aarrgghh
Who the hell are you? And can you tell me who I am? Ok, let's step back and take things chronologically. On Monday I had the first of two days training with work at their Bootle HQ. Again. This was one of those things you agree to early in the year when it sounds like a good way of getting out of doing anything, only to forget about it until an agenda lands in your Inbox the week before. But you don't need to know about the training - it was boring, the end. What was important was that I got back from Bootle just in time to grab something to eat and wander along to Poets And Mash at Matt & Phreds. The downright ubiquitous Dominic Berry is the host of the event, which I have to say I hadn't attended before. Although in my defence I hadn't been to much at all in the last three years, and since I started my MA there are the Bolton Octagon events that also happen on Mondays, and anyway the dog ate my homework...
Aside from Dominic as host, Rosie Garland (the 'civilian' manifestation of Rosie Lugosi), Dominic's Freed-Up co-host Steve O'Connor, and Steve Lyons were the performers. Perhaps because I'm by nature inclined to take myself and other people a bit too seriously I preferred what Rosie did in this guise to what she does as Rosie Lugosi. Because although the wit was still there, it was all a bit more downbeat and personal. That said I could have gone for a bit more energy in the performance. Maybe it was a Monday, maybe it's the venue, maybe it's the nature of the event, but all the performances were kind of downbeat. That was fine for Rosie, who still structures things in such a way that you're drawn in easily, and for Steve Lyons who is just present and abrasive (in the best way), but did a disservice to Steve O'Connor. I thought his pieces were strong, and would want to hear them again, but they were a bit lost in the space. Except for the 'I fucking love you' piece (I'm not sure of the title), which came across really well because of the committed performance - addressed to Conor Aylward on this occasion, though it could be anyone. I've seen him much more energised at Freed-Up. Steve Lyons is a longstanding Manchester poet who I mentally, though probably erroneously, associate with that generation of people like John Cooper Clarke and Hovis Presley, who mix social commentary and poetry with gags, in varying quantities. There is also that desire to shock/cut against conventional wisdom/confront the audience, that again is a mark of that generation and seen in Whitehouse, The Fall (unofficial website) and others. The poetry actually is often a lot better, and the attitudes in fact more *whisper it* liberal than I'm sure Steve would like to admit.
Also at the event was Tony Walsh, one of the stars of the Manchester spoken word scene over the last five years, and a genuinely nice man. One of the things he was telling me about is a performance he'll be doing at Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI). It's part of the Manchester Literature Festival on 26 October. Ross Sutherland and Tim Clare are performing a piece called It looks like you're writing a letter, which references OULIPO (it sez here), then Tony will do a new 20 minute piece called Zeros and Ones. It sounds interesting, and it will probably be one of the few things I get tickets for.
Now come on, 20 links in one post? I'm spoiling you.
.
Aside from Dominic as host, Rosie Garland (the 'civilian' manifestation of Rosie Lugosi), Dominic's Freed-Up co-host Steve O'Connor, and Steve Lyons were the performers. Perhaps because I'm by nature inclined to take myself and other people a bit too seriously I preferred what Rosie did in this guise to what she does as Rosie Lugosi. Because although the wit was still there, it was all a bit more downbeat and personal. That said I could have gone for a bit more energy in the performance. Maybe it was a Monday, maybe it's the venue, maybe it's the nature of the event, but all the performances were kind of downbeat. That was fine for Rosie, who still structures things in such a way that you're drawn in easily, and for Steve Lyons who is just present and abrasive (in the best way), but did a disservice to Steve O'Connor. I thought his pieces were strong, and would want to hear them again, but they were a bit lost in the space. Except for the 'I fucking love you' piece (I'm not sure of the title), which came across really well because of the committed performance - addressed to Conor Aylward on this occasion, though it could be anyone. I've seen him much more energised at Freed-Up. Steve Lyons is a longstanding Manchester poet who I mentally, though probably erroneously, associate with that generation of people like John Cooper Clarke and Hovis Presley, who mix social commentary and poetry with gags, in varying quantities. There is also that desire to shock/cut against conventional wisdom/confront the audience, that again is a mark of that generation and seen in Whitehouse, The Fall (unofficial website) and others. The poetry actually is often a lot better, and the attitudes in fact more *whisper it* liberal than I'm sure Steve would like to admit.
Also at the event was Tony Walsh, one of the stars of the Manchester spoken word scene over the last five years, and a genuinely nice man. One of the things he was telling me about is a performance he'll be doing at Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI). It's part of the Manchester Literature Festival on 26 October. Ross Sutherland and Tim Clare are performing a piece called It looks like you're writing a letter, which references OULIPO (it sez here), then Tony will do a new 20 minute piece called Zeros and Ones. It sounds interesting, and it will probably be one of the few things I get tickets for.
Now come on, 20 links in one post? I'm spoiling you.
.
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