Abulations

Here's a question. When does a habit turn into an addiction?

If you have a couple of glasses of wine in the evening does that make you an alcoholic?

Followed by a couple of painkillers in the morning before work, are you an addict?

Abulations is a play based on a bar-tenders notes and outlines how addiction can creep up on you and the effect it has on the bystanders.

As someone that has worked in Hospitality a lot in my life let me tell you - it is not hard to become dependent on alcohol. You don't even have to like it, it just to be there. And free (or cheap).

It's shockingly hard to find a day-to-day middle ground. You're either sober or drunk, and drunk customers are far easier to deal with when you are also inebriated. In fact as anyone who saw me on my birthday can testify, I can seem perfectly sober when I'm shaking cocktails behind the bar, even if I can barely speak on the other side of it.

What I thought Abulations did well was by stripping the production back - no set or props - and having only four people it the production, it made the whole thing much more intimate.

The main character (played by Eoin Slattery) narrated to us throughout (he's not given a name in the novel) and managed to making the audience empathetic to his troubles despite his selfish and abusive actions.

Fiona Mikel and Harry Humberstone made up the cast and seemed to play roughly twenty characters between them.

Switching from person to person adapting their body language and dialect whilst also jumping on with the guitarist who played throughout to become a three man band (the jukebox) - pretty impressive stuff.

What I took from it personally was how happy I am to have moved away from hospitality for now.  

I've seen so many of my friends and colleagues slip into that trap of just one more drink, just one more hour until you find yourself up and wired at 7am on a Tuesday morning when you're back in work at 4pm the next day... And it all starts again.

The whirlwind is so intoxicating that you don't realize how far you've gone until you get out, or until it's too late. But all the while people around you have had to watch your decline.

I spoke to Jesse Meadows (Assistant Director and Creative Producer), Bertrand Lesca (Ablutions Director and FellSwoop Co-Artistic Director) and Eoin about the production.




Saying all this though, I do miss working on the bar sometimes. I love making cocktails and practically be paid to go out and socialize... But now I save it for the weekends. You might even find me at the pipe some time...

George The Poet

Last month I went to see George The Poet at Start The Bus but before I write about the show let me just give you a bit of background.

I've been following George's career for a hot minute. Like most, the first I heard from him was 'My City' published ahead of the Olympics. Some time passed and then he popped up again on 1xtra and I was mesmerized. I remember tidying my room when his live lounge came on and it was one of those moments when you just sit down and take it in.

After that I searched every YouTube video, found the Chicken and the Egg EP and vowed to see him live and talk to him one day. Fast forward a year or so and here I am, working at BBC Radio Bristol and he's coming to Start The Bus!

So I send an email to his manager to say 'oh hey I see George is coming down, can I get an interview?'... No reply. I call Start The Bus looking for an alternative email address... No reply. So I think ok, well I'll give them a couple of weeks - he must be busy. It gets closer to the event, I think, let me just get a ticket to be sure I actually get to see him anyway. Sold out. SOLD OUT?! Naaaaaah. I don't THINK so.

Believe me when I said I chased this guy for a solid month and then finally, a week before the event, I got an email back and a number. I organised a chat before the gig, thought about the questions I was going to ask and felt confidently prepped.

Slight hiccup occurred when my back went out and I was left horizontal the day before the event. I'd been looking forward to this for more than a month and then my backs gonna go and do that to me?! Peak. I laid up in bed for the whole day before boshing two very strong painkillers and heading out to do my first ever solo interview.

This was the result...

Watching George The Poet I felt like I was a part of history in the making and isn't that what this generation needs? Someone to lead and inspire not just through a talent but with a wide breadth of knowledge that you can't help but be drawn into, and listen to. It was like being in a university lecture where you didn't feel talked down to but included in the concepts that were being discussed.

Afterwards George sold and signed his book Search Party, I'm pretty sure everyone bought one. Here's my favourite poem from the book, named My Mandela.

If you ever get the chance to see George, make sure you do. Your eyes will be effortlessly opened by the end of it.

Smear

Lick words off the lips

That always say too much

Know that a conversation

Could be ended by a touch

One action could last forever

The dimensions of a moment, soft

When dissected in such a manner

That finds all the meaning lost

Open arms to demented tongues

Trapped in a fierce abrasion

Embrace the serpent sent

To seek division in the equation

Multiple minds that constantly find

A means for which to battle

To stand apart from cold-hearted ones

And take a back seat in their struggle

D'Angeloooooo

So yeah, D'Angelo happened.

I don't mind admitting that I was late to D'Angelo. Obviously I'd heard Brown Sugar and Lady but I didn't actually get to album listening levels until maybe 2012? But when I knew, I knew.


D'Angelo is just sex. Every song has an unavoidable eroticism. When I listen to Lady it makes me think of lazy mornings in the summer with pillow talk and orange juice. Unassuming, relaxed, happy.

Black Messiah is a different kind of drop. The jazzy instrumentation you'd expect is still there but with a bit more of an edge. To me Black Messiah is less of a seduction and more an expression of frustration - which was mirrored in his live gig.

Of course the vocal was flawless, we'd expect nothing less but the bass - jheeeeez. From the first song the entire place vibrated with this deep bass that seemed to ripple through the audience and promise an unexpected experience

A solid rock backbone ran throughout, with the performance feeling like three chapters. The beginning that smacked you hard with the new tracks, then a bit of a breakdown into old school classics before moving onto the finale which I guess was a mix of both. Each chapter was reflected in the outfit changes.

Black leather and an electric guitar started the show before moving into a checkered poncho (?) for some 'salsa tones' before returning in a black vest. Has he still got it? Maybe not in the way he used to but the guy looks good for his age! You can't knock that. My buddy was all 'Noooo, he got fat....' No he didn't, he got older. And he's still working it... Though to be fair when he started grinding against the mic stand I think everyone looked away in uncomfortable embarrassment.

Overall, it was wicked. Because I got to see D'Angelo. In the flesh. And close my eyes and listen to his sweet nectar voice. Over excitement was captured in the abundance of videos that were snapped until I ran out of memory...doh. But I saved enough for Brown Sugar. Win.

Below are my shaky hand vibe catching vids. As many as could be taken before becoming that dickhead that spends the whole gig filming.

@Bristol: Love and Luck

So I know its a bit late to write about Valentine's Day but mine was so wonderfully weird that I really felt like I should share. Especially as I'm making my way down to @Bristol tonight for Giles Petersonn- got my memory a whirring...

Whilst booking an 'alternative' Valentine's Day guest for BBC Radio Bristol, I got talking to the press office who invited me down to At-Bristol: After Dark.

It was much less sinister than it sounds. Essentially; At-Bristol opening its doors to couples and singles to come and play without any pesky kids running around hogging the machines - and of course nothings really adult until there's a bar... Brilliant.

So I went down there with a couple of friends and I have to say, I had a ball. The problem with At-Bristol is there's SO MUCH TO DO. I feel like I'd only be satisfied after five solid hours of running around in order to hit everything properly, but regardless I managed to pass through some main attractions,

Firstly: 'Have A Go Heart Dissection' *not: much more do-able after a strong double*

I'm not particularly squeamish but it was pretty intense. It felt like I'd hopped back a decade to Year 9 Biology and I'd forgotten that smell. That very specific smell of a raw pigs heart. It actually surprised me that I recognized it quickly, maybe it was that mixed with the artificial smell of the gloves but  bleeeeeurgh. Saying that, I couldn't walk away...and a twisted satisfaction playing with it... Evidence caught on camera...

Next was standing in a womb...that was odd. I think the idea is that you feel like you're a baby - the floor moved, the walls vibrated, mum's voice was heard muffled, and then you were birthed. It was an experience....

After I went to the Wiltshire Chilli Farm and took part in their Chilli Challenege. Holy crap. I can handle spice but the last one they gave me to try was madness. It was black. Do you know how disconcerting it is to voluntarily eat something that is pitch black? It looked like danger..and yes, it burned. Beautiful chilli flavours though, it you're a chilli lover, you need to check these guys out.

Last pit stop was the planetarium where we were taken on a journey around the solar system... If you haven't visited the planetarium before, the seats are practically horizontal. It was amazing though, I've heard whispers of films maybe being shown on that screen and good lord, if they put horrors on in there the whole place would be blubbering wrecks.

Here's a short 'n' sweet package I made post visit...


A huge thank you to At-Bristol to inviting me to come down and get up to mischief! Next visit will be Gilles Peterson at The Planetarium - eeeeek!!

Here are some more meaty pics... *insert cheesy heart in hands quote here*

 

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!!

Here's a little suttin suttin I actually recorded a week ago when I was in the middle of THE MOST inspiring week.

You know some days when you just wake up and you're like yeah, everything's gonna be ok. I'm not  perfect, the world's not perfect but perfection is a myth and fuck it, I'm happy so I'm gonna sprinkle that happiness onto everyone.

That's the kind of mood I was in, and it lasted ALL WEEK.

Then then this week I'd tired myself out by being so happy and things took a bit of a dip on Tuesday so I wallowed like a melodramatic wallower before tackling a
situation  and waking up today
LOVING LIFE AGAIN.

The relevance of this picture: St Patrick's Day
Be happy for the Irish and their sexy voices!

Because of this, I'm reclaiming Wednesdays. They get a bad rep for being that mid-week day when everyone's just waiting for the weekend to arrive. But when I was talking to a friend recently he made the very good point that time is just in our heads. After pay-day comes and the resulting elation you feel begins to dwindle sooner every month until you get a pay rise/new job and the cycle starts again, people are just counting the days until the month is over and they can breathe again.

How depressing. That we're counting each day to go by until we can relax by either 'living for the weekend' which seems to have been translated into 'get as wasted as possible and try to shake the resulting hangovers by the time work comes round again' or getting more money.

So... Fuck money. Fuck the idea that relief and release depends on something outside of your control. Be happy in being here, living life, having the opportunities that are available to you and be grateful. Spread some love and joy and happiness around you when you've got some to spare because even if you spend a little more effort smiling at someone you don't know, they might need that smile. They might really appreciate that little bit of human connection that doesn't cost you anything. And you'll feel better for it too!

So yeah, HAPPY VIBES ALL AROUND Beautiful people!!!

The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil....

OK so I am the first person to admit I have 'geek like' tendencies. In fact, my favorite purchase this month was my Marvel shorts (yes Primark).

So when I found out a graphic novel had been adapted to the screen by Bristol Old Vic I was first in line to go and check it out for BBC Bristol.

Performed by the Bristol Old Vic Young Company, it was funny and showed maturity beyond the collective's years. Clever observations of adults in the workplace - they zoned in on the mundane, confusing world of office
work.

Anyone that has worked at an office knows that really, no-one knows what the hell is going on. You walk in, push some papers, sit in a few meetings, and leave wondering what you actually did to earn the money that's going to pay your rent.

The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil turns this world on its head after main character Dave grows a huge unmanageable beard. Scruffiness is blasphemy in this clean, proper, paper pushing world.

Adapted from this graphic novel by The Young Company, it was very impressive to see the meaty characters that were discovered through cast's humorous improvisations.

So many themes interwove in this story, the most prominent to me being how society views Death; as something to be feared instead of accepted.

Then the lengths people will go to in order to remove something that doesn't quite 'fit in'; ostracizing instead of accepting.


Here is a small audio package that was put together by myself after the play.



A huge thank you to Stephanie Kempson (Director) and Kathleen Fitzpatrick Milton (Assistant Director/Assistant Music Director) for talking to me after the production as well as the cast: Julia Head, Joshua Robinson, Esther Lawrence and Elliot Winter.

Here's an unedited rendition of 'Here' which was the theme for the piece sung beautifully by the actors.



Looking forward to my next visit where I'll be watching Abulations...