By Dan O’Farrell. What kind of horse can change the world? A Trojan horse, of course. Well, tonight at a packed Joiners, a full crowd witnessed some excellent horse-play, with Welly, the bounciest of pop-bands, smuggling some sharp, savvy and important messages beneath an hour’s worth of sing-a-long anthems...
Entertainment Reviews
Review: Aladdin the Musical, Mayflower Theatre, Southampton, 6 September 2024
By Catherine Collins. Disney’s version of Aladdin, starring Robin Williams, was released in 1992 and quickly became my favourite film of all time – a title it still firmly holds today. So I was really excited to see the musical stage adaptation was heading to Mayflower Theatre. Taking my seat...
Victorious – what to love besides the music
By Sally Churchward. Additional reporting: Spring Wise. Victorious is, of course, a music festival. But while the bands are obviously the big draw, there are other attractions that make it special. Here are some of the things besides big names, that make those three days on Southsea Common so...
Experience: a grand Tour day out
By Charlie Hislop. The first sign that something is about to happen is the drone of the helicopters. Four fly over towards the mountain and then circle down the slope behind the trees. A car appears up the hill and around the bend towards us, its loudspeaker yelling “Huit...
Review: Southampton Pride, 2024
By Mabel Wellman. On the 24th and 25th of August, Southampton Pride had their 8th annual namesake event. Like previous years, Southampton Pride treated the city to a star studded line up. The Pride event had a main stage and community stage to help provide entertainment to cater to...
Review: Launch of They Will Not Take You Seriously – God’s House Tower, Southampton
By Laura Lamb. The evening before this year’s Pride enlivened the city, a special exhibition opened at God’s House Tower, aspace’s multi-use arts and heritage space on Town Quay in Southampton. Over the course of a year, young people aged 16-25 have been taking part in weekly sessions run...
Review: Victorious Sunday – Biffy Clyro, Wet Leg, Kooks, Natasha Bedingfield, Becky Hill and more
By Sally Churchward and Lewis Maclean. Images: Victorious Festival/Strong Island. Thousands of people singing the lyrics “when we collide we come together” in unison along with Biffy Clyro on the Common Stage, so loudly it could easily be heard a mile or more away, to the backdrop of fireworks was...
Review: Victorious, Saturday – Pixies, Sugababes, Crystal Tides, Lightning Seeds and more
By Sally Churchward. Additional reporting by Spring Wise and Lewis Maclean. Images: Victorious Festival/Strong Island. It would be impossible to talk about day two of Victorious and not take a moment to shake your head ruefully at the weather. Unlike the crowd at the front of the Common stage –...
Review: Victorious Festival, Friday – Loius Tomlinson, Fatboy Slim, Snow Patrol and more
By Sally Churchward. Additional reporting: Lewis Macean. Images: Victorious Festival/Strong Island. Hats off to the booking team at Southsea’s Victorious Festival – they pulled an absolute blinder with Friday’s line up. Until last year, Friday was more of a mini-preview of the main weekend event – yes there were...
Review: Madagascar the Musical, Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
By Joy McKay. Madagascar The Musical premiered in 2018 and is based on the 2005 DreamWorks animated film which follows a group of exotic animals, friends, who are escapees from New York City zoo. The show was due to star CBBC presenter and Strictly Come Dancing runner up Karim...