This is my favourite photo from all those that I took during 2009. I just love the comparison between the beautiful flower and the horrible electricity pylon in the background.
All posts by roger
We Will Rock You The Musical
I’ve always been partial to the Mamma Mia stage musical and the almost cringe-worthy way that the ABBA songs were woven into the plot. After the first viewing where the song placement is a genuine groan generating surprise, the light breezy plot and sense of fun make it worth seeing several times just to generate a warm feeling inside.
When the film was released I loved it too – despite the cheesiness – it was just great fun.
So this weekend I saw another “juke box” musical – this time We Will Rock You – now touring the UK and spending an extended time around Christmas at the Edinburgh Playhouse.
Whilst it does not have the same – tear jerking mother and daughter hugging each other with joy girlie nights out appeal of Mamma Mia – it does have the same cringe inducing moments when you stare at the stage with your mouth open astonished at how they have made the jump into “I want to Break Free” or “Who wants to live forever”. But the look of astonishment soon becomes a smile because this is great fun.
We are in the future and all music is computer generated rubbish (quite prophetic given that Simon Cowell seems to be taking us in that direction) – and people are fed a daily assault of radio, TV and Internet Ga Ga.
Enter hero Galileo Figaro who has dreams of past times – manifested by him constantly quoting from great old rock songs such as; “The day the music died” ; and ; “Underground over ground Wombling free” – who wants to set the world free and bring back the heart of rock.
Along the way he meets many interesting characters. Scaramouche (or “scarybush” as she becomes known) – is Galileo’s love interest (he is nicknamed Shagileo after they first get together) – provides biting wit and outrageous sarcasm. The rebels include Britney Spears – a great big Jamaican, and Meatloaf – a girl in bodice and stockings and suspenders. Together they team up with Pop (played by him that used to empty bins on Corrie and was called Curly even though he had flat hair) – and defeat the evil Killer Queen and her henchman Kashoggi.
Kashoggi played by Darren Day stole the show for me – playing the beautifully suited villain as an east end thug along the lines of Brick Top. Killer Queen was Brenda who was a semi finalist in an X Factor a couple of years ago.
But of course the real stars of the show are the songs. Great versions, suitably updated where necessary. Loud. Pounding. Over the top. Just like being at a Queen concert actually. In fact the whole musical is effectively a build up to a live version of Bo Rap sung by the whole cast. And it’s a great finale.
Just as Mamma Mia has enduring appeal because of the awesome track list – so We Will Rock You The Musical has similar longevity. I can see myself going to see this one again and looking forward to the day they make it into a film.
The Great Coffee Invasion
I must admit that I was fairly oblivious to the invasion of the coffee houses, as well known brands like Starbucks and Costa carpet bombed city centres and established an outlet on every street corner. It wasn’t until the invasion was over and the High Streets of the UK had been subjugated that I really became aware of them.
My initial impression was why would anyone want to spend up to a fiver on a gigantic cup of coffee when they could make their own with a kettle and a jar of instant for a fraction of the cost, or in my case simply get a free cup out of the machine at work (even though it is questionable whether the stuff out of the machines can actually be described as coffee rather than simply hot coloured water).
Then one day one of the best known brands opened an outlet in our own staff canteen. Each morning I walked past huge queues of people who could now buy their coffee within feet of their desks, still thinking that even though it was subsidised it was still rather a lot of money for a cup of coffee.
But then of course the genius of this latest advance guard for the high street coffee brand onslaught became apparant the next time I had an external visitor – I found myself offering to buy them one – almost without thinking. And of course they accepted, because they had just flown up from London which has been infiltrated by the caffeine conquerors to an even greater extent than Edinburgh, and they were even more used to excess expresso than their Scottish colleagues.
I must say I enjoyed it. I even had two and spent the rest of the day and well into the night wondering whether my heart rate would ever slow back down. But after that first taster, initially I managed to restrict my branded coffee intake to meetings with external visitors.
Then one fateful morning, a shorter then usual queue lured me into buying one for consumption at my desk. That was it. They had me. Their carefully crafted strategies had worked and I was hooked on high street coffee just like the millions who had already succumbed.
One cup a day soon became two and then sometimes three. And on particularly meeting heavy days I have started to lose count of the number of cups I was shelling out for.
Eventually I worked out how much I was spending and I was horrified to find that I had gone from spending zero to £40 per week, at least, on coffee.
Music is Pumping – Review of Body Combat release 41
Well this release has certainly received mixed reactions from participants in sunny Scotland. In some clubs people have welcomed Body Combat release 41 with noisey enthusiasm but in others you can see disapproval etched on their faces. I haven’t experienced such an array of differing opinions since the Great Ginga Revolution that took place during BC32 when some people threatened to boycott classes unless I mixed the Ginga out.
Upper Warm Up (Dragostea Din Tei): I must admit that when I first heard the music for the upper body warm up, my opinion was that it was the worst piece of music to appear in Body Combat since Natha and Gabby inflicted “Mi Perro Dinamita” by Patricio Rey y Los Redonditos de Ricota, on us during release ten. By the time I actually did the track at the QW it had annoyingly hooked itself into my brain and I found myself humming it to myself whilst waiting for the train, or worse singing “Maya HI Maya HA” in public places. I warmed to it a little, but that warmth has been cooled again by the constant looks of disbelief on people’s faces. The choreography is fine – and it is nice to see a combo in the warm up.
Lower body warm up (My Life Would Suck Without You): I have liked this Kelly Clarkson song for a while so it is good to hear it here. Simple moves and a good amount of movement warms the body up quickly. I can’t work out the words but in the chorus it sounds like she’s singing ; “I’ve got a piece of meat; and a head on a stick”
Combat 1 (Music is Pumping: A jazzed up version of Blood is Pumping from BC20 with some nice moves and a great way to compare the snapping front kick and the push front kick. The world is full of pushy people and snappy people. Are you a snapper or a pusher? Nice little track – but probably a bit too short.
Power 1 (Slow and Steady Rush): I love the music and the moves. The contrast between the speed of the jab jab upper and the power of the four hooks is strong and gives a good coaching focus. The stomp jabs can tire people out if they get their knees up their nose. And then it all tumbles down into that quiet recovery bit in the middle. It doesn’t feel as if we need a break at this point and the action suffers as a result. Once it gets going again though it is relentless – especially in the last section.
Combat 2 Enter Sandman/Boom): Not the best version of Enter Sandman but nice to use the Exit Light Enter Night lyrics – especially in clubs where half of the room like the lights dimmer than the other half. The first part of this track feels like they rejected it as a Combat 1. The double-handed plyo-push is interesting and you definitely want to show it on a real target. The second half of the track (Boom – here comes the boom) starts with intense jump kicks and the Ginga is subtly layered in almost as an after thought so that it isn’t the focus. They handle the return of the Evasive Side Kick very well. Such a shame that this wasn’t the way it was originally introduced in Amadeus back in BC30 (a track which I thought was awesome BTW and still stacks up in my opinion as the best ESK track to date) – when Dan and Rach were jumping very high and scaring everyone! This time it is manageable at all levels and the focus is on the power of the kick.
Power 2 (Ballroom Blitz): Short, sharp and gets the heart rate really pumping fast. The moves do feel a little awkward on the beat for some reason and I have found that this is another track in this release that seems to polarise opinion into opposing love it and hate it camps.
Combat 3 (Let Me Entertain You): Very similar to Shut up and Drive from a few releases ago. The kicks are powerful and the concept of three enemies and the directions of the strikes to defeat all three of them is good and you can have fun with the cues – but overall it feels a bit dull. I almost feel that when you get to the full combo you want to do it non-stop.
Muay Tai (Desolation Row): Another piece of music that has divided opinion coupled with the slower pace than other Muay Tai tracks makes this track stand out in good and bad ways. I like the moves and the slower pace allows for much more power and precision. I also like rock music – but I have seen some angry looks on people’s faces during this one.
Power 3 What Do You Want from Me?): Stand out track of the release for me. Relentless moves – especially if you coach up through 4 levels in the last combo. Driving, pumping music this is a classic Dan and Rachael track 8. Great Stuff.
Conditioning (Right Round): Nice circular moves and it builds into low-key agony in the abs as you progress through the moves so that the shift to press ups is almost a relief.
Cooldown (Halo): Body Balance takes over from Combat. Sphinx, child’s pose, cat stretch, down dog, twisting lunges – feels like Dan and Rach have been having a beer with Doctor Dave. I lovely cooldown and a good job I like the music because it is also going to be in the next Balance release!
It was always going to be difficult to top the 10th anniversary release and this doesn’t quite rise to the challenge. Whilst it is a good work out and it is great to see the Evasive Side Kick back – the mixed reactions from participants to some of the music in this release has taken the edge off it for me.