Venue - Issue 288 - 5 November 2013

VENUE ISSUE 288

Will Cockram

concrete.venue@uea.ac.uk

www.concrete-online.co.uk

05.11.2013

VENUE

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contents

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7 MUSIC

feminist pop: polica Hey everyone, here’s to another issue of Venue. For those of you going through the coursework crunch, we’re here for you; those of you who are essay-free – we’re jealous.

It’s been an eventful couple of weeks on campus. The onset of cold weather was quickly followed by the controversial boycott of The Sun during Union Council, while last Saturday’s one-two punch of Sparks in the Park and the A List became the envy of every student stuck in the library.

This year’s haloween festivities saw our editorial team don their most creative costumes (including a dead Spice Girl, Lady Gaga, Patrick Bateman, and an entire litter of kittens). One of us even managed to pull off no less than five costume

GAMING

REVIEW: dota 2

changes. God knows how.

For those of you with a page 3-shaped hole in your life, we’ve provided our fiercest halloween selfie for Venue’s very own page 3.

You’re welcome.

Stay cute, Hayden and Ciara

16 TELEVISION ripper street returns

Editor-in-Chief | Sidonie Chaffer-Melley Venue Editors | Hayden East and Ciara Jack Music | Editors | Jack Enright and Alex Flood Music Contributors: Louis Cheslaw, Jack Enright, Laura Higgins, Silvia Rose, Mike Vinti Fashion | Editors | Madz Abbasi and Ella Sharp Fashion Contributors: Hayden East, Emily Fedorowycz, Olley West Arts | Editor | Callum Graham Arts Contributors: Callum Graham, Sean Pearce Creative Writing | Editor | Holly McDede Creative Writing Contributors: John Doe, Chris Morton, Jake Reynolds, Daisy Stapley-Bunten Gaming | Editor | Sam Emsley Gaming Contributors: Sam Emsley, Oliver Pfeiffer Television | Editor | Robert Drury Television Contributors: Rob Drury, Lucy Morris, Lucy Rivers, James Szumowski, Phil Turter, Holly Wade Film | Editors | Holly Wade and Adam White Film Contributors: Matthew Atwood, Louis Cheslaw, Melissa Haggar, Saul Holmes, Joseph Holness, Adam White Competitions/Listings | Editor | Saul Holmes

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MUSIC

concrete.music@uea.ac.uk

LIVE REVIEW

DAUGHTER LCR 27.10.13 Laura Higgins With their first full length album If You Leave released in March 2013, Daughter’s first major UK tour feels long anticipated. Originally the solo work of Elena Tonra, Daughter has come to encompass guitarist Igor Haefeli and drummer Remi Aguilella, a trio making significant headway in the music industry. It is the second time that Daughter has graced the stage of UEA LCR, for those lucky to attend they supported Ben Howard in February 2012.

The support of the night came from Indians, a lone man and his keyboard, whose pleasant half an hour slot was hindered by sound difficulties, to which Haefeli reassures us later that despite the problems, go out and buy the album!

With no jostling around for space and a range of both young and old(er) fans, the atmosphere felt relaxed and the crowd waited both expectantly and patiently. 9pm prompt, Daughter go

straight into ‘Still’, an obvious choice for many, and guitarist Igor Haefeli attacks his guitar with a violin bow producing those spidery and melancholic sounds Daughter’s songs are known for. I find myself listening intently, along with the rest of the audience, stunned by the beauty of Tonra’s voice. The quietness of the crowd however doesn’t go unnoticed

by Haefeli describing it as unnerving, but also thanking the audience for being so attentive. With other highlights of the night such as ‘Landfill’, from an older self-published EP, and favourites such as ‘Youth’ and ‘Smother’, Tonra weaves an intimate story to the audience. With emotion bleeding lyrics such as “I sometimes wish I’d stayed inside my mother, never to come out” Tonra often left the audience stunned and mesmerised by the sorrowful and heartfelt songs she sang.

The set itself was very modest, with few frills or unnecessary effects on offer.

The only exception to this was the often blinding lights that flanked the stage and audience. The whole show was very stripped back and incredibly raw, only adding to the heightened emotion and intimacy of the gig. With minimal between-song banter coming from Tonra and awkward silences, the show lacked fluidity, the audience were frequently

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left standing in complete silence, waiting. Despite the awkwardness, the band was endearing and you could see their delight to be back, particularly with the timid and shy thanks Tonra regularly gave throughout the night.

Still very much in their early stages as a band on the gig circuit, it is likely Tonra’s confidence will grow as time progresses, presently it seems that she lacks confidence in her own ability to engage with the audience. Nonetheless,

Tonra sang her soul to the crowd and the quiet and loving audience were truly taken in and captured by Daughter’s songs, with lyrics and sorrow that many can resonate with. It was clear to those there that the band felt blessed to be performing, uttering countless thanks to the audience before performing their last song ‘Home’. With no encore, I left with a thirst for more and a grown respect for the modest and extremely talented band that is Daughter.

SUNDAY MOURNING

Silvia Rose looks back on lou reed’s fifty years in the musical limelight I was fourteen when I first heard Venus in Furs. It was so dark and enchanting that it stuck with me for days. I wanted to know who was behind such a foreign sound. From there I discovered The Velvet Underground, and through them, Lou Reed’s potent musical poetry.

Lewis Allen Reed was born to a Jewish family and raised in Long Island.

From adolescence he was subject to the rigid controls of 1950s America and its rejection of otherness. When he was eleven, he received electroconvulsive therapy to cure him of his bisexuality, a scarring experience which left him with little memory. He went on to study Journalism, Film Directing and Creative Writing at Syracuse University where he pursued his obsession with music (“My God is rock’n’roll”) and hosted a latenight radio program. During his studies, he met the poet Delmore Schwartz, who inspired him to write the simple yet profound lyrics that we are so familiar with.

In 1964 Reed moved to New York,

where he began working as a songwriter for Pickwick Records. His songs sparked such an interest that his employers arranged for a band to be assembled around him. This is where he met John Cale, a Welsh musician who saw great potential in his avant-garde approach, which included his invention of ‘ostrich tuning’; tuning each guitar string to the same note, creating the droning effect in many of his songs. The partnership between Cale and Reed would later form The Velvet Underground, along with two of Reed’s friends from college.

We may regard the band as an obvious example of ‘The Best of the Sixties’, but in reality they received little commercial success. Their debut album only sold 30,000 copies, a surprising number when we consider how much influence they had on the world of rock music. Perhaps it was because The Velvet Underground were a gloomy contrast to the ‘peace and love’ scene that dominated music at the time. They wore black and their songs told real tales of drugs and decay, mixing

reverie and despair. Their bold rejection of the mainstream caught the attention of Andy Warhol, who designed their famous banana-peel album cover. He introduced them to Nico, a German actress and model who became a part of the band, singing with a haunting monotone on songs such as Femme Fatale.

Eventually, Reed left the band in 1970, and started his solo career in ’71.

His album Transformer was produced by David Bowie, and included the hit single Walk On The Wild Side, where Reed sings about a transvestite based on his lover Holly Woodlawn. He continued to release albums up until the ‘00s, varying in success but all demonstrating the range of his artistic palette. In his final years he collaborated with contemporary acts such as Gorillaz, with whom he made an appearance on the Glastonbury main stage.

Lou Reed was a story-teller, weaving vignettes of the underground with an understated wisdom. He was a musical explorer, creating sounds both pleasant

and jarring. From the pounding energy in Rock and Roll to the painfully sweet and simple Pale Blue Eyes, his songs challenge our expectations of what music should be. His voice is not pretty, his lyrics are not love-filled and sentimental.

Rather, he is a radical, defiant figure who casts a great shadow even in his absence.

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MUSIC concrete.music@uea.ac.uk

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UP AND COMING

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Louis Cheslaw gives the lowdown on the music scene’s next big thing

Chance the Rapper (pictured, below) grew up in lower middle class Chicago.

He’s acclaimed for catchy, soulful production and playful raps. He sold out headline shows across Europe and America this summer. Sounds like Kanye? That’s what critics and fans alike have said, something that Chance the Rapper sees as an immense compliment.

However, in reality, he is so much more.

With his soulful hooks and (now) trademark flow, Chance has set himself apart as the most exciting talent to have emerged in hip-hop in 2013. All of this is off the back of his mixtape Acid Rap, released in April of this year. With features from rap heavyweights both new and old (such as Action Bronson, and Twista), the tape is still free to download, and has already had more than 240,000 downloads.

Amidst the success of the release, he has toured with rappers such as Eminem, Mac Miller and Lil Wayne. It was only his second release, after a 10-day suspension from school led him to his first, aptly named ‘10Day’. Both are available from his website, www.chanceraps.com, and a debut album is currently in the works.

For those people who say they want the

old Kanye back, look no further. braggadocio and beats are almost always There is very little information enjoyable, and even serve as the reason available about the producer, Moods, some fans listen to the genre, some critics except that he’s been making music for have lamented how a medium that has about seven years, and sadly he doesn’t the potential to be so much more is seem like he’ll be hyping up an album stagnant in subject matter and inwardly release anytime soon. However, the obsessed. While a new crop of successful few songs available on his Soundcloud artists, spearheaded by ‘sensitive’ Drake (https://soundcloud.com/moodsprod) and ‘oral historian’ Kendrick Lamar placed him firmly on Venue’s radar, are taking great steps in response and deserves to also be on yours. to these criticisms, Dylan Owen His ambient instrumentals is an artist who really does feel make working, relaxing, and just like a breath of fresh air for the about anything easier. Need proof? genre. Hailing from Goshen, After enduring half an hour New York, there is currently of incessant lad chants from little information available outside the Union Bar, I lent when it comes to a debut a stranger in the library my album. However last year’s iPod and told her to listen Keep Your Friends Close to Moods. The result? A mixtape is still in heavy completed essay for her, rotation on my iTunes, and a new friend for me. A and teasing posts on his testimonial on his website Facebook page seem to be sums him up perfectly, preparing us for new music where a commenter says very shortly. Owen may that Moods ‘makes my be particularly appealing Hypetrak.com Sunday a Sunday.’ to Concrete readers, as his At the risk of sounding raps focus predominantly clichéd, much of the content of today’s on being away from home at University, rap songs can be isolating. While the relationship issues and motivation. In

June 2012, Billboard lauded Dylan as one of the top 15 artists that will be the industry’s “Next Big Sound”. You can download ‘Keep Your Friends Close’ at www.dylanowenmusic.com.

Spawned from the same North London School as Bombay Bicycle Club and Cajun Dance Party, one reviewer last year was led to wonder what they’re putting in the students’ lunches there. Casablanca (pictured, above) started in Year 8 as ‘LoFi Culture Scene’, playing support slots for bands like Bloc Party and Mumm-Ra. Recently however, they’ve returned on a new label with a new name: Casablanca.

Inevitably they’ve faced comparisons to the two groups mentioned above, yet the boys have also been emphatically heralded as “the band that’s keeping Indie alive”. Latest single, ‘We Could Forever’, features Killers-inspired searing vocals by lead singer Jacob Wheldon. Speaking to Venue, Wheldon says that the band “share fans with One Direction, but also Bruce Springsteen. Hopefully we can simply appeal to anyone who likes good music.” After playing on the famed BBC Introducing Stage at Reading and Leeds Festival this past summer, this band’s future holds a lot of promise.

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MUSIC

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YES Jack Enright

When it comes down to it, hating U2 is on about the same level as kicking a puppy.

Only that in this case, society has deemed puppy-kicking not only socially acceptable but also an extremely fashionable pastime.

This is obviously an extreme analogy, but it is by no means unwarranted - because at the end of the day, just why is it that we all hate U2 so much? Ask this question of your flatmates and you will receive a uniform volley of rolled-eyes and contemptuous snorts. But press for an

answer and most people end up stumped.

A quick Google search garners much the same results - the most popular responses ranging from “because they’re U2” to the only slightly more helpful “because Bono wears sunglasses all the time”.

The real reasons behind this contempt runs far deeper than any aversion to wraparound sunglasses. It’s because U2 make pop music, and that makes us all feel a bit uncomfortable. And before you tell me that U2 aren’t pop, just remember that pop music is an amalgamation of every musical genre under the sun, and has nothing to do with what instrument your using.

So - pop. The P Word. Pop looms ominously over all modern music like the proverbial (titanic and garish) elephant in music’s front room - a horse that occupies a space in modern culture exactly equidistant between love and disgust. Getting a handle on pop music is like juggling rotten eggs - you’ve got to keep your mind on several

different things at once, because if you slip up, you’re going to look like an idiot.

This is because it’s extremely difficult to put your finger on just when pop became a dirty word - yes, Bieber really is an odious little toad, but who remembers The Beatles? Michael Jackson? David Bowie?

Prince? Queen? Fleetwood Mac? Because all these names were pop acts in their own time. So why do U2 attract so much vitriol? It has something to do, I think, with the changing attitudes to pop music within the last 20 years. In its golden years, pop was a serious art form. Pop wasn’t just about music, it was a means for social change - think Bowie’s androgynous assault on traditional ideas of genderidentification, or Michael Jackson’s track “Black or White”. These days though, all we’re ready to hear in our pop music is bland, ubiquitous hedonism, whether it’s Miley Cyrus singing that “it’s our party we can do what we want”, or Calvin Harris telling us to “get ready for the weekend”.

concrete.music@uea.ac.uk

But U2 doesn’t fit into this scheme at all - U2’s music exhibits all the qualities of pop music, but it is wrapped in such earnest sincerity that we don’t know what to do with them. It’s not that the music isn’t any good (love him or loathe him, Bono is among the most talented melodists in recent times), it is that, like the puppy, U2 are sincere in the extreme, and within the current fashion for the vapid and inane, U2 just don’t fit. From the overtly political lament of ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’, to the 4-minute spiritual crisis of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, U2’s music is made to be taken seriously. The problem is that we aren’t prepared to do so - cynicism is much too comfortable for that, and no one wants to hear about the Bloody Sunday Masscre whislt downing shots in Mantra.

Whether you like their music or not, the sound of U2 is the sound of a band baring it’s soul - try and remember that before you put the boot in.

ARE U2 ACTUALLY ANY GOOD? MUSIC’S PERENNIAL QUESTION IS BACK ON THE AGENDA...

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NO Mike Vinti

It’s easy to hate U2, and there’s good reason for that. U2 are the least interesting, most banal, soul-crushingly earnest band to release an album this side of punk. In fact the only band that top U2 in the ‘not being very good at all really’ stakes is Coldplay; if there’s anything worse than Bono it’s Chris Martin trying to be Bono so hard you half expect him to start wearing awful

sunglasses and stop paying tax.

U2 represent everything that’s wrong with the music industry these days: the music that sounds like Joy Division fronted by Rod Stewart, the image that’s somewhere between your dad’s juvenilia and Linkin Park. Even their names are terrible; has there ever been a less edgy name than ‘The Edge’? U2’s musical journey went straight from adolescent strife to midlife crisis and missed all the good bits in-between.

Believe me when I say that I take no pleasure in disliking U2 as intensely as I do - 2004’s How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb was the first album I ever bought as an eleven year old discovering rock music for the very first time. I have borderline traumatic memories of singing along to ‘Vertigo’ and ‘All Because Of You’ as the CD span in my dad’s Walkman. U2 are

perfect for eleven year olds; their lyrics are obvious, their guitar riffs simple and their song titles act as a sort of guide to the approaching years of teenage angst.

I would never go so far as to say that U2 are so awful that they are unimportant; they have an undeniable influence over modern popular music, or at least they did until dubstep happened and Britney Spears came back. U2 pre-empted the popularity of nu-metal with the hip-hop style beats on Achtung Baby and endeavoured to stay relevant throughout the 2000s when guitar music was back on top. Ultimately U2’s failure to be any good comes down to how ‘try-hard’ they are. Whether it’s Bono criticising The West for not helping impoverished Africans while avoiding paying tax, or the fact that their music sounds dated as soon as its released, U2 will forever be seen as trying too hard to

be cool.

Sadly, not everyone is as enlightened as me and you, and U2 have somehow managed to become one of the most popular bands around. They even headlined Glastonbury in 2011, which is deeply concerning. U2 fans walk among us, they dress the same as us, they have the same hobbies, they enjoy much of the same music as we do, and some of them even edit our student newspaper.

These U2 fans will cry “What about ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’?”, or clutch at your sleeve whilst trying to tell you that The Joshua Tree is the greatest album of the late 20th century. Pay these deluded souls no heed for they know not what they do wrong. Treat them with sympathy and compassion: but whatever you do don’t let them put on ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ at pre-drinks.

MUSIC concrete.music@uea.ac.uk

www.concrete-online.co.uk

ALBUM REVIEWS

POLICA SHULAMITH Emma Holbrook The Minneapolis indie five-piece, Poliça, gained critical and popular acclaim with their 2012 debut Give You The Ghost, an eclectic blend of electro alt-rock and R’n’B and their follow-up album, Shulamith, comes just one year later. The violent imagery of the album cover, and the fact that the album title draws it’s name from radical feminist Shulamith Firestone indicates that the record seems determined to be more abrasive and experimental in nature than its predecessor - and in many respects, it succeeds.

A strain of feminist thought runs throughout Channy Leaneagh’s

ARCADE FIRE REFLEKTOR Joe Tuck In the lead up to their new album Arcade Fire, the Win Butler-led Montreal 8-piece suggested that their new album was influenced by music they’d heard on

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politically charged lyrics, but it is the band’s overall sound that is the group’s biggest strength. The inclusion of two drummers, Drew Christopherson and Ben Ivascu, mean that Shulamith is an intensely percussive record. But as Leaneagh’s auto-tuned vocals are drowned so heavily in passive aggressive, atmospheric synth (distinguishing the actual lyrics becomes an impossible task), it is perhaps the overall mystery of the piece that prevents the record from retaining true emotional resonance.

Album opener, ‘Chain My Name’, is an enjoyable exercise in 80s synth and rhythms that still manages to feel unique.

But paradoxically, whilst Poliça’s sound is refreshingly new in the grand scheme of modern music, too many of the songs on Shulamith are interchangeable with one another. Collectively, the album is a diverse break from modern convention, but individually, these songs can be fairly indistinct.

Meanwhile, the middle of the album provides more diverse and accessible numbers such as ‘Very Cruel’, ‘Torre’ and ‘Trippin’ and the central run of five tracks perfectly highlight Poliça’s musical uniqueness and relevance.

‘Tiff ’, which features Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, is undoubtedly the album’s most accomplished track, both musically and lyrically (“I’m a pawn in the hype machine, you’re a pawn in the caring scheme”), and it arguably marks the only serious musical progression from the band’s previous album. Had

Poliça managed to maintain this same level of momentum and proficiency throughout Shulamith, they could have avoided the regrettable fizzling out that occurs in the back-end of the album and the forgettable, ‘So Leave,’ delivers a disappointingly monotonous conclusion to an otherwise, largely satisfying record.

Shulamith is by no means a bubblegum pop record and both the lyrical content and musical quality make an admirable attempt to explore a depth and complexity that goes beyond face value. Shulamith does possess the same dreamlike quality of Poliça’s previous record but it fails to capture

the emotional rawness that Give You The Ghost did so well. As a result, the slight disconnect between the message and the delivery means that the album leaves you feeling rather hollow. Doused in a cocktail of melancholy and synth, Shulamith is an album that exists solely in the shadows and, perhaps more importantly, in the shadows of its predecessor.

Given enough time, Poliça’s next record will finally capitalise on their undeniable potential.

trips to Haiti and Jamaica. Whilst this is no Snoop Lion-esque transformation, there is certainly a shift in the band’s sound as they produce arguably the year’s finest album.

The album has been split into two sides. For any other band this might be viewed as a pretentious step or a sign that the band were moving slowly up their own arse (can you imagine the ensuing vitriol should Chris Martin ever announce that the next Coldplay album would be split into two sides?). However, as they do with many things, Arcade Fire get away with it. In fact it works perfectly.

The first side is, for the most part, full blown disco. Not quite Robin Gibb falsetto disco, but the bass lines and drum tracks certainly give a nod to the big disco floor fillers of the 80s. It is a new side to the band that was briefly glimpsed on The Suburbs in the form of Sprawl II and it starts to become clear why they roped in the heavyweight name of ex-LCD Soundsystem man

James Murphy to produce the album.

‘Reflektor’, the lead single, has quickly become a dancefloor classic and you can’t help but shake a leg or two to ‘Here Comes The Night Time’ and ‘You Already Know’... because if the voice of Jonathan Ross announcing he has music from “the fantastic Arcade Fire” doesn’t make you want to dance, nothing will.

The songs are beautifully crafted and the final track on side one, ‘Joan of Arc’, might well be their best song to date.

Starting as what can only be described as post-hardcore rock, the song soon settles down in to a bass-driven classic. It may be the catchiest chorus they’ve ever produced and Rene Chassagne’s vocals are as strong as they’ve ever been.

After such a strong first half, the second side manages to go one step further by introducing another side to the band. The elements of disco are still there, but songs such as ‘It’s Never Over (Oh Orpheus)’ and ‘Afterlife’ reinforce the notion that Arcade Fire may be the best emotion-inducing band of our time.

Never a group to shy away from a crowd sing-a-long, ‘Awful Sounds’ provides the “ooh-la’s” that would not sound out of place on the Pyramid Stage at next year’s Glastonbury.

This is an album with very few weaknesses. The lyrics to ‘Normal Person’ are somewhat uninspired (“Is anything as strange as a normal person” asks Win Butler with dizzying mundanity) but the musical side more than makes up for this. This is a band that has completely overhauled their sound from album-toalbum - and this transformation may just be their best to date. Where they go next is anyone’s guess. Maybe Butler and Chassagne have a messy break up, hit the bag and write a pop stormer like Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours.

Who knows? We can only live in hope.

For now let’s just enjoy their latest masterpiece.

cheeseontoast.co.nz

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SMOKIN’

Winter Jumpers Get fancy with your knitwear

Tara Lynn for Spanish Elle Hot stuff.

David Gandy for M&S Getting ‘magical’ for the christmas campaign

CHOKIN’ Male top knots.

What made you think this was a good idea?

Awkward eyebrows Go easy on the pencil.

FASHION

concrete.fashion@uea.ac.uk

“You betta werk!”

Hayden East explores how drag culture changed the fashion world It was RuPaul Charles, the world’s first drag queen supermodel, who coined the phrase “you’re born naked and the rest is drag.” It’s certainly intended as a positive message on the blurring of gendered stereotypes, but it also perfectly illustrates fashion’s flirtation with drag culture – of which we’ve seen a resurgence in recent years.

His modelling contract with MAC Cosmetics in 1993 was female impersonation’s first breakout into the mainstream fashion world, with national US billboards featuring him in full drag. However, the foundations for this inevitable foray were laid a decade prior, in the underground ball culture of the 1980s.

Centred in New York City, the gay and transgender community would gather in clubs to participate in highly structured runway competitions. At a time when both poverty and LGBT homelessness were prevalent, the balls allowed its participants to aspire towards the luxury and decadence of the fashion world.

As these individuals continued to read up on Vogue and wear stolen designer clothes, the term ‘voguing’ was coined.

Contrary to popular belief, Madonna’s titular 1990 song and video ‘Vogue’ did not invent the highly stylised dance move – rather it served only to immortalise drag’s

influence on the fashion world, catapulting ball culture out of the underground.

Marco Marco

One of the first purveyors of voguing, Willi Ninja, walked for Jean-Paul Gaultier before working as a runway coach. A

league of successors followed – let us not forget the inimitable Miss Jay Alexander, declared by Tyra Banks as a “runway/diva coach extraordinaire,” who featured for no less than 18 seasons on America’s Next Top Model.

It’s obvious then that drag has, albeit subtly, paid its dues. What’s encouraging however is that the fashion world is finally repaying the favour; whereas the world of fashion once influenced drag, now its taking its cues from gender bending – just in time for drag’s renaissance age.

Fashion designer Marco Marco, who has styled the likes of Ke$ha and Katy Perry, featured several notable drag queens in his new collection for LA’s Style Fashion Week. Female impersonators have also recently turned music video stars for pop icons such as Cher and Lady Gaga (who is regularly influenced by drag culture), but contrary to Madonna’s ‘Vogue’, these references aren’t exploitative, they’re celebratory.

Of course, the fashion world is no stranger to gender ambiguity without drag’s influence, but if last year’s response to male model Andrej Pejic taught us anything, it’s that gender ambiguity is still considered ‘other’ outside of magazines.

It’s critical then that drag continues to have an active role in fashion – not just to enrich, but to educate.

The model age

Olley West talks underage models Most of us can confess to having dreamt of being a supermodel when we were younger, but for the rare few this dream became a reality, and quite quickly. Kate Moss was discovered at age 14. Naomi Campbell was picked up at age 16. Global superstar Tyra Banks broke fashion history when she booked 25 shows at her debut Paris Fashion Week, aged just 18 years.

Coco Rocha debuted at 16, and as she announced the passing of a new law protecting underage models in New York this month, she began to tear up. Having widely criticised the fashion world in the past for its obsessions with eating disorders and Photoshop, Rocha has lately been championing the cause to protect young models in the workplace.

Though we probably didn’t factor it into our fantasies as children, we can now appreciate that the modelling world is tough. There are hordes of people ready and waiting to abuse young models to get what they want, and we have to consider

whether this high-power industry is appropriate for children and teenagers.

The lines blur further when we consider the intense sexualisation inherent in advertising; the model of beauty they sell us is all about being youthful, but where do we draw the line? Cindy Crawford’s daughter recently appeared as a model for Versace, at only age ten. You have to wonder: how on earth is she going to cope when she hits puberty? Yet Kaia Crawford will hopefully be okay- she’s got influential parents to protect her. The new law in New York will be there to protect those who are without that support, those models vulnerable to overworking and what is technically a form of child labour.

The passing of this law should benefit child models in multiple ways. They now need the accompaniment of a chaperone at all times, who can observe the shoot and speak out if it becomes too taxing or sexualised. Models under 18 can now work no later than 10pm on a school

night, which is part of an emphasis on continuing state education alongside modelling (12.30am for the weekends though!).

These changes are sure to impact New York Fashion week in spring, which could be a very good thing. Whilst the changes may not be obvious, the added paperwork and regulations make the process of using underage models complicated enough to turn away some agencies, so we may see a rise in popularity of the 18+ model. Here at Venue, we really hope this could be a sign of change in the modelling world, where the emphasis becomes less on looking younger and younger and instead on embracing a more versatile role model.

We hope that it’s going to let children just be children, and to let their dreams of being a supermodel not be tarnished with the realities until they’re old enough to cope with it. Let’s leave the modelling to the models and the dreaming to the children.

concrete.fashion@uea.ac.uk

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9 Photographer: Jacob Roberts-Kendall. Model: Holly Wade. Stylist: Tyler Allen.

FASHION

Knit Your Way To Winter Emily Fedorowycz ‘Tis the season to stay cosy. Even though it’s not time for Christmas jumpers just yet, this month’s knitwear selection is about to become your new best friend. Get ready to roll up your soon-to-be woolen sleeves and go on the hunt for some of these highlights that will keep you chicer than chic.

Heads, shoulders, knees and toes Well, perhaps not knees. But beanie hats are definitely bringing sexy back. Practical and pretty in pastel, wool has never been worn better.

Guys, go for a standard oversized beanie for that casual look and girls grab one with a cute bobble on top. There are tons of knit scarves to suit your style too, and don’t be afraid of colour this season; we know it’s nearly winter but there’s no need to dress like that dark rainy cloud overhead!

Our personal highlight is the spread of woolen socks to hit the shops recently. Buy them extralong so you can scrunch them around the ankle when you’re trying to add extra student flair to your outfit.

Ladies first One gem that his been spotted this month is the

knitted dress: an ingenious cross between those adorable oversized jumpers we all love, and popular dress styles of anything from skater to bodycon. Now you don’t have to worry about which jeans you need to wear with that jumper, just whack on one of these with a pair of tights.

Woolen tights with a cable pattern are also a nice addition to any outfit, particularly in a casual grey or deep navy.

Lace wool dresses and yarn knits are especially soft if you want something you could use as a pillow during lectures, whilst looking the part of Beauty and a rather fluffy Beast.

We like a well-dressed chest Guys, your date-ability is effectively decided by whether that fabric is going to make you snuggly and warm when cuddling on the sofa. That and whether it makes you look like Ryan Gosling.

If you want to look good this month, there are so many knit options you can’t go wrong.

Patterned, thin jumpers go well if you like to layer up, with a bit of a Christmassy feel, or try a one-tone cable knit sweater for something wwarmer and chunkier. Now is the time to woo with your wonderful woolen superpowers. Go get ‘em.

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ARTS

concrete.arts@uea.ac.uk

Silent Running

Sean Pearce reviews, as Cinema City presents philosophy at the cinema

Art of the Title: Silent Running

This was not the first time I’d seen Silent Running. I had watched it on the television once many years ago and it did not have much of a lasting impression on me. As such, I approached seeing the film again with vague ambivalence, expecting to find clumsy, heavy-handed environmentalist propaganda. These expectations were disappointed.

At an unspecified date in the future, the Earth has suffered an ecological cataclysm and the last forests have been placed in enormous biospheres, mounted onto a fleet of spacecraft, sent out into the outer solar system. The protagonist is Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern), a crewman on one of these ships, the Valley Forge, seemingly the only member of the crew who cares about the forests and still hopes that the Earth can be re-forested. To Lowell’s distress, an inexplicable order is received to jettison and ‘nuclear destruct’ the forests; Lowell’s concern for the survival for all that is left of Earth’s natural ecosystem is such that he is forced to take the lives of the three other crewmen and steer the ship into deep space.

The rest of the film focuses on Lowell’s isolation, except for the maintenance drones he names Huey, Dewey and Louie.

His attempts to cope with the burden of having killed the only “friends” he had.

And, oddly enough, he handles all of this rather well.

The film wisely doesn’t focus on giving us too explicit an ecological message.

Lowell is sympathetic but not particularly likeable, Dern playing him brilliantly.

Further, the drones could have been twee, cutesy and irritating but, instead, are interesting and provide the closest the film gets to comic relief, making an odd comparison with HAL of 2001: A Space Odyssey, a film on which Silent Running’s director, Douglas Trumbull, was special effects supervisor.

The film is clearly a very environmentally inclined one, but it does avoid being heavy-handed, for the most part. An early scene where Lowell rants about the absence of beauty and frontiers on Earth now that everything has been absorbed into the realm of technology and efficiency felt less preachy and more prescient. This being said, there are sequences where Lowell wanders through the forest dressed in a white robe, with a large bird-of-prey perched on his arm, which struck me as being almost funny.

Further, though the instrumental music in

the film is what you would expect, the two songs sung by folk-musician Joan Baez were very poorly judged (‘Rejoice in the Sun’ was eerily reminiscent of The Wicker Man). However, it was pointed out to me after the film that Baez’s voice is the only female presence in the film.

There are some superb touches as well, particularly the scene where Lowell cannot bring himself to approach the body of one of the crewmen he killed in the forest.

Instead, he has the drones bury him while he watches, distraught, through a monitor.

It seemed to me that the film was less concerned with an explicit environmental message and was more a surprisingly thoughtful meditation on human beings and the dehumanisation of the world.

It certainly is drawing lines between the destruction of nature and the destruction of something unspecified but vital in the essence of humanity. Interestingly, in the burial scene previously mentioned, before the drones put the body in the grave, Lowell says he feels like he ought to say a prayer, but that he doesn’t know how to.

The film is always ambiguous about Lowell’s actions; whether or not they can be justified, and the ending doesn’t leave us with clear answers either. Lowell varies

from being at times just as capricious and indolent as his crewmates were (he memorably attempts to play poker with the drones) to being wracked with guilt over his actions, to being fanatically concerned with the well-being of the ecosystem he has assumed custody over.

The film also remains ambiguous about the impact of technology: though the technological encroachment has been disastrous for nature, the drones are the most easily likable characters and take an active role in preserving the forest.

Ultimately, this isn’t the film you may be expecting. It’s mature, moving, funny and often profound. You do have to grant it several conceits in order to enjoy it, but once you’ve done that, you’re in for a very interesting experience, one more people ought to appreciate.

Silent Running was shown as part of the ‘UEA Philosophers at the Cinema’ science fiction classics series at Cinema City, introduced by Dr. Jerry Goodenough and Dr. Rupert Read, followed by a Q & A. The final film in the series, Sunshine, will be showing on 11th November, and will be introduced by a member of faculty, with a Q & A to follow. There will be another series next semester.

ARTS

concrete.arts@uea.ac.uk

www.concrete-online.co.uk

05.11.2013

Preview: UEA Symphony Orchestra

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Callum Graham meets Conductor Dr Sharon Choa

UEA Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Sharon Andrea Choa, invite you to join them for a performance of two great ‘English’ masterpieces, Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor, Op.85 and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op.88 (‘The English’), on Friday 15 November 2013 at St Andrew’s Hall, Norwich.

The concert is being held in memory of Sir Colin Davis, an internationally renowned conductor who had worked with the UEA Symphonay Orchestra on many occasions prior to his unfortunate passing-away earlier this year. The arrangements by Dvořák and Elgar were two of Sir Colin’s favourite symphonies of the 19th Century.

Of the upcoming concert Dr Sharon Choa said, “This concert is to thank him, we’ve chosen pieces that we think he’d like to hear wherever he is. These are pieces that we are working from scratch, they are very challenging works. We never choose easy programs, the UEA orchestra is there to allow students to prove their skills outside of the subject they are perhaps studying.”

Elgar’s Cello Concerto will feature a principal violist, Paul Silverthorne of the London Symphony Orchestra, who will be playing the solo on viola rather than the

orchestral masterpiece. It was composed in early 1919, but did not achieve wide popularity until the 1960s, when a performance by the renowned cellist, Jacqueline du Pré, caught the public’s imagination. In November’s concert, UEA Symphony Orchestra, joined by leading violist Paul Silverthorne, will perform a version arranged by the great violist of the last century, Lionel Tertis.

UEA Symphony Orchestra is comprised of current students, alumni and muscians with no academic connection with the University. The diverse mixture of performers may not all have necessarily played directly under Sir Colin David, yet their love for the chosen programme and obvious musical enthusiasm and talent shone through when Venue stopped by for a rehearsal.

From newcomers to the orchestra, to orchestral aficionados, a live symphony is always an inspiring and moving event.

Make sure you get a ticket early!

Paul Pelkonen

cello. The second half of the programme will feature Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, a piece that Sir Colin loved. Dr Sharon Choa expanded upon this: “Number eight was really quite a special one for him, it

is lyrical, dramatic and has all kinds of emotions worked into one extraordinary symphony.”

Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85 is English composer Edward Elgar’s final

Tickets are available to buy now from UEA Box Office (01603 508050 or www. ueaticketbookings.co.uk/events),Prelude Records (01603 628319) and St George’s Music Shop (01603 626414)

David

Almond:

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CREATIVE WRITING

05.11.2013

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Theme: Control The Steam

that

Clouds the Window

Daisy Stapley-Bunten “The passion you pretended Was only to obtain, But once the charm is ended, The charmer you disdain.

Your love by ours we measure Till we have lost our treasure, But dying is a pleasure When living is a pain.

By John Dryden (1631 - 1700)” She arched her back, just slightly, She steadied her gaze on the water streaming from the tap, following its course as it splashed into the empty tub. She watched the water level slowly waver up and down in momentum, as more water joined the pool, slowly reaching across the surface of the bath and lapping around her body. The water filling up around her, crawling up the sides of her hips, stealing all dry skin its path. Her pelvis was slightly protruding, emphasising the dip between her hips and her ribcage. Her head, propped up against the back of the tub, pushed her chin onto the top of her chest, causing her breathing to take a stifled rhythm.

She watched the rising water.

She arched her back, just slightly, causing a rush of water to collapse underneath her and fill her space immediately. She placed her hands on either side of the bath, gripping her hands over the curling lip of plastic on the sides. The soft contours of her body contrasted with the angular shape of the bathroom, it was a modern flat and the bathroom was blank and lifeless. The sink was square, the shelves hung an equal distance above and below each other and even their toothbrushes were aligned in order. But the bath, like her, was indifferent, it dominated the room with its subtle elegance, it was the only item in the flat that wasn’t completely modern, and it appeared out of place. She watched the steam drag away from her arms and invade the cold air in the room, the water vapours making the atmosphere thick, so that with every intake of breath she could almost feel her body drawing in the steam once more to trickle down her throat.

That water had acquired the majority of the space in the bath now, a liquid mould

around her person, adapting with her every move, as opposed to her having to adapt to the water. She raised her leg up, elongating her thigh and calf into a slender line and saw the water rapidly cascade down her leg, a network of tiny droplets of water all eventually creating a suffocating mass, that only the strongest particles could escape from and drift back into the air. The others, too contained by a strong force of attraction, remained in the helpless struggle, which was now covering her body.

The bathroom was grey, the tiles resembling individual squares of compacted ash. The towels were bright blue in contrast, and the walls once a brilliant white, now occupied a flaking paint that painfully cracked to reveal the harsh plasterboard beneath. It seemed as though she had camouflaged in this room, her pale skin closer to grey than pink. Closer to blue and purple. She examined herself, noticing the kamikaze freckles recklessly dotted along her body, seemingly her only allowed creativity.

This was all a method by which she cleared her head, evading all worries which might have earlier tampered with her thoughts. It was a sort of sanctuary. She allowed herself this one liberation in her life, but it was often short lived. She would wait in the bath with the door locked by a bolt and draw herself calmly under the water when she heard, with trepidation, the sound of the front door slamming open. Boots approaching the door, a light switch slapped on. And a rectangular border of light would burst through the gaps around the door frame, hitting her face. As she sank further under the water.

concrete.creativewriting@uea.ac.uk

Upend Jake Reynolds Conclusions upended we tumble into thatch, thickets, Sunday lawn cricket bowls over in hysterics.

of arms and heads, the soft plot hole on a baby’s crown, our connections winding down into woozy slobbers of ink.

The home run, house walk, the walk back to production, the crawl back to development, the envelopment

We slink back to beds, hovels, shacks and grovel for our old lives back; sit down, let us begin.

Untitled the Window John Doe I want to live, and I want to love, and all of the above I wish to see, where I’ll be, when I grow up.

I want to go, somewhere new, and still find you, I wish to pounce, on every chance, but not to dance. ‘cause I fucking hate dancing. I’m just a bit shit at it really. Some people seem to be able to just.. do it. I mean, I do find myself doing a little dancey thing if I’m listening to something I really like, but most of the time it amounts to little more than a head bob. It’s not like I’m not very good at rhythm, I can play bass just fine. I’m not amazing, but at least I’ve taught myself and I can play quite a bit.

I feel like I might have ruined the poem a little.

Brink Jake Reynolds

Night skulked over day, threatening to jump.

You cried on Tuesday afternoon; I hope you’re feeling better soon.

The smell of onion, at once ripe and rancid, staining our fingers for days, hanging on, weeping.

Woollen jumpers, bounty hunters in wax jackets with colds.

The big hypotheticals from Greece making you think and think.

You’re at the brink, between two vices, paying rip-off prices for a crisis you can’t avert.

Flickr: Chapendra

Come take a seat, a sip of the well water, come and slip into the windbreaks of my shoulders.

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Control Zone Chris Morton

We are in the green zone.

Fear, doesn’t belong in the green zone.

Brotherhood belongs in the green zone.

Food, water, sanitization, drills, runs, training belongs to the greenzone.

My heart and mind, belong to the green zone.

We are in the red zone.

In the red zone we are ants.

Fear was born here. Darkness too.

My rifle, my screams, belong to the red zone.

We are in the green zone.

Drenched in a thick red we return.

My dreams belong to the red zone.

My mind belongs to the red zone.

We are forever in the red zone.

Our minds, our bodies, remember only red.

Like colour blind dogs, we know only our owners.

We follow our call back into the red as the sunsets upon the day.

GAMING concrete.gaming@uea.ac.uk

Oliver Pfeiffer

DOTA 2

The Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (or MOBA) genre has seen a meteoric rise in popularity in the last few years. One immediately thinks of League of Legends which is currently the most played game on the planet with a reported 32 million monthly players. DOTA 2, based off the same original map, is Valve’s offering into the MOBA scene and has been met with great enthusiasm.

DOTA 2 was available in beta for two years before its full release as a free to play over the summer. Its popularity was unprecedented and became huge on the competitive gaming scene, the apex of which was this summer at The International 3 where the prize pool was nearly $2.9m. DOTA 2 is now the most played game on Steam with over 500,000 regular players. To put that into perspective, the second highest rarely reaches 60,000.

The success of MOBAs is attributable almost entirely to the free to play model.

LoL is financed through champion rotations and players must pay to use all of the champions. In DOTA 2, however, one can achieve the maximum gaming experience for free and revenue is generated through aesthetic item purchases and tickets to competitive streams. This is certainly DOTA 2’s strength over LoL and undoubtedly

Valve Coroperation

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attracts many to the game as well as the competitive scene, although it hasn’t quite hit the same popularity levels.

One major issue new players find with DOTA 2 is the insurmountable learning curve. Players must invest a great deal of time in playing the game and becoming proficient at many of the 102 heroes before they can become successful.

This is helped somewhat by the level system which tries to rank players and match them with similar opponents, although this does not always work properly. Furthermore, players must also learn and understand the complex meta-game which governs tactics and teams. Even after hundreds of hours playing, the surface is barely scratched.

A game so rich with content and features undoubtedly requires immeasurable commitment in order for players to improve, but even at with no game knowledge at lower levels buying crazy items and misusing abilities, it is unbelievably enjoyable. The feeling when you land that one epic hook, catch five heroes in a black hole, or bring the game back from the brink of defeat with a backdoor, DOTA 2 is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding games on the market. And being free to play, there’s no excuse not to try it.

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PC Piracy

ipkitten.blogspot.com

Sam Emsley The relationship between digital media and piracy is becoming a long an messy one; gaming publishers, record labels and film production companies blaming piracy for falls in sales and consequent losses in revenue which have jeopardised the welfare of the people who strive so hard to create the content they publish.

In a recent interview with an unnamed games publisher, the interviewee was quizzed as to why the PC version of the game was being released a month later than the console versions. He couldn’t answer.

But off the record and anonymously he stated that the sole reason for this is that developers and publishers are scared that PC players will simply pirate the game on day one, whereas holding back the release encourages them to buy it for console.

Why the anonymity? He also stated that if publishers openly acknowledge this practise, they would be hounded with an onslaught of negative press, online petitions and angry consumers.

The figures on piracy are very hard to come by, although there is no question that it exists. Holding back PC releases would certainly curtail some piracy, although one must imagine that it will still occur once the game is released.

Not to mention that pirating console games, whilst requiring a few hardware modifications, is arguably easier than pirating on PC. But do all PC gamers

pirate? Is it that prevalent?

Even considering the argument alone it seems somewhat absurd. Many PC players may not even own consoles, so pushing back the release achieves nothing but inspiring disdain. However to effectively answer this one must consider the changing demographic of gamers.

Far from being the immature adolescent sponging off parents, unwilling to cough up even paltry amounts for their games and pirating everything, the average gamer is now over 30, and the most frequent games purchasers are 35 year olds.

These figures are undoubtedly skewed by the classification of mobile apps as games, whereas the piracy issue involves mainly AAA PC titles, but the point still stands. Almost every gamer is now a working adult with enough income to finance regular games purchases on or around release day.

Digital distribution is also ubiquitous on PC, allowing gamers to pre-purchase and load their games to play upon release.

Publishers attempt to paint the PC as a lapsarian platform, devoid of worth or paying customers. The opposite is in fact the case; if one examines the argument in any detail it becomes obvious the measures achieve very little in boosting sales. It appears to be totally pointless, although publishers must see some merit, however duplicitous.

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TELEVISION

concrete.television@uea.ac.uk

The Escape Artist

David Tennant is back in the BBC’s latest legal thriller James Szumowski The Escape Artist, a new British legal thriller promises good things based on those behind it. Penned by Spooks creator David Wolstencroft and starring David Tennant (Doctor Who) as its leading man, Will Burton, this new three part BBC miniseries had a promising start in life.

However, with constant cliché and full of almost laughable plot holes, The Escape Artist unfortunately fails to impress.

The entire thing is so painfully British it’s almost embarrassing to watch. So spoilt are we by the big budget TV thrillers coming from across the pond (Homeland, Breaking Bad etc.), that anything remotely budgeted and proud of its British-ness comes across as a bit awkward and cumbersome. Luther, for example, managed to do alright and made London and the British justice system seem dangerous and interesting.

The Escape Artist does not.

The initial family scenes are awkward and forced, with Tennant talking to the lovely fluffy dog and his wife (Ashley

BBC Jensen; Extras) in much the same tones.

‘Classic’ scenes follow of the parents cheering on their son at football, having a little flirty bath time together and just generally being intensely perfect in their over-sized penthouse and also their charming country cottage.

When it gets to the meaty stuff, we meet the man he must defend. Almost certainly guilty of the sexually-motivated torture and death of a young woman, bird-loving psychopathic weirdo Liam

Foyle (Toby Kebbell; Black Mirror) isn’t as scary as he should be. As the best lawyer London’s ever seen, Burton wins on a technicality: freeing the baddie.

After their brief courtroom shenanigans, Foyle goes to shake Burton’s hand and Burton refuses. Bad move, Will.

Later, while busy lawyering around town, Tennant gets a call from his terrified wife, who has just seen a man she doesn’t know (it’s Foyle, ‘surprisingly’) watching her in the bath through the window.

Tennant leaves his posh shindig and races there with the Police, but everyone’s safe.

However, the very next scene shows Burton’s wife returning to the exact same cottage alone with her son, again. This is where it gets all scary and serious: Kate ends up murdered and their son is shoved (alive) in a toy box. Luckily, Tennant sees Foyle through the window, who is promptly arrested – which is good.

The most ridiculous part of this entire programme though, was the complete demolition of all sense of realism when Burton’s long term ‘friendly’ rival since law school, (Sophie Okenedo; Hotel Rwanda) is revealed as the defence lawyer for Kate’s murder. She is defending the killer of a woman she was on first name terms with, and was seen laughing with in a previous scene at an event. It’s an awkwardly placed oversight, and one which made the episode seem weaker by association.

With the setup out of the way, the next two episodes are sure to be packed with excitement and action, but unfortunately fails to hold interest.

Ripper Street Holly Wade Ripper Street returned to BBC One this Autumn with a bang. Well, that’s to say with a man flying through a window and being impaled on a set of railings. Ripper Street most definitely isn’t for the faint hearted; it’s gory and violent, but also brilliant.

It’s a speedy return for the second series, after the first only finished airing in February 2013. The programme is set in Victorian Whitechapel where H Division Detective Inspector Edmund Reid (Matthew Macfadyen; Any Human Heart), Detective Sergeant Bennet Drake (Jerome Flynn; Game of Thrones) and their American surgeon Homer Jackson (Adam Rothenberg; Alcatraz) hunt down criminals in order to protect their parish.

The overarching story of series one was their attempt to unveil Jack the Ripper after, in the first ever episode, prostitutes began to get murdered in Ripper style.

By the end of series one the audience had the answers to all of their questions.

Without wanting to give away spoilers; we discover the true identities of Jackson and brothel owner Susan (MyAnna Buring; Downton Abbey) as well as the on-going

BBC/Tiger Aspect plot of what really happened to Reid’s daughter and why it caused such a strain on his marriage.

The series two opener shows a diminished interest in the discovery of the Ripper and really takes no note of the revelations from its last outing.

We are thrust straight into a new crime where the trio attempt to uncover why another Division’s policeman has been

viciously attacked. The plot delves into police corruption and the introduction of narcotics to the streets of Whitechapel, all interweaving with a story of a Chinese girl and her involvement. The storyline is relatively easy to figure out; the mastermind behind the entire plan is pretty obvious but it does not detract from its overall enjoyment.

The cast are superb and the characters

are extremely likeable. Jackson brings some much needed comedy value to the programme. As the policemen attempt to stop a riot in the cells, he stands around smoking a cigarette and talking to Drake, who is being strangled at the time, only helping him after finishing his drag (the scene where he indulges in narcotics is another highlight).

Reid and Drake bounce off each other well, with Drake standing as the ‘bad cop’ who gets into fights with the criminals.

One scene from the episode with his wife, Ella, makes him a much more threedimensional character as the audience can peek at his domestic life and see another side to him.

The first episode of the new series wasn’t all it could have been, particularly in comparison to series one. But, left on a cliffhanger with the next episode seeing the return of the K Division policemen to take on Reid and his men, it has the potential to get a whole lot better.

Despite the obvious violent tendencies of the show, Ripper Street is a fun and entertaining viewing. It is slick and stylish, creating interesting storylines for its character, and comes highly recommended.

TELEVISION concrete.television@uea.ac.uk

www.concrete-online.co.uk

05.11.2013

An Interview with Norwich’s stars of Up All Night

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Rob Drury & Lucy Morris Channel Four recently aired the muchanticipated episode of their Up All Night series set in a minicab office. Courtesy Taxis of Norwich, located on fair Prince of Wales Road, to be specific. The show featured fly-on-the-wall footage of some of Norwich’s most tanked-up revellers looking to get home from a night out, as well as interviews with some of the staff; we thought we’d have a chat as well.

One of the questions on many of our lips is surely how did a taxi company in sleepy Norwich become the focus of a national documentary? Managing Director Mark Streeter told us their waiting room caught the eye of the execs. “Channel 4 approached us after seeing our website, thought it was a great set-up with our facilities and staff. They came down, did a few taster interviews and some CCTV footage which went back to the guys in charge: it got commissioned immediately!” And to think we all take those sofas for granted after a hard night in Mercy or Mantra.

EDP24/Simon Finlay As well as us students finding it a treat (let’s face it, mostly to check if we could see ourselves losing our dignity), the staff enjoyed being in the forefront of the round the clock filming. Driver Ian Tierack stated “I really enjoyed it, it was nice to be involved with such a thing”,

with Streeter adding “it was great as there, isn’t really anything like this in Norwich.”

The local drivers were happy with what was shown on the night. one driver, Nelly, said that he thought “it showed the reality of the taxi business – even though it came across as actually a quiet night

The Day of the Doctor Lucy Rivers

The Great British Bake Off Finale Phil Turtle

BBC

RadioTimes It’s nearly time to break out those bowties, brown coats, long multi-coloured scarves - even a fez if you have one (fezzes are cool!) - because Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary is just around the corner. On the 23rd of November, loyal Whovians all over the world will get the chance to watch The Day of the Doctor.

Doctor Who was first broadcast in 1963 at 5:15pm on Saturday 23rd November. At 9am on Friday 25th October, 2013, tickets for the 50th Anniversary simultaneous 3D cinema screenings of The Day of the Doctor went on sale; and within 6 hours, the 216 participating cinemas in the UK and Ireland were already selling out.

If you missed out on tickets, however, all is not lost. The special will also be

on Prince of Wales”, with Ian agreeing.

With the vomiting out the window and spontaneous shouting/singing/slagging matches with strangers it seemed anything but quiet. According to Streeter there was a “full on conga line with most of the customers involved” at one point, which didn’t make the cut. Someone needs to give the editor a stern talking to.

The company’s reaction was largely positive to the doc, with many of the staff enjoying it. Ian’s family had a laugh and at the same time found it “unbelievable as we’re a local Norwich company; it’s usually London or Manchester in these things.” Other Courtesy staff equally enjoyed it, but also found it surreal to see their office plastered on Channel Four for the night.

Up All Night brought our fine city into the public eye; not only has it increased regular business, they’ve had some special visitors. “We’ve even had people from Yorkshire and other places turn up to have photos in the office and with the drivers!”

broadcast on BBC1 at the same time cinema-goers enjoy the spectacle.

According to online sources, the TV broadcast has been sold to around 80 countries - making it the biggest ever global drama simulcast. International Doctor Who fans can therefore enjoy this historic event from their homes as well as in cinemas – all at the same time as BBC1 airs the UK broadcast.

Story details are sketchy, but Executive Producer/Writer Steven Moffat has promised: “Something happens to [the Doctor]... that changes the way he will adventure from now on… This is where the story really starts. This is where he finds his mission, finds his destiny... We’re not fibbing – this one is going to change the course of the series.”

The fourth series of The Great British Bake Off concluded recently, crowning its champion, 31 year old Frances Quinn.

She was somewhat of a surprise winner, having been regularly warned that her focus on style was at the expense of the quality of her overall baking; but her final bake, a raspberry, lemon and passion fruit wedding cake (in addition to her consistency in performance) was enough to convince Paul and Mary of her baking credentials. She beat off competition from psychologist Kimberley Wilson, whose self-confidence had been her distinguishing feature throughout the series, and student Ruby Tandoh, who demonstrated the exact opposite - consistently doubting her chances, even going so far as to put her entries down in front of the judges.

Much was made after the show of a Guardian article written by Ruby, where she took the opportunity to address the vitriol and criticism many of the female contestants had faced on social networking sites. She also took the opportunity to deny accusations that she had in any way faked her regular tears in the series, or that she was involved in a relationship with King of the Bread, Paul Hollywood.

The final episode of Bake Off received a peak audience of over 9 million, making it BBC Two’s highest rated programme in a decade. The high figures seem to back up the show’s previously announced transfer to BBC One, which will take place when series 5 commences next autumn; viewers will be hoping that the ingredients that have made GBBO such a success remain.

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FILM

concrete.film@uea.ac.uk

Youth Vocal

Thor: The Dark World

By the hammer of Thor! Saul Holmes marvels at the eagerly awaited comic book sequel Director Alan Taylor Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston Cert 12A Runtime 120 mins The superhero movie has become a goliath at the box office. Last year Avengers Assemble made $1.5 bn at the US box office and earlier this year Iron Man 3 kicked off ‘Phase Two’ of Marvel’s plans for world domination. Superhero movies are becoming an increasingly safe option for filmmakers, but Thor: The Dark World is a sure sign that Marvel aren’t afraid to keep upping the budget, pushing the boundaries and driving the increasingly repetitive genre forward into new territory.

Having directed several episodes of Game of Thrones, director Alan Taylor was obviously more interested in making a sci-fi/fantasy epic than a superhero

movie, and he makes that clear from the very start. The prologue, featuring Asgardians and Dark Elves battling on a blackened waste, is more reminiscent of Lord of the Rings than any previous Marvel film.

Thankfully, much of the action is based on Asgard this time around, which makes for a much more interesting setting than Earth, though the fish-outof-water comedy works well in London.

The world of Asgard is fascinating, huge and golden. The plot unravels quicker and quicker, hurtling towards its explosive conclusion. At points it feels like the kind of movie that the Star Wars prequels could have been, delving further into the blend of sci-fi and fantasy that gives the Thor franchise so much more potential for originality than any of the other Avengers.

The epic scale of the movie demands an equally epic cast, which The Dark World just about delivers. Heavyweights such as Anthony Hopkins and Idris Elba bring authority and weight to every scene

they appear in, while Eric Selvig has become a much better comedic character since going a bit loopy in Avengers Assemble. They provide good support for Chris Hemsworth as Thor, who is just as solid in The Dark World as in his previous two outings as the God of thunder.

Again, Tom Hiddleston stands out.

Loki has to be kept in a box for the first half of the film or else he would steal the show – which is something of a shame, but an understandable decision. The best scene of the film is the crash landing on the barren world of the Dark Elves, and Loki’s faint, dry “Taaa-daaaa”. In fact, the only real weak point is Natalie Portman as Jane Foster. Despite spouting scientific terminology in every scene she’s in, Foster is actually pretty stupid. It isn’t Portman’s fault, she’s given little room to make Foster anything more than a damsel in distress. There’s also that annoying woman who can’t pronounce ‘Mjölnir’ correctly – that joke still isn’t funny.

Despite what the title might suggest, The Dark World doesn’t just get darker

than the first Thor movie; it expands in several directions. Christopher Eccleston is a little bland as Malekith, but the Dark Elves are a sinister foe due to David White’s fantastic prosthetic design.

The scale is bigger, the comic relief is stronger, and overall The Dark World is an improvement on Thor, which was an impressive film itself.

Although more of a sci-fi/fantasy epic than a comic book movie, Thor: The Dark World delivers on almost every level. The balance between the comic relief and all the gruff voices and shattering of worlds – the serious stuff – is well managed, and despite the fact that you’ll feel like you’ve seen it all before, there’s plenty of fun to be had. It was never going to match Avengers Assemble in scale, but it comes close and is easily the biggest and maybe best individual outing for an Avenger to date.

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FILM

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At Cinemas Near You Enough Said

Director Nicole Holofcener Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Gandolfini, Catherine Keener Cert 12A Runtime 93mins Adam White Nicole Holofcener is an expert when it comes to feeling. Throughout her seventeen-year reign as one of Hollywood’s most acclaimed female filmmakers, she consistently nails tones that reflect the changing emotional landscapes of adulthood, whether it’s the self-involved young adults of Walking and Talking, her 1996 debut, or the repressed middle-aged unhappiness at the heart of 2006’s Friends with Money.

Her fifth feature Enough Said is grounded in yet another unexpected agerelated trauma. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini play separately divorced adults who find each other in amongst the anxiety and fear of having to start again from scratch – both about to send their respective children off to college, and both

figuring out how to navigate romance following marriages that so messily imploded.

It’s an interesting angle to hinge a romantic comedy upon. Holofcener’s script ponders whether somebody who clearly wasn’t good enough for someone else, so much so that their first marriage fell apart in bitterness and strife, could ever be good for you.

In what amounts to her first major film vehicle in her long career, LouisDreyfus is fiercely endearing in the way her most famous characters usually are, whilst constantly teetering on the edge of full-blown mania. It’s a fantastically round performance, full of sneaky wit and unexpected depth, and she makes for an engaging partner-in-crime for Gandolfini. In one of his final roles, the Sopranos vet wages a similar balancing act to great success, gruff and surly as is his wont, but surprisingly heartwarming as an unexpected love interest. His reallife passing does lend Enough Said an understated sadness, though it’s not to the film’s detriment; it’s actually a lovely swan song for the actor.

Not everything on offer is entirely successful with Holofcener’s script

Battle Royale with Cheese

unusually frayed around the edges in comparison to her prior work. While Toni Collette and Ben Falcone get the lion’s share of the film’s funniest lines as a pair of happily unhappy marrieds, their subplot with an inattentive housekeeper struggles to be anything more than an unnecessary, albeit fun, diversion.

Perennial Holofcener’s muse Catherine Keener is also underserved, so serene and fascinating in her few scenes as the perfect ying to the frazzled yang of Louis-Dreyfus’ protagonist, yet the film unwilling to grant her character the resolution she deserves.

But Enough Said is otherwise well-

carried by its gentle humour and ponderous themes. Louis-Dreyfus and Gandolfini wonderfully capturing the apprehensive excitement of second love, the surprise annex to what you presumed was the happy ending. This isn’t a perfect film, but Holofcener has created something both commercially funny as well as intellectually layered, only furthering her position as one of the most interesting voices in American independent cinema.

One Chance has an interesting story due to the real-life events it is based around. These events, however, are secondary to the entire story of Paul.

The Britain’s Got Talent portion of the movie is minimal, and all the build-up results in a rushed ending. The narrative covers the ups and downs of Paul’s life to gain the sympathy of the audience and portray him as the ultimate underdog.

But he doesn’t so much come off as an underdog, seeming closer to someone who just has bad luck, rather than no chance. In the end this does pay off, as the story is uplifting, but not to its full

capability.

The story moves quickly, but due to the large time period that it covers, some of the major events in Potts’ life seem rushed, while at other times the slower parts of the story seem to drag on, which comes as a result of the simple editing.

Each shot, particularly the camera angles, is very standard. Even when the film moves to Venice and attempts to show the beauty of the city, it feels rushed; there is no grand wide shot showing the entire city in its glory. The more dialogue-driven scenes utilise basic shots as well, and for a film that already has a lack of interesting dialogue, these scenes drag on the most.

One Chance relies on a lot of the typical plot tropes of the genre, but does make the viewer feel for Paul at times.

The film is worthy of attention if you’re an audience member seeking a happy ending and more background on the talent show winner himself. But while One Chance does accomplish its intended task, it’s not done to the degree that it could have been.

YouTube

One Chance

Director David Frankel Starring James Corden, Julie Walters, Mackenzie Crook, Colm Meaney Cert 12A Runtime 103mins Matthew Atwood One Chance does not bring anything spectacular to the underdog genre, but it does, at points, inspire the audience.

This inspiration, however, becomes lost through the predictable and slow plot, as well as the boring camera angles.

The film is based on the true story of Paul Potts, the opera singer who won the inaugural series of Britain’s Got Talent. James Corden portrays Potts and outshines the rest of the cast, all of whom do not seem to be playing threedimensional characters aside from Paul’s dad Roland. Colm Meaney’s Roland is one of the film’s main clichés, as he goes from ‘unsupportive father’ to the ‘fightfor-his-son father’ in typical feel-good movie style.

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FILM

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Captain Phillips

Director Paul Greengrass Starring Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Catherine Keener Cert 12A Runtime 134mins Joseph Holness October tends to be the point in the year where we find a sharp increase in the amount of high quality movies being released for awards season. After Woody Allen’s latest film Blue Jasmine seemed to kick off this year’s run of Oscar-bait releases, Captain Phillips seems to be continuing the trend of well-acted, welldirected Best Picture hopefuls.

From director Paul Greengrass, of Bourne Supremacy and Ultimatum fame, Captain Phillips is the true story of the American captain of a cargo ship taken hostage by Somali pirates off the horn of Africa. This premise may give the impression that this is a high octane action blockbuster cut from the same cloth as a John Carpenter classic of the 1980s and not the sort of film that mops up come award season. Yet whilst this is true to some degree, it works differently

to how you might expect. There is a real emotional sophistication at play here; Greengrass doesn’t deal in the black and white morality of more conventional bythe-book action fare.

The ‘good guy’ Rich Phillips and the ‘bad guy’ Abduwali Muse, played brilliantly by newcomer Barkhad Abdi, are given equal attention in the narrative. We see both of them before the main events, the former discussing with his wife his son’s difficult future in the competitive modern world and the latter rounding up volunteers in a poverty stricken village to embark out to sea for a spot of piracy. It isn’t a forced sentimentality that causes us to sympathize with the hijackers though, they don’t break down and reveal the hardships of African life, rather we just witness their humanity in a realistic manner.

Despite being set almost entirely on the ship with most of the dialogue between these two leads, Greengrass still manages to tell the story with a conscious understanding of the geopolitical climate that is causing these events. There is no formal antagonist on screen, the real villain of Captain Phillips is the systems and amoral forces that have not only

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North Coast allowed events like this to occur, but meant that it is the only way for these young men to live.

Captain Phillips is undoubtedly a brilliant film. It is expertly judged in its direction, always tense, but never feels contrived when it touches on larger ideas and themes. Greengrass’ work is more reminiscent of the emotional action

films of Michael Mann than the schlocky chest-thumping Steven Seagal type fare it could easily have been in the hands of a bad director; it’s Heat on the high seas for a post 9/11 audience.

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Greatest Hits: Tom Hanks

Louis Cheslaw takes a personal look at the best of one of Hollywood’s living legends

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I already have an amazing father and stepdad. I’m spoilt for father figures. Yet, sometimes, I fantasize about Tom Hanks being added to that list. Maybe it’s the way that he takes cares of his son in Nora Ephron’s cosy 1993 classic Sleepless in Seattle. Maybe it’s the way he voiced amiable cowboy Woody, making him an iconic member of the close-knit Toy Story family in 1995. I even sympathised with him in Big as he shut out his best friend. Maybe it’s something to do with his eyes.

Before going any further into analysing Hanks’ soothing features, it’s important to note the influence he’s had on Hollywood today. In 2002, he was awarded the AFI Life Achievement Award, the youngest ever recipient of the prize at 45 years old. Steve Martin, in his speech opening the ceremony, noted Hanks for having uttered “some of the most memorable lines in film history”.

Certainly no-one can argue with the statement; we surely hear “Houston, we have a problem” and “Life is like a box of Chocolates” at least every couple

of months, if not more. Later in the ceremony, he was heralded “America’s favourite son” by none other than his long time friend and collaborator, Steven Spielberg.

Even when he manages to fit in so well, Hanks stands out, through the fact that he doesn’t look like a typical movie star. Whether playing an AIDS sufferer in Philadephia, a Harvard professor in The Da Vinci Code, a FedEx employee in Cast Away or in his now legendary performance as the title character in Forrest Gump, we believe he really could be there, which in turn leads us to look at the people in our own lives differently, as we’re made aware of the extraordinary personalities and capabilities hidden in the ‘ordinary’ man. Never is the contrast between Hanks and Hollywood’s more manicured exports more apparent than as Carl Hanratty in Catch Me If You Can, where he is pitted in a worldwide chase against Leonardo DiCaprio’s Frank William Abagnale Jr. True to my earlier point, Hanks still manages to become a father figure in the film, even as Leo’s

greatest adversary. He is, thankfully, showing no signs of slowing, after recent masterful turns in Cloud Atlas and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, as well as closing this year’s BFI Film Festival in London with new film Saving Mr. Banks.

There is a Tom Hanks film to accompany and guide a person through every change in their life. Whenever I feel like adulthood is being forced upon me too fast, he’s there in Big to calm me down and show everyone that you only stop being a child when, and if, you choose to. A friend of mine, who sometimes feels that certain tasks are just too tough, told me that he only had to watch Apollo 13 to be reminded of the courage and emotional strength we all have within us. I could happily continue for hours on this man and his deserved iconic status, but I’m late for a showing of his latest performance in Captain Phillips, a film that the American press have praised as Hanks’ “Best in a Decade”. May his reign continue for decades to come.

FILM

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At Cinemas Near You

05.11.2013

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Fat Movie Guy

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 Directors Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn Featuring the voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Will Forte, Andy Samberg, Benjamin Bratt Cert U Runtime 95mins

Melissa Haggar Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is the animated adventure follow-up to the original 2009 surprise hit. The sequel sees the return of

Flint (Bill Hader) and his friends, with Flint finally being recognized for his whimsical inventions. The celebrations don’t last very long as the gang are forced to go off and battle food/animal hybrids that are being produced

by Flint’s old machine.

Anna Faris returns as Sam Sparks, Flint’s girlfriend, whilst James Caan reprises his role as Tim Lockwood, Flint’s father. The film also sees the introduction of new characters – Chester V, a super-inventor and head of Live Corp, as well as his orangutan Barb, who possesses a human brain and can therefore speak. Also featured is the formidable Neil Patrick Harris, who reprises his role as Steve the Monkey.

The film features an assortment of fun,

lively and sometimes slightly eerie creatures, such as the ‘tacodile,’ ‘cheespider’ and ‘apple pie-thon,’ which younger audiences will no doubt enjoy immensely. Whilst the imagery and imagination of various animals is delightful, the sequel doesn’t seem to pack the same kind of punch the first film did.

Perhaps this is due to the fact that the concept is no longer unique. However, the film still manages to retain some of its original charm and although the film doesn’t appear to be as witty as the original, it is certainly a firm effort from directors Cameron and Pearn.

The various cast members put in fun and engaging voice performances, with Faris’ role as weather intern Sam being a highlight, alongside Hader’s sentimental and ambitious

portrayal of Flint.

Unfortunately, the main negative to the film is that the plot can sometimes become laboured and strenuous, not to mention unclear. It regrettably suffers from not being as well thought-out as its predecessor. This may not affect the overall viewing experience for younger audiences, but will no doubt impact significantly on the levels of enjoyment for adults. Overall, Cloudy 2 features vivid and fanciful imagery, but suffers from a lack of progression or point, despite the attempts from its cast to pull the feature together.

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LISTINGS

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concrete.listings@uea.ac.uk

5th November - 18th November live music 5th November

Hayseed Dixie w/ Tom Copson The Waterfront £15 6th November The Staves w/ Christof The Warerfront £12.50

9th November Future Radio Present The Final Of The Next Big Thing OPEN £5 Mallory Knox w/ Blitz Kids + Crooks The Waterfront £10 Handguns EPIC £4-5

Gabrielle Aplin w/ Jack Savoretti UEA LCR £14 7th November Moose Blood EPIC £4-5

10th November Scouting For Girls UEA LCR £22.50

The Hard Ground The Bicycle Shop £5 8th November Mutya Keisha Siobhan w/ Mike Hough UEA LCR £17.50 Andy Fairweather Low Norwich Arts Centre £22.50

Har Mar Superstar w/ Lizzo Waterfront Studio £12

We’ll Meet Again St Andrew’s Hall £15.50

Villagers w/ We Were Evergreen The Waterfront £12.50

We Will Be Free! The Tolpuddle Martyrs Story Norwich Arts Centre £9-11 7th November The Vagina Monologues The Playhouse £16.50-18.50

Bo Nanafana proudly presents Imelda May OPEN £25

13th November Dan Walsh + Sushail Yusuf Khan The Bicycle Shop £6

17th November

Orphaned Land w/ Klone + Khalas + The Mars Chronicles Waterfront Studio £10

15th November

Mount Kimbie presented by Spectro Norwich Arts Centre

Advice For The Young At Heart The Garage £5-10 13th November The Long Life and Great Good Fortune of John Clare Norwich Arts Centre £11-12

King King w/ Devlin Blue Waterfront Studio £12 Chas & Dave’s Xmas Knees Up St Andrew’s Hall £25.50

[Spunge] w/ Hey You Guys! + Chairmen of the Bored Waterfront Studio £10

Sir Colin Davis Memorial Concert St Andrew’s Hall £4-12

UK Subs w/ TV Smith (The Adverts) + Hotwired Waterfront Studio £13 Albert Cooper Norwich Arts Centre £7

Editors w/ British Sea Power UEA LCR £20

theatre 6th November

From The Jam EPIC £16-20

Adrian Roye & The Exiles The Bicycle Shop £5

Escape The Fate and Chiodos The Waterfront £15

CopaCubana presents Brazil 3 OPEN £5-7 16th November

Ralph McTell OPEN £19

11th November

Antlered Man + God Damn + Bovine OPEN £6

12th November

14th November

Showaddywaddy St. Andrew’s Hall £24.50

Laura Veirs Norwich Arts Centre £15

Wicker Faith The Waterfront £5

£12.50

Ed Tullet + Scriber The Bicycle Shop £5

The Temperance Seven The Playhouse £14.50-16.50 Poizon w/ Blind Tiger and Strange Tail The Waterfront Studio £7.50-10

Skid Row + Ugly Kid Joe The Waterfront £18.50

Glenn Tilbrook Norwich Arts Centre £17.50

Foster and Allen St Andrew’s Hall £23.50 Turin Brakes w/ Kevin Pearce + Milly Hurst The Waterfront £20 18th November So Solid Crew The Waterfront £13.50

comedy 5th November

8th November

Birdcage Comedy Cabaret The Birdcage £2-4

Alexei Sayle The Playhouse £17

7th November

14th November

Craig Campbell Norwich Arts Centre £15

Tony Law: Nonsense Overdrive Norwich Arts Centre £10-12

PUZZLES 05.11.2013

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the venue crossword

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Across 3. Wears red and white, hard to spot (5) 4. Norse god of thunder (4) 6. Pyrotechnic popular this time of year (8) 9. Oliver Twist, A Tale Of Two Cities (7) 10. White ____ Lane (4) 11. East of england (6) 12. A spectre, a spirit (5)

Down 1. A rebellious Guy (6) 2. Lit on November 5th (7) 5. Mickey (5) 7. Wrap up (5) 8. Tuscany wine (7)

the venue sudoku

See page 2 of Concrete , Twitter and Facebook for our competition this week!

Will