connect: saturday

DSCF1963, originally uploaded by normalfreak.

Rising late on Saturday we supped on an inspired spread under our canopy, safe from the insipid weather that drifted across the grounds.

We finally made it in to the festival in time for the Hold Steady’s lesson in how to sound like a noughties version of early Bruce Springsteen. Heading over to the second stage in the first in a series of yo-yo’s Mike & I were entranced by the very gorgeous Natasha Khan of Bat for Lashes (& the music wasn’t too bad either), with a string bias, accompanied by an ecclectic range of instruments – including a big wooden stick (above) and a strange horizontal harp like thing, they produced some beautiful tunes. We hid for a while from the worsening weather in the Speakeasy Cafe, listening to local folk acts ply their trade for a free ticket to the festival no doubt. Recharged with caffine we braved the weather for a fantastic powerful set from Rilo Kiley, with yet more cute front woman action.

Returining to the second stage in anticipation of catching the reincarnated psych folkstress Vashti Bunyan we were instead treated to the quasi religious harmonies of the Parsonage Choir. By now the weather had worsened, and spirits were low so we cut and ran back to the campsite to dry off & perk up. A visit by a neighbouring group of locacious 17 year olds kept us entertained for at least five minutes and trapped for about another fourty-five but we eventually escaped back into the fray for the final set of the night. Eschewing the main stage and Primal Scream we instead settled in at the front of Echo & the Bunnyman for a rainswept but evocative set, full of songs that I knew but didn’t know they played.

We attempted to join the sweaty throng in Club Noir – the burlesque tent after Echo but it was packed and there was a crap swing band playing: we decided that the weather had got the better of us so we headed home.

connect: friday

connect line up

With Chhay’s big 3-0 approaching we suited up for our final assault on all things rock festivally (at least the last one we’ll camp at – according to the Guardian once you turn 30 you are too old!) The destination – Inverary with the inaugural Connect Festival set in the picturesque grounds of the local castle. Billed as a ‘boutique’ festival and with a line up seemingly tailored to anyone who grew up in the 90’s, expectations were high, and most of Glasgow (at least the bit’s we know) seemed to be going.

With Chhay & my holiday allocations maxed out we could only head up after work on Friday – thankfully (big thumbs up guys!) Claire & our friend Mike had the day off and not only scored us a prime campsite but also erected our tent so we could swan in later and catch most of the bands we wanted to see. So although we missed CSS and Jarvis Cocker as we trekked in from the car park (strike one to high expectations) we managed to arrive in time for a strong set from the Jesus & Mary Chain, that brought all the old Glasgow rockers out of the campsite.

Another trek across to the second stage (15 min! – strike two) and we were able to bob to a couple of the Go Team!’s tunes (much better than when we caught them at last year’s Big Day Out in Melbourne) before turning and racing back for the start of the headliner for the evening the Beastie Boys!

Production values were high, the crowd was fired up – a transparent amp and mixing desk adding a touch of cheesy chic. They played a great set list included many of the classics classics but with some of their newer funk instrumental tunes thrown in. It was a great way to kick off the festival, and we kicked on afterwards with some great guest DJ set from Mogwai at the Rizla.

edinburgh festivals: take 2

trachtenburg

We saddled up for another day of fringe action over the weekend -heading over with our friend Mike and catching acts on their 25th or so rendition – things were either flying or they were well & truly sick of being there.

We had an early start to catch a fantastic Korean physical theatre company’s interpretation of Woyzeck. The only props consited of fantastic simple wooden chairs which the cast used to great effect to create all manner of scenes and atmosphere – charting a working man’s decent into madness. The whole piece had a very architectural feel – not only with the use of furniture to create everything from a bed to a jail but also a cast dressed entirely in black. While it may have been more about the physicality than the meaning of the play it was still very impressive – especially at the end when the cast produced a series of still vingnettes of the entire show with only about 5 seconds changeover between each.
As the weather was kinder than on our last visit we were able to wander the city a bit more and visit a few elements of the visual art festival – including scoring some bloody marys for breakfast at the opening of Francesca Woodman & Richard Serra‘s show at the very posh Ingleby Gallery.
After a leisurely afternoon we packed in a tight program over the course of the evening. We started with an atrocious play, Killer Joe a traler trash americana drama with hammy acting and gratuitous nudity. Having endured our first truly bad performance of the Fringe we ducked in to a tiny basement to hear the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players (above) – an eccentric New York family band (…well dad can play & the daughter bashes the drums Meg White style) who collect slide sets from the 50’s through to the 80’s and base their songs on the images they find. With great banter between songs they were highly entertaining although their set was cut a little short.

Feeling rejuventated by the performance we scampered to the other end of Edinburgh for a late showing of Johnson & Boswell – Late but Live, based on the contrasting historical accounts of a journey to Scotland it was quite witty although the two performers weren’t able to sustain the pace towards the end.

By now it was midnight and as we lined up for a dose of low brow stand-up at Late and Live, and jammed into a packed and sweaty arena, with the smell of 25 days of 12 audiences a day lingering powerully I think perhaps we realised we had attempted one show too many. There were a couple of decent comedians but the MC was fairly awful, reinforcing my general antipathy towards standup. It highlighted how many of the poets at Luke Wright’s Poetry Party were far better comedians that much of the stand-ups performing at the Fringe.

collapse!

collapsed tenement

Hearing a strange rumble late on Monday night we dismissed it as anything significant – only to wake and find that the entire end wall of the next tenement along from ours had collapsed! Thankfully we are in the middle of a row and I think our building is a little bit more well maintained maintained. bbc the herald

image from the bbc until I dl my own photos 

castle anybody?

fordell castle

Instead of needing to arrange a raiding party to storm my old family castle I could now just step up and buy it!

From The Courier

“A HISTORIC west Fife castle has gone on the market.

Once home to flamboyant Conservative MP Sir Nicholas Fairbairn, Fordell Castle comes with a price tag of over £3.5 million—and its own title.

The fully restored 16th century castle is the ancestral home of the Hendersons of Fordell, who were given the lands of Fordell by King James IV in 1511.

It comes with the title of the Barony of Fordell.

Also included in the sale is the restored 17th century St Theriot’s Chapel and crypt, a garden cottage, and 210 acres of landscaped gardens and wooded grounds.

John Coleman of selling agent Knight Frank said, “Properties of this type, this well restored, and with access to Edinburgh, Edinburgh airport, and the central motorway network, come on to the market very rarely.

“The castle’s owners have also taken an active and sympathetic interest in restoration of the main property and the chapel, and in the upkeep of the grounds and gardens which are all in a superb state.”

The property has an entrance hall and vaulted kitchen on the lower ground floor. There is a great hall with a beamed ceiling, secret staircase and engraving depicting the death of the last witch in Scotland, and dining room on the principal floor.

The first floor includes the Laird’s study and master bedroom with views to the Forth while the second floor houses a Mary Queen of Scots room and French bedroom.

Viewing is by appointment with the selling agents, Knight Frank or Savills.”

Now all I have to do is talk to my bosses to arrange a small raise to cover the mortgage!

village orchestra v caydnss

flyer

A few of our friends put on a electronic music showcase on Saturday – giving us a taste of just what the get up to when they hide in their bedrooms hunched over laptops. Held in a local dive the music was good despite a thin attendance due to some of the worst weather of a particularly poor summer (apparently we think it is always like this).

For a taste of what was on offer see:

the village orchestra

bob techno

tersh jetterax

bem (athough our friend Emma decline to play on the night citing production difficulties)

The music on the whole was sound, although some of the samples were a little cheesy  (perhaps deliberately). Bob techno was probably my highlight despite playing at a tempo that teh crowd might not have been quite prepared for at 9 pm. The plan for the next gig is to find a vacant warehouse to make to space a little more atmospheric.

irvine

irvine grass

A couple of work projects have seen me spending a fair bit of time over the last few months down in Ayrshire, a hour south west of Glasgow on the Irish Sea.

irvine 2irvine 2
In particular I’ve been documenting Irvine, a sea-side town that with an interesting harbour that we are exploring the regeneration of. The harbour was cut off from the town in the 70’s by ‘New Town’ development but has retained a distinct character. The harbour lies alongside a marshy wildlife reserve and is dotted with enough old boats to keep me interested while boring the pants off Chhay.

irvine 1

edinburgh festival fever

fuerzabruta

Last weekend we gathered our first taste of the festival glut engulfing Edinburgh. We ducked over for a day trip and squeezed in a fair taste of the gazillion things the Fringe Festival has on offer.

The weather could only be described as ‘Scottish’ so the street atmosphere was a little lacking but we spent the afternoon hiding from the rain at Luke Wright’s Poetry Party, which in addition to being free, showcased some fantastic contemporary spoken word, verging on rap at times. Highlights included Polar Bear, Tim Clare & Joe Dunthorne.

luke wright

We then snuck in a quick insect circus at the Spiegel gardens – and were sorely disappointed when instead of real fleas we were treated to rather more anthropogenic versions.

The highlight of the evening was by far and away the next event. In a big tent down on the Forth of Firth at Leith we experienced Fuerzabruta (top). Part physical theatre, part dance, part rave it is impossible to describe but was easily one of the best theatrical events I’ve ever attended. Check out the clips under >visuals>video for a bit of a taste crazy acrobatics, a clear plastic tank suspended above the crowds head with nymphs sliding around, and a guy running on a massive treadmill pushed through the audience, running through walls – to me it was what a rave should be like.

Wandering out of Fuerzabruta in a slightly dazed euphoric state, splattered in fake blood and covered in water, paper and polystyrene we wandered back to the old town for a crazy outdoor version of Macbeth by a polish company (below), involving limited dialogue (in heavy eastern European accents), motorbikes, witches on stilts and lots of fire. The setting was spectacular, in a quadrangle of the university – thankfully the weather had cleared by this stage – only my knowledge of the play restricted my enjoyment.

macbeth

We got on the last train home exhausted but having gathered a good taste of the festival. We’re aiming to return next weekend for exposure to some of the other festivals on concurrently – the arts festival, film festival and inaugural visual art festival.

highwire

red road towers

French tightrope walker Didler Pasquette recently attempted to walk between 3 of the Red Road Flats (above) – one of Glasgow’s more famous mega housing tower complexes built in the sixties. The event, title Highwire was part of an arts project for the Glasgow International Festival of Contemporary Arts. The set-up was fantastic with huge support guys stretching off the main lines connecting the massive apartment slabs in a spidery embrace. There were metaphors a plenty with the symbolic linking of poorly constructed & maintained and much derided high rise towers that are (for now at least) a strong part of Glasgow’s urban fabric. Visiting the site in person reinforced to me how the greatest problems these towers suffer (apart from poorly perfoming lifts) is the terrible manner in which the hit the ground – so stark and without any landscaping on transition zones, and no amenity to speak of.

tightrope walker

The walk turned into a bit of a non-event when Didler (above) made it about a third of the way across the first wire only to decide that it was unsafe to continue due to high winds and therefore backed his way back to safety.

springburn wintergarden

On our way home we crossed through Springburn park and discovered the decrepit Wintergarden (above & below) that is housed within its grounds. While a shame that it hasn’t been restored like its more famous counterpart in the Botanic Gardens near our flat, as a derelict structure it possesses a certain beauty in it’s rib like structure and faded grandeur that fascinated Chhay & I.

springburn wintergarden detail

dazza in glasgie

drive carefully flier

Popped along to the ever so tiny basement of the 13th Note last Saturday for a very low key gig by Brisbane bred, Melbourne based singer/songwriter Darren Hanlon. The organisers (Drive Carefully Records – a local start-up label) mistook me for him twice (must be a distinctive Aussie look I have going), leading to some confusion but we did manage to have a bit of a chat after the gig.

The performance was fairly raw and low-fi which was nice in a way although I missed his usual babe-liscious drummer Brit, who isn’t travelling on his epic world tour. At least her replacement drummer/accordion player/singer extraordinaire Pikelet was a worthy fill in.