The Stone Roses: War and Peace

Being a creature of habit, every year on our summer holiday I read a biography of a favourite band. It tends to drive my partner mad, because serial playing of their entire back catalogue accompanies the historical investigation. This year, I’m pleased to say, conflict was avoided, because while The Stone Roses: War and Peace was an engrossing read, the band only knocked out two albums, the first of which was of such sublime, epoch-defining quality that it is what the ‘Repeat All’ button was invented for.

Festival No.6 2015

Festival No.6 feels like it has come of age and turned out to be something its parents can be proud of. All the tickets sold out…

Port Eliot 2015

A festival that I come home from feeling stimulated but relaxed. We were first attracted by the Caught By The River stage, and that is still the main draw, but there is also a cracking roster of book talks, great poets and comedians, the best festival food you are ever going to eat, beautiful grounds to enjoy, the Idler Academy for some casual education, and a bracing swim in the estuary to set yourself up for the day.

Latitude 2015 – 10 Year Anniversary

My round-up of Latitude 2015. There won’t be any prizes for guessing that Wolf Alice turned in the most exciting performance of the festival, but an energetic Malian blues band, Songhoy Blues, ran them close.

Out Stealing Horses

I was introduced to Per Petterson’s ‘Out Stealing Horses’ by the inventive organisers of ‘Future Built 2015′, who provided gifts of Norwegian literature to all the foreign speakers at their wonderful event in Drammen a few months ago. Based on a sample of eight natives at the pre-conference dinner table, the novel has been read by about four fifths of the country’s population. I’m not surprised – it is a wonderful book, combining a glimpse into the simultaneously dark and uplifting history of Norway’s’ Second World War, alongside a subtle exploration of family, adolescence and loss as the ageing narrator seeks to come to terms with a defining event in his childhood.

Wolf Alice – Album of the Week #8

Last night, thanks to Wolf Alice, I did something I haven’t done for a long time – sat down and listened to a new album all the way through, following the lyrics on the sleeve, and giving the songs my undivided attention. The much-missed DJ, John Peel, used to explain his undimmed enthusiasm for ploughing through the endless promo-tapes sent to him by hopeful aspiring bands with the thought that any one of them might just be the new Smiths. I don’t know if Wolf Alice are that, but I’m on my fifth listen in 24 hours..

Peter Kennard: Unofficial War Artist

For anyone lucky enough to live in London, thanks to the Imperial War Museum you have a full year to be inspired by a fifty-year retrospective of Peter Kennard’s work, under the fitting title of “Unofficial War Artist”. Unlike the political-grafitti of younger artists inspired by Kennard, particularly Banksy, Unofficial War Artist is not an exhibition for laughs, and yet I came out uplifted by the sheer integrity of an artist who for five decades has used his incisive wit and imagination to further the causes of peace and equity.

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It’s E17 Art Trail time again, the annual community-led arts programme where the good people of Walthamstow turn their homes, shops and pubs into temporary art galleries. This weekend we only had time to sample of a few of the highlights in the Village, but the Art Trail runs until 14 June so there’s a bit of time to explore more. Here follows markontour’s highlights written, in keeping with the departure lounge ethos of this blog, on a train to Stoke for a Sunday of boating.

Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage

‘Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage’ compellingly interweaves the true stories of troubled teenagers in late 1990s Brigend, with hometown hero Gareth Thomas becoming the first rugby union star to come out as gay. Both stories are told matter of factly, but powerfully enough to stir plenty of emotion in the audience. And this being a National Theatre of Wales co-production (with Out of Joint), there is singing at the points when your hearts strings are being tugged most strongly.