Author: Amber Carnegie

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Theatre Review: American Idiot

Check out what happened when we sent our guest music blogger Verity Vincent to watch American Idiot the musical at Northcott Theatre in Exeter…

I took a seat at Exeter’s Northcott Theatre, and the set was truly intriguing consisting of a large fuzzy TV screen hung above the stage. When the lights dimmed, footage of George W Bush and the aftermath of 9-11 looped before launching into the title track American Idiot.

The musical, created by Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, Michael Mayer and Racky Plews, follows the story of three dead beat friends. Doing nothing with their days but smoking weed, playing video games and cracking jokes about doing each other’s moms and wanking. Central character Johnny, played by Newton Faulkner, wants to embark on a new adventure, leaving the suburbs for a big city lifestyle. As one friend Will (played by Steve Rushton) has a knocked up girlfriend and the other; Tunny (played by Alexis Gerred) answers Uncle Sam’s call and joins the army, with disastrous consequences. Johnny departs alone and falls into a spiral of drink and drugs, creating some dark and convincing scenes.

Another familiar face in the cast is singer Amelia Lily who starred on The X Factor in 2011 and went on to release her debut album in 2013. Taking on the illusive role of Whastername, we see her emerge in the ‘city’ and after catching the eye of Johnny, they embark on a destructive and drug-induced relationship. It’s at this time we also meet St Jimmy, played by Lucas Rush. The Mohican-haired punk is a boulder of energy throughout the show, serving as a bad influence and heroin buddy to Johnny.

The musical talent displayed goes above and beyond your average twee musical. With two guitarists and a drummer positioned at the top of the set, the music you get is raw, real and emotional. Even if you’re not a die-hard Green Day fan, the music is undeniably epic. A real highlight from the first half was acoustic number ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’. Lead by Faulkner, you hear every word he sings in his most beautiful tone. The audience is completely drawn in and silent.

Moving into the second half, we get to experience Amelia Lily’s talents more and more. Her focus never falters and that huge voice is finally released when we hear her sing ’21 Guns’ and ‘Letterbomb’.

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The storyline you follow is simple enough, but powerful in its messages and as we see the gang of three friends come back together after experiencing lost love, fatherhood and military stints,
the uplifting closing track ‘Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)’ sees the entire cast pick up their guitars for a company rendition. What you witness is a group of musicians, as well as talented actors and performers and it’s not something you often get from musicals.

You couldn’t praise Newton Faulkner enough for his portrayal. As a complex character it’s a tough role to get right and he totally nailed it. Throwing his voice out song after song, he is the perfect embodiment of what a Johnny should be.

The American Idiot tour concludes at Belfast’s Grand Opera House on July 2nd

Book a ticket. You’ll have the time of your life!

Images from: www.americanidiotthemusical.co.uk

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Music Review: Brian Wilson 50th Anniversary of ‘Pet Sounds’

Check out what happened when our guest music blogger Verity Vincent had the pleasure of catching Brian Wilson for Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary world tour at Bristol’s Colston Hall . 

If you often frequent gigs you’ll be privy to the feeling of suspense before the band or artist takes to the stage. While waiting for Brian Wilson to appear at Bristol’s Colston Hall, questions started circulating inside my head, about what was in store for the evening. But before we knew it, Brian strolled on stage in the most nonchalant manner, receiving a wave of applause and nearly a standing ovation before he’d said a word.

The 11 piece band readied themselves for what would be a 2 ½ hour display of incredible musical ability. Standing alongside Wilson was fellow Beach Boy Al Jardine and son Matt Jardine, who performed as an honorary member of the band throughout the 1980s.

This worldwide tour comes in celebration of the 50th anniversary of ‘Pet Sounds’, one of the most influential albums ever made. Changing the face of pop music and beyond. In a 2001 all-star tribute to Brian Wilson, Elton John expressed how revolutionary it was for him to be one of the first artists to move the root note of the chord and play with the 3rd or the 5th on the bass. He pushed boundaries and created music that no one saw coming. It was an extraordinary thing, to be in a room of people that appreciated and respected Brian Wilson in the same way.

The first half of the show threw out hit after hit memory-inducing songs like California Girl, I Get Around, Little Deuce Coupe and Don’t Worry Baby – with Matt Jardine taking lead vocals. Matt has that falsetto Beach Boys tone down to a fine art and it’s a glorious thing to watch.

Wilson seemed relaxed and happy to offer his fans a slice of the music history that he’s built. At 73 years old he’s comfortable enough to sit on stage and do what he needs to do without filling the gaps. When the band takes over, they take over and Brian is only too happy to sit back and take it all in. He introduces each of his songs and thanks the audience every time.

Toward the end of the first set, music veteran Blondie Chaplin made an appearance to perform Wild Honey, Funky Pretty and Sail On, Sailor. Having previously toured with The Rolling Stones, Blondie added a sprinkling of rock n roll in the form of insane guitar riffs.

After the break, it was time for Pet Sounds. Opening track Wouldn’t It Be Nice saw Matt Jardine take lead vocals once again in a perfect rendition. Moving through the album, other highlights were Sloop John B (met with a roaring cheer) and God Only Knows. As Brian left the stage toward the end of the closing track Caroline, No we wondered whether that was it? Would there be an encore? Surely that won’t be his big send off, slinking off the stage while the band concluded the album?


As the stage went dark and the crowd continued to cheer, Brian and company returned for quite possibly the most epic encore I have ever witnessed. Good Vibrations would have been enough on its own but carrying on to play Help Me, Rhonda; Barbara Ann and Surfin’ USA, among others, spurred the crowd to cram forward in a final burst of energy that filled the venue.

Closing with Love & Mercy, Brian quite rightly feels proud of his movie title track. In 2014 the biopic was released, starring Paul Dano and John Cusack in a dual performance documenting Brian’s life from the 1960s – 80s. The film has helped to relay both the astounding musical ability and the personal struggles that he faced throughout his life and career. Judging by the age range in the audience this evening it has also helped to reach new audiences spanning 50 decades.

Leaving with an almost morbid thought, I only hope that when Wilson is no longer with us that he is remembered justly. It’s unlikely that the media would apply a Prince or Bowie sized furore to his passing, but as one of the greatest musical minds of our generation, I hope that this tour cements him as just that. I’d encourage anyone to experience the magic of Brian Wilson’s music live, it will truly be an experience you’ll keep with you forever.

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Countdown to Slam Dunk Festival

It’s less than a week to Slam Dunk Festival and our music writer Amber and team will be heading to the sold out Northern date in Leeds to celebrate the bank holiday with some amazing bands. Amber picks some of the tracks she would love to hear at the weekend…

This year’s line up reminds me of so many great previous line ups that I feel like it’s going to be a weekend of reminiscing alongside so many thriving bands.  To help us countdown to Slam Dunk I’ve picked out a few tracks I’d love to hear this weekend.

Moose Blood

With their second album ‘Blush’ due for release this August via Hopeless Records I cannot wait to hear Moose Blood performing this new track ‘Honey’ live.

Four Year Strong

Is it a pop punk party without Four Year Strong? The answer is no. Slam Dunk have pulled off an amazing line up and I’m going to have very sore feet by the end of the night…

Norma Jean

I may be a little over excited for Norma Jean’s upcoming UK tour but the Impericon stage has such an incredible line up this year I might not venture too far. Let’s just hope no one is chugging milk at Slam Dunk during their set.

Creeper

If you’re yet to catch Creeper on one of their countless tours as they smash the UK then Slam Dunk is your chance. ‘Black Mass’ comes from their E.P ‘The Stranger’ who happens to be that creepy wee figure you can see in the background.

Every Time I Die

Once you hear that cowbell you know that something is going down. Which headliner are you going to watch this weekend?

Real Friends

In the spirit of Slam Dunk pop punk, Real Friends latest video ‘Mess’ comes from the forthcoming album ‘The Home Inside My Head’ due for release May 27th via Fearless Records. They’re playing the O2 Academy indoor stage, North at 5pm, Forum Live, Midlands at 5:15pm and Forum, South at 5pm so don’t miss out!

New Found Glory

It never feels quite like Slam Dunk without some New Found Glory!

Cancer Bats

I missed out on Cancer Bats last UK tour so I cannot wait for their set this Saturday.  With bands like these tearing up the place, it’s a good idea that they’re closing the streets of Leeds for Slam Dunk.

Which Slam Dunk are you attending and who are you going to see?

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Careers: Tattooed Operations Manager

We chat to Lauren who works as the Operations Manager of Twisted Burger Co in Sheffield about a day in the life managing a developing food franchise and her growing collection of beautiful tattoos… 

How old were you when you got your first tattoo?

I got my first tattoo when I was 18 so it’s not like I’ve got this underage story of a shit tattoo, even though it is a bit. I don’t think I’ll ever get it covered because I like that it’s my first tattoo, I like the back story. It was done in some dodgy tattoo shop in Rotherham and I got it because I wanted to know what a tattoo felt like. It’s just below my ankle and it’s ever so tiny, just a little daisy with some really shitty swirly stuff around it and I think it cost a tenner. I was bit worried that my foot was going to drop off but at the time I thought that it was the shit, like the bees knees, that I was so cool and took loads of pictures to put on the internet like ‘look at my new tattoo’ but I do still love it.

What drew you to tattoos, did anyone influence you?

Richard Lazenby from Crooked Claw Tattoo who is doing my right arm sleeve. His stye is very traditional, thick lines and bright colours that’s the kind of style that I like. There’s also someone I like called Filip Henningsson who works at Red Dragon tattoo in Sweden who I religiously follow – he is incredible. One day I want to go to Sweden just to get tattooed by him, he does really cool flash as well as a lot of necks and hands because obviously he is that good. And then my friend Alexandra Bawn her tattooing is incredible it is so intricate but she’s really versatile and changes. She also just got engaged to Matt Webb who is also a tattooist and I love his style and insanely bright colours. I usually just wear black so I kinda like my bright tattoos.

By Richard Lazenby at Crooked Claw Tattoo

Can you tell us about some your tattoos?

I have these three party dots on my hands, which I have matching with Anthony Allen from Skull & Bones Boys Club. We actually tattooed each other at 3am when we were absolutely hammered in my kitchen. We decided whilst drunk that we were ready for our party dots. So we bleached down the kitchen, got a sewing needle and some biro ink and put these black dots on each others hands. It was very silly but they’ve sort of grown as our friendship group has now got them too.

Then I’ve got ‘CFTHY’ which stands for Cult For The Haggard Youth which is an album by Dead Harts. I think there are now 14 or 15 people with this now in different places which is incredible. Next to that I have my brotat with Dom from Dead Harts as it was Friday the thirteenth and Niall Shannon was doing £13 flash so we got matching ones.

By Niall Shannon at Forgiven Tattoo

My baby is this one on my forearm, which is my late grandad. He passed away in February 2014, and I’ve got his nickname Sonny and my late grandma’s name Joan as well. I gave the task to Richard Lazenby and said here’s a picture of him do it in your traditional style. He did this beautiful traditional portrait of him but it’s not realistic but still a likeness of him in Richard’s style. I was originally going to get him on my leg but I changed my mind once I saw the design and I had him on my forearm, so it is definitely my all time favourite. Then I have a butterfly for one sister, a horse shoe for my other sister and some of my sleeve was paid for by family members. I’m building up bits and bobs like that and I’m getting some for my mum and dad further up my arm.

How did you get into your current role?

I actually started working for The Harley (flagship Twisted Burger Co venue) in October 2013 as the assistant manager of The Harley not Twisted Burger Company and within the space of a couple of months I moved up to being general manager, running the building, the club nights, managing all the staff and everything like that. From that my boss, Dave Healy saw something a little bit more in me, saw my ambition, saw my passion for food and my work ethic. I have always worked really hard all my life and he said right I don’t want you to be general manager anymore I want you to be the operations manager of Twisted Burger Company they need someone and I think you are the right person. I’d never been an operations manager before, I had no clue what I was doing and he said not to worry he’d teach me. So as well as the operations manager my role also entails being the area manager, the brand manager and I do all the marketing.

Did you have to get qualifications or did you work your way up?

I’ve been in the hospitality industry since I was 14, waitressing and working my way up. I also did some other management jobs before I was at The Harley but at the same time I went to university and got a degree in media studies and got a couple of NVQ’s in hospitality and catering so I got my qualifications as well. I originally wanted to go into radio but my career in hospitality just took over and I kept getting promoted. I’ve never had a company that has pushed me to be so creative and it’s definitely brought out the best in me.

Dead Twisted Vegan Sauces

What is a typical day like?

I’ll just describe what has been happening in March and that may just show you how crazy my career actually is! We’d planned to release our sauce range with Drop Dead, a new menu and a unit at the Moor Market in Sheffield City Centre. But originally these were all spaced out in our business plan for the year. Various things happened and it all ended up dropping into March. So in the space of like five weeks we launched the unit at the market, we launched a sauce range and we launched a brand new menu across all our franchises. So it has just been a really crazy past few weeks. But obviously everything that we’ve done with the sauces, from designing the labels with Tom J Newell, to coming up with the right recipes to the names on the new menu has just been mad.

It is just myself and Alex Malins who do all the day to day working for Twisted Burger Company, he is the executive chef but he has a lot more involvement than just the cooking- we do a lot together. It’s a very fun job, hard work but very rewarding.

Sweet Potato Fries from Twisted Burger Co

How do you dress for work? Do you show off your tattoos?

We dress however we want, most offices have a dress down Friday but usually I do dress up Fridays but just on my own because I do like to wear smart clothes and dress up a bit! If I’ve got meetings with future franchieses and I’m doing a sales pitch I will always dress up a little bit.

Do you find in hospitality people react more to your tattoos? 

I actually worked for Wetherspoons before I worked here and as soon as I got my first visible tattoo my boss sort of said  ‘you’re covering that up’ and they wouldn’t let me have my nose ring in either. Here there is a lot more freedom and it took me quite a while to get used to it after having to dress so smart all of the time. So coming to Twisted Burger Co and letting myself go was a bit of a weight off of my shoulders in a strange kind of way. But when I was working behind the bar, customer facing you do get a lot of comments or people touching you are grabbing where your tattoos are. But you just kind of get on with it.

The new Twisted Burger Menu

Do you have any advice to other people considering their careers when getting tattooed?

In the day we are in now I don’t think it matters as much as it used to but obviously with things like face or hand tattoos you’ve got to be quite discreet unless you know for the rest of your working life that you are going to be in a company that doesn’t mind you having those. But even with that sometimes when I have business meetings with future Twisted Burger franchisees I do cover up just to look a bit more professional rather than risk that judgement.

Even as a tattooed person I have that opinion that to look smarter you should cover your tattoos up – it depends entirely on who you are with and what you are doing. I don’t want to risk a bad decision for this business but then sometimes that is the quirk of Twisted Burger Company in that we can dress and look how we want. A few of us are tattooed and Alex Mallins my colleague has his eyebrow pierced so he is a bit of a goth as well. So if we turn up to a business meeting I bet sometimes people think God what have we let ourselves in for and then we sell our product and they think it’s a great product and a great brand. We’re so proud of TBC so its really easy to say great things about it because we love it as well.

We just want to grow in Yorkshire and keep getting bigger. It’s a lot of work to do but I love working here and I love my job!

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

After we spoke to Lauren we then had the pleasure of checking out Twisted Burger Co’s new menu.  

From the ‘Return of The Mac’ burger with a pesto and mac and cheese combo to the incredible ‘Bury me in Smoked Sausage’ their new menu did not disappoint. If you’re into your chicken burgers but fancy something a bit different it’s well worth it for the creole mayo and smoked sausage topping.

Return of the Mac Burger

Bury me in Smoked Sausage Burger

But it was the ‘Drop Dead Twisted Barbecue Burger’ that really raised the stakes with a double vegan ‘meat’ patty, vegan ‘cheese’ slice and bbq jackfruit in the new Dead Twisted sauce which made this carnivore think twice before she orders another TBC burger.

Drop Dead Twisted Barbecue Burger

But if you aren’t in the mood for burgers Twisted’s ‘Jalapeño Business Fries’ hit the mark along side more amazing new sides to the menu. The incredible ‘Highway to Falaf-hell’ with coconut and coriander drip and ‘Hang up the chick habit’ consisting of a basket of confit chicken wings has an unbelievable blue cheese dip and will fill you up as much as any burger!

Pig Pimpin’ Fries

Crack ‘n’ Cheese

Highway to Falaf-hell

Jalapeño Business Fries

Next time be sure to check Twisted Burger Co at one of their venues across the North.

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Music Review: Adele

Our guest music blogger Verity Vincent had the pleasure of catching Adele at London’s O2 Arena last week, find out what really happens at an Adele concert right here…

As Adele rose from beneath her stage in the centre of London’s O2 Arena, the tingling introduction to Hello ensued and her voice filled the room. With the opening lyric, there was never going to be any other way for her to kick off a show. And what a show it was.

Skipping through her back catalogue with Hometown Glory, Rumour Has It and Skyfall, her newest offerings from the album 25 were cleverly placed amongst the old favourites. With the ribbon of light around the stage, it almost felt like you could’ve been at a 1950’s bandstand event.

It has been overly documented how Adele is one of few with the ability to make a venue of thousands feel like she’s performing for you in your living room, but it’s true. Her simultaneous vulnerability and utter control make you relaxed and excited all at once.

If you frequent social media channels then you may have seen a circulating meme asking “What actually happens at an Adele gig? Do people just stand around together and cry, then go home?” Well, 10% of that may be right. There were no elaborate stage sets, no costume changes or flashing lasers. What an Adele gig offers, is personality, insane vocals, a roller coaster of emotions (there is a high possibility of sporadic outbursts of tears) and pure class… minus the profanities, but that somehow adds to her vast charm.

As Adele returned to the second stage near the centre of the venue for Someone Like You, walls of iridescent fabric descended around her, creating an incredible backdrop for the video feed and if that wasn’t a show stopper, we were about to see one! As the fabric drifted away, raindrops cascaded from the ceiling as she launched into ‘Set Fire to the Rain’.

adele 4

After announcing that she was headlining Glastonbury, Adele addressed the subject that some feel her music is “too boring” for a festival atmosphere. Her answer to this? “I ain’t fucking boring!” No, she ain’t! I think many have a preconceived notion that Adele sings ballads and that’s all you get, but her shows are so much more. Talking to her fans about life, loves, her son, funny anecdotes, taking the time out for those all important selfies and bringing young fans onto her stage; it’s a whole package of entertainment, wrapped up in her infectious cackle.

 

Ending on an up-beat note with Rolling in the Deep confetti filled the air – which upon closer inspection had been personalised with song lyrics and notes of thanks. A nice touch and a perfect way to end such a personable evening with 20,000 people.