The Brighton Festival is fully under way with its brilliant programme of theatre, comedy, art, dance, talks, debate, cabaret and music, music music. CMU's sister publication, ThreeWeeks, is covering it all, and you can check the coverage at http://www.threeweeks.co.uk, with music reviews here each day in the CMU Daily. Look, here are some now:
Brighton's Finest
After waiting for an hour and a half in the rain for this late starting show, the last thing I needed was the childish and unoriginal novelty music of the tragically bad unbilled support Zooface. And things didn't improve much once they were gone either, as next up were Silvermaker, a poorly named and unoriginal radio rock band distinguished only by their very attractive singer (call me). With two more bands to go, things were looking very bleak, when suddenly things took a dramatic turn for the better. The DJ spun some Talking Heads, Two Spot Gobi struck their opening chord and the dance floor erupted. Two Spot Gobi absolutely embarrassed every other band on the bill with their original dub-inflected funk, spiced up with cello and trumpet. After this, Friday Night Hero's smooth rock was something of an anti-climax, but then, anything would've been.
Ocean Rooms, 11 May, 8:00pm, £4.00 (£3.00), fringe pp26.
tw rating 3/5
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Alexander Sitkovetsky
What a pleasant way to spend an afternoon! Violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky's incredible talent shone through with his accomplished, engaging performances of classical pieces by composers such as Bach and Elgar to rapturous applause from his extremely receptive and eager audience. Also a delight to the ears was Olga Sitkovetsky's piano accompaniments which added a depth and richness of sound to her son's playing. Unfortunately, however pleasing this performance was to listen to, it was less so to watch: Alexander was almost completely still on stage and failed to fully engage with his audience whilst performing his pieces. This is a musician who needs to work on his overall performance before he can be called a truly great violinist.
Brighton Dome, Pavilion Theatre, 10 May, 1:00pm, £7.50, festival pp14.
tw rating 3/5
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Kris Drever
Talent, charm and a beautiful deep brogue... what's not to like about Kris Drever? Living up to his reputation as "one of Scotland's finest folk singer/guitarists", Kris delivered an intimate and very enjoyable performance to his greatly appreciative older audience. Introducing each of his songs with the story of its origins, Kris's friendly and relaxed banter complemented his own brand of gentle, melodic folk. The Celtic tradition so apparent in his music was well-represented by his rich and audibly accented voice, and both the heart-rending and the more upbeat songs were performed with equal skill. A certain treat for any Celtic folk enthusiast, the concert was a pleasurable hour which left one with a very real sense of warmth and contentment.
Pavilion Theatre, Brighton Dome, 11 May, 1:00pm, £7.50, festival pp14 tw rating 4/5
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