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Bebop Spoken There

David Hadju: "It was kind of a lightning bolt [seeing a photo of a hi-fi store that's now occupied by a phone store]. Everyone had hi-fi systems, now everyone has a phone" - (DownBeat May 2023).

The Things They Say!

Hudson Music: Lance's "Bebop Spoken Here" is one of the heaviest and most influential jazz blogs in the UK.

Rupert Burley (Dynamic Agency): "BSH just goes from strength to strength".

'606' Club: "A toast to Lance Liddle of the terrific jazz blog 'Bebop Spoken Here'"

The Strictly Smokin' Big Band included Be Bop Spoken Here (sic) in their 5 Favourite Jazz Blogs.

Ann Braithwaite (Braithwaite & Katz Communications) You’re the BEST!

Holly Cooper, Mouthpiece Music: "Lance writes pull quotes like no one else!"

Postage

15478 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 499 of them this year alone and, so far, 120 this month (May 27).

From This Moment On ...

May 2023

Sun 28: Bradley Creswick's Western Swingfonia @ Whitley Bay Carnival. Free. Plaza Arena stage. 12 noon.
Sun 28: MSK @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 12:15pm. Free. Marquee stage. MSK - Steve Glendinning, Katy Trigger, Martin Douglas.
Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited @ The Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 1:30pm. Free. Marquee stage.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Tim Kliphuis Trio @ St Mary's Church, Wooler NE71 6BZ. 3:00pm. £15.00 standard; £5.00 student/unwaged; free under 18. Afternoon Cocktail, a Wooler Summer Arts' concert promotion. Kliphuis (violin); Nigel Clark (guitar); Roy Percy (double bass).
Sun 28: Back Chat Brass @ Whitley Bay Carnival. 3:00pm. Free. Plaza Arena stage.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 28: King Bees @ The Delaval Arms, Old Hartley NE26 4RL. 5:00pm. Free. Chicago blues at its best!
Sun 28: Matt Anderson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Anderson (saxophones); Jamil Sheriff (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Dave Walsh (drums).

Mon 29: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.

Tue 30: Paul Skerritt @ The Rabbit Hole, Hallgarth St., Durham DH1 3AT. 7:00pm. Paul Skerritt's (solo) weekly residency.
Tue 30: Big Chris Barber Band @ Whitley Bay Playhouse. 7:30pm.

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 31: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 31: 4B @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 31: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

June
Thu 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Donations.
Thu 01: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Ragtime piano. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.
Thu 01: Jake Leg Jug Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 02: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 02: Claire Martin & Her Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £25.00., £20.00. Feat. Jim Mullen, Alex Garnett & Jeremy Brown.
Fri 02: Guy Davis + Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. Doors 7:30pm. Blues double bill.
Fri 02: Anders Ingram @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blind Pig Blues Club. Country blues. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Sat 03: Newcastle Record Fair @ Northumbria University, Newcastle NE8 8SB. 10:00am-3:00pm. Admission: £2.00.
Sat 03: Pedigree Jazz Band @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. Tutor: Sue Ferris. £25.00. Enrol at: www.jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Papa G's Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A 'Jar on the Bar' gig.

Thursday, April 05, 2018

The Last Ship @ Northern Stage, Newcastle - April 4

I almost made one of the biggest mistakes of my life! I almost didn't go to see The Last Ship, the musical written by Sting and in the last week of its 4 weeks run at Newcastle's Northern Stage Theatre. The same theatre where Sting learned his craft as a bass guitarist with the Newcastle Big Band although the theatre was called the University Theatre back then.
I'd heard songs from the show on radio and seen clips on television which, away from the overall picture didn't even go close to revealing the experience it turned out to.
As I set off it was raining, no ordinary rain but such as brought to mind the expression "Not a fit night out for man nor beast".
I hesitated. Did I really want to sit in a theatre in wet clothes watching a musical about the closing of a shipyard?

I didn't, although having agreed to go with Cormac Loane, another alumnus of the Newcastle Big Band, I felt obliged to 'bite the rivet'. I discovered he too had had similar thoughts!
Both of us cast those thoughts, and the weather, aside after the show started.
From the opening Irish style folk dance by various shipyard workers to the triumphant finale the standing ovation received at the end was well-deserved.
The cast were brilliant both as actors, dancers and singers whilst the storyline managed to combine mirth and melancholy treading the fine balance between laughter and tears.
The script is very political. How could it not be given the subject matter? Just as Billy Elliott had the Miners Strike, The Last Ship has the end of shipbuilding in the northeast at its core.
That multi-millionaire Sting is able to write such a strong indictment of the  'them and us' society we live in could be regarded as hypocritical - I prefer to see it as, someone who has seen both sides of the coin.
The writing is powerful, the songs are melodic several of which could stand on their own merit away from the show. 
I'm not going to single out any one performer - they all contribute magnificently and, not surprisingly, several have parallel careers as singers as well as actors.
I'd willingly see the Sold Out show again.* 
Lance.
*There's an open-air performance at Spiller's Wharf on Newcastle Quayside on May 28 otherwise, it's next week in Liverpool (April 9-14); Birmingham (April 16-21); Northanpton (April 24-28); Leeds (May1-5); Nottingham (May 8-12); Cardiff (May 14-19); Dublin (June 4-9); Edinburgh (June 12-16); Glasgow (June 18-23); York June 25-30); Salford July 3-7).

1 comment :

Tom Hanks said...

One of my favorite putlocker movies. It made Movie Night the other night a great success and everyone wanted to know where I found the movie in the first place since it's from 2001 megashare9.me and no one in the room had heard of it.

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