Venue - Issue 298 - 13 May 2014

13 M AY / # 298

d n d u e o s g g s ’ u l A UE s unp s r y l e i va l u t l e s P e st in e n f g o c pi rs atin usi du of m game a r G d e re e s i n d i r ! b ew h’ de c n n i e w A b No r Fa s s

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13 M AY / # 298

CONTENTS Venue Editors Holly J. McDede and Adam White Illustrators Heather Miles (Front Cover), Lizzie Parsons (Creative Writing), Nick Tregidgo (Back Cover)

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Editors Jack Enright and Mike Vinti

Editors Gemma Carter and Helena Urquhart

Editor Katie Kemp

Editor Jake Reynolds

Contributors Oliver Hughes, Holly J. McDede

Contributors Katie Wadsworth, Elley West

Contributors Isabelle King, Holly J. McDede, Laura Sharp

Contributors Blythe Amison, Elley Blue, Lizzie Parsons, Nina Ward

Editor Joe Fitzsimmons

Contributors Holly J. McDede

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Editor Adam Dawson

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Contributors James Britton, Adam Dawson, Rob Drury, Rebecca Hedger, Holly Wade

It’s always pretty terrifying starting a new thing, especially when you’re stepping into the shoes of people who did so well in the exact same position barely a month ago. But here we are anyway, striving to bring to you an all-new, all-fantastic . See that right there? That’s the kind of fine-print, ‘barely noticeable but still kind of cool’ newness we’re trying out this year. Words used in

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Editors Neven Devies and Silvia Rose

Editor Daisy Jones

Contributors Ben Baulch-Jones, Ha Nguyen, Chris Rogers, Silvia Rose

Contributors Dave de Lima, Robin Sidle

regularity whilst putting together this issue have included “loud”, “colour”, “vision”. Tons of annoying buzz terms which have hopefully helped in creating something pretty darn nice.

There are some fantastic articles this issue, from a lovely, albeit melancholy, feature on the final Sonic Arts concerts at UEA, to reviews of everything from Michael Fassbender-in-agiant-fibreglass-head to Chris Lilley’s eagerly-

anticipated Jonah from Tonga.

Hopefully you’ll all enjoy the brilliant writing, gasp at all the pretty colours, and be big enough a fan to want to continue reading when we come back in September. Or, even better, want to write for us yourselves.

Keep it real, kids Adam and Holly J.

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CONCRETE concrete.music@uea.ac.uk

The Standard

SUMMER IN THE BIG CITY

Oliver Hughes gives the low-down on the new breed of festivals Festival season is approaching. For most people that means a weekend in the mud in Reading, Leeds or Glastonbury, maybe even the Isle of Wight - ultimately though, those festivals are more for the experience; getting obscenely drunk, not washing, and trying to pretend you’re not on the same level as the 14 year olds watching My Chemical Romance.

For those of us who actually enjoy good music and want a festival to be a celebration of said music, here are three London-based festivals worth looking at - 100% tent free.

“Looking for generic indie pop? You won’t find it here...”

Field Day on 7th and 8th of June has been expanded to two days (should it now be called Field Days?) with a good line-up on Saturday and a slightly weaker one on Sunday. Saturday sees Metronomy in the top spot while Sunday is headlined by Pixies, hopefully not playing anything recorded in the last ten years. Taking place in Victoria Park in East London, it’s a lovely summer’s day (or weekend, now) out

with great bands. Hip-hop provided by Danny Brown, terrible indie by Metronomy and Sky Ferreira, bleeps and bloops by Todd Terje, Tim Burgess, Oneohtrix Point Never and Jon Hopkins, old favourites in The Horrors and Warpaint, and even sets from Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Animal Collective’s Avey Tare. Day and weekend tickets are available starting at £50, and are well worth the pricetag. Also, they have ostrich burgers.

For those of you on the more underground side of things, take a look at Visions Festival.

Visions is a one day festival on August 2nd set across warehouses in East London (yes, really). It has a great DIY, local feel to it, with local art collectives getting involved and public displays you can join in on. The music showcases established and upcoming talent in a fantastic setting – spending an hour on the rooftop bar garden of Netil House, looking out over the London skyline, before descending into the warehouse below to see artists like Forest Swords, Baths, Andrew WK, Eagulls, Lower and Perfect Pussy is a great way to spend a day. Moving from hidden venue to hidden venue across East London is a fun way to discover more about the capital’s underground. Tickets are just £25.

But the new boy is already primed to be crowned king. Set in the heart of London, at the Excel Centre, Jabberwocky is a two day festival on August 15th and 16th.

Jabberwocky’s line-up has an eclectic mix and incredible depth. There is no worry of only a few strong headliners as there are dozens of excellent acts, all of whom have very solid live performers. The lineup leans towards the heavier side of things; if you’re looking for generic indie pop, you won’t find it here.

What you will find is a festival headlined

by Neutral Milk Hotel, who practically defined ‘indie’ in the 90s with the release of two of the most important alternative albums of all time. Now reformed and touring again they have squeezed Jabberwocky into a tour schedule that has seen them playing week in week out for over a year. Alongside them are headline acts Caribou, who offer fun synthpop vibes, and Mercury Prize 2013 winner James Blake, who blends dubstep (actual dubstep, not Skrillex) and hip hop with his mournful, soulful voice and classical piano.

Secondary acts include Darkside, the project of Dave Harrington and Nicholas Jaar, whose 2013 debut Psychic was critically acclaimed for its creative use of guitar, synth and vocals. Liars, having released another

marked style deviation in Mess earlier this year, Kurt Vile, who has been much praised for his excellent live shows, and Panda Bear, whose solo work is sometimes considered even better than his work with the legendary psych-pop group Animal Collective.

“100% tent-free” Oh, and there’s the small matter of Thee Oh Sees, prolific pop rockers, folkster Sun Kil Moon, whose 2014 release Benji is considered one of the best albums of the year so far.

Noise rockers Cloud Nothings, Danish punk heroes Iceage… bleeps and bloops provided

by Forest Swords, dubstep legends The Bug, as well as Kode9 and Fuck Buttons set to play the after parties. Not to mention drone titans Earth and upstart black metal/shoegaze pioneers Deafheaven in attendance.

On top of that, it is only £60. £60! For both days! Tickets to see Miley Cyrus can cost £90. Go figure. Alternatively, you can buy a ticket just to one day, though with no schedule released yet, that is a risk. There is also a slight concern that, with such great lineups, there will be clashes, and sacrifices will have to be made. Sadly an inevitable part of modern day festivals.

CONCRETE

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concrete.music@uea.ac.uk

Simon Limbrick

UNPLUGGING UEA’S EXPERIMENTAL SOUND SHOW

Holly McDede reports on Sonic Arts’ experimental approach to vibrophones, electronics, and sex toys It’s usually easy, and unnecessary, to explain how a concert works. But let’s go over a few basic steps. 1: Someone gets on a stage. 2: Someone sings, or plays an instrument. 3: Everyone applauds wildly! Excellent. Sounds simple, right? But maybe music shouldn’t be so simple or formulaic. At least, students at the UEA’s Music School have been taught to constantly test the boundaries of sound.

Although the School of Music itself rests like a secret away from the rest of the University, if you happen to walk inside, there’s a good chance you’ll hear totally unheard-of sounds emerging from its belly.

The School’s Strode Room, for instance, hosts Sonic Arts concerts. At these concerts, it’s not uncommon to find oneself in a dark room while the sounds of snare drums, cymbals, and pot lids howl around you. You might spot a musician playing drums with viola bows, or maybe just with computer codes. Ballerinas could be dancing towards you, twirling to electronic beats, and there might be a sex toy being used as a musical instrument. At each concert, the audience is usually unsure of when to applaud, too dazed by what they just heard.

But soon the Strode Room, and the rest of the Music School, will get quieter.

Sonic Arts is run through the Music School by tutor Simon Limbrick, and it’s the longest-running electro-acoustic music concert in the UK. But when the Music School closes, it will go as well.

Last weekend, Limbrick stepped up and

performed at the final Sonic Arts concert held at the School: ‘Percussion, Media Interface, Sonic Arts No. 83’. “I’ve played in a few of these before, but hadn’t been involved in them when I started running them. There’s no need,” Limbrick said. “But this is the last year. There’s some things I wanted to do that are quite big things.” He wanted the last concert to be a miniature timeline of electro-acoustic music, from the early days of Karlheinz Stockhausen, who combined music and technology when there was barely even technology, to the beginnings of computer technology in the late 90s, to the good, old 2014, when Gregory White and Angus Stewart composed their own pieces for the last time, and anyone’s last time, as UEA music students.

In the piece Stewart composed, Limbrick played the vibrophone as sporadic

“Students have been taught to constantly test the boundaries of sound” soundwaves were thrown at him, kindly generated by Stewart. “The idea was to take the performer out of their comfort zone by throwing random sporadic ideas to them at a fast pace,” Stewart said.

In White’s piece, software captured and played back a specific note on the vibraphone, sending Limbrick on a graceful, musical shuffle to decide what to do next.

One of the main purposes of Sonic Arts, since Limbrick took over, has been to bring students together with their tutors as well as professional musicians to perform and learn from one another. “It’s just cool to see our lecturers perform,” Stewart said. “We always see them as these guys who stand in front of us and tell us stuff, but they’re all performers and composers as well.”

Limbrick took over the Sonic Arts concerts back in 2011 when, learning that the Music School was set to close, Simon Waters stepped down. To keep the programme going, Limbrick had to prove to the university that it was worth their money by pointing out that it had improved the lives of students throughout the university. That often means taking students out of the university.

“It was a very direct application of the concepts and theory we learnt about in lectures and seminars,” White explained. “It helps challenge preconceptions and open our minds to new ways of approaching music.”

Limrick brought one Sonic Arts to the Undercroft, which lies underground Norwich Market. In this Sonic Arts concert, each musician played a character representing a role in a virtual society, like a hunter, worker, medic, or artist.

As the musicians and electronics played, texts and animations projected above

the musicians described their appetite, mental health, and political leanings.

“Police called over Sex Toy Noise” may have been a real headline in The Sun, but at UEA, “Sex, Toys, Noise” was a Sonic Arts concert featuring the sound group SEXTOYS, who used found and vibrating objects, including sex toys as the name suggests, to create a performance.

Stewart’s favourite Sonic Arts performance, though, is Sonic Arts #73, where jazz legend Evan Park played the saxophone while Matt Wright worked the old school vinyl turntables. “If you said to me you’d be performing with Evan Parker, I would have laughed and said that’s never gonna happen,” Stewart said. “That was insane.”

And the music continues, for a time.

As I Have Now Memoyre, an installationperformance by Nicholas Brown about singing and the passing of time, will be playing at Cinema City on Wednesday, May 14th. Jazz will come to the Grad Bar on Thursday, May 15th. There, the final year music students will sing, “Come, come along for a dance and a song,” an Ode on the Death of Henry Purcell by Jeremiah Clarke. And if that title sounds depressing, maybe that’s because, without a School of Music, it is.

Limbrick’s students have asked him to continue Sonic Arts, but he says that without the School of Music, Sonic Arts could not exist. “It’s not just about forming a wind or guitar ensemble,” he said, “it needs the School of Music to generate the engine.”

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CONCRETE concrete.fashion@uea.ac.uk

CORAL KISSES AND PEACHY POUTS

Elley West showcases this season’s hottest shade, a must-have for any make-up bag this summer! has picked the best of the high street to help you get to grips with this summer’s ultimate lip colour, orange. We have got something for everyone, from a bashful lick of balm to an ‘I-just-snogged-Tropicana’ pout.

We love how effortless a lip-stain can look, and New York Colour’s Orange on the Go stain has a felt-tip that makes application a dream. You could always enhance your lip-stain with the 3D Effect Gloss by Bourjois. We have used this on our model Kerry, and it is a really subtle way to introduce an unusual colour into your makeup. You can apply the stain as sheer as you like and then glam it up with the gloss.

If you are unsure whether an orange tone would work for you, then let this product show you the power of orange. One super-long title coming up: Revlon Colourburst Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balm. The ‘Rendezvous’ shade looks very bright in the barrel but applies as a gentle coral. The balm-texture can be built up to provide a wash of orange colour, but is coral enough to ease you into the trend. For a really modern look, earlier this year Revlon introduced two new varieties of their balm stains, and we love the new Matte stain in the shade ‘Audacious’ for a super strong tangerine lip that is so hip. (Can you tell we couldn’t rhyme anything with orange? Trust me we did try…)

For those girls that think their only statement lip colour is red, welcome your new best friend. An intense, true orange colour can look amazing for a formal event and will let you stand out from the crowd without being too intense, and we have a winner of a lipstick for you: Topshop’s Infrared is truly on fire. Coming in at only £8 it is a strong dupe for MAC’s famous Morange, both being true oranges with a slightly red base so that it is familiar and also exotic. To give maximum oomph, apply a lip tint underneath and then several swipes of the lipstick. This will look really amazing on those of you who know warm tones will work well with you - on dark skin it looks especially beautiful!

Bonus Beauty Buy

Photography Moji Adegbile Model Kerry Johnson Make up Elley West

Tony Moly is a Korean brand, but can easily be found online in the UK, and not only is their packaging super-cute, their products are also outstnding quality. Their Cat Chu Wink Lip Tint in Orange ChaCha gives a really strong colour and as an added bonus smells and tastes of orange too; it’s the ultimate citrus kiss!

Loves Beauty

CEREMONY CHIC

Katie Wadsworth takes us through the best dresses to make sure you graduate in style You’ve made it through the lengthy dissertations and late-night revision sessions to graduation, so now it’s time for a new challenge, what to wear for the big day? Your graduation photos will undoubtedly be passed around by grandparents and extended family, likely working their way into a prime place on the mantel piece, so looking good is key. But don’t fear, we have all the tips you need for graduation outfit success.

Whatever your degree, the UEA graduation gowns are blue so bear this in mind when choosing the colour of your dress. Blue robes are a great colour to work with as they team well with a variety of fabulous summer pastel shades from mint green to lilac or if you’re feeling bold, a stunning lemon yellow. Black is also a wearable colour but if the sun is shining on graduation day, pastel shades are a winning colour as they’re more celebratory and will look great in the photos.

The Fit

You might be tempted to go all out and rock a tight fitting bodycon number to wow the crowds, but don’t forget that inevitably in a graduation ceremony there’s a lot of sitting and waiting so comfort is a priority! You want to get the most out of the day so you don’t want to be constantly readjusting your outfit.

The Alternative If dresses aren’t your thing, why not try a cute blouse and bright a-line skirt. Alternatively, go bold and opt for

a pair of fitted patterned or coloured trousers and a crisp white blouse for a great graduation look. A blouse or shirt are great alternative looks and the buttons are super handy for hooking your graduation hood onto.

The Shoe Again, Goldilocks rules apply, not too low and not too high! Everyone loves a good stiletto, but don’t forget that you’re going to be on your feet all day... so be warned, you want to remain upright when you walk across that stage! If you want to add height, opt for a summery wedge or chunky heel for style as well as stability.

If you’re sticking to flats why not try a floral T-bar or loafers for added comfort and sophistication.

The main rules that apply for graduation style success is comfort and confidence. It gets hot under those robes and add in nerves and it’s going to be toasty, so keep your cool with a chic outfit and maybe a pair of sunglasses and enjoy the day.

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The Colour

The Length

Keep the length classy, not too short!

Aim for something just above the knee to line up with your robes. Stay clear of maxi dresses as they don’t work as well with mid-length robes, and you’ll be more liable to trip over.

Remember you might be going for dinner before or after the ceremony so make sure that you feel elegant and the dress works as you move from the day time to the evening.

CONCRETE

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concrete.arts@uea.ac.uk

THE GREAT NORFOLK READ Isabelle King and Holly McDede take a look at the many narratives of Norfolk In Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go, Miss Emily attempts to explain Norfolk to her students – who all happen to be clones, but that’s not really important here – during a geography lesson.

“You see, because it’s stuck out here on the east, on this hump jutting into the sea, it’s not on the way to anywhere. People going north and south, they bypass it altogether”, she explains.

Then she declares Norfolk to be “England’s lost corner”. As an adult, the clone protagonist thinks that if she could just get back to Norfolk, she’d be able to find everything she had ever loved, everything she had ever lost.

Miss Emily has a point: living in Norfolk can feel like living in a city lost in outerspace.

But when this neglected planet gets mentioned in books like Never Let Me Go, it’s hard not to get sentimental about Norfolk.

So when World Book Night, a global event where books around the world are given away, came to Norfolk on 23rd April, it made sense that Norwich’s Millennium Library ignored the world’s suggested reading list and instead promoted Norfolk Narratives, a six-week campaign launched by the Norfolk County Council’s Library and Information Service that provides a list of books that take place in Norfolk.

“We asked people to suggest their favorite titles that are maybe set locally, or just books that feature the local area”, Katherine Osborne, a librarian at the Millenium Library, said.

“It gathers together a lot of people’s different favourite books”. She said the most famous one would probably be Arthur Conan Doyle’s Adventure of the Dancing Men. In this story, Norfolk native Mr Hilton Cubitt of Ridling

Thorpe Manor becomes suspicious of a sheet of dancing men drawn on a piece of paper.

Many of the books on the list are crime fiction, and if you’ve seen Norfolk’s castles, cathedrals, market, and passageways, it’s no wonder.

“It’s quite close to my heart, really”, Osborne said of her hometown. “I think it’s the variety of kind of landscapes and it’s such a beautiful county. There’s such diverse landscapes in Norfolk. That’s what got me”.

To see the full list of books, check out:

tinyurl.com/n89k2gk

The Seventeenth Child

by Ethel George

The seventeenth child? Oh my! This book is based on hours and hours of interviews with Ethel George, who lived in poverty in a three bedroom house in Norwich from 1914 – 1934.

Hall of Fame: Norwich City’s All Time Greats

by Allan Kemp

Now that Norwich City have been relegated, it’s a great time to swear off watching football ever again. Just live in the past! It’s great. As expected, this book explores Norwich City’s greatest heroes. It takes it back to the first meeting to launch Norwich City back in 1902 in the Criterion Cafe on White Lion Street in Norwich.

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The Hippopotamus

Laura’s Handmade Life

Ted Wallace is so much of a loser he’s lost his human qualities and has transformed into a hippopotamus. He loses his newspaper job, and hangs out at Swafford Hall, a country mansion of his old friend’s. If you live in Norfolk, you’ve got to read Stephen Fry because chances are, if you ever leave Norfolk, someone will say something like, “Oh, yeah, isn’t Stephen Fry from there?”

Here’s a book with lots of puns about sewing.

As a preview, Laura Lovegrove, for instance, is leaving her seamless life in London. And where does she end up? Yes, Norfolk. In a cottage with ferocious poodles. She also has no clothes, as they’ve all been destroyed in a fire, which could get quite exciting. We think she needs to stitch back her life together.

by Stephen Fry

by Amanda Addison

NORWICH’S BIGGEST EVENT OF THE YEAR Laura Sharp tells us what’s in store for this year’s Norfolk and Norwich Festival

Marquis Xavier @ Marquis Pix

Norfolk and Norwich festival is one of the UK’s biggest festivals, bringing in local, national and international theatre, music, dance and art at venues dotted around the city, to create an enthralling appetite for the creatively driven city of Norwich.

We saw the festivities begin as the people of Norfolk came together on Saturday with a cardboard box “brick” of their own, to help create a replica of St Peter Mancroft Church, which was then spectacularly demolished at 6pm. In Norwich’s unique way, the festivities have begun and will continue until 25th May. As a proud city of literature, this year the festival brings in writers such as Kate Mosse, Penelope Fitzgerald and Samantha Ellis.

“The Salon” is a special addition to the festival this year, celebrating Norwich as a UNESCO City of Literature where local writers and readers can get involved.

A particularly exciting event this year is a preview of the Klanghaus Midnight Feast by The Neutrinos and Sal Pitman, where we get the first glimpse of their collaborative performance before it hits the Edinburgh Fringe this summer.

Lead singer Karen Reilly spoke of the benefits of previewing Edinburgh material, stating that the Klanghaus, literally meaning house of noise, will be “pushed to the limit in Edinburgh, so we need to test the foundations of our show with our brilliant home audience.

You’ll hear new songs and see new visuals”.

This is a good shout for the festival as a whole; a chance to see and experience brand new material and experiments in performances that’ll thrill your senses.

Norfolk and Norwich Festival is packed with exciting events from nearly 30 countries to create a line up bursting with new and innovative events to show that this small city has a lot to offer.

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CONCRETE concrete.creativewriting@uea.ac.uk

Hello! I’m Jake Reynolds, the new creative writing editor for . It’s nice to be here. As usual, the university’s reputation for creative writing has surpassed itself. Aptly, for the handover issue, I sent out a call for content based on the theme of change/renewal.

And here’s what people came up with...

This Issue’s Inspiration

“Everybody thinks of changing humanity, nobody thinks of changing himself”

HE WAS THE MOON

X

Nina Ward

Blythe Aimson

Realisation like light trickles – filters through leaf shaped thoughts – and I am lost in the forest. Eyelids rise like the new sun but this path is blurring, obscured – he, the moon hangs low and waits to be renewed.

It waits, a full circle for me.

Realisation like light trickles - it burns the skin it touches because I ignored the initial whispers of smoke.

I see the sky at last- leaf shaped thoughts fall snow flurry slow. I see my sun – this dawn is an awakening.

The moon is soft. It sinks.

+Y=Z

there is something of an “x” about you a cracked circle ancient exoskeleton sharp against bluish glass womb of the world the world is we not you crystallized lips pricked cardinal sine are not in accordance with those interlocked boxes separating tongues your parenthesis silence me this orderly, humble bisected heart tucked into infinity glimmering blush wrap me in epilepsy tie magenta ribbon with equilateral precision like the isosceles of your pout make me irrational a reflector in the dark you’ll be my resurrector albino arc luminescent smoke chopping down the Green Wall

Microfictions

Submit your own to @UEA140Story on Twitter.

John ran over a child. At first it might have appeared an accident, but he ran over him a couple more times, which changed things morally.

Lizzie Parsons

THE CEREMONY OF RENAMING Elley Blue Your eyes chart me As though you’d never sailed forth before And I, on top, am your maiden voyage.

We aren’t looking at each other much But in your eyes I see Behind the hoisted rigging, The ceremony of renaming is taking place: Your have practiced this, Sharpening your tools, So that your movements are revenant.

Bored of your ritual I look past you Look past you to see a sisterhood, Spreading out on the bed before me A bed I now share for I am Jane-made to any Antoinette.

We are a sisterhood of offerings Of sacrifices made to reaction We, the newly owned face, We must learn to slip into that space In his heart, that hollow hole Where he hides what he marks As his heart’s desire And we must re-fill Re-stretch and re-shape

Re-mould his sack to desire us now Our mouths must iron out past marks And stitch the scars and buff the breaks With every genuflect we give The chains of his veins beat tighter And he makes us his Love.

I turn back, behind me To look into your eyes again Just as you anoint me with your proof of desire It is as you come to your ritual end The mists of the ceremony part once more This time I glimpse The sisters yet ordained Women so imagined they become real, Like the estranged friends that we court in dreams Created from the past but cast in the future The women who wear his future love And I wonder Did Eve think on the face of Lilith?

Did Lilith dwell on the face of Eve?

CONCRETE

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concrete.gamingtech@uea.ac.uk

Robin Silcock and Alastair Aitchison lead Norfolk’s Indie Game Developers group / Tim Stephenson

Tim Stephenson / Pacmen courtesy of Pacman.com

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: TAKING THE MEANING OF VIDEO GAMES TO THE NEXT LEVEL A walk through the Norwich Gaming Festival with Holly McDede Each year, the Forum’s Fusion Gallery becomes a retro arcade of old consoles and old classics, like the ancient legend known as Rayman Legend and some good, old fashioned Pacman.

But games have changed since the yellow dude chased down those floaty ghosts. To capture the modern gaming console, you might as well put a smart phone behind a glass case and start whistling to the CandyCrush soundtrack.

Don’t necessarily mute the gunshots or cross out the scantily dressed women in games like Grand Theft Auto – those are still there – but do acknowledge the rising popularity of the indie gamer’s quest to bring morals to video games.

Nowadays, these gamers can work from their bedrooms. That’s why, despite the absence of large game companies in Norfolk, game development still flourishes through associations like the Norfolk Indie Game Development group. And, with the recent announcement of tax breaks for video game makers throughout the U.K, developers who had fled to less taxed pastures may be back.

The future proof nature of the industry was part of the reason Robin Silcock went from being an artist

“That’s the goal of the festival: remind people that games aren’t stupid” to a game artist, and why she decided to help expand the Fusion’s annual retro arcade into Norfolk’s first full on gaming festival earlier this month.

At the festival, hundreds went to the Forum to find themselves inside of a video game. The sound of Mario traveling through the Mushroom Kingdom in the “Retro Arcade” was muffled underneath the vrooms of race car driving. Norwich City was heard playing Ipswich – and winning, in

the virtual world of FIFA14. Charli Vince, facepainter at the festival turned kids into Pacmans and Wonder Women. Some gamers cursed their lack of finger to remote control co-ordination while other intellectual gamers listened downstairs while the professionals gave tips on making it.

Meanwhile ,Robin Silcock, who helped organize the Norwich Gaming Festival along with Alastair Aitchison, checked in to make sure the volunteers were hydrated and all systems go.

Robin gave a tour of the Art Gallery. The gallery featured landscape art, character sketches, and some diagrams of game weapons.

“So what we’ve tried to create with the 3-D artwork is not only the great finished image, but also how it was created, so people could better understand where game art comes from,” Robin said.

It’s not surprising Robin helped curate an art gallery. She’s studying Games Art and Design at the Norwich University College of the Arts. Once, she was an eight year old struggling to beat her teenage brother at video games. Now, she stays up late working on essays analysing the effects of games on society and making 3-D generated lampshades.

She had no background in game development when she applied for her degree, and her portfolio included fuse glass and woodwork. Now it includes helping to organize the Norwich Gaming Festival at the Forum. She also co-organises the Norfolk Gaming Association. Many members like gamer Linden Holt-Whittaker, are surprised when they discover a whole community of gamers in Norfolk. ”Things like this, I really hope it will just let people know you don’t have to be in London or Brighton or these big game developer places to make games. You can do it anywhere.

You can do it in your room. Just download the software and just do it,” Linden said.

Linden is inspired by indie games like Papers, Please, where the player’s job as immigration inspector is to control the flow of people entering the Arstotzkan side of Grestin from Kolechia. Games like that might not fly with major companies, but thanks to apps and digital distribution, it doesn’t matter. Linden wants to make people

“Games are becoming more meaningful, more present” think, and he can do that on his own. He’s already made a game about witchcraft. Scratch that: a dramatic role play experience about witchcraft.

“It’s all about the social pressures of trying to seem normal, and extreme pressure that is sort of a weird contradiction. To seem normal, you need to be normal. But when you’re that conscious of being normal, you’re not normal,” Linden said. “It’s hard to develop. It’s a delicate system I need to create.”

For Linden, games are important. Ellie Harrison is another such aspiring game designer.

But she had to convince her parents gaming mattered. “They thought games were stupid. I really wanted to prove them wrong more than anything.

They’re really excited for me. They’re actually really into it now and think it’s all very exciting.

New games, new energies on what’s possible,” Ellie said. They see the potential games can have. Not just games, but the technology that can be applied to games and industries and fields.

They find that really exciting.”

In a way, that’s what Robin set out to do when she co-organised the festival: remind people that games aren’t stupid. Thanks to mobile games, they’re also everywhere – even in places without any major gaming companies

like Norfolk. Her Game Developers Group has over two hundred members, and it’s growing.

“I think games are important because they have a way to engage a player, or engage a person, emotionally and mentally. Passive media like books or films where you’re not in control of what’s happening just can’t give you the same experience. I think the engagement you get from the game...there’s so many possibilities that haven’t even begun to be explored. It’s such an exciting industry to be about to go into.”

I decided to play one. I gave an indie game called Tenya Wanya Teensa a shot for myself and played against Lawrence Russell. By the end of it, I growled at the screen, and then walked away, thinking that if my mom had told me to play more Sims as a kid, I would have been fully equipped to try again. My opponent over there, on the other hand, was a game designer, programmer, and artist who became so frustrated at dying in games he made cheats and eventually his own games.

At the festival, he shows off his game, Trash TV. “You have to solve puzzles to escape. It’s a big quest to find this TV remote. It’s kind of like a Hollywood story. Without it, you don’t have control over your own life,” Lawrence said.

The remote control is a metaphor for having control of your own life. The metaphor is a metaphor for what games are becoming: more meaningful, more present. Try playing a Minecraft version of Norfolk – a game designed for the festival – and you’ll see what I mean.

If Robin’s quest was to make people look at games a different way, nothing does it quite like trying to find a remote control in a virtual world made by the gamer standing next to you whose just defeated you in a game where you have to brush your teeth at exactly the right time.

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CONCRETE concrete.television@uea.ac.uk

JONAH FROM TONGA

Chris Lilley’s new comedy spin-off is reviewed by Holly Wade Thursdays, 10pm BBC3 Watch Now on BBC iPlayer Chris Lilley, creator of Summer Heights High, returns this May with another spin off show from the original school mockumentary. Lilley seems to be everywhere at the moment and his first spin off show, Ja’mie: Private School Girl, aired last autumn to great viewing figures in Australia, America and, most recently, the UK. There seems to be a relative amount of hype surrounding Lilley’s new show, Jonah from Tonga, with the entire series premiering on BBC iPlayer for 48 hours last weekend as a preview to the show being broadcast on Thursday nights on BBC3. This type of online build-up is the first for any major Australian TV show and it looks like Lilley is set to bring Australian comedy to the forefront in both the UK and America.

Jonah from Tonga follows 14 year old Jonah Takalua on his many mischievous escapades.

Those familiar with Summer Heights High will recognise Jonah as the troubled teen who struggles to find his way, wreaking havoc wherever he goes. At the end of that series, Jonah was sent to Tonga by his father for his bad behaviour and the spin off opens with him irritating his extended family in his new surroundings.

News Australia

“Little is really laughout-loud funny”

The initial five minutes of the show were a little dull. Jonah runs around the beach whilst his Uncle, talking to the camera, proclaims Jonah as an idiot (though of course with much

stronger language). The Tonga section was a little disappointing, but the show picked right back up again when Jonah’s immediate family arrive to take him back to Australia.

Jonah’s character thrives in the school setting where he winds up the teachers, doing what he does best. With Jonah yet again starting at a new school, there are some new faces, including Mr Joseph, a violent and hypocritical teacher who constantly swears at the teenagers to get them to stop swearing. There is little in this episode that is really laugh-out-loud funny except the montage of Mr Joseph teaching Jonah and the other boys practical jobs for apprenticeships.

The first episode ends on a touching and poignant note with the audience able to learn what happened to Jonah’s mother and the possible reasons as to why he has become so messed up. Despite Jonah being a terror to most, he does come across as misunderstood with his heart in the right place.

Though the spin-offs seem fun, they don’t seem to be able to outshine Summer Heights High, but Jonah from Tonga is undoubtedly worth a watch anyway. Plus, it must only be a matter of time before Lilley is focusing on his next project, surely a series revolving around drama teacher Mr. G?

MAD MEN

The lure of the glamorous American drama is explored by James Britton would define the 70s. The fallout of Don’s suspension due to alcoholism and, to a more interesting extent, the creative decline of Peggy in the midst of a new boss armed with an ultra-conservative attitude is a perfectly judged study on the death of idealism.

Frankly speaking, there cannot possibly be a happy ending for Mad Men. To think it will

Wednesdays, 10pm Sky Atlantic Watch Now on Sky Go Carousel.

Bobby Barrett.

Fire us.

Suitcase. LSD. “This is where I grew up.”

To the uninitiated, these words mean very little. To those who know, to those who have committed to the journey of Don Draper, Sterling Cooper and 1960s America, these words strike a chord immediately.

AMC’s Mad Men has evolved far beyond a simple television show – it is a cultural icon.

“Mad Men has evolved far beyond a simple television show - it is a cultural icon”

“Remarkable writing” The main stumbling block in trying to introduce Mad Men to new viewers remains its impenetrability. The slow burning nature of the plot combined with the sheer number of characters is initially alienating. In committing to this opaque style of storytelling, one moves beyond simply seeing the show as just a glimpse into a past we’re ashamed of, and towards an understanding of the show’s pivotal position as mediation on what it means to dream of success and the effects of such dreams on one’s morality and soul.

Sky

While such heavy statements make Mad Men sound like a tough watch, what is striking is how engaging and relentlessly entertaining it is. The performances elevate potentially difficult material to a level where the viewer completely believes in what is presented, and as such allows a level of engagement unsurpassed in any television drama of the past decade.

They are assisted by an attention to detail in direction, moving beyond any notion of cliché

in depicting the past and finding a universal truth. As such, it could be considered among the main factors in the popularly held belief that television has superseded film as the most exciting medium for western entertainment.

The opening episodes of the penultimate series of Matthew Wiener’s opus are, in typical Mad Men fashion, dense, heavily suggestive affairs that nod to the end of the freedom of the 1960s and towards the cynicism that

end on anything other than an ambiguous, frustrating note is to misunderstand everything that has come before in the past seven years.

Impossible to predict and polarising as ever, Mad Men has shown a level of longevity unsurpassed in American serialised drama.

Whilst the headlines will be drawn to the style and aesthetics of the show, what solidifies its importance is the remarkable quality of writing and depth of character that presents it as a work of an auteur.

CONCRETE

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concrete.television@uea.ac.uk

CARDINAL BURNS

Channel 4

GAME OF THRONES

Metro/HBO

Adam Dawson Cardinal Burns is the best sketch show you’re probably not watching. If you were to ask someone tomorrow if they’ve heard of it, yet alone enjoyed it, they’d probably say no and give you a rather funny look. Still, it’s their loss.

They don’t the joys of the utterly unique, utterly bizarre brand of humour that Seb Cardinal and Dustin Demri-Burns have brought to the world.

Two episodes deep into the second series, the men are proving to be just as funny as their first outing. It takes a more satirical look at things this time round though, leaving behind some of the more ridiculous gags in the first season. It works though – we’re treated to more of the better characters, and who doesn’t want that? Banksy, that middle aged house-husband

turned street artist, is still a highlight. Taking cheap shots at Banksy is fairly easy these days, and everyone and their nan has had a go insulting him at one point or another. The pair takes a fresh look at how best to skewer the graffiti artist with a PR Crew, and the result is utter hilarity.

Also making a most welcome return are the gay ghosthunters. This sounds pretty offensive already. If the writing wasn’t as brilliant as it is, it would be incredibly insulting (and not in the ‘ha ha’ way). Instead, they use the ghosthunters to parody the kind of show you see almost every night on some channel or another.

Do give Cardinal Burns a go. Just when you think sketch comedy has fallen flat on its face and died in television recently, they’ve electric shocked it back to life, full of vigour and laughs aplenty.

Wednesdays 10:35pm Channel 4 / Watch Now on 4oD

Rebecca Hedger “The Purple Wedding” This article contains MANY SPOILERS. If you’re not up to date, don’t read this.

Viewers across the world are celebrating King Joffrey’s death, labelled as “The Purple Wedding”. The death of one of the most evil kings in television creates yet another twist in the latest Game of Thrones series. What does this mean for the rest of Westeros?

Tommen, the youngest child of Cersei and Jaime’s incestuous relationship, has been crowned the new king, and is already proving to be better than the previous ruler (not particularly difficult to achieve). It’s not all good news for the Lannisters, as Tyrion remains imprisoned after being accused of Joffrey’s murder. The

Tyrells continue to climb up the power ladder, with Margaery switching her affections from Joffrey to Tommen (again, not difficult to do, despite the rather creepy age difference), and her brother Ser Loras’s engagement to Cersei.

So what about those outside of King’s Landing? The strongest contenders for the Iron Throne seem to be Daenerys, who slowly edges closer to Westeros, and Stannis, who is vehement that he is the rightful heir to the throne. Other competitors include the Greyjoys and possibly the Martells, whilst the Stark children remain scattered across the country, the relationship between Arya and the Hound being a highlight of the series so far.

With many believing the Lannisters are unrightfully ruling the kingdom, the death of Joffrey has only revealed more tension, twists and two-faced characters. Let the games continue.

Mondays, 9pm Sky Atlantic / Watch Now on Sky Go

LATER... WITH JOOLS HOLLAND Fridays, 11pm BBC2 Watch Now on BBC iPlayer

Rob Drury Back on Tuesday nights with a jazzy new title sequence (mini Jools!) is everyone’s favourite boogie-woogie piano-thumping Londoner, Jools Holland, fronting the schedule staple that is Later…with Jools Holland.

For many, this is a wonderful thing. Waiting for weeks on end for the return of the short weekly instalments of the musical carousel that this show is, the show breaks up the drudgery of crime dramas, documentaries about what’s in your kebabs and Newsnight featuring Nigel Farage (again). Filmed in a cavernous studio now located in Maidstone after the closure of Television Centre, the regular cast of globallyknown musicians and up-and-coming artists or relatively unknown performers take it in turns to gift us with a glorious half an hour of musical wonder. Uncle Jools will also sit down with one of the performers and have a nice little chat by the piano, and this has seen some revelations and beautiful jams with artists such as Amy Winehouse. Often when Jools joins in with performances it adds just enough joy and

The Guardian

humour to proceedings (as does his comedic interaction with the cameramen) to make it a really enjoyable and paced programme to watch.

Or, you could look at it the other way.

The format hasn’t really changed during its time on air; so although it is good, it’s also pretty safe commissioning. Music on television is an underdeveloped and difficult genre to work with, but it doesn’t mean it’s excusable to not take risks with it. We’re now

in series 44 of Later… should it be mixed up a bit? It’s also pretty difficult to get a line-up that most people will like; we’re sure that countless family nights watching it have ended up with many a disparaging comment aimed at that indie kid from London using a piece of tinsel and a pedal loop as his instruments.

Not knowing all the musicians in the lineup is part of the fun that Later… provides though.

Take the most recent instalment as an example.

Featuring the man who hopefully doesn’t still need a dollar, Aloe Blacc; electronic/alternative group Little Dragon whose lead singer seemed to be channelling an abstract lovechild of Dorothy & the Tin Man look; The Horrors, who still look like they’ve just come from a funeral of a friend with equally ridiculous hair; folksy American Sturgill Simpson taking to the centre of the amphitheatre solo; the group Afghan Whigs provided some tense, angsty music despite being old enough to have angsty teenagers themselves; and the soulful, jazzy Roger Cicero bounced his way along with Jools rocking the piano. It’s like a mini-festival in your living room, though hopefully the toilets are better with the Later… experience.

Whether you love or hate the format, Later…with Jools Holland is back and the series doesn’t show any sign of stopping before its 50th round of jamming parties in the studio that we’re all invited to. It’s helped this writer find so many favourite writers, provides hot discussion with your family (“they are good, you just can’t hear it!”) and is the best champion of music on television. More of this is needed, so take note, commissioners; Later… is the standard to rise to in future (and much needed) music programming.

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CONCRETE concrete.film@uea.ac.uk

AT CINEMAS NEAR YOU

Pompeii

Director Paul W.S. Anderson Starring Kit Harington, Emily Browning, Kiefer Sutherland, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Lucas Cert 12 Runtime 105mins AS

Chris Rogers Pompeii is the latest big-budget disaster movie to grace cinema screens, and judging by the trailers you’d find it easy to simply dismiss it as ‘Titanic with a volcano’. The film stars Kit Harington as Milo, a gladiator with a grudge against the Romans who slew his family, and follows the barbarian as he attempts to overcome his situation and save his newfound love Cassia (Browning). Cassia herself being threatened by both a future of servitude and – once the volcanic calamity befalls the town – a fiery death.

The film’s greatest strength is its epic visuals, encompassing a terrific blend of CGI

and practical sets and costumes, creating an impressive recreation of the Roman Empire in its prime with long sweeping vistas of the town and Vesuvius. This continues when the volcano explodes, huge swathes of fiery rocks (technically not historically accurate) soaring across the sky and reducing buildings to burning wreckage. A surprisingly powerful score by Clinton Shorter and thunderous sound design add finishing touches to an extraordinary spectacle. Even the 3D heightens the dimensionality to the clouds of swirling ash and flaming rocks swooping towards the camera.

As far as the character drama is concerned, it’s quite surprising to see a Paul W.S. Anderson flick that at least takes its time to try and develop the back-stories and relationships between characters rather than rush straight into the explosions. They may not be well-rounded characters and the attempts to make the audience sympathise with them is not entirely successful, but there’s plenty here to enjoy.

Harington does his best with a rather flimsy script, sporting a believable air of someone

who has been forged by slavery, whilst Kiefer Sutherland is huge fun in high-camp mode as a leering senator. Jared Harris also fares well as Cassia’s rebellious father, but is criminally underused, and Carrie-Anne Moss is given very little to do, feeling like a prop rather than a fully-developed character. The love story between Milo and Cassia (portrayed perfectly amiably by Browning as an oppressed yet resourceful woman) is rushed, but reaches a rather surprising conclusion as the film closes.

Pompeii may not be the most characterdriven drama, but at a nippy 100 minutes it does not overstay its welcome, sporting blistering visuals and a good, old-fashioned popcorn spectacle sensibility that is certainly a lot more enjoyable than W.S. Anderson’s more recent turkeys.

It is not quite Event Horizon, but heck, I’ll definitely take Pompeii over another Resident Evil sequel any day.

‘Soronprfbs’, and is revered and respected by all whom he meets. He finds musical inspiration in everything, at one point composing a song about a tuft of thread, and this childlike fascination is infectious. He is kind, optimistic, and, of course, wears a huge fibre-glass head. Even in the shower. It says something about the tone of the film that this is by far not its strangest aspect.

From the very beginning, and progressing throughout the band’s album recording and subsequent rise in popularity, we learn that not one of the members is ‘normal’. This is brought to light by the presence of Jon (Gleeson), an ordinary, middle-class guy who

happens to get swept along with the band as their new keyboardist (whilst witnessing the attempted suicide of their former member, nonetheless). Gleeson provides a sterile antidote to the otherwise erratic, mentally unstable personalities in the film. His earnest demeanor is often a catalyst, creating genuinely hilarious moments where attitudes clash.

This idea of conflict is the driving force of the film. First, we have the conflict of commercial success versus artistic integrity. Jon, with his social media literacy and conventional idea of fame, pushes to get the band ‘out there’, and doesn’t understand their stubborn obscurity. Then there are the bandmates, including a deliciously moody Gyllenhaal, who shun any attempts to soften their sound, and treat playing music as an almost sacred process.

We also have the conflict of sanity versus insanity, a separation where Frank teeters in

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Kinomaxpro

We Live Film

Frank

Director Lenny Abrahamson Starring Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Scoot McNairy Cert 15 Runtime 95mins AS

Silvia Rose Very loosely based on the musician and comic Chris Sievey’s alter-ego Frank Sidebottom (the script was co-written by band member Jon Ronson - yes, who wrote The Men Who Stare At Goats!), Frank, directed by Lenny Abrahamson, is an unusual and refreshing portrayal of creative madness and mad creativity.

Frank, perfectly played by Fassbender, is both likable and enigmatic. He is the lead singer of the consciously edgy American band

“What goes on inside the head inside that head?”

the middle, refusing to favour one side over the other. This is shown through the blurring of ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Though the band’s music is not always palatable, it buzzes beautifully with rawness and weird, stream-of-consciousness lyrics (think Velvet Underground). Though the band members are not always ‘nice’ or even coherent, they all retain some unique spark that is alluring when placed next to Jon’s stiff and conventional politeness.

This is a film about identity lost and found, the eccentric nature of musicians, portrayed with just the right amount of heart and offbeat humour. It will give you the urge to drive away in a tour van, armed with musical instruments and an open mind.

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CONCRETE

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concrete.film@uea.ac.uk

Blue Ruin

Director Jeremy Saulnier Starring Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves, Kevin Kolack, Eve Plumb, David W. Thompson Cert 15 Runtime 90mins

Ha Nguyen Blue Ruin, Jeremy Saulnier’s sophomore effort in directing, takes a revenge story to unforeseeable depth with twists and turns that could chill the blood.

Dwight (Blair) is a homeless man, staying away from all of his acquaintances due to unspoken trauma. One day, he learns that the man convicted for murdering his parents has been released. Anguished with the thirst for revenge, Dwight fuels his Pointiac (the ruin of the title). The moment the car revs up, he turns alive and goes on a hunt that sees him more and more isolated from kindness.

Much like its name, a blend of impressionistic visualisation of a tragic reality, Saulnier’s indie thriller delves into the depth of the darkness of the human soul. Though working in triple mission as writer, director and cinematographer, Saulnier has enough confidence in his material that he rarely loses focus on each aspect. Blue Ruin follows its characters closely with a

minimal supporting cast, including Ratray’s excellent cameo as Dwight’s friend and subsequent weapon-supplier who ultimately leaves him when the action starts to build up.

The film employs the cat-and-mouse play into Dwight’s sole quest after the Clelands family, but continuously presents Dwight as the mouse himself. From the DIY fort that he builds in his sister’s home, to his planned ambush of the Clelands’ house, the camera keeps the audience at an arm’s length with the protagonist, its slow pace heightening the verisimilitude of waiting and planning, it stretches each sequence, giving the illusion of real time and leaving space for the character to develop on screen. Through Blair’s silent but emotional portrayal, Dwight brings, between the gun-fights and interrogations, the relatable confusion of the everyday man out of his depth, which along with each injury, marks him out as a vulnerable victim of anger, rather than a Robocop of justice.

Collider

Blue Ruin is realised in crisp-coloured images but never romanticises the world Dwight sees.

The pain he suffers during his impossible quest is detailed and never omitted, even though Saulnier orchestrates many situations into the darkly comedic rather than indulging in contrived realness. The CGI assisted blood

and gore is rather surprising, with a lingering focus on injury leaving the audience in shock.

With such violence added to the minimalistic but expressive tone, the film takes shape from both Dwight’s revenge but also the immutable echo of its consequences. Its ending, recalling the 80s slasher horror combined with a Tarantino-styled showdown, brings forth the violence but cuts away just in time for the tragedy to be realised in the audience’s mind.

Using a smart script, and unexpected, enthralling action sequences to tell the protagonist’s simple story, Blue Ruin visualises Dwight’s revenge with a neutral point of view that always keeps the audience on edge. With a solid performance from Blair, the blood-

filled procedure leaves more space to linger on what-might-have-been, making its story more humanistic and reflective than entertaining.

As much as Dwight comes alive to the idea of vengeance, Blue Ruin suggests the never-ending streaming of blood in humanity’s blind search for their own justice – indicated through the Clelands’ supreme collection of guns, no less.

There will be blood, surely, but spilled on the floor or running through a living bodythat decision is made in just a flick of the finger and on the very brink of thoughts.

and crass, but generally in the right places, there’s plenty to enjoy in this hard-partying romp.

Domesticated ravers Mac (Rogen) and Kelly (Byrne) are adjusting to parenthood when a rowdy frat moving in threatens their suburban bliss. A misunderstanding with party captain Teddy (Efron) leads to an all-out war for the sanctity of the neighbourhood. Yes, the premise is old, but the twist is new; we are asked to sympathise with the party pooping fuddy duddies, not the students rocking out.

Considering the films demographic (and this newspaper’s readership) this seems unlikely, yet Bad Neighbours is a definite success.

This is made possible through top drawer lead performances. Seth Rogen is not known for his subtlety, but like his character he has matured

somewhat from his breakout performance in Superbad. He keeps the jokes coming thick and fast, and is brilliantly supported by Byrne, whose comedy skill was honed in Bridesmaids.

The dynamic duo are hilarious in their single minded war with the frat, trading gags and puns thick and fast. The frat boys are headed up by another power ‘couple’ – the bros before hoes, beer chugging double terror of Efron and Franco. In a comedy as bawdy as Bad Neighbours, Efron does a remarkable job of creating a three dimensional character in Teddy, the jock ringleader who is obsessed with party immortality at any cost. Dave Franco as the intelligent Pete is an excellent foil for Efron, and together they are worthy adversaries for Rogen and Byrne. The comic tension crackles as they

all love, fight, party and, erm… cross beams.

For a movie overflowing with puke and sex gags, Bad Neighbours is a surprisingly insightful study on how to erect a bridge between warring neighbours. Speaking of erections, there are lots of them in this film. A dickload of them, in fact. If your eyes rolled at the illegal antics of McLovin’ in Superbad, or tutted at stoner-hit Pineapple Express then you’ll want to skip this party. However, though the gags are recycled and the humour is crude, Bad Neighbours ultimately has plenty funny and witty to say - before it blacks out in the bathroom.

“The keys are in the car...”

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Celebritain

Bad Neighbours

Director Nicholas Stoller Starring Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron, Dave Franco, Craig Roberts, Andy Samberg, Lisa Kudrow, Christopher Mintz-Plasse Cert 15 Runtime 96mins

Ben Baulch-Jones Warning: weed, partying and (man)boobs within. Yes folks, from the college movie tradition that spawned Animal House, it’s Seth Rogen’s new comedy Bad Neighbours. Dumb

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CONCRETE concrete.listings@uea.ac.uk

LIVE MUSIC

POWer Productions present Irish Thrash monsters Dead Label

Alexandra O’Neil

When: 16 May Where: the Aquarium £20

When: 23 May Where: B2 £6

$£7

Falling Red + Strange Tail + Honeycomb When: 17 May Where: the Waterfront £7

Mentallica

When: 17 May Where: the Brickmakers £5

Choir of the Year 2014 Auditions

When: 17 May Where: St. Andrews Hall £5

Help for Heroes Charity Gig When: 17 May Where: the Talk £5

Family Atlantica:

When: 17 May Where: the Adnams Spiegeltent £13.50 - £15

Riot Jazz Brass Band / First World Records

Riot Jazz Brass Band

When: 20 May Where: the Adnams Spiegeltent £13.50 - £15

Bourgeois & Maurice

When: 21 - 22 May Where: the Adnams Spiegeltent £14.40 - £16

DEPTH / Great Man Theory

When: 21 May Where: Waterfront Studio £6

S. Carey + Rue Royale

Die Roten Punkte

When: 17 May Where: the Adnams Spiegeltent £14.40 - £16

Larry Miller

When: 18 May Where: the Waterfront £12

Decade

When: 19 May Where: Epic Studios £6 - £8

Joe Scripps: Dance with Olly Tonight

When: 26 May Where: Stars Snowbar, Great Yarmouth £5

From the Jam

When: 22 May Where: the Aquarium £17.50

Napoleon + Demoraliser

When: 24 May Where: EPIC £5 - £6.50

Legends of Rock

When: 24 May Where: Stars Showbar, Great Yarmouth £10

Bon Giovi + Strange Tail

When: 21 May Where: Norwich Arts Centre £15

When: 24 May Where: the Brickmakers £5

This is The Kit

Gnarly Unsigned

Joe Scripps/ YouTube

Norwich School Sport Partnership: ‘Roll Up Roll Up’ When: 20 May Where: OPEN £4.50 - 6.50

CLUBBING Techno Finest

When: 16 May Where: the Waterfront £9 £10

When: 22 May Where: the Bicycle Shop £6

When: 24 May Where: the Waterfront £4

The Bonanafana Takeover

Venetian Snares

When: 20 May Where: the LCR £2 - £5

Backstreet Northern Soul

Meltdown + Metal Lust + Bloodstock Promo Night

When: 22 May Where: Norwich Arts Centre £13 Family Atlantica / Skiddle

DANCE

The Anyones + Danny Kingsley When: 22 May Where: the Waterfront £14

Solko EP Launch: When: 22 May Where: OPEN £6

Hot Fire Productions

When: 23 May Where: the Talk £8

When: 26 May Where: Spectro £12.50

When: 26 May Where: the Talk £5

The Sea

When: 23 May Where: Epic Studios £4 - £5

The Hoosiers and Champions League Final When: 24 May Where: OPEN £10

Tuesday - Electro UV LCR

When: 17 May Where: the Waterfront £3.50 - £4.50

Meltdown + Exile When: 20 May Where: the Waterfront £3.50 - £4.50

The A List

When: 17 & 24 May Where: the LCR £4.50

CONCRETE

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concrete.competitions@uea.ac.uk

DINGBATS

Decipher the graphics and reveal a familiar term! Designed by UEA Quiz Society’s Robin Sidle

UEA QUIZ

How well do you know UEA and local history? Courtesy of the UEA Quiz Society’s Dave de Lima

08 This year commemorates the 100 year anniversary of the outbreak of WWI, what is the name of the Norfolk-born nurse who was shot by German soldiers for helping allied soldiers escape German-occupied Belgium?

FLIP AND REVEAL

09 John Rhys-Davies was one of the first students to attend UEA and played Gimli in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. He also appeared in two Indiana Jones films, what was the name of his character?

10 GA RUG ZIT Can you solve this anagram to create a UEA themed word?

UEA QUIZ

06 What is depicted on the crest of the UEA coat of arms?

1.) Divide and Conquer 2.) Bottomless Pit 3.) Mail on Sunday 4.) Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd 5.) Income Tax DINGBATS

03 UEA graduate Matt Smith rose to fame playing the eleventh Doctor in Doctor Who, but who played the first Doctor in 1963?

05 Which university group, disbanded last year, was set up to challenge the creation of the Russell group?

07 In 2011, Coldplay performed at the LCR as part of Radio 1’s Student Tour. The band have achieved huge chart success, but how many number one singles have they had?

6.) Three Crowns and a Castle 7.) Two (Viva La Vida in 2008, and Paradise in 2012) 8.) Edith Cavell 9.) Sallah 10.) Ziggurat

02 Earlham Hall was purchased by the university in 1963 and now houses the UEA Law School, but what century was it originally built in?

04 Which river flows past the university campus just south of the UEA Broad?

1.) Blue 2.) 17th (built in 1642 by Robert Houghton) 3.) William Hartnell 4.) River Yare 5.) 1994 Group

01 What colour line is the Norwich 25/25A service?

6.) Tuna Fish 7.) Potatoes 8.) White Elephant 9.) Afternoon Tea 10.) A Big Misunderstanding 11.) Back to Square One 12.) Paradox

13 M AY / # 298

Ciara Jack