King Lear @ Wyndham's Theatre...

Last Friday night Stuart and I went to see Kenneth Branagh uncertainly direct and self-indulgently play the title role of King Lear at the Wyndham's Theatre in London's glitzy West End.

 

One word review: Ham

 

Ok, let's be generous, two words: Over-priced ham.

 

Save you pennies. Wait for the Almeida production next Spring.

S Club @ O2 Arena…

Last Saturday night, Tim and I went to the O2 Arena in glitzy North Greenwich in order to see the recently reformed, slightly slimmed down, but gloriously energetic S Club (7).   

What an amazing show it was!  

We danced, we sang, we laughed - who knew that they had so many hits, or that we could have remembered pretty much all the lyrics?

Yes, it was mainly women and the gays in the auditorium, but my goodness there was a lot of love in the room.   

The woman next to me was with her son, and she showed me a picture of the first time she had taken him to a gig. It was S Club 7 when he was just five years old and they were both back again, reliving those precious moments. This time he was taking her. I took a photograph of them, while everybody had their phones lit up to a slow song, and they both almost burst tears when they saw it.  Such is the power of nostalgia.   

Yes, it was just Bradley, Joe, Jon, Rachel and Tina up in the stage but the five of them put on a great night. It was bright, it was lively and it was fun.  

The packed O2 were on their feet from the first bars of S Club Party, and the energy levels didn’t dip once. We could’ve raised the roof 100 times higher than it was.   

80 minutes of pure pop pleasure.   

Setlist:

S Club Party (Remix)

Love Ain't Gonna Wait for You

You're My Number One

Natural

Sunshine

You

Stronger

Bring the House Down

Friday Night

Don't Stop Movin'

Good Times (Live footage of Paul)

Bring It All Back

Two in a Million

These Are The Days

Have You Ever

Alive

Reach

Encore: 

Never Had a Dream Come True

S Club Party (Remix/Reprise)

Arsenal 5 - 0 Sheffield Utd…

Pre-kick off, the winners of yesterday’s match between bottom of the table Sheffield Utd and the mighty Arsenal might not have been in much doubt. But the magnitude of the win, perhaps few could have predicted. OK, apart from you Joe at the gaygooners pre-game meet-up!

 

The first half of the match was almost boring to begin with. With out-of-form Ødegaard benched and Jesus out with injury - who was going to step forward to liven things up? 

 

Would it be Saka our captain, or would it be Smith Rowe who was on the pitch for his first League start of the season?

 

No, step forward Eddie Nketiah. And what an afternoon it turned out to be for him. His first three shots on goal all went in. An incredible hat-trick for an incredible player.

 

The crowd were delirious.

 

The second half became a romp. Viera scored a penalty to make it four and Tomiyasu’s peach of a shot deep into injury time which sealed the day to make it five. Five mighty goals. And a clean sheet for Raya! Thank goodness.

 

Sheffield were completely out-fought and out-played by our boys in red. What a joyous afternoon at the Emirates.

 

#ARSSHU

@Arsenal

@gaygooners

Portia Coughlan @ Almeida Theatre...

I'll not give anything away but the warnings we had before we went in to take our seats were enough to prepare us for the worst; suicide, incest, discriminatory language, and violence. 

 

Last Friday night Stuart and I went to see Marina Carr's haunting play Portia Coughlan at the Almeida Theatre in London's glitzy Islington.

 

To say it's a bleak play might undersell its credentials somewhat. It's dark. Very dark. Greek Tragedy dark.

 

Directed by Carrie Cracknell, the play sees Portia (the wonderful Alison Oliver) as a young woman unravelling. It's her 30th birthday, but no one is celebrating. Portia is tormented that 15 years ago her twin brother Gabriel disappeared into the depths of the Belmont River.

 

The action lurches between past and present as we see Portia make terrible choices and we can't help wondering if the hand of fate has already set her course.

 

That said, we loved it. It was raw, it was emotional, it was real.  Bloody bleak though!

Seville vs Arsenal - Bad Score Prediction - Oh Dear!…

Arsenal often make little films on away days talking to fans. 

Note to self: When asked for your score prediction, read the room! 😂 (4 mins in)

 

Needless to say I got it very wrong! Carl was spot on. 

 

#SEVARS 

@CarlJFearn 

@Arsenal

 

https://youtu.be/pc4ZN0THSMg?si=RkOCuL2rtzDaymh8

 

  

Sightseeing in Seville @regenersaurus (and Steve)

Sevilla 1 - 2 Arsenal…

It was wet and wild but we did it. We made it to the Sevilla stadium. 

We made hard work of the game but deservedly won 2-1. 

The rain in Spain stays mainly in the Away End though. #SEVARS @arsenal 

Seville Arrival…

Seville is certainly a fun city. Our flight was massively delayed last night but we made it here in one piece. 

Today has been a day of pottering about. And hanging upside down. 😅 @arsenal #awaydays @SEVARS  

Seville - Easy Does It…

Later today I’m flying to Seville to watch @Arsenal match on tomorrow night. 

Last time I flew to Seville I took a whole Xanax (yes, I’m a nervous flyer) and drank two entire bottles of red wine on the flight. I don’t remember landing, nor immigration, nor customs - but the next day when I woke up I found a photo on my phone with my hoodie on my head and this handwritten note in my rucksack. Oppsy. 

Note to self: meditation not medication.