Reviews: The Lasses O | Gary Go/VV Brown | Kasabian

Published on Tuesday 31 March 2009 19:34

THEATRE THE LASSES O **** WYND THEATRE, MELROSE

HOMECOMING year; yet while the organisers seem happy to use cheesy tourist imagery of Robert Burns on their advertising material, not much cash has been forthcoming, for artists and promoters who actually want to engage with the radical substance of the poet's work.

Rowan Tree Theatre's The Lasses O is a case in point, a 21st-century re-examination of Burns's life and song now touring the Borders on a slender shoestring of local support; yet so passionately inventive and well-made that on Saturday night in Melrose, some of the audience were moved to a standing ovation. The play, by poet and dramatist Janet Paisley, takes the form of four monologues spoken by women in Burns's life, each one shaped around a particular Burns song. But these women are not the wives and lovers you might expect. Instead, we meet the midwife at Burns's birth, the old nurse who helps raise him, the shapely mother-in-law riven with lust for the comely young poet, and the faithful young Dumfries neighbour, Jessie Lewars, who helped Burns and his wife through the terrible final months of his life.

It's a powerful formula for a new perspective on Burns, presented through a passionate and beautifully pitched performance from Gerda Stevenson, and accompanied by cellist Seylan Baxter, harpist Rachel Newton, and flautist Lillias Kinsman-Blake. And what emerges, in John Bett's production, is one of the most subtly feminist shows I've seen in a while; one in which the desire, creativity, nurturing energy and tradition-bearing power of women take a memorable leading role, even as they celebrate the life and song of a rare man who, instead of fearing the sensual power of women, matched it with his own, allowing it to soar free.

MUSIC

GARY GO/VV BROWN

***

KING TUT'S, GLASGOW

GARY GO and VV Brown might seem like disparate acts to be sharing a tour, but both are multi-instrumentalists with a significant degree of hype surrounding them. Clean-cut Gary Baker certainly looks a shrewd support booking for Take That on their summer tour. The bespectacled singer chatted enthusiastically with the crowd between songs and played slow, anthemic pop that suddenly burst into vibrant life, keys over shimmering guitars, in the patented Coldplay style. Gary Barlow would doubtless be proud to call Baker's uplifting Wonderful one of his own compositions, though his protg's voice tends to mimic Sting's on the choruses and his lyrics generally ascribe to a world weariness befitting of an older man, forthcoming single Open Arms a case in point.

VV Brown also looks back – to the doo-wop of the 1950s, while singing of her ex-boyfriend with sustained resentment. But there was far greater variety to her tunes and her demands for the crowd to have fun feel natural. Taking the stage to the Super Mario Bros theme, she launched aggressively into debut single Crying Blood, shamelessly but addictively purloining the chorus from The Monster Mash. Leave was a slice of classic girl-group pop, while the outstanding new song Shark in the Water, with which she opted to finish, gave the singer a chance to really show off her pipes. Star quality is tricky to define, but VV Brown has it in stomping, jitterbugging abundance, and you'll be hearing plenty more from her in the future.

MUSIC

TEENAGE CANCER TRUST: KASABIAN

****

ALBERT HALL, LONDON

THROUGH his curation of the annual week of concerts in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust, Roger Daltrey is not only doing an almighty good turn, he's also firming up a direct lineage of unruly rockers from The Who down, including Oasis, Stereophonics, and now Kasabian.

The latter are understandably keen to insinuate themselves into such exalted company. Indeed, if they hadn't already planned to support Oasis at their stadium shows this summer, Kasabian's third album could be the one to lift them out of their Manc masters' shadow. Colourfully titled The West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum and due for release in June, it's appropriately unhinged and easily their most adventurous work to date, leaping across a huge canvas of styles, often in the same song.

On stage at the Albert Hall, some of the more innovative moments seemed harder to replicate live, despite the addition of a second guitarist, a keyboards player and a trumpet player to the regular foursome. The monster riff of opening track Underdog lacked its full savage crunch. Next single Fire didn't burst from its tense verse to its doublespeed chorus with quite enough explosiveness. However, the relentless drive of Fast Fuse had an excess of pep, while the lazy, Kinksy strum of Thick As Thieves might just be different enough to reach fresh ears beyond their bulging fanbase.

Swaggering singer Tom Meighan, a true rock'n'roller down to his blue suede shoes, was cocky as ever, frequently coming to a halt atop the drum riser, arms outstretched. He has increasing justification for such self-belief.