Despite being someone who has barely dipped her toe in the Fringe waters before this year, the name “La Clique” was familiar to me from hearing people rave about it and talking about booking their tickets weeks in advance to ensure they didn’t miss a performance.
The English Gents
So what’s all the fuss about? I went along to the opening night last night and I can safely say I have not seen a show as spectacularly entertaining or breathtaking in my life. And I can’t wait to go back for more.
To me, La Clique is a marvellous mixture of traditional and contemporary circus performance, music and comedy with a sexy, energetic twist. With the gorgeous velvety surroundings of the Spiegeltent, it felt at times like I was caught up in a scene from Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge
I don’t want to give anything away as the surprise and (at times) shock factor is all part of what makes the show so entertaining. At the very least it’s a showcase of some truly amazing talents and a visual feast.
Bath Boy
I laughed till I cried, I squirmed, I gasped, I sang, I danced, I whooped and hollered and left the Speigeltent simply buzzing. If you only go to one Fringe show this year, go and see La Clique. I’m going back for more before it ends on Sunday 20th. If you go tonight, you’ll get a lovely 20% off. And if I haven’t convinced you then maybe Darragh will.
Cutting to the chase – how good was it? So good I’m searching for tickets to go again on Monday night. If you got any or any leads on a pair, please please please email me, tweet me or leave a comment.
I’m still reeling. I’m pinching myself looking at those photos, looking at videos on YouTube, wondering did I just dream I was there. I think I established over the past week on the blog that I’m not a U2 fanatic, not a die-hard lover of the lads (shoot I didn’t think their latest album was any good so I didn’t buy it!) but I am a fan of their music & their shows & my did Friday’s gig satisfy that.
While a healthy helping of the new album was dished out, a good selection of older songs including four from The Unforgettable Fire album made for a tasty setlist, in my opinion. For someone who didn’t warm enough to the new album to go add it to my record collection, I was quite impressed when I heard the songs live & could yet make the purchase! Personal highlights included really lovely semi-acoustic (if that’s a term!) renderings of ‘Desire‘ & ‘Stuck in a Moment‘, ‘Where The Streets Have No Name‘, ‘The Unforgettable Fire‘ & ‘With or Without You‘. Yet again I was hit with the realisation of just how big their back catalogue is & how many different setlists you could come up with for a 2 hour set. Not sure if that makes it easier or more challenging but it’s a credit to them either way!
The stage was a phenomenal sight – at times it looked like some kind of robotic crustacean that would start walking down the pitch at any given second, other times like some kind of crazy, sci-fi temple with the spire of mirrorballs pointing way up into the night sky. The vortex-like 360 degree screen was pretty breath-taking stuff, not quite PopMart now but bloody big & used to great effect! Bono’s LED-enhanced rig-out for Ultraviolet was pretty awesome, if a little Christmas-y
As with the last time, I left the place buzzing. Exhausted but buzzing. Hard to believe another 4 years has passed by. And it could well be another 4 before I get the chance to do it again if ever so I’m going to do my best to get another round in before they leave town. One of the most enjoyable & memorable events in a long time – well done guys, long may you do what you do & I think the 3 live U2 newbies I had with me would agree.
Lots of lovely videos on YouTube, setlists from Friday & Saturday here. Pix.ie has a great range of photos from the gig too. If you’re going Monday night, have a blast – fingers crossed I’ll be there too
*Note on the photos I took – none of them have been touched up or anything of the sort, they didn’t need it, the set was so fantastically photogenic! If only every subject was as easy…
It’s been pretty quiet in terms of post frequency here this past while, partly due to busyness and partly due to trying to form this post in my head. Here goes.
SPWC – I had never heard of it before some time in March when Darragh started mentioning it & how he was going to be involved & how much he was looking forward to it. What started out as a trip to Cork to see some SPWC & visit my sister turned into volunteering for both the Cork and Dublin leg of the festival. I had no idea what to expect but was more than pleasantly surprised by the whole experience.
Grant Goldie as 'That Man'
Out of the 2 legs, Cork was my favourite purely down to the venue (Fitzgerald Park) being able to cater better for the festival and the crowd it attracted. I was mesmerised by the sheer range of stuff I saw from fire juggling to a man going through a squash racket to a man on a 12ft unicycle. And loads more besides. My personal favourites from the festival were ‘That Man’ (Grant Goldie) and Mr. Toons, both for different reasons. The ‘That Man’ show was magical – it combined more “traditional” street performance trickery such as juggling but Grant had the very special skill of being able to interact & click with the audience down to a tee. And all without speaking a word. His contact juggling piece had me totally hypnotised, absolutely beautiful to watch & there are some beautiful shots of this on pix.ie.
Mr. Toons was amazing just for the sheer uniqueness & craziness of his show. From the 12ft unicycle to the giant balloon into which he climbs it’s just mind boggling to watch let alone wonder how on earth he came up with such an idea. Check out the pictures on pix.ie – has to be seen to be believed.
'Relaxed' by Phil O'Kane (click for more)
It’s rare to see such a mixture of generations all mixed together enjoying the day & that for me is one of the things I loved most about SPWC. Anything that gets families, friends, kids & big kids out, about & laughing together is a winner. Being able to do that for free & in the open air (& thankfully sunshine for the most part) was icing on the cake.
One thing that also struck me over the two weekends is how much the performers themselves seemed to love doing their shows. From time to time I’ve had chats with my dad about various professions, our own included & how most of the time you can take a step back and say “funny way to make a living!”. Certainly applies here too to all involved from the performers to the organisers and everyone in between! But I’ll bet they wouldn’t have it any other way.
'Blowing Bubbles #2' by Phil O'Kane
Thanks all for a fantastic experience & hopefully we’ll do it all again next year
Confession: up until a few weeks ago, I had never even heard of the SPWC. Next thing I know I’m an SPWC volunteer & heading for the new Cork leg of the event with little idea of what to expect. I returned home hooked & I can’t wait to do it all again this coming weekend in Merrion Square!
So what’s it all about? Essentially, it’s the cream of the world’s street performers gathered in Ireland doing their thing for those who come see them in Cork & Dublin hoping to get their vote to be crowned SPWC champ. There’s a bunch of stages and the acts rotate around those stages throughout the day.
What are you going to see? Words certainly don’t do it justice so I suggest you take a look at the photos over in Pix.ie (where there’s a competition for SPWC photo-uploaders to win some tasty Canon gear).
When is it on, where do I go & how much does it cost? Thursday to Sunday at Merrion Square (Dublin 2) and it’s all completely free! Everything you could ever need to know about it is on the fabulous festival blog right here which also includes interviews with the stars of the festival!
It’s going to be a busy, brilliant weekend full of smiles & fun and who knows, maybe even some sunshine. There’s something for kids of all ages, from ages 3 right through to 93. I’ll be there all Saturday & Sunday, hopefully see you there!
The ProducersLast night I made my first ever visit to the beautiful Gaeity Theatre in Dublin for Rathmines & Rathgar Musical Society’s latest musical offering, ‘The Producers’.
I went in with no expectations and not at all familiar with the musical but what a fabulous surprise. It’s light, full of laughs & catchy tunes which will leave you humming all the way home – slightly problematic when it’s “Springtime for Hitler in Germany….” The two lead performances were excellent. Max Bialystock (played by Garry Mountaine) is a Broadway producer who teams up with accountant and wannabe producer Leo Bloom (played by Michael Evans) to stage the worst possible musical ever in a bid to make a fortune. ‘Springtime for Hitler’ is the chosen work for their project and when they enlist the services of the flamboyant floptastic director Roger Debris they end up with more sparkles & swastickas than you can shake a stick at.
The show runs until this Satuday May 9th, great laughs guaranteed in Dublin’s best theatre. I took a few sneaky pics last night before I was told ‘put that thing away’ – hopefully will give you a taste of the production!
