FIONA SHEPHERD :
PLEASANCE COURTYARD (VENUE 33)
CANADIAN comic Sean Collins seems like a nice guy but there’s a slight flicker of mania darting around behind his eyes which suggests he has seen things that no human should have to – and he has one extended anecdote about an anonymous comedian from New Zealand which, more or less, confirms this.
The title of his show is a bit of a curveball – rather than kick against domesticity, Collins has found himself embracing it for the first time in his 40 years. In shedding his irresponsible party lifestyle, there are a couple of demons he needs to exorcise along the way, and what better way to do it than with a gig in a stuffy Portakabin in front of a charmed audience?
Demons vanquished, he turns his beleaguered eye to visa entanglements, wedding preparations, his wife’s father and his bullish older brother, defusing all the stress of his past year in a style that is so deceptively leisurely he almost stumbles across his jokes by accident. This is one midlife crisis which is a pleasure to indulge.
The whale and the squid seemed a strange title for a film. It was though quite entertaining, being about the break down of a family where the parents were splitting and the affect this had on the two boys. The father an interlectual driven by slagging off anything none interlectual, his wife now writing more acclaimed books than he used to. The older son modelling himself on his father and experiencing his first sexual situations. The younger boy drawn more to the mother and exhibiting strange behaviour due to the breakup.
Got to Leeds Cockpit in time for warm up band: Sky Larkin - went in through the arch near the stage and got a 5th row view point. Had no beers and the music was powerful. Songs seemed orginal, didn’t know where they were going with no formula. The Cockpit was their largest gig so far, they looked a little nervous but it went well. Eyes though were drawn to the drummer, who played louder and more aggressively than any I’ve seen – he was amazing, but looked very angry at something … perhaps the drugs he was taking? Went to buy a £2 CD at the interval but not knowing their name managed to get the 2nd warm up bands CD by accident. (myspace)
The 2nd band came on: Cinematic (Cinematastic as they called themselves). Immediately references to Franz Ferdinand came to mind. The singer had annoying hair, foppish and a bit Spandau Balletish … and songs all seemed stolen. We went to the back and the slagging continued. I gave away the CD, and bought the Sky Larkin one – 10 tracks for £2 cool.
Howling Bells came on. Strangly the crowd were ‘quiet’ for the gig. Seems like Howling Bells had not really reached adulation status yet over here. Their best songs though had been out a while, and the newer stuff not quite as good. The best songs though were great – waves of music – the band looked the part, though the singer seemed to be trying to woo the crowd with her big cow eyes rather than the strength of her voice. The rest of the band seemed very different – one of the guitarists looking like Brad Pitt in Kalifornia appealing to the ladies. The other had a strange love affair with neckerchiefs – he looked rather odd. The drummer, looked like a regular Ozzy bloke in his bush hat. Good gig, but no encore ???
