Gigs - Joe Pug - Castle Hotel, Manchester

Star rating – 9/10

If, like me, you remember fondly when the gigs you went to were small and sweaty, then rest assured that there is no need to simply reminisce.  Manchester’s Castle Hotel offers those longed for intimate exclusive experiences on a regular basis – great gigs just as they should be. And last night’s offering from American country troubadour Joe Pug was something a little bit special.

His lyrics pack a real punch, and his very affable and charming demeanour belie an intensity and anger reminiscent of a young Bob Dylan. His guitar and his mouth organ are his weapons, like a raging Woody Guthrie or Bruce Springsteen. Defiantly on the side of the little people, he quit drama school and went to earning his living as a carpenter before his musical career took off. He has famously given away his music for free to fans in return for them spreading the word around about his music. And he is still an artist who likes to treat his audiences with respect.

Pug is one of those songwriters who leaves a piece of himself on every song – honestly sharing his political and romantic passions alike. He treated the small but very appreciative crowd to gems like Speak Plainly Diana, and the desperate heartbreak tune Call It What You Will, both from the acclaimed Nation of Heat EP. He raged fabulously about  ‘a congress of jackals will put a tax on my smile’ in Nobody’s Man. My personal stand out favourite of the night was How Good You Are from the online album Messenger. It’s a great example of how a good track can sound truly great live.

He finished off with a last rousing number Hymn#101, testing the timbers of his heart, he is brave, insistent, confrontational, searching for answers, and putting himself out there with all his soul. By his own admission Joe Pug says exactly what he means and is stubborn as a butcher. Watch out world is all I can say. He sings of redemption and love, of missed chances and weary lives. A remarkable, warm and talented performer, do yourself a favour and don’t miss him when he next graces these shores with his outstanding talent. And thanks to Hey Manchester! for putting on another tremendous gig.  May sweaty nights reign...

http://www.heymanchester.com/

Films - The Bourne Legacy - directed by Tony Gilroy

Star rating - 7/10

Let's get the obvious deficiency out of the way - Jason Bourne does not star in this film, although his presence is clearly felt and his name and photo feature throughout. But on the basis of the quality of this continuation of the excellent Bourne franchise by director Tony Gilroy, Matt Damon might be seriously considering a comeback.

This time it is Jeremy Renner who steps into his shoes as part of a sinister US government programme to create superhuman secret agents.  Renner is excellent as Aaron  Cross, and is no stranger to tough physical roles, having starred in the phenomenal Iraq war film The Hurt Locker. And he is great in this role too, beginning by managing to impressively extricate himself from an impossibly ridiculous isolation in a remote snowy wilderness in an extremely entertaining and thrilling way. What than man can do with wolves is nobody's business.

There are all the usual Bourne ingredients here - a decidedly shady secret programme, a government turning against its own agents to suit its will, a beautiful scientist, and a daring escape across the globe against all the odds. 

It starts amusingly, in a deadly sort of way, with a Guardian journalist being shot in London before they can publish an exposé of facts the US authorities simply cannot allow to enter the public domain. And the Brits continue to fare badly in the face of ruthless American deep CIA action.

Apart from the convincing and very watchable Renner, Rachel Weisz is her usual accomplished and very watchable self as Dr Marta Shearing, the chemist who has unwittingly sacrificed her life for the programme. And Edward Norton is fabulous as the ruthless and chilling American official who is calling all the shots as he periodically barks out orders for rooms to be cleared and people to be 'bagged'. You really would not want to argue with him.

The chases are as thrilling as you would expect, if a little overlong in places. And yes it is super cheesy, often in an extremely amusing way. After taking out around 5 government agents in her tumble down remote house, Renner orders Weisz  to ' get your bag- we need to get out of here',  or words to that effect. No, really  Aaron, she wanted to hang around to have coffee and cake...

It's great entertainment, and as good as a Bourne film without Bourne could be. And to be fair much better than I expected. I for one would like to see Renner and Damon united for the next installment. While Bourne was essentially duped into being part of the CIA experiment, Cross seems to have quite willingly volunteered for the role. Now that would be some storyline for the next Bourne film.

Exhibitions - National Football Museum - Urbis, Manchester

Star rating – 7/10

Searching for an activity to fill the miniscule space between the end of the Olympics and the start of the football season (yippee!!), I paid a visit to the new National Football Museum in Manchester. With all due respect to Preston North End fans, its former home there was not a location destined to attract the hordes. So I was curious to see how the former Urbis, never a real success as an exhibition space, fared as the museum to our national game and abiding passion. As the home city of both the fading glory of Manchester United (well almost, if you count Stretford), and the newly crowned Premiership Champions Manchester City, on paper the setting couldn’t be more fitting. 

The football Hall as Fame as you enter makes use of the awkward lobby space. The selection of footballers and football folk in it seem to be a bit random but it was nice to see my old school mate Robbie Earle there for his community work anyway. The second floor has some great exhibits, although some of them are a bit hidden away and the whole place feels just a bit too busy for my liking. There’s a Wembley turnstile and old Wembley seats you can sit in to relive happy (or heartbreaking) memories. The origins and history of the game are well documented. There is the beautiful L.S. Lowry painting Going to the Match, depicting Saturday afternoons of yesteryear – when all matches were actually played at that time of the week. But that was before we shook hands with the devil, to paraphrase Sir Alex Ferguson, or Sky, if you prefer. And of course there is a lot of 1966 and all that – as you would expect.

Some exhibits are not quite so obvious. There's a very snazzy George Best designed shirt from the 60's. And it was very good to see a scarf from the Justin Campaign there against homophobia in football, named after footballer Justin Fashanu – who is still incredibly the only footballer to have ever come out as gay in our country, and who tragically hanged himself. It’s just a shame that the FA don’t back this up with actual action, like they have done with the Kick It Out campaign against racism. 

To be fair, the contents of the museum seem quite balanced, and don’t favour any particular team. Of course as a Man City fan I loved Colin Bell’s medals, and Bert Trautmann’s neck brace. But one of the most moving exhibits there is the actual register of Manchester United players with so many names struck out with the words ‘killed in air crash’, and replaced with the names of younger, more fortunate teammates who did not perish in the Munich Air disaster of 1958.

There seems lots of interactive things to do for kids there, some of which you do have to pay for. But my favourite part of the place was a lovely 8 minute film showing in the small cinema there entitled ‘Our Beautiful Game’. It’s a touching and very moving love letter to football, in all its forms, at every level, by the people who play and watch the game, in pub teams and premiership alike, and well worth a few moments of your time.  

And all that has got me nicely warmed up for the new season with all its highs and lows, and its jubilation and desperation to come.

Music - Orkney Symphony of the Magnetic North

Star rating – 7/10

Whilst trying to preserve the exhilarating soulfulness of my recent Highland adventures, I came across this beautifully evocative CD by The Magnetic North, which is a hymn to another Scottish isle – Orkney. It’s the work of ex Verve member Simon Tong, along with Hannah Peel, and Erland Cooper, whose hails from this remote part of the British Isles.

And the music reflects the windswept landscapes in a wonderful way. The album is dedicated to Betty Corrigall, a young woman who killed herself in the late eighteenth century after her lover deserted her after she became pregnant, and who was not allowed to be buried in consecrated ground for her sin. It’s a very sad story, and a delicate eponymous song, with gentle guitar and mournful lyrics. Read more about her at:  

http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/historicalfigures/bettycorrigall/index.html

 My favourite track, Bay of Skaill bemoans the lack of opportunities for work on the distant island, and has beautiful vocals and a strong drum beat. All the songs are very evocative, and the delicate vocals, in places with added depth by the accompaniment of a local pub choir, are just right.

The lovely music is just the thing to take you right back to the wild yet peaceful remote islands around our shores. I feel another trip coming on...

DVD - Once Upon a Time in Anatolia - directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Star rating – 9/10

On paper this film, just out on DVD, shouldn’t work – over two and a half hours long, nothing much happens, no soundtrack, and no real back story to the crime it deals with. But it is really gripping, and its slow pace belies a profundity that is a delight to watch.

Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan has crafted a modern masterpiece in this story of the events of a single night and following day. A crime has been committed. We know this from the convoy of three police vehicles wending their way through the barren countryside under cover of darkness. In the cars there is a police chief, a prosecutor, a doctor and some diggers – along with two suspects who are being asked to recall the whereabouts of a body they have obviously murdered and buried. It put me unsettlingly in mind of the Moors Murderers being taken back to Saddleworth Moor to try to identify the spot where they buried their young victims. 

But these men are not painted as particularly evil criminals. The motive for the crime is never really spelled out, just hinted at along the way. They are unkempt, sorry creatures as they take the search party to one isolated spot after another. The landscape is so sparse that it must be difficult to remember – or are they deliberately frustrating their captors. It’s difficult to tell. But the length of time it takes allows for tremendous characterisation to be built.

Whilst the search is going on, in between some of the more mundane conversation between the officials, parts of their exchanges are delightfully revealing. The Police Chief is a man of refined tastes, and tells of his great love of buffalo yogurt, which is apparently very rare, and his mobile ring tone is a nice romantic touch - the theme from Love Story. The task feels interminably long to the participants, but not to the viewer, as the black night gives way to various philosophical discussions and debates. In particular the discussion of the death of a beautiful woman between the cynical young doctor (Muhammet Uzuner), and the distinguished prosecutor (Taner Birsel), which they return to repeatedly over the long hours, is brilliant and achingly sad.

Ceylan has confidently created a slow, measured, yet deeply moving film. The bleak landscape is an evocative backdrop for this tale, which reminded me of a brilliant Chekhov short story in its intensity and ability to capture so much in so short a time span.

Film - Searching for Sugar Man – directed by Malik Bendjelloul

Star rating – 9/10

Have you heard of the musician Sixto Rodriguez? Probably not - but you are in good company. This uplifting gem of a documentary from Swedish director Malik Bendjelloul tells the story of how the gifted anti establishment singer was virtually ignored in his native America, but became an elusive and mysterious super star in apartheid era South Africa.

It seems ridiculous that someone could be so famous in part of the world and be totally unaware of their own popularity, but Rodriquez did not know about, and certainly did not receive any income from, the estimated half a million South Africans who had copies of his records. Those close to him, either via family or work connections, describe him as a prophet, and a man not concerned with the material trappings of life. Meanwhile in South Africa it was rumoured that he had died, with various bizarre stories of how his demise had come about in popular circulation.  

His ‘rebirth’ came courtesy of two South African men who were curious about what had happened to the man who was at one time much bigger than the Rolling Stones in their country. They began their detective work separately at first, but joined forces when they found out about their similar searches. 

Rodriguez, with his Mexican background and poignant lyrics that come down firmly on the side of the oppressed and downtrodden, was a bootleg sensation in South Africa. He also wrote about drugs and sex, at a time when such topics were strictly taboo there. His records were censored by the apartheid military regime, with key tracks being literally scratched out so they were unplayable. Meanwhile in America he was working as a jobbing labourer, with any profits from what legal record sales there were mysteriously disappearing. Needless to say the record company executive does not come out of this smelling of roses.

This beautiful film reaffirms your belief in the goodness of human nature, and Rodriguez’s rejection of materialist trappings is an extremely humbling story. And his poignant songs, with their powerful and deep lyrics, will I am sure be rightly sought out as a result of it. 

Films - The Dark Knight Rises – directed by Christopher Nolan

Star rating – 8/10

Christian Bale again reigns supreme in the superhero stakes as the caped crusader in the wonderful The Dark Knight Rises. At the end of The Dark Knight , which was an amazing 8 years ago, the Batman skulked away from his beloved Gotham, accused of treachery and himself being the criminal. 

And he has certainly gone through some trials and tribulations in the intervening period. Gotham City is, as usual, on the brink of disaster at the hands of dubious bankers and charlatans. And Batman simply can’t resist the call to try to save his city once again. This time his adversary is Bane, played by Tom Hardy. He is not quite as scary or effective a villain as Heath Ledger playing The Joker, although he does do some pretty nasty things with people’s necks. To be fair it is probably more to do with not being able to completely see his face than the performance or character himself. 

Michael Caine is his usual delight as faithful butler Alfred, who loves his master as much as Batman loves Gotham, and so is prepared to lose his friendship to save him from himself. Anne Hathaway is delicious and great fun as a beautiful, slinky cat burglar villain. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt is great as the young, idealistic cop as a new side kick to the dark one.

Nolan again delivers with a dark and action packed morality tale. It’s slightly overlong at 164 minutes, and the plot gets a little confusing in the middle. But hey, this is Batman so it’s churlish to complain. Nolan has managed to maintain the excellent production standards throughout this trilogy, and his version of the dark and brooding Gotham is consistently menacing, with wonderful special effects. But the main plaudits go this time, again, to the wonderful Christian Bale, who looks gorgeous as ever, and delivers a mature performance of the super hero in this apocalyptic delight.