Young Knives Live

I’ve been to many interesting gigs but nothing quite as bizarre as Young Knives' performance this weekend at Britain’s sweatiest venue, Joiners in Southampton.


Joiners was recently voted by NME as the 'Best Small Venue,' a very well-deserved title. If you aren’t aware of the quirky oddball brothers who front the Leicestershire indie band Young Knives, then where have you been? They're entertaining, have a sense of engaging humour and are guaranteed to put on an intriguing live show.


After a performance from the British songwriter Oliver Ralfe who performed in the group Ralfe Band, a pink, oversized, headed figure appeared on stage and the crowds gathered to witness Young Knives. Counting 1, 2, 3 (repetitively in a high-pitched child’s voice), the entrance of the band was highly original - and not even the most eccentric part of the show!


Their UK tour is a celebration of their self-recorded, self-produced debut album 'Sick Octave' which was released early in November. The evening was a delightful fusion of electronica, indie and punk. One song admittedly the brothers wrote after too much to drink - as Thomas 'House of Lords' Dartnall (vocals/guitar) joked: “Good recordings of songs have been done, we wanted to do a bad recording.” 


Overall the gig was a mixture of various tracks from the Sick Octave album including their latest single 'Maureen' along with hit songs 'She’s Attracted To You', engaging experimental videos and House of Lords' famously terrible hair!


The show went out with a bang, after the trio took requests from the crowd playing their 'Loughborough Suicide' and then finishing off the set with a collection of classic Young Knives' material.Joiners was recently voted by NME as the 'Best Small Venue,' a very well-deserved title. If you aren’t aware of the quirky oddball brothers who front the Leicestershire indie band Young Knives, then where have you been? They're entertaining, have a sense of engaging humour and are guaranteed to put on an intriguing live show.

Tyrol

  

Tyrol is known as “the land of the mountains”. The title is well deserved; with its overwhelming views of stunning Alpine scenery, Tyrol is the place to be.  

 Whether it is challenging hiking trips, exploration of culture, shopping, museums or spa relaxation you’re hoping for, Tyrol will not disappoint. 

Visitors come from around the world to escape the stress of everyday life and to indulge in the popular hot springs and spa resorts. There are a range of health resorts across the district, where guests can discover their inner spirit, whilst restoring the body and refreshing the mind.  

Health resorts provide an unforgettable experience, which will leave you relaxed like never before, the resorts use various massage therapies, mud wraps and of course provide the famous Sulfur baths, which were founded in 1951, resulting in the rise of health tourism in Austria. 

 Alternatively if it is retail therapy you desire, Tyrol is thriving with elegant shopping centres and unique local businesses. The first department store was built in the heart of Tyrol in the city of Innsbruck, which contains two shopping malls well worth a visit.  

The Kaufhaus department store has over 50 shops spread over a spacious 30,000 square metres, situated opposite the 19th century glassed roofed, arcade Rathaus Galerein, which is full of light and stylish restaurants including the spectacular 360 degrees cafe wine bar and lounge. 

If relaxing isn’t your thing and you’re more of a adrenaline junkie, Tyrol is one big adventure park that has endless of opportunities to get sporty, with more than 70 ski resorts and 5,000 kilometres of cycling trails, you will not run out of things to do. 

Don’t miss the chance to get lost in the magnificent, crystal labyrinth and explore the 14 underground, chambers of wonder, designed by architect Andre Heller. All can be discovered in the most visited attraction in Western Austria, the Swarovski Crystal World Museum, situated in the Wattens region. Founded in 1995 the attraction has had over 10 million visitors and is suitable for all of the family.  

Want to experience a bit of the local culture? You’re in luck, as Tyrol’s old folk traditions are not to be forgotten. Austria’s heritage is celebrated through mountain fires, unique parades, carnivals and breathtaking Christmas markets throughout the picturesque towns and villages.  

The carnival season celebrates the change in seasons and the symbolical fight between winter and spring. The joyous parades are packed with colourful, elaborate floats, singing and dancing. 

Also during the winter season there are various Christmas markets that invite visitors to Christmas shop in style, such as Kufstein’s Christmas town park market, which contains traditional events including choirs and musicians along with delicious Austrian delicacies. 

Take a trip to Tyrol that you will never forget. 

Miss England

"There are so many talented people out there that never get heard. I want to help them be heard." 

Jaqueline Turner winner of Miss England 2003 discusses how winning changed her life and expresses her passion for song-writing and being a music manager to Country singer Fiona Culley. 

After her mum entered her into the Miss England contest just 10 years ago, Jackie has continued with her modelling career, studied acting and become a  successful music manager, Jackie explains the affects of winning Miss England, " It changed my path and opened doors for me that I never would have been able to on my own. I still carried on in the same field but with more options and opportunities."  

Jackie recently participated in Miss England 2013 as a judge and reminisces on her year of being Miss England  "It was a great year, full of openings and modelling, it has changed now and Miss England's have much more jobs and requirements. I recently judged for Miss England 2013 and I’d love to do it all over again."   

Jackie is a women of many talents and interests in particular health and nutrition, but right from the moment Jackie listened to her first Madonna record, she has had a great passion for music and song-writing. Song-writing inspired by life experiences and "looking at the world and the people in it, wanting to say what I see and feel and sharing it with people." 

 There is no stopping Jackie capturing her dreams and helping others capture theirs, she expresses: "I wanted to help give someone opportunities. Too express my knowledge and skills and help someone else of talent that often get pushed aside. There are so many talented people out there that never get heard. I want to help them be heard."  

For the last 2 years she has managed Staffordshire Country singer Fiona Culley, she was initially mesmerised by her beautiful country tone at a party as she immediately stood out, 3 years later they began working together, she explains: "Next for me is to launch Fiona Culley. A singer I manage and hope to take her with me to Nashville Tennessee to tour and record. I would also like to continue writing and perhaps have Fiona or another singer, sing my songs." 

Family girl Fiona has recorded her EP in Nashville and is currently touring the UK, she has already impressed established producers in both Nashville and the UK. When Fiona's not busy performing and song-writing she enjoys spending time with her friends and family and says she relaxes by: "Soaking in a deep bath with my laptop resting on the toilet, catching up on the TV programmes I’ve missed and eating chips and dip." 

Her main fear in life would be to become an old lady with regrets and says she "wouldn’t change anything, everything happens for a reason and I believe that if you focus on your goals you can get there as long as your willing to make sacrifices."  

Together Jackie and Fiona make a great team, they spend a lot of time together and enjoy each others company, "We’re both on the same page as to what we want. First rule of managing an artist or an artist looking for management is to match and be likeminded to some extent. Each person needs to know their own requirements and appreciate the other person." explains Jackie. The future is bright for Fiona, don’t miss out on one of her UK shows this month.  

Samantha Clarke 

The Women in Black gets personal

There’s a chilling, uncomfortable atmosphere in the room. The audience look anxious for what’s ahead, clutching their seats, desperately seeking safety behind their coats. All while they wait tediously for the terrifying Woman in Black whilst the occasional chair creaks. You can almost touch the fear amongst the dispersed audience in the crisp, chilly air. The sound of treacherous screams fill the room as she suddenly appears from almost no-where, running maliciously down the aisle of the audience.  

The re-enactment of the gothic horror novel The Woman in Black has been running successfully in the Fortune Theatre for over 10 years now, the story has become notable to be some-what of a West End legend. The Fortune Theatre first opened in 1924 situated in Covent Garden, lying on the outskirts of the City of Westminster in London. The Fortune Theatre is not particularly one the most famous or largest theatres in the West End, nevertheless it most definitely would win the award for the coldest theatre.   

Originally written by Susan Hill in 1983 The Woman in Black still accomplishes to remain scaring the wits out of audiences in theatre productions all around the world. Although there have been numerous interpretations of the chilling novel, all interpretations contain the crucial, hair-raising element which is of course The Woman in Black herself. Initially the story focuses on young Arthur Kipps, a prosperous solicitor from London who is pursued to attend a funeral in a strange, petit village on the east coast. The funeral is situated in a peculiar looking house isolated from the rest of the village, during the service he witnesses a strange, pale woman dressed in black. After numerous days of spending in the haunted house he comes across frequent, paranormal experiences from the bitter vengeful woman.  

This thrilling novel works successfully in the theatre, especially in such an old fashioned theatre due to its notable creaky seats and Shakespearean décor. The theatre adaptation created by Stephen Mallatratt effectively leads the audience into a false sense of security. In the opening scene there’s two jolly men joking and chatting amongst eachother creating a play about the woman in black based on what the man claims he has witnessed a long time ago. Although the production was simplistic, with unimpressive set and lack of props, it suits the story. The theatre cunningly uses dramatic devices such as the metanarrative technique to shock the audience.  

Previously theatre has been associated with upper class and being expensive however the Woman in Black is reasonable priced accommodating tickets for only fifteen pounds.

According to The Woman in Black website over 7 million people have come to see the show keen theatre go-er Melissa expresses her opinion after seeing the show, “I have never been so terrified in my life; I saw the adaptation of The Woman in Black before the film and jumped out of my seat. I got seats at the back inconveniently right beside the speaker that blasts screams when the woman appears. A show has never shaken me up that bad before, it was brilliant.” says keen theatre goer Melissa. 

The Woman in Black received a big hype from the media recently due to the film adaptation featuring Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe being released. Unfortunately it’s distracting to see such a well-known star playing such a serious role. It’s hard to take it as earnestly when you recognise the actor and often without thought people will compare a franchise actor back to their famous role in this case Harry Potter. 

The film production succeeds to generate an eerie atmosphere but then again films have the advantage of using sound effects and camera angles to effectively induce more tense scenes and moments. Despite Daniel Radcliffe’s reputation of being Harry Potter he pulled of the role of Arthur exceeding many critics’ expectations. Using typical horror conventions and dramatic techniques the film plays on common fears, using dolls and toys in a creepy manner to scare the audience. 

Theatre productions seem to be increasingly more effective at making a connection with audience. In a way theatre productions manage to be much more memorable. It’s the significance of being in the moment with real people on stage unlike watching a film play adaptations of stories are more effective. Similar to seeing a band live in comparison to a cd. It’s increasingly more real and connects emotionally with the audience manufacturing a sense of reality for the audience.  

The Fortune Theatre is undoubtedly the best home for The Woman in Black story. The Daily Telegraph explains, ‘The most brilliantly effective spine chiller you will ever encounter…if you haven’t seen this show yet you are missing a treat.’ 

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Jake Bugg Album Review

If you mentioned Bob Dylan to a class of 16 year olds a minority may perhaps recognise the name and associate it as being boring or old music. Young folk singer Jake Bugg isn't any ordinary teenager. Brought up passionately inspired by the likes of The Beatles and Bob Dylan, it’s refreshing to hear a mellow country tone in is singing. Growing up surrounded by a generation obsessed with senseless, overrated pop music, who would have thought he is a 17 year old boy from Clifton estate in Nottingham? 

Take a moment to buckle up for his debut album Lightning Bolt that takes you on a trip down memory lane. Initially it’s like listening to a wise man effortlessly expressing his heartbreak, loneliness and troubled past with nothing but a pipe and a rusty guitar. Nevertheless Bugg is quite the opposite, tales of his experiences coming of age pulse through his song writing. 

Despite his country, swinging sixties tone, Bugg still manages to stay relevant to the rest of his generation. His song ‘Two Fingers’ is a maturing, troubled teenager putting two fingers up to yesterday when he reminisces on his experiences hanging around the Clifton council estate with his mates, a bottle of white lightening, popping pills and smoking a joint. Pushing his Clifton experiences aside, he obtains more romantic tracks on the album including ‘Some Place’. You can hear the agony in Bugg’s lyrics and practically hear the sound of his heart being ripped to shreds whilst he sings “I’ll be down on my knees begging you.”  

It is just the beginning of Bugg’s career and already he has performed on stage with The Stone Roses and Noel Gallagher two of his favourite artists. It is a challenge to match similar modern artists with Bugg especially artist’s still only 18 years of age. His music is a gift wrapped in nostalgia, discovered from Glastonbury festival in the 1960’s. Although screaming teenage girls have taken a high interest in acoustic acts, such as Ed Sheeran, there is undoubtedly a gap in the market for Bugg’s intriguing story telling. 

Biffy Clyro Review

The tattooed, hairy trio, from the Scottish town of Kilmarnock celebrate their sixth studio album Opposites in style with once again an impressive sold out tour, if you haven't guessed yet it's of course the Biffy Clyro the captains of alternative rock.

Behind Simon Neil's bare chest, the symbolic, mystical tree from their latest album cover vigorously flashes to the heavy riffs of Stinging Belle, the first single from Opposites. It's the opening song at Bournemouth International Centre, being the smallest venue on their stadium tour, it resembles a tin which is full of sweaty sardine-like Biffy fans.

You only have to glance around the overflowing venue to notice how the Biffy rash has spread over the last few years. They may not be capable of keeping their shirts on for over five minutes, but they are definitely capable of performing an unforgettable show.

Tranquility forms in the atmosphere as the venue dramatically switches to calm, the mood change is an effortless ability Biffy have always had when playing live. A choir of a thousand audiences voices take over from Biffy as they sing from their hearts as you would when nobody’s watching, to the chorus of Machines and God and Satan. Biffy effortlessly takes the gig down a pace by reaching out to the audience with these ballads.

After an eventful 2 hours on stage with a mixture of songs from not only Opposites but classic Biffy, Living is Problem Because Everyone Dies and Glitter Trauma, the crowd chants for an encore and they are of course treated with 3 more songs, the perfect choices to close with. The tree grows a spine in the background as Simon rises on a podium meaning only one thing, it's time for the last song and with no surprise Simon takes a bite out of a mountain range and the lyrics "I am the mountains, I am the sea, you can't take that away from me." echo's amongst fans.     

Now rounding off their sold out tour at the London O2, Biffy Clyro successfully maintain their title of Best Live Act. Don't miss out on Biffy live this summer on the headline stage at Reading and Leeds Festival.