Bill Bailey Live at Bristol Hippodrome

Nazi gold, barnacles, a man with long hair, a beard and tesco bags, it could only be Bill Bailey's Live show. It was a fanstastic night, despite its early start in the week. Bill Bailey pulled out all the stops, with his eclectic range of musical instruments accompanying his own versions of the Star War's theme tune and Lenoard Cohen's "Hallelujah" in Kraftwerk Style.

If you are yet to see him on tour, then you are in for a real treat. Bill's brilliant banter keeps your chin high, your belly in stiches and your voice hoarse from laughter. For all those who missed out this time, we'll have to keep our fingers crossed that it comes out on DVD soon.

Malvern Three Counties Agricultural Show

Hugging the Malvern hills sat the Three Counties Agricultural Show, bursting with life. There is so much to see here that you definately need a whole day to go around. So many times I wanted to touch the animals, squeeze them, take them home, which is a testiment to how well they have been primed for the show.

You will see amazing animals here; huge, enormous, wacky, unusual and incredible. I didn't realise how many different breeds there were and the variety. I was wildy entertained with the bird show, where the eagle flew off; circling over the whole of the show and vanishing in the trees far away and never to be seen for the rest of the day. I still don't know if he ever came back!

We watched as talented blacksmiths raced against the clock to make horseshoes and fit them on the horses. We ate like kings, bought jewels like queens and slept like pigs in the car on the way back. Make sure to head down this weekend or catch it next year!


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Pub Review of The Lock Keeper, Bristol.

A great pub situated right next to a beautiful river. You can listen to the water falling down from the weir as you eat some top notch food. I had one of the best burgers ever here, it was beautifully flame-grilled and the chips were proper chips! The Risotto was rich and creamy, and I left completely stuffed to the brim with a smile on my face.




It's a nostalgic, listed building between the lock and weir; a twist of old and modern, which has been beautifully put together. The beer garden goes further on that you realise, on either side of the car park where you can sit and watch Herons sweeping over the river and gliding in. A truely lovely experience.

Restaurant Review for Budokan, Colston Street, Bristol.

The Budokan is a sleek, sophisticated and tasty restaurant. It offers fine dining in pan asian foods from Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. It includes alot of my favourite dishes such as: satay sticks, thai fish cakes, spring rolls and the sushi platter.

It's a great place for those who are a bit inexperienced when it comes to eastern food as they have flexible set dishes or "rapid refuel" menus that give you a good taster of different bits and bobs. For an example of their menu click here.

Food is cooked quick, the atmosphere is buzzing and exciting. This is a must-go-to restaurant, so slide onto a bench, get out those chop sticks and start poking!

Interview: Jeff Wayne, The War of the Worlds

The floating head of Richard Burton, a 35 foot high Martian, death-rays and spectacular music can only mean one thing; Jeff Wayne’s musical version of The War of the Worlds is landing onto the stage once again. The musical is celebrating its 30th anniversary in June 2009. It was inspired by a H G Well’s novel and is a unique combination of musical, theatre and concert. So did the creator Jeff Wayne know it was going to be such a success?

'No! Non!! Nein!!! When it was first released in June 1978, punk was at the height of its revolution and disco was king of the dance floor. Yet, there I was composing and producing a 96-minute continuous work trying to interpret HG Wells’ Victorian tale!

'I fell in love with HG Wells’ incredible story, which was not only visionary for its time, but also contained much social comment which inspired me as a composer and producer.'

But Jeff wasn’t always a composer. He had majored in journalism before making a decision to carry on with his love of music.

'The main areas of journalism I loved was investigative and I could see a career in that field. But music lifted my spirits in an entirely different way.'

Jeff then switched to a music major, which ironically he never completed because of his musical success to follow. After pursuing his vision for a musical adaptation of The War of the Worlds, he proved to have created a timeless classic. It’s a concert but with acting, props and Richard Burton narrating the story of Martians invading the earth to exterminate mankind. It’s creator promises it will be better than ever.

'I’m not keen on just taking it out of the box and performing it the same way as the previous tour. To me it’s a living work that needs to be challenged and nurtured. We’re travelling for the first time with our own stage, which has given us the chance to re-design it, and conceal certain special effects that will give the audience a greater impact.'

But apart from that, Jeff's keeping it a surprise and won’t give anymore away.

'We also have a couple of new guest artists, including Jennifer Ellison playing the role of Beth, Parson Nathaniel’s wife – and what a major talent she is. Her singing and acting is really ideal for the character she plays.

'Opposite her as Nathaniel, will be Shannon Noll. He’s got a huge rock voice, and very charismatic on stage – and with Jennifer should make a most electric combination.

'Overall, the coming tour should offer the most exciting production to date.'

With the orchestra out of the pit and in centre stage, it has not only put the music at the forefront of the show but has also put the muscians amidst the action too.

'About half an hour into the story, the Martian Fighting Machine unexpectedly ‘lands’ on stage from the heavens, having been hidden in the lighting rig directly above. Now, our physical Martian is no toy. In fact it weighs over 3-tonnes!

'But in one show in Australia our Martian suddenly stopped. It dangled in mid-air swaying above our band and symphonic string orchestra. All the musicians were looking at me as to what was happening (there were no vocalists on stage at this moment). I just chose to smile, trying to reassure them all was good, and I just kept conducting.

'After the show, from what I was told, no one in the audience knew anything had gone wrong. In fact, a young boy of about nine or ten, who had won a competition to come see our show and meet me afterwards, told me how much he loved the whole show. And his favourite bit was when the Martian descended down toward the stage and then began to ‘fly’.'

It sounds brilliant and I can’t wait to see it myself. The War of the Worlds is the only place where you can listen to the timeless worlds of space and with sell out UK tours in 2006 and 2005, I would advise booking quick.

Bath International Music Festival 2009 Maceo Parker Band featuring Dennis Rollins

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The Bath Internation Festival opened up its second evening with a truely fantastic jazz funk band. Maceo Parker has had a wealth of experience, he has played with James Brown, Bootsy's Rubber Band, Ray Charles and the Red Hot chilli Peppers.

It would seem that the people in bath are to rich to stand as they began to complain about the severe lack of seating. However, once the band started kicking out their funky beats and awe-inspiring toots, they seemed to have forgotten they were "slumming" it and were kicking their shoes.



Maceo Parker's was a born performer and entertainer. I can't help but mimic his moves now, especially the finger hook whenever the words "off the hook" came into a song. Dennis Rollin's trombone playing was simply spectacular and I was blown away (pardon the pun) by the Ron Tooley the trumpet man! Even Pee Wee Ellis graced the stage during the show.

Although by the end of the evening I had lost half my body weight in sweat (no form of ventilation you see), the Bath International fest definately provided an evening of pure funk, jazz and grooves! A must see band for all those who love to get funky!

Review of BRAVE at The Bristol Old Vic

BRAVE is an astounding, unique and inspiring play put on by the Bristol Old Vic’s young company. They delivered such a powerful, wise, inventive and thought-provoking performance. Like an abstract dream, I fell into the fantastical and universal experiences displayed in BRAVE.

Brilliantly directed and explored, BRAVE brought the audience from laughing one moment to silence in the next. For one night you get to re-live the highs and lows of childhood and life: kiss chases, birthdays, divorce, illness, abuse and death. Great insights and humour were provided into adult lives including one that played on the game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, doing their own version – Who Wants To Be A Parent?

There were moments when you felt like you had been propelled into Toy Story and others when it felt like watching a Hollywood movie. Its ambitious cast of 200 performers from ages 7 – 70 meant they were able to recreate moments which often can only be captured on screen. It brought a new life and experience onto the stage, unlike any I have seen before.

The music was incredible, ranging from surreal music reminiscent of Frank Zappa, classical, ambient, beat-boxing and operatic singing. Each piece was powerfully emotive and accompanied the different stories beautifully.

BRAVE demonstrates the talent, professionalism and voice of young people today, and has inspired me to see more productions by young people. It’s definitely fulfilled its promises and then some by creating a brilliant piece of art. Don’t miss out, go and see it quick!