festivals
Bob Dylan, Hop Farm FestivalMonday, 02 July 2012
Bob Dylan once described himself as ''just a song and dance man''. If the phrase was intended to debunk our veneration of him as the voice of a generation and to imply that he's just an old-fashioned entertainer in the great showbiz tradition,... Read more... |
theartsdesk in La Réunion: Safiko FestivalTuesday, 26 June 2012
Some people go on holiday to relax on a beach. Others to trek through a glorious landscape. Or to explore magnificent architecture/extravagant nightclubs. Myself, well, I’m a musical tourist. Which often means I’m in rather blighted states. I’ve... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Hay-on-Wye: More Light than Heat at Hay 25Sunday, 10 June 2012
To each their own Hay. The Roman encampment that is the modern-day literary festival, circled by pantechnicons and trending in the Twittersphere, looks very much like a monomaniacal content provider for all comers. Astroturf walkways deliver the... Read more... |
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Koopman, Christ Church SpitalfieldsSaturday, 09 June 2012
It’s one thing for UK Border Control to turn Heathrow’s Arrivals into a giant theme-park queue, but it’s quite another when they start messing with our music. Paperwork issues yesterday saw one Japanese and two Korean members of the Amsterdam... Read more... |
The Glastonbury of the Mind: Hay turns 25Thursday, 31 May 2012
Apart from “I did not have sex with that woman” and maybe “It’s the economy, stupid”, Bill Clinton seems never to have said anything quite as memorable. Indeed, of all the phrases with his name attached, none is quoted quite so tremulously as... Read more... |
Brighton Festival 2012: Waterlitz, Stuffing Peter Rabbit, War Sum UpSunday, 27 May 2012
As finales go, you can’t get much better than a pterodactyl flying from the torso of an iron giant and wheeling out over Brighton beach. Last night, as the 2012 Brighton Festival prepared to move into its final day, thousands gathered near the... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Göttingen: Handel Festival 2012Sunday, 27 May 2012
Other towns may choose national heroes as their emblems – posing generals, politicians or sword-wielding officers on horseback, glaring sternly down from their plinths – but not Göttingen. It is entirely in keeping with the unassuming, unobtrusive... Read more... |
Cannes 2012: Cronenberg's CosmopolisSaturday, 26 May 2012
It’s quite a coincidence when two of the competition films in Cannes take place almost entirely within a stretch limousine. Then again, considering that the movie stars here travel the most ridiculously short distances in such vehicles, it’s... Read more... |
Cannes 2012: Heavyweights on La CroisetteWednesday, 16 May 2012
The 65th edition of the Festival de Cannes opens today, with Wes Anderson’s latest slice of leftfield whimsy, Moonrise Kingdom, and continues for almost two weeks of frantic film-going, star-spotting, wheeler-dealing and beach partying. For these... Read more... |
Sylvie Guillem awarded Venice's Golden LionSunday, 13 May 2012The dancer Sylvie Guillem has been awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement by the 8th International Festival of Contemporary Dance in Venice. The ballerina, the longtime superstar of the Royal Ballet after her rise to glory at Nureyev's... Read more... |
Unsigned acts announced for T in the Park festivalFriday, 11 May 2012The 16 unsigned acts who have been given the chance to perform at Scotland's largest festival, T in the Park, have been announced.The T-Break Stage, which has been running since 1996, launched the careers of acts including Paolo Nutini, Biffy Clyro... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Denmark: SPOT Festival 2012, AarhusFriday, 11 May 2012
For a Brit navigating Denmark’s annual showcase of home-grown music, it’s impossible to eradicate thoughts of the Danish TV seen in the UK recently. Obviously, detecting Borgen-style intrigue while wandering around is unfeasible. But something else... Read more... |
