Justin Vivian Bond...

Last night Stuart and I went to see the wonderful, the brilliant, the sublime, the fabulous Justin Vivian Bond at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's glitzy South Bank.

Dressed in a flowing black dress with flowing blonde locks La Bond flowed silkily onto the stage to deliver a two hour, uninterrupted master class in throaty cabaret chanson. Although when I say uninterrupted he interrupted himself quite a bit with anecdotes, witticisms and stories of love, sex and longing that had us in tears of laughter.

"We love you Lana Turner... get up."

The show was funny, moving and musical - often all at the same time. We were treated to many self-penned gems and numerous covers from the likes of Tracy Chapman, Peggy Lee and Mama Cass.

High point for me was JVB's 16 glorious minutes of Kate Bush's Nocturn and Aerial. We were speechless.

Crowd-pleaser In the End sent us home all feeling that much happier that someone like Just Vivian Bond lives in this world.

Rime Of The Ancient Mariner - The Tiger Lillies...

On Friday night Stuart and I went to see The Tiger Lillies perform the Rime Of The Ancient Mariner at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's glitzy South Bank.

Calling on Coleridge's poetry this haunting piece brings forth firstly songs as graceful as the ether followed then by sea shanties as salty as the Dead Sea.

The Tiger Lillies always were a genre-defying brand of other-worldly vocals and unnerving performance style - this show has both in buckets.

Beautiful, dreamlike cartoon visuals evoking a theatrical staging are projected both in front of and behind the performers. They tell the wondrous story of the Mariner and his fall (via the odd albatross necklace.)

We loved the show and it further cements for us The Tiger Lillies unique niche in the cabaret circuit.

Ronnie Spector...

On Sunday night Stuart, Darren and I went to see Ronnie Spector at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at London's glitzy South Bank Centre.

Telling the story of "Beyond The Beehive" 70 year old Spector treated us to a slideshow cum confessional cum gig peppered with happy reminiscences, missed chances and woe. Phil Spector loomed large over the night - meeting him, her big break, the hellish marriage, the abuse, the bullying and the controlling influence even to this day.

Ronnie was a charming hostess with a dry line in (albeit well-rehearsed) patter. She choked back a tear or two as she told us about her first gig, meeting Phil, falling in love, meeting The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield, her drinking, her break-up, her failed attempts at trying to perform, her wonderful successes then she did, the unpaid monies, the court case, her comeback, the pleasure and the pain of working in rock and roll.

Her voice still sounded good and along with her eight piece band she performed hits such as Walking in the Rain, Time is On My Side, She Talks To Rainbows, Back To Black (Amy Winehouse's mother was in the audience) and encored with Be My Baby - a song she had not been allowed to sing for years.

It was an emotional show and ended with a defiant statement from the voice of the beehive herself, “Ronnie Spector will not be erased.”

Fascinating Aida...

Last night Stu and I went to the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's glitzy Southbank to see cabaret's own, its very own, Fascinating Aida.

Having seen them perhaps a dozen times since the mid-1980s I knew what to expect but being Stu's first time he was in for a treat.

And the gals didn't disappoint.

Two hours of great songs old and new they assaulted us with their very witty show Charm Offensive.

Bulgarian Song Cycle was back with new fresh outrageous lyrics.
Dogging made a return.
Look Mummy, No Hands was as poignant as ever.
Taboo made a welcome return.
New song Adele's Song was simply inspired - 10 years in the writing it was Adele's coming out story of being a transsexual and got the tone just right.
Cheap Flights - being their greatest hit - finished off the evening.

Oh, apart from a very rude song about Christmas!

Well done ladies. Another great show. Sweet FA!

Here's the full set-list:-

ACT 1
We’re Next
We’re Not Done Yet
Boomerang Kid
Spending Nigel’s Bonus
Dogging
First Bulgarian Song Cycle 2013
Double Dip
Joyce
Facebook Blues
Look Mummy No Hands
Down With The Kids

ACT 2
Allo, Bonjour Monsieur!
Ofsted Song (or A Teacher's Lot Is Not A Happy One)
Little Girls In Pink
Beetroot Song
Second Bulgarian Song Cycle 2013
Out of Practice
Taboo
Old Home
Prisoner Of Gender
Cheap Flights
Your Home Town

Boy George @ Meltdown...

Last night Stuart, Juggy and I went to see Boy George as part of the Meltdown Festival at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's glitzy South Bank. Lots of new songs (a good thing), some oldies (also a good thing), awful sound though - distorted and head-ache inducingly loud. Just awful. Such a shame.

John Waters...

Last Friday Darren and I went to the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's glitzy South Bank to see auteur John Waters.

JW is a filmmaker par excellence who exercises creative control over his work and has a strong personal style. And what a fantastically twisted, sick, subversive and funny style it is. Be it in his films, his art or his writing.

He was on stage and in conversation with Phillip Hoare to discuss his life, work and his new book Role Models.

He was very funny. Very. All too short at 90 minutes though. 

Brian Eno's Apollo...

Last night Ian and I went to see Brian Eno's Apollo being performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank. Following two sold-out and highly acclaimed performances at London's Science Museum, pioneering ensemble Icebreaker and formidable pedal steel guitarist BJ Cole were bringing one of Brian Eno's best and most influential ambient albums to life. Apollo was written for Al Reinert's documentary For All Mankind on the Apollo space missions, although it took so long to make the film the music preceded it by six years. Music from the album also appeared in the films 28 Days Later, Traffic and Trainspotting. This show returned the music to its original conception - as a counterpart to this NASA footage from the Apollo programme - matching the mesmerising beauty and tranquil mystery of the Moon and Earth, and the dizzying scale and humbling feat of engineering involved in taking people to the Moon. The show was in two halves. Icebreaker initially performed three pieces. First up was an untitled orgasmic thumbing opener. Then we had David Lang's Cheating Lying Stealing - a rousing cacophony of orchestral flourishes. And finally Michael Gordon's Trance - originally in ten parts but we were just treated to parts I and IV. It was a sort of Tubular Bells for the atonal crowd. BJ Cole joined them in the second half for Brian Eno's Apollo proper. The music was a faithful recreation of the studio album. But this was overtaken by the NASA footage, which was stunning. Who knew they were filming anything but scientific shots up there? There was panning, fading in and out and arty shots aplenty. Very funny to see the compilation of all those astronauts tripping over the moon rocks. And all that golf! Great fun. The film won an Oscar. Deservedly so. And the music matched it perfectly.