A week for brave
- risk taking in Newcastle
Thoughts from Stephen Oliver.
Testing Times –
Peoples Theatre 17th Nov
Peculiar Disco
Moves – Castle Keep 21st Nov
Lady Gaga – Arena
22nd Nov
This week I had
the pleasure to see three very contrasting shows which all show that being
brave can result in a great performances.
Kicking the week
off was Testing Times which was written, produced and directed by Steve
Burbridge. Later in the week he would also star in it as Jamie Brown’s daughter
was born. It is a massive undertaking to turn a script into your own
production. To see the show evolve as you originally envisaged it must also be
rewarding. The end result was a stark and powerful reminder that we have not
always lived in such accepting times.
Peculiar Disco
Moves are a band I love seeing perform, with their catchy songs and
entertaining delivery, I’m humming their numbers for days afterwards. In the
past year they have performed at the Mining Institute, a band stand in a park
and now the Castle Keep. Deviating from their back catalogue, the Castle show
involved Mother related covers in support of their new release When Your Mother Goes Home. Does
Your Mother Know is a classic ABBA song and fitted well with the theme of
the evening. I loved the atmosphere in the historic venue and it goes to show
that music can be played in different venues with a little bit of imagination.
After a short
acoustic set which finished with their new single we moved across the street to
The Bridge Hotel when the tight three piece Iceni opened before Peculiar Disco
Moves performed a more conventional set. Iceni impressed enough for us to buy
their EP and PDM performed a number of new tracks which I
look forward to them recording, surely an album will be on the cards soon? It
was a great night’s entertainment which just goes to show how fabulous the
talent is in our local region.
Our son announced
mid-week that he fancied seeing Lady Gaga – and so we thought “why not”. It has
to be said that there are often good seats that are available about a week
before these big shows and we found ourselves sat near the front in the
cheapest seats. Another tip is to pay cash at the box office. When we looked
online, we saw that they wanted £25.50 for 3 tickets in assorted fees before we
even told them about how we planned to pay.
Lady Gaga has
many great songs and, just like Queen in their heyday, she is not afraid to
chuck in a mix of hit singles and album tracks. She was supported by a talented
hardworking bunch of dancers and musicians. The drummer seemed to be bashing
everything out of his drum kit. The hits were there in a set that knew how to
jumble up the loud with the quiet in order to make impact.
The stage
produced into the audience with a piano at the front. The idea is to get Gaga
close to the fans but it was more likely to obsure their view if they’d paid
good money for standing tickets. It also
meant that between a third and half of the fans found themselves staring at her
back for a number of songs as she sang from the middle of the venue. Bands,
like Metallica, try this “in the round” idea but move back to stages at the end
of the venue for a reason. The same reason why we still build venues with the
stage at the end – so performers face the crowd most of the time. The set
design was a brave and bold attempt at doing something different.
That gripe apart
we were highly entertained with a big show with more wigs and costume changes than
your average musical. We had two and a
half hours of Gaga and left suitably impressed.
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