Cherry Ghost / Farewell Cardiff Barfly

This week, I paid my first visit to the recently refurbished Globe (my first, at least, since it was, for a brief period, a Chapter-run cinema), for a night of pop music aimed at discerning grown-ups. First up were Tim and Sam's Tim and the Sam Band with Tim and Sam, the four-piece from North Wales, who treated us to some very charming electro-folk; lyrically sparse, but impressively multi-layered, like a rockier Sigur Ros – there was even an mbira in there, which was good to see. Headlining were Cherry Ghost, fronted by the smoky-voiced Simon Aldred. A remarkably strong collection of songs, perhaps a little less lush and country-tinged than on record, but mood-elevating nonetheless. They made us wait until the obligatory fake encore for their all-time classic “People Help The People”, but made up for it by ending with a stirring rendition of CeCe Peniston’s gay-disco anthem “Finally”. Beautiful.

On a related issue, I was sorry to hear of the recent closure of the Cardiff Barfly, having had numerous wonderful evenings there over the past decade (Glenn Tilbrook, Editors, Electric 6, Luke Toms, We Are Scientists, Wannadies, Hard-Fi, Hope Of The States, McClusky, I Was A Cub Scout, Willy Mason, The Afternoons, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Feeling, Acoustic Ladyland, Dirtbombs, Wombats, Envy Corps, Black Keys, Amy Winehouse, Snow Patrol, an unexpected appearance by the Webb Brothers, a triple-bill featuring Athlete, The Leaves and Longview, another one involving Ida Maria, Cage The Elephant and Spencer McGarry Season, being one of around two dozen people watching Kaiser Chiefs mere months before they became massive, being kissed by the lead singer of The Blood Arm…). If truth be told, it’s been a good while since an up-coming show there caught my eye, such is the depth of the indie-guitar slump. Sad times.

Shorts

A collection of my short films.

"Talking To Wordsworth"

The latest “On The Edge” presentation at Cardiff’s Chapter, was a double-bill of rehearsed readings of short plays with a vague mental health theme, directed by Gilly Adams. First up was a revival of one of Hijinx’s “learning difficulties” plays, “Wishful Thinking”, a devised piece with music. It tells the story of three sisters (excellently played by Claire Cage, Adrienne O’Sullivan and Nicki Rainsford), one of whom is a carer for the youngest, while the other has “escaped” - her long overdue return disrupting the family routine. Very poignant, with a beautiful music score, but a more developed narrative might have enhanced its resonance. Heartstrings were also tugged in “Talking To Wordsworth”, National Poet of Wales Gillian Clarke’s play which was first performed as a joint Sherman Theatre/BBC Radio Wales production in 1997. Cage starred as the trying-very-hard-not-to-be-patronising poet visiting a hospital for the elderly mentally ill, with O’Sullivan as the hard but caring nurse, Lynn Hunter as the ward busybody, Rainsford and producer Michael Kelligan providing background colour, and Richard Berry as the elective mute who is slowly drawn out by the magic of words. Very effective, if inevitably slightly sentimentalised. Another satisfying evening’s entertainment.