Reviews Archive

  • Highlights from the mac re-opening weekend

    Highlights from the mac re-opening weekend

    A few videos from the mac re-opening weekend: Sampad dance demonstration The City Sings finale (via Jon Bounds) A sneak preview of the new Mac building in Cannon Hill park, Birmingham (via Nick Booth) Martin Mullaney’s welcoming speech

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  • Review – Cabaret

    Review – Cabaret

    Birmingham Repertory Theatre 02/09/08 musicals I confess, I’ve lived in Brum, for nine years, I enjoy musical theatre and I had neither seen a production at the REP nor did I know much about Cabaret. Wasn’t it one of those that’s a bit raunchy with lots of people wearing suspenders? Or maybe not wearing them [...]

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  • Review – Belper Music Festival

    Review – Belper Music Festival

    Belper Rugby Club 28/07/08 folk I went to Glastonbury once, in 1990. I actually played at it, but since the reality of that experience is much less impressive than how it might sound, I’ll just leave that comment as is. But my basic point is, I had the ‘Glastonbury Experience’ once, and once was all [...]

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  • Review – Zakir Hussein and the Masters of Percussion

    Review – Zakir Hussein and the Masters of Percussion

    Town Hall 02/07/08 jazz-world Mention the words ‘Indian Music’ to the man or woman on the Northfield Omnibus, and the chances are the first person who will come into their heads will be Ravi Shankar. Which is understandable really, since it’s fair to say he above anybody was chief in popularising Indian classical music to [...]

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  • Review – Buena Vista Social Club Presents…

    Review – Buena Vista Social Club Presents…

    Symphony Hall 23/05/08 jazz-world …Guajiro Mirabal, Cachaíto López, Manuel Galbán, and Aguajé Ramos. Thirteen (maybe someone wasn’t superstitious, though only 12 were named in the advance publicity material; so perhaps someone was after all) of Cuba’s finest, and oldest musicians, including the most famous four named above, performed infectious Latin American dance music with a [...]

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  • Review – Portishead

    Review – Portishead

    Wolverhampton Civic Hall 13/04/08 rock When Portishead first hit the record shops in the mid-90s, I have to admit I was initially a little underwhelmed. That all changed with the release of Roseland NYC Live (and the accompanying concert video) when I discovered just how artistic their music can be; if you’re the kind of person [...]

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  • Review – Paradise Dreaming – a city fairytale, by hamfisted

    Review – Paradise Dreaming – a city fairytale, by hamfisted

    it’s difficult to know where to start with this performance; billed as it was as ‘a contemporary performance of shakespeare’s a midsummer night’s dream‘, celebrating the wedding of ‘helen’ and ‘dominic’. certainly when one arrived at chamberlain square to pick up your ticket (a buttonhole plastic flower) you were given the impression of something promising – [...]

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