Gigs - David Thomas Broughton - Kraak, Manchester

Star rating – 2/10 or 9/10

This has got to be the weirdest gig I have ever been to. I am still not sure if I loved it or hated it but it was certainly entertaining. The setting was the intimate Kraak club, tucked away down a nearly blind alley in one of the less salubrious parts of the Northern Quarter. And David Thomas Broughton created a cacophony of sound via recording trickery and echoing mikes.

He looks very unassuming, dare I say ordinary, but he is anything but mundane. Broughton is obviously not at home conversing with an audience – he turned his back to them for parts of his performance and there was no interaction with or even acknowledgement of the audience to speak of throughout. Although to be fair there were no breaks in the performance to allow for clapping or otherwise until the very end.

He is a very unusual performer, to understate the case somewhat, with a unique vocal sound, reminiscent of avant-garde performers like Laurie Anderson or Yoko Ono. It did all feel a bit New York, with a Yorkshire accent. Broughton is clearly an eccentric genius, who wanders around the audience singing and gesticulating.

I couldn’t tell you how many songs he performed- it wasn't always clear when they started and ended. I did partially recognise some snippets from tracks from his ‘Outbreeding’ CD, although to be fair he didn’t play some of my favourites, like ‘Apologies’, or ‘Joke’. He has a beautiful and original voice, and writes some fabulous lyrics. He is also clearly an accomplished musician. But seeing him live is something else altogether. David Thomas Broughton is bonkers and extremely baffling at times, and eccentric in a good way (I think!). Go and see for yourself – you won’t see the like anywhere else I can assure you.

Exhibitions - We Face Forward - Whitworth Art Gallery and other venues

Star rating – 8/10

West Africa has arrived in Manchester with one hell of a splash – courtesy of We Face Forward. This is a summer long programme of art and music across many different venues, and for my first taste I went to the exhibition at the Whitworth Art Gallery.

It all starts in Whitworth Park itself, where the trees are alive to the African sounds via speakers wired up throughout the walkways, creating a very lively carnival atmosphere (if you disdainfully ignore the obligatory Bank Holiday rain that is). In the gallery itself, West African culture has pretty much taken over proceedings, with the lush main room transformed by Pascale Marthine Tayou into a forest of trees overhung by a rainbow of colours. 

The paintings and photos themselves are brilliant and vivid -  some with a serious message. The title of the event is taken from Ghanaian President Nkrumah when he said in 1960 that they faced neither East nor West in the Cold War hostilities, ‘but we face forward’. There is a very lively upbeat feel to the whole place, helped along by some fabulous African drumming. 

Some particular favourites of mine were the moving and honest photos of Ghana by Nii Obodai, and the poster for the Pan African Congress. I will definitely be checking out the other venues to see what they have to offer, particularly the dresses at the Gallery of Costume at Platt Fields. This is just what we need to chase away the British summertime weather blues and put a bit of colour into our lives. 

Film - Prometheus - directed by Ridley Scott

Star rating – 7/10

Here’s the thing about creating a prequel to an iconic film like Alien, as director Ridley Scott has done. It needs to contain something pretty good because all the shocks and dramatic build up of its successor are already known to the audience. We all remember the scene where the alien life force bursts out of John Hurt’s stomach, so nothing of that ilk, however graphic, will ever be as shocking again.

Prometheus, which is actually the name of the ship, is sent into space to investigate the theory of a couple of scientists, one of whom is a devout Christian, that creatures from elsewhere visited Earth, on the strength of their discovery of some ancient cave paintings. The mission is made possible by the backing of a rich corporation, and its tycoon owner, who was eager to find out the origins of humankind.  

With a title like this, referring to the Greek God who, as legend has it, created humankind and fire alike, and with a set up positing religious belief against atheism, I fully expected some big themes to be explored here. But disappointingly Scott sets them up but does not really develop them at all. And there are no long sequences with nothing much in the way of action, but which are big on plot development, to ramp up the scare factor as in Alien. It’s wham bam thank you ma’am in terms of getting straight into the action, and plot is the sacrificial lamb here. 

But to dwell on the positive elements of this film for a moment, it has fantastic production values, and for the most part is well acted. Michael Fassbender is terrific as David the robot, who is supposedly helping the crew, but whose motives are more than a little suspect, however sweet his demeanour.  Noomi Rapace is good as Elizabeth Shaw, the Christian scientist, even though her accent wavers disconcertingly between American and Swedish at times.  And I have to say I expected a little bit more sympathy from her fellow crew members at the situation she finds herself in, and how much it must have hurt afterwards – I will say no more than that on the subject.

Scott doesn’t take the time to allow us to feel anything for the crew, so that when the alien terror is unleashed, no real wave of emotion or fellow feeling for them is engendered. But at least it stuck to a couple of hours to entertain us, rather than outstaying its welcome like so many films are want to do these days in order to be considered truly epic. This is a good action film but not much more, which is probably more a credit to the brilliance of Scott’s previous work, than an indictment of this one. 

And before you ask, yes I saw it it 2D - I don't hold with this new fangled nonsense of adding unnecessary additional dimensions to my world. And yes I am now having doubts about my planned trip to the Isle of Skye this summer!!

Books - A Street Cat Named Bob - by James Bowen

Star rating – 8/10

I am a self confessed cat adorer, and I like to think I can empathise with people who find themselves homeless or addicted to drugs. But I didn’t see how these two sentiments had anything to do with each other until I heard about Bob the street cat who saved his owner, James Bowen, from a lifetime of addiction and loneliness. And James has now published a lovely book about his furry redemptive friend called A Street Cat Named Bob. 

James describes how he and Bob found each other when both were down on their luck, one from a heroin, now methadone addiction, the other from a dog attack. Bob soon became extremely attached to James and accompanied him on his Covent Garden busking jaunts – more like a dog than a cat really. And the ginger tom certainly helped with trade, as passers-by doubled their giving at the sight of him. They have become a celebrated feature – the Big Issue seller with the cat perched on his shoulder like a parrot.

I am a firm believer in pets being therapeutic, and Bob certainly has been for James. This uplifting tale warmed my heart, and I read it at a single sitting. James believes Bob saved him from a cycle of addiction, and some of the stories he tells are endearing and amazing. This book won’t change the world, but it is a very worthwhile reminder that we all should celebrate the small things in life, and that cats are fantastic creatures. But then you knew that already.

Films - The Angels' Share - directed by Ken Loach

Star rating – 9/10

I was really looking to forward to the latest Ken Loach film, being a massive fan of his work. And The Angels’ Share does not disappoint. It blends a touch more comedy than some of his earlier works, with that gritty social realism and fierce political commentary that he is so admired for. And it fully deserves the Cannes Jury Prize it was recently awarded.

Lots of the hallmark Loach ingredients are here – the use of non professionals as his actors to transmit the brutality of being at the bottom of the social pile; and eternal hope for something better. Paul Brannigan is outstanding as Robbie, who has escaped a custodial sentence for a cocaine-fuelled brutal attack on an innocent teenager, largely due to the fact that his girlfriend is pregnant, and he is desperate to be given one last chance for his unborn child. 

As so often in life his luck turns when he encounters Harry, his community sentence supervisor with a heart of gold, who stands by him and believes in him. John Henshaw, as impressive here as he consistently is, plays the whisky loving Harry. In a part that can be compared to Colin Welland’s school teacher in Kes, he takes Robbie and a few of his fellow offenders to a whisky tasting event, and Robbie turns out to have a nose for the stuff.

What follows is more of an Ealing comedy caper, as Robbie et al plot to turn the situation to their advantage. But danger and violence is only ever a heartbeat away, as Robbie struggles to break away from his background. But the laughs are genuine, and extremely funny. And there is a lovely turn from the fabulous Roger Allam as a whisky collector who is not adverse to a spot of collaboration himself. 

This is a heartbreaking, hilarious and heart warming film – not something every director can pull off, but Loach just gets better with age, like the fine whisky he showcases here.

Books - Besieged:Life Under Fire on a Sarajevo Street by Barbara Demick

Star rating – 9/10

It has always been an incredible thought for me that a relatively well developed city like Sarajevo, which only ten years prior to the war with Serbian was hosting stars like Torville and Dean in the Winter Olympics, was subjected to a horrifying siege for forty four months. American journalist Barbara Demick has just published an intimate account of the events of that time, through the experiences of the residents of a single street in the Bosnian capital. And her account of exactly what it was like to live through the siege in Logavina Street brings the horrors of war to life in a way no normal historical or political account could do.

Logavina Street is six blocks long, and at the time of the siege housed mainly Muslim families, although people from all ethnic backgrounds also lived there. Demick spent a couple of years amongst the people there, and tells from firsthand experience how their homes and lives were shattered by the incessant bombardment from Serbian guns in the hills around the city. It is also a story of proud resistance, as the inhabitants developed ingenious strategies to get by, and refused to give into the Serbian bullies. 

Each day was a constant battle to get the basic necessities for living, like power, water, and what food could be had, which was not much at all. Some people managed to escape, most chose to stay and fight. And some of the little details here are the most powerful, like the women who made sure they went out with their hair dyed and make up in place, before dodging the snipers’ bullets. Recounting such small acts of defiance are what makes this book an extraordinary read.

It’s also shocking to read again about how long the Serbian army was allowed to continue to massacre the civilians of Sarajevo, while other nations looked on. As the trial of Serb leader Radovan Karadžić for war crimes rumbles on, the book is an important reminder of just what happened to ordinary, innocent people in Bosnia as a result of his and others’ actions. It is almost impossible to put down – Demick brings the full horror to a vivid reality by relating it to the everyday experiences of the men, women and children who had to live through it. 

Exhibitions - Set in Stone - The Stone Roses - Manchester Photographic Gallery

 Star rating – 7/10

A nice warm up event for the Stone Roses come back gigs this summer opened this week at Manchester Photographic Gallery this week. It’s an exhibition of photos of the band by Manchester photographer Ian Tilton, and has some great shots to take you right back to those heady Madchester days.

As the Roses have got to be one of my favourite bands of all time, whose songs still feel as good to me now as they did when they were first unleashed, it was a great reminder of happy days. The photos capture the attitude and swagger of Mr. Brown and co. perfectly. 

And if you haven’t discovered the Manchester Photographic yet www.manchesterphotographic.com you really should give it a whirl. It’s set it a nice bit of the Northern Quarter which still has that slightly undiscovered appeal. And they do great courses in photography – thanks Simon – hope you like this one – captured and edited on my iPhone just like you showed me to!