The problem is, there are an awful lot of bad ones out there. For every ‘High Fidelity’ there are a hundred ‘All About Steve’, for every ‘Starter For Ten’ there are a thousand movies where Matthew McConaughey swans around topless for 90 minutes getting more action than an 17 year old boy, on the Wes’s Leaving Cert result night, who has just found out he can get away with using his older brother’s ID for purchasing Barcardi Breezers. Though this isn’t the fault of the genre, its because they are simply bad films. The only reason so many of them happen to be under the genre of ‘Romantic Comedy’ is because of lazy film makers who feel they can make a quick buck by flogging a movie using a washed up Sit-Com actor struggling to pick between a ugly guy who can read and a dick who look good riding a motor bike.

Which on paper means  this months ‘The Switch’ starring Jennifer Aniston should be another lazily written excuse to sell ice cream and therefore be avoided, however its actually a lot better than that.

So while it will never be a classic, ‘The Switch’ does some things very well (for example being drunk, which is also an easy thing to mess up on film) such as having believable characters who while flawed you can’t help but route for and an ending that will have you smiling. So do your self a favour and if the Romantic Comedy tag is the only reason why you would avoid this movie, or another one in the genre, go and see it. You never know you may just enjoy it. If you don’t however feel free to go see ‘The Expendables’ and reenact it in your back yard with local kids pet rabbits, you heartless thug.

The Switch has previews starting today (September 1st)

Starring:
Jennifer Aniston
Jason Bateman
Thomas Robinson

Directed by : Josh Gordon and Will Speck

© Andy Gaffney for Culch.ie, 2010. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
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See you all tomorrow!!!

© Darren for Culch.ie, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Creator, EP, Timetable

Dinner for Schmucks, based loosely on the film The Dinner Game (Le Dîner de cons), sees Tim (Rudd) trying to work his way up the corporate ladder by approaching a Swiss entrepreneur (Played by a very bronzed David Walliams) with a niche market for his failing business empire. Tim sees the business opportunity as his ticket to an office on the upper floors. Tim’s boss Fender sees his potential and desire to succeed so decides to invite him to a ‘Dinner for Winners’. If he can bring the most ‘interesting’ guest with him, he wins the promotion and new office. However, the ‘Dinner for Winners’ is actually a dinner party where attendees bring the biggest fool they can find with them for factor a dinnertime entertainment.

Enter Barry, played by Steve Carrell. Tim hits him with his Porsche and of course the meeting is more luck than chance. Barry is pretty much a rehash of Carrell’s socially inept ‘Andy Stitzer’ from 40 Year Old Virgin. Except for one thing. Barry is obsessed with mice and creating “Mouse-terpieces”; scale dioramas featuring dead mice in place of people. ‘The Last Supper’ is what Barry is trying to finish when Tim hits him with his car. Tim, who’d been grappling with the ethics of attending this Dinner for Schmucks had been handed a Schmuck, seemingly, from God himself.

What ensues is an hour of Barry destroying Tim’s lovelife, career and apartment. Barry is honestly a good guy who tries hard but fails miserably to the point of predictability. There’s a great performance from Jermaine Clement as ego-filled artist and love rival Kieran Vollard. My favourite casting decision of the film however, was Zach Galifanakis as mind-controller Theremin who is also Barry’s boss at the IRS, which is worth the price of admission alone. And Chris O’Dowd, of the IT Crowd and The Boat That Rocked also plays a minor part in the film.

The film is not your typical Buddy-comedy in that Tim repeatedly tries to rid himself of Barry before the Dinner party but in the end we see that Barry is a genuine person and it’s up to Tim to clear his conscience and realise that the premise of the Dinner party is wrong.

Slightly predictable at places and some good laugh-out-loud moments. A harmless buddy-comedy gone wrong. Go see!

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Post tags: Dinner for Schmucks, Jermaine Clement, Paul Rudd, Steve Carrell, Zach Galifanakis

*** Thank you for all the entries ***

*** The winner is Alan O’Connor - congratualtions ***

This is a special treat for all our Cork Culch.ie followers. Would you like an evening of exceptional flamenco performance with two of Spain’s most highly regarded artists? Read on.

This month sees the welcome return to Ireland of virtuoso composer and guitarist Juan Antonio Suárez “Cano” and award-winning dancer and choreographer Concha Jareño. Proudly presented by Peña Flamenca El Indalo, with the support of the Arts Council, the Instituto Cervantes Dublin and the Agencia Andaluza para el Desarrollo del Flamenco, this tour offers Irish audiences a unique opportunity to enjoy a level of flamenco artistry normally reserved for the stages of Spain and the more established international flamenco festivals.

The Spanish artists, who performed separately in Dublin in 2009, are returning to tour Ireland with a new production called “Seis cuerdas para dos tacones” (“Six strings for two heels”), which they premiered in June 2010 at the annual Flamenco Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Some audience members described the experience as breathtaking and many were moved to tears. If you wish to experience the same thrill and rollercoaster of emotion, all you have to do is drop an email to competition@culch.ie with your name and the subject line “Flamenco Me” and you’ll be in with the chance of seeing this great show in The Firkin Crane, Shandon, Cork tomorrow night, Thursday 2nd September.

For more information and other dates and venues, please check out www.flamencoindalo.com. Tickets for the Cork show are priced at €25, but they could be yours for free. Email me now. competition@culch.ie

Winners will be selected tomorrow morning.

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Yes, this is a naked picture of Craig Doyle in the shower. Gah! Don't ask me how I got it.

The Littlewoods ad is an interesting one. They’ve done some good work in recent years in the UK with Trinny and Susannah; busting out the big budgets in an effort to glamourise the brand, while still being relevant to their mostly middle-aged, female target audience. The roots of the firm are as British as Marmite, but the collapse of the traditional catalogue shopping market in the Internet age resulted in high street retail unit closures, consolidation and take overs. In fact the corporate entity which owns Littlewoods, Shop Direct Group, now owns three age-old titans of British retail; Woolworths, Littlewoods and Kays. The fact that Shop Direct have decided that the Irish market is worth investing in to the extent of launching a Littlewoods Ireland brand is telling. In a highly price-sensitive market where consumers are now accustomed to purchasing online they are no doubt betting that they are on to a winner. And keeping the Littlewoods name attached, with all the VFM associations which come along with it (that’s ‘value for money’, darlings) makes sense, even if the current company is a world apart from the one which posted out those chunky A5 books to your granny every quarter.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Anyways, enough boring shop talk…. The ad itself uses the whole Desperate Housewives motif to poke fun at the notion that bargain hunting is something to be embarrassed about. It’s nicely conceived, shot and, to be fair, well-acted by the celebrities involved. But what a motley collection. There’s himself of course, and there’s Caroline Morahan, who has the whole “Off the Rails” fashion connection going on, which makes sense, but Cecilia Ahern? WTF? Is it just me or is having Cecilia Ahern on a Littlewoods ad a bit weird? Partly it’s the “daughter of ex-Taoiseach” thing and partly it’s because the woman is minted and clearly doesn’t need a few thousand euro ad-appearance fee, but mostly I just don’t get the connection.

The other ad Mr Doyle is gracing our small screens in is for window manufacturer Everest.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I know nothing about this company, so the whole thrust of this ad really annoyed me. It assumes that you have some prior knowledge about the brand, certain feelings about what it stands for – all those things companies spend millions of euro each year to cultivate through advertising. Now, I watch a fair amount of telly and of the telly I do watch, an unhealthy proportion is spent on shows like Grand Designs, Grand Designs Revisited, Grand Designs: Kevin’s Favourites, Grander Than Grand Designs and I’m a Grand Design Get Me Out of Here (okay, I made the last two up). My point is, I’ve seen a lot of ads from homeware brands over the past 5 years, but I have never, ever seen an Everest ad before. So how the hell should I have any “expectations” about what this company are about? There’s a certain thing advertisers call “brand capital”; the value your brand has in mind of your target audience. It’s something which must be earned, not presumed and over-presumption is exactly what the Everest ad does. Coupled with a smug Craig Doyle delivery and I’m reaching for the nearest cushion to chuck at the telly.

So, the National Lottery have gone and ‘done a Sony’ then?

Click here to view the embedded video.

I know I should like this ad, and I do, but there is just something about it which is cloying and unreal, that it makes me mistrust it. It’s a lovely visual representation of the whole “make magic happen” tagline, but it kind of feels too copy-catty and almost dated; I mean it was over two years ago that Sony covered Miami in foam. I just don’t believe in the reality of the situation is the problem. I don’t believe that those people were random bystanders. A child in an oversized robot helmet? Please. Strategic frilly brollies at the ready? And more hot bi-racial couples than you can shake a stick at? I don’t buy it. I think the reaction the creators were trying to elicit was “Wow!”, but instead, I went “Meh”. But then again, maybe I’m just jaded and cynical (no comments required). In any case, here is what the National Lottery say about it themselves on their website:

“Between dawn and 9.30 on Monday 12 July 2010, and witnessed by many people on their way to work, two tugboats fired 2,200 gallons of water a minute to a height of 70 metres and a throw of 95 metres, creating Dublin’s first manmade rainbow in the centre of Dublin city. All water came directly from the Liffey and at its highest was 10 metres higher than Liberty Hall.”

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Post tags: Ad Nauseum, advertisements, advertising, craig doyle, everest, littlewoods, lotto, national lottery

Seán Recommends:

BP FALLON: Irish legend who has been labelled muso, journalist, PR man, charlatan?… who cares what else, is giving a talk as part of the panel entitled ‘Unknown Pleasures‘ as hosted by Dave Fanning at Mindfield at EP. Check it out at Saturday 4pm at the Levithian tent. Remember ‘leccy picnic’s not ONLY about the music (although he’s doing a DJ set too).

FIGHT LIKE APES: What can I say that’s not been said before? See them and tick ‘Witness the Awesomeness’ off your festival to-do list. Sheer brilliance live; if you’re not happy I’ll refund your money.

SEASICK STEVE: He lived in a boxcar. He probably smells like shit. He plays a 3-string guitar and a wooden stomping box he named the ‘Mississippi Beat machine’. He is everything I want to be when I am his age, which let’s be honest, he’s probably forgotten at this point. Whiskey at the ready for this one.

TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB: I have a soft spot for TDCC. I reckon it’s so soft that if I set up my tent there I’d probably sink into what lay below. They’re like an Irish Vampire Weekend, but less famous at the moment. They played last year as unknowns now they’re on mobile phone ads, de bleedin cheek of them. Go see em and let me know what they’re like… (wish I had a ticket because of these lads)

Eilish Recommends:

JANELLE MONAE – ‘cos she’s the best thing to happen in popular music this year: Tightrope

ROBYN - for still being good, even though she’s appeared on that graveyard for musicians Never Mind the Buzzcocks: Killing Me

FEVER RAY- for being the craziest Swede going. Can’t wait to see the moulded rubber prosthetics!: Stranger Than Kindness

Bryan Recommends:

SPILLY WALKER : This is David Kitt and his younger brother Robbie working together to produce swaying electronic beats with the catchier side of Kittser Senior’s work well intact. If you liked David Kitt’s LP The Nightsaver (and you really should have), you’ll love this.

MOUNTAIN MAN: “Hang on, who?” may be the reply now, but “They’re like a female Fleet Foxes!!” will be the words on the scenesters’ lips come the end of the festival. Sumptuous and melodious.

PATRICK KELLEHER AND HIS COLD DEAD HANDS: Critically acclaimed but commercially relatively unknown, Patrick Kelleher remains the embodiment of the exciting new wave of Irish acts to emerge in recent times. At times trippy and brooding, while at others romantic and sparse, Patrick Kelleher’s music is never anything but original, exciting and innovative. With the full band behind him, expect to be amazed by the hallucinogenic beats booming around Stradbally at 1.30am on the Sunday night in the Body and Soul stage.

DAN LE SAC VS SCROOBIUS PIP: Music has always relied on partnerships and while these lads may not exactly be the modern day Lennon and McCartney, there can be no doubting the synergistic wonder which arrives when beat monger Dan Le Sac and word-smith Scrobbius Pip get into sync. Wonderfully poetic lyrics, brimming with depth and intelligence, placed over rockin’ beats – what more could you ask for?

Darren Recommends:

FRIDAY: Of course, it’ll be fun catching ROXY MUSIC, but after seeing BANANARAMA at Milk, it’ll be a hard nostalgia trip to top. EELS are a band I had only fleeting daliances with when I was growing up, but in the last year, I’ve really become a fan and have had so much fun delving into their back catalogue. Bring it on. JANELLE MONAE and LAURA MARLING will be two big hits at EP, methinks, so I’ll try catch both of them. As always, I’ll make every effort to catch the awesome DUKE SPECIAL.

SATURDAY: IMELDA MAY – can’t go wrong. She’s remarkable and will be a highlight of the festival. CATHY DAVEY will be solid too (and we can only hope her bf shows up). SEASICK STEVE, STEVE EARLE, THE FRAMES, HEATHERS, THE MIGHTY STEF and maybe ROBYN- there’s plenty to choose from on Saturday.

SUNDAY: First and foremost, I am insanely excited about getting to see MASSIVE ATTACK for the first time. I’ve been a fan for… more years than I care to remember, so this is a huge treat. It’ll be cool to catch the RTE Concert Orchestra in the midst of all the random giggery and Sunday’s chillaxing will definitely include MUMFORD AND SONS. I’ll also aim to catch THE NATIONAL, BEARDYMAN, FLApes, JAMES MCMORROW, MESSIAH J, O EMPEROR and STORNOWAY.

OTHER STUFF: But there’s more than just music at Electric Picnic. I will NOT be missing DEAD CAT BOUNCE as part of the weekend’s comedy offerings. I’ll try catch PHIL JUPITUS and REG DHUNTER too. The Word stage sounds very cool and I’ll be aiming to see MICK PYRO give us some of his poetry (oh yes!). The sexy hot DAVID MAYBURY will also be … performing … as part of Poetry Ireland’s contribution to the weekend. On the Theatre Stage, I’m going to see Obama Mia! and maybe The Last Days of Judas Iscariot from the NUIG Players. With all of that plus the Art’s Council’s Literary Stage and the Hotpress Chatroom, I have no idea when I’m going to find time to have a relaxing half hour in the hot tubs. It’ll be a full fun weekend.

Sinéad Recommends:

Elaine Recommends:

THE NATIONAL: How do you follow an album as revered as ‘Boxer’? By releasing an album like ‘High Violet’, that’s how. The National are a band who consistantly make music that is nothing short of powerful – miss them at your peril.

FIGHT LIKE APES: FLApes live performances are rarely anything short of brilliant – but the impressive standard of recent release The Body of Christ and the legs of Tina Turner could take the band to a whole new level. The combination of made-for-the-stage new material along with the fan-favourite staples will make for an Electric Picnic set to remember.

JANELLE MONAE: What’s this, ANOTHER female solo artist sent to take over the world? You betcha. There is a LOT of buzz around Janelle Monáe at the moment – and justifiably so. An entire Stradbally audience shakin’ it to ‘Tightrope’ – yes please!

BITCHES WITH WOLVES: Thisispopbaby’s line-up for the Picnic is practically a festival in itself; and if anyone knows how to put on a show worth drawing your attention away from the activity on the main music stages, it’s Bitches With Wolves. I dare you not to dance yourself silly to ‘Good as Gold’.

LAURA MARLING: What’s Electric Picnic without some quality folk music? Look no further than the fabulous Ms. Marling. An incredibly talented emotive songwriter, her live shows are famed for their poignancy – prepare to be wowed.

© Sweary for Culch.ie, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: electric picnic 2010

Because Electric Picnic isn’t just any music event. It is Ireland’s premiere boutique “arts and music festival”. Our Glastonbury. An event of important national cultural significance because…. well, because it’s not just for drunken young wans and therefore lots of media and journo types will be there, tweeting on their iPhones about Bryan Ferry’s still-luxuriant hair. And you can get a good soya milk cappuccino. And there’s a comedy tent and like, a stage, with like, political debates and shit going on.

For those who have never been before, Electric Picnic can seem like a strange place, an alien planet, if you will. Upon entry into the camping area you’ll find an atmosphere heady with excitement and anticipation, augmented by the sweet smell of pot and that whiff which can only be described as ‘eau de portaloo’. But as is often the case, it is the people who prove the most interesting. In amongst the ill-erected gazebos, chip vans, bales of hay, aggressive Glaswegian security staff and masses of drunken festival goers, you will come across certain tribes of festival goers. These tribes are notable for their particular and unique characteristics and in almost all cases should be avoided in favour of a long queue at the main stage toilets.

“Homo Parentis Hipsterus”

“Fashionistaeus Festivalus”

“Homo Scobius Confusus”

“Genus Psytranceas Maximus”

“Scriptor Musica Wannabeus”

Of all the tribes to be found at Electric Picnic the Wannabe Music Journalist (Latin name “Scriptor Musica Wannabeus”) is the only solitary creature. This is mostly due to the fact that he is chalking up “some serious posts” for his music blog and is therefore ‘working’. He spends much of his time in the Hot Press Chatroom trying to blag a backstage press pass. When this fails every day, he attends as many bands as humanly possible and keeps track of their set list in his trusty Moleskin.

For those of you going to the festival, be warned, these characters will be in front of you in the bar queue and blocking your view of the stage. Take a deep breath, restrain yourself and remember – it’s not their fault, it’s just the way they are. And anyways, you’re in Planet Picnic, get out there and have some fun! For those of you not going, enjoy the wall to wall media coverage. After all, listening to it live on 2FM is almost like being there.

Thank You: The illustrations in this post were specially drawn, at short notice by the very talented Spanish illustrator Aroa Vivancos. You can see more of her excellent work on her website www.aroavivancos.blogspot.com. Muchas Gracias Aroa!

© anspideog for Culch.ie, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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The Cast of Cheers, who rose to prominence having made their wonderful debut album Chariots available as a free download, have announced a nationwide tour.

The terms ‘free’ and ‘quality’ are usually terms which are mutually exclusive but not so here. Chariots is a cracking debut full of taut riffs and vocals which find that perfect balance between edgy and catchy. The album is available for free download orstream HERE and is one of the best Irish albums of the year, thus far .  The Cast of Cheers are also a sight to behold live as their recent, most-pit infused, show at Whelan’s documented.

The tour will include a stop at Dublin’s Academy 2 with tickets for that one priced €13.50 and tickets for all venues are on sale now.

Catch them before they’re huge.

Wed 22 Sep DERRY, Mason’s
Fri 24 Sep BELFAST, Stiff Kitten
Thu 30 Sep DUNDALK, Spirit Store
Tue 5 Oct LIMERICK, Dolan’s
Wed 6 Oct CORK, Cyprus Avenue
Thu 7 Oct DUBLIN, Academy 2
Fri 8 Oct GALWAY, Roisin Dubh

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Post tags: Academy 2, irish, The Cast of Cheers, Whelans

On Friday, The seventh Electric Picnic starts is Stradbally. This is a biggie and others here have already covered it, so I’ll direct you to their coverage.

PVT (formerly known as Pivot, and probably pronounced like that) are playing The Workman’s Club, 10 Wellington Quay, Dublin 2 on Thursday September 2. The gig is in support of the “Church with No Magic” album and you can see the video of the first single “Window” as well as download it for free at their site. Their sound is described as, ahem “an amalgam of rock synthesis, propulsive rhythms and huge melodic strength”, to me its loud pop tinged wit a bit of rock sensibility underneath all their layering. You could slip “Window” in to the Inception soundtrack and no one would notice the tonal change.

Triskel Art Centre presents ‘Two Solos’ on Wednesday 1 September, not in the centre, but in the River Lee Hotel (formerly Jury’s) Western Road, Cork. The jazz soloists are Eugene Chadbourne on banjo and Paul G Smyth on piano.

Paul Melia’s  first solo live show in Dublin will take place on Wednesday 1 September in Bewley’s theatre on Grafton Street. From a piano playing seven year old two of the major influencing factors in Paul’s musical development were his somewhat aborted classical training alongside the fact that he is synaesthetic; the neurologically-based phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. Its different with most people. Sometimes the music tastes salty, or pointy, or orange. Its also surprisingly common amongst artists, writers and musicians. This is why amongst his musical influences are rainbows, stars and colours. His début album Hold Onto The Colours will be released early next year.

By way of a preview, here’s the video for the current single ‘Miss You’

Click here to view the embedded video.

TICKETING

Jay Brannan is playing another Irish date as part of this almost world tour (The US, UK and Ireland). I guess he liked his last visit here. He plays Crawdaddy at Dublin’s Old Harcourt Station on October 16. As for his style, well he has an artistic crush on Sinead O’Connor.

And what the heck, here is a preview too. As you can tell he is still recording YouTube clips in his bathroom (for the acoustics I presume)

Click here to view the embedded video.

ALSO PLAYING

Belfast
Thursday 2 September
Chief – Auntie Annies, Belfast

Dublin
Wednesday 1 September
Chief – Academy 2, Dublin

© Will for Culch.ie, 2010. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: electric picnic, electric picnic 2010, Eugene Chadbourne, jay brannan, Paul G Smyth, Paul Melia, PVT

XBox live are showing a series of the intimate “Other Voices” gigs filmed in Dingle’s St James Church. Yes, this is a shortened version of the gigs shown on RTÉ over the years, but this is something of a test. In November Microsoft XBox team expect to see a change in the types of people sitting down in from of their XBox once the Kinect arrives. Namely that of casual gamers. Namely that of people who like music. Namely that of people who would rather dance then first person shoot.

Its been no secret that Zune didn’t quite reach the ubiquity of the iPod. They are currently in the process of re-branding Zune from an item of hardware (which was never made available in Ireland) to that of a marketplace. Buy songs or music videos off Zune instead of off the iTunes marketplace. The option to buy movies to download for a set time, or to stream had been there for a while. Heck, the sales of songs for use with Rock Band, Lips and Guitar Hero keep the games add-on market ticking over faster that the marketplace latest list can handle sometimes.

So why not make a play for streaming music. What about streaming the December gigs in Dingle live? Its small, intimate and, well, tiny. The creaking 200 year old building in the centre of Dingle only sits 70 people. Why not expand it.

Microsoft have experimented with live broadcasts before. Their 1 vs. 100 avatar based game show (now defunct) was such an experiment. One that has mixed results. The last live shows were for the launch of Kinect itself. They can draw in people if the content is interesting enough. And “Other Voices” is an interesting festival.

I can almost see Microsoft trying out a stage at next year’s South by South West (currently the line-up is in negotiation) which has morphed from a pure music A&R series of gigs, to a major interactive expo for the first week, followed by the music and games. Well, legalities aside, why not have a Microsoft Stage and transmit part of  SXSW live (or deferred) across XBox Live.

Other Voices a test of some sort. And Ireland is a self contained test market. Maybe things are going to get interesting .

The line-up for the Other Voices changes about 3pm on a Thursday for Ireland on the “Spotlight” plane, and is as follows:

Duke Special – Thursday 19th August

Elbow – Thursday 26th August

Villagers – Thursday 2nd September

Magic Numbers – Thursday 9th September

Jape – Thursday 16th September

Seasick Steve – Thursday 23rd September

Fight Like Apes – Thursday 30th September

Richard Hawley – Thursday 7th October

Peter, Bjorn and John – Thursday 14th October

Speech Debelle – Thursday 21st October

Super Furry Animals – Thursday 28th October

© Will for Culch.ie, 2010. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Dingle, Duke Special, Elbow, fight like apes, Jape, Magic Numbers, microsoft, Other Voices, Peter Bjorn and John, Richard Hawley, Seasick Steve, Speech Debelle, Super Furry Animals, Villgers, xbox, Xbox 360, XBox Live

I’m not for a minute suggesting that this game will be the greatest game of all time, but more the technology behind it, will be pulled apart and used in other games to create NPC’s that are far more realistic and engaging than even the most advanced out there today.

Well, either that or Milo’s “cloud brain” will reach sentience and takeover the interwebs before manifesting himself into the real world ala “Automan” and making us all his eternal stone skipping, room cleaning slaves.

Roll on 10 November the Kinect launch date

© JustGeorge for Culch.ie, 2010. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Automan, Kinect, microsoft, Milo

On Tuesday 10th August, I was privileged enough to see Whoopi Goldberg in her opening night as Mother Superior in Sister Act at the London Palladium. I had been thinking about a London theatre trip for a while (I try to do one once a year) but hearing the news that Whoopi would be doing a limited run in this wonderful production was all the motivation I needed to book tickets right then and there. My second time seeing the show, it was just as much fun as I remembered, and I left the theatre with feeling of joyous exuberance not matched since I last saw the show and a renewed sense of despair over the fact that I have no musical talent to speak of (I want to be a singing nun dammit!!). 

First of all, the whole evening was a great experience with many highlights outside of the actual show: passing Simon Webbe (complete with afro) at the box office; spotting Mika and Ben Kingsley in the audience; a fantastic view from our seats in the Stalls (which mercifully were located right under the air conditioners); the magnificence of the Palladium itself complete with its red tailcoat wearing ushers. Everything was in place for an enjoyable evening – and to say we enjoyed our evening would be an understatement.

So what of the lady of the hour, Whoopi? Well she was terrific. Yes, she is very obviously miscast in this role, and certainly underused, forced to keep her comic abilities in check for the most part. But the fact that its Whoopi Goldberg means that its simply impossible not to fall in love with her Mother Superior. From the opening scene, stepping out on stage to a thunderous applause (which very likely would have quickly erupted into a standing ovation had she not wisely halted it with a knowing finger to a pursed lip) she exuded an undeniable stage presence. Unfortunately the nature of the role meant that in the majority of her scenes she was required to take a back seat which was a true shame (and something which highlighted just how miscast she was in this role). However Whoopi seemed quite happy to step back and leave the limelight to Patina Miller as Deloris, the role which Whoopi originally made famous. Vocally, she was impressive. Not one to be blessed with a Miller like voice, she nonetheless displayed great control over her voice throughout, delivering each of her numbers with what seemed like effortless control, the result of some very clever choices with her range (although it was clear to anyone with an experienced ear that they wouldn’t fall within her natural comfort zone).

Her Mother Superior was one with a bit of attitude (and very different from the portrayal I saw from Sheila Hancock last year, including changes to dialogue and backstory), but she did also manage to bring the pious as well. Her big number, ‘Here Within These Walls’, was a joy from start to finish, she completely captured the essence of the character here, perfectly establishing the tone of serene humility of the convent. I don’t know if its her natural presence or whether she was improvising at times, but her delivery was just so, well, natural. Somehow she made us believe that ‘Whoopi Goldberg’ with all her sass and attitude, would gladly sacrifice all of that for a life of servitude. For those 2 hours, she was the Mother Superior, despite how ludicrous it may have seemed. Her performance was not however without its hiccups, flubbing one of her lines in her big number and loosing her habit during her fight scene (yes she had a fight scene!) the final staging of which came across as slightly messy. But that was easily forgivable. Whoopi has always struck me as a very humble performer and this was nowhere more evident than in her bow at the end. Completely reluctant to share the final bow with Patina Miller she had to be practically dragged back on stage and even then deferred the attention to the ‘star’ of the show. Overall, a masterful and extremely controlled performance from a truly great actress. Plus seeing her let loose and shake her ass on stage in the final number was an experience I will never forget!

Mention has to be given to the spectacular cast. Patina Miller is a star of the future and is guaranteed a Tony nomination for this role when it transfers to Broadway. I remember being blown away, on first viewing just how close to Whoopi’s Deloris she was. She seemed to have captured the very heart of the character. Her voice is quite simply, flawless and didn’t falter once throughout the evening. Watching her conduct the choir for the first time with her back to the audience, complete with Whoopi ass-shake, was like watching the same scene straight out of the movie. She has made some very clever choices with her portrayal of Deloris, channeling Whoopi in many ways, but never cheaply, always finding a way to make it her own.

The rest of the cast are all very strong in their respective roles especially Ako Mitchell as put upon cop and Deloris lover wannabe Eddie and Katie Rowley Jones as the shy Sr Mary Robert (a West End star of the future, mark my words!). Ex Blue member Simon Webbe was a big disappointment as baddie Shank however, never managing to be menacing or present a true threat and so denying the show a serious adversary. Similarly his scenes with his trio of goons seemed less polished than the last time I saw the show and drew few genuine laughs. I would attribute that to a lack of natural chemistry between Webbe and the trio (and possibly due to the fact that the actor playing Bones was the understudy and probably less familiar with the role). They came alive however during their performance of ‘Lady in the Long Black Dress’, a fantastic little song (one which notably didn’t include Webbe) that frankly would be hard to mess up.

And the show itself? Well needless to say, given it was my second viewing, I loved it. Truly one of the most feel good shows of recent years, and one which isn’t completely devoid of intellect à la Mamma Mia. The completely original disco inspired score is by ‘Mr Disney’ Alan Menken, and his style fits the show perfectly. Upbeat, hummable and plain fun (its no surprise that patrons were dancing in the aisles) but equally humble and touching when it needs to be, it’s classic Menken (and that’s either good or bad depending on your personal taste).

The production design of this show is second to none. I’ve seen big shows on Broadway and the West End, but never have I seen staging like this before. The set design is remarkable and on a scale that would be deemed far too ambitious in most venues but which seems effortless in the Palladium. Even in the smaller scenes the design is very clever, utilising space extremely well, and at no point does the mammoth Palladium stage feel empty. The chase and action scenes, which are always difficult on stage, are a joy to watch and the scene transitions are seamless. Its hard to do this design justice with words. Think Les Mis, with it’s central moving circular stage, on a much grander scale and you’re halfway there. Part of the joy of watching this show on stage is simply watching the set construct itself and slot into place before your eyes. Just as impressive on the second viewing.

Of course if I wished to find fault with something, I don’t have to look far. Above is the poster they chose to market this multi-million dollar production. This is the face of this show! Everything else about this production is first rate, from the sets, the music, the cast, the costumes, everything. And they chose to pin all that on this poster design. When I first saw the show, it was simply because we couldn’t get cheap tickets to The Lion King. I went under protest. Why? Because the poster looked cheap. And a cheap poster generally means a cheap production. Couple that with completely new songs and not the originals classics, and an 18 year old story to begin with, it becomes a bit of a hard sell. I’m very glad I went to see the show, but frankly, I still can’t get over how such a poor design was chosen. I’d be extremely surprised if this design is carried over to Broadway, as I can’t see it working in such an image conscious country at the States.

The show is due to open on Broadway next year, and there is no doubt that it will be a huge success over there. Should Whoopi choose to reprise her role on Broadway (how could she not, either in a limited run or for longer) this could be one of the most successful shows on the Great White Way for years. Either way, it’s ‘Fabulous Baby’ and fans of musical theatre everywhere should sell their old VHS copy of Sister Act for a ticket!

Sister Act runs at the London Palladium until 30th October 2010. Whoopi Goldberg is playing a limited run with her last performance on Tuesday 31st August.

Update: Unfortunately, due to a family emergency, Whoopi has had to cancel her final week in the Palladium.

© marajadefan for Culch.ie, 2010. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Broadway, Palladium, Petina Miller, Sister Act, West End, Whoopi

I wrote about Lissie before. She’s a rare creature – a rockin’ sack of talent that happens to look like someone cast in a Simple ad (and my friend Fordie). This is the video for her latest song Cuckoo, which comes from debut album Catching A Tiger (though the Cuckoo EP has a rather worthy cover of Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance, which you can check out after the jump).

Click here to view the embedded video.

If that video doesn’t put a huge grin on your face, please paint one on with markers before I catch you and become disillusioned.

Tickets are €17 and went on sale earlier today. Hurry!

Click here to view the embedded video.

I believe that be one of them “voices” Simon Cowell’s always banging on about.

© Sweary for Culch.ie, 2010. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Dublin gigs, Lissie

Culch was lucky enough to be able to head along to Celtic Rising at the Burlington on Monday night for what turned out to be the best bitta craic (great gas, now we’re suckin’ diesel and whatever throwback phrase you’re having yourself) we’ve had on a schoolnight in quite a while.

The show is pitched as a celebration of Irish heritage and culture and their promo video on The YouTube is all about the [i]Aon, Dó, Trí[/i]…

Click here to view the embedded video.

…we were expecting Riverdance with a sitdown meal thrown in and, well, we weren’t entirely wrong…

Starting out the night by spending five minutes at a standstill at the entrance to the Burlington car park while a tour bus reversed up to the door to drop off a gaggle of grannies, we were a little bit apprehensive about what was in store for us but parked up and made our way inside to the ballroom all the same.

With the show running five nights a week (excluding Tuesdays and Wednesdays) the stage is a semi-permanent fixture in the ballroom complete with two large screens at either end which variously showed Fáilte Ireland videos, Mary Black quotes and old Irish proverbs throughout the evening. We were seated up the front, four of us on one side of a table for ten (the other six of whom we never did get talking to – blame the fact that none of us have kissed the Blarney stone I guess). The six were already tucking into soup when we sat down and within minutes the same starter arrived in front of us and main course orders were taken. Some of the party described the set menu as a “debs dinner” but having had quite a few dodgy debs dinners in my time I’d hazard it’s not quite that bad. There’s bacon, salmon and chicken on offer with a lasagne option for vegetarians (our Culch veggie wasn’t mad about it) but the real triumph of the menu is the number of Irish placenames it manages to squeeze into the descriptions of just six dishes (Lusk, Boyne Valley, Limerick, Wicklow, Lough Corrib, Cork, Kerry, Ballycotton and Muckross…if you’re wondering).

A soup, chicken main and fruit coulis dessert later, we found that the food service was prompt but getting hold of two bottles of wine took a bit longer. I’d be reluctant to complain about it – if anything, it seemed the staff weren’t too used to people ordering extras and when they did come they were delivered by a very friendly staff member.

The show kicked off with a video intro from Minister for Tourism Mary Hanafin on the same screens where we’d watched the Fáilte Ireland videos throughout dinner with various comments of “oh I was there” and “I keep meaning to go to that” and then we were straight into the opening number from lead vocalist Naoise Stuart Kelly.

Who was closely followed by Riverdance-esque dancing and then straight on into a trad session courtesy of the live band.

Most of the party thought the band was the highlight of the evening, playing traditional toe-tapping, hand clapping tunes. They raised a few whoops from the crowd as they belted through a selection of jigs and reels before the flautist took to the stage alone to play ‘The Lonesome Boatman.’

The galloping pace then continued on with male lead vocalist Eoin Cannon taking on ‘You Raise Me Up’ followed by Naoise’s ‘Molly Malone’ and ‘Danny Boy’. A song called ‘Isle of Hope, Isle of Dreams’ led into the break (the latter part of’ which I misheard as ‘I love tea’ – a fact that went on to formulate most of my toilet queue conversation). It was only during the break, while listening to the accents all around us, that we got a sense that the audience contained some older Irish people along with the expected tourist crowd. One complained loudly in the toilets that they’d left a verse out of Danny Boy, but that the girl had got the accent right. I was completely taken with the idea that the show has such a comely-maidens, postcard-Irish feel to it that the lady forgot she wasn’t watching an American take on Irish culture but one that’s entirely homegrown.

The second half saw renditions of U2′s ‘With Or Without You’, Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ as Gaeilge and ‘Galway Girl’ as well as ‘Celtic Pasión’ – about as close as an Irish dancer’s hips will ever get to Latin dancing. At points the story the performers were attempting to thread together between music and dance didn’t quite work. Naoise’s voice is impressive, but she’s not 15, as the lyrics of one song about landing on Ellis Island suggest. Nitpicking aside however, you can’t fault the entertainment value of the show.

There’s no doubt that Celtic Rising is even more for the tourists than its closest counterpart, Riverdance, but its pretty damn good for what it is. The show with dinner included is a €49, 3-hour show and I found myself doing sums in my head while we listened to the closing number because I couldn’t quite work out how the price covered dancers and musicians who are as good as you’ll find at any authentic ceílí or feis ceoil. The closing number, incidentally, is a song called ‘Home’. It’s an original composition, nicely put together but lacking that final sing-along quality of something everyone knows. That said, we did make up the hand-clapping portion of the room so perhaps I’m just foisting my idea of a good audience on people who were quite happy to watch quietly.

For all its Disneyland atmosphere, Celtic Rising is still very much worth a look if you’re into traditional music, not-so-traditional Irish dancing and fancy having a look at how we’re presented to the rest of the world. It’s also an enjoyable night out that only goes to show we’d probably all still enjoy a bit of a ceilí of an evening if the twee element wasn’t laid on quite so heavily for the visitors.

More of this!

© Sinead Keogh for Culch.ie, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
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Bit of a mixed bag this week, folks, but that’s ok because you’re a mixed kind of readership (if the disparities in punctuation in my fanmail tell me anything). And anyway, one shouldn’t just listen to the same kind of tunes, week in, year out; it’s not healthy. It can lead to nerdism and geekery, not to mention being all obnoxious about sub-genres and why post-punk trumps post-rock, every time. I consider it a public service to run these songs by you, to keep your ears unclogged and open- … er, eared. And remember, they’re all free!

First up, I take it you’ve all been jiggling your bottoms around to Cee-Lo’s Fuck You like we told you to? Well, if you like that, Cee-Lo hopes you’ll like this – two more tracks, Champain and Georgia, free on the website from the little big man himself. Cee-Lo is probably best known for being the singing half of Gnarls Barkley, but there really aren’t many pies he’s not had his finger in at this stage. Maybe his face too. He’s a chunky wee barrel of awesome! You might also fancy a listen off 50Cent’s snap-back to Fuck You, which is a depressingly speedy hip-hop retort if ever there was one. Can a man not have a whinge about his gold-digging ex in peace? Jesus!

Yesterday, in our review of Janelle Monae’s debut album, The ArchAndroid, we bigged up the “bonkers indie-punk” of her track Make The Bus, which happens to feature our next all-singing philanthropists, Of Montreal. As a teaser for new album, False Priest, they’re giving away the first single Coquet Coquette, a hard-boiled slice of poetic Barmy, suggesting a soundtrack perfect for sunny-day smut. It’s rather lovely, like The Monkees crossed with Pulp crossed with Metallica. Either that or I’ve been gorging on the Roundtrees Randoms again. If it sounds nothing like The Monkees crossed with Pulp crossed with Metallica, pls forgive moi.

All this talk of Pulp brings me to our next free and therefore socialism-friendly download, brought to you by fellow 90s/00s alt-heroes Manic Street Preachers. This is I’m Leaving You For Solitude, which can be downloaded thusly. This marks the release of new album Postcards From A Young Man, though it’s not an album track. It’s stand-alone! It’s extra! This pleases me. This is proper philanthropy. It’s a rather raw and delicate offering, and quite lovely. And who doesn’t like Manic Street Preachers (aside from capitalists and fascists and such)?

How do you like your nepotism in the mornings? Ah, no, I’m only messing. It’s just that the next one is from Justin Townes Earle, who’s Steve Earle’s young fella, as they say in my neck of the woods. I can’t say that his sound is radically different from his Pa’s, but he’s got a rare pair of lungs and if you like your Americana smooth and soothing, you won’t go far wrong with him. You can grab new single Harlem River Blues here.

This one’s much less soothing; this one’s a delightful little headfuck. Steve Mason is him outta Beta Band, and he’s just released a soulful track called Am I Just A Man from solo album Boys Outside. It’s chilled, and affecting, and may cause me to banjax my quota for the use of the word “lovely”. However, what you’re getting is the Alexis Taylor remix (here on Domino’s SoundCloud page), which is also chilled and affecting, but in a much stranger way. In general, the remixes from the Hot Chip family tend to be very individual, thoughtfully arranged, and bold enough to stand alone. This is no different. An odd little gem.

And lastly, Gav from SuperExtraBonusParty, one of the most exciting bands to ever dust off the shamrocks, has a new musical project called We Are Losers (a name which is ironic, ok?) and is giving away the EP here.

It’s lo-fi, it’s indie-pop, it sounds like the Beach Boys covered by the Buzzcocks and belted through a megaphone. You can’t get more specific than that, now. Enjoy!

© Sweary for Culch.ie, 2010. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Alexis Taylor, Cee-Lo, downloads, free music, Justin Townes Earle, Manic Street Preachers, new music, Of Montreal, Steve Mason, We Are Losers

The tour kicks off in Mullingar and will reach to such backwaters as Clonmel and Tullamore. With a gig sure to be within reasonable distance from wherever you are, you should really make the effort to go along and check out one of the great song-writers of our time.

Dates
Tuesday 14 September – The Square Peg, Warrenpoint, Co.Down.
Wednesday 15 September – The Spirit Store, Dundalk. [SOLD OUT]
Thursday 16 September – McGinnity’s, Cellar Bar, Cavan.
Friday 17 September – The Spirit Store, Dundalk.
Saturday 18 September – Auntie Annie’s, Belfast.
Sunday 19 September – Nerve Centre, Derry
Tuesday 21 September – Roisin Dubh, Galway.
Thursday 23 September – O’Keeffes, Clonmel , Tipperary.
Friday 24 September – Dolan’s, Limerick.
Saturday 25 September – INEC, Killarney, Kerry.
Tuesday 28 September – Cyprus Ave, Cork.
Wednesday 29 September – Pegasus, Kilford Hotel, Kilkenny.
Thursday 30 September – Thatch Rahan, Tullamore.
Friday 1 October – Whelan’s Dublin.
Saturday 2 October – The Stables, Mullingar.

For essential listening before the tour pick up Benson’s current album My Old Familiar Friend but for now here’s a track from previous album Alternative to Love, entitled Spit it Out as performed on Later with Jools Holland. We’re also hoping to secure an interview with Brendan when he’s over next month, so watch this space!

Click here to view the embedded video.

© seanear1ey for Culch.ie, 2010. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: brendan benson, irish tour, jools holland, raconteurs, spit it out