Bob Dylan - Live in Cardiff 2022 Review

Originally printed in Quench. This was a bit of a rush job, had a lot on at the time, so apologies if not up to my usual standard. 

I arrived at Cardiff International Arena to see a crowd weaved around the block. Before long, we were all hushed inside, locking our phones inside a pouch, and waiting with bated breath for that evening’s sell-out performance. It was almost spiritual. Many had arrived in t-shirts - including myself - adorned with images of the act, who had not performed in Cardiff in over a decade, throughout his sixty-year career; some highpoints including as a folk-troubadour, the electric bohemian, and the rolling thunder rocker. Times have been a-changing, although there were no signs of the difficulties with live performance that comes with being eighty-one years old. The performance was such a credit to Bob Dylan that the body of work surrounding his latest record, ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’, is well deserving of joining the ranks of his greatest periods. 

The Feeling - Live Review

Originally printed in Quench Magazine 

The Y Plas audience for The Feeling waited with bated breath for the band’s first appearance in Cardiff in some years. This was responded to very well on stage – it began with a special harmony-laden fanfare of Fill My Little World rich with atmosphere. It sounded like an off cut from The Beach Boys’ Smile Sessions, a piece of pop genius, alongside lots of enigmatic spotlights. Before too long, the band came on stage, led by lead singer and songwriter Dan Gillespie Sells.

'ELVIS' (2022) - Film Review

Originally printed in Quench Magazine

One of America’s greatest heroes has finally got the awe-inspiring cinema treatment he deserved. ‘ELVIS’ is an electric tribute to a masterful showman, flying by despite its well-over two-hour runtime. Directed by Baz Luhrmann in his colourfully kaleidoscopic style, it is very much as theatrical as Elvis’ awesome performances – it looks ‘Walk Hard’ or ‘Spinal Tap’ dead in the eye, doubling down on the now-permeated musical biopic tropes with little subtlety, the most sensational of these being the intensely dramatic moment where the Colonel discovers Elvis is white. Luckily, the ‘Luhrmannisms’ calm down around the half-hour mark as Austin Butler takes the spotlight. He too is sensational. He transforms into the King and has it all – the look, the moves, and even the voice: Austin sings Elvis’ first records with gusto. His quivering hip-shakes are instantly as exciting as the real thing. What a perfect piece of casting – you can tell Butler understands the importance of this role to millions upon millions and gives it his all. 

Beyonce - RENAISSANCE (2022) - Album Review

Originally published in Gair Rhydd

Beyonce restabilises herself in the pop landscape by reaching back to its world long before she arrived. With the confidence and ability to go beyond her traditional 90s house jams, Beyonce has created a nonstop extravaganza inspired by the dance culture forged by black and queer pioneers in the 1970s and beyond. I feel Kendrick Lamar has raised the bar for contemporary hip hop production on albums such as 2015’s To Pimp a Butterfly - she more or less reaches this standard, not dramatically, but it's fine. There’s an fun approach to everything going on behind the words, with what sounds like a theremin during THIQUE a particularly good earworm. The songs zip around so often, with excellent transitions between, it’s akin to the sensations of a DJ set, though this gets weary not played in a party atmosphere.