London
Her Majesty's Cavalry, ITV review - my kingdom for a horseWednesday, 05 June 2019
If you should happen to be loitering in London’s Knightsbridge at 4am, don’t panic if you find yourself surrounded by the massed horsemen of the Household Cavalry. When they need to rehearse for great occasions like the Queen’s birthday, they can... Read more... |
Bon Iver, All Points East festival review – powerful, poignant and a little bit weirdMonday, 03 June 2019
With thousands of people trooping in to see headliners including The Strokes, Bring Me the Horizon, Mumford and Sons and, tonight, Bon Iver, this corner of London’s beautiful Victoria Park has become a bit of a dustbowl – and the dust certainly gets... Read more... |
CD: Naomi Bedford & Paul Simmonds - Singing It All Back Home: Appalachian Ballads of English and Scottish OriginMonday, 03 June 2019
Outside the Palladium a couple of months back for Joan Baez’s farewell, I was given a flyer for this album – by Naomi Bedford herself it turns out. We had a brief chat which left me with a good feeling about the project and I was disappointed... Read more... |
Kuusisto, Philharmonia, Rouvali, RFH review - new principal conductor steps upSaturday, 01 June 2019
Last night saw the official unveiling of 33-year-old Finn Santtu-Matias Rouvali as Principal Conductor Designate of the Philharmonia Orchestra, an appointment that has been widely welcomed, not least on theartsdesk. And while I enjoyed Rouvali’s... Read more... |
CD: Peter Perrett - HumanworldSaturday, 01 June 2019
June 2017 witnessed a musical miracle, of sorts – the resurrection to recording and brilliant songwriting of Peter Perrett, The Only Ones’ singer, songwriter, and architect of his own ghoulish entombment in a Gothic south east London pile, fielding... Read more... |
The Strokes, All Points East Festival review - let them entertain youMonday, 27 May 2019
Back in 2001, after the release of their debut album This Is It, The Strokes weren’t just the most fashionable band in the world, they were also regarded as the group that could “save rock”. That was asking quite a lot.This Is It was 36 minutes of... Read more... |
The Waterboys, Roundhouse review - energetic delightsSaturday, 25 May 2019
Was it imagination or did The Waterboys’ audience at London’s Roundhouse, invited to sing along to “The Nearest Thing to Hip”, really sing extra-loud and lustily on the line “in this shithole”? On a momentous day that seemed to push Britain further... Read more... |
Summer of Rockets, BBC Two review - pride and prejudice in 1950s BritainWednesday, 22 May 2019
Hallelujah! At last the BBC have commissioned a Stephen Poliakoff series that makes you want to come back for episode two (and hopefully all six), thanks to a powerful cast making the most of some perceptively-written roles.His most recent efforts,... Read more... |
Heathrow: Britain's Busiest Airport, ITV review - 80 million passengers but not much actionWednesday, 22 May 2019
It’s remarkable that this meandering observational documentary about the five square mile airport west of London has stretched to a fifth series. Heathrow may have 77,000 staff and expect 80 million passengers to pass through this year, but that... Read more... |
Hatton Garden, ITV review - ancient burglars bore againTuesday, 21 May 2019
Have we passed peak Hatton Garden? It’s now four years since a gang of old lags pulled off the biggest heist of them all. They penetrated a basement next door to a safe-deposit company, drilled through the wall, and made off with many millions quids... Read more... |
Benjamin Grosvenor, Barbican review - virtuosity at its classiestFriday, 17 May 2019
It’s 15 years since Benjamin Grosvenor first strolled onto our TV screens as a prodigiously gifted child in the BBC Young Musician Competition. Today he is a self-possessed young man of 26, in his element on the concert platform, yet without a hint... Read more... |
The Firm, Hampstead Theatre review - ferociously funny exploration of gang cultureWednesday, 15 May 2019
We are living in a time when gang culture rips and roars its way down London streets, and through newspaper headlines, at increasingly alarming levels. Recent news reports revealed how a surge in knife and gun crime is leading to more young black... Read more... |
