Review – Middle Age Fanclub

Theatre Review: ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Leeds Playhouse.

It’s bitterly cold and raining heavily on what it turns out is a chaotic night on the roads into Leeds City Centre. As a result, once we’re finally parked, it’s a mad dash across a couple of busy roads and through the theatre in order to just get sat down as the curtain goes up and the music begins to welcome us to the world of Dickens’ London.

On stage, there’s no rain but ‘snow’ is falling and while nothing is chaotic, there’s certainly an all action start to ‘A Christmas Carol’ with plenty going on in Scrooge’s factory. The song – and those that follow – is unexpected, but makes for not only a welcome surprise but an amazing start to the play.

Deborah MacAndrew’s adaptation of this festive favourite is excellent with the opening song and the neon ‘Scrooge and Marley’ sign the first hints that this will definitely be a move away from what we might call the traditional version of the tale. The show is absolutely joyful and a real feast for the senses that will leave you buzzing with festive cheer, not least because of the addition of some of the biggest, brightest and shall we say, interesting Christmas baubles that you’re ever likely to encounter!

As an English teacher, I know what I was expecting. There are only so many times you can read through the novella before you find that you can ‘hear’ the same voices and ‘see’ the same settings and having never seen ‘A Christmas Carol’ on the stage before I found this version more than a refreshing change. That said, when the Ghost of Christmas Carol didn’t sound like Brian Blessed my mind was temporarily blown! The ghosts though are all superb with Claudia Kariuki bringing a real sense of sparkle to the Ghost of Christmas present, while the presentation of the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come is quite stunning and might even feature in a few Christmas nightmares in the audience.

The play is set in Leeds and revolves around Scrooge and Marley’s factory in where the workforce toil in a permanent state of fear of their boss, Ebeneezer Scrooge. And then, when he’s visited by the ghost of his old business partner Jacob Marley, we’re taken on a familiar journey towards redemption as the three ghosts show Scrooge what he was, what he is and point him in the direction of what he perhaps should be.

The cast are superb throughout, making even scene changes and scenery shifting some kind of almost balletic event and there’s never a dull moment. Obioma Ugoala is a terrifying Jacob Marley – something else I wasn’t expecting – as well as an appropriately jolly and benevolent Fezziwig, throwing huge amounts of energy into both roles. Meanwhile Danny Colligan is perfect as Fred, the very antithesis of his uncle Ebeneezer. And a word too for Rosie Strobel who does an excellent job of scene stealing as a rather raucous Mrs. Dilber!

Reece Dinsdale is excellent as Scrooge, throwing around Bah Humbugs with an extra large helping of disdain. And then, when the ghosts start to exert their influence he’s appropriately vulnerable and shows signs of humanity that we don’t always associate with Scrooge before his redemption. A fitting performance for such a classic character.

Overall, ‘A Christmas Carol’ is nothing short of a triumph. A fast paced, festive production that will make you laugh, sing, clap along at times and maybe even shed a tear. Having not felt particularly festive going in, I came out pretty much full of Christmas cheer, which for me was about a fortnight early! A cracking Christmas production!

I give ‘A Christmas Carol’…

Middle Age Gigging: The Bluetones at Academy 2 in Manchester.

Saturday was a busy night for the Britpop revival in Manchester. Fresh from the success of recent Oasis support slots, Richard Ashcroft was crooning out his anthems at Co-Op Live. And meanwhile, far more refreshingly for us, The Bluetones were treating us to their indie pop joy at the Academy on the other side of town without a bucket hat in sight.

As ever the ‘Tones were on fine form and there was much to please a lively crowd.

First up though were The Supernaturals and a bit of a pleasant surprise for yours truly. I wasn’t a fan first time around and their hit ‘Smile’ left me doing anything but. Tonight though, I’m proved wrong – don’t worry, it’s a regular occurrence – as their set is excellent showing that the band have a depth that I’d never been aware of back in the day. The Manchester crowd are a little quiet to begin with, but it’s not long before we’re all enjoying ourselves. The set features stuff like the more upbeat ‘Smile’ and ‘The Day Before Yesterday’s Man’ but there’s also the more reflective ‘Don’t Let The Past Catch Up With You’. The highlight for me is the excellent ‘I Wasn’t Built To Get Up’ and all in all, The Supernaturals have definitely turned my head.

After a short break, our heroes The Bluetones emerge to a rapturous welcome. This tour comes on the back of some new releases, the most recent being the ‘London Weekend Television’ EP and there’s a healthy smattering of new stuff in amongst some well known classics, as well as one or two lesser known tracks. So, with a crowd made up of both Bluetones nerds like myself and my wife and folk out for a night of Bitpop nostalgia, frontman Mark makes a quick mock apology for the songs that some people won’t recognise.

But there’s nothing to apologise for as we kick off in well known territory with ‘Bluetonic’ and everybody’s singing along. It’s followed by the brilliant ‘New Athens’ and ‘Solomon Bites The Worm’ ensuring that it’s been a whirlwind start to proceedings. Last year’s single ‘Drive Thru’ – a bit of a personal favourite – follows before there’s a change of pace with ‘Keep The Home Fires Burning’. All killer so far, no matter what Mr. Morriss might be joking about!

In between songs, as ever, Mark is a master at working the crowd. Tonight, we’re jokingly told off for singing along with a stern ‘No!’, get the tale of how The Bluetones featured on both Bargain Hunt of all places and Sunday Brunch and hear of a time when Mark saw Duran Duran in America and their new songs turned what had been the best night of his life into the stuff of nightmares. There’s even an in gig band meeting when Mark tries to tell us about songs that are instantly known for their first chord strike while Adam insists on playing riffs. He was only talking about the first strike, mate!

Tonight, the new songs are well received and more than hold their own alongside the old hits that the ‘Tones are probably much more well known for among tonight’s crowd. Consequently, ‘The Aristocrats’, ‘Cheap Hotel’ and Madeline blend in seamlessly alongside ‘Cut Some Rug’ and ‘Slight Return’ because the truth is that these lads have never lost the knack of writing a cracking tune. In fact, for me ‘The Aristocrats’ is one of the stand out songs tonight.

The set closes with the brilliant ‘Never Going Nowhere’, which is followed by some good natured and Bluetones approved booing – props to Jimmy for the sign – because we’re all complicit in the lie here; of course they’re coming back for a couple more! I do have a tiny complaint to make here though and perhaps a reason for a small boo. There was no medley at the end of the song…no Eurythmics, no Van Halen and none of the other little surprises which have been blended into the set closer. I’ll let it go this once though…

And so, having also been booed back onstage, the boys are back to finish with the aforementioned ‘London Weekend Television’ an impromptu version of ‘My Way’ and then the sure-fire crowd pleaser that is ‘If…’. Once again, The Bluetones have been outstanding and given us yet another night to remember. Here’s to a new album soon and many many more nights like tonight. Cheers, lads!

Book Review: The Kingdom by Jo Nesbo.

If you’re into your crime thrillers then you’ll know that there are a number of reliable writers in what has fast become a bit of a saturated market. Jo Nesbo though, with his somewhat dark Scandinavian landscapes is undoubtedly one of the best and one of the world’s biggest selling crime writers.

The Kingdom is the tale of two brothers with a dark, mysterious past and more than a few secrets. Roy, the older brother still lives on the family smallholding in remote Norway while holding down a job in the village that they grew up in. Younger brother Carl has emigrated to Canada to make his fortune and perhaps to escape his past. However, when he returns in a blaze of glory, everything changes and a few skeletons begin to threaten to emerge from the cupboards.

The Kingdom is, as you’d expect from Nesbo, a well written thriller full of grisly death and with more than enough twists to keep the reader guessing as to what might happen next and what fate might hold for the two brothers. Dealing with issues like the intricacies of life in a small, insular town, brotherly love and even child abuse, this is much more than just your average crime thriller. Sure, the body count begins to rack up as the story unfolds. but there’s more than just gory mysterious death to this one.

Nesbo’s characters are, as usual, rather complex. In the case of older sibling Roy it felt like the surprises about his character just kept on coming and I never really felt that I’d got to grips with exactly who he was. Maybe this was to do with the conflict between his fierce loyalty to his younger brother and his growing attraction to his sister-in-law, Shannon. And Shannon herself is a pretty dark horse. But then there’s also the younger brother Carl and a whole host of either villagers or mysterious visitors to keep us on our toes.

Such is the sprawling timeline of the narrative that I never felt like I knew exactly what was coming next. And the unpredictability here acts as both a good thing and a bad thing. There was that delicious feeling that you get when the penny starts to drop about what’s going to happen or the time when something is revealed that you truly weren’t expecting, which can be fantastic, but also the distinct feeling that sometimes there might be one character or detail too many. So while I never really lost track, there were times when I hoped that things would move a little faster.

In the end Nesbo draws all of his strings together well, but the twists and turns just keep on coming, meaning that you’re never quite sure who’s going to survive. All this action, drama, blood and backstabbing in a sleepy mountain village. Who’d have thought?

The Kingdom is an epic tale and a hulking great book, but it’s well worth a chunk of your time. And while it can be a little slow at times, it remains an excellent page turner that’s chock full of surprises.

I give The Kingdom…

Theatre Review: ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ at the Leeds Playhouse.

Every once in a while you come across something that is so good you don’t really have the words to describe it. This however, is not a great deal of use when writing a review of said thing!

Afterwards, while walking across Leeds having watched ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, it struck me that I didn’t feel that I could accurately describe just what I’d seen and how much I’d enjoyed it. We exchanged superlatives – ‘fantastic’, ‘amazing’ – but the conversation didn’t exactly flow. It seemed we’d been stopped in our tracks. This would only get worse when we walked up the stairs to level 7 of the car park and the knees and thighs overtook the brain in terms of some kind of exhaustion. Still, there was a review to write!

‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ tells the tale of a rape trial in America’s deep south; a local black man is falsely accused of the crime and the story unfolds against the backdrop of horrific prejudice, the Great Depression and a distinct lack of hope or justice.

Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of this American classic, directed by Bartlett Sher, is particularly special. The story itself is, of course, incredibly well known and well loved but there’s something in the way that the tale is presented here that elevates things just that little bit more. While it’s impossible not to be moved by the events unfolding before you, Sorkin’s script allows for frequent lighter moments meaning that the audience is taken on a very emotive journey indeed across the course of the play.

The cast are superb. The narrative is driven mostly by the children – Scout, Jem and their friend Dill – and we’re taken back and forth between the fateful night when Mayella Ewell is attacked and the events before, during and after the trial. Anna Munden as Scout stands out here; a carefree child at times, yet vulnerable and shocked by what the world seems to be throwing her way in a heartbeat. The relationship between her and Jem (Gabriel Scott), juggling the onset of manhood during these troubled times with the fact that he’s just a boy trying to enjoy what feels like yet another endless summer, is a pleasure to watch. A word too for Dylan Malyn who is brilliantly cartoonish, displaying excellent comic timing as well as a genuine sadness and bewilderment, as Dill.

Aaron Shosanyo delivers an emotive shift as the accused Tom Robinson, displaying a calm frustration at his predicament, rather than the anger that would be so understandably justified.

Richard Coyle’s performance as town lawyer Atticus Finch allows no one to steal the show though. He is quite simply outstanding here. Coyle is superbly convincing, portraying Atticus’s struggle to remain calm, kind and understanding among the racial tension and tremendous injustices that have found their way to the quiet Alabama town of Maycomb. This really is a performance to shout from the rooftops about.

The set is used incredibly effectively too with different settings being rolled into place by the cast as we switch both times and places seamlessly. And while it’s quite sparse, there is no doubting the seriousness of the courtroom or the calm, homely feel of the Finch house’s porch.

Aaron Sorkin’s ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ is a must see. A simply outstanding piece of work that will take not only your breath away, but maybe even your ability to string sentences to together too. At least for a short while!

I give ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’…

Film Review: ‘Jules’

A bit of an understated gem this one. ‘Jules’ tells the tale of pensioner Milton Robinson (Ben Kingsley) whose life changes overnight when a UFO crashes in his back garden.

Milton is a widowed 79-year-old living rattling around alone in his great big home. His daughter, a local vet, is worried about his mental health, suspecting that her dad is showing signs of early onset dementia. Meanwhile, Milton busies himself by attending the same local council meeting week after week after week and having his requests for more pedestrian crossings turned down. Luckily for him, two other pensioners make the same weekly pilgrimage and both might just be fighting for his attention.

Only when the aforementioned space ship crash lands in his back garden do things start looking up for Milton. He finds the injured alien and after a day or two manages to get it strong enough to enter his house. From that point on the two busy themselves watching daytime TV while Milton tries to figure out what to do for the best. But he’s getting nowhere fast. The local police put him down as some sort of crackpot and his daughter takes his plea for help with the alien as a sign that her dementia diagnosis is correct. But at least he has a cure for his loneliness now.

Things begin to move at pace when his two female admirers get involved with one naming the alien ‘Jules’. But Jules’ fate is nowhere near safe.

While Jules clearly needs to return to his home planet, government forces are working tirelessly in the background to find the alien and his craft, which they know has crashed to earth somewhere in Pennsylvania. Together these pensioners and their adopted alien must find a way to keep Jules hidden while also outwitting the agents that are hunting him down.

‘Jules’ is a really heart warming tale. The bond between Milton and Jules is an unusual one to say the least, but it helps the film deal with issues like ageing, loneliness and mental health quite beautifully. There’s a really subtle undercurrent of dry humour too, which is brought out brilliantly by some excellent performances.

‘Jules’ features a quite wonderful cast. Kingsley is fantastic as the curmudgeonly Milton and is aided and abetted brilliantly by Harriet Sansom Harris as Sandy and Jane Curtin as the feisty Joyce. There’s plenty of life left in these three old timers, that’s for sure, especially when it comes to keeping a lost alien safe!

As with any alien film, you have to suspend your disbelief a bit here. I mean, the fact that no one notices the loud shuddering smash of an alien craft crash landing has to be ignored for starters. But that said, there’s never a great deal of point in picking holes in a plot, is there?

With crusading pensioners, bungling federal agents, a mute alien and a whole host of dead cats, ‘Jules’ is definitely one to watch and it might just turn out to be the favourite film you never knew you needed! A quirky, funny and warm film that is guaranteed to at the very least raise a smile!

I give ‘Jules’…

Book Review: Half a World Away by Mike Gayle

Imagine living with a past that you could never shake off, regardless of how content you might be with life. Imagine living with the kind of secret that you had no idea how to address.

Kerry Hales is a single mum who does everything she can to provide for her young son and make the most of life on a south London estate. Meanwhile, across London her brother Jason lives a successful life with a wife and daughter. Now a top barrister, he knows nothing of the sister that he was once so close to. He’s not Jason anymore either; now he’s Noah. But Kerry has never forgotten him, whatever his name might be these days.

Kerry and Jason were separated as children when their mother admitted defeat in her quest to bring them up and had them taken into care. Kerry was ten and Jason almost two and while Kerry would go on to live through the system with chidlren’s homes and foster care, Jason was quickly adopted by a well to do family who not only saved him from what could well have been a troubled childhood, but change his name to something that they thought more fitting.

‘Half A World Away’ is in part the happy tale of how sister and brother are finally reunited. Sadly though, nothing of this magnitude could ever be simple and so there’s sure to be trouble and sadness along the way. I mean, being contacted by anyone out of the blue after 32 years without a word would be at the very least a little strange. But a sibling that you never knew you had? As Noah himself says, ‘it’s impossible to describe the range of emotions I felt upon reading the letter’.

Despite the fact that at first Noah believes that Kerry’s letter might be a scam of some sort, the two are eventually reunited. But it was never going to be straightforward.

What we end up with though, is just a brilliant story. I’ve read a few Mike Gayle books before but oddly not picked one up for years without really ever knowing how or why that had happened. In fact, this one was found in a box of books that I’d mislaid in the loft. I’m so glad I found it though. Gayle is a brilliant writer when it comes to relatable characters and emotions. And although nothing like this has ever happened to me, I found that not only could I just not put the book down, but that I was quickly invested in the relationships and the characters, which of course is always a good sign.

Covering themes such as love, family, race and class, ‘Half A World Away’ is a real page turner. It’s beautifully written with characters that you’ll instantly care about and feel like you almost know. Equal parts funny and heart warming, this is a story that is also gut-wrenchingly sad, so you might need a pack of tissues. Ultimately though, ‘Half A World Away’ is just a fantastic story and I’d urge you to give it a go.

I give ‘Half A World Away’…

Review: ‘Through It All Together’ at the Leeds Playhouse.

You’d think a play that tackles the story of a couple dealing with dementia would represent a bit of a tough watch. And in one sense, it does. But Howard and Sue are so devoted to their football club, Leeds United, as well as each other that the story takes us on a rather different and quite joyous journey. You’ll laugh just as much as you might cry.

Starring Reece Dinsdale and Shobna Gulati, the play is equal parts hilarious, heart wrenching and inspiring. So on Saturday afternoon, while I laughed a lot, I found myself fighting back not only a few tears but also the urge to join in with the Leeds United songs. A tricky headspace for this Newcastle United supporter who simply gritted his teeth and hoped that no one would notice that he may well have been the only person in the theatre not singing the Leeds anthem, ‘Marching On Together’!

Written by Chris O’Connor, ‘Through It All Together’ follows Howard, Sue and daughter Hazel as they try to come to terms with Howard’s dementia diagnosis. Set to a backdrop of Marcelo Bielsa’s first two years as Leeds manager, it makes for a powerful, yet touching piece. As a football fan and Leeds resident for nearly thirty years, I understood the references having lived through the dramatic uplift in the whole city while Bielsa was at the helm. And the play captured that feeling brilliantly while also pulling at the heart strings as Howard and Sue struggle to come to terms with the realities of dementia.

There are subplots too. Obviously there’s the drama of Bielsa’s first couple of years but also some of the heartbreak and tension of Covid and lockdown as well as daughter Hazel’s sexuality. But it’s Howard and Sue’s story that takes centre stage. It’s heart breaking to watch Howard’s fear for his future as well as his decline. And he and Sue’s devotion to each other is just beautiful, with Dinsdale and Gulati perfect as the couple. I certainly seemed to manage to get quite a few things in my eye over the course of the play, that’s for sure. But just as a rainy face may not be too far away, there’s always a laugh around the corner too and if it’s not Howard or Sue that make you chuckle, there are always Dean Smith and Everal A Walsh as a couple of Leeds fans and podcasters to help you swallow back the tears.

Football on stage or screen can be notoriously difficult to get right, but O’Connor”s play captures the depth of the love affair that Leeds fans had with Bielsa and his team perfectly. And the cast here are wonderfully on point too, meaning that there is nothing to grumble about for even the most devoted fan. The love for the team is clear, but the subtleties that come with loving your club are there too, meaning that you might well watch laughing knowingly at yourself a bit, as well as the cast.

Both Dinsdale and Gulati are utterly brilliant in their portrayal of Howard and Sue. The couple’s devotion to each other is simply lovely and both actors are a pleasure to watch as they portray the fear and uncertainty that dementia brings. The couple are completely convincing in both their love for each other and their love for Leeds and I couldn’t take my eyes off them…even as they sang those bloody Leeds songs!

‘Through It All Together’ is a powerful, but also absolutely hilarious play. It’s a brilliantly written story that deals with the ups and downs of both areas of its subject matter brilliantly. Described as a love letter to Marcelo Bielsa and football, it’s also a testament to the power of family and our devotion to those that we choose to spend our lives with. A genuine thing of beauty.

I loved every last second of ‘Through It All Together’, even the bits where I was struggling not to blub like a baby!

I give ‘Through It All Together’…

Review: ‘Pride and Prejudice’* (*Sort of) at the Leeds Grand Theatre.

Funny isn’t it? You think you know someone and then all of a sudden they do something that leaves you just completely and utterly taken aback. No matter how many people you meet and how well you know them, every so often there’s one of them that will do or say something that you would never have expected.

Well, the very same thing happened to me on Saturday. Not with a person I knew as such, but with the characters in a much loved piece of literature. Having first read it nearly forty years ago and then every so often since then, I thought I knew as much as was needed about Pride and Prejudice. I’d even read an updated version with added zombies not long ago, so surely nothing was going to come as a shock. Then, along came Pride and Prejudice (Sort of).

I’d been given tickets as a birthday present a few months ago and although I knew that this was a different take on the classic, I hadn’t really looked at how different the take might be, which made it all the more of a treat when the play started.

Pride and Prejudice (Sort of) tells the traditional tale of the Bennet sisters and their somewhat complicated suitors. Just with added pop classics often provided by a karaoke machine. And some swearing. Actually loads of swearing. As well as a great big lump of anarchic humour and a noticeably feminist outlook on that whole looking for love thing. And the best thing is that it works perfectly!

As well as following the young Bennet sisters and their love lives you can look forward to singing along to the likes of Carly Simon’s ‘You’re so Vain’, Candi Staton’s ‘Young Hearts Run Free and even ‘Something Changed’ by Pulp near the end. You’ll no doubt end up laughing like a drain as well, especially at Rhianna McGreevy’s Mrs Bennet who at times felt like equal parts Peggy Mitchell and Catherine Tate’s Nan, delivering unexpected pearls of wisdom such as “Being a fucking smartarse is unladylike” to her daughters!

There are five actors in the all female cast and all are superb, taking on what must have been the exhausting task of playing every character. Every character including the Bennet’s domestic servants who are sometime narrators of this tale, but excluding Mr Bennet who is simply an armchair with a newspaper attached that’s wheeled on and off the stage and mocked mercilessly for its obvious silence on all things matrimonial. The cast are incredibly talented though with all of them taking on some kind of pop classic as well as turning their hand to the odd instrument along the way. They add brilliant comic timing to Isobel McArthur’s pin sharp, clever script and come up with a riot of a performance.

Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort of) is without doubt an absolute triumph and I’d go as far to say that if you don’t enjoy it then it might just be you that’s the problem. The show is just really clever and a shedload of fun. If you get the chance, I’d definitely recommend that you go and see it!

I give Pride and Prejudice (Sort of)…

Middle Age Gigging: The Bluetones at The Crescent in York.

Easter always confuses me. I mean, I get the eggs and the chocolate and stuff, don’t get me wrong. The bunny, I’m not entirely sure of, but it’s the whole Jesus bit that plays havoc with my brain. I’ll be honest, I’m never sure what happened and when. He died and then came back again and I’m imagining died again a bit later. Thankfully, my confusion is allayed this Easter Sunday as I’m off to York to watch The Bluetones and while my knees will probably die midway through the set, I’m sure they’ll be back again by Tuesday…ish.

Balter (thanks people of Bluetones Fans on FB!) are tonight’s support act. They remind me a bit of Vampire Weekend yet wear the jeans of a weekend spent at Spike Island, which it turns out is still a winning combination. The only snag is that they all look like they should be in Year 10 at high school, which instantly makes me feel even older than I am. And I’ll be honest at times that gets in the way for me. As the singer struggles with everything from his pick to his guitar strap I just want to put an arm around him and tell him it’s fine, but he clearly doesn’t need my ‘fatherly’ act and carries on manfully.

One of the last things I was expecting from them was a cover of Twist and Shout. Probably the actual last thing would have been that I enjoyed it…yet, here we are. As with everything they play tonight, it’s just superb. All in all Balter give us an energetic set tonight, full of lovely melodies, bits of Carlos Santana style guitar, sunglasses and engaging songs that are all well received by a room full of people who’ve probably never heard them before. If there’s any justice they’ll go very far indeed.

The Bluetones never fail to make me smile. They never have and tonight is no exception. From the moment they stroll on stage there’s no doubting that this will be yet another fantastic night.

With more new music to promote in the shape of the recently released ‘In the Cut’ EP, this turns out to be a bit of a different set. And it’s nice to greet certain songs like long lost friends, while struggling to remember the words to certain others. But this isn’t really in my skillset anyway and so I’m at times reduced to just dancing, slightly open mouthed and attempting to form the odd word or noise, all the while having a whale of a time regardless!

Beginning the night with ‘Are You Blue or Are You Blind’ followed by ‘Bluetonic’ is akin to having the winning lottery numbers though and so we’re off to a cracking start. ‘A New Athens’ is next and for me is one of the highlights of the set. Then it’s ‘You’re No Fun Anymore’ before Mark almost apologetically – and not without the trademark wit – introduces new track ‘Cheap Hotel’, which sounds great.

Chats with Mark Morris should be prescribed on the NHS, such is his effect on an audience. And he’s in great form tonight taking us on trips that touch on Bargain Hunt and daytime TV, the merits of York, 99p shops and his various experiences in ‘showbiz’, all with a heavy dose of sarcasm and self deprecation and all accompanied by an audience who are only too happy to play along. That said – and it’s a bit of a pet peeve for me – there are those tonight who seem to want to just chat loudly all the way through the set and are calling out stuff like ‘move on’ while the singer has a bit of a ramble. I’m no ‘serious muso’ type, but I’ve always loved music and it’s a genuine thrill for me to see my heroes any time I can, regardless of the fact that I’m far, far from the wide eyed teenager I was once. So, chatty people, f you could kindly fuck off when it comes to any future gigs, that’d be much appreciated, I’m sure by more than just me…

The hits, as they say, just keep on coming though and after a blistering ‘Fast Boy’ we’re treated to ‘Marblehead Johnson’, ‘Billy Balfour (which I swear gets better with every listen) and the wonderful ‘Carnt Be Trusted’ before the aforementioned ‘In The Cut’ makes an appearance and reminds York that these lads have still got the gift for writing fantastic indie pop.

Songs like ‘Cut Some Rug’ and ‘Keep The Home Fires Burning’ feel to me like getting a big cuddle, such is their familiarity, so when ‘The Fountainhead’ comes along it’s like the rare and only kind of group hug that I could tolerate, if that makes any sense.

By now, various joints are telling me that the set is nearing a close, but the sound of ‘Slight Return’ is a shot in the arm and stifles my yawns somewhat. In my defence, I’d taken part in a hotly competitive egg hunt just hours before and I’m no longer of an age when I can easily manage two big events in one day!

The set closes with ‘The Last Song But One’ which I don’t think I’ve ever heard live before followed by the brilliant ‘Putting Out Fires’ but of course we know that it’s not quite over yet.

There’s an encore of new song ‘London Weekend Television’, which feels quite punky and sounds pretty incredible, I must say. Then, given it’s Easter Sunday, we’re treated to a rendition of ‘I was a Teenage Jesus’ which is a real thrill, even if I fail to remember whole swathes of the song apart from the chorus and the line about the ‘coolest sandals’. As I say, I’ve never had much of a memory for lyrics, but it doesn’t spoil the treat!

We end tonight, as is the tradition, with the glorious ‘If’ and although it’s been stripped down and doesn’t include any snippets of The Eurythmics ‘Obsession’, ‘Jump’ by Van Halen or any of the other spontaneous silliness, it doesn’t matter. Tonight has been another triumph for The Bluetones and I’ll take that every day of the week…and even Easter Sunday.

Film Review: Sisu

They say that it’s always the quiet ones you’ve got to watch, don’t they? Well, there’s never been a truer word spoken when it comes to Finnish film Sisu. The film’s hero is indeed quiet and you can’t help but watch. It’s just a shame the bad guys didn’t seem to hear what ‘they’ said!

Directed by Jalmari Helander, Sisu is set in rural Finland at the back end of World War 2 where the Germans have adopted a somewhat scorched earth policy to their retreat. They’re defeated and almost broken, but not quite finished with all that Nazi stuff. Determined to leave their mark and inflict just a little bit more pain, they trundle along looking for trouble as they head towards their extraction point.

Meanwhile, not too far away an old miner has finally found gold in them there hills and bagging up the bounty from a rich seam, he’s setting off for town to presumably trade it all in for a big bag full of cash. It feels like it’s inevitable that he’s about to be the next victim of this rag tag band of super villains. But, when they meet things don’t quite go to plan for the bad guys and their tank. This is not just any old miner; this is the legendary Finnish commando, Aatami, nicknamed ‘Immortal’ by the last army to cross his path and who doesn’t take the attempts to steal his gold too lightly.

What follows is brutal, entertaining mayhem and at times is thoroughly hilarious. There’s violence aplenty, much of it unbelievable, some of it ridiculous, but all of it the kind that will keep your eyes firmly on screen. Think Tarantino, think Rambo, think John Wick and think Clint Eastwood’s man with no name from the spaghetti westerns and you’ve got a fair idea of what to expect from Sisu. A film not to be taken too seriously that will seriously entertain.

The film seems heavily influenced by Sergio Leone’s work and the spaghetti westerns like Django that followed. The location is bleak, the dialogue minimal and the violence ferocious and gory. And as far fetched as it gets – and it really stretches the imagination here – you’ll find yourself willing Aatami on. You may well be laughing uproariously at times, but he’s not. Nor is he saying much and yet such is Jorma Tommila’s portrayal of our good guy, especially when set against the almost cartoonish Nazis, that you find yourself desperate to see him killing them in evermore brutal and unbelievable ways!

If you don’t mind a bit of gore and your after a thoroughly entertaining film to watch then I’d totally recommend Sisu. A captivating watch that will make you wince as much as it’ll make you laugh and cheer. Suspend that sense of disbelief and I promise you won’t be disappointed!

I give Sisu…