Bringing Rabbie Burns into the 21st century

FESTIVALS

BURNS AN’ A’ THAT

Robert Burns may not necessarily be a name you associate with contemporary Scottish culture. The very mention of our national bard may have you diving headfirst into a pile of Louise Welsh novels and Franz Ferdinand records, but, as Burns An’ A’ That event director Pete Irvine explains, there is more to this Ayrshire-based festival than poetry readings, whisky-fuelled singalongs and plunging sharp instruments into mythical animals.

"Robert Burns is not everyone’s cup of tea," Irvine admits. "A lot of young people might not think it’s for them, but what we’ve done this year is try to keep the spirit of Burns throughout the programme while also catering for lots of different contemporary tastes. So we have everything from classical to pop music and dinner jackets to DJs."

As well as featuring some of the best local talent, there are street fairs, country house nights, kids clubs, dances, jazz brunches, theatre, celebrity golf, dinner with Nick Nairn and performances from such highly-acclaimed names as Evelyn Glennie. The percussionist will be performing at the Royal Bank Gala Concert at Culzean Castle with young musician of the year Nicola Benedetti (who comes from West Kilbride in Ayrshire), Karen Matheson, Phil Cunningham and Aly Bain, as well as the orchestra and chorus of Scottish Opera.

"It’s great to be part of a musical event that gives all the other outdoor events in the UK a run for their money, and to celebrate the life of Robbie Burns, one of our true cultural sons," says Glennie. "Scotland is full of truly amazing artists and I am glad to be paying tribute to one of our first and most enduring."

Alongside Glennie will be a whole host of big names including Liz Lochhead, Michael Marra, the Vegas DJs, Edwyn Collins and Eddi Reader, who performs with Hothouse Flowers at the free open air concert in Ayr.

Running alongside the festival is the Robert Burns Humanitarian Award, honouring the actions of an exceptional individual who in the past year has put humanitarian concerns above all others. The prize-giving ceremony takes place directly from the stage at the gala concert in Culzean Castle, an event Irvine is particularly excited about.

"In the middle of this concert we show film clips of the shortlist and then announce the winner, and they’re the most extraordinary people," he says.

"There’s not a dry eye in the house, and it’s a very humbling experience."

Now in its third year, the Burns An’ A’ That festival is set to be the biggest to date, and Irvine hopes that the event will only go from strength to strength in the coming years.

"This is not like other festivals because it’s rural and we are putting on events like opening up country houses to people that have never been opened before," he adds. "We have been innovative and adventurous with the programme, it is a quality line-up, and one I hope we will be able to build on in the future."

Various venues, Ayrshire (01292-612 222), www.burnsfestival.com, Saturday until June 6


CESARIA EVORA

Sometimes the blur of orchestras and bands you see every week becomes a little monotonous, so why not try something a little different? Following on from Buena Vista Social Club star Omara Portuondo, the Usher Hall’s world music series continues with a performance by the wonderfully evocative singer Cesaria Evora. The 60-year-old grandmother comes from the Cape Verde islands off the African coast and has won a Grammy, sold millions of albums and plays to packed concert halls all over the world.

She sings a soulful Cape Verdean Blues called morna, which is emotional, bittersweet and mixed with African, Brazilian and Cuban rhythms. She performs barefoot as a reminder of the poverty of her home islands, and although she appears quite reserved, her heart-wrenching songs of loss and unrequited love have moved audiences to tears.

Evora comes to Edinburgh in support of her latest album, Voz D’Amor, which finds the world music legend on fine form. Critics have described her live performances as having "audiences hanging from the rafters", and this is a one-off opportunity to see exactly why she garners such praise.

Usher Hall, Edinburgh (0131-228 1155), Friday, 8pm


KATE AND ANNA McGARRIGLE WITH RUFUS WAINWRIGHT

Family performances often bring to mind horrendous visions of the Nolans and Osmonds, strutting around cheesily in matching outfits and haircuts. But this concert by two sets of siblings promises an infinitely better musical display.

Sisters Kate and Anna McGarrigle are well known for their folk fusion inspired by their French-Canadian origin and regularly go down a storm at Celtic Connections. On Friday, however, their performance will be given an extra dimension by the addition of Kate’s children, Rufus and Martha Wainwright. Rufus is the better known, boasting a ready-made cult following of his own, attracted to the arty cabaret-esque performer’s confessional songs, rich quivering vocals and stark piano backing.

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (0141-353 8000), Friday, 7.30pm


THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY BOX SET

We always knew they were going to be epic, but no-one was prepared for the hysterical reactions that greeted Peter Jackson’s stunning Tolkien trilogy. The final part’s 11 Oscars have been equalled only by Ben Hur and Titanic. Now the DVD box set of the trilogy is finally being unleashed.

In the opening, The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo (Elijah Wood) sets off to destroy the ring which the evil Lord Sauron intends to use to plunge the world into darkness. The Two Towers finds our young hobbit acquiring a travelling companion called Gollum on the way to Mordor, and the film climaxes with a battle scene the like of which has simply never been seen on film before. The concluding part, The Return of the King, finds Frodo continuing his journey to cast the ring into Mount Doom.

Featuring a star-packed cast including Sir Ian McKellen and Orlando Bloom, Peter Jackson’s take on Tolkien’s trilogy is one of the most important cinematic events in history as it finally shows how extraordinary digital effects can be used to support story and characters, not simply overwhelm them, and appeals to both long-time fantasy fans and newcomers alike.

The only question left now is how you will find time to watch them all.

Released on DVD tomorrow


RAGEH OMAR

Whatever your opinion of the horrors taking place in Iraq, there is no doubt about BBC journalist Rageh Omar’s omnipresence during the majority of the affair. It is estimated that nearly 90% of the population have watched him on either the BBC news bulletins or News 24.

Much of his early work was for the BBC World Service as BBC News’s Africa correspondent, covering stories ranging from drought in Ethiopia to devastating floods in Mozambique, and this talk will find Omar reflecting on his experiences as a journalist as well as answering questions.

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (0141-353 8000), Wednesday, 1pm


STEALING ARTHUR’S SEAT

Writers’ Bloc is a mix of professional writers and new voices who have been published in Britain and the US. They promise live readings of original fiction about everything from magicians to Cowgate tattoo parlours and odd happenings in the Court of Session car park.

Writers appearing include Stefan Pearson, Hannu Rajaniemi, Andrew Ferguson, Charles Stross, Andrew J Wilson, Gavin Inglis and Jane McKie, so expect short stories, vignettes and poetry from a night that promises, in the Bloc’s own words, "a little bit of history, a little bit of mystery, and a slew of finely-crafted contemporary weirdness".

The Canons’ Gait, Edinburgh (0131-556 4481), www.writers-bloc.org.uk, Thursday, 8pm


PEER GYNT

Take a seat at the Brunton Theatre and you will soon be whisked off into a surreal world of hyper-reality, following the life of Peer Gynt as he travels from Norway to Morocco and Cairo and into the underground kingdom of the trolls.

In a specially commissioned adaptation by John Harvey, Benchtours, which has previously performed The Caucasian Chalk Circle, The Cherry Orchard and The Bear and the Proposal, now presents a new production of Henrik Ibsen’s greatest verse play.

Director Peter Clerke says it has been a challenge to recreate the play, but an enjoyable one which he hopes will open up one of his favourite pieces of theatre to new audiences.

"Peer Gynt is a work I came across at college and I loved it then, so the possibility is just immensely exciting," he says.

"It has been perceived as arduous in the past, like the work of any classic playwright, but it isn’t, the humour really comes across in this production and it has so much energy and drive."

Peer Gynt is played by Peter Grimes, who is joined by a team of seven professional actors and a chorus made up from the local community. The original live music is composed by Steve Kettley from Salsa Celtica.

Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh (0131-665 2240), Thursday, Friday, 7.30pm


PAOLOZZI AT 80

In celebration of Scotland’s most important artist’s 80th birthday, the Dean Gallery in Edinburgh is hosting the first full retrospective of the work of Sir Eduardo Paolozzi. Featuring sculpture, sculpted reliefs and works on paper, the show will explore his long career as a sculptor, printmaker, designer, draughtsman and maker of collages who drew inspiration from Dada and the Surrealist movement and became a pioneering figure in the emergence of British Pop Art.

Born in Leith in 1924 to Italian immigrant parents, Paolozzi grew up in a sweet shop and, while helping to make ice cream, sweeping the floor and filling jars, he collected cigarette cards and matchboxes, made scrapbooks of his heroes and generally soaked in the popular culture surrounding him.

After enrolling for evening classes at the Edinburgh College of Art in 1941, he went on to become a full-time student in Oxford and Paris, going on to teach in London, Germany and the US, as well as exhibiting internationally.

In 1968 he was given a CBE, was elected to the Royal Academy in 1979 and knighted in 1989.

From one of his very first sketches as a pupil at Leith Walk Primary School in Edinburgh to textiles, artists’ books, book jackets, print suites and the enormous steel sculpture Vulcan (1999), which dominates the main hall of the gallery, this show finds Paolozzi influenced by almost every aspect of modern life from machinery and science to warfare, children’s toys, music, cinema and philosophy, and makes for the perfect introduction to his hugely impressive career.

Dean Gallery, Edinburgh (0131-624 6200), Saturday until October 31


THE DUKE SPIRIT

Liela Moss, smoky vocalist and lyricist of hotly-tipped London five-piece The Duke Spirit, is in shock. The band have just finished a support slot with The Vines, playing to thousands of excitable kids who came up to them after the performance asking for hugs and autographs.

"It’s been crazy playing places like Brixton Academy with my mates watching and wondering how I got up here," she says, laughing.

It’s been a quick ascent to their hype-fuelled current status as this year’s next big thing, as the band only started rehearsing together in September 2002, put the fiercely angular Roll, Spirit, Roll mini-LP out a year later to much critical acclaim and are set to release a debut album in September produced by ex-Cocteau Twin Simon Raymonde.

It’s a dream come true for Moss.

"When I was 14 and singing along to Hole and Nirvana, I knew I wanted to be in a band but I kept it hidden because of all the brattish boys at school who were into music," she says.

Their last Glasgow gig saw The Duke Spirit put on a highly wired performance of their infectious melody and scruffy guitar-ridden tunes - and it’s good to hear a band still so genuinely thrilled at being able to play to people around the country.

"I love looking across the stage and seeing my best mates around me," says Moss. "We’re really excited in particular about these headline dates and playing smaller venues. I’m looking forward to connecting with people, catching their expressions and looking them straight in the eye."

King Tut’s, Glasgow (0141-221 5279), Tuesday, 8.30pm