Sunday, 27 June 2010
Friday, 25 June 2010
Circulous at Magfest
Four shows by Circulous brought the festivities to an end.The gentle artistry of Acrojou's German Wheel contrasted with the slapstick ballroom dancing of Stickleback Plasticus and the high speed whirling of the Skating Willers. Get the Shoe combined martial arts with spectacular juggling whilst Fraser Cooper brilliantly and gently made use of children and adults from the audience. Bruce Airhead's act was amazing and entertaining but left you wondering why and how he came up with the idea.
A great bunch of people brought together for these four shows only by Magfest regular, Charlie Holland but sadly, once again, the circus has left town.
More pics at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/album.php?aid=2059673&id=1069925290
Monday, 21 June 2010
Photos from BBC SSO
Click here to see some photos posted on Facebook by the BBC SSO.
Sorry there's been much less action on the blog this Festival. I was struck down with flu, and our main contributor seems to be AWOL (both from this blog and from Twitter). Anyway, my thanks to Les for some great observations and excellent photos. Has it been a good Festival? I'd love to hear what you've thought of it in the comments here, or send me a longer piece if you want it published as a separate article.
The Table at Magfest
A darkened room. Four men enter and sit round a table. Not just any table, but a sophisticated musical instrument from which they coax an astonishing range of sounds and moods. The men are Polish group, Karbido and 'The Table' has one more showing tonight in the old Jewson's shed.
Compelling and dramatic stuff.
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Magfest
Mentally and physically exhausted but two great nights of Magfest in Jewsons Shed with the Bester Quartet from Crakow and Andy Cant. I say Andy Cant, but it was a cast of dozens with our stage proving just big enough for Kirkwall City Pipe Band, Liberty, Billy Jolly and Mixemup.
A small hiccup with heating (again). With a northerly gale blowing directly onto our front door and a huge drop in outside temperature, the heating system struggled to cope, but it has improved as the weather warmed slightly. Still wrap up warm. Midsummer in Orkney eh?
The Bester Quartet were more cool than cold. A wonderful Klezmer band from Crakow, they displayed breathtaking musicianship and are clearly well-respected by the other Polish musicians around the venue. Precise and controlled, with the stage smoke swirling in the wind, the atmosphere was tremendous.
Andy's show was a much less minimalist event: even featuring guest appearances by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and Nicola Benedetti. Sadly they were unavoidably detained at the last minute, but their stand-ins performed magnificently. There was plenty of audience participation and Andy was ably supported by his two backing bands: KCPB and Liberty. This was home-grown entertainment of the highest order.
The BBC turned up on Saturday to film Andy for a BBC2 Series to be screened in October.
More Photos Here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059673&id=1069925290&l=5f6616aa11
Sunday will be spent setting-up for The Table. More sometime.Monday, 14 June 2010
Magfest 2010
Four days to go till Andy Cant's concert launches Magfest 2010. Over the last fortnight we've been busy converting the old Timber Store at Jewsons (left) into a venue.
We've been removing a century of dust and building staging and raked seating. Today the lighting goes in and we'll report on the transformation tomorrow.
Andy's concert sold out almost immediately, but there are still some tickets for klezmer band, the Bester Quartet at the weekend.
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