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springsteen opens south africa show with 'free nelson mandela'

1/28/2014

Springsteen live in Cape Town, South Africa

Superstar musician and singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen earlier this month released his 18th album, 'High Hopes' to both critical acclaim and big sales. In support of the record he and his hot, rocking E Street Band have begun the 'High Hopes' Tour, kicking off in South Africa. Incredibly, for the rocker known for his legendary live shows throughout his long and illustrious career, this marks the first time he has ever played there.

Last Sunday (26th January) Springsteen kicked off the first of three nights in Cape Town, South Africa at the Bellville Velodrome, a small arena compared to the huge stadiums he and his band are used to playing. Springsteen even joked "I travelled 8,000 fuckin' miles to play at the Ashbury Park Convention Hall", a reference to a spot in Ashbury Park, New Jersey where he used to rehearse. To make the occasion of playing South Africa even more memorable, after greeting the audience of 10,000 with "Good evening, South Africa! So glad to be in your beautiful city!" The Boss opened the show with a powerfully rousing version of The Special AKA's 1984 anti apartheid anthem 'Free Nelson Mandela', which rallied the world wide cry for the release of Mandela. The electric atmosphere of their rendition and its reception from the crowd comes across in a dynamic way as shown in this clip from the show.

The original 'Free Nelson Mandela' by The Special AKA:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgcTvoWjZJU

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review: '12 years a slave'

1/18/2014

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Michael Fassbender and Chiwetel Ejiofor

After making only two feature films (both critically acclaimed, 'Hunger' (2008) and 'Shame' (2011), British film director Steve McQueen on his third outing has delivered both an astonishing and an outstanding piece of work which has been heralded by some as the greatest movie ever made to deal with the reality of slavery in America. '12 Years As A Slave' is based on a book written by Soloman Northup in 1853, in which he recounts the shocking true life events which befall him in 1841. As a free Negro in New York, with a wife and two children, Northup was a trained musician with a certain standing in the community. He travelled to Washington to play the fiddle for a circus and while there was kidnapped and transported to Lousiana as a slave. At every point of Soloman conveying to his oppressors that he was not a slave, but in fact a free man, he was met with such brutal and ferocious violence that soon he realised in order to survive his ordeal, he must accept his situation. Indeed, Soloman's position was so dire that he learned to keep his ability to read and write a secret from the slave owners, as this information would be enough to have him killed.

McQueen has approached the subject matter with a pure honesty, unflinching at every turn, the savage and inhuman behaviour inflicted from one race to another, shown as it would have been at the time, as normal and matter of fact, making the film all the more shocking to watch. He has surrounded himself with an outstanding cast headed by Chitweter Ejiofor as Northup and Michael Fassbender as sadisitic slaveowner Edwin Epps. Both actors rose to the challenge of bringing these characters to life with a realism that was heart wrenching. Ejiofor brought a dignity to Soloman who refused to give up even when it looked as though death would be the only escape from the wretched existence he and the other slaves had to endure. Several stand out moments for me were close ups of the Ejiofor's face, with no dialogue, his thoughts and emotions being played through his eyes. Equally Fassbender (who starred in McQueen's two previous movies) played Epps with skill, bringing to the fore the complexities of a man who believed and treated his slaves as inhuman, just mere property, yet obviously having strong emotional feelings for a slave girl, Patsey (newcomer Lupita Nyong'o delivering a simply stunning debut performance), much to the displeasure and jealousy of his white wife (Sarah Paulson). Yet, this cruel man is so torn with his feelings that we also witness him both rape and whip the girl to near death. The scenes of sheer brutality and violence are unending throughtout '12 Years As A Slave', and at times are unbearably hard to watch without wanting to cry out for it to stop, however I believe it is an essential part of the story telling and needs to be seen as a reminder of the injustices inflicted on a people.

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review: marsha ambrosius at o2 indigo, london 21 dec 2013

1/14/2014

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Marsha Ambrosius on stage at O2 Indigo, London

The very talented singer-songwriter Marsha Ambrosius has achieved a great deal since starting out in Liverpool, England. Together with poet Natalie Stewart, the London based duo formed the group Floetry and headed Stateside where they caught the attention of the American r&b industry. After releasing 2 critically acclaimed albums they went their separate ways, but not before the skill of Marsha's songwriting spread to other artists, most notably Michael Jackson who recorded her composition 'Butterflies' for his 'Invincible' album. In terms of the music biz, Ms Ambrosius had truly arrived. Now flying solo, her debut album 'Late Nights & Early Mornings' (released in 2011) reached the top of the US R&B Album Charts and this highly respected lady is now finding herself performing at such prestigious as The White House for President Obama, as she quite happily told the audience at the O2 Indigo. Indeed, she can also be seen in the current hit Hollywood movie, 'The Best Man Holiday' singing a version of the Stevie Wonder classic 'As' with soul man Anthony Hamilton. Top class company indeed.

Tonight however, Marsha is on home turf back in England, which obviously pleases her no end, if her demeanour and chatty attitude throughout the night is anything to go by. Backed by a solid 4 man band, including a dj, Marsha opened the show, with perhaps a nod of acknowledgement to another UK black female whose talent shines ever so brightly, by singing a cool assured version of Sade's 'Stronger Than Pride', even adding a slight reggae feel in the process. The strong reception she receives puts her at ease, whether standing up with microphone in hand or later on seated at the keyboards. Before performing one of her newer tracks 'Friends And Lovers' she addresses the crowd with the familiarity and, I might add, the timing of a stand up comic. Breaking down the content of the song she asks the crowd if is really possible to be friends and lovers? As she puts it in her funny and blunt tone"Can you and someone you've known as a friend for years, you know a person who has seen you at your worst....can you two really..... fuck?". Marsha seems to relish getting X-rated as much her audience. After all most of her material is soul drenched music with a definite sexy flavour.
And here is where it gets interesting. Throughout her classy sexy set Marsha between songs would launch into what was happening in her world and give advice, sometimes at the same time. Her raunchy no nonsense, yet comedic approach reminded me very much of the 70's soul singer Miller Jackson, whose 1974 'Caught Up' album raised many eyebrows at the time with its truth and honesty regarding relationships. She was often accused of being 'potty-mouthed', when all she did in fact was talk about the real deal between men and women, using language usually heard from a man. At the time she was fresh and funny, as is Ms Ambrosious tonight!

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the action continues in 'the raid 2'

1/3/2014

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'The Raid 2' opens in the US in March

Back in 2011 Welsh film maker Gareth Evans wrote and directed a non-stop, high adrenalin, ultra violent Indonesian movie called 'The Raid', which on my first viewing simply blew me away. The story itself was quite simple. Some cops have to inflitrate a building being run by an evil mobster and his huge army of thugs. However, the execution of 'The Raid' was anything but. Instead, after a brief introduction to the characters, most of the film's 101 minutes running time is spent on magnificent set pieces, bone crushing assaults and general mayhem, with hardly a moment allowed for the viewer to breathe. Indeed I needed to see it twice to fully appreciate this visual feast. Without doubt this was easily one of the best action movies I have seen in many years.

So it was with much joy I discovered the (much deserved) success of 'The Raid', both domestically and on the international front, meant that a sequel was in the making, again with director Gareth Evans at the helm. The very first trailer for 'The Raid 2' has just been released online to whet our appetite, and oh boy, it looks as if the action is set to continue onto the next level. The story picks up a few hours after the end of the original film and as can be seen with this 'first look', new characters are established, along with a new storyline. Then it appears the stage is set for another bloodbath of anger and fury, this time with a bigger budget. See for yourself right here.

'The Raid 2' will be released in the US on 28th March and soon after in the UK.

If you have yet to see the original 'The Raid' (2011), get a taster right here with the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkULMOFpuCo

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review: 'mandela: long walk to freedom'

1/3/2014

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Idris Elba and Naomie Harris in 'Mandela'

It would seem a near impossible task to tell the story of one of the greatest statesmen the world has ever seen, Nelson Mandela, in a mere two and a half hours and give it full justice. After all this was no ordinary man. His mammoth journey took him from a boy being born in a small village (Mvezo) in South Africa's Cape Province to freedom fighter, to prisoner to President, and ultimately beloved and respected around the world, as seen by the immense global outpouring of grief by his recent death. Yet the film makers of 'Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom' (based on Mandela's 1995 autobiography of the same name) have achieved just that, managing to put a human face on a man whose struggles and triumphs captivated not only his own nation, but far beyond, throughout the world.

The casting of Nelson Mandela was always going to be pivotal to the success of such a venture, and although the film took 16 years to finally make its way to the screen, with every major black Hollywood actor attached at one time or another to the project, including Denzel Washington (who was the hot favourite) and Morgan Freeman, fate and timing meant it would eventually go to UK actor Idris Elba. This can be seen as a blessing from above as Elba goes all out and easily gives a career best performance in a roll that showcased his acting ability, portraying Mandela warts and all over a period of 80 years. Just as vital in the make up of the movie was the casting of his wife, Winnie Mandela, whose strong willed determination spear-headed the campaign to have her husband released from prison. Again the casting angels smiled favourably and another hot UK talent, Naomie Harris (recently seen as the new Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond film, 'Skyfall') landed the part. Without doubt Harris captures the essence of this woman who has to battle an unjust South African government and raise a family while her husband is incarcerated. In fact though the majority of the film focuses on the fight against the apartheid system of segreation, a central thread runs throughout of a tender love story between Nelson and Winnie, set against the turmoil of circumstances beyond their control.

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springsteen opens south africa show with 'free nelson mandela'

review: '12 years a slave'

review: marsha ambrosius at o2 indigo, london 21 dec 2013

the action continues in 'the raid 2'

review: 'mandela: long walk to freedom'

EON IRVING

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