Police Dog Hogan, Glasshouse, Gateshead

 It had been well over a decade since we first saw PDH.  There had been tickets bought since, but going unsiued due to force majeure (heavy snow in one case, covid in another).  So this was eagerly anticipated, and I wonderted what changes there would have been.  

A different line up for a start, with only three of the original group still there, and acting as the front men of the band.  James Studholme (guitar and lead vocals), Tim Dowling (banjo, electric guitar, backing vocals and occasional lead vocalist) and Eddie Bishop (fiddle and mandolin, and backing vocals) have been there since the beginning, and have developed over the years into slick entertainers, as well as much improved in the musicianship.  They have been joined by Shahen Galichian on keyboards and accordion, Don Bowen on bass guitar and Alistair Hamer on drums, with all of this trio also adding to the vocals.

I recalled, from that long ago gig, that PDH were competent musicians, who played within their limits, wrote excellent songs with memorable lyrics, and were good entertainers.  Much of that description still applies.  But they are even more entertaining, with some slick comedy built into the act.  The musical abilites have improved with time, so that their limits are higher than before.  Galichian adds another level, as the standout talent of the line up.  And the songs lyrics remain of a high standard.  Fummy, sad, ruminative, with clever structures and rhymes.  The melodies are decent too.

The style is derive from country, bluegrass and folk, with a West Country twist here and there.  A very Englsih form of Ameicana.  Studholme sings well.  Not the greatest voice technically, but distinctive, characterful, with imaginative phrasing.  Dowling impressed with his songs too.  

There was a good mix of the familiar, including the nearest they've had to 'hits' (Shitty White Wine and West Country Boy), and newer material.  Regular changes in tempo and sentiment and themes kept it all feeling fresh.  From the whimsical, like returning to Devon on the A303, to the melancholy, with reflections of the death of fathers.

I hope it isn't another decade before I see them again.

Brian Bilston and Henry Normal, Assembly Rooms

 Henry Normal in the first half, Bilston in the second.  A strong start when Normal came on to the Thurderbirds theme - he's very much of my generation!

Poetry and stories and jokes from Normal, in his own understated style.  Mostly very funny, but with occasional moments of thoughtfulness or sadness, or even anger about the horrors of the world.  And love.  His style is generally whimsical, full of clever puns.but there's some steel lying under the covers.

Bilston is more acerbic in his language, with well direxcted poetic gems against the monsters of today, like Trump and Johnson and the ridiculous Musk.  He's stronger on wordplay and structure and double meanings than Normal, with, at times, an intentionally cerebral approach, challenging his audience.  Well structured set that moved on rapidly across the wonderful and the bizarre.

A very enjoyable, and at times thought proviking, two hours.

The Scaff (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), Traverse

 Personal politics on the playground and the pitch. The Scaff features four aspiring school footballers, and social misfits, in a story of insults, jealousy, revenge and catharsis. Liam (Benjamin Keachie) has overheard star striker Coco (Craig McLean) calling him a Scaff - the worst possible insult. Egged on by mates Jamie (Bailey Newsome) and Frankie (Stuart Edgar), he targets his tormentor with a brutal tackle, and an injury that will keep Coco on the sidelines for months to come. Inevitably he is ostracised, not only by the whole school, but by his two supposed friends as well. And, being from a poor one-parent family, Liam is easy to put down.

But schoolroom relationships are complex, and malleable, and things don't stay that way for long. Over fifty minutes we learn the real reason for Coco's use of the hated insult, why Frankie and Jamie bend with the wind, and if Liam can rehabilitate himself. And maybe even be the hero of the hour?

While there are elements of social commentary sitting in there, this script is all about the laughs, and the play is extremely funny. The odd moment of pathos, and the feel of a Boy's Own storyline, are thrown in, but what you leave with is a memory of high energy, slick interactions, audience involvement, and some very funny lines. All four performers give a good account of themselves, as much a team on stage as on the ball.

A very enjoyable, if lightweight, end to the PPP season.

Hotdog (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), Traverse

 Joni (Chloe-Anne Tylor) is off to a party. Not just any party, but The One. And in not just any outfit, but a hotdog in a bun costume, complete with mustard. She's no money, but no matter, something will turn up to join her budget bottle of Lidl lemonade. And she'll be the centre of attention, looking as she does.

It's all for fun, all to get herself back out there. But is there more to it? Are there darker reasons involved? This location has a special significance for Joni, and strong memories. Traumatic memories. She wanted to be confronting her demons. But what if they prove stronger than her?

Hotdog is a powerful tale of dealing with past horrors, and facing the future. And of accepting support and help and love wherever it comes from. Tylor gives a mesmerising performance, by turns manic, pragmatic and consumed with grief. While this is a one woman show for much of the time, there is, lurking in the background, a stage hand (Ross Allan), who provides props, moves chairs, delivers sound effects. And turns into a friendly chippie owner for the closing scene, for the only dialogue of the play. A voice of sense, laced with humour, as contrast to Joni's emotional highs and lows.

Another excellent PPP.

Anna Massie, Traverse

 Massie has something of a cult following already, from her appearances with a variety of bands, her work as a guitar tutor, the lockdown vlog hit The Black isle Correspondent, and her Radio Scotland work. Branching out into solo gigging, on the back of an excellent album, Two Down, will only enhance her reputation.

String virtuoso and natural comic raconteur, she is an all round entertainer. A very varied set mixed song with tunes, and those stories. The first time I heard Anna singing, as part of her duo with Mairearad Green, I wasn't convinced. She can carry a tune no bother of course, but the voice was thin and of limited range. I don't know if she's taken lessons, or simply got stuck in to the practice, but this was a huge improvement. It'll never be a great singing voice, but she fully understands her limitations, and her vocals have charm to spare. Song choice is clever, and those with comic lyrics combine well with the twinkling grim that's never far away.

On the night she played guitar, tenor guitar, and a bit of mandolin (no fiddle or banjo this time, though she's equally accomplished on both). Constantly inventive, the tunes are one variation after another, be it slow or fast tempo. And there's a bit of audience participation too, with choruses to join in with, and 'mouth trumpet' to emulate.

Great music, great entertainment, and an excellent way to spend an evening.

Spring Equinox - Jennifer Austin, St Giles

 A solo piano performance in the vast cathedral space, featuring tracks from Austin's debut solo album, Night Painting, which is on general release soon. She has a subtle touch on the keyboard and in her timing, and writes deceptively simple melodies which build and swirl around the arrangement. Although steeped in the Orcadian folk tradition, Austin has moved into a genre that's hard to classify, drawing on a multitude of influences. In feel it's often classical, almost baroque, but then come traces of the folk background, or hints of jazz. It all fitted well with the atmosphere of the venue, her pauses leaving chords hanging in the cathedral heights. It was all very relaxing, and if there's a quibble it's that the tempo didn't vary enough. An injection of something livelier half way through the set would have introduced a bit more variety. But that's a minor point, and the overall feeling was one of calm, of vast landscapes and peace. Beautiful.

Pushin' Thirty (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), Traverse

 Eilidh (Taylor Dyson) and Scott (Sam James Smith) were best friends at school. She's the singer, he's the guitarist, and that was the band. They were going to make it big. In London. Except that when their schooldays end Eilidh's mother is ill, she won't leave, so Scott goes south by himself, determined not to return until he has the fame and fortune he is certain awaits him.

Twelve years later and Scott is back in Dundee, dreams in tatters, while Eilidh works in a baker's shop.  A pie brings them together once again.  Can the old duo be rekindled, or has time destroyed their dreams?  And if one of them needs rescuing from their situation, which one is it?

The format seems a bit odd at first, each actor intertwining their narration of past and present with one another.  It's almost as if the writers (Dyson, with Calum Kelly) aren't sure how to portray the story in dialogue.  But it ends up working, as some action unfolds, and each get a chance to play other characters (Dyson is clearly having a great time portaying their ex-schoolmate Billy), the whole stage is wel used and the pace never flags.  There are original songs throughout.  (Neither has that great a singing voice, but they do sound really good singing together.) 

Perhaps the points being made are a bit heavy handed and sometimes predictable.  There's nothing subtle about Pushin' Thirty.  But it's all very easily forgiven for providing such great entertainment.  The performances are energetci and excellent, and the sense of fun carries it all along nicely.  Time rarely passes without yet another really funny line.

A lot of the PP series are thought provoking and relevant.  But there's definitely a place for pure entertainments like this.  Maybe the audience doesn't leave thinking about much, but the grins on their faces and laughter in their voices are achievement enough.  

The Zone of Interest

An idyllic setting. A large family laughing and having fun in the sun, a picnic and swimming in the lake, then home in the cars to their big comfortable house. Where they have a perfect garden, and servants aplenty. Daddy reads bedtime stories to the kids, and makes his wife laugh. He plays with the dog. In the morning he's given his birthday present, a canoe, and sets off to work. He's good at his job, respected by his staff, admired by his peers, valued and trusted by his superiors, a byword for efficiency and organisation, an innovator who brings new ideas and improvements to the business. A model tale of middle class success.

Like living near to a railway, or under a flight path, where you soon learn to ignore, even forget, the noises of trains and planes, the noises from Daddy's workplace, next door to home, are background only, and no disturbance to the perfection. The barbed wire atop the tall wall at the foot of the garden, the sounds of shouting and screaming and shooting, the sight of the smoke and flames from the incinerators, are all part of the accustomed landscape. Just like Daddy's SS uniform, and his job.

Daddy is Rudolf Hoss, the commandant of the Auschwitz death camp. His job is to maximise throughput of Jewish 'untermenschen' into those incinerators, to be turned into smoke ands ash. Like any successful businessman, he takes pride in his work, and attention to detail. He knows he is a valued member of  his community.

The historian Hannah Arendt is famed for the phrase "the banality of evil", which she used it during the trial of Eichmann, who merits a mention in the film as Hoss' boss. This movie is the perfect depiction of that. It doesn't always work, for there are some strange moments that jar, but overall the slow, quiet pace, the sheer ordinariness of the characters, is as great a horror as seeing inside the camp (which we never do, except a modern day sequence in what is now the Auschwitz museum).  Because it is possible to see how this could be anyone. Any one of us. And that is terrifying.

Great performances from Christian Friedel as Hoss and Sandra Huller as his wife Hedwig. One the confident manager, the other a happy beneficiary of her husband's success story. She's fully aware, and approving, of what he does, and has no desire to give up the fruits of his labours. Should be compulsory viewing, because this will remain within you for a long time after.

Jack (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), Traverse

 

A solo performance from Laurence Boothman as the unnamed character who is processing the stages of grief.

He receives a puppy from his partner for Xmas, despite never having expressed the slightest interest in dogs. Would like to say no, but... it's cute. They compromise on Jack as a name and the puppy takes over their lives.

But one day Jack returns in the arms of, not his purchaser, but a policeman. The man he loves has died in a road accident, now he's alone with Jack. And all that pain. Boothman's character copes badly. At first. But can he come through it all, and what role does the initially unwelcome Jack play?

This is a moving study of how we deal with grief, not as something predictable, but as individual human beings who all react differently. Nobody knows your grief, and helpful suggestions aren't always helpful. Having to endure a bit of old fashioned homophobia along the way is only going to make things worse. But there is a way through, sometimes in a surprising direction.

Liam Moffat's script is often darkly hilarious, but always humane, and draws the tears at the end. Imaginative direction, within the confines of a flashy, but simple, set drives things along. But is Boothman's performance that is most impressive, from manic to quietly contemplative, from despair to joy. He does the voices of the people he has to deal with (including a memorable turn as the puppy), giving us a range of characters. It's raw and emotional and very powerful.

It's astonishing that fifty minutes can convey so much, but Jack does it brilliantly.

Cahalen Morrison, Traverse

 Two solo Americans for this show, both Scottish domiciled.

Frist up was Edinburgh resident, and Arizona native, Cera Impala. Accompanying herself on guitar and ukulele she sang her own compositions about the troubles of life and the world. Her soft breathy voice is very pleasant, but made the announcements, and lyrics, hard to grasp at times. Add in the slowish tempo of all the numbers and, for all their worthiness, this got a bit boring. Some out of tune guitar work didn't help. Disappointing, as I know she can be better.

Cahalen Morrison, all the way from New Mexico, but now living in 'that place' (!) at the other side of the M8, was a clear step up in quality musically. An excellent player of guitar, banjo and fiddle. The former pair used as song accompaniment, and ornamentation, the latter to deliver a couple of tunes, and he also did some a capella singing.

His voice is haunting, with excellent variation in pitch and tone, and the songs were varied in subject and melody. But the pace was, for the most part, as slow as the first half of the gig, and I wasn't sorry when it all came to an end.

I should add that my rather negative views may have been influenced by a heavy cold and lack of sleep, which made it hard to feel positive or engaged!

All of Us Strangers

 Adam (Andrew Scott) is a lonely screen writer who works from home in his flat, which is in a high rise block with seemingly no other occupants. He is trying to write something based on his own childhood, and goes through a box of old photos which trigger mixed memories. But then he meets Harry (Paul Mescal), who seems to be the only other resident of the block, and they end up having a passionate love affair.

But Adam is too troubled by the ghosts of his past, which his writing efforts have stirred into life. What follows is a portrait of a disturbed man held in the grip of unresolved grief and love. While the plot is often confusing, and the red herrings swim in shoals, that's an accurate reflection of Adam's state of mind, which increasingly leads him down paths that seem destined to lead to crisis.

It's a powerful evocation of the power of grief to determine our entire life if we allow it to, and the need to share if we are to deal with those issues. The idealised dialogues we allow ourselves to build internally have the ability to take over from reality. In Adam's case the two become increasingly one, and it will take something drastic to bring him out of it.

The performances are strong, and intense, with all four actors (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell have the only other speaking parts) delivering excellent performances. But the film revolves around Scott's troubled Adam, and his portrayal of a man in turmoil, using the past to try and understand himself, is masterful.

This is a movie, and character, that leaves you with questions and stays in the mind for a long while after viewing. Not to be missed.

Transatlantic Sessions, Usher Hall

 A joyous and sophisticated melange of an evening. With a total of sixteen talented musicians and singers on stage (I won't name them all...) and backgrounds in Scottish and Irish traditional music, and American Country and Bluegrass, how could it not be?

Of course there is some trepidation in going to a show which comes out of TV origins, but the overall format with some tweaking, transfers well. Helped out by plenty of laughs in the introductions and band interactions. Phil Cunningham is never one to be short of a funny story.

Fronted by American dobro maestro, Jerry Douglas, with fellow TA-founder Aly Bain from Shetland, the band played tune sets that mixed up the various styles of playing, with changes in tempo and mood. The singers all had a set in each half - Joshua Burnside from Ireland, Gaelic songstress Kim Carnie from Scotland, and country singers Lindsay Lou and Carlene Carter from the US. With Carter, daughter of legend June, showing her star quality and charisma (and channelling a bit of Johnny Cash, her stepfather). There was also a song from the band's guitarist John Doyle. And, an undoubted highlight, a solo from Appalachian bass player Daniel Kimbro. His chosen subject Michael Collins, the Apollo 11 crew member who didn't get to walk on the moon. Or, as Kimbro put it, the bassist of the astronauts.

But the biggest spontaneous cheer of the night went to Burnside for his lyric - "March up the Shanklill, March up the Falls, Doesn't matter where you're from, The tories fucked us all". Folkies are mostly decent people!

The encore was for the core band only, a set of tunes that once again demonstrated how that mix of styles and cultures can add delight and surprise to even the most familiar of tunes. Long may they continue to bring such imagination and joy to people.

Lau, St Giles

 

On as part of Edinburgh's First Footin' series for New Years Day, which saw a variety of city centre locations turned into venues for free music, this was the offering in St Giles' Cathedral, a spectacular venue with an equally special band taking part. They performed four forty five minute sets across the afternoon, to a fresh audience each time.

After a short reading from a Len Pennie poem, the compere brought on Kathryn Joseph, who played keyboard and sang a couple of songs. While clearly talented I find much of Joseph's material too dreary and repetitive to be enjoyable, with the lack of clarity to her voice leaving the listener with few clues as to what the song is about.

For her final song she was joined by the trio Lau, and that provided a distinct step up, partly from the song itself having a bit more life to it than the others, mostly due to the quality of the arrangement and backing vocals.

Joseph moved off and we were left with the trio Lau, and short set that took them back to their roots. Simply acoustic, only Martin's accordion, Aidan's fiddle and Kris' guitar and vocal. It was refreshing to see them they way they performed these fifteen years and more ago. As tight as ever, but still freely improvising, this was grin inducing, body moving stuff, and a perfect lift for New Year.