance to interview them and have a listen to the song.

Q1. What’s the reason behind your band name, Hitlist? 

A1.  As a joke we created a ‘Hitlist’ of all the bands we were going to “takeover” and we just decided to name the band after it.

Q2. So you recently played King Tuts which I believe was on your band bucket list, what’s the next target? 

A2.  Yeah it was one of our goals as a band to play at Tuts.  Unreal to have been able to do that. Our next goal is to play some of the bigger venues in Glasgow like St Lukes, Oran Mor and The Garage.

Q3. I’ve now seen you on the same line up as Skylights twice, is it just a mutual love of Aberdeen FC or is there something more to the relationship? 

A3.  Myself (Callum Jones) and Skylights guitarist Turnbull get on really well and speak very often. They have taken us under their wing and are always giving us advice and tips.

Q4. What format do you prefer to listen to music on? 

A4.  I personally prefer Apple Music as does our drummer Ollie, but I know Calum our lead guitarist and Scott our bassist use Spotify.

Q5. I wondered if any of the band are reading anything good at the moment? (I am a Librarian by day, I can’t resist asking!) 

A5. Calum and Ollie are always nose deep in uni books!

Q6. Why should we buy tickets for the OGV gig on 8th December, give me your sales pitch?! 

A6.  One big massive end of year cerry oan!! A LOT of new music which we haven’t played live before and we have 3 of the best bands in the city on support.

So that gives us some insight into the band behind their new song Dancing In the Rain.  It is an upbeat tune with some amazing vocals, there’s one word that Callum absolutely belts out and holds the note for a remarkable length of time, and it just makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.  Well worth a listen to on whatever streaming format you prefer!

Further information.

Review: Empty Orchestra

Originally published on 5D Blog:

Empty Orchestra at Lemon Tree, Aberdeen on Thursday 16th November 2023

Empty Orchestra

Described as a contemporary dance show about song, based mostly around karaoke, this sounded like a fun and interesting evening.  Perfectly Serviceable dance company, run by Lewys Holt, is currently touring the country performing it.  There are still two dates left, in Wolverhampton and Derby.

Walking into the dance studio there was a simple set with a silver shimmery curtain behind a microphone and laptop, and a couple of guitars in the back corner.  3 dancers and a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter took to the stage and we were off on a magical experience.  The dancers took it in turns to sing at the microphone, in front of the spotlight with the shimmery curtain behind them, whilst the other 2 would dance around.  There was a vague story running through of the awkwardness and self-consciousness of singing karaoke.  Sometimes the words come out wrong, or in the wrong tune, or not at all.  The dancers had a tag system that they would take over from each other, at varying speeds throughout different songs. 
 
Some of the time the dancing seemed very impromptu and seemingly improvised, whereas other pieces were very carefully choreographed, with the dancers co-ordinating between each other.  At one point one of them was walking very slowly and went straight past the microphone and members of the audience ended up blowing him back towards the microphone.  There were many funny moments, although you were not sure if you should laugh at professional dancers, but the BSL interpreter was laughing with us so we relaxed into it.  There were a few moments of extreme discomfort – one song seemed to go on forever, with the dancers frozen and we wondered if we were supposed to just leave and it was over, but no it moved on, eventually!

It included well known songs such as Fleetwood Mac’s Everywhere and Simon and Garfunkel’s Sound of Silence.  At one point a screen was brought out and the lyrics were projected onto the screen, the dancers sat in the audience, and we got to join in with the singing.  This was far enough through the evening that the studio had become a safe place where we felt comfortable to get involved, after all, we had literally blown a man back onto the dance space by then!

Quite co-incidently I had chosen a friend with partial hearing to go with me.  In the car on the way there she was telling me she  has been taking lessons in BSL and had noticed the show included it, so she was intrigued to see how much she understood.  The interpreter was very much part of the show and I found myself watching her as well, and understanding some of the signs, like the “car” that Tracy Chapman, and the dancers, sang about.  It really was an integral and beautiful part of the show – although I think we were all glad she only had one brief turn at the microphone!  My friend really appreciated it being a valued part of the performance. 
 
A very enjoyable evening, with a rollercoaster of emotions included along the way.  I totally forgot the outside world transfixed by the dancing, the lyrics, the coloured lights reflecting on the shimmery curtain, and the general feeling of an intimate shared experience between the dancers and audience.

Further information.

Review: Hampden tour

Hampden Stadium entrance

This summer holiday we asked the teenager what he’d like to do as we couldn’t afford to go on a holiday. We decided to do some day trips and the only thing he asked for was to go to football stadiums. Not all stadiums in Scotland do tours so I had a look around and Hampden seemed an obvious place to start considering we’ve already been to our local Aberdeen football stadium.

It was cheaper to book for a family ticket than it was for two adults and a child which is unusual, quite often only having one child we miss out on the family discount so I booked a family ticket and we set off to Glasgow on the allotted day.

The stadium is impressive to look at, we went in, were greeted at reception and given directions on how to get to the café downstairs where the tour would start from. We were there a little bit early so we had grabbed a couple of coffee and took a seat. Unfortunately then the fire alarm went off and we all had to evacuate the building, this was carried out very professionally and calmly and we all stood outside. It was actually quite interesting to see the number of people that came out at the stadium that normally you wouldn’t get to see. Soon enough we were led back into the building.

A very friendly gentleman came through and said that we would get started in a couple of minutes just to give a chance to anybody that got caught in traffic or had any other issues. A few minutes later he came back to collect us and gave us an introduction.

Our tour guide was called Tom and he was a veritable font of knowledge of all things football.  He asked each member of the tour group where they were from and which team they supported and was able to give us amazing facts and figures from every team. Even the young lad who looked embarrassed to say he supported Nottingham, obviously not a Scottish team, but still Tom could mention some of their players who had been to Hampden and give the boy enough details that he looked quite in awe.

Tour guide Tom

We got shown around all the different areas of the stadium, the changing rooms, the arrival tunnel where the teams are dropped off, and of course the pitch itself.

Pitch side

I try out the showers

Coming out the tunnel

Possibly the best bit was the players’ warm up room, where the boys took a chance to score a goal at Hampden. I loved it as there were some amazing pictures on the walls that gave some great photo opportunities!

Warm up room decor

Owen takes a shot

I join the Women’s team

Tom continued to share his amazing footie knowledge with us in every area, ensuring he spoke to everyone on the tour at some point as well. He was also good at pointing out good photo opportunities and offering to take photos of our whole family, or anyone who was alone so you could get a decent picture instead of just a selfie.

Once the stadium tour was over we were invited to go the Scottish Football Museum, which the whole group did. It was another fascinating experience with so much memorabilia to examine, lots of brilliant displays. There were the original turnstiles set out so you could go through them, there were videos playing of great goals, there was a foosball table and some Playstations set up with FIFA on them. Truly something for everyone!

Posing with a trophy

Using the turnstile

Foosball

During the tour Tom had mentioned that the original Hampden was just a short walk away so whilst the boys were playing FIFA (Aberdeen v Scotland of course!) I went and asked him for directions. It was called Cathkin Park and it still has the bars that you would lean on to watch the matches. We took a walk after we’d finished and all agreed it was well worth it as it was amazing to see.

Cathkin stands

Cathkin pitch

Cathkin park

Even though it was very much a day out for my boys I really enjoyed this visit to the home of our national football team. I have been there previously for Take That and Bon Jovi concerts but it was good to see its proper use! Although I did suggest to Tom that maybe some music memorabilia in the museum would help keep us wives happy! A great day out and well worth the journey.

Further information.

Review: Circus Vegas

Originally published on 5D Blog with photos by Dod Morrison Photography.

Circus Vegas, Aberdeen Queen’s Links, Thursday 13th July 2023

The Circus currently in Aberdeen bills itself as “Vegas on wheels” and claims to merge “Las Vegas traditions and contemporary styles with extreme stunts and classic clown escapades”.  There were a few times I squealed in fear, much to the amusement of my teenage company.  I also ended up with popcorn in my hair, thanks to the cheeky clown, although he did end up leaving the box with the family to my right and the young lad who was given it was delighted.  At the end I heard him telling his Mum the clown was his favourite, and indeed I think my teenager enjoyed his skit putting together a band from audience members the most.

Tightrope ballerina

My favourite was probably the beautiful ballerina – hardly an extreme stunt I hear you say…well she was On Pointe on a tightrope!  Now that was breath taking!  Although I also loved the finale, which involved motorbikes, but that’s the closest to a spoiler I will give!

I really am not convinced I should go to the circus, I suffer vertigo so watching all the high up stuff churns my stomach.  I am in awe of their daring feats though, spinning high, with fire or by their hair, or riding a bike on a tightrope.  All crazy and enthralling.  I must admit one performer did slip in this performance and there was a huge gasp throughout the big top, but they did not fall too far and they carried on regardless.  I’ve always wondered how none of them ever put a foot wrong and wondered if there was some kind of magical background workings tricking us all, but somehow seeing the realness of it made everything else seem more spectacular and amazing.

As would be expected in a circus there was juggling and balancing and dancing.  There were diabolos, hula hoops, bicycles, roller skates, balls and skipping ropes.  All things that kids used to play with before we all became addicted to screens.  Hopefully inspired a few to go see what they can do with theirs.  There were bright lights, sparkly outfits and loud music.  The ushers who saw you to your seat and sold popcorn, candy floss and flashy toys were also the performers in the show.  There was plenty to look at and barely a moment to let your mind wander.

Circus dancers

A truly captivating performance for the whole family.

Further information.

Review: Tomatin Distillery Legacy Tour

Tomatin Distillery

Our tour guide was called Colin, he collected us from the shop area where we’d been told to wait and gave us a quick health and safety briefing.  This was our son’s first distillery tour and we had to choose carefully to find one that would allowed under 18s to join in with a tour. He’s interested in whisky as we quite often have some in the house, and he is interested in science, so we decided it was a good thing to do together as a family in the summer holidays.

Inside the wash back

We got shown all the main parts of the distillery and everything was described in detail how it all works and how the three ingredients become whisky during the process and over time, it does take three years. We were then shown the barrels and told how different barrels can affect the whisky and change the flavour. We were encouraged to take photos wherever we wanted which is not always allowed in distilleries, as well as getting inside the machinery itself (see above!). 

Colin explains distillation

Collin was really good and knowledgeable, he answered any questions, and included a few for us to make sure that people were still listening and taking in what he was saying! It did get a little too complicated for our son but he was still interested and enjoyed the experience. He did get bored when we got to the tasting room and he got given a glass of water while we sat with three drams to try! I was driving and so was given little glass bottles to decant my samples into, once I’d sniffed and swirled my way through the selection. This was really appreciated as I hate missing out on the good stuff but someone does have to drive home every time.

Samples and driver’s sample bottles

Owen finds a cask from his year of birth

Further information.

Review: Gary Meikle 2.5

Originally published on 5D Blog: 

Gary Meikle 2.5 at Music Hall, Aberdeen on Friday 26 May 2023

This was my third time seeing Gary Meikle, and my second that he was supported by Weegie Hink Ae That.  The support guys are three Glaswegians with a guitar.  They sing songs and do little funny skits wearing shell suits and goofy smiles.  This time they had the addition of a song about the size of seagulls in Aberdeen which is hilarious to anyone who has met the massive birds around here.  My companion struggled with the accents, not being Scottish herself, but said she understood 75% of it and was laughing merrily anyway.

Gary has called his tour 2.5 and the blurb for the show says this is because it’s almost his third tour, but actually he told us during the show that it’s in tribute to, or sticking his fingers up to, a reviewer who only gave him a rating of 2.5 sometime ago. Now he’s found out that the reviewer was a failed comedian whilst Gary is touring the world making people laugh as far away as Australia and Thailand.  I don’t give ratings but I definitely think he deserves more than 2.5 it must be said!  He is not everyone’s cup of tea, a lot of his jokes are very crude, his language is… shall we say very Glaswegian: he loves the f-word.  I discovered him from his ranting videos on Facebook and then he came to local comedy venue Breakneck Comedy.  One of the earlier videos that I saw was about dick pics, and how ridiculous they are, it had me absolutely creased up laughing.  I totally agreed with everything he said about them.

A lot of Gary’s comedy is based around his life, he’s a single grandfather, and his daughter Ainsley is now in a lesbian relationship.  He tells various stories about his Mum, or his gorgeous little granddaughter Gracie who sometimes appears in his videos.  Ainsley is his manager now and books his tours, including all the dates in America when he went over recently.  It’s safe to say that his girls are his life, they are also very good fodder for jokes it would seem, especially Gracie and her massive poos but that’s all I’ll say about that subject!

Space spunk was another topic covered in this show and impregnating female astronauts.  This one has totally stuck in my head and I am tempted to check the internet to validate what he told us.  There were several things he told us to Google over the evening – and some that he assured us we should trust his “research” and not search for ourselves!  He is absolutely hilarious, the story about being in an airplane toilet with Gracie was almost as funny as wanking in space.  Gary is definitely not politically correct or for the easily offended.

For this tour he is doing meet and greet before the show, and in the interval.  You can pay a pound to get a selfie with him which goes to local food banks and all the money raised he is matching out of his own pocket.  This is a great initiative and just another indication of what a genuine caring guy he is.  Gary always watches out for the underdog having grown up in a care home himself.  It’s great to see the progress of someone who started by doing some funny videos on the internet and is now grown his comedic career to the extent that he has won awards and toured abroad.  He does not use agents or PR people, he’s a “self-made man” as the phrase goes – all power to him for that!

Just wish I could have been a “fly on the wall” in the car back to Glasgow as they all travelled together.  Dazza, another internet sensation with his Does It Fry videos, was there filming the show, so it would have been quite a car load with the five of them!

Ready for the show!

Review: Simon and Garfunkel Story

Originally published on 5D Blog: 

The Simon and Garfunkel Story at the Music Hall, Aberdeen on Tuesday 9th May 2023

Simon and Garfunkel Story in Music Hall

My cousin and I went to see Art Garfunkel (2006, playing Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow I think) many moons ago so it was lovely to get the chance to go together to see this performance of two chaps telling the story of Paul and Art’s musical career together, and occasionally apart.  The show includes various news type photos and video clips from through the years and from when they started in the 1950s through to the current day almost.  Anyone wanting clips of the actual harmonising duo we’ve all grown up with would be disappointed as they were only represented by William Sharp and Oliver Cave, but this was a good move production wise and added to the overall effect.

To start with the band come on the stage, with 60s photos on the big screen above them.  The music’s playing and there, silhouetted at the front of the stage, are two figures.  One taller, one shorter – just like the original singers.  Suddenly the lights go up and we see them standing in there, our Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel for the evening.  They sing many of the hits and some of the lesser known songs as they tell the story of their musical careers.  We start at Hey Schoolgirl by their earlier duo Tom and Jerry, and move through Kathy’s Song about one of Paul’s girlfriends.  We travel with them from New York to England back to America and San Francisco.

The back drop is a big bridge which at different points in the story is lit up with bright lights, or sometimes just there ever present in the background.  There are costume changes, perhaps to show the changing decade as we move through the story.  The emphasis of the first half is the 60s and then we sprint through the the 80s.  The second half starts with quotes from the movie The Graduate, which of course had featured strongly in their musical career with the song Mrs Robinson.  This song is one close to my heart as my husband is a few years younger than me and I love that movie.

Occasionally we’re asked to clap along, occasionally we clap without being asked, very rarely we get up on our feet but the audience is mostly the older generations so we’re quite happy seated!  The duets and solos keep coming, mixed with many of the singers’ mannerisms.  “Garfunkel” standing with his hands in his pockets, bobbing his head, he seems true to life.  A couple of times he seems slightly pitchy, but again you wonder if this is a mannerism done on purpose rather than anything else or it could be the acoustic’s in the venue.

All in all it was a wonderful evening reviving some very happy memories, some super hit songs, and discovering TV footage some of which I don’t believe I’d seen before.  It was a real trip down memory lane and certainly took me back to my childhood, growing up listening to these songs.  I would highly recommend catching the tour at some point if you can, if only to hear Bridge Over Troubled Water live, truly breath taking.

Further information and future tour dates: https://www.thesimonandgarfunkelstory.com/welcome/

Review: Broken Creels

Originally published on 5D Blog:

Broken Creels at HMV, Aberdeen on Saturday 8th April 2023

HMV in Aberdeen has this wonderful thing where they do live gigs on a Saturday afternoon at 3pm.  After I’d posted on Facebook about the latest one, a friend messaged me asking how I got into that HMV concert and I replied that I walked through the door!  It’s as simple as that, most Saturdays at 3pm all you have to do is walk into the shop.

Broken Creels in HMV

For the latest offering, on Saturday, we were treated to a quite decent length of set from local band Broken Creels.  This four-piece band recently formed and are making wonderful music.  The band includes: Daz Alexander (The Dawntreaders) on drums; Colin Clyne (award-winning singer songwriter) on vocals, guitar and harmonica; Lee Heinemann (Eskimo Blonde) on bass and Tom Ward (Parker, The Carrons) on guitar and keyboard.  They play together very well (video to prove it!) and have some really great songs with thought provoking lyrics. 

This performance was to celebrate the launch of their new single Friend or Foe, which has already reached number one in the UK iTunes Rock Chart.  Energetic, melodic and anthemic; “Friend or Foe” takes its inspiration from the 1990’s indie rock scene, but its contemporary production by Aberdeenshire’s Floortom Productions keeps it current.  The song’s lyrics are about the times of turbulence, fear, and misinformation we live in; and how, when surrounded by such division, the lines blur seamlessly between friend and foe. 

The set included songs: Another Crisis, Old Habits Die So Young and Under the Granite Sky.  As Colin himself said in between songs, HMV is for strange venue in that there’s no bar!  About two minutes later two ladies came in, watched for a minute and turned to each other and made drinking pints hand signals, so he definitely had a point!  The lovely HMV staff member who was doing the Instagram Live video did however go round giving a little squishy teddy to any children that were attending the concert.  So often in gig venues there is an age limit that stops youngsters, such as my son who plays guitar himself, attending live music events.  As well as the silver lining of being able to share the live music experience with the musicians of the future, it is a nice convenient location and obviously a very cheap way to hear some good new music!  HMV does stream the concerts on their Instagram account every week when they have a band so if you can’t make it into the centre of town you can still check out some new talent and see what’s going on.

As for the fabulous Broken Creels they will be playing at music festival “March Into Pitlochry” in May.  It’s worth following their online accounts to see what they get up to next!

Colin’s guitars

“Friend or Foe” is available for download on iTunes: https://music.apple.com/gb/album/friend-or-foe-single/1676962520

Broken Creels: www.facebook.com/thebrokencreels  www.instagram.com/thebrokencreels