twilightdawning

A writer's thoughts – mainly about music, sport and theatre. Shakespeare, Bob Dylan, live shows, New York Yankees

About twilightdawning

Amongst other things, I write professionally. I've been published everywhere from the small (Barnsley Chronicle), to the large (London Sunday Times colour supplement). I primarily write about music, theatre and sport. Most of the articles here have been previously published. No copyright infringement intended I also work in the music world. I've worked as a producer, promoter and general ideas man and conceptualizer. At the moment I'm working with Sad Cafe among others. I'm building a theatre. It's almost done after three years of planning and trying to be kind to my architect and my builders. We open in October 2012. I run a theatrical production company called "The Shakespearience". We perform an introduction to William Shakespeare for young people. Most of all I work in the charitable and faith sphere. I'm senior pastor of an unusual church in central London. I'm a busy man.

The New York Yankees Off-Season Update 1

Posted on November 14, 2014 by twilightdawning

Well, here we are in November. The San Francisco Giants deservedly won the World Series and the Kansas City Royals made a very creditable run from a wildcard slot to fall at the last hurdle. It was a great season and a fascinating season to follow and write about the Yankees who overcame adversity to finish with a reasonable record.

The question now is, can they turn those problems and strengths into a team that can challenge for the post season in 2015? Let’s take an overview of their roster at this moment in time and see where it looks like they’re going.

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Panic? Not quite…

Posted on November 5, 2014 by twilightdawning

What: Luna Rossa

Where: The Borderline, off Manette Street, London

When: 2nd November 2014

Luna Rossa are one of the new kids on the block in terms of live shows. This was their second live show on a three-date stretch which precedes the release of their second album “Secrets and Lies”. That such a little known band is able to pull a decent sized crowd is primarily due to their connection with one of rock music’s best kept quality secrets: Panic Room.

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Time Lapse in Hammersmith

Posted on November 4, 2014 by twilightdawning

Mostly Hackett but things turned a little Autumnal too.

What: Steve Hackett

Supported by Mostly Autumn (acoustic)

Where: Hammersmith Apollo

When: 1 November 2014

It was February 1984 and a close friend and I went to see Genesis at the NEC in Birmingham. Collins, Rutherford, Banks. I’d been a Genesis fan for about six years. Loved “Seconds Out”, “Wind And Wuthering” and “Duke”. Didn’t like the production on “Trick of the Tail”. Found “….And Then There Were Three” a bit of a mixed bag. Then I discovered the Gabriel years and my perception of the band began to change. “Trespass”, “Nursery Cryme” and “Foxtrot” joined “Duke” as my favourite Genesis albums.

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Alice Cooper on his music and his Christian faith

Posted on October 31, 2014 by twilightdawning

I interviewed Alice Cooper about his Christian faith in 2007 when I was preparing to help promote his “Along Came A Spider” album. I thought it was worth reproducing here. It’s a little dated now but I think it’s still worth a read.

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Stay with Me, Otto Preminger, Bob Dylan and The Cardinal, oh and Batman.

Posted on October 30, 2014 by twilightdawning

When I was a young child I remember seeing Otto Preminger play Mr Freeze in the ‘Batman’ TV series, a role he shared with George Sanders (who I would later enjoy seeing in earlier films as Simon Templar, the Saint) and Eli Wallach. I didn’t realise then that I would later come to appreciate his work as a director greatly. Films like Fallen Angel, The Man with the Golden Arm, Anatomy of a Murder, Laura and Angel Face are amongst my favourites of his. He challenged many taboos in the cinema and directed in a way that used lighting and musical soundtrack to wonderful effect.

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From Women’s Eyes This Doctrine I Derive

Posted on October 30, 2014 by twilightdawning

What: Love’s Labour’s Lost by William Shakespeare

Where: Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon

When: 23rd October 2014

Gregory Doran, the new artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare company, has barely put a foot wrong since he took over the role – and it has to be said that prior to the new appointment there had been a certain loss of direction. But in this new production, which I think is very solid and good, he seems to have based some of his thinking about it on a doubtful premise.

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Good Rockers Can Never Die

Posted on October 29, 2014 by twilightdawning

A Tribute to Alvin Stardust

It would have been the late summer of 1974. I turned on the TV. BBC 1. And it turned out I turned on “Top of the Pops”. I’d really not got into watching Top of the Pops yet. My music listening mostly came from plugging in my cassette player in, in the corner of my Mum’s bedroom and recording the Sunday night Top 40 rundown from the BBC in the cassette player’s built-in radio. I didn’t record the whole thing – just the songs I didn’t already have and that I liked.

Anyway back to Top of the Pops. Solo performer, black leather. Singing, barely moving, slowly removing a black leather glove. Great song, riveting performance. Glam rock meets some kind of rock ‘n’ roll revival. I swear I learnt more in 3 minutes about image and the colour black than I did in the whole of the rest of my life so far. It was and remains a hugely influential performance for me, although I don’t think I’ve ever seen it again. It appears to be one of those editions of Top of the Pops which was wiped and has not been found in a private collection. Perhaps gone forever.

I got to thinking about it this week when I heard that Alvin Stardust had died.

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The New York Yankees – The Pitchers in September

Posted on October 22, 2014 by twilightdawning

As we move on to the second half of our survey of the Yankees’ performance in September, we find a fairly surprising picture amongst the pitchers. Whilst the team averaged giving up between 3 and 4 runs a game which is pretty competitive, more surprising was that those who had been successful prior to September struggled and some new faces were successful.

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The New York Yankees – The Batters in September

Posted on October 21, 2014 by twilightdawning

September was never going to be an easy month for the Yankees. On one hand, they had to contend with the grand parade that was associated with the retirement of the Captain, Derek Jeter. On the other, they had to make up sufficient games to challenge for a wildcard. It would have proved too much for most teams but for the Yankees who were already over-performing given the weakness of their batting lineup, it seemed impossible. And so it was, they achieved a 14-13 record on the month whilst giving Jeter the send-off he deserved. One target achieved, the other not. But perhaps this was for the best – they would have probably embarrassed themselves in the post-season. Let’s look at who did what:

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British Soul

Posted on October 20, 2014 by twilightdawning

Who: Daughters of Davis, supported by Lánre

Where: Ravenscourt Arts, Hammersmith, London

When: October 11th, 2014

About a year ago I heard an interview with a fairly major music industry figure who when asked what he would like to be doing if he wasn’t doing that interview, said he would like to be at home listen to the harmonies of the “Daughters of Davis”. Time to find out about the Daughters of Davis, I thought. Located them on the internet. Ordered their cd and dvd (I’m the archetypal guy who like to have the solid item in both hands. Not much time for mp3s here). Nearly a year later, it’s time to see them in concert. Can they cut the mustard live?

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