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metromagazine20/ 1/2006
A former member of the Velvet Underground, a rising star of the Manchester music scene, and a magical children's tale. We look at what will be appearing on the city's stages.
DURING a solo gig in the 1970s, John Cale cut off a chicken's
head with a meat cleaver, offending his band so much they walked
off stage and his vegetarian drummer quit for good.
Not the behaviour you'd expect from a classically trained pianist
and violinist, but then John Cale has always seemed to confound
expectations.
The Welshman was one of the founder members of Velvet Underground,
but left in 1968, because of differences with Lou Reed.
Since then, he's played his way through pretty much every musical
genre as well as producing other people's music and embracing the
possibilities of the internet.
Cale has never recaptured the success of Velvet Underground, but
the vast majority of his work has attracted the respect of critics
and fellow musicians and perhaps the freedom from superstardom is
what has enabled him to move with the times rather than becoming
pigeonholed.
His more recent work ranges from settings of Dylan Thomas' poetry
on Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night - performed in 1999 at the
opening of the Welsh Assembly - to his latest release Black
Acetate, which embraces the digital revolution.
At 64, most musicians are pounding out a selection of the songs
that made them famous, while Cale is still breaking new ground -
it's hard to know what to expect from this gig, but it's certain to
be something good.
John Cale plays the Academy on Tuesday (January 24).
ACOUSTIC and alternative, Liam Frost is quickly becoming the
Manchester's least well-kept secret.
The Prestwich singer songwriter and his band the Slowdown Family
will be the resident Thursday night act at Manchester's Night and
Day Café for four dates in late January and February.
They are the first performances in what could be a very big year
for Frost. He's been performing around the north for a couple of
years, sporadically backed by the Slowdown Family, but his
reputation has now spread south to the capital and he was recently
plugged on Radio 1's Jo Whiley show.
He's built up a loyal local fan base with his powerful voice, which
crackles with emotion, and his sometimes melancholy music about
lost loves and troubled times.
Even though the industry is awash with sensitive
singer/songwriters, Fretwell, Blunt etc, Frost's offerings still
seem unique, especially when backed by the band with their drums,
tambourine, violin and mandolin.
In October they signed for Lavolta Records and the first EP is due
out on February 6, which will include the tracks She Painted
Pictures, If Tonight We Could Only Sleep, Try, Try Try and Slow,
Slowly Slow.
So they should be on a high for the gigs at Night and Day, and this
could be the last chance to catch them before they belong to
everyone.
Liam Frost plays the Night And Day Cafe from Thursday
(January 26).
A LOT of stage versions of traditional children's stories,
especially around this time of year, are so sickly sweet they could
rot teeth.
But for all the popularity of the Disney version, the tale of
Pinocchio, the puppet who wants to be a real boy and is subject to
a string of magical punishments, is enough to send a welcome shiver
down the spine after a couple of months of "he's behind you".
When the story was first published by Carlo Collodi, Pinocchio was
hanged in chapter 15 - only the public outcry led to the hasty
creation of extra chapters with the blue fairy to rehabilitate the
naughty boy until he was good enough to become real.
Will Tuckett, director and choreographer of the Royal Opera House
version of the tale staged at the Lowry this week, is a specialist
in this sort of slightly creepy fairy story, and his version of The
Wind in The Willows filled the Linbury Studio at the famous Covent
Garden venue for two seasons.
His version of the tale is set to music largely inspired by
traditional folk melodies, strays from the original plot in parts
and is only recommended for the over-eights.
The story is the first ever visit to the Lowry by the Royal Opera
House team, and let's hope it can blow away some of those
post-pantomime cobwebs.
Pinocchio is on at The Lowry from Tuesday (January 24).
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