Published by METRO
Tonight (15 May) until Thursday (17 May), 7.45pm, £10 (concessions £7), Tron Theatre, Glasgow.
Tel: 0141 552 4267. www.tron.co.uk
VIDEO: Fight Night - trailer
At some point last week, Tron Theatre turned on the news and smiled. As the controversies surrounding the Amir Khan v Lamont Peterson and David Haye v Derek Chisora boxing matches became the main sport stories, it might have even done the pants dance.
And why? Because tonight it presents a play with a timing so suspiciously impeccable it’s giving conspiracy theorist David Icke ideas for his next book.
Yes, raising its curtains in a few hours is Fight Night – an engaging tale from award-winning Irish playwright Gavin Kostick that charts the comeback of an amateur boxer.
Part of Tron Theatre’s Mayfesto event, the piece grapples with themes of failure, hope and redemption as protagonist Dan Coyle Jr (portrayed by Aonghus Óg McAnally) battles with his life in and out of the ring.
Fight Night is introduced by Dublin-based company Rise Productions, and takes the form of an intensely physical one-man show with a witty approach to a powerful story.
So while this Merchant City venue may be rubbing its hands together in delight this week, we should also count ourselves lucky that this little gem has made its way across the Irish Sea.
13.5.12
Music preview: The Horrors @ O2 ABC, Glasgow
Published by METRO
Tomorrow (15 May), 7pm, £14, O2 ABC, Glasgow. Tel: 0844 477 2000. www.o2abcglasgow.co.uk
VIDEO: The Horrors - Changing the Rain (Skying, 2011)
Haha! Look at these jokers. Doesn’t everything about them – the ball-hugging drainpipes, the bonkers barnets, the deadpan expressions – just yearn pathetically for your attention? They symbolise everything that’s wrong with an indie mainstream that puts style before substance.
But hang on a minute, have you actually heard their music? It’s actually rather good.
Comprised of Faris Badwan (vocals), Tom Furse (bass/synth), Joshua Third (guitar), Rhys Webb (organ) and Coffin Joe (drums), these Southend-spawned rockers have more than proved their worth since bursting on to the scene back in 2005 – winning over the many critics unimpressed by their initial hype.
Undoubtedly on an upwards slope, the band’s sound has developed from noughties garage punk to a timeless and wider-reaching form of alternative rock music – and they remain well within their depth.
With Badwan’s resonant voice working a Bryan Ferry-esque command over squealing guitars, playful synth and slick rhythms – these guys are doing wonderful things with the big beats of electronica, dream pop and new wave. Plus with all their members still the right side of 30, it’s exciting to imagine what they might be capable of in the future.
If the trajectory of their career so far is anything to go by, things look very promising indeed. The group’s hit-and-miss debut LP Strange House was followed up by Primary Colours, which was nominated for – and probably deserved to win – a Mercury Prize.
Their latest offering is the critically-acclaimed Skying – an album the five-piece produced and recorded at their own self-built studio in London’s Dalston. It features the singles Still Life, I Can See Through You, Changing The Rain, and seven other tracks so great they’ll have you jamming one-handed on an air keyboard – as your headphones trap you in a fake world in which you’re performing in front of crowds of nasty old school teachers who never expected you to come good. Oh, just me?
After an extensive world tour that has seen them play across four continents, and before a host of summer festival dates that include Leeds/Reading, Latitude, Benicassim and Bestival – these lads drop into Glasgow. Thank goodness they don’t do tired.
You’d be quite right not to trust a Glasgow weatherman at this time of year, but take it from me – this bunch will bring a ray of sunshine to the city when they bring their genius (and hair products) to O2 ABC tomorrow night.
In a way, the physical appearance of The Horrors is not at all misleading, because it’s as arresting as their music. But style over substance? You’ve got to be kidding. Now go to your room, I’ll shout you when dinner’s ready.
Tomorrow (15 May), 7pm, £14, O2 ABC, Glasgow. Tel: 0844 477 2000. www.o2abcglasgow.co.uk
VIDEO: The Horrors - Changing the Rain (Skying, 2011)
Haha! Look at these jokers. Doesn’t everything about them – the ball-hugging drainpipes, the bonkers barnets, the deadpan expressions – just yearn pathetically for your attention? They symbolise everything that’s wrong with an indie mainstream that puts style before substance.
But hang on a minute, have you actually heard their music? It’s actually rather good.
Comprised of Faris Badwan (vocals), Tom Furse (bass/synth), Joshua Third (guitar), Rhys Webb (organ) and Coffin Joe (drums), these Southend-spawned rockers have more than proved their worth since bursting on to the scene back in 2005 – winning over the many critics unimpressed by their initial hype.
Undoubtedly on an upwards slope, the band’s sound has developed from noughties garage punk to a timeless and wider-reaching form of alternative rock music – and they remain well within their depth.
With Badwan’s resonant voice working a Bryan Ferry-esque command over squealing guitars, playful synth and slick rhythms – these guys are doing wonderful things with the big beats of electronica, dream pop and new wave. Plus with all their members still the right side of 30, it’s exciting to imagine what they might be capable of in the future.
If the trajectory of their career so far is anything to go by, things look very promising indeed. The group’s hit-and-miss debut LP Strange House was followed up by Primary Colours, which was nominated for – and probably deserved to win – a Mercury Prize.
Their latest offering is the critically-acclaimed Skying – an album the five-piece produced and recorded at their own self-built studio in London’s Dalston. It features the singles Still Life, I Can See Through You, Changing The Rain, and seven other tracks so great they’ll have you jamming one-handed on an air keyboard – as your headphones trap you in a fake world in which you’re performing in front of crowds of nasty old school teachers who never expected you to come good. Oh, just me?
After an extensive world tour that has seen them play across four continents, and before a host of summer festival dates that include Leeds/Reading, Latitude, Benicassim and Bestival – these lads drop into Glasgow. Thank goodness they don’t do tired.
You’d be quite right not to trust a Glasgow weatherman at this time of year, but take it from me – this bunch will bring a ray of sunshine to the city when they bring their genius (and hair products) to O2 ABC tomorrow night.
In a way, the physical appearance of The Horrors is not at all misleading, because it’s as arresting as their music. But style over substance? You’ve got to be kidding. Now go to your room, I’ll shout you when dinner’s ready.
12.5.12
Ruth
Ryan had been missing Ruth ever since their polite kiss goodbye, which had appeared to represent some sort of ending.
In their time as friends, they’d been out for dinner and sat in cafés for hours, talking about their mutual interests and the people they knew. Ryan recalled how he became lost in Ruth’s company, not really seeking to impress her, or fill the conscious silences with random junk. How, whenever they met at parties, which wasn’t very often, they tended to sit away from the other people, where they could communicate in their own little space. She stood a good foot shorter than he, her eyes and hair were pretty similar to a lot of girls’ her age, but she was perfect.
Their polite kiss goodbye had taken place on 17th June, at about 11am, outside a greasy spoon, where Ryan had just bought a bacon sandwich. They were both hungover and running late for things, and neither had anticipated that they would run into each another that morning. It felt unusually awkward and rushed. Their polite kiss goodbye lingered on his cheek that day, and for the next five years, when she was completely absent from his life.
‘Make sure you put “just a thought”,’ advised his friend Sarah. She was a good help with these kind of things. She’d never even met Ruth. ‘You don’t want to scare the poor lass to death.’ Ryan had a lot he wanted to say in that letter. He wrote about their polite kiss goodbye, and how moving its memory was to him. He asked about her cat. He didn’t know much about her anymore. He tried to express precisely what it was he loved about her, but couldn’t find the words, so he simply wrote ‘how I feel about you is beyond words’, and said he wanted to see her again.
In a room, her room, sixty years later, Ryan opened the blinds. Ruth groaned but didn’t move. He hoped she knew he was there. Speaking softly about their granddaughters, Mary and Tabitha, who were coming after school, he stroked her thin hair, and recalled her soft, perfumed skin on their wedding day.
He couldn’t look after her anymore, he’d been told, and neither could anyone else in their family. So now she was here. When Ruth sat up in bed, she spat in his face, and called him another man’s name. He often left the building with red cheeks that she’d slapped hard, but always with the thought that the happy lives they had shared, the many years they had given to each other, and the loving memories they had made, were worth suffering for.
7.5.12
Music preview: Keep Shelly In Athens @ Nice N Sleazy, Glasgow
Published by METRO
Tonight (8 May), 8pm, £7, Nice N Sleazy, Glasgow. Tel: 0141 333 0900. www.nicensleazy.com
VIDEO: Keep Shelly In Athens -
a) The Rogue Superhero b) Ready To Pay The Price
(In Love With Dusk / Our Own Dream, 2012)
Keep Shelly In Athens are a mystery. They’ve revealed very little about themselves online, making it difficult for journalists to waffle on about anything but their sound.
So here goes. Currently setting dancefloors alight with a thrilling brand of disco, techno and dreampop, these guys are everything yet nothing you’ve ever heard in modern electronic music.
Haunting female vocals are married with epic synths and melancholic grooves like a jigsaw puzzle made up from pieces of Blonde Redhead, Röyksopp and Boards Of Canada.
After a bit of phone hacking, I can now tell you we’re dealing with a boy-girl duo here. Based in the Greek capital, they’re comprised of vocalist Sarah P. and a musician who goes by the enigmatic abbreviation RPR. Their latest release, In Love With Dusk / Our Own Dream, is available on Forest Family Records.
This secretive pair are touring Europe at the moment, and tonight drop in at Nice N Sleazy – where Glasgow’s post-rock legends Mogwai sometimes hang out.
It’s quite possibly the coolest venue on Sauchiehall Street, though to point that out is as obvious as stating VERY CLEARLY that no voicemails were actually intercepted in the writing of this article.
Tonight (8 May), 8pm, £7, Nice N Sleazy, Glasgow. Tel: 0141 333 0900. www.nicensleazy.com
VIDEO: Keep Shelly In Athens -
a) The Rogue Superhero b) Ready To Pay The Price
(In Love With Dusk / Our Own Dream, 2012)
Keep Shelly In Athens are a mystery. They’ve revealed very little about themselves online, making it difficult for journalists to waffle on about anything but their sound.
So here goes. Currently setting dancefloors alight with a thrilling brand of disco, techno and dreampop, these guys are everything yet nothing you’ve ever heard in modern electronic music.
Haunting female vocals are married with epic synths and melancholic grooves like a jigsaw puzzle made up from pieces of Blonde Redhead, Röyksopp and Boards Of Canada.
After a bit of phone hacking, I can now tell you we’re dealing with a boy-girl duo here. Based in the Greek capital, they’re comprised of vocalist Sarah P. and a musician who goes by the enigmatic abbreviation RPR. Their latest release, In Love With Dusk / Our Own Dream, is available on Forest Family Records.
This secretive pair are touring Europe at the moment, and tonight drop in at Nice N Sleazy – where Glasgow’s post-rock legends Mogwai sometimes hang out.
It’s quite possibly the coolest venue on Sauchiehall Street, though to point that out is as obvious as stating VERY CLEARLY that no voicemails were actually intercepted in the writing of this article.
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