Theatre Review : The High Life The Musical

Photos: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan Dundee Rep Theatre, April 4th,2026. Who better than Johnny McKnight, Scotland’s first dame of Pantoland and legendary comedy writer, to team up with Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson to pen this late capitalist airline romp? Naebody, that’s who. This comedic menage a trois, adapting the fictional Air Scotia, come with someContinue reading “Theatre Review : The High Life The Musical”

Lost In Music: David Bowie – Ashes to Ashes

The best art often frightens me. When I was five, Kate Bush doing ‘Wuthering Heights’ made me think she was a witch. Now I love witches. Two years later, David Bowie freaked me out in ‘Ashes to Ashes’. It wasn’t him, per se, in his little Pierrot clown outfit, It was the strange space ageContinue reading “Lost In Music: David Bowie – Ashes to Ashes”

It’s War!!!

The French have a saying: “Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme”, which translates as “the more things change, the more they stay the same”. So it is with politics. Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris remain two of my favourite satirists and their classic 90s news parody The Day Today still holds up well, asContinue reading “It’s War!!!”

Overlooked Classic : Sonic Youth -EVOL (1986)

The front cover shows Lung Leg, in a still from Richard Kern’s notorious film Submit To Me, doing her typically fucked-up, possessed writhing. Kern of course had collaborated with Sonic Youth on the ‘Death Valley 69’ video, but EVOL, which remains my favourite Sonic Youth album beside Daydream Nation, is a much different beast thanContinue reading “Overlooked Classic : Sonic Youth -EVOL (1986)”

The End Of The End Of The Pier, As We Knew It

Noel Edmonds and Mr Blobby: nightmare fuel Jokes which don’t land, surprises which are deeply humiliating to all involved, rubbish ventriloquism with cheap puppets, hellish Saturday night quiz shows, the Brian Rogers Connection and Robin Askwith… Welcome to television in the UK, circa 78- 95. This, readers, was the not- so golden era of lightContinue reading “The End Of The End Of The Pier, As We Knew It”

Overrated Crap: Moulin Rouge!

I absolutely hate this film. I saw it with some girlfriends at the cinema and seemed to be the lone naysayer. I don’t hang out with those women anymore. Baz Luhrmann’s fin de siecle “spectacular” is like Cirque De Soleil for pre-teens who’ve never seen films-or the circus- before. It’s an absolute disaster.Worse yet, itContinue reading “Overrated Crap: Moulin Rouge!”

Favourite Cover Versions: The Mike Flowers Pops- Wonderwall

Set the table for fifteen, get the bowls ready for the keys, tout de ruddy suite. Make sure the kids are safely ensconced with the neighbours across the road, chill the Blue Nun and get the Twiglets and cheese and pineapple on sticks onto the orange. We’re swinging tonight, like it’s 1969. The Mike FlowersContinue reading “Favourite Cover Versions: The Mike Flowers Pops- Wonderwall”

Keep It Live

There’s nothing like seeing artists playing live. The energy, that electricity that can’t be replicated elsewhere is one of my favourite experiences in life. New artists are passionate and give their all. At the moment, though, I’m recovering from hip replacement surgery, so unable to see music like I used to. This town has noContinue reading “Keep It Live”

After the BAFTAs

In a day where Bridget Phillipson, Secretary of State for Education promised in her keynote speech that children with special educational needs and those from impoverished backgrounds were going to get extra governmental support, I couldn’t help but sigh, swear and roll my eyes. Ill believe it when I see it. She spoke of herContinue reading “After the BAFTAs”

Documentary Review: The Myth of Marilyn Monroe

  What an utter train wreck of a documentary, The Myth of Marilyn Monroe is. Directed by Oliver Elphick, it charts her rise and fall, with some historical context of America in the fifties, as opposed to telling her life story with any nuance. Instead, fairytale rags to riches clichés abound. The American Dream symbolismContinue reading “Documentary Review: The Myth of Marilyn Monroe”