The ever-popular Cambridge Rock Festival did not disappoint. The crowds enjoyed a line-up that spanned classic, rock, progressive, blues and a wide variety of new and mature talent.
The line up on Saturday was well worth the visit and I trust was a good representative of the whole weekend.
The bands I heard were 4th Labrinth, One Iota, and Spriggan Mist.
4th Labrinth, a local band based near Cambridge gave us a variety of songs that were well worth listening to. The lead singer, Marcel Kunkel, with his charismatic personality, keen sense of humour, great voice and talent as a composer, gave life to this energetic group. He was backed by other great musicians including Claudia McKenzie on bass guitar, Andy Cross and Lachlan Golder on guitar and Tom Winch on drums.
The opening nostalgic and moving ‘Shining Star above’ included some great improvisation by guitarist Andy Cross. The contrast in ‘This Rock and Roll’ had members of the audience spontaneously dancing to its infectious rhythm – Rock and Roll it was! Within their line-up was the well-known Purple Rain – providing something for everyone and the audience happily joined in. This band’s version contained some fantastic improvisations by guitar and voice. The final glory that of theirs was their rendition of ‘Live and Let Die’ – All wonderful stuff.
One Iota came down from York to perform on a very appropriate date: the 2nd of August which was one of the days York celebrates its greatness. The core line-up of the band consists of four members, though they featured a special guest musician for this particular performance. The line-up that performed at the festival included: Adam Dawson – Vocals, keyboards, and guitar, Andrew “Andy” Bowen – Lead guitar and vocals, James Brown – Acoustic guitar and vocals, Phil Everard – Drums and vocals, and Andy Smith – Bass guitar and guest bass player Andy Smith.
This band showed particularly impressive initiative. The versatility of the performers and the fascinating sounds they produced brought their music alive. They even stretched to using falsetto voice – very effectively, I might say. They were also not afraid to take on songs sung by the Rolling Stones including ‘It’s all over now’. The variety of different types of mood and meaning they conveyed was phenomenal. One particularly vibrant performance was ‘Radio on’ with a great beat and splendid episodes. The Festival Anthem they produced contained interesting harmony and sentiments. It is no wonder the crowd grew and grew as this group performed.
Then there came Spriggan Mist a pagan/progressive rock band which also drew a lovely crowd. The joy of this band was in the mystery and the darkness they conveyed, enticing the listeners in. The major draw was the lead singer, Fay Brotherhood, in a fantastic, unforgettable costume sporting huge antlers, which reminded us of ancient symbols of power, and mystery. Old myths and folklore provided the meat of their performance. . Much of the music they performed explored the hidden depths of unknown bringing forward echoes of a fairyland past, with fairies, spells and the like. We were well reminded to avoid treading on bluebells.
The lineup for Spriggan Mist at the Cambridge Rock Festival featured Fay Brotherhood – Lead vocals, acoustic guitar, Baz Cilia – Bass guitar, vocals, Maxine Cilia – Guitar, keytar, alto saxophone, woodwind, backing vocals, Neil Wighton – Guitar, and new boy Chris Friday – Drums.
Photo credit Rosemary Westwell
Their performance was fantastic. The sounds they produced were often out of this world drawing on our imaginations as though we had reached outer space. The full group of instruments sometimes all played together and yet, also improvised within the texture produced – amazing. In addition, ancient sounds from a flute or recorder added to the historical authenticity.
The lead singer, Fay Brotherhood, sounded very like Kate Bush with her high pitched dramatic call. What was particularly impressive was that there was no sign of strain in Fay’s voice, as we can often hear in other rock artists. This group were so good that the attending crowd roared for an encore which they were duly given.
From this small taste, this event must have been amazing and well worth attending if the remaining bands were anything like those I heard.
On this auspicious evening, the last night of the UK’s membership of the European Union, the European Union Chamber Orchestra gave a highly successful concert. Cambridge Corn Exchange was filled with music of the best quality that kept the audience transfixed and, in the words of the conductor, Eva Stegeman, the music the performers played spoke more than words could suffice.
The evening included works by
Marcello, Mozart, Glazunov, Tchaikovsky and Haydn. The orchestra worked as one,
displaying a unique, intuitive cohesion such that even the slightest turn of
phrase or intricate run, no matter how rapid, was perfectly synchronised.
The star of the evening was the saxophone soloist, Jess Gillam, who wowed the audience with her astounding performance. She lived and breathed every note of her performance moving her whole body in sympathy with the expressiveness of the music.
As soon as the first piece, Saxophone Concerto in D minor, by Marcello, began, we knew that the concert would be first-class. The tone was rich and the orchestra and soloists’ sounds were perfectly balanced. The phrasing was exquisitely precise never detracting from the emotional content of the pieces.
A charming, light-hearted ‘Cassation no.1 in G K.63’ by Mozart followed. This was gentle and sometimes cheerful with effects such as lightly plucked strings helping to make this a delightful interlude before Glazunov’s ‘Saxophone Concerto. In this concerto, Jess brought out the emotional depth of this later work particularly well, exploring the wide range of the instrument and making light of the rapid runs. She used her tremendous tonguing and breathing techniques to enhance the deliciously rich tones of the alto saxophone.
Just before the interval she played
a justly deserved encore that sounded very like a luscious arrangement of the
song ‘Someone to Watch over Me’. The last long note was a testament to her
phenomenal breath control.
After interval we enjoyed
Tchaikovsky’s ‘Elegy for Strings’ and Haydn’s Symphony No. 49, ‘La Passione’.
The orchestra came into its own with these pieces, the strings’ rich tone
giving depth to the melancholic themes in the Tchaikovsky and the whole
orchestra proving its phenomenal cohesion especially in the Haydn, even in the
very rapid Presto at the end.
The next concert in the Boldfield
Orchestral Series will be on Friday 7th February at the Cambridge
Corn Exchange featuring the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra playing Tchaikovsky’s
Violin Concerto with soloist Nicola Benedetti and ‘Symphonie Fantastique’ by
Berlioz.
KD Theatre Productions entertained a packed audience at the Maltings in Ely with an action-packed pantomime on Saturday. There was much audience participation: booing the bad fairy, cheering the good fairy, marvelling at the dazzling dancers, and empathising with Dick and his talking cat as they raced through their fantastic adventures until Dick became mayor of London and married the lovely Alice.
Not a moment was lost as we were thoroughly entertained by Dick Whittington (played by Aaron Carr), Tommy (David McNair), the charming Enchantress of the Thames (Lucinda Withers), the evil Queen Rat (Gregory Hazel), the beautiful Alice (Lucy Bell), the larger-than-life Sarah Sweet-Tooth (Terry Gauci) and the captain with a goofy grin and the Sultan (Terry Burns).
The singing was top-notch and there were some amazingly sophisticated and tricky movements in the dance routines. The Ensemble and the young cast: Team Jubilee, Team Bakerloo, Team Victoria and Team Waterloo were fantastic.
The costumes were amazing and it was incredible how a number of characters changed costumes so rapidly with some playing seamlessly more than one role.
The settings for the many varied scenes were imaginative including the streets of London town, in a sweet shop, down in the depths of the sea, aboard the Saucy Sally, an island and a Sultan’s Palace.
Director Daniel Bell, choreographer Katherine Hickmott, writers Daniel Bell and Terry Gauci and Musical Director Jack Breeze with a huge supportive team created a glittering and highly entertaining production that was the perfect antidote for a cold and wet winter’s afternoon.
Dick Whittington runs until the 5th January 2020.KD Production’s next pantomime with be ‘Sleeping Beauty’ at the Maltings in Ely on Friday 11th December 2020 to Sunday 3rd January 2021 contact: www.kdtheatre.co.uk.
‘A Christmas Carol’ written by Laura Turner after the original story by Charles Dickens and presented by the Chapterhouse Theatre Company in Ely Cathedral last week provided some splendid entertainment for our cold winter evenings.
All the favourite characters from the Dickens story were present. Seven cast members played 30 parts and not once did we ‘notice’ the varied and rapid transformations.
The players were: Gareth Cary who was Bob Cratchit, Scrooge Senior, Dick Wilkins and Jimmy; Matthew Christmas played Ebenezer Scrooge; Eliza Jade was Mrs Cratchit, Mrs Fezziwig, Beggar Woman and Charity Worker; Graham Hill was Mr. Fezziwig, Jacob Marley, Ghost of Christmas Present, Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and Master Robbins; Alexandra Lansdale played Tiny Tim, Ghost of Christmas Past, Lizie and Baker Boy; Amy Llewellyn was Martha Cratchit, Fan Scrooge, Belle Fezziwig, Beth Scrooge and Charity Worker and Zachary Price played Young Scrooge, Fred Scrooge and Peter Cratchit.
Scenes were often framed by full harmony carols. Combined with realistic costumes, scenery and lighting, we could all believe that we had been transported back to Dickensian times. In one continuous story, we witnessed the snarling bah-humbug Ebenezar Scrooge change from the epitome of a Christmas wet blanket to become a joyful, even well-loved, reveller in the Christmas spirit of joy and generosity. Most impressive for me were the directness of the mean Ebenezer Scrooge, the suffering of Bob Cratchit and the fear-inducing ghostly visitors especially Jacob Marley and his eerie voice.
The theme of love, charity and forgiveness permeated events providing a salutary lesson for us all. Director Anthony Law and Producer Richard Main and their team should be very pleased with such a splendid production.
More information about Chapterhouse Theatre Company can be obtained by contacting: www.chapterhouse.org.
After reading the book by John Buchan and seeing Hitchcock’s film of ‘The 39 Steps’ I believed there was no way this action-packed spy story could lend itself to comedy. However, with directors Alison O’Connor and Keith Gallois at work with an adaptation of the story by Patrick Barlow, that is exactly what happened. While the story and all its tension and underlying plot were played out, there were also great moments of comedy. They functioned perfectly well, side by side. This was an amazing feat.
Also, amazing were the six performers who managed to present 138 different characters. They were Ben Clark, Jessica Wildman, Samantha Gallop, David Tickner, Kerry Hibbert and Jenny Tayler-Surridge. Richard Hannay was constantly there, with his quest to save the country from a terrible spy ring, and we met the foreign spy Annabella Schmidt, Pamela an unwilling accomplice at first, the eccentric couple in the hotel, Margaret the Crofter’s wife, the stern crofter highly protective of his wife, the doddery campaign team mistakenly introducing Hannay as their candidate, the dastardly evil professor Doctor Jordan, Mr Memory Man who remembered the incredibly long formula at the centre of the intrigue and numerous other essential and non-essential characters.
As director Keith Gallois said ‘It’s all about pace’ and what a delightful rip-roaring pace pervaded the work. With amazing agility and speed the performers changed into their different characters, altering their accents, appearance and movements in a flash. Favourites for me were Hannay, the bored stage hands, the cosy hotel missus, the doddery political team and Mr Memory Man.
Props and sets were a stage manager’s nightmare – at one moment a cosy room in a flat in London, at another a train travelling towards Scotland. Nothings was left out. Not only did the cast manage to move through the different scenes at a rapid pace, they also managed to occasionally get it wrong (deliberately) producing another giggle from the audience.
Favourite moments were when the spies and the lamppost moved with incredible agility backwards and forwards, never missing a cue as Hannay peeked out of his window to see if they were still there from time to time, the vaudeville acts at the Palladium and when the stage was swamped with bagpipe players.
Congratulations to all contributors and after a show like that we are definitely bound to have a very merry Christmas!
