Skylight

Yesterday I went to see the National Theatre Live production of Skylight by David Hare, being broadcast at the Everyman cinema in Leeds.

18 years since it's last production, Skylight is back at Wyndham's Theatre in London's West End. Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy star as Kyra and Tom respectively. The story tells the tale of Kyra, a school teacher living in a dingy apartment in London who is visited by Edward (Matthew Beard), son of her former lover, Tom. Edward, now 18, tells Kyra of the death of his mother a year ago and the state his father is in. Shortly after Edward leaves, Tom arrives at Kyra's apartment. Many years have passed since the two former flames saw each other, and there is a lot to cover. The play is staged in a single set, driven purely but the passion between the two characters, the passion of rage and the passion of romance.

This play is Carey Mulligan's West End debut and she is fantastic. Watching in a cinema, you realise how different theatre acting is to film acting, but all actors did it effortlessly. Bill Nighy is, of course, no stranger to the stage, reprising his role as Tom in Skylight which he first performed in its original run.

If you get the chance to go and see a National Theatre Live production at a cinema then I highly recommend it, it is a truly enjoyable experience.

Jon Richardson - Leeds Grand 06/06/2014

Jon Richardson is one of my favourite comedians, and his latest tour 'Nidiot' did not disappoint. Richardson strutted on wearing a cowboy hat which he proceeded to throw at the mic stand. When if landed on the stand the whole crowd erupted. You could tell everyone was there for a good night, the weather had been nice all day and it was a Friday night, so we were all up for a laugh.

'Nidiot' is a tour about not being an idiot. The title itself is a joke from his last tour, when he said he doesn't say "an onion" but rather "a nonion", it's a nice little call back for those who saw his last tour or got his DVD. Jon Richardson is famed for being pessimistic and having a general hatred of humankind, but recently this hasn't been the case! The tour comprises of some very funny stories of Jon's efforts to thwart his own happiness. The jokes were non-stop, tales of Jon's search for love, his time on stag do's and more. For those going to the second leg of the 'Nidiot' tour I won't spoil the jokes, just know you're in for a great night!

Alkaline Trio - 19/04/2014 & 22/04/2014

So this week I did something I've not done before which is go to more than one date of a tour. The band was Alkaline Trio, who are my favourite bands, so if it had to be any band they seemed to be fitting! It was interesting though for me to see how the two compared.

Leeds Met - 19/04/2014

The last time I saw Alkaline Trio in 2012 was at Leeds Met, it isn't my favourite venue by a long shot, and with the (much bigger) Leeds Academy a stones throw away I don't know why they didn't go there! Anyway, the openers for the night were The Murderburgers, who are a punk three-piece from Scotland. They're a funny bunch, they don't speak much, in fact they barely stopped between songs to allow for applause!

Next up were Bayside, who as a support slot were a pretty big band. I admit to not having listened to much of their stuff, in my mind I had them pinned down as nothing like they actually are, and I really quite enjoyed them! They were fun, and you could tell a few crowd members had gone along really to see them which was nice.

Then came Alkaline Trio. Having seen them twice before I had an idea of what to expect from the show, and having peaked at the setlist I was pretty excited! They opened with This Could Be Love and moved into Hell Yes, two older songs which were bound to get the crowd going, but Leeds seemed to be lacking energy. I was on the barrier on the far right hand side but there was barely any crowd movement at all! Perhaps this was the beginning of their bad mood. By the time they got onto the fourth song, Every Thug Needs A Lady (one of my favourites), Dan Andriano was having trouble with his bass, he didn't stop the song and he sorted it out but you could tell that it had annoyed him, as it would any musician who was handed their instrument on stage and it wasn't properly tuned.

You could tell they weren't in a great mood, barely talking to the crowd, but they played on and they were great too. Leeds Met sound quality isn't anything special either. Then came "thumbs down guy", during Balanced On A Shelf, and Dine, Dine My Darling, (two newer songs) some guy kept putting his hand in the air with his thumb down. Matt Skiba noticed this, and was less than impressed. The guy did get thrown out, but after that, the mood was sour. I felt really bad for them, and couldn't get my head round why someone would pay £20 to see a band to then thumbs down them! So stupid.

They ended on Radio, as they always do, and everyone sang along. So while I left the gig on a high, I couldn't help but feel that it was a real shame those things had put them in a bad mood, and I was intrigued to see how Manchester would turn out.

Manchester Ritz - 22/04/2014

As a venue, I liked the Ritz, it's bigger but more built for purpose than Leeds Met. For this, my brother and I were situated on the balcony which was a good move really. A good view, less people and after Leeds really hurt our ears being directly in front of a speaker stack, we decided it would be better to keep our distance.

The Murderburgers and Bayside gave similar performances to Leeds, I think I enjoyed them more because I was more familiar with the songs this time. Then Alkaline Trio came on. It was plain to see they were in a much better mood! The crowd in Manchester were also full of energy, with mosh pits and crowd surfers aplenty. The setlist was exactly the same, but with more energy, so it made for a better show overall.

While I normally could never afford to go to multiple gigs of a tour, this has made me realise that sometimes it's worth it, and it's not something I would rule out doing again!