Theatre

I think it’s clear that I am now more of a theatre person than a gig person.  Perhaps that isn’t surprising at my advanced age.

There’s no point doing a separate “onstage talking” section for just one thing – “An Evening With Mark & Lard” at Birmingham Town Hall on 16/3/25.

Gigs

As per above – it’s more plays than gigs nowadays.

• The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis/Odmansbox – The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 12/2/25
• Jim White & Trey Blake/R.J. Hacker – The Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 18/2/25
• Teeth Of The Sea/TVAM/Bunkr – The Castle & Falcon, Balsall Heath, Birmingham – 28/2/25
• Vio-Lence/Exhorder/Kuazar – The Castle & Falcon, Balsall Heath, Birmingham – 18/4/25
• Neil Cowley Trio – The Bradshaw Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Aston, Birmingham -23/4/25
• (Hastings Traditional Jack In The Green) The Copper Family – St Clement’s Church, Hastings – 4/5/25
• (Hastings Traditional Jack In The Green) The Brighton Folk Choir – West Hill, Hastings – 5/5/25
• (Flatpack Festival) Un.Procedure – The Bramall Music Building (the dome), University of Birmingham, Harborne, Birmingham – 9/5/25
• Shanty Town Collective – Fixed Wheel Brewery, Blackheath – 24/5/25
• Mark Radcliffe & David Boardman – The Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 26/5/25
• Stella – The Oldbury Rep (studio room), Langley – 20/6/25
• (Cradley Women Chainmakers’ Festival) ‘Hong Kong Traditional Performers” (that’s as much of a name as was given)/The Time Stealers – Mary MacArthur Park, Cradley Heath – 28/6/25
• Defects/Gans/Meatdripper/Cherrydead – The Town Hall, Birmingham – 2/7/25
• (Halesowen Carnival) Life Central Church Band – Highfield Park, Halesown – 5/7/25
• (Moseley Jazz Funk & Soul festival) War/Big Band Of Boom/Seun Kuti & Egypt 80/Heavy Beat Brass Band/Tom McGuire & The Brassholes/Speak!/MT Jones/Lucas D & The Groove Ghetto/Disco Manifest/Credo Kampeta – Moseley Park, Moseley, Birmingham – 12/7/25
• (Supersonic Festival) Zu/Moin/Skloss/Water Damage/Hang Linton/Mermaid Chunky/Zahra Haji Fath Ali Tehrani – Norton’s and The Institute, Digbeth, Birmingham – 29/8/25
• (Supersonic Festival) Backxwash/Death Goals/Witch Club Satan/Rún/Madrigirl/Meatdripper/Karl D’Silva/Penelope Trappes – Xoyo and The Institute, Digbeth, Birmingham – 30/8/25
• (Supersonic Festival) Pocket Signs/Funeral Folk/Abdullah Miniawy/Rich(ard) Dawson/Elspeth Anne/Supersonic Choir/Cinder Well/Jennifer Reid/Six Organs Of Admittance/Dawn Terry/Hedgling/Calliope/Bridget Hayden & The Apparitions – Xoyo, Zelig and The Institute, Digbeth, Birmingham – 31/8/25
• Jez Lowe/Julia Disney – The Red Lion, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 17/9/25
• Testament/Obituary/Destruction/Nervosa – The Academy, Birmingham – 8/10/25
• Earthtone9/Stampin’ Ground – Mama Roux’s, Digbeth, Birmingham – 9/10/25
• Session band – Sin É, Cork – 20/10/25
• Jon Wilks/Geoff Ross & Rosemary Stacey – The Red Lion, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 29/10/25
• Gwenifer Raymond – The Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 16/11/25
• Tunng/Pictish Trail – The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 20/11/25

There were quite a few that I was going to go to but didn’t due to being tired/weary/too pissed-off to possibly enjoy it, chiefmost amongst them Suzanne Vega supported by Katherine Priddy at the Symphony Hall. I particularly regret not actually going to that one, and not solely because the ticket was dear.

Not a gig but it falls nearer to the “popular music” category than any of the other categories that I’ve split things up to here – the Black Sabbath ballet at The Hippodrome on 24/9/25.

Operations

There were but two this year:

• 8/3/25 – “Albert Herring” by Benjamin Britten (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) @ Gas Street Central, Birmingham

• 10/5/25 – “Peter Grimes” by Benjamin Britten (Welsh National Opera) @ The Hippodrome, Birmingham

Books

Insert the same “not quite so much nowadays” thing as I’ve said for the last several years.

• “Grimscribe” by Thomas Ligotti (started in 2024)

• “Bad Taste – On The Politics Of Ugliness” by Nathalie Olah

• “Class” by Nathalie Olah

• “The Rosewater Insurrection” by Tade Thompson

• “The Rosewater Redemption” by Tade Thompson

• “Desi Pubs – A Guide To British-Indian Pubs, Food & Culture” by David Jesudason

• “Klara And The Sun” by Kazuo Ishiguro

• “The Half-God Of Rainfall” by Inua Ellams

• “The Secret Diaries Of Charles Ignatius Sancho” by Paterson Joseph

• “The Mirror & The Light” by Hilary Mantel

• “Tell Me I’m Worthless” by Alison Rumfitt

• “The Jack In The Green – A May Day Custom” by Roy Judge

• “Falling Down – The Conservative Party And The Decline Of Tory Britain” by Phil Burton-Cartledge

• “Kafka’s Prague” by Klaus Wagenbach

• “Parasol Against The Axe” by Helen Oyeyemi

• “Go Tell It On The Mountain” by James Baldwin

• “The Lonely Londoners” by Sam Selvon

The Burton-Cartledge book is called “The Party Is Over” now, but the edition I got off Ebay is one with the old title and so that’s what it goes down as on here.

Carrying over into next year – “Cuckoo” by Gretchen Felker-Martin, and “Black Metail Rainbows” by a cast of thousands.

Films

Films are just… effort.

• “The Kangaroo Conspiracy” (2022)

• “The Kangaroo Chronicles” (2020) (seen before)

• “Kontroll” (2003) (seen before)

• “Songs From The Second Floor” (2000) (seen before)

• “Blazing Saddles” (1974) (seen many, many times before)

• “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (1988) (seen before)

• “Puss In Boots (2011) (seen before)

• “Frozen II” (2019)

***

So there you go. Tararabit, if all of the inevitabilities happen even faster than they look like they’re going to. See you on the treadmills powering the AI data centres.

Books

I’ve said this every year for a while now, but obviously I don’t read a lot of books anymore. I don’t accept this with grace and equanimity, but on the other hand I haven’t done anything about it and so accept it I clearly do.

• “Shakespeare” by Bill Bryson (started in 2023)
• “Shakespeare’s Language” by Frank Kermode
• “I Don’t Want To Go To The Taj Mahal – Stories Of A Birmingham Boy” by Charlie Hill
• “Righting The Wrong – Mary Macarthur 1880-1921” by Cathy Hunt (started in 2023)
• “D.I.Y. As Privilege: A Manifesto” by Richard Phoenix
• “A Capful O’ Nails” by David Christie Murray
• “The Hooligans Of Kandahar” by Joseph Kassabian
• “The Once And Future Sex – Going Medieval On Women’s Roles In Society” by Eleanor Janega
• “Luster” by Raven Leilani
• “Patriarchy Of The Wage – Notes On Marx, Gender And Feminism” by Silvia Federici
• “The Incomplete, True, Authentic, And Wonderful History Of May Day” by Peter Linebaugh
• “42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas Of Douglas Adams” edited by Kevin Jon Davies
• “Norse Mythology” by Neil Gaiman
• “Four Plays: R.U.R./The Insect Play/The Makropulos Case/The White Plague” by Karel Čapek
• “The Joke” by Milan Kundera
• “The Good Soldier Švejk” by Jaroslav Hašek
• “Dancing Lessons For The Advanced In Age” by Bohumil Hrabal
• “Topographica Hibernica” by Blindboy Boatclub
• “Songs Of A Dead Dreamer” by Thomas Ligotti

Reading a book does not qualify as endorsement for it’s author or anything they might do, particularly if (but not limited to when) you hadn’t even heard about how they’d disgraced themselves until afterwards.  I think it’s a bit unfair that the “Four Plays” paratext bills it/them as being by Karel Čapek, given that his brother Josef co-wrote two of them.

Crossing over into 2025: “Grimscribe” by Thomas Ligotti.

Gigs

Fewer gigs than in times gone by, too, but that is at least partly the cold bone arms of Age pinning me in place.

• Subhumans/Split Dogs/Zero Again/Fatal Dose/Bad Blood/The Human Error/Decay 87/Pulsar – The Dark Horse, Moseley, Birmingham – 14/1/24
• Kaia Kater – The Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 16/1/24
• Jez Lowe/Granfalloon – The Red Lion, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 24/1/24
• Kendo Nagasaki/The Courtesy Group/Moths Of The Moon – The Hare & Hounds (small room), Kings Heath, Birmingham – 31/1/24
• Master’s Call/Voidlurker (2)/Mufunta/Master Charger/The Hate – The Castle & Falcon, Balsall Heath, Birmingham – 19/4/24
• Jane Weaver/Adwaith – The Castle & Falcon, Balsall Heath, Birmingham – 21/4/24
• Nadine Shah/Callum Easter – Academy 2, Birmingham – 1/5/24
• Casa Libre – The Duke Of Wellington, Shoreham-By-Sea – 4/5/24
• Katherine Priddy/George Boomsma – The Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham-By-Sea – 4/5/24
• [Hastings Traditional Jack In The Green] The Copper Family – St Clement’s Church, Hastings – 5/5/24
• [Hastings Traditional Jack In The Green] Jack & Leon Hogsden – St Clement’s Church, Hastings – 5/5/24
• Granny’s Attic – The Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 9/5/24
• Sick Of It All/Violent Way – The Castle & Falcon, Balsall Heath, Birmingham – 14/5/24
• Otis Gibbs/Matt Sayers – Thimblemill Library, Smethwick – 31/5/24
• Gladys Knight/Mica Millar – Symphony Hall, Birmingham – 25/6/24
• The Skatalites/The Skapones – The Castle & Falcon, Balsall Heath, Birmingham – 3/7/24
• [Mostly Jazz Funk & Soul Festival] Leftfield/Greentea Peng/Antony Szmierek/Ella More/Dawn Richard/Echo Juliet/Kitty Bella – Moseley Park, Moseley, Birmingham – 12/7/24
• [Mostly Jazz Funk & Soul Festival] Yusseff Dayes/Super Duty Tough Work/The Blackbyrds/Knats/Thumpasaurus/NBHD House Band x Neone The Wanderer/The Atlantic Players/Ashley Allen and Friends/Sofia Grant/Isla Wolfe – Moseley Park, Moseley, Birmingham – 13/7/24
• [Mostly Jazz Funk & Soul Festival] Kool & The Gang/Wonder 45/Corto.Alto – Moseley Park, Moseley, Birmingham – 14/7/24
• McLusky/A Pig Called Eggs – The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 4/8/24
• Iress/Kulk/Funeral Plans – The Victoria, Birmingham – 20/8/24
• [Supersonic Festival] Melt-Banana/UKAEA/The None/Tristwch Y Fenywod/F*Choir – Xoyo & The Institute, Digbeth, Birmingham – 30/8/24
• [Supersonic Festival] Emma Ruth Rundle/The Shits/Agriculture/Flesh Creep/Senyawa/Modified Youth/Smote – Xoyo & The Institute, Digbeth, Birmingham – 31/8/24
• [Supersonic Festival] Mohammad Syfkhan/Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy/One Leg One Eye/ØXN/Robert Aiki  Aubrey Lowe (formerly Lichens)/John Francis Flynn/Matana Roberts/Brìghde Chaimbeul/Mary Lattimore/Haress/Womb x Water – Xoyo & The Institute, Digbeth, Birmingham – 1/9/24
• [Cradley Women Chainmakers’ Festival] Dan Whitehouse – Mary MacArthur Park, Cradley Heath – 15/9/24
• [Nový Václavák Festival] Like-It/Circus Brothers – Wenceslas Square, Prague – 10/10/24
• [Signals Festival] Lišaj&RealityCongress – Charles Square, Prague – 12/10/24
• Soweto Kinch (with the CBSO) – Symphony Hall, Birmingham – 20/10/24
• Martha Tilston/Nathan Ball – The Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 22/10/24
• BlackBeard’s Tea Party – The Red Lion, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 23/10/24
• The Destroyers/Diddy Sweg – The MAC (theatre), Edgbaston, Birmingham – 8/11/24
• [Dudley Winter Ales Fayre] The Empty Can/Rob Jones & Rob White – The Town Hall, Dudley – 30/11/24

It seems as though it’s all-but-certain that this was the last Supersonic that will happen in Birmingham, so that’s a massive blow (albeit one I understand). A symptom of decline, perhaps (and then a further massive contribution to decline in itself, just showing how much of a feedback loop The Great Enblandening really is) . I’m firmly on team B:INS, but it’s definitely getting slowly S-er from my perspective (caveat: this is the perspective of someone who is Old, as above. I’m sure the young’ins have all their stuff going on that I’ve never heard about, as is right and proper)..

The ongoing gig list goes on.

Theatre

The first one is telling since it has been a sort of unofficial Kafka Year for me, and I didn’t even realise when it started that it was the hundred year anniversay of his expiration in front of the door. “Kafka Year” in this instance has only really consisted of two plays, a trip to Oxford for an exhibition, and then going to see all of the stuff in Prague, but it’s as close to a theme as anything we’re likely to come up with.

• 27/1/24 – “Metamorphosis” adapted from Franz Kafka by Lemn Sissay (Frantic Assembly) @ The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
• 6/2/24 – “Garden” by Alan Ayckbourn (Crescent Theatre Company) @ The Crescent Theatre (Ron Barber Studio), Birmingham
• 10/2/24 – “House” by Alan Ayckbourn (Crescent Theatre Company) @ The Crescent Theatre (main room), Birmingham
• 13/3/24 – “The Metamorphosis” adapted from Franz Kafka by… I don’t know, it didn’t say anywhere (Mild Peril Theatre) @ The Gatehouse Theatre, Stafford
• 21/3/24 – “Mosquitoes” by Lucy Kirkwood (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Theatre Company) @ The Crescent Theatre (main room), Birmingham
• 23/3/24 – “Songs Of Innocence And Of Experience” sort-of adapted from William Blake (with bits of “Alice” and “2001”) by the company (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Theatre Company) @ The Old Rep Theatre, Birmingham
• 11/4/24 – “Behold Ye Ramblers” by Neil Gore (Townsend Theatre) @ The Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton
• 9/5/24 – “Community Service” by the cast and James Yarker (Stan’s Cafe) @ The Hippodrome (Patrick Centre), Birmingham
• 19/5/24 – “Abigail’s Party” by Mike Leigh (Dudley Little Theatre) @ St Peter’s Church Hall, Netherton
• 21/5/24 – “Withnail And I” by Bruce Robinson (Birmingham Rep Theatre Company) @ Birmingham Rep (Main House), Birmingham
• 15/6/24 – “Clouds” adapted from Aristophanes by Richard Woodward (Hall Green Little Theatre) @ Hall Green Little Theatre (Signature Studio), Hall Green, Birmingham
• 17/7/24 – “My Chat With Harold Pinter” by Miriam Higgins (Leaning House) @ The Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham
• 20/7/24 – “Red Velvet” by Lolita Chakrabarti (Crescent Theatre Company) @ The Crescent Theatre (Ron Barber Studio), Birmingham
• 22/9/24 – “Krapp’s Last Tape” by Samuel Beckett (Stockard Channing & David Westhead) @ The MAC (theatre space), Edgbaston, Birmingham
• 11/10/24 – “Poe” by Lenka Vagnerová after Edgar Allen Poe (National Theatre) @ The New Stage, Prague
• 2/11/24 – “Knightmare Live: The Tenth Anniversary” by Paul Flannery but mostly improvised (Knightmare Live) @ The MAC (theatre space), Edgbaston, Birmingham
• 15/12/24 – “A Christmas Wassail” with various bits by various people (Crescent Theatre Company) @ The Crescent Theatre (main room), Birmingham
• 19/12/24 – “Number 13” adapted from M.R. James by Hannah Torrance and Matt Beames (Beautiful Shadows) @ The Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton
• 22/12/24 – “Glory – The Story Of Sister Rosetta Tharpe” by Jude Freeman (Simmer Down Arts) @ The Bradshaw Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Aston, Birmingham

There was also one poetry/spoken word type-o’thing: Dave Pitt’s “A Battered Chip On My Shoulder” with opening turns from Gracie Bee and Emma Purshouse, at The Arena Theatre on 9/11/24.

Operations

They tell me that you only sing when you’re winning but I wouldn’t know anything about that.

• 18/1/24 – “Elektra“ by Richard Strauss (Royal Opera) @ The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London
• 8/2/24 – “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Paul Ruders (English National Opera) @ The Colosseum, Charing Cross, London
• 2/3/24 – “Cendrillon” by Jules Massenet (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) @ Gas Street Central, Birmingham
• 10/5/24 – “Cosi Fan Tutte” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Welsh National Opera) @ The Hippodrome, Birmingham
• 11/5/24 – “Death In Venice” by Benjamin Britten (Welsh National Opera) @ The Hippodrome, Birmingham
• 9/6/24 – “Hansel and Gretel” by Engelbert Humperdinck (not that one) (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) @ The Bradshaw Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Aston, Birmingham
• 7/7/24 – “The Flying Dutchman” by Richard Wagner (Persona Arts with Central England Camerate & Birmingham Choral Union) @ The Bradshaw Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Aston, Birmingham
• 9/7/24 – “New Year” by Michael Tippett (Birmingham Opera Company with the CBSO) @ ‘The Dream Tent’, Smithfield, Birmingham
• 14/7/24 – “Sonata For Broken Fingers” by Joe Cutler (Birmingham Contemporary Music Group) @ The CBSO Centre, Birmingham
• 8/10/24 – “Carmen” by Georges Bizet (National Theatre orchestra and choruses) @ The National Theatre, Prague
• 10/10/24 – “Le Grand Macabre” by György Ligeti (State Opera) @ The State Opera, Prague

There’s a particularly notable One That Got Away for this list.  I had a ticket for Sarah Angliss’ “Giant” at the ROH Linbury studio in March, and I was really looking forward to it.  My coach to London took an hour and a quarter longer than it should have and so I missed it.  Oh well.

Films

It’s just films, ayit. I don’t feel that films are “my bag” (as I believe the hep young cats say) as much as any of the other headings.

• “The Lion King” (2019)
• “Respect” (2021)
• “Mogul Mowgli” (2020)
• “The Conversation” (1974)
• “The Third Man” (1949)
• “Dune: Part Two” (2024)
• “People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan” (2021)
• “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie” (2019)
• “Robocop” (1987)
• “Children Of Men” (2006) (seen before)
• “Death In Venice” (1971)
• “Daisies” (1966)
• “Give The Devil His Due” (1985)
• “The Firemen’s Ball” (1967)
• “The Shop On Main Street” (1965)
• “Fitzcarraldo” (1982)
• “Grizzly Man” (2005)
• “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” (2024)

The mini “watch some Czech (and related)” films run proved fruitful.

There you have it, then. Let 2025 bring us good cheer, no fear, some beer, and an end to the ongoing genocide in Palestine.

Joint 31st place (seen 6 times each): The Klopeks, Rameses, Gabbidon, Editors, Ore, Terrorvision, Chris Wood, Swampmeat/The Swampmeat Family Band, Municipal Waste, The Atlantic Players.

Joint 24th place (seen 7 times each): Numinor, Beestung Lips, Rolo Tomassi, Efterklang, Richard Dawson, Einstellung, Melt-Banana.

Joint 19th place (seen 8 times each): Intention, Deadsunrising, Una Corda, Boat To Row, Jane Weaver.

Joint 15th place (seen 9 times each): Godsize, Billy Bragg, Dan Whitehouse, Martha Tilston.

14th place (seen 10 times): Tunng.

Joint 10th place (seen 11 times each): Beverley Knight, Michael Chapman, The Courtesy Group, Soweto Kinch.

Joint 8th place (seen 12 times each): Modified Toy Orchestra, Clutch.

7th place (seen 14 times): Decimate.

6th place (seen 16 times): Goodnight Lenin.

5th place (seen 22 times): Carina Round.

Joint 3rd place (seen 24 times each): Mistress, Katherine Priddy.

2nd place (seen 25 times): Mothertrucker.

1st place (seen 26 times): The Destroyers.

***

I’m not sure what you’re going to do with that info, but have a wild time with it such as you can.

My ongoing list is ongoing and continues to list.

Didn’t like this one too much.  But it did have some nice bits.

Books

It’s a punch in the self-image, but I suppose I just have to acknowledge that I’m not a person who reads all that many books anymore.

“Rosewater” by Tade Thompson (started in 2022)

“Jamaica Inn” by Daphne Du Maurier (started in 2022)

“The Psychology of Time Travel” by Kate Mascarenhas

“The Broom Of The System” by David Foster Wallace

“Voices” by Kit Power

“A Song For The End” by Kit Power

“Frames Of War – When Is Life Grievable?” by Judith Butler

“White Noise” by Dom DeLillo

“Scoop” by Evelyn Waugh

“All The Fabulous Beasts” by Priya Sharma

“The Lost Writings” by Franz Kafka

“Hexarchate Stories” by Yoon Ha Lee

“Ninefox Gambit” by Yoon Ha Lee (read before)

“Raven Stratagem” by Yoon Ha Lee (read before)

“Revenant Gun” by Yoon Ha Lee (read before)

“The Mushroom At The End Of The World – On The Possibility Of Life In Capitalist Ruins” by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing

“Piper’s Lonnen” by Jez Lowe

“One-Eyed Baz” by Barrington Patterson with Cass Pennant

“The Flight Of The Eisenstein” by James Swallow

“Classical Mechanics – The Theoretical Minimum” by Leonard Susskind and George Hrabovsky

“Cats In Medieval Manuscripts” by Kathleen Walker-Meikle

“The Cats Of Ireland” by Séamus Mullarkey

There was some heavy skimming involved in “The Theoretical Minimum”, perhaps to the extent where I’m not even sure that I can really say I read it.  It might be a guide for the layman but it wasn’t pitched dum-dum enough for me.

Going over into next year: Bill Bryson’s “Shakespeare” and the Cathy Hunt biography of Mary MacArthur.

Popular music gigs

There are always at least some gigs.  Live music never isn’t.

Author & Punisher/Zetra/Khost – The Hare & Hounds (small room), Kings Heath, Birmingham – 16/2/23

Jez Lowe/Small Changes – The Red Lion, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 1/3/23

The Go! Team/Fräulein – The Mill, Digbeth, Birmingham – 10/3/23

Cress/Anti-System/Fatal Dose/Radioactive Rats/DSA – Castle & Falcon, Balsall Heath, Birmingham – 7/4/23

Angeline Morrison/Daudi Matsiko – The Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 23/4/23

From The Jam/Buzzcocks – De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-On-Sea – 29/4/23

(Hastings Traditional Jack In The Green) The Copper Family – St Clement’s Church, Hastings – 30/4/23

(Hastings Traditional Jack In The Green) Brown Boots – St Clement’s Church, Hastings – 30/4/23

(Hastings Traditional Jack In The Green) Rattlebag – West Hill, Hastings – 1/5/23

Richard Dawson/Me Lost Me – The Bradshaw Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Aston, Birmingham – 6/5/23

Møl/Countless Skies – The Flapper, Birmingham – 13/5/23

Jon Wilks – The Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 15/5/23

Panopticon/Afsky/Master’s Call – The Asylum, Hockley, Birmingham – 7/6/23

Carcass/Unto Others/Conjurer – The Asylum, Hockley, Birmingham – 9/6/23

Spiers & Boden – Symphony Hall, Birmingham – 13/6/23

Einstellung/Zyggurat/Wildforms – The Hare & Hounds (small room), Kings Heath, Birmingham – 28/6/23

(Cradley Women Chainmakers’ Festival) Stream Of Sound – Mary Macarthur Park, Cradley Heath – 1/7/23

(Halesowen Carnival) The Rat Pack – Highfields Park, Halesowen – 1/7/23

Steve Von Till/Haress – Recital Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoir, Aston, Birmingham – 5/8/23

(Leamington Art In The Park) Levi Washington – Mill Gardens, Leamington Spa – 6/8/23

Obituary/Pest Control – The Asylum, Hockley, Birmingham – 26/8/23

(Supersonic Festival) Un.Procedure/Deerhoof/Ondata Rossa/Total Luck/Ex-Easter Island Head – The Mill and 7svn, Digbeth, Birmingham – 1/9/23

(Supersonic Festival) Godflesh/Elvin Brandhi/Pocket Signs/Ragana/Divide And Dissolve/Agathe Max/Taqbir/Ashenspire/Blacks’ Myths/Horse Lords/Blind Eye – The Mill and 7svn, Digbeth, Birmingham – 2/9/23

(Supersonic Festival) Lankum/The Seer/Jessica Moss & Big Brave/Mark Wagner & Blanc Sceol/Silver Moth/75 Dollar Bill/Shovel Dance Collective/Jessica Moss/Josephine Foster – The Mill and 7svn, Digbeth, Birmingham – 3/9/23

Session band – Kelly’s Cellars, Belfast – 11/10/23

Municipal Waste/Gel/Undeath – The Limelight, Belfast – 12/10/23

Police Bastard/Picasso Blot/Model Of Truth/Born Hostile – The Dark Horse, Moseley, Birmingham – 15/10/23

Andy Irvine – The Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 24/10/23

Bob Fox/Geoff & Isaac – The Red Lion, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 1/11/23

Martin Carthy & Jon Wilkes – The MAC (Hexagon), Edgbaston, Birmingham – 3/11/23

Martha Tilston – The Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 16/11/23

(Dudley Winter Ales Fayre) The Headshrinkers – The Town Hall, Dudley – 25/11/23

Operations

Including a gen-u-ine word premiere.

4/3/23 – “The Cunning Little Vixen“ by Leoš Janáček (students of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) @ Secret Space, Digbeth, Birmingham

13/7/23 – “Candide” by Leonard Bernstein after Voltaire (Welsh National Opera) @ The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham

(JQ Festival) 22/7/23 – “Leonard” by Max Gibson (Birmingham Opera Company) @ 1000 Trades, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham

28/10/23 – “Elena e Gerardo” by Marianna Bottini (Random Opera Company) @ The Temple Speech Room, Rugby School, Rugby

7/11/23 – “Ainadamar” by Osvaldo Golijov (Welsh National Opera) @ The Hippodrome, Birmingham

11/11/23 – “La Traviata” by Giuseppe Verdi (Welsh National Opera) @ The Hippodrome, Birmingham

Plays

Probably nearer to the amount of theatre that I feel like I should be going to than I’ve ever actually managed in a year before.

11/2/23 – “The Tempest” by William Shakespeare (Royal Shakespeare Company) @ The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon

12/2/23 – “A Taste Of Honey” by Shelagh Delaney (Crescent Theatre Company) @ The Crescent Theatre (Ron Barber Studio), Birmingham

25/2/23 – “The System” by Edward Loboda (Sweet Sorrow Theatre Company) @ The Crescent Theatre (Ron Barber Studio), Birmingham

07/3/23 – “All Our Money” by Aaron Corbett, Shireenah Ingram, Craig Stephens & James Yarker (Stan’s Cafe) @ Quinborne Community Centre, Quinton

11/3/23 – “Romeo And Juliet” by William Shakespeare (All & Sundry theatre group) @ The Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

18/3/23 – “The Trial” adapted from Franz Kafka by Steven Berkoff (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Theatre Company) @ The Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

25/3/23 – “The Penelopiad” by Margaret Atwood (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Theatre Company) @ The Old Rep Theatre, Birmingham

2/4/23 – “Sylvia” by A.R. Gurney (Crescent Theatre Company) @ The Crescent Theatre (Ron Barber Studio), Birmingham

23/5/23 – “The Ocean At The End Of The Lane” adapted from Neil Gaiman by Joel Horwood (National Theatre) @ The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham

27/5/23 – “Hamnet” adapted from Maggie O’Farrell by Lolita Chakrabarti (Royal Shakespeare Theatre) @ The Swan Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon

28/2/23 – “The Father” by Florian Zeller, translated by Chrisopher Hampton (Crescent Theatre Company) @ The Crescent Theatre (Ron Barber Studio), Birmingham

17/6/23 – “Kes” adapted from Barry Hines by Robert Alan Evans (Oldbury Rep Theatre Company) @ Oldbury Rep (studio), Langley

30/6/23 – “Happy Days” by Samuel Beckett (Landmark Productions) @ The Rep (The House), Birmingham

7/7/23 – “The Perfect Year – Singing Through The Seasons” with linking bits between the songs by, presumably, the cast (Startime Variety) @ St Giles Church Hall, Rowley Regis

8/7/23 – “Nell Gwynn” by Jessica Swale (Oldbury Rep Theatre Company) @ Oldbury Rep, Langley

9/7/23 – “The Taming Of The Shrew” by William Shakespeare (Crescent Theatre Company) @ Blakesley Hall, Yardley, Birmingham

15/7/23 – “The Pillowman” by Martin McDonagh (Empire Street Productions) @ The Duke Of York’s Theatre, Charing Cross, London

15/7/23 – “Accidental Death Of An Anarchist” by Dario Fo and Franca Rame, translated/adapted by Tom Basden (Playful Productions/Playing Field) @ Theatre Royal Haymarket, Charing Cross, London

23/9/23 – “Blithe Spirit” by Noël Coward (Crescent Theatre Company) @ The Crescent Theatre (Ron Barber Studio), Birmingham

2/10/23 – “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare with an extra bit by Stewart Lee (Royal Shakespeare Company) @ The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon

11/10/23 – “Ikaria” by Philippa Lawford (Tightrope Theatre) @ The Accidental Theatre, Belfast

22/10/23 – “A Kind Of Alaska” and “Ashes To Ashes” by Harold Pinter (Crescent Theatre Company) @ The Crescent Theatre (Ron Barber Studio), Birmingham

8/12/23 – “Oil” by Ella Hickson (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Theatre Company) @ The Hippodrome (Patrick Studio), Birmingham

9/12/23 – “Saved” be Edward Bond (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Theatre Company) @ The Crescent Theatre (Ron Barber Studio), Birmingham

15/12/23 – “Dark Tales In Winter: ‘Carnivorene’ and ‘The Body Snatchers’” by by Lucy Hamilton Hooper and Robert Louis Stevenson respectively, adapted by Matt Beames and Hannah Torrance respectively (Beautiful Shadows) @ The Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton

I didn’t have some kind of Crescent Theatre season ticket, in spite of what that might suggest.

Talking shops

Sometimes there’s only a fine distinction between this and the “plays” section.  Although having said that, I’ve included the Martin Carthy/Jon Wilks affair at the MAC in the “gigs” section above and that was more talking than music.

1/4/23 – Henry Rollins’ “Good To See You” tour @ The Town Hall, Birmingham

14/5/23 – Trashfuture podcast live recording (“Regional Authenticity” tour) @ The Glee Club, Birmingham

Should I add onstage panel discussion type o’things here?  I saw one about union/community organising in the Leicester garment industry at the Cradley Women Chainmakers Festival, and “Rhythms of Revolution: Music + Art as Social and Political Resistance” at Supersonic.

There’s always people blathering on, though.  Perhaps the real fine distinction is between this and prosaic life, rather than between this and any other creative malarkey.

Films

The big thing this year has been “The Banshees Of Inisherin”.  I’ve watched it several times.  It’s given me much to contemplate.

“Saint Maud” (2019)

“The Bob’s Burgers Movie” (2022)

“The Banshees Of Inisherin” (2022)

“The Quiet Man” (1951)

“Jamaica Inn” (1939)

“In Bruges” (2008)

“Knives Out” (2019)

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (2022)

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017)

“Seven Psychopaths” (2012)

“The Woman In Black” (2012)

“Calvary” (2014)

“The Guard” (2011)

“Shadowlands” (1993)

“Penguins Of Madagascar” (2014)

“A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon” (2019)

“In The Earth” (2021) (seen before)

“The Tape” (2021)

“Toy Story 4” (2019)

So.

Farewell then

2023

You were

A right ol’

Little blighter.

Visually Noisy on Instagram

Visually Noisy on Facebook

A choice of two social media that I don’t use, there. I believe the idiom is to tell you to smash that Like button, but that sounds awful violent to me. Click on the Like button, save your smashing for the patriarchy.

Another bad’un.  Join a union, support the strikes.

Books

More than the last couple of years, but still not really very many.

“Neoreaction A Basilisk – Essays On And Around The Alt Right” by Elizabeth Sandifer (started in 2021)

“The Rules Of Revelation” by Lisa McInerney

“The Cut” by Anthony Cartwright

“Dogged” by Emma Purshouse

“This Is How You Lose The Time War” by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

“The Story Of Craft Beer” by Pete Brown

“Municipal Dreams – The Rise And Fall Of Council Housing” by John Boughton

“Lean Out” by Dawn Foster

“Steal As Much As You Can – How To Win The Culture Wars In An Age Of Austerity” by Nathalie Olah

“On Cats” by Doris Lessing

“On Cats – An Anthology” edited by Suzy Robinson

“In Our Mad And Furious City” by Guy Gunaratne

“I Want To Believe – Posadism, UFOs and Apocalypse Communism” by A.A. Gittlitz

“Birmingham It’s Not Shit – 50 Things That Delight About Brum” by Jon Bounds, Jon Hickman & Danny Smith

“Anarchism, Anarchist Communism, And The State – Three Essays” by Peter Kropotkin

“The Lost Continent – Travels In Small-Town America” by Bill Bryson

“You Are Not So Smart” by David McRaney

“Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius

“Eminent Domain” by Carl Neville

“Resolution Way” by Carl Neville (read before)

“The Middle Ages – A Graphic History” by Eleanor Janega and Neil Max Emmanuel

“I, Claudius” by Robert Graves

”The Etymologicon” by Mark Forsyth 

Halfway through and crossing over to next year: “Jamaica Inn” by Daphne Du Maurier and “Rosewater” by Tade Thompson.

Gigs

I was still very wary at the start of the year.  I think that was 100% reasonable.

Martha Tilston/Dietrich Strause – The Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 6/2/22

Katherine Priddy/Dan Whitehouse – The Glee Club, Birmingham – 11/5/22

Dionne Warwick/Rachel John – Symphony Hall, Birmingham – 31/5/22

Dälek/Holy Scum – Centrala, Digbeth, Birmingham – 11/6/22

Sick Of It All/Grove Street/Face Up! – The Castle & Falcon, Balsall Heath, Birmingham – 15/6/22

Jim White/Martin Reynolds – The Actress & Bishop, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham – 19/6/22

[Supersonic Festival] Grove/Föllakzoid/Holy Tongue/Abronia/Blue Ruth/Rakhi Sing, Vessel & Nyx – The Mill and 7svn, Digbeth, Birmingham – 8/7/22

[Supersonic Festival] Thou/Whitelands/Pharoah Overload/Bloody Head/Rachel Aggs/Bismuth/No Home/Nadja – The Mill and 7svn, Digbeth, Birmingham – 9/7/22

[Supersonic Festival] Harrga/Divide And Dissolve/Jerusalem In My Heart/Paul Purgas/Shovel Dance Collective/Farida Amadou/J. Zunz/A.A. Williams/Shovel Dance Collective – The Mill and 7svn, Digbeth, Birmingham – 10/7/22

[JQ Festival] Reggae Winehouse – St Paul’s Square, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham – 23/7/22

The Destroyers/Abi Budgen – The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 29/7/22

Emma Ruth Rundle/Jo Quail – The Bradshaw Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Aston, Birmingham – 11/8/22

Witch/Margarita Witch Cult – The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 17/8/22

Efterklang/Michael King – The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 23/8/22

[Black Country Boating Festival] Primer – outside stage near Bumble Hole, Netherton – 10/9/22

Martha Tilston – The Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 5/10/22

Melts/Autre Monde/A Lethal Black Ooze – Whelan’s, Dublin – 12/10/22

Melts/Warm Graves – The Hare & Hounds (small room), Kings Heath, Birmingham – 19/10/22

A.A. Williams/Karin Park – The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 15/11/22

Jazz Sabbath/Billy Watman – The Crescent Theatre, Birmingham – 26/11/22

Afla Sackey & Afrik Bawantu/Millicent B. James – The Bradshaw Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Aston, Birmingham, 9/12/22

Stage

Not enough plays, again.

16/3/22 – “Yes! Yes! UCS!” by Neil Gore (Townsend Theatre Productions) @ Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton

6/5/22 – “Alternative Adventures In Wonderland” by Anita Clarke & Owen Archlimb (Pride and Joy Theatre) @ The Crescent Theatre (Ron Barber Studio), Birmingham

3/7/22 – “Lady Windermere’s Fan” by Oscar Wilde (Crescent Theatre Company) @ Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens, Castle Bromwich, Birmingham

31/7/22 – “Village Wooing” by George Bernard Shaw (SHAW2020 Theatre Company) @ The Blue Orange Theatre, Hockley, Birmingham

13/10/22 – “Dancing In The Moonlight: A Play About Phil Lynott” by Miles Mlambo (Miles Mlambo) @ The Smock Alley Theatre (Boys’ School auditorium), Dublin

10/11/22 – “The Odyssey” by David Mynne after Homer (David Mynne) @ The Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton

19/11/22 – “The Duchess Of Malfi” by John Webster (Crescent Theatre Company) @ The Crescent Theatre (Ron Barber Studio), Birmingham

29/11/22 – “Walk on By” by Raj Ram (HASSRA West Midlands theatre group) @ The Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham

15/12/22 – “Dark Tales In Winter: ‘In The Seance Room’ and ‘Lost Hearts’” adapted from Lettice Galbraith and M.R. James by Hannah Torrance and Matt Beames respectively (Beautiful Shadows) @ The Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton

Operations

All WNO this year.

20/4/22 – “Jenůfa“ by Leoš Janáček (Welsh National Opera) @ The Hippodrome, Birmingham

23/4/22 – “Madam Butterfly” by Giacomo Puccini (Welsh National Opera) @ The Hippodrome, Birmingham

8/11/22 – “The Makropolus Affair” by  Leoš Janáček (Welsh National Opera) @ The Hippodrome, Birmingham

12/11/22 – “Migrations” by Will Todd (Welsh National Opera) @ The Hippodrome, Birmingham

Films

Insufficient Christmassy content (since I’m making some faintly negative comment about every list). Probably more recent-ish ones than any year in memory, though.

“Dune” (2021)

“Abominable” (2019)

“Rebecca” (2020)

“Rebecca” (1940) (seen before)

“Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015) (seen before)

“The Father” (2020)

“Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” (2021)

“In The Earth” (2021)

“Die Känguru-Chroniken” (2020) (seen before)

“My Name Is Leon” (2022)

“Heavy Metal” (1981)

“Heavy Metal 2000” (2000)

“Wizards” (1977)

“The Lighthouse” (2019)

“Sound Of Metal” (2019)

“It’s A Very Muppet Christmas Movie” (2002)

“Christmas Carole” (2022)

I did go to a few gigs towards the end of it (after a year-and-a-half off, give or take), albeit each time with a strong feeling of trepidation.  I’m still not sure if it was/is an especially good idea.

The Trials Of Cato/Thorpe & Morrison – The Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 6/10/21

Martin Simpson/Sunjay – Green Duck Brewery, Stourbridge – 7/11/21

Otis Gibbs/Hannah Brown – Thimblemill Library, Smethwick – 20/11/21

Katherine Priddy/George Boomsma – The Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 7/12/21

If that Katherine one had been even a week later then I almost certainly wouldn’t have gone.

There was only one thing that you could really class as theatre, and that was a free one in a park.  Not a play, as such.

11/9/21 – “Rivers – The Thames and The Volga” by the Stan’s Cafe people (Stan’s Cafe) @ Cotteridge Park, Cotteridge, Birmingham

I did weirdly end up going to two stand-up comedy things, though.  I often tend to find stand-up comedy annoying, what with me being humourless ‘n’ such, so it is a bit strange that it worked out this way when I’ve been out to such a paucity of things in general.

13/11/21 – Mark Thomas (“50 Things About Us”) @ The Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton

23/11/21 – Milo Edwards (“Voicemail”) @ Cherry Reds, Birmingham

My book-readin’ continues to be pathetic.  I still haven’t worked out how to compensate for not having very many bus journeys nowadays.

“Under The Paw – Confessions Of A Cat Man” by Tom Cox (started in 2020)

“Tunng Presents… Dead Club” by Sam Genders

“Lori And Max And The Book Thieves” by Catherine O’Flynn

“The Subcultural Imagination – Theory, Research And Reflexivity In Contemporary Youth Subcultures” edited by Michelle Kempson and Shane Blackman (started in 2020)

“The Connected Lives Of Dutch Punks – Contesting Subcultural Boundaries” by Kirsty Lohman

“The Testaments” by Margaret Atwood

“Girl, Woman, Other” by Bernadine Evaristo

“Libra Shrugged – How Facebook Tried To Take Over The Money” by David Gerard

“The Dereliction” by Liz Berry & Tom Hicks

“If Destroyed Still True” by Liz Berry & Tom Hicks

“Cat’s Cafe” by Matt Tarpley

“32 Counties – The Failure Of Partition And The Case For A United Ireland” by Kieran Allen

It’s even more feeble when you consider that some of those are more-or-less pamphlets.  Or actual pamphlets. Started and crossing over into next year, we have “Working Class History” by the WCH collective and “Neoreaction A Basilisk” by Elizabeth Sandifer.

I watched some films, none in an outside-of-house context (as is my preferred way of doing it).  There were fewer Christmas films at the end than is right and proper.

“Arthur Christmas” (2011)

“My Darling Clementine” (1946)

“Gunfight At The O.K. Corral” (1957)

“Tombstone” (1993)

“Wyatt Earp” (1994)

“King Rocker” (2020)

“Logan’s Run” (1976)

“Silent Running” (1972)

“Made In Dagenham” (2010)

“High-Rise” (2015)

“Frontier Marshall” (1939)

“Wichita” (1955)

“Hour Of The Gun” (1967)

“Tombstone-Rashomon” (2017)

“The Apartment” (1960)

“Django” (1966) (seen before)

“Django Strikes Again” (1987)

“Django The Bastard” (1969)

“Django Kill… If You Live, Shoot!” (1967) (seen before)

“Four Of The Apocalypse” (1975)

“Dune” (1984) (seen before)

“Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché” (2021)

“The Death Of Stalin” (2016) (seen before)

“The Secret Life Of Pets” (2016)

“The Secret Life Of Pets 2” (2019)

“Die Känguru-Chroniken” (2020)

“The Grinch” (2018)

“Paddington 2” (2017)

“Cinderella” (2015)

There you go, that’s it.  I need to get into the rhythm of reading more when not on a bus, that’s the lesson from all of this.

I don’t like the way that they’ve changed the posting screens on WordPress since last year, I have to say.

Speaking of doing things backwards, anyway: Books. I know a lot of people have at least managed to get more reading done this year. I am a Contrary Mary and read a lot less, and I really do mean a lot less. It’s the lack of bus journeys that has done it (even when I had to go out to work I was lucky enough to be able to get a lift).

“Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi (started in 2019)
“Trans Like Me” by CN Lester (started in 2019)
“Provenance” by Ann Leckie
“Dream-Songs – Book Two” by George R.R. Martin
“Witches, Witch-Hunting, And Women” by Silvia Federici
“The Hastings Traditional Jack In The Green” by Keith Leech
“Lori And Max” by Catherine O’Flynn
“Capitalist Realism” by Mark Fisher (re-read)
“The Finite” by Kit Power
“False Gods” by Graham McNeill
“Galaxy In Flames” by Ben Counter
“On Bullshit” by Harry G. Frankfurt
“Nostromo” by Joseph Conrad
“The Wild Girls (Plus…)” by Ursula K. Le Guin
“I Am Not A Wolf” by Dan Sheehan

Bit feeble, ayit. Carrying over the year line to 2021, I’m currently amidst “Under The Paw” by Tom Cox and “The Subcultural Imagination” edited by Michelle Kempson and Shane Blackman.

I did watch a greater than normal number of Films, but a good chunk of them were aroundabout March-May time. Maybe this was some weird surface manifestation of a subconscious stress thing (like eating more, but that didn’t stop in May).

“The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” (1962)
“Children Of Men” (2006)
“Dawn Of The Dead” (1978)
“Mad Max” (1978) (seen before)
“Mad Max 2 – The Road Warrior” (1981) (seen before)
“Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” (1985) (seen before)
“The New Barbarians” (1982)
“The Death Of Stalin” (2016)
“The Battle Of Algiers” (1966)
“Battleship Potemkin” (1925) (seen before)
“Coffy” (1973)
“Foxy Brown” (1974)
“Red Dwarf: The Promised Land” (2020)
“Super Fly” (1972)
“Shaft” (1971)
“Trouble Man” (1972)
“Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song” (1971)
“Truck Turner” (1974)
“He Never Died” (2015) (seen before)
”Black Sheep” (2006) (seen before)
“Songs From The Second Floor” (2000) (seen before)
“Kontroll” (2003) (seen before)
“Dispossession” (2017)
“Conspiracy” (2001)
“The Wannsee Conference” (1984)
“F For Fake” (1973)
“The End Of The Tour” (2015) (seen before)
“The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs” (2018)
“Hail, Caesar!” (2016)
“Miss Potter” (2006)
“Miller’s Crossing” (1990) (seen before)
“Sorry To Bother You” (2018)
“Event Horizon” (1997)
“Peter Rabbit” (2018)
“It’s A Wonderful Life” (1948) (seen before)
“Scrooge” (1970) (seen before)
“Roald & Beatrix: The Tail Of The Curious Mouse” (2020)

The lack of live stuff is, of course, predictable. There were some Gigs up until the start of March, and the thought of it feels like something from another world.

Daria Kulesh – The Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 5/1/20
Martin Simpson/Tom Martin – Tower Of Song, Kings Norton, Birmingham – 1/2/20
Sam Lee – The Glee Club, Birmingham – 5/2/20
Diz’n’Rox – Temperance, Leamington Spa – 22/2/20
Ulrich Schnauss & Mark Peters/Teeth Of The Sea/John Biddulph – St Paul’s church, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham – 6/3/20
Moses Boyd/LA Timpa – The Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham – 7/3/20

The only Opera and Theatre visits were on the same day (the 8th of Feb), on a trip to London – the Gerald Barry “Alice’s Adventures Underground” by The Royal Opera at The Royal Opera House, and Tom Stoppard’s “Leopoldstadt” at Wyndham’s Theatre.

That’s your lot, really.  I will try to read more this year.  The live stuff doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a go-er for a fair old while yet.

Films watched at home

“A Field In England” (2013)
“The Shootist” (1976)
“Kill List” (2011)
“Sightseers” (2012)
“Hugo” (2011)
“The Simpsons Movie” (2007) (re-watch)
“44 Inch Chest” (2009) (re-watch)
“The Revenant” (2015)
“Jason And The Argonauts” (1963) (re-watch)
“Warrior” (2011) (re-watch)
“Emma” (1996)
“Sunshine On Leith” (2013)
“Kontroll” (2003)
“A Christmas Carol” (2009)

Films watched outside of home

Only one.

1/5/19 – “Oxide Ghosts” (2017) with a talk from Michael Cummings and Stuart Lee afterwards, at the Electric Cinema

***

There was also the Stan’s Cafe “It’s Your Film” live cinema thingybob on the 12th of May, if you’d rather count that here than in the “stage” list.

“Detroit 67 – The Year That Changed Soul” by Stuart Cosgrove (started in 2018)
“Lenin – The Man Behind The Mask” by Ronald W. Clark (started in 2018)
“Militant Modernism” by Owen Hatherley
“The Battle Of Hastings” by Jim Bradbury
“Nightflyers And Other Stories” by George R.R. Martin
“The Mythical Battle – Hastings 1066” by Ashley Hern
“Nomad” by Alan Partridge (with Rob Gibbons, Neil Gibbons & Steve Coogan)
“Horus Rising” by Dan Abnett
“Down Under” by Bill Bryson (re-read)
“The Cleansing Of Constance Brown/It’s Your Film/Simple Maths” by the Stan’s Cafe gang
“British Sheep Breeds” by Elizabeth Henson
“Breaking Point” by Kit Power
“A Warning About Your Future Enslavement That You Will Dismiss As A Collection Of Short Fiction And Essays By Kit Power” by Kit Power
“Resurrections” by Roz Kaveney
“Kill All The Gentlemen – Class Struggle And Change In The English Countryside” by Martin Empson
“Funk – The Music, The People, And The Rhythm Of The One” by Rickey Vincent
“William Shakespeare – In His Times, For Our Times” by Michael Rosen
“Realities” by Roz Kaveney
“Conservation Of Shadows” by Yoon Ha Lee
“Pocket Pantheon” by Alain Badiou
“Hodge’s History Of Cats” by Kirsten Tambling
“Ode To Broken Things” by Dipika Mukherjee
“Amateur” by Thomas Page McBee
“Back From The Brink – The Inside Story Of The Tory Resurrection” by Peter Snowdon
“Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race” by Reni Eddo-Lodge
“Nincompoopolis – The Follies Of Boris Johnson” by Douglas Murphy
“The Blood Miracles” by Lisa McInerney
“The Power” by Naomi Alderman
“Going For A Balti – The Story Of Birmingham’s Signature Dish” by Andy Munro
“Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe
“Alfie In The Snow” by Rachel Wells
“Please Stop Touching Me… And Other Haikus By Cats” by Jamie Coleman

Halfway through and going on into 2020: “Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi and “Trans Like Me” by CN Lester.