4 h. ago I watched a musical about William Wallace over a pint in Scotland

Musical Ballad Lines has secured a London run.

Politics

5 d. ago Braveheart celebrations as Mel Gibson's icon William Wallace film turns 30

Three decades after the film premiered at the University of Stirling’s Macrobert Theatre, on September 3, 1995, the boost to Scotland’s tourism is still being felt.

Politics

8 d. ago Amazon Echo Show 5 branded 'game changer for smart homes' as it drops to £60

"Whether I'm streaming music, listening to podcasts, or watching videos, the audio is rich, detailed, and surprisingly powerful for its compact size."

Economics

9 d. ago 'I had a "way cool" evening watching 90s classic Clueless as a West End musical'

'I had a "way cool" evening watching 90s classic Clueless as a West End musical'  My London

Politics

2 w. ago ‘I got a nosebleed in minutes!’ How the Wedding Present’s indie banger classics inspired a musical

They lit up the 80s and 90s with abrasive tracks that were like kitchen-sink dramas. But can the Wedding Present’s acerbic songs work on stage? We meet the team making it happen – and the ‘rock god’ who penned the hitsIn 2009, Matt Aston was watching the Wedding Present frontman David Gedge perform a “bizarre and brilliant” gig with the BBC Big Band when he was struck by a notion: that the combination of the singer’s conversational lyrics and brassy, orchestrated new arrangements felt a bit like, well, watching a musical.“I parked the idea,” says Aston, a theatre director and writer. “Then some time later, I saw David’s other band Cinerama with a 16-piece orchestra and thought, ‘This could be musical theatre!’” Aston had had a few drinks and remembers sitting afterwards, trying to convince his mate – screenwriter and playwright William Ivory, who hadn’t been drinking – that this wasn’t the daftest idea ever. “Billy said, ‘You can’t make a musical out of Wedding Present lyrics. It’s ...

Events

2 w. ago Noel Gallagher's daughter Anais shares Oasis snap after enjoying concert with Peggy

Music fans flocked to Croke Park in Dublin to watch Oasis take to the stage - with lead singer Noel Gallagher's daughter, Anaïs Gallaghe, among the electric crowds

Politics

2 w. ago ‘I have a daily battle with myself not to go on Ozempic’: Jade Thirlwall on anorexia, protest in pop and life after Little Mix

As part of the hugely successful girlband, she had to contend with an eating disorder, racism and a hostile tabloid press. Now JADE the solo artist is conquering the charts with her unorthodox pop bangers and unfiltered attitudeIt’s customary for former girlband members to shun their manufactured roots the second they go solo. But now that Jade Thirlwall is no longer a member of Little Mix, she’s become their biggest fan. “I look back and I’m gagged at us!” she tells me, eyes wide with delight. “I still watch our music videos or performances and wonder how we weren’t even bigger, because we were fucking amazing.“Before I released my first solo song, I listened to Little Mix’s entire discography and cried. I was this young lass from South Shields who just wanted to make it as a singer, and I went on to be in the best, coolest girlband ever.” And now? “Now I get to have a bonus round, doing my own songs,” she beams. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Little Trouble Girls review – monstrous choirmaster spikes a sublime Catholic coming

Utterly absorbing Slovenian debut reinvents the cliched idea of a Catholic girl’s sexual awakening, and proves that no teacher can be as cruel as a music teacherThis elegant and mysterious debut from Slovenian director Urška Djukić, with its superb musical score and sound design, reinvents the cliched idea of a Catholic girl’s sexual awakening. It’s also proof, if proof were needed, that no teacher in the world can be as cruel and abusive as a music teacher. We have already seen JK Simmons’ terrifying jazz instructor in Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash and Isabelle Huppert’s keyboard monster in Michael Haneke’s The Piano Teacher; now there is Slovenian actor and musician Saša Tabaković playing a demanding, yet insidious choirmaster in charge of a group of talented, vulnerable teenage girls. The film incidentally has a lesson for any teenage person watching: if a music teacher asks you to sit next to them on the piano stool with no one else in the room and murmurs “You can confide in me” y...

Events

2 w. ago The surprising parts of Braveheart that were ACCURATE: From William Wallace's execution to Robert the Bruce becoming King of Scotland... after Brian Cox brands film 'b******s'

Ever since its release in 1995, Braveheart has been a whipping boy for scholars. All of its historical inaccuracies have been gleefully pointed out. But the film did get some things right.

Politics

3 w. ago Price of a pint of beer for Oasis at Edinburgh Murrayfield Stadium confirmed

Find out how much a pint will set you back at Oasis gigs in Scotland

Economics

3 w. ago 'I went to watch Oasis live and three details really concerned me'

Oasis fan Ariane Sohrabi-Shiraz shared her experience of seeing the Britpop legends at Wembley in London. While the gig was amazing, certain details left her feeling concerned

Politics

3 w. ago Explosive and experimental, Eddie Palmieri was a revolutionary figure in postwar American music

The Puerto Rican New Yorker pianist, who has died aged 88, radiated pure joy as he played – never resting on his laurels as he went from jazz to salsa to house and beyond• Eddie Palmieri, pioneering Latin jazz musician and Grammy winner, dies aged 88Some 20 years ago I watched as Eddie Palmieri approached his piano, noting how his features radiated a mix of joy and excitement. As soon as he began to play I grasped why. To say the great Puerto Rican New Yorker was a thrilling performer is an understatement: seated at the piano he threw himself into playing explosive Latin jazz, his rhythmic attack reminding me how his first job as a professional musician was playing timbales in his uncle’s band aged 13. This sense of joy, the excitement he found in making music, the chances he took, helped shape Eddie Palmieri’s long, brilliant career.To my mind, Palmieri was one of the truly revolutionary figures of postwar American music, up there with Muddy and Miles and Aretha and Dolly: a musici...

Events