Enemy For The People / Captain

I went to see Gary Owen’s play An Enemy For The People in Cardiff’s Chapter Arts Centre, last Friday. I enjoyed it, despite the muted audience reaction to the piece’s comic aspects, and subject-matter which might be viewed as hackneyed, i.e. “all politicians are crap.” The cast and direction were excellent, though, and Owen did feature an audacious plot twist, in which the leader of a semi-autonomous nation sacrifices his career for the sake of full independence. Unless I’ve fundamentally misread the author’s intentions, he appears to suggest that perhaps citizens and their representatives should be less obsessed with the minutiae of crime figures and hospital waiting lists, and more concerned with the pursuit of happiness. How bizarre.

Another excellent Cardiff Barfly gig this week: Captain, highly effective, trenchant and melodic pop for grown-ups. I suspect they’re being compared with the Guillemots, but I caught a hint of the sainted Microdisney in there. Supporting were locals Yossarian, who deserve some respect for naming themselves after a character in one of the greatest novels ever written; and also for being somewhat meatier live than in the track showcased on their Myspace page.

And another thing - All-American Rejects, Good Charlotte, AFI, Panic At The Disco, Fallout Boy, My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, Angels And Airwaves… enough, already. Power-pop was 25 years ago.