Reviews
Mickalene Thomas, All About Love, Hayward Gallery review - all that glittersWednesday, 26 February 2025
On walking into Mikalene Thomas’s exhibition at the Hayward Gallery my first reaction was “get me out of here”. To someone brought up on the paired down, less-is-more aesthetic of minimalism her giant, rhinestone-encrusted portraits are like a kick... Read more... |
Album: bdrmm - MicrotonicWednesday, 26 February 2025
Microtonic comes into focus on its third track, “Infinity Peaking.” Album opener “Goit,” featuring a guest vocal by Working Men’s Club’s Syd Minsky-Sargeant, is doomy post-Balearic impressionism with spoken lyrics seemingly about the loss of self.... Read more... |
Argerich, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Papadopoulos, Barbican review - the great pianist as life and soulTuesday, 25 February 2025
At the age of 83, Martha Argerich contains more personality in her little finger than many people do in their entire bodies.Her vigorous, technically dazzling delivery of Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto began before she even touched the piano. As... Read more... |
Jessica Duchen: Myra Hess - National Treasure review - well-told life of a pioneering musicianTuesday, 25 February 2025
Myra Hess was one of the most important figures in British cultural life in the mid-20th century: the pre-eminent pianist of her generation and accorded “national treasure” status as a result of the wartime lunchtime concert series at London’s... Read more... |
Rats on Rafts, The Victoria review - crepuscular Dutch quintet begins to see the lightTuesday, 25 February 2025
An album is one thing, a live show is another. A truism of course, but one which is inescapable during this London date by the Rotterdam-based Rats on Rafts at a shabby chic pub in Dalston, East London.Rats on Rafts’ measured new album, Deep Below... Read more... |
A Thousand Blows, Disney+ review - Peaky Blinders comes to Ripper Street?Monday, 24 February 2025
Steven Knight is beginning to resemble the British version of Taylor Sheridan. While Sheridan has been saturating our screens with Yellowstone, 1923, Landman etc, Knight has been reeling off Peaky Blinders, SAS Rogue Heroes and even the story of... Read more... |
Fledermaus, Irish National Opera review - sex, please, we're Viennese/American/Russian/IrishMonday, 24 February 2025
Let’s finally face the elephant in the room: the most popular Viennese operetta, packed with hit numbers, no longer works on the stage as a whole. The central party, yes, never more high-energy delight than here, with a cast of 13 and 10... Read more... |
Chamayou, BBC Philharmonic, Morlot, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - blasts of Boulez, magical RavelMonday, 24 February 2025
The second of the Philharmonic’s Boulez-Ravel celebrations (birth centenary of the former, 150th of the latter) brought Bertrand Chamayou back: after his performance of the G major piano concerto in January, this time it was as soloist in the... Read more... |
The Capulets and the Montagues, English Touring Opera review - the wise guys are singing like canariesMonday, 24 February 2025
A year ago, after a deeply disappointing Manon Lescaut at Hackney Empire, I wrote here that English Touring Opera had often excelled in the past, and would do so again. The company hasn’t taken long to prove the point.Severe critics might argue that... Read more... |
Harry Hill, Wilton's Music Hall review - madcap comic on terrific formMonday, 24 February 2025
Harry Hill reminds us at one point during his latest touring show that he’s 60, but there’s no let-up in the energy he brings to New Bits and Greatest Hits, a pleasing mixture of old and new material showing he still packs a punch on stage.... Read more... |
Bilk, O2 Academy 2, Birmingham review - Essex rock'n'rollers blast into the weekendMonday, 24 February 2025
Sol Abrahams, singer and guitarist for Essex rock’n’rollers Bilk, was suffering from a bit of guitar trouble in Birmingham on Friday evening. By the time the band was ready to power through “On It”, from new album Essex, Drugs and Rock and Roll, he... Read more... |
Hinds, St Lukes and the Winged Ox, Glasgow review - Spanish garage rockers surviving and thrivingSunday, 23 February 2025
Hinds don't believe in God. They declared this as they surveyed the converted church that is St Luke's, and given the past few years you can't blame them for lacking faith.The Spanish duo later admitted they weren't sure they'd ever be playing... Read more... |
