Sainsbury's Anniversary Games 2013

One year ago Britain became united, all under the umbrella of the Olympic Games. For two and a half weeks, the nation were on the edge of their seats, watching and experiencing the emotions of success and defeat on a scale that only the Olympics and Paralympics could have achieved. The games brought an unforgettable spark to the summer, where Britain lived and breathed sport. After last year’s great success we simply couldn’t resist celebrating the birthday of the ‘greatest show on Earth’.

The Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games welcomed back some of the greatest athletes of 2012 for what promised to be a weekend of thrilling track and field action. Kicking things off on Friday 26th July was the ‘battle of Britain’ in the Team GB contested men’s 100m. Adam Gemili sped through to victory, giving us a great new hope for Rio 2016. The theme of showcasing British talent continued throughout the anniversary games with Perri Shakes-Drayton, Robbie Grabarz and the women’s 4x100m relay team all competing. The promising hurdler Shakes-Drayton unfortunately didn’t manage to secure her 400m event. After starting well, she failed to maintain her pace finishing 4th behind the Czech Republic athlete, Hejnova. Olympic Bronze medallist Grabarz also just missed out on emulating last year’s success, finishing 4th in the men’s high jump. The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly GB’s solid victory in the women’s relay. The team looked in control for the entirety of the race and by the time the baton came to Nelson on the anchor leg, first place was virtually secured. It is of course not just Team GB who drew our attention. Time and time again the sprinting legend Usain Bolt has the world in awe. With“Boltdown” trending on Twitter all eyes were on the main event, the men’s 100m. From the audacious rocket-driven entrance to his undoubted victory seconds later, Bolt once again had the crowd at his mercy. Despite a ‘horrifying’ start by his standards, Bolt strode home with the fastest time this year. Bolt promised to alleviate the hoodoo put on athletics after notable names, Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell failed drug tests the month prior to the event.

As Saturday arrived, memories of “Super Saturday” involving the tremendous successes of Greg Rutherford, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Mo Farah and Andy Murray that still lived long in the memory. With Ennis-Hill and Farah both taking part, the Saturday of the Anniversary Games looked to be equally as super. The women’s 100m hurdles was the first event of the afternoon; an unfit Ennis-Hill finished in a respectable 4th. Tiffany Porter managed to clinch 2nd place – a strong start for Team GB. The Olympic stadium later welcomed back silver medallist from 2012, Christine Ohuruogu, who ran a brilliant 400m’s maintaining a confident pace throughout, coming through to win in a time of 50 seconds, a season’s best for the athlete. The afternoon was topped off in style by none other than Mo Farah, who stormed to victory in a personal best time in the 3000m. The man seems to be unstoppable at the minute, celebrating with his signature ‘Mobot’. With Mo in the form of his life, we surely can expect to see a lot more of his memorable celebration at the World Championship in Moscow.

On the final day we welcomed back our “super humans” to the London stage. Jonnie Peacock and David Weir were just a few names that buzzed around the stadium after their phenomenal performances last year. In the T43/44 the Brazilian, Oliveira took first place with Peacock just behind, who still achieved his personal best. The ‘Weir Wolf’ performed flawlessly in the mile race, almost breaking the three minute world record. Richard Whitehead’s victory in the T42 200m was the best triumph of the day, after a slow start the 37 year old drove through with ease, to win as he did in 2012.

The big question now is where does British sport go from here? London 2012 has looked to ‘inspire a generation’. The real results of London’s longevity will be seen when the aspiring athletes who have been watching look at the success of the athletes in London to springboard their own success. People inspired? It would seem so, but wait until Rio 2016 and future Olympics to see the evidence. A year on from the Olympics, judging by the heavy nostalgia felt by many and the success of the Anniversary games, London 2012 embers still burn brightly!

The Age of Anarchy - Riot Culture in Britain

"Where there is discord, may we bring harmony” are the words that we’ve heard on repeat for the last couple of weeks since the tragic loss of Britain’s longest reigning Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. However much we may decide to respect her or loathe her for the changes that she made to the country, I think we can all agree that harmony was something she did not achieve. From unemployment to poll tax, the Iron Lady divided the country and her policies caused riots on a scale we may not ever see again. However, the tuition fee riots and the London looting back in 2011 do perhaps prove that we are falling into this riot culture once again, not to mention the death parties that have been going on up and down the country to celebrate Maggie’s departure. I cannot speak for everyone else, but it truly pains me to see Britain’s people acting this way especially when most of the time it comes to nothing but destruction and wasted anger. Then again, we do have the right to freedom of expression and it’s no surprise especially during Thatcher’s time that people got so overly emotional. So where is the line between progressive protesting and outrageous rioting? Can anarchy ever be harmonious?

Even before the extensive rioting and division that grew out of the ruthless rule of Thatcher, anarchy is something that has always existed. The Notting Hill race riots of 1958, the miners’ strike of the early 1970s and Bloody Sunday in Ireland are just some examples of disorder that preceded Thatcher, but it was when she stepped through the door of number ten that society seemed to spiral out of control. The first act of anarchy under her leadership erupted in Brixton in 1981 along with similar events emerging in Toxteth and Moss Side, all areas that had been heavily affected by mass unemployment that eventually reached an immense three million. In Brixton in South London, police cars were pelted with bricks, buildings were destroyed, fires were started and hundreds of people were left seriously injured. Unfortunately, all the energy that was put into destroying people’s lives and the country meant nothing and the events ended in those chilling words, “You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning.”

But nor were the public going to stop these obscene acts of protest. The influence of Brixton continued right through the 1980s into more riots in the same area in 1985 and into the miners’ strike of 1984 which turned a whole workforce against Thatcher forever. The latter end of her second term in office seemed quite calm, but it never lasted through her third term which gave birth to the poll tax riots where everyone was forced to pay the same amount of tax whatever job they were in. Britain had never seen such a succession of disorder in such a short space of time and it was hoped that once Maggie was kicked out by her own party in 1990, this riotous culture would begin to calm down, especially as it was a decade that proved such behaviour would never work in your favour even if you did set off a bomb to kill the Prime Minister in the Grand Hotel in Brighton.

There are several explanations you could pin to why voices were not heard in the 1980s. The first would be the unique determination of Thatcher to stand for what she believed to be right, no matter what hurt that may have caused. She thrived off conflict and probably got some kicks out of seeing people disagree with her so much. Another reason would be the inability of the police to control the destructive behaviour. If the police had not been so outnumbered and more organised, the riots may not have got so out of hand and the message may have been more understandable. The root of the problem with these riots though was the lack of morality and common decency of the people involved in them. Whether Thatcher’s ideas were outrageous or not, there would have been a way to peacefully and intelligently protest against her, without seeing the country fall to bits. So since Thatcher’s reign, you’d think Britain would’ve learnt to act more harmoniously in their protests to ensure that they were heard and respected.

Unfortunately this is not the case. The 1990s saw uprisings occur in Bradford and Brixton once again mainly in relation to racial issues and today we have seen thousands involved in the riots against rising tuition fees and the dreadful looting and arson that happened in London against the police. The London riot was the worst disorder Britain had seen since the beginning of Thatcher’s reign and so I think this is where Britain needs to take a look at itself and bring in that question of where the line is between peacefully protesting and destructively rioting. The London riots were on the scale of the Brixton ones with hundreds fearing for their lives as the police became heavily outnumbered and I still fail to understand quite what this riot was trying to prove. That social networking and collective barbaric behaviour can win over the police force? Wrong. With the country’s cities in flames and clear lack of control over the looters, the police will surely only find way to come back stronger next time after being attacked by the powerful force of social networking. If this mass protest had been organised more intelligently, the police may actually have been out witted and listened to the people who believed the shooting of Mark Duggan in Tottenham was wrong, allegedly the incident that started the riots. The scale of this destruction is not a protest; it is a riot that proves nothing but how disgustingly indecent humans can get if given the opportunity.

Based on this event and the stories of death parties for Thatcher across the country, I started to lose faith in humanity and our ability to work together as a society to gain what is best for our country. There seems to be an obsession of risking people’s lives to prove a point about the world we live in. Whether those points are right or wrong, nothing is worth putting people’s lives on the line. The fact that people have been celebrating the death of a person no matter what you thought of them is shameful and it’s embarrassing how low the country seems to have stooped in recent years. However, my faith was slightly restored after reading a story about a woman who politely called up the police to ask if she and a group of people could protest against Thatcher ideals and the cost of her funeral. The police allowed it, which really shows that freedom of expression is possible and does not have to cause trouble for the police. Although I cannot bring myself to join in with any celebration of her death for various reasons, I do respect anyone who was peaceful about their views on the matter.

I hope this act of decency will push others who have smashed windows, kicked people’s ribs in and burnt down the nation to have a word with themselves and really think about what they are showing to people when they display such ignorance of human life. Rioting is unacceptable and a culture that will never gain us any respect. However, I will keep my faith in believing that we are capable of peaceful and creative protesting that gets our views across without causing the death and destruction that no one deserves.

The Day the Music Died

Through all the twists and turns of life, you need something that consistently and unquestionably brings you back to the surface when you’ve been pushed into the darkest waters. For me, this force has always been music. It’s an art that goes beyond the most powerful novels and the most breath-taking speeches because it speaks when words fail. Music has guided me through the hardest times and given me strength when I thought all hope had gone. How it has continued to do this I cannot quite explain, but I always hoped that my choice to study it would help me to understand its power and influence and pass that appreciation on to other people. I chose the thriving arts department LICA at Lancaster University that seemed like an environment with a spark of creativity and a flashy new building with a music department that offered a huge spectrum of topics to study. Who’d have thought that by the middle of my degree that that image would be completely destroyed? For those of you that have heard about the travesty Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts have put on our plate, allow me to take you deeper into a pit of gradual failings.

My musical journey, however powerful it may have been for me emotionally, has always been tainted. At high school promises had been broken regarding new facilities and increased space and there was general feeling that music was constantly pushed aside. It seems that this curse has followed me, for LICA have not only not given us the 3^rd floor space of the LICA building because they didn’t have the planning permission to finish it but they have also pushed us around expecting us to get what we are given. Modules such as Studio Technique, Performance and LICA 100 and 200 have caused problems for many students. Studio Technique is a core module for Music Technology students as is Performance for straight music students and both of these have been threatened. Performance no longer exists due to cuts in instrumental tuition and Studio Technique survived by the skin of its teeth thanks to the brave protest of students. LICA 100 and 200 are modules that all arts students have been forced to take which cover the power of the arts as a united force which despite being enjoyable to some extent have angered many students by being a waste of credits which could have been used to study their own field more intensely. We have constantly been living on the edge not knowing the next obscene direction our education was going to take.

The biggest change that is definitely a huge contributing factor to Music falling apart is the fact that a decision was made last year to fuse the three separate degree schemes – Music, Music Technology and Popular Music Studies- into one degree simply known as Music. This was done because there weren’t enough students studying each separate degree and it had to be done in order for the subject to survive. However, because students are now unable to specialise in this broad subject, this has surely been a huge reason behind why there are now hardly any applicants for the course at all. One might think that fusing three degrees together would give a student a vast amount of module choices and we’d be fighting for more credit space. I know that myself and many others however spent days wrestling with the module choices because we were practically forced to take modules we didn’t want to just to fill up space. A degree at a top ten university should be beyond satisfactory and we can hardly say that when we don’t even get to study the topics we’d like to after paying between £3000 and £9000 a year.

To top all this off we are now faced with redundancies for each and every one of our fantastic lecturers which means of course the end of the music degree beyond its current students. Not only that, but the current students will be affected with what could potentially be very bleak module choices with only three promised teaching positions next year. As if this wasn’t bad enough, a face to face meeting about the future of our degree wasn’t promised until week six and we received this vital information through insensitive emails. In addition, the lecturers were apparently not even present at the discussion that decided their fate and now both they and students are faced with uncomfortable uncertainty without even being in the driving seat.

From the start of this situation that could have been dealt with much more fairly we have been mistreated, pushed aside and undervalued, but it does not have to be this way. I hope that however strong your passions are for the subject, you will join me in voicing your disgust for what has unjustly happened to the high standard of education we have a right to receive. I do not and will never understand how LICA can call itself an arts institution without the dominant creative force of music – let’s speak up, stand up and wake them up to the beauty and power of this dying art form at Lancaster and give it back the life it deserves.

Beats and Pieces Big Band - Live at LICA

 

No matter how many genres and styles of music you’ve been lucky enough to experience, there is nothing quite like the sound of a live big band. The power, the impact, the colourful orchestration and perhaps most importantly, the infectious smiles and finger clicking that spreads across the room. Although variations on the big band setup such as jazz ensembles and saxophone groups have made their way into the Live at LICA programme at Lancaster University, the treat of a professional big band has been a rarity, but that as all about to change as the Beats and Pieces Big Band graced the Great Hall stage to kick off a February full of tasty musical flavours.

With many prizes to their name including the Jazz FM award for Best Newcomer of 2013, there were high expectations within the audience and from note one the team of fourteen did not disappoint. The band kicked things off extremely energetically and what was most notable from the off was the amount of enthusiasm that was on display, which is of course is what truly makes a great performance. From flugelhorn solos to Radiohead covers, it was clear that Beats and Pieces were not afraid to be experimental and were far from being an ordinary big band playing swing and rat pack music round and round. They flawlessly pulled off an array of styles and filled the first half with a bunch of surprises. The most outstanding pieces included “Anymore” which was the moment in the spotlight for the unique sound of the flugelhorn and the phenomenal “Tone” which included a screaming soprano saxophone solo from the talented and expressive Sam Healey and some excellent interweaving parts from the brass.

The interval came far too soon after a stunning first half but during the break I was lucky enough to speak to band leader Ben Cottrell and saxophonist Sam Healey who both chatted to me about the band’s experience since they got together in 2008. They were both extremely happy about receiving the Jazz FM award and are now keen to spread their fan base across Europe now that they are on tour. Based on the contagious energy that had reached the audience here in Lancaster, that will undoubtedly happen for them and I hope to hear more news on their successes when they return to Lancaster for the jazz festival in September.

There was lots of excitement and adrenaline pumping for the second half and once again a stack of fantastic original tunes given to an audience who were left catching flies. Some of the highlights of this set were the interesting use of electronic equipment which had briefly been used in the first half but to much more effect later on and the tune “Broken” which from start to finish was a complexly arranged piece full of colour and richness that included an awesome solo from saxophonist Anthony Brown who was more into soothing and calmer solos in comparison to some of the other players. This piece ended the concert before a much needed and wanted encore but it’s safe to say that we’d happily welcome this superb team of musicians back to our stage again and again after a performance that left you tingling with joy.

During the interval, a comment from ULMS President Chris Langford was put forward to me and is perhaps the best way to describe what truly stood out about this group and that was that “they’re a big band but they play like a small group”. At the same time as having the powerful sound that every big band should have they were able to show that it’s not all about that. Beats and Pieces equally had so much control and composure and everything was orchestrated to fit specific players so well that they were able to conquer unimaginable styles for this sort of instrumental set up. A huge spark had been lit by this wonderful band in the Great Hall and they’re sure to be the talk of Live at LICA for weeks to come.

http://scan.lusu.co.uk/carolynne/culture/2013/03/02/beats-and-pieces-review-week-17/

Battle of the Bands Heat Four - Pendle Bar

 

After three tense and competitive heats of Battle of the Bands taking place from north to south campus, it was time to send one last band through to the final as the competition concluded with heat four at Pendle Bar. This heat promised to be a tough one, with two of the bands already having previous experience in competing. Along with returnees Lemming Along and funk stars Underwater Gunfight, newcomers Indecisive Affection and Lake Komo were welcomed onto the stage for what was a nail-biting night.

First up were a team of four who instantly turned the heads and dropped the jaws of many who had their heads in a pint. Lake Komo sparked off the evening like no other student band I’d ever seen before with their original song Pyramid. With rich vocals and the unique sound of a harmonica, this group really grabbed the hearts of everyone listening. One of the big mistakes that bands make in this competition is making one instrument or one part of the band completely dominant, but Lake Komo were able to achieve a perfect balance in sound that allowed the crowd to appreciate all the parts that were weaving and blending together so beautifully. They additionally didn’t bore us to tears with repetitive chord sequences and lack of momentum; their songs included features such as a harmonisation pedal and the lead singer regularly showed off his vocal range which always adds great colour to a performance. Their relaxed vibe put everyone in a great mood and the amount of variety that went into their performance in such a short space of time was extremely impressive.  Following up these guys was going to be somewhat nerve-racking.

Next onto the stage were stars of last year’s competition Underwater Gunfight, whose style centres on funk, blues and ska. The prospect of following Lake Komo and living up to their stunning performances last year was always going to be daunting and unfortunately without the integral parts of Nick Webb on saxophone and Natasha Gilbert’s unbelievably powerful vocal ability, the group did not meet expectations. Despite still clearly holding on to their funk roots, apart from the presence of a wah-wah pedal, this vibe was not quite as infectious and enjoyable as it had previously been. Furthermore, the improvisational aspect of their performance that was so important to their success last year seemed very unapparent this year. The vocals that replaced Gilbert this year also didn’t seem to fit in with the confidence and enthusiasm the rest of the band were showing. It can be said that their performance got better as it went along ending with favourites Sea Manners and their cover of Superstition, but to headline campus festival, you have to grab your crowd from the start and based on this set, their place in the final didn’t seem promising.

Rock group Lemming Along were third in the night’s line up and once again were facing high expectations from the crowd. After being a newly formed band last year, the crowd were expecting to see significant improvements to their performance and some new stylistic ideas. The group kicked off their performance in a cliché but nonetheless very enjoyable way with a rendition of the Hendrix classic Voodoo Child. They slickly pulled off the guitar licks and the vocals were powerfully projected over the incredibly loud kit part which often overshadowed the guitar parts unfortunately. Disappointingly one of the guitarists chose to sit down for the entire performance which whilst not affecting the sound was a real turn off for the judges as it didn’t give the band much chance when it came to judging performance enthusiasm.  Overall, Lemming Along really did prove they had come a long way since the little garage band that they were last year, but whether they had done enough for the final remained very questionable.

The final performance of the evening came from another rock group called Indecisive Affection who are a four piece group led by two very edgy looking female vocalists. Although their performance had excellent attitude and character to it, the fact that they mostly did covers and clearly hadn’t quite mastered a decent balance of sound, they didn’t seem like strong contenders for the main stage at Campus Festival. As a newly formed band they came out and performed very confidently and it’s obvious that they have potential, but there seemed to be a consensus in the judging panel that this year was probably not going to be the year for them.

After an incredible night that had been filled with everything from chilled acoustic music to face melting guitar solos, Lake Komo were victorious as highly expected right from the beginning of the night. Despite respectable competition, their meaningful lyrics and beautifully arranged instrumentation seemed to put them in a league of their own and I think everyone can join me in saying that we wish them well in the final as I’m sure they will be a tough bunch to beat.

http://scan.lusu.co.uk/carolynne/culture/2013/03/08/battle-of-the-bands-heat-four-pendle-bar/

Live at LICA : Coming up in Spring 2013

All the festivities are over and the January blues is now upon us with an undoubtedly busy and stressful second term ahead. However in the world of the arts here at Lancaster University there are many delights making an appearance in the Live at LICA programme this Lent Term to keep your spirits up. The Autumn line up of brilliantly talented and accomplished musicians, actors and dancers that we were so lucky to have here in our Great Hall and Nuffield Theatre brought in and dazzled audiences across the university and beyond and caused some pretty competitive ticket sales. The canvases, sculptures and wonderful colour that lined the Peter Scott Gallery as well equally had people in awe and it’s safe to say that LICA is now an important home of professional contemporary art. The Spring season of the academic year is looking even more tasty, so here’s what’s in store over the next few months.

From richly colourful orchestral and choir performances to powerful big bands and virtuosic solo artists, the Great Hall always welcomes a fabulous array of musicians, with Thursday evenings being the regular time for music. Spring 2013’s debut performance comes from string ensemble “Chroma” on 24th January. A contemporary eight piece group who thoroughly entertained crowds here last year have an excellent programme lined up that promises to be quite experimental and enlightening so make sure you’re there for some real character to start the season. Following this February sees the “Beats and Pieces Big Band” take to the stage to stun us with the contagious energy that live big bands always deliver before March plays host to some phenomenal soloists including pianist Gabriela Montero and trumpeter TineThing Helseth with a homely treat from the Lancashire Sinfonietta on the 14th March. A truly indescribable programme in store which springs two to words to mind; play on.

In the Nuffield Theatre this Spring Lancaster succeeds again in setting out a juicy programme. Highlights include “Imitating the Dog: The Zero Hour” at the end of January written and directed by our very own head of LICA Andrew Quick who Scan writer Sophie Barrett will be interviewing about the ideas behind this breath-taking play. Also lined up is the intriguing performance of Michael Pinchbeck’s “The Beginning” which explores the beginnings of important life experiences for us all including careers and relationships. In Dance, the unmissable 2013 Dance Cuts Showcase will be taking place on 2nd March involving all sorts of new dance works from across the North West to please all audiences wherever your dance enthusiasm lies. There’s something for everyone in our little black box this Spring so grab your seat for the best innovative theatre around.

Last but certainly not least the Peter Scott Gallery will be introducing two exhibitions this term; Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s “Jumpers” and “In Residence”. The former is a newly commissioned video installation by the British artists which documents a live experiment in manipulation and compliance which should be a thought provoking experience for all. The latter is one exhibition of a series of events which will display residency-generated material leading smoothly into the Curate the Campus programme of next term.

As you can see this action packed season of art here at Lancaster is not to be missed so go ahead and indulge yourselves in some awesome creativity that’s waiting for you on your doorstep! You can also find out more about performances by going to www.liveatlica.org/whats-on.

http://scan.lusu.co.uk/carolynne/culture/2013/01/21/live-at-lica-coming-up-in-spring-2013-week-12/