Author Archives: twilightdawning

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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.

A tale of one city

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So last week produced two concerts in two days. One reasonably new band deserving success, one old band reinvigorated from a new album with 20 new songs to perform if they wish. Both gigs involved leaving my home (of course!), making the short walk to the tube station (I’ve lived here 6 months and I still can’t believe how short that walk is!) and hopping on the district line. Both gigs involved leaving said train at Westminster and changing for the Jubilee line.
Are you with me so far? This is where the contrasts begin.
Friday night, I get off at Canning Town. Saturday night, I leave one stop earlier at North Greenwich.
Friday, I leave the tube station and a guy in an orange jacket asks me if I like live music. I joke with him and say “yes, but tonight I’m already going somewhere”. I know from the sign on his back he’s pushing the Swarf gig and eventually we laugh.
Saturday, I just follow the crowds heading from the tube station to that odd shaped collection of buildings we used to call the “Millennium Dome” but now call the o2 arena. It looks the same but people want to go there now.
Friday, its into a deserted industrial estate, past the local car pound and tramping onward following the red and white signs for “BH2”. Thankfully there are plenty of them.
Saturday, it’s up an escalator in order to go down an escalator. Who designed this place?
Friday, the only lights in sight are the local MOT centre which is curiously still lit up at this time of night. You’ve guessed it, the club is in the other half of the building and apparently run by the same people.
Saturday, a nice steward clears my credentials and guides me to my seat, past the endless supply of merchandise I don’t need (okay, I bought a t-shirt).
Friday, I order a Corona. They don’t have a Corona. So I end up with a beer I normally only drink in Indian take-aways.
Saturday, I really don’t want one of their nasty lukewarm drinks so I wait in my seat and wait for the lights to go down. When the lights on stage go up, it’s evident that they’ve spent a fortune on the stage-lighting but at these ticket prices (hey, I got in free!) they can afford it.
Friday, when the lights go down, they never seem to light the stage and there are moments when it is difficult to see clearly. 
And on Friday, there were thirty people in that place, all gathered together, loving the music.
And on Saturday, there were twenty thousand people in that place, all gathered together, loving the music.

Friday, I stumble out into the cold night having seen a show I will remember a long time, full of great songs and energy. Back on to the train for my journey home.

Saturday, I stumble out into the cold night having seen a show I will remember a long time, full of great songs and energy. Back on to the train for my journey home. 

I really love this city!!

Give this band what they deserve!

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It was good to have Swarf back in London, last night, after a couple of journeys to Brighton over the last few months to catch their live show. Afterwards I felt distinctly mixed emotions – frustration and pleasure in equal measure.

The frustrations first. The venue was a little off the beaten track to say the least which meant that it wasn’t going to catch the casual audience. This resulted in a minuscule crowd – which must be discouraging for the band at this stage of their career. I think they’re one of the best bands around – both live and in the studio – but I sometimes feel that I’m one of the few who gets this. The actual venue was fine but the stage lighting was poor. Again, it’s all very well having a great live show but the set-up provided by the venue didn’t really help us appreciate it. They need to address this before future shows especially if this is going to become a successful club night. The performance was short but perfectly formed and I, for one, would have liked an extra song or two particularly as there was no support (aside from the silently-delivered wonderfully bad horror flick that was on the screen before the band took the stage). Finally, given that this was an audience who mostly knew of the band prior to the night, certain sections could have offered a little more encouragement. Some of the reaction between numbers was a little lukewarm and we could have least given Swarf the dilemma of having to consider whether they had an encore ready if they needed one.

The pleasures second. The band are great at what they do. In Liz, the lead vocalist, they have an energetic and winsome front woman who has the best vocal chops you’re going to hear this year. Chris and Andrew, the twin keyboardists, offer a great range of sounds, textures, dance beats and exotic rhythms which have been obviously carefully developed prior to the show. The range of sound and atmospheres are unique, going far beyond the built in samples and settings of their synths. They create the varying ambience allowing Liz to take care of the strong melodies which she is more than able to carry. High points of the set include the newer songs “Parlour Tricks” and “Don’t Silence” and tracks from their first album “Not Enough” and “Supine”.

It seems to be a key time for the band. Careful planning will be needed to take this to a higher level prior to the second album but they are more than capable of delivering.

Photography was difficult due to the (lack of) lights but hey, I tried:

Coming soon…..

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There are a number of album releases coming from artists that I enjoy and who I have interviewed or written journalistic material for in the past:

Walter Becker : Circus Money (June 10, 2008)

Al Green – Lay it Down (Blue Note – May 28th 2008)

 


Alice Cooper – Along Came a Spider (SPV – Autumn 2008)

 

Ladytron – Velocifero (June 3rd)

And first of all……….

John Foxx – a New Kind of Man (Live) (Metamatic – exclusively available from Townshend Records from 28th April 2008)

 

Steeling myself…….

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Somebody asked me where the title to yesterday’s Walter Becker posting came from. Here it is in it’s original context from the album Countdown to Ecstasy (which is also part of the “Citizen Steely Dan” box set, if you don’t have the original album!)

While the poor people sleepin’
With the shade on the light
While the poor people sleepin’
All the stars come out at night

After closing time
At the Guernsey Fair
I detect the El Supremo
From the room at the top of the stairs
Well I’ve been around the world
And I’ve been in the Washington Zoo
And in all my travels
As the facts unravel
I’ve found this to be true

While the poor people sleepin’
With the shade on the light
While the poor people sleepin’
All the stars come out at night

They got the house on the corner
With the rug inside
They got the booze they need
All that money can buy
They got the shapely bods
They got the Steely Dan T-shirt
And for the coup-de-gras
They’re outrageous

While the poor people sleepin’
With the shade on the light
While the poor people sleepin’
All the stars come out at night

Show biz kids making movies
Of themselves you know they
Don’t give a fuck about anybody else

Words, words, words

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Hamlet, I think, Act 2 Scene 2.

Amongst my many other failings, I read too much. Way too much.

To indulge myself and for anyone who might actually read this, I thought I’d make a list of some of my favourite authors (in no particular order):

GK Chesterton…. Love his philosophical and thoughtful stuff. I recently read “The Man who was Thursday” which is kind of a supernatural adventure story or something indefinable. His 1911 book the Napoleon of Notting Hill makes much mention of Ravenscourt Park. I look out on Ravenscourt Park every morning.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn….. Someone who rose in prominence primarly because of his opposition to Soviet Russia and who has faded just as dramatically since that is no longer a issue. I began reading him back in the day with A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. His later work is largely ignored since he is no longer politically significant. The later version of August 1914, The Red Wheel Knot 1 (published in the 1980s, not the earlier incomplete version from the 1970s) may just be his masterpiece.

William Shakespeare….  Not well known but a good playwright with potential. He just needs the right breaks. Joking aside I love to go and see his plays performed in Stratford-Upon-Avon which is one of my favourite places on the whole planet right now and chock full of good memories. King Lear, MacBeth, Merchant of Venice, The Winters Tale are my favourites probably in that order

Arthur Miller…… I love All My Sons, View From a Bridge, Death of a Salesman but also his later stuff which curiously is not often performed. At one point a few years ago, he decided to open many of his new dramas in London’s West End which suited me down to the ground. Great debuts ensued for plays like the Ride Down Mount Morgan and Broken Glass (which I think he revised before his death). I also enjoyed his short story, Plain Girl

Malcolm Muggeridge…… The most important journalist of the 20th century. I own all of his books bar one. If anyone has a spare copy of “Next Years News” (written with Hugh Kingsmill in 1937, I think) please send it to me. I will pay you generously. Great books, very important and woefully neglected. Three Flats, Picture Palace, Winter in Moscow, Conversion, In a Valley of this Restless Mind, Affairs of the Heart, London a la Mode, I could go on and on and probably will at some juncture.

Charles Williams… A cohort of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien but less well known. And a better writer for my money. Particularly like his novels which include Descent into Hell and Place of the Lion.

Philip K. Dick…..  A believable futuristic science fiction from a man who lost his mind. Claustrophobic stories from a future world which are so intoxicating.

Shusaku Endo….  Japanese author. I’ve read most everything of his that has been translated into English. Amongst his best are The Girl I Left Behind, Wonderful Fool and Silence
Charles Dickens….  when he’s good, he is very good. Could go far with the right backing. Joking aside, I enjoy Great Expectations, The Christmas Carol and a number of his others (but not all)
 
Current reading – Peter Cook “Tragically, I was an only twin”, Geza Vermes “The Nativity”, Philip K. Dick “Flow my tears, the Policeman said”.

 

Opening Day Roster

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So still on the baseball theme. After several weeks of Spring training games the Yankees have named their opening day roster. Let’s have a look at the runners and riders:

Pitching Staff

Jonathan Albaladejo (63) . A little bit of an unknown quantity for me. Right-handed relief pitcher who was traded for during the off-season in the Tyler Clippard deal. Clippard was going nowhere in New York so Albaladejo, who is a better fit for a relief position by all accounts, could be a good acquisition. 1-1 with a 1.88 ERA at Washington when he came up towards the end of last year. Blew his only save opportunity.

Brian Bruney (33). Great on his day. Dreadful when he isn’t. And notoriously inconsistent. Has done well to be still around. Hope he makes the best of the opportunity.

Joba Chamberlain (62). He was going to make the starting rotation. And then he wasn’t. He comes back in roughly the same role as last year but with some of the pitch restrictions lifted but also with some of the memories of his struggles in the post-season. Only time will tell.

LaTroy Hawkins (21). Coming in from Colorado as a free agent and the fourth right-hander on the roster. Last year was a good year for him after two seasons moving around and posting an ERA over 4. NYY are expecting a lot from him. It’ll be interesting to see if he delivers.

Kyle Farnsworth (48). Another right-hand reliever. And one that the Bronx crowd will feel that they have seen enough of after two sub-par years.  It’s hard to believe he would be back again if it wasn’t for Joe Girardi taking over as manager and all the talk of their strong relationship when Farnsworth played with him before. I’m not holding my breath.

Phil Hughes (34). First of the starting pitchers on my list. Huge expectations which have been balanced a little by Chamberlain’s emergence. Improved during his short tenure in the job last season, finishing with 5 wins.

Ian Kennedy (31). Another young right-handed starter. Made just 3 appearances last year, finishing with a very solid 1.89 ERA. It will be interesting to see how he fares in May & June after his pitches are better understood by their opponents.

Mike Mussina (35). The face of experience on the starting staff, coming off a very rocky year. His figures on paper don’t look much worse for last year than some of those preceding years but the pen and ink doesn’t tell the full story. There’s a legitimate question here as to whether he can still cut it at this level and if he doesn’t it leaves precious little hiding place for the young arms, bearing in mind Pettitte’s troubled off-season.

Ross Ohlendorf (39). Texan who made six good appearance at the tail-end of last year and who had a good Spring. More of the same please.

Mariano Rivera (42). What can I say? I’ve watched a lot of baseball (contemporary and historic) over the last 20 years and Rivera is the best relief pitcher I’ve ever seen. He’s getting older but close to his best will still be better than anyone else.

Billy Traber (61). This one I didn’t anticipate. Journeyman left-handed reliever who was released by Washington after two not-very-impressive years on and off their roster. Says more about the lack of left-handed relievers in Spring Training than anything else. We’ve fooled ourselves before that ordinary pitchers can suddenly become great. Can anyone say Aaron Small?

Chien Ming-Wang (40). No. 1 starter going into the season and deservedly so for this guy coming off two 19 win seasons. Can he make 20 this time around? Slight question mark over his big occasion temperament?

Batting staff

Jose Molina (26). Solid back-up catcher who can spell Posada. Hard to imagine anyone better in the role.

Jorge Posada (20). Great season last year but he is another year older and coming off a slow Spring. Good tandem with Molina even if he doesn’t repeat.

Wilson Betemit (14). Can be used in a range of positions and is also a useful bat off the bench. Good to see him back but glad we’re not relying on him to be every day at 3b.

Robinson Cano (24). 25 years old and you won’t find many better fielding-and-hitting players in that position in the major leagues. A lot will rest on him continuing to produce.

Shelley Duncan (17). A clutch of home runs and good attitude marked his arrival in the Majors last year. His batting average dipped in the later days of the season and, for me, he is still a question mark for the long-term. 1b is wide-open and that is not necessarily a good thing.

Morgan Ensberg (11). Another surprise name. And another journeyman who is unlikely to be in the post-season in 2008 whether the Yankees make it there or not. Recently with the Astros and Padres, he is patient at the plate and will draw walks but it’s hard when that’s the best thing you can think to say about him.

Derek Jeter (2). Mr Consistency. A great shortstop and a vital part of the team. If he does well so will the Yankees

Alex Rodriguez (13). He wasn’t coming back but now he’s here for the rest of his career or until next time he changes his mind. The Canseco story might disturb him and he has to win back fans who were never really with him in the first place. We’ll see how it goes……

Bobby Abreu (53). His 101 RBIs and 25 stolen bases last year were a vital component that is easy to overlook. Solid, dependable and a great advantage for us in all that he brings to the team

Melky Cabrera (28). It’s easy to forget that he’s still the 4th youngest player on the roster. 2007 wasn’t quite 2006 for Melky but he means that it would be hard to improve on two parts of the outfield.

Johnny Damon (18). Like Mussina, he had a sub-par 2007. Can he come back to his previous standard? Does he still have the desire for the game that he had during his Boston years? Another question mark.

Hideki Matsui (55). The recently married Mr. Matsui. Slow start to Spring training and advancing years but it’s still good to have him on the team.

Jason Giambi (25). Hard-to-believe that Giambi would still be in the Bronx if it wasn’t for the ridiculous contract that the Yankees gifted him in earlier years. I’d be happier if he wasn’t on the roster but for the team’s sake, I hope he has a better year than his forgettable 2007.

Also around:

Andy Pettitte (46). Back trouble puts him on the disabled list after a difficult and troubling off-season. Can he overcome all that he has brought upon himself? Is he still the pitcher he was even without all the back-story? We’ll have to wait and see a little longer…

Sean Henn (30). Mr Henn gets more chances than most but his left-handed action means he is still in the mix but injured. If and when Traber goes to triple-A, he may get yet another chance but the main question is which team will give him a tryout after that.

Scott Patterson (no number allocated). A surprising exclusion. His time will come.

Kei Igawa, Jose Veras, Edwar Ramirez, Chase Wright. We’ve seen them before. The writing is on the wall as they fail to make the cut.

Darrell Rasner, Jeff Karstens. They were supposed to be the two major candidates for the long-relief spot. Neither of them made it. Who will be in long-relief? Will Karstens return to health? Will Rasner settle for being at Triple-A? Questions, always questions…..

Overall we look a little thin. 1b is a real question and LF is a dilemma. Left-handed relief is very weak. Do we have 5 dependable starters? We need a little luck and one or two new faces if we are going to trouble Boston for the division leadership. 

Prediction: Wild Card.

Opening Day at Yankee Stadium

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It’s a trifle unusual to find a huge baseball fan in the UK but I have to confess. I first discovered the sport in 1986 when Channel 4 decided to show the World Series. In 1994 I made the first of a number of trips to New York to take in a game – only to find that my flight out coincided with the beginning of a players’ strike which wrecked the remainder of the season. Anyway, having arrived in New York I still made the journey to the Stadium and a very pleasant member of the NYPD went way beyond his remit by giving me a guided tour. I fell in love with the architecture and ambience of the place (even when empty) and decided then and there that it would be the first of many trips.
Since then I’ve attended over 40 games at Yankee Stadium and as they begin a new season to day I approach it with a rare feeling. Not only is today opening day for the New York Yankees, it is the last opening day which will ever take place at the old stadium. The stadium which opened in 1923 is being replaced. Like Wembley Stadium here in London, time moves on and new venues are demanded but there is a sense of history lost which can never be transferred or replaced. Add to this that as my diary and wallet currently stand my chances of visiting the old stadium one last time are nil and I feel very strange about all this. New York feels a bit like a second home but I guess beyond 2008, it will never be quite the same.