29/01/2019

‘Mezzanine XX1’ - Night 1




Massive Attack in Glasgow for their ‘Mezzanine XX1’ UK tour  


Massive Attack started their ‘Mezzanine’ tour in Glasgow last night.
I wanted to be there, despite the distance and a busy schedule.
The show marks the 21 years of their third album, that I describe in detail in my book about Bristol.



They surprisingly opened the night, which didn't include any first act, with a cover of The Velvet Underground‘s ‘I Found A Reason’, a song sampled in ‘Risingson’, which followed.

Here's my humble video recording for it:

Massive Attack cover 'I Found A Reason' by the Velvet Underground at the start of their Mezzanine XX1 tour to celebrate the 21st anniversary of their third album, in Glasgow, Scotland, on January 28th, 2019



Other covers include The Cure's '10:15 Saturday Night’ and Ultravox's 'RockWrok'.

They were performing with Elizabeth Fraser and Horace Andy. 

The visuals augmenting the show were provided by the British filmmaker Adam Curtis – who already worked with 3D Del Naja for a show in the Manchester International Festival in 2013. It brought a sort of saddening but keenly realistic visual representation of the past 50 years in our western culture, including images of royalties, political leaders and simple, naive everyday life amusement, in a sometimes puzzling, sometimes dazzling, sometimes violent manner.




(Photos by myself)

In a statement released on Monday, Curtis and the band explained that the shows bring “the story of the strange journey we have all been on over the past twenty years since ‘Mezzanine’ was released: How we have moved into a strange backward-looking world, enclosed by machines that read our data and predict our every move, haunted by ghosts from the past. A pleasure dome that makes us feel safe from the endless wars outside, and plays back stories both of dreams of glory and the fear of others. But in that safe world suspicion and distrust is spreading — like a virus. The air is growing stale. Everyone sees conspiracies everywhere. But maybe suspicion is control?”

The band played the entire songs from Mezzanine.
Video recording by myself:

Massive Attack - 'Exchange' (Live Glasgow, Jan. 28, 2019)


Massive Attack - 'Where Have All Those Flowers Gone'/'Inertia Creeps' (Glasgow, Jan. 28)


-

Massive Attack’s setlist:

I Found a Reason (The Velvet Underground cover) 
Risingson
10:15 Saturday Night (The Cure cover) 
Man Next Door (with Horace Andy)
Black Milk (with Elizabeth Fraser) 
Mezzanine 
Exchange 
See a Man’s Face (Horace Andy cover)
Dissolved Girl
Where Have All The Flower Gone (Pete Seeger cover)
Rockwrok (Ultravox cover) 
Inertia Creeps 
-
Angel (with Horace Andy)
Teardrop (with Elizabeth Fraser)
Group Four (with Elizabeth Fraser) 

-

They are now touring the UK before Europe then North America.


"I found a reason"





I Found a Reason

The Velvet Underground

-


Pa papa papa papa
Pa papa papa papa
Pa papa papa papa
Pa papa papa papa

I found a reason to keep living
Oh and the reason, dear, is you
I found a reason to keep singing
Oh and the reason, dear, is you

Oh I do believe
If you don't like things you live
For some place you never gone before

Pa papa papa papa
Pa papa papa papa
Pa papa papa papa
Pa papa papa papa

Honey, I found a reason to keep living
And you know the reason, dear it's you
And I've walked down life's lonely highways
Hand in hand with myself
And I realized how many paths have crossed between us

Oh I do believe
You're all what you perceive
What come is better that what came before

Oh I do believe
You're all what you perceive
What come is better that what came before

Pa papa papa papa
Pa papa papa papa
Pa papa papa papa
Pa papa papa papa
And you'd better come, come come, come to me
Come come, come to me

pa papa papa pa


Songwriters: Lou Reed
I Found a Reason lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC




27/01/2019

Richard Luke // House Concert // Beachcombing


Sublime music from my best friend's friend in Glasgow!!



Richard Luke // House Concert // Beachcombing





Recorded Live on 20.1.18 in a tenement flat in Glasgow. 
Debut album Voz is OUT NOW on 1631 Recordings.
Spotify: http://bit.ly/RichardLuke Bandcamp: http://bit.ly/Richard_Luke_Voz / Itunes: http://bit.ly/Itunes_Voz Website: http://www.richardluke.co.uk



-

26/01/2019

"Someone special writes about something so special"...


I talk to this journalist this morning, interview/article to come soon:


ThePhacemag @Phacemag

Every so often someone special writes about something so special because they just have to - set for release in early March. 
Well hello!
@melissachemam
is the incredibly accomplished special journalist/ writer in question - as for
@MassiveAttackUK
no words..

🌹
more soon! 
Fran




🌹



More on Massive Attack's 'Mezzanine XX1' audiovisual tour



Massive Attack collaborated with Adam Curtis on Mezzanine audiovisual tour


“The show tells the story of the strange journey we have all been on over the past twenty years since Mezzanine was released.”

Massive Attack have collaborated with filmmaker and video essayist Adam Curtis for their forthcoming Mezzanine tour, which marks the 21st anniversary of their seminal album.
As announced in the autumn by the band, Curtis has been providing the visuals to accompany the entire album, describing the show in a statement as “the story of the strange journey we have all been on over the past twenty years since Mezzanine was released. How we have moved into a strange backward-looking world, enclosed by machines that read our data and predict our every move, haunted by ghosts from the past.”
He added: “A pleasure dome that makes us feel safe from the endless wars outside, and plays back stories both of dreams of glory and the fear of others. But in that safe world suspicion and distrust is spreading — like a virus. The air is growing stale. Everyone sees conspiracies everywhere. But maybe suspicion is control?”


Robert ‘3D’ Del Naja explained that the show is “a deconstruction of the entire album with the original songs and samples being performed live. This isn’t a greatest hits show”, he warns, “don’t expect a Hollywood ending”.
The collaboration marks the second time the trip-hop group have worked with the filmmaker. In 2013, Del Naja curated an eight-night festival with Curtis called Massive Attack V Adam Curtis.

Trailer: MASSIVE ATTACK v ADAM CURTIS



Curtis’ latest work, the 2016 documentary Hypernormalisation, also quoted Del Naja as a collaborator. 
Massive Attack will be joined by long term collaborators Elizabeth Fraser and Horace Andy, and the show will also include additional visual work from AI artist Mario Klingeman.
-
The Mezzanine XX1 tours starts on January 28 at The SSE Hydro, Glasgow – for more, you can visit Massive Attack's website.
-
Mezzanine XX1 tour:
Jan 28 – Glasgow @ SSE Hydro
Jan 29 – Manchester @ Manchester Arena
Jan 31 – Brussels @ Palais 12
Feb 01 – Amsterdam @ AFAS Live [Sold Out]
Feb 02 – Amsterdam @ AFAS Live [Sold Out]
Feb 04 – Frankfurt @ Jahrhunderthalle
Feb 05 – Munich @ Zenith
Feb 06 – Milan @ Mediolanum Forum
Feb 08 – Rome @ Palalottomatica
Feb 09 – Padua @ Kioene Arena
Feb 11 – Paris @ Zenith [Sold Out]
Feb 12 – Paris @ Zenith
Feb 13 – Nantes @ Zenith de Nantes Metropole
Feb 14 – Bordeaux @ Bordeaux Metropole Arena
Feb 16 – Barcelona @ Sant Jordi Club
Feb 18 – Lisbon @ Campo Pequeno [Sold Out]
Feb 19 – Lisbon @ Campo Pequeno
Feb 22 – London @ O2 Arena
Feb 24 – Dublin @ 3Arena
Mar 01 – Bristol @ Steel Yard [Sold Out]
Mar 02 – Bristol @ Steel Yard
Mar 11 – Montreal, QC @ Place Des Arts, Wilfrid Pelletier Theatre [Sold Out]
Mar 12 – Toronto, ON @ Sony Centre for the Performing Arts [Sold Out]
Mar 14 – Boston, MA @ Boch Center [Sold Out]
Mar 15 – New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall [Sold Out]
Mar 16 – New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
Mar 19 – Philadelphia, PA @ Metroplitan Opera House
Mar 20 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem
Mar 22 – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple Theatre
Mar 23 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre [Sold Out]
Mar 24 – Saint Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre [Sold Out]
Mar 28 – San Francisco,CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium [Sold Out]
Mar 29 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium [Sold Out]
Mar 30 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium [Sold Out]
Mar 31 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
Apr 02 – San Diego, CA @ Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre

23/01/2019

BEYOND BORDERS


Delighted to tell I'll be participating to this festival later in August!!

I've been meaning to go to Greece for years! Absolutely delighted.
And the denomination, "Beyond Borders", means the world to me!

More soon!!



BEYOND BORDERS
International Documentary Festival
Castellorizo, August 25th– September 1st2019






PRESS RELEASE 22.01.2019
CALL FOR FILM SUBMISSION

“Let’s bring the world to Castellorizo and take Castellorizo to the world!”

Launched in 2016 by the Hellenic History Foundation (IDISME) in Athens and internationally supported by the Association Ecrans des Mondesin Paris (AEM) the 4th International Documentary Film Festival “Beyond Borders” rooted in the Greek island of Castellorizo, will screen documentary films from Greece, Europe and the whole world, produced within the past five years (2015-2019). The Festival program also includes several cultural events in Castellorizo. The Festival seeks to reflect strongly, on a global scale, the importance of studying and documenting historical trends and events to understand the challenges, opportunities and hazards of our political and socio-economic present. “Beyond Borders” is now addressing filmmakers of historical and socio-political documentaries from all over the world, to submit their films. 

Applications and Festival regulations are available on the Festival’s website: 



Application deadline: May 15, 2019.


The competing films are appreciated by an international Jury. This year, the Jury will be chaired by multiple award-winning Australian documentary filmmaker Nick Torrens. Two awards will be discerned by the Jury: Best History Documentary and Best Sociopolitical Documentary. These Awards are a kind courtesy of the Hellenic Parliament.Each screening will be followed by Q&A sessions with the director and / or an expert of the film’s topic. Entrance is free.

Under the aegis of the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Municipality of the Island, with the support of the Administration of the Region of South Aegean and the General Secretariat for the Aegean and Island Policy as well as by prominent businesses andmedia organizations, the Festival is a true celebration of culture on the edge of the Aegean. Watch a short film about the 3rd “Beyond Borders” here: 





Finally, every year, the Festival presents an award to two different special partners: The Media of Honor and the Academic Institution of Honor. This way “Beyond Borders” honors those who uphold the values that it represents.

From Athens & Paris
Irini SARIOGLOU &Michel NOLL


'Parentland': THE new BBC World Service podcast on parenting issues


Coming in the winter: Parentland!!! 

The fourth episode of our BBC World Service podcast is in the making with our wicked presenters: Linda Geddes and Mercy Harouna...


A project launched by Anna Lacey from the BBC World Service's Science Section , and produced by Anna and myself with the help of two young and talented researchers!!


...Answering to listeners' questions on parenting, family life and children's education.


Launching on Feb. 25 worldwide... 

Email us your questions at Parentland@bbc.co.uk or Parentland@bbc.com with your questions on parenting and family issues !!

-

More soon, including our Facebook group, 'Parentland' and more on our first episodes... 

Thanks! 

18/01/2019

Education, Aspiration, Compassion | Maya Ghazal



Education, Aspiration, Compassion | Maya Ghazal | TEDxPlaceDesNationsWomen




In 2015, Maya Ghazal was forced to leave her home in Damascus, along with her plans and dreams behind. Her tireless determination, hope and resilience have allowed her to start a new life and curriculum in Aviation Engineering in the United Kingdom. In a profoundly inspiring talk, Maya Ghazal beats stereotypes and offers five solutions to better understand refugees and invest in their limitless potential. Maya Ghazal is a 19-year-old Syrian refugee. She studies Aviation Engineering at Brunel University London and dreams of becoming the first female Syrian refugee pilot. She is a prominent advocate for refugee rights and the recipient of Diana’s Legacy Award. Maya Ghazal is a 19-year-old Syrian refugee. She studies Aviation Engineering at Brunel University London and dreams of becoming the first female Syrian refugee pilot. She is a prominent advocate for refugee rights and the recipient of Diana’s Legacy Award. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx