Third Middlesbrough Literary Festival: Opening Day

Third Middlesbrough Literary Festival 2011

Opening Day

4.6.2011

How the years fly by. It doesn't seem like a year since I was enjoying the Second Middlesbrough Literary Festival (or, indeed, nearly two years since the First Festival).

Last year, the opening day was held in a tent on the grass just outside of the Middlesbrough Library. It was a extremely cold day, especially for June. This year, perhaps respecting the unpredictable weather, the opening event was switched to the magnificent Reference Library.

From 12.00 noon until 4.00 p.m., we were all entertained by a plethora of very talented singer/songwriters with a distinct Folk flavour.

It was an excellent day of entertainment in good company and fine surroundings. I present a small collection of photos from the day.

David Brunskill

Sara Dennis joined David to provide

harmony vocals for one of his songs.

Blue Sun

Amber Moon

Daniel Pettitt

Trademark flame guitar!

Alamano

Sara Dennis was multi-tasking, as usual. Having organised the day, introduced the others and found time to sing harmony vocals, it was Sara's turn with her trusty ukulele.

Curiously, two of the earlier acts had presented their own renditions of 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' and Sara's shoes had turned from black to red at some point.

Andy Broderick, Ray Legg and Mimi O'Malley brought the afternoon to its conclusion in fine style.

We keep promising to run an interview with Andy here at Marsh Towers. It will happen once we find some mutual spare time.

This was just the start of a whole month's activities, parts of which should appeal to all readers. There are writing workshops, author talks and plenty more music to come.

Please head for the festival website and make sure you get out there and support as much of the Festival as you can.

Incidentally, I caught, by chance, a few minutes of 'Britain's Got Talent' earlier in the week. It was at an advanced stage of the 'competition', so there should have been talent galore.

Unfortunately, the act I saw featured a woman who looked like a fearsome Aunty trying desperately (and unsuccessfully) to command her poor little dog to push a wicker basket from one end of the stage to the other. It's the sort of thing which used to be tucked away on very obscure satellite channels, but here it was, shamelessly served up as prime time entertainment.

'Dumbing down' used to be a concern, not a reality, yet it's happening all around us. A quick visit to WH Smiths over the weekend revealed no fewer than 15 magazines devoted to tattoos. Draw your own conclusions for now.

Yes, Britain has got talent, but you'll have to switch off the TV and get along to real events to see it.

Roger Waters: The Wall (Part 2)

Roger Waters

The Wall

Manchester M.E.N. Stadium

21.5.2011

Part 2

For part one, see here.

Shortly after the intermission, Pink appeared in a little hole in The Wall, apparently relaxing in a cosy domestic setting.

However, his anger with the world around was soon very much in evidence.

'Comfortably Numb' brought forth a harmony singer at the top of The Wall. The rest of the band were still playing all out behind the bricks, creating a very unusual impression.

Does Pink feel the isolation, or is his ego big enough to cope?

His frustrations reach a peak as he reaches out to The Wall...

...and smashes it, in one of the truly iconic moments of the show.

Triumphant!
Will the breaking of The Wall herald a new era of peaceful existence for Pink?

Not a bit of it. By now, his ego is set to maximum and he reinvents himself as a ruthless fascist dictator.

Losing patience with the imperfect world around him, Pink machine guns all and sundry...

...while the huge inflatable 'fascist pig' was hovering high above the crowd.

Soon, guilt catches up with Pink and he feels compelled to place himself on trial.

Following a period of surreal images and scenes, the trial of Pink ends with The Wall tumbling down around him as he is reunited with the audience and the world around.

The cast appeared in front of the ruined wall for a sing-along goodbye.

Roger Waters stressed several times how very happy he was to be in front of such a large crowd, acknowledging he had changed since the earlier era of The Wall.

Everyone had worked very hard throughout the evening. Roger's voice was in very good shape and the band were on great form.

A final goodbye at the end of a magnificent, powerful and though provoking show.

For future tour dates, pop along to the Roger Waters website. There's also some great video footage of a special guest appearance by Dave Gilmour and Nick Mason at an earlier show at London's O2 arena.

This is the end of my pictorial report, but there will be another post regarding the experience at a later date.

Coming next: a return trip to Manchester to see the fabulous Emmylou Harris. Stay tuned...

Roger Waters: The Wall (Part 1)

Roger Waters

The Wall

Manchester M.E.N. Stadium

21.5.2011

Part 1

'The Wall' was released by Pink Floyd in 1979. It's a harsh, controversial album, full of anger and frustration. It's definitely not designed for easy listening. The current tour by Roger Waters (rumoured, in some quarters, to be his last) brought The Wall back in all of its angry glory.

This was the first time I'd seen Roger Waters but I did get to see the other three quarters of Pink Floyd at Earls Court back in 1994 when they toured 'The Division Bell'.

The announcement at the start made it clear that photographs were allowed throughout the show as long as a flash wasn't used. So I put the camera to good use as will hopefully be seen in this first part of my pictorial report.

The story concerns a character by the name of Pink, who experiences various tough times and traumas throughout his life. Metaphorically, the building of the wall represents his reaction to these events. Physically, it also leads to the singer and the band being cut off, piece by piece, from the audience.

Following a opening announcement, a series of fireworks and light shows spark off the evening. World War 2 is the inspiration for the initial stages...

...complete with dive-bombing Stuka, which plummeted from the ceiling to smash into part of the wall.

Roger Waters plays Pink, of course. The Wall is autobiographical.

Before too long, the most famous song from album appears, as does an enormous, fearsome teacher, urged verbally to '...leave them kids alone'.

Blatant messages constantly appeared on The Wall as, brick by brick, the structure was being built up before our very eyes.

The 'kids' turn on the teacher.

Suddenly, it's back to Pink for a little while, picked out against the expanded structure...

...while further messages are relayed to the assembled masses.

The Wall was being built up at an increasing rate.

Reflective times for solitary Pink, but not for long, as another monster was about to appear...

Marital breakdown is a terrible thing.

Not much left now. Pink can just be seen in one of the few remaining gaps.

Now one hole remains and soon every brick was in place. The audience and the artistes had been cut off from each other.

Intermission! With The Wall fully built, there was a short break as the projections displayed a plethora of pictures of people who had passed away (visitors to the Roger Waters website had submitted the pictures in the tun up to the show).

Part 2 will follow soon...

Pray and Display

Another sign of social decay...

For all of our real-life signs, pop along to: It's A Sign!