Hard to know
how to put this Blog together, it’s a week late and a current one is now due.
I hope it’s
not because I’ve been idle but there has been a lot to reflect on since the end
of the ROAF Fringe Festival, and yes RAE has already started to plan for
2013.
So I've stuck two together....................... oh you lucky people.............
Been
catching my breath after a busy week.
Two
fantastic evenings of acoustic music to report on which wound up the ROAF Fringe Festival for 2012.
On Tuesday
we had writer of “Dance on The Grave of Mrs Thatcher” John McCullagh topping a Bill of what turned out to be an evening
of acoustic music.
By this
point the Gremlins had positively got into the workings of the Fringe Festival,
and absolutely nothing was going to plan.
On this occasion our guest for the night Alan McGee (he of Creation
Records) had car problems which turned out to be lack of petrol; the Radio
Interview had to be done on the telephone, and unfortunately John didn’t get
his go with this; the PA system had not been prepared at the pub; and the Band
we thought was coming didn’t turn up; there was also clearly some sort of
communication breakdown concerning the nature of the event; and on the door, a
majority of those coming in to be part of the audience claimed to be with
John!
It was also
cold and wet, and the Pub ran out of beer!!!
It was as
they say NOT a joy of joy night.
But
hey! There was some great music
played. Phil Sinclair turned in one of his stand out performances in
difficult conditions. Is it my
imagination or does he get smoother with each performance. Watch out for news of a CD soon.
The fourteen
year old John “Lennon” McCullagh, or
John Jnr, in his public debut created quite a stir with his selection of rarely
heard Bob Dylan songs. It was a super
performance from one so young and yet another talent to watch as his voice
begins to mature over the next few years.
I’m sure he is going to be in great demand around South Yorkshire.
In between
sets we had short bursts of music from Alan
McGee on the DJ desk. Thanks to Alan
for making the trip from Wales to be with us, however, I sensed he might have
thought he was coming to a different sort of event, and was really there to
chat to John.
And the main
man of the night John McCullagh Senior produced a typically professional performance, the highlight
for me being of course the dancing guys from Doncaster to “Dance On The Grave
of Mrs Thatcher”.
Despite the
problems over the night it seems everyone had a good time with just a tiny bit
of debris to sort.
The final
night of the Fringe Festival was a musical delight yet once again the day had
not been one of the smoothest with first doubts about whether the event would
be a worthwhile exercise given the general lack of support for all the acoustic
events during the Fringe Festival; and then the weather making for difficult
driving conditions as Sheedyfrost
battled their way through the crashed cars and mist to be with us on Halloween
Night.
The evening
was kicked off by Tina and Matt
doing another of their technically fine and entertaining sets of Celtic based
music. True pros and true musical
troupers. And I mean that. Tina and Matt turned out twice to play
different material to different audiences, and in less than favourable
conditions for performers, e.g. cold , damp and poorly lit.
But the gem
for me personally was to finally meet Paul and Vincent collectively known as
Sheedyfrost. In more recent times the
boys have been joined by Bernard on Keyboards adding a new dimension to the
sound.
To me the
song writing and recorded music of Sheedyfrost is beautiful. Their lyrics in the main carry a strong
messages to which I for one connect strongly and their melodies are generally
light and more than gentle on the ear.
I’m told
that the Cambridge Folk Festival at which they will be appearing in 2013 have
been having trouble categorising the music of Sheedyfrost as quite honestly one
cannot say it’s honest to God contemporary folk; it’s certainly not
traditional; yet it’s not pop either – best to say that they are probably one
of the best singer song writer teams working.
And their
performance under the very difficult conditions in The Charters was magical;
the ninety minutes they were on stage just flew past.
What a pity
that once again the good people who make up the acoustic audience around
Rotherham did not feel moved to turn out – even allowing for the poor weather
conditions it was weak!
For some
reason all the acoustic Concerts, with the notable exception of The Red Choir’s
evening, were not well attended this year.
As a result we will be consulting amongst the folk and acoustic
Community before deciding upon the acoustic content of next year’s Festival.
Indeed we
will be consulting throughout all the art genres. This year the Fringe offered a wide range of
Productions, from theatre to the glitzy World of Heavy Metal. We would have loved to included more genres
along with considerably more ethnic involvement. Anyone spot a theme from last year’s review?
RCC and RAE
have already come together to consider 2013.
We really would love to hear from you if you are a Leader of an Arts or
performance Group, especially if you would like to have a production included
in next year’s Fringe or would like to be involved in the organisation of the
event. Please Email HERE
RAE / Fringe
would emphasise that the productions are completely yours. As part of the Fringe Performance Companies
can take advantage of our “on line” and ticketing distribution, as well as the
media contacts we have developed, while maintaining complete independence over
venue, pricing, and content – although help in all these areas will be
available.
We are also
considering moving the ROAF / Fringe forward by a month to September. This would mean that the Busking Day would
fall on Saturday 1st September.
What would be the general feeling about this? Email
HERE
I had
planned to go to the opening of the new Exhibition at The Old Market Gallery on
Friday, but had to pass on the knees up as I had a surprise visit from my
little brother and my Nephew……… given it’s
the first time I’ve see them in around ten years, I thought I had better give
them priority.
The family had
been giving Nephew Toby top reviews
for his musicianship and general showmanship, “a natural extravert” – and I can
confirm this, now that I’ve sat through a mini concert. His Father is very relieved that he lives at
the other end of the Country as he was showing great interest in joining in on
Masher numbers. His brains, my beauty,
where could we go wrong? His Dad would
lose a lot of hair though.
You can
check his talent, as late at night, he bangs out a Munford and Sons number at
Masher Towers HERE
I did get to
the Exhibition on Saturday. Wow. I have to admit that my breath was taken away
by the brilliant visual impact of the Alluvium
Exhibition at the Old Market Gallery.
The
Exhibition has become an Annual event since a Group of artists Derek Allport,
Paul Dearden, Rebecca Moss, Austin Pinkney and Ashley Clinton got together
shortly after the Sheffield floods back in 2007. The name in fact reflects the grainy silt
left by the flood.
There are
some wonderful walls of colour and interesting portraits along with stunning
sculptures to feast the eye on and of course we must not forget the poetry wall
which has been created by work donated from ROMP.
Saturday
brought the real joy of the day a trip with Mrs Masher to the …………… yes, The Club. I’ll be glad when the results come in and I’m
allowed off the lead again!!, and especially if Tytania happen to be
playing. For me, it was the same tired
songs being performed not too well.
Heavily tracked, and a lead singer who managed to hit the first line of
a song on only a handful of occasions made for some interesting moments. The “Bed of Roses” number in particular
jarred on this listener. Excellent use
of the lights though.
Meanwhile
slowly but surely the Web Sites are being updated. I am ashamed to say that the RAE Site in
particular requires considerable work being done on it, and I hope to get this
done over the weekend.
However, you
can get at all the Pictures from The Fringe Festival HERE and the slideshows will
be available HERE on the Web Site.
The Fringe
was RAE’s last major effort of the year although we are providing a bit
of support to Leather Zoo’s outing on the 21st December at The
Charters, a Euro Festive night of punk.
Not to be missed. But never fear
plans are already taking shape for 2013.
Under construction is a Festival for young people in the Spring, while
Slamfest will be taking up 6th / 7th July and of course
we’ll be contributing to the ROAF Fringe again, which we think maybe in
September. Let us know what you think
about a September Festival.
RAE will be
holding a series of Meetings over the next few months.
AND ONTO THIS WEEK
The past week
has not been quite as exciting as I’ve been catching my breath and recharging
batteries. In fact it’s been a week of Meetings.
It was
fantastic to see so many people turn out for the Diversity Festival AGM, and
without meaning to be condescending it was fantastic to see some new faces, and
young ones at that. I have sensed a
renewal in the determination and activity within the Diversity Festival Team and all looks well for the future.
There's a great little video of the 2012 event HERE
It was the
same at the BOT Business Meeting on Saturday night to which Mick and I had been
invited. I think we all benefited from a
better understanding that might lead to some positive and better collaboration
in the future.
From other
Meetings that Mick and I have been to you can expect big news in the weeks
ahead as a super music programme is put together.
So much
seems to have happened in the wider World, God has been re-elected, did the two candidates really
spend $3Billion on their Campaigns? What
could we in Rotherham do with $3Billion?
Well, we could elect a new MP, following the demise of that naughty boy Dennis
the Menace. I had wondered why Dennis
had recently been seen at so many Rotherham events. Sad.
However, it has to be said that the House of Commons would not have
imposed such a severe punishment on Dennis if his behaviour had not been so
serious; this went beyond a difference of opinion on what constituted a
legitimate expense.Not even a charm offensive would wipe the slate clean.
I also have
it on good account that we can expect a lot more extremist right wing
activity in Rotherham over the coming weeks. To keep up to date with what is going on link
up with Martin Hickman’s page HERE You’ll be holding on to your seats as Marlene
Guest will be doing all she can to embarrass us all. This lady once left a message on my answering
machine, the gist of which was not very Lady like.
If I were in
Rotherham Central I think I’d go for Ralph
Dyson the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition Candidate who I believe is a
Teacher of this Parish with a fantastic reputation you can find out more about
him HERE
The Alluvium Exhibition continues for
the month; don’t know what this is? Then
you should be getting yourselves down to the Old Market Gallery. It really is another top Exhibition of local
artists.
This coming
Wednesday 14th Carol Robson
will be Officially launching her book “Words of Darkness and Light” at The
Cupola Gallery, at Hillsborough in Sheffield, FULL DETAILS HERE and if you
go for a sleep in, the very next day, Thursday, Cupola starts their Print
Workshop. Details HERE
Thursday is
also the big SWITCH ON in Rotherham – yes the Christmas lights are set to
sparkle and glow throughout the Town. Of
course these days it takes a minor celeb or two to get the juices running into
the lights so Join X Factor finalists 2 Shoes at this year's Rotherham Lights
Switch-on Event! The fun starts at 4.30pm in All Saints' Square this Thursday
(15th November).
The full
listings that we know of are HERE
Finally,
rumours that RAE have made a £22m bid to Tower Hamlets, to bring the Henry
Moore Sculpture Draped Seated Woman to Rotherham is nothing more than wishful
thinking. Lol
Oh and
advance news that Prog Rock fans may be interested in a weekend Festival at
Magna scheduled for 6th / 7th of April. Watch out for more details. HERE
Just a warning friends that all the News
might just be a bit fragmented over the coming weeks.
Watch out for the meeting dates - and if you attended any event at the Fringe
Festival and would like to comment please go EMAIL HERE
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