By Graham Hiley. Photos by Danny Kaan. If you’ve never seen Hamilton then you really do need to be in the Room Where It Happens. If you have already seen this magnificent musical, You’ll be Back. And if you have been living under a rock and have no idea...
Entertainment Reviews
Review: Dilettante, Heartbreakers, Southampton
By Darren Grayer. Francesca Pidgeon is probably known best for her work as multi-instrumentalist in BC Camplight’s excellent backing band. Her own band, Dilettante, arrive at Heartbreakers in Southampton for a second visit (18/3/25), having jetted back to these shores less than 24 hours previous after playing at...
Southampton Calling – Welly’s debut album, Big in the Suburbs, is an authentic voice of our city
By Sam Wise. Elliot Hall, the young songwriter whose nickname gave Welly its moniker, is a lightning ball of energy on stage. Having watched the band tear up Southampton’s Heartbreakers in their recent homecoming show, I was fascinated to see how such a high intensity experience would work in...
Review: Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, Mayflower Theatre
By Melanie Adams. It was a controversial production that radically changed one of the world’s most iconic ballet shows. But now, 30 years on from ruffling those feathers, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake is back on stage to celebrate the milestone anniversary. The award-winning choreographer’s new generation of swans took...
Review: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – The Drone Lightshow, The Rose Bowl, Hampshire
By Sally Churchward. It’s a bit of a bonkers concept – light up drones creating gigantic moving images in the night sky to a narrated abridged telling of the plot of a classic movie. But The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – The Drone Lightshow works, and makes for...
Review: …Earnest? MAST Mayflower Studios
By Lewis MacLean. Image: Mark Senior. The Importance of Being Ernest is a play by Oscar Wilde. The similarities kind of end there. To describe this play entirely could potentially ruin it, so you simply need to see it for yourself. Those who like live theatre will love it....
Review: Coldwave at Heartbreakers, Southampton
By Dan O’Farrell. A Monday night in Southampton might not be the most inspiringly rock ‘n’ roll stop on any Australian band’s tour itinerary, but Adelaide’s Coldwave made the stage their own last night (3/3/25) with a jaw-dropping display of musical intensity that left the gathered music-obsessives feeling both...
Review: Bikini Body & Conscious Pilot – Heartbreakers, Southampton
By Russell Foxall. Photos: Anita Foxall. Having seen the impressive Conscious Pilot before, it was an easy decision to head out on a cold early March Sunday (2/3/25), particularly as I had enjoyed the various songs by Bikini Body I had sampled on line. The opening band was Winchester-based...
Review: Picture You Dead – Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
By Dan O’Farrell. The crime genre has been a massively popular feature of British cultural life since the first Sherlock Holmes stories rolled off the Victorian printing presses. TV schedules are still awash with ‘whodunnits’, murder-mysteries and increasingly dark thrillers, and crime fiction remains the most reliably high-selling flavour...
Review: Hinds, Papillion, Southampton 25/02/2025
By Darren Grayer. After releasing their third studio album The Prettiest Curse in 2020, Spanish indie rockers Hinds were ironically hit with indifferent fortunes. The band split, losing their rhythm section, then parted company with their management and record label. That left founding members, Carlotta Cosials and Ana Garcia...