Support your local record store! It’s Record Store Day this weekend, so look out for what’s happening at local record stores – Overdraft, Vinilo, Hundred Records, Elephant Records, Pie & Vinyl. And speaking of supporting all things local and musical, this week also sees a triumphant and long sold-out...
Preview: The Play’s The Thing brings Hidden Stories to Hanger Farm Arts Centre in May
Milton Keynes based theatre company, The Play’s the Thing, has been awarded funding from Arts Council England to take two brand new plays based on historic true crime cases to Hanger Farm Arts Centre, Totton, on 12th May as part of its Hidden Stories tour. The two short plays...
Photos & review: Reef + When Rivers Meet & Electric Milk – Portsmouth Guildhall, March 13
words and pictures by Peter Nicholson. I had hoped to see Reef at their Bournemouth show earlier this month, but that performance, along with others, was cancelled at the last minute because bass player Jack Bessant had been taken to hospital with a head injury. So it was a...
Local businesses and community events – April
Maskers Theatre – Gormenghast Mervyn Peake’s twisted gothic drama! This stage adaptation of Mervyn Peake’s classic “Gormenghast” – with the essence and wondrous charm of the original books. The richness of the characters and the physical storytelling of the performers will transport the audience through the epic catacombs of...
Reader’s letter: local people lobbied Southampton MPs as part of Greenpeace Warm this Winter event
by Southampton Greenpeace group. “Constituents met with Caroline Nokes MP on a video call and Alan Whitehead MP in central Southampton as part of the nationwide Warm This Winter mass lobby. Several local people came along to the meetings and shared their experiences of how the current rise in...
Joe Bonamassa comes to Bournemouth following the release of Tales of Time
by Peter Nicholson. Joe Bonamassa’s latest album, Tales of Time, comes out on Thursday, April 14th, ahead of a concert in Bournemouth next month. It’s difficult to image a more spectacular setting for a live show that Red Rocks in Colorado. This iconic location was the backdrop for Tales...
Review: Titanic The Musical, Mayflower Theatre, April 11
by Peter Nicholson. When any production, be it a movie, play or musical, uses a real life tragedy as its plot line, I’m always apprehensive. Hollywood can often be accused of trying to turn disaster into profit far too quickly, but that accusation was difficult to level at James...
Southampton listings: 11 – 17 April
With the Easter school holidays continuing this week, there are plenty of family activities to choose from. Thankfully, many of them involve having a roof over your head, including a science spectacular from self-proclaimed magicians and time travelers, Morgan and West (pictured top), as Unbelievable Science at Theatre Royal...
Heritage: Southampton scriptwriter N.J. Crisp
by Martin Brisland. Remembering the career of prolific Southampton scriptwriter N.J. Crisp, whose credits included Dixon of Dock Green, Colditz and Secret Army. Older readers probably remember major BBC TV series from the 1960s and 1970’ such as Compact, Dixon of Dock Green, Dr Finlay’s Casebook, The Expert,...
Photos and review: Takedown Festival, Portsmouth Guildhall, April 8
Words: James Nicholson. Photographs: Peter Nicholson Photography. Takedown Festival 2023 aimed to bring together alternative rock and metal fans for a day of non-stop performances from groups including the masked, and still anonymous members of Sleep Token, the energetic reggae metal collective Skindred and 30 other big names. Not...