Let’s hear it for theatre companies, however small; if it were not for these often under-funded bodies, how else would the many actors we have come to know (yet not always love) come up through the ranks? In the case of Irish actor, Aidan Gillen, it is debatable what direction his life might have taken had he not lived close
The taxi driver on the journey from Inverness train station to our hotel just outside the Scottish town was obviously a measured and reflective type. Instead of an AA roadmap, a well-thumbed copy of the collected works of Shakespeare lay in his open glove compartment. The composure and calm of the man indicated that not all Highlanders are fuelled by
Here’s a question for you: given the choice between the carefully crafted, historically imbued and Viennese-style elegance of Café Gerbeaud and the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink, Mad Max, punk rock-style demeanor of Szimpla Kertmozi Café, in which one would you choose to nurse a coffee while either gazing into the distance, avoiding eye contact, reading a magazine or tapping away at a laptop?
Matt Bellamy’s dressing room backstage. It is hotter than a very hot summer’s day, and the petite, voluble singer of Muse is sitting on a sofa, beside which resides a piano. Bellamy likes to have some time before a concert to go through some practice runs; he is a self-taught musician (he also plays improbably ornate guitar), and as a
Back in 1776, when Spanish conquistadors established a mission on the West Coast of California – naming it after St Francis of Assisi – little did they know what they were founding. It took quite a while for people to discover the place, anyway – early explorers sailed up and down the length of the California coast in the
It doesn’t come as too much of a surprise to discover that Sicily has always been coveted by those who know a good thing when they see it. That fact that it’s the largest island in the Mediterranean certainly made it noticed; more significantly, perhaps, was its central Mediterranean position, which strategically made it a point of convergence between the
35 years? No, don’t be ridiculous! It couldn’t be. It simply couldn’t. Er, actually, hold on a cotton-pickin’ minute, I do believe it is 35 years to the season that I first saw not only my first life-changing gig, but the event that kickstarted a cultural revolution in my head. It was Iggy Pop, in London, at a venue that
If you were an unwise person, you might try to categorise or pigeonhole the work of Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan. That he’s a remarkable cinematic stylist isn’t in doubt. Call him an auteur (he’s undoubtedly a filmmaker whose body of work is underpinned by his creative influences) and he might deny it. Whatever he is, or, indeed, terms himself as,
Tony Clayton-Lea is an Irish-based freelance journalist/writer/editor who writes on music, arts, and pop culture (and travel/hospitality) for a variety of print and online outlets.
Email: tclaytonlea@gmail.com
This is the personal website for Tony Clayton-Lea.