WORTH A LOOK: ****1/2
WHERE: National Theatre
WHEN: 15/9 runs to 17/10
It was the involvement of former Catatonia frontwoman Cerys Matthews that encouraged monstagigz through the door for this and we were far from disappointed.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHERE: Palace Theatre
WHEN: 13/9, runs to 1/11, then tours nationwide
‘The Commitments are a good times band, perhaps even important, catch them before it’s too late’. Not the monstagigz review, we’d be even more enthusiastic than that, but one the band that shares its name with the musical receives during it.
WORTH A LISTEN?: ****1/2
TRACKLIST: Paper Gods; Last Night In The City; You Kill Me With Silence; Pressure Off; Face For Today; Danceophobia; What Are The Chances?; Sunset Garage; Change The Skyline; Butterfly Girls; Only In Dreams; The Universe Alone.
OUT: 11/9
What happens to pop pin-ups 30 years after their heyday? The fate of the iconic Duran cover art in the video for best track What Are The Chances? (YouTube clip above) gives some clues about the ideas behind the album’s title track.
WHERE: Noel Coward Theatre
WHEN: 9/9, previews to 14/9, runs until 21/11
‘Over 20,000 tickets at £10’ reads the poster above. monstagigz couldn’t get a same-day matinee seat online and so, in keeping with the theme of Photograph 51, decided to conduct an experiment of our own. What would happen if we pitched up two hours and 20 minutes before the play began?
7. My Insatiable One
We’re so excited about Suede’s 7th album, film and launch show plans that we’ve compiled our top 7 of their greatest pop moments. They’ve always been a band whose B sides and extra tracks are worth seeking out and, arguably, our favourite of them is My Insatiable One (YouTube clip above) which appeared on the 12″ of 1st single The Drowners with the almost as fantastic To The Birds.
Suede have released the 66-second trailer (above) for 7th studio album Night Thoughts as well as details of the two-night LP plus film launch at Camden Roundhouse.
5. X Factor debut
16 years old and singing a very personal song she wrote herself, the Lincolnshire chanteuse announced herself to the world in X Factor’s class of 2012. Missed would later appear on her 2014 chart-topping UK debut album. Even Cher tweeted her approval of Ella’s cover of her Believe in a later audition. That acoustic cover appears on the deluxe version of Chapter One.
WORTH A LOOK: ***
WHERE: Old Vic
WHEN: 5/9, previews to 10/9, runs to 3/10
The story at the heart of Future Conditional has similarities to the life of Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai.
TRACKLIST: Cast in Steel; Under the Makeup; The Wake; Forest Fire; Objects in the Mirror; Door Ajar; Living at the End of the World; Mythomania, She’s Humming a Tune; Shadow Endeavours; She’s Giving up the Ghost.
WORTH A LISTEN: ****
OUT: 4/9.
Five years after splitting up following a comprehensive world tour, a-ha are back with their 10th studio album and another chance to see them live.
Does anyone have a better taste in female duet partners? We saw Grant three times last year: Glastonbury, Royal Festival Hall and duetting with Alison Goldfrapp at the Albert Hall. Sinead O’Connor appeared on last proper album Pale Green Ghosts and here former Everything But The Girl star Thorn is duetting (see YouTube clip above) on gorgeous lines like: ‘Francis Bacon, the Dolomites, ballet dancers with or without tights, Central Park on an autumn day, always stunning and never cliche.’ And if that sounds too Vogue Madonna, the chorus reverts to type (‘All these things, they’re just Disappointing …’) until the O’Connor-esque payoff (‘… compared to you.’) Musically, it’s a return to the jauntier elements of breakthrough Queen of Denmark album.
