Author: Chris Jones
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BOOK REVIEW | The Queen Of Clubs
★★★★★ |The Queen Of Clubs
There’s a quote at the front of this book that states:
“Some people are born drag queens.Some people become drag queens. And some poor sods have drag queens thrust upon them.”And so it starts…
Riding on a wave of drag queen interest, everywhere from the Facebook controversy over users having to use their real name (but only seems to apply to drag queens?) to RuPaul, this book tells a story – and a bloody good one at that!
Tobias has taken some characters that could have been drawn as complete clichés and given them life – these characters, like ‘em or loathe ‘em, are real.
From the still-in-the-closet virgin to the seen-it-all barman, from the abusive relationships to the fading glamorous drag queen – it’s all here and written large.
The story follows one of our cast, Oliver, as he pops his drag club cherry and visits Divas, a seedy, rundown club run by Chris (not me!) It’s here that Oliver meets the rest of the cast – from deluded Robert Davies Junior (aka Wendy WolfWhistle) to the trio of cabaret queens Wendy aspires to join.
The storyline moves along in short, sharp bursts, each chapter leading you into the next in a clever and addictive way. I’m not one to spoil a good plot, but there is lost love, unrequited love, love on the rocks, self-love and self-loathe, drugs, bad cabaret, cops ‘n’ robbers, and bad drag.
This isn’t Drag Race calibre, there’s no Sharon Needles or Bianca Del Rio here – and that’s its charm. This is Everytown or Anytown, and these are people you could walk past on the street any day of the week, these aren’t the polished performers that may have to lip-synch for their lives… these couldn’t lip-synch to save their lives!
This really is one you’ll love – from start to finish, it’ll entice you in, make you feel you know these characters (or someone very like them) and leave you with a shocker of an ending! This is low rent, low end, real life, warts and all stuff and I for one love it!
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EP REVIEW | Kerri Watt: Whos Loving Me Now
★★★★★ | Kerri Watt: Whos Loving Me Now
This woman is amazing! You’ve been warned! Part Adele, part K T Tunstall – soulful voice, thoughtful lyrics = one musician you really need to watch out for.
Her current EP combines 3 tracks that showcase her talents – and these are multitudinous! Always wanted to use that word in a review! And it ain’t hyperbole – she’s one to watch.
Her current offering of “Who’s Lovin’ Me Now” has 3 delicious tracks on it:
Who’s Lovin’ Me Now?
Pirate Man
So CrazyLet’s start with Who’s Lovin’ Me Now? Starts slow and low and builds terrifically, capturing you as it rolls – love it, the lyrics are perfect and her voice soars – the beat drags you along and you can’t help tapping your foot to this one! Listen to those lyrics – they tug your heart strings but sing to everyone of us who’ve loved and lost.
Pirate Man changes tempo and showcases the lyrics and her voice to perfection. This is a soulful number, with lyrics that paint wonderful pictures in your head – this is a taste of the blues, great guitar riffs and a voice that cuts through to your heart!
The final track on this EP is So Crazy and the one that most reminds me of Adele and her style. This song belies her tender years – the sign of a great talent!
She cites her influences as Sheryl Crow and Katy Perry, and Freddie Mercury to the Stone – and after hearing this EP, I see what she means! There’s pop, there’s anthems, there’s soul searching lyrics and soaring themes!
Kerri is truly one to watch, please, if you can, download and listen – she’s so worth it! Can’t wait to see what she’s like live! Keep an eye out for live dates!
Out on 29th September
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BOOK REVIEW | Camp Carnage (Night Terrors) by Elliott Arthur Cross & Josh Winning:
The tagline for this kindle edition runs: “Schools out, and so are they. This summer’s going to be killer…” and it does exactly what it says on the tin! If you like your slasher movies Scream style crossed with Eating Out humour and a smidgeon of Nancy Drew, you will love this book.
Set in the late ’80’s at a remote summer camp with a difference… this isn’t all macrame pot holders, shared showers and Eskimo rolls… this is more seething hormones, furtive fumbles and aversion therapies! This camp is for gay teens to straighten themselves out, or so their parents hope. Under the puritanical leadership of Katherine Creevey, Billy and his friends settle in for 6 weeks of therapy, tasks and campfire tales.
However, someone has other ideas, and one by one, the campers disappear. Billy, the lead character, joins up with budding lesbian Jem to solve this mystery – a mystery that leads them back 3 years to a mysterious fire at the original Camp Genesis.
There is plenty of horsing around, teen angst and slasher action. This is one very well written book, with decent, rounded characters, few (if any) stereotypes, comedy aplenty and a plot that draws you right in! The era is well recreated, the tense pitched just right.
For me, the sign of a good fiction book is when I can see it clearly in my head? If the author has done their job, it appears like good cinema – and this did that perfectly.
Do yourself a favour, buy it, toast some marshmallows on the fire pit and keep one eye firmly over your shoulder… just in case!
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APP REVIEW: misterbnb
Come on, have you heard of Airbnb in terms of renting space to stay somewhere fabulous… or at least interesting? It’s a simple way to search for accommodation space in cities around the world.
Now, take that concept and add in gay landlords and you have misterbnb… a site and app that lets you book accommodation across the globe, safe in the knowledge it’ll have style (I know, a total stereotype!). It also takes the guess work out of a potential host being gay friendly or not?
The app offers a massive choice of locations and types of homes starting from around 30 euros, a choice of 65 countries (and growing) on the go and mirrors the sites offerings. Fancy a short stay in Paris? Tick! New York in the New Year? Got it! Pride in Berlin? You betcha!
This app works on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad and has such a simple interface – tell it where you want to stay and it’ll search and list for you. I’m in love with the Loire, and it even returned solutions there from 40 euros a night.
This app works both ways too – and who doesn’t love that! If you’re a landlord with space to rent, sign up and get renting! It doesn’t have to be a total house or flat either – this site rents spare rooms – and even on occasion, sofa beds!
That last piece is the only word of caution I’d offer – read everything on the place you’ve chosen before you pay up! There are some really useful reviews on there, so use this app to its fullest!
All bookings are automatically insured by misterbnb – so you do have peace of mind – but you are able to contact your host direct with questions and there are some really good examples in the reviews of hosts/landlords going so far out of their way for their clients! Some wait up tip the wee hours for their renters to arrive on flights – and there are also some brutally honest reviews! Some are quite entertaining!
Download the app or pop over to the site and give it a look-see. -
THEATRE REVIEW | War House, National Theatre
★★★★★ | War House, National Theatre
First off, don’t hate me. Please don’t hate me, but I have to confess… I got up close and personal with Joey last night in Salford and had a great time.
Who is Joey? Joey has chestnut hair, flowing in the breeze, he’s strong, muscular, has great legs – all 4 of them… Joey is War Horse.
Don’t know about you, but I’d seen the images of the stage play, I’d even sat through the snoozefest that was the film, but nothing, and I mean nothing prepared me for the stage play.
The story is so well known, I don’t feel the need to go over it here but it’s simply boy meets horse, boy trains horse to pull a plough, WW1 begins and the horror starts.
This current touring production is at The Lowry until 20th September so you have time to book your weekend away in sunny Manchester before it travels to Stoke and then off to South Africa.
I think the main thing that makes this production so darn wonderful is the animals – and by animals I mean Handspring Puppet Company and their puppets and puppeteers. These are some amazing creations – so articulated, so well observed, not just in terms of the look, but in the way they are manipulated and worked. Their walk, the noises, even down to their breathing… these are nuanced performances… you eventually forget about the people working them and buy into them as “real”. Watch out for the amazing flying birds, and the goose!
That isn’t to detract from the human cast, with Lee Armstrong giving one hell of a performance as Albert Naracott who trains Joey, and then follows him to war. Martin Wenner makes up the other half of this main human duo, playing Albert’s German counterpart, Friedrich. I love how the story weaves together both Albert and Friedrich, alongside the equine Joey and Topthorn.
This story seems to flow better than the film for some reason, the horror of battle shown better in the drawings displayed constantly on a torn paper screen, the minimalist staging ripe for touring but leaves so much to your imagination, the dirt and grime, the gas attacks, the effect on the people in occupied France…
We were lucky enough to get to do a quick Q&A with Martin Wenner, Lee Armstrong and the horses/puppeteers after the play, and I managed to grab some half-decent images to give you some scale of these magnificent creations. (see above)
If you can, get tickets, sell your gran if need be but go see it live – it’s a whole new world! I’ve been to the theatre quite a lot, but have never, ever seen such a reception as this cast and crew received for this production. Standing ovation? Tick!
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EP REVIEW | Batsch – Collar EP
★★★★★ | Batsch – Collar EP
As a child of the ’80’s, I love synth pop, its mother’s milk to me. Give me some retro synth and I’m in heaven, sprinkle some John Foxx-esque lyrics and I’ll love you long time!
Batsch does both – I’d marry them tomorrow if I could! This Midlands based quartet are channelling Talking Heads in their lyrical twists, their playful mix of synth, guitar and decent bass line.
They follow up their 2013 EP “Tiles” with this lovely offering, “Collar”
Celine is a playful tune that is very reminiscent of the early ’80’s – reminds me so much of the stuff Blitz kids listened to, early Ultravox, very early Spandau… not taking itself too seriously, but seriously enough.
22 sounds like a good Howard Jones track with a spoonful of Aztec Camera or Lloyd Cole – the music is sparse, so you contrite on the lyrics and Batsch do a very good lyric!
Did You Hear About Argine is a slower track, with some spoken word, nice mix of styles and a change of tempo.
Mirrorball channels so much Lloyd Cole it’s untrue – whether it’s intentional or not. The lyrics again make this song so strong, the music, as with so much ’80’s stuff, is almost secondary.
Can’t Tell is a change again in that it moves things up a gear and changes the tempo – showing their influences of Talking Heads and Chic!
The band describe their sound as gutter glamour, and I’d have to agree – if you’re a pure ’80’s groupie like me, and love the sounds of La Roux, etc in terms of current acts, then give this band a go. I love hearing new music, it’s the John Peel in me… and this group don’t disappoint at all. One to follow!
Their sounds are available from Amazon and iTunes
I love them so much, I’d give them 5 starts for this current EP
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INTERVIEW | Maurice Vellekoop, Cockadoodle
Maurice Vellekoop is a Canadian artist and illustrator who doesn’t shy away from the erotic or erogenous and for that we are thankful. His work can be seen in mainstream publications from The New Yorker to Wallpaper, but not necessarily the same subject matter.
This month, Maurice brings his work to our shores, and his show: Cockadoodle: The Erogenous Art of Maurice Vellekoop can be seen as part of Manchester Pride Fringe festival at Twenty Twenty Two Gallery in Manchester from 15th August till 13th September, and then over to Liverpool as par tot the Homotopia Festival from 25th October till 20th November.
Go see them while you can! The show, his first European solo exhibition brings together a wide selection of his erotic work alongside his editorial work.
The Manchester show has some exciting activities running alongside, including the artist himself discussing his practice in: Got Lead – Drawing Sex, Arousal and Desire.
I managed to get to quiz the great man recently, and ask some of the questions on my mind:
CJ: So, tell me a little about how you started in this weird and wonderful world of illustration?
MV: I began drawing at a very young age and was encouraged by my parents and talented older siblings, my sister Ingrid particularly. I idolised her and wanted to follow in her footsteps.CJ: How did you arrive at your current style?
MV: In art school I experimented with a few styles, I had a very scratchy punk-inspired neo-expressionist phase for a while. My current style is simply the way I draw, kind of like handwriting.CJ: Do you see this style as evolving? How do you see new media encroaching on older techniques?
MV: I still draw and paint on paper. I never saw the need to make the transition to computers. I can get all the effects I need the old-fashioned way…CJ: What’s your favourite media to use?
MV: My favourite media are watercolour and gouache on paper. I love the chalky dry texture gouache alone produces.CJ: Do you have a favourite subject matter?
MV: I love drawing people in all their multiplicitous eccentric variety – not for me landscapes or bucolic scenes.CJ: Who are your favourite clients and why?
MV: My favourite clients these days are the ones who call! In the past I’ve enjoyed working for the New Yorker despite shockingly brief deadlines, American Vogue and Wallpaper. Fashion illustration is something I love to do but don’t receive many calls for anymore.CJ: How did Cockadoodle come about? Who instigated it?
MV: It was the amazing Bren O’Callaghan who invited me to Manchester and arranged the venue, curated the selections for the show and has been a warm and generous host! Can’t say enough good things about the guy!CJ: What’s your favourite piece in the show?
MV: Hmm, a favourite is hard, as there are so many different things in the exhibition. I do love “Somebody Always Dies at Christmas” a kind of fairy story scene. I feel like I created a , atmospheric, fantastical scene that would have impressed the childhood me.CJ: Do you get involve in many Pride events?
MV: My bf and I have been running through the Toronto Pride parade in silly outfits for 12 years now. A highlight was the Hitchcock’s “The Birds” year, we dressed as 1960’s children and had mechanical birds attached all over our bodies!CJ: And finally, whats next for you?
MV: What’s next is a graphic memoir titled “I’m So Glad We Had This Time Time Together”, to be published in 2016 by Pantheron/Random House. Wish me luck – it’s long!!His site is here:
Pride Fringe:
http://www.manchesterpride.com/our-events/pride-fringe
Homotopia: -
FILM REVIEW | Pride
★★★★★ | Pride
A film that includes Wales, miners, politics, gays and an ’80’s soundtrack, ticks all my boxes! Pride is one of those films that will do well, a mix of topics, a “people” film, part tear-jerker, part bio-pic (based on true events, with real characters), part comedy, think Billie Elliot, Kinky Boots or Calendar Girls.
The story is simple, set in 1984 in the midst of the Miner’s strike, the Unions versus Thatcher’s government and its hard stance, and a politicised London gay boy suddenly gets the idea to raise funds for the miners, having heard how they are being intimidated back to work.
He forms the Lesbian and Gays Support the Miners Group (LGSM) and starts fund-raising for them. However, after their first round of bucket rattling, it becomes apparent that the Unions aren’t keen on taking their money. So they go direct, and find a South Wales mining community who will take their cash and donations. And this is the start of the bonding of two disparate communities.
The majority of the film deals with how the two communities grow to know each other, how the London group gets to grips with a small community and its prejudices (or in some cases, lack of them) and the Welsh group and their education in to the world of “the gays”!
The film provides so much repeatable fodder, I guarantee that you will be quoting this film next month! My favourite is still Imelda’s line from the preview: ‘We’re off to Swansea now for a missive lez off!’
My recommendation, go see it, go get your cockles warmed, sing-along-a-bronski-beat and watch some of the smoothest disco moves on the silver screen courtesy of the amazing Dominic West!
The cast is incredible, including the lovely Andrew Scott (Moriarty from Sherlock) gives a hell of a performance as part of the “older” gay couple paired with Dominic West as his partner, Imelda Staunton as the kind of Welsh matriarch I know and love, Bill Nighy gives one of his best subtlest performances, but it’s the ones I’m not that familiar with that really set the stage for this film. George MacKay is amazing as a then underage closeted young man on a journey, Joseph Gilgun gives a great performance as one half of a platonic political couple with Ben Schnetzer who plays Mark, the driving force and sometimes eloquent spokesperson behind the LGSM. Watch out for a cameo from the lovely Russell Tovey too.
Matthew Warchus and Stephen Beresford have given us a true slice of early ’80’s nostalgia, wrapped up in a slice of political and social history and some of the most comic scenes you’ll ever see.
I’d give this film 6 stars out of 5 is I could, but I’ll make do with 5 for now!
In Cinemas 12th September
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COMMENT | Do we still need a gay scene?
Gay Ghetto?
The title says it all – a collection of shops, bars, clubs, saunas, pubs who all cater to a gay or LGBT audience constitutes a ghetto, a community of sorts. But in the 21st century, do we really need one? Does it still serve a purpose? Who is the audience? And why?
I have one amazing talent folks – I can sit on any fence for Britain, if only it was an Olympic sport! On this issue, I’m a lycra clad champ as I can see both sides, the pros and cons, the good and bad. Why?
Moving to Manchester in my early ’20’s was such an eye-opener. There was a whole entire street of bars, pubs, clubs that catered for my friends and me. Places where I didn’t need to pretend to be something I wasn’t, places where I could meet like-minded people and, who knows, maybe even forge relationships, of all kinds.
I loved walking around Canal Street, and watched in awe as it grew, more and more investment, the established breweries taking us seriously and wanting in, businesses opening (and closing on occasion), all tastes catered for: subterranean bars for doms, lesbians only bars, trendsetting bars that started fashions, cheap bars that had “rent”, all on show and all open for business.
But are they still relevant? I’ve watched Canal Street change shape; move on from a couple of shabby/seedy bars to the point where it’s become something of a cliché. It’s now a cartoon of it’s former self, it’s hen party heaven, it’s changed from a place that offered a feeling of some kind of security to somewhere that could be any street in Manchester. It is litter strewn, it’s shabby and now its’ security has been swapped for an “anything goes” mentality as more bars and businesses chase anyone’s pound – times is tough and in order to stay in business, these businesses will happily encourage any punters through the door to spend.
Do we still need this type of place or have we, as both a movement and as individuals, moved on? What purpose do they serve? I know they offered me some form of security and a feeling of safety when I needed it, when I first came out, and a chance to make friendships and build relationships – but times were different. Do they still serve that same purpose?
When I walk down Canal Street these days, I don’t feel safe, and as I’ve aged, I don’t feel the venues have anything to offer me anymore? The things that appealed to me in my 20’s don’t appeal as I approach my 50th year. Not sure what I do want anymore, a quiet drink, less of the thumping soundtracks – but I’d still like to walk down a road with my boyfriend of 20 years, hand in hand, with no fear and did used to feel that Canal Street and its surrounding streets used to offer that.
I’m not sure that as we see more and more integration that specific areas for the LGBT community really offer anything new or different? I’m willing to be convinced though… feel free to comment and tell us what you feel. Do you think there is still a need or are these now redundant?
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ALBUM REVIEW | Do It Again – mini album collaboration by Röyksopp and Robyn
★★★★ | Do It Again – mini album collaboration by Röyksopp and Robyn
Do It Again is a superb mix of tracks from the brilliant Norwegian group Röyksopp and the chanteuse from Sweden, Robyn.
Put the two together and you get a soaring synth soundtrack, interspersed with Robyn’s unique vocals. Röyksopp’s electronic background instantly takes you back to the 80’s, using beats reminiscent of New Order to create tracks that then marry with Robyn’s Metropolis style of vocal to create what feels like a unique experience.
Monument is nearly 10 minutes long, and uses repetition to great effect, repeating vocals again and again while subtly changing the background beat and chords. Sayit does something similar, melding techno voices with Robyn’s to great effect.
Do It Again sounds very like old school Robyn – pared back chords, simple but very effective – and her soaring vocals, emphasising lyrics, and making you tap the odd toe along the way. 5 minutes of pure club joy.
Every Little Thing slows things down, but from the first chord, you know this is pure joy. Robyn’s voice used to great effect, moody and very New Romantic in sound – or maybe thats just me?
The final track on this mini album is Inside The Idle Hour Club, and again, we return to the nearly 10 minute track, slow to start, mixing sounds as it builds, it is almost orchestral, so many different sounds but with a distinct lack of Robyn’s signature vocals here – she doesn’t dominate, this is a showcase of the music and Robyn takes a back seat.
Taken as a whole, its a little prog rock at times, a little too earnest maybe as a project – but for all that, it is one pretty brilliant collaboration.
What could make it better? Why a tour of course – keep your eyes peeled for a joint tour shortly, part Robyn showcase, part Röyksopp showcase, part joint venture.
As for the album – treat yourslef, and make this part of your collection. I give it 4 stars!
