Derry Live List November Edition by Derry Live List

november

issue 09

INTERVIEW

Rosborough

2015

Plus

Photo by Drumully Irish Arts

hi!

With an action packed October now done and dusted, we can look forward to a busy November. With two festivals taking place this month, the Echo Echo Festival of Dance and Movement and also Fashion Fest 2015, as always there will be lots to do in the city. Other highlights include the Moscow Ballet who are coming to town with their production of Swan Lake and also concerts from Russell Watson and Phil Coulter. Don’t forget to log on to our website www,derrylivelist.com for all the latest local entertainment news and your ‘What’s On’ guide… we’ll keep you posted to make sure that you don’t miss a thing!

LINEUP

november 2015

Interview

ROSBOROUGH pages 4,5,6 & 7

Festival Preview >> If you would like to contribute to

next month’s edition, get in touch via any of the methods below

>> To advertise in next months

edition, contact us on 07765760321 or via email w> derrylivelist.com e> info@derrylivelist.com t> twitter.com/derrylivelist f> facebook.com/derrylivelist

ECHO ECHO FESTIVAL OF DANCE AND MOVEMENT pages 22,23, 24 & 25

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Contents

Preview

RUSSELL WATSON

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

pages 8 & 9

Preview

DAVID O’DOHERTY pages 36 & 37

Festival Preview

FASHION FEST 2015 pages 34 & 35

4,5,6 & 7 Rosborough Interview 8 & 9 Russell Watson Preview 10 & 11 Phil Coulter Preview 12 & 13 Meilana Gillard Quintet Preview 14 & 15 Django Django Preview 16 & 17 Bon Jovi Experience preview 18 The Garth Brooks Experience Preview 19 This month’s Club Night Highlights 20-21 This month’s Music Listings 22,23,24 & 25 Echo Echo Festival of Dance & Movement Preview 26 & 27 Swan Lake Preview 28 & 29 Paddy Preview 30 & 31 Tom Crean – Antarctic Explorer Preview 30 & 31 How to keep an Alien Preview 32 & 33 This month’s theatre listings 34 & 35 Fashion Fest 2015 Preview 36 & 37 David O’Doherty Preview

Preview

SWAN LAKE pages 26 & 27

Preview

DJANGO DJANGO pages 14 & 15

omderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.com derrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.comderrylivelist.

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ready to unleash

rosborough G

lenn Rosborough has been one of the leading men in the local music scene for a number of years now ever since his days as the front man of Karma 45 and Intermission which soon followed. Now on the verge of relaunching himself simply as Rosborough, music lovers throughout the land be warned, with his new music and new sound Rosborough is back and get ready to be blown away. When did you first start out performing music and writing your own material? I started playing guitar and singing when I was ten. There were a few guitars around the house and some guitar chord books because my dad plays a bit. He told me I marched into the living room and announced I’m teaching myself guitar and just took it from there. I started writing my own songs about a year or two after. They were bloody awful, but for me it just seemed like a natural transition. I was always trying to deconstruct songs and trying to find out what made them work, what chords worked well together, what lyrics were trying to say Who or what would have been your influences growing up and what would they be now? Growing up there was a huge mix of music in my house. We were taught how to correctly put on and take off a record before anything else. Rockstars were household names and what they did and had to say were lessons to be learnt. People like Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen and Kate bush, bands like REM, Pink Floyd and The Ramones. They taught me how to question authority and form my own opinions and ultimately not be afraid to have something to say.

That music and that way of thinking stuck with me through life, I still listen to the same music I listened to as a child. There have been some great acts to come along which reinforced what I loved about the latter, such as Tool, Muse and Half Moon Run You are heavily involved with The Nerve Centre, tell us a bit about the work you do there? I am the course coordinator for the music course. I with my team build the music performance and music production courses, providing courses that will arm people with the knowledge they need to be a professional performer or recording engineer. I also work closely with our SYNC project which teaches young people about playing, writing and recording. It’s one of the most rewarding jobs you could ever have, I get to help young people write their first song or record their first single and watch them develop into fully formed artists. You were the frontman of two of the most loved local bands, Karma 45 and Intermission – but what has been the main advantage of going it alone in terms of the moniker ‘Rosborough’? Kharma 45 taught me a lot about the industry, I was signed

Photo by Drumully Irish Arts (facebook.com/galleryrobert)

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to a major and got to tour all around the place for about 3 years. We played so many huge shows with great acts and I have some great memories from that time. I don’t think I really found my feet as a writer until I started Intermission. I was the main writer in that band so it was up to me to make sure the material was good enough. I took all the lessons we learned from working with so many great producers and engineers while I was in Kharma, so I tried to apply some of those lessons to what I was doing. I locked myself in my studio for hours and just kept writing and recording. Writing music is a lot like playing a piano, you have to practice. I think all that time spent meant I had the

confidence to make material under my own name What music are you currently listening to on your iPod? At the minute I have Puscifer, Nick Cave, Meshuggah, Sia and Florence and the Machines playing mostly. I have a huge passion for good songs rather than genres so I keep things quite eclectic

and range. I sang constantly as a child so I’ve never really worked on or chosen a type of singing. There were a lot of female artists like Cyndi Lauper, Alanis Morissette etc while I was young and I would have sang along to those quite a lot so it may have come from there. I think it all comes back to how you listen to music in the first place. Great songs is what it’s all about really, rather than ticking boxes. I’ve tried writing to particular genres and feels before and it’s only ever resulted in terrible music I don’t like. I like to keep myself as free and as open as possible when I write. It’s more what the song dictates than what I think it should be like

Your own music doesn’t seem to lend itself to one particular type of genre and the range of your voice is incredible which means you’re not limited in any way. When writing do you set out to be wide ranging or is this simply your influences coming through? I don’t know, I tend to just sing what Generally, which comes first, the makes me feel good in terms of melody music or the lyrics?

Photo by Drumully Irish Arts (facebook.com/galleryrobert)

For me, I collect lyrical ideas, and I leave them floating around in there. When I write I usually write music first but with an overall idea of theme in mind. I then start to form lyrics around that musical theme. When I write, I write with a movie scene in my head. I get the setting and place set first, then the characters, and then the dialogue. That’s what usually happens, other times you can strike lucky and everything comes at once, you are done in twenty minutes and then it’s on to the next one... I wish that happened more often! You took some time away from the music scene but now you’re back (yay!) what was the reason for the brief time away? I was writing, and writing loads. I tend

to be quite strict with times, carving out hours through my week. It’s my job, and although it’s creative, I try to be “on it” as much as possible. I heard a great quote recently that describes how that work ethic applies to creative jobs by the painter Chuck Close, “Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work”. I used to stress about not having ideas, but ideas come when you work hard in the creative environment. Over the past few months I think I’ve finished about 30 songs. All this tinkering away has put me in a great place when it comes to doing shows, I’ve a whole new catalogue to choose from live, and I feel this new material is a great reflection of where I am now

What new releases can we look forward to hearing and what are your plans for the future? I’m currently shooting a video for a new song, I’m hoping to have it up before December. There is going to be a lot of music which no one will have heard. I’m also starting to gig now over in the mainland with my first London dates happening in mid-December. It’s going to get pretty busy, which I’m most looking forward to. Sometimes it’s hard as a musician to hold back what you’ve been working on, but now I feel I’ve tested the water enough and I’m ready to embark on the next phase, most of which will be gigging as much as possible. A part of music which I love almost as much as writing

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9 Up Close and Personal with the UK’s best selling classical artist Russell in Singapore singing with Soprano Melodie Tan

he self styled ‘People’s Tenor’ will take to the stage this month at the Millennium Forum. Russell Watson is officially the UK’s best selling classical artist ever and has won four Classical BRITS with work spanning across classical and pop genres. The English tenor is regarded as one of the world’s most prominent tenors and has sold over seven million albums worldwide. Since releasing his debut album ‘The Voice’ in May 2001, which was a mixture of operatic arias and covers of pop songs, Watson has rose to become one of the most sought after and respected singers in the world. ‘The Voice’ held the UK number one spot for a world record 52 weeks while at the same time holding the number one spot in America, making him the first British male to hold the accolade of a simultaneous transatlantic number one. Each and every studio album

released since has gained critical acclaim. He has also performed for some of the world’s greatest figures including the late Pope John Paul II (who requested a private audience with Russell at the Vatican), The Queen, former US presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush, the Emperor of Japan, various European Prime Ministers, the King of Malaysia and Middle Eastern Sultans. Watson has also collaborated with some of the biggest names in music including Pavarotti, Lionel Richie, Cliff Richard, Lulu, Sarah Brightman and Meatloaf to name a few. Throughout his career, Watson has been a strong supporter of unsigned local artists and choirs, which is why he has requested to have a local choir accompany him on his ‘Up Close & Personal’ tour of 53 UK dates. For his Derry date he will have the fantastic Londonderry Musical Society supporting him on the night.

>> You can catch Russell Watson at the Millennium Forum on

Wednesday 25th November at 8pm with tickets priced at £32.50.

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derry legend celebrates 50 years’ in the music business Phil Coulter is back for a 50th Anniversary Tour

ne of Derry’s favourite sons will return to the Millennium Forum this month to celebrate his 50th Anniversary in the music business. Regarded as one of Ireland’s biggest selling recording artistes of all time, he has amassed a wealth of accolades including 23 platinum discs, 39 gold discs, 52 silver discs, two Grand Prix Eurovision awards; five Ivor Novello Awards, a Grammy Nomination; a Meteor Award, a National Entertainment Award and a Rose d’or d’Antibes. The song in which he is most famous for ‘The Town I Love So Well’ has become iconic with the city over the years, and it is a song in which he has previously said he is most proud of. It still gives me goose bumps every time I hear it. When starting out in the music business, he probably had not expected that some day he would be commissioned to

write a national anthem, but in 1995 that occurred. The Irish Rugby Football Union approached Coulter to write a politically neutral anthem for the Ireland national rugby union team, which represented both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The result of which was ‘Ireland’s Call’. It is undoubtedly the one song that he produced which is sung with most passion and by a greater audience. It was evident at not only the Six Nations games, but also at this year’s World Cup in England just how much the song is embraced by supporters north and south. Unsurprisingly, the song itself has since also been adopted by the Ireland’s national hockey, cricket and rugby league teams.

>> You can catch Phil Coulter at the Millennium Forum on Thursday 26th November at 8pm, with tickets from £15.

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from a Experience the rising star to a mobo award nominee B

ennigans Bar has been Jazz central for a long time now and the only bar in town to be champions of Jazz music. It helps that the main man has music running through his veins. John Leighton, bar manager and leaseholder, is himself an accomplished jazz pianist and composer and in 2011 he released his debut album ‘Dramatic Life’ with David Lyttle’s record label Lyte Records. The Eglinton born pianist is passionate about music and has made Bennigans Bar the place to be for live music of all genres in the city. This month the Meilana Gillard Quintet will set up and play to this fantastic intimate venue. Made up of some of the finest musicians in the city including John Leighton, 2015 MOBO award nominee David Lyttle, Rohan Armstrong and Michael Barkley there will be enough talent on show to blow your socks off and all for an incredible five quid! Meilana Gillard, who is a jazz saxophonist based in Belfast, picked up the Tenor Saxophone at the tender age of eleven in her school band and became involved with Jazz at the age of thirteen. Originally from London, Meilana was raised in the U.S. and studied for

two years at Ohio State University under Beatles saxophonist Gene Walker as well as studying at the New School University Jazz Programme which she graduated from in 2005. Her composition ‘A Spirit Remembered’ featured on iTunes Rising Stars of Jazz compilation and in 2012 she returned back to the UK and relocated to Northern Ireland where she quickly became immersed in the local Jazz scene. Meilana will be joined by MOBO and Urban Music Awards nominee David Lyttle who is the first Irish musician to be nominated for a MOBO Award. His album ‘Faces’ which was released earlier this year was described by Rolling Stone Magazine as “one of the best, robust listening experiences you’re likely to have all year.” I often say this and you may argue that I’m a little bit biased, but nowhere in the country on both sides of the boarder has what we have here in Derry. The amount of musical talent on our doorstep on a weekly basis is unbelievable. We often take it for granted, and that’s only natural I think, you can become a bit complacent. But now and again it’s worth taking a step back and reassess just what we have and Bennigans Jazz Club is one of those times to do that.

>> Meilana Gillard Quintet at Bennigans Bar on Sunday 22nd November at 9pm where she will be joined by David Lyttle, Rohan Armstong, John Leighton and Michael Barkley. £5 entry.

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DJA DJ

The Nerve Centre sees the return of eclectic London based indie quartet

Scottish foursome Django Django will bring their eclectic indie sound to the Nerve Centre after releasing their second album Born Under Saturn earlier this year. The guys originally met at the Edinburgh College of Art but formed the band in 2009 while in London and spent the next three years working towards their first album which they released in 2012. Released on the Because Music record label, The Mercury Prize-nominated selftitled studio album went down a storm from fans and critics alike and reached number 33 in the charts during the first week of its release. Speaking about their individual sound, drummer and producer David Maclean told Late Night Tales: “We wanted to produce a mix that represented the band. It’s what we’re all into, so everyone put forward suggestions. It’s what we are as a band; and we’re kids that have grown up with an obsession about our

mum and dad’s record collections, like ‘50s and 60s stuff and then got into hip hop and dance music as we grew up. At the heart of it all is our parents’ collections, with our tastes mixed in.” With a three year gestation period following a successful debut - which can often be a killer for a lot of bands – the guys seem to have maintained the impetuous and produced a second which stands up alongside the first. Django Django followed their debut album with the release of Born Under Saturn to critical acclaim and at the time of its release, The Guardian called it ‘the only album you should hear this week’. The eclectic indie alt rock pop outfit cover more genres than you could shake a stick at and will take to the stage at the Nerve Centre next month with tickets available via the Box Office, Ticketmaster and WeGotTickets

>> You can catch Django Django at the Nerve Centre on Wednesday 2nd November at 8pm with tickets priced at £16.50 plus booking fee.

ANGO JANGO

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Experience the

Photo by Ellie C Photography

next best thing T

he Bon Jovi Experience are seen as the ultimate Bon Jovi tribute band and the only one in the world to have performed live with the legend himself. The band who mostly hail from in and around Stoke are highly in demand throughout the UK and Ireland and are constantly on the road playing to large crowds. With over 20 years experience of touring the UK and Europe with their act, they have been certified as the most authentic Bon Jovi Tribute act on earth, by Jon Bon Jovi himself. Tony Pearce takes up the role of the main man Jon Bon Jovi and is unbelievably similar in appearance to the New Jersey legend. So much so that when Tony went along to see the original Bon Jovi play, he was mobbed by screaming fans who thought he was Jon Bon Jovi and started

taking pictures and asking for autographs. Chad Kroeger, frontman of Nikleback who were Bon Jovi’s support act at the time, even picked him out from the crowd and said, “Have you seen this guy? He’s that much like Jon bon Jovi its freaky man”. The guys got to perform with Jon Bon Jovi when in 2006 they were requested to play at the Hard Rock Cafe in London for Bon Jovi’s induction into the UK Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Jon Bon Jovi joined the band on the stage and performed the song ‘Who says you can’t go home’. He later stated that they were “the best tribute I’ve ever seen”. The much in demand tribute band will bring The Bon Jovi Experience to Derry later this month with a performance at the Waterside Theatre and will surely go out in a Blaze of Glory.

>> The Bon Jovi Experience will be at the Waterside Theatre on Friday 20th November at 7pm with tickets priced at £15.

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GARTH BROOKS TO COME TO DERRY! ...WELL KIND OF

ary McEvoy has been a leading Garth Brooks performer for the last 20 years and in 2014 launched his new show ‘Gary McEvoy’s Garth Brooks Experience’. Garth, Brooks and Dublin are three words that still hurt a lot of Irish Brooks fans after last year’s debacle of will he, won’t he... ah, no he won’t. Many fans across the land were left disappointed and out of pocket after the cancellation of the Garth

Brooks Aviva concerts in Dublin. But now, Gary McEvoy brings the experience to the Millennium Forum this month. With a full live band, replica Garth Brooks costumes as well as playing all the top hits from the country legend such as Baton Rouge, If tomorrow never comes, The Dance, Shameless, Much Too Young, Two of a Kind and Friends in Low Places, Gary McEvoy’s Garth Brooks Experience promises to get those toes tapping.

The Derry musician has performed his show at many of the top venues throughout Ireland including open air gigs, GAA stadiums and major concert halls. Tomorrow may not have come for Garth Brooks fans last year, but it sure will this month at the Millennium Forum.

>> Gary McEvoy’s Garth Brooks Experience will be at the Millennium Forum on Thursday 12th ovember at 8pm with tickets from £10

HIGHLIGHTS: CLUB NITES THIS MONTH JIKA JIKA!

IAN O’ DONOVAN - DRUMCODE @ SANDINOS

Friday, 13 November 10pm / £8 Since bursting onto the scene in 2010 with huge support from the likes of Laurent Garnier, John Digweed and Dave Clarke, Ireland’s Ian O’Donovan has gone on to achieve great feats as an artist.

Ian has forged a unique style within the techno scene, blending a touch of the past with his melodic sound and moulding it into place with top level production. His tracks have found homes on iconic imprints such as Kevin Saunderson’s KMS in Detroit, John Digweed’s burgeoning Bedrock Records, Christian Smith’s Tronic and Sasha’s Last Night on Earth label. Ian has reworked classics like Inner City’s ‘Good Life’ and collaborated with legends like John Digweed along with a string of top solo releases, which have won favour with industry titans like Richie Hawtin and Carl Cox.

80’s NITE

@ SANDINOS VENUE Friday, 6th November & Friday, 20th November at 10pm. £3 before 11pm, £5 after Sandiinos 80’s Nite is back for TWO nights this month at Sandinos Main Venue playing all the classic 80’s tunes with DJ Gerard C

BIG MIZ @ SANDINOS BACK BAR Saturday, 14th November 10pm, £5 before 11pm, £8 after

Good Vibrations Derry comes to Derry with Offbeat Glasgow founder and Dixon Avenue Basement Jams’ Big Miz. A limited amount of online tickets available

IN THE PUBS & CLUBS: THE BENTLEY

MONDAY Jamie Noonan TUESDAY Audrey WEDNESDAY Conka’s Quiz and Disco THURSDAY DJ Conka FRIDAY DJ Joe SATURDAY DJ John Henderson Main bar & Ricky Nixon- Linen Room SUNDAY DJ Joe

THE METRO

MONDAYS - The Mindbenders TUESDAYS - Hard to Handle WEDNESDAY - The Real Thing THURSDAY - With DJ Smitty FRIDAY - With DJ Jim SATURDAY - With DJ Smitty SUNDAY - With DJ Jim

ENVY NIGHTCLUB

TUESDAY - Skint Student Night Drink Promotions. 9pm-2am Free entry WEDNESDAY - Karaoke Night THURSDAY - All Inclusive Thirsty Thursday Doors 10pm-2am £12 admission (includes drinks) FRIDAY - Throwwback Party - Classics fom the 80’s, 90’s SATURDAY - Just Dance Playing all the best in high energy, Top 40, Dance and Classic hits. Drink promos untill 11pm. Admission:Free Doors:9pm

BENNIGANS BAR

MONDAY - Open Mic Night TUESDAY - Bennigans Introducing: Night of local musicians. Admission:Free Time:10pm THURSDAY - Live music with ‘ Hotel California’ playing all the american classics FRIDAY - Original Fridays Live Music Admission:Free Time:10.30pm SATURDAY - Jazz legend Gay McIntyre every saturday afternoon, 5-7pm. Free entry. Saturday night Live Music: Admission:Free Time:10.30pm SUNDAY - Jazz at Bennigans, includes complimentary food. Admission:£5 Time:9pm

>> For a full weekly schedule o whats on in our pubs and clubs, check out our website www.derrylivelist.com

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FESTIVAL OF REMEMBRANCE & VARIETY CONCERT Waterside Theatre Friday, 06 November

FRANCES BLACK & KIERAN GOSS

Time:7.30pm Admission:£10

Millennium Forum

Thursday, 05 November

Thursday, 12 November

Time:8pm Admission:£19.50

It’s been over 20 years since Frances Black and Kieran Goss last toured together but the pair are back.

GARY MCEVOY’S GARTH BROOKS EXPERIENCE Time:8pm Tickets:£10

The variety concert will be followed by a short service of remembrance and all profits are in aid of the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.

Gary McEvoy has been a leading Garth Brooks performer for over twenty years. If you want to find some friends in low places, get two Pina Coladas, or just remember that summer in Baton Rouge, don’t miss this energetic show.

THE BJORN IDENTITY Millennium Forum

experience; paying homage to the worlds best loved 70’s Super Group ABBA. Featuring specially selected performers with West End & International touring experience they never fail to exceed all expectations. They will be performing a decade of the greatest hits of ABBA and more, Friday, 13 November including ‘Mamma Mia,’ which celebrates Time:8pm Tickets:from £12.50 its 40th year since its release this year. The Björn Identity are now one of the finSupported on the night by local singer est Abba tribute shows this side of Swe- Conor McGinty den, taking UK and Irish venues by storm with an authentic LIVE Abba in concert

CATZ ‘N DOGZ

RAMBLING BOYS OF PLEASURE

Nerve Centre

Friday, 20 November

Culturlann Ui Chanáin

Time:9pm Tickets:£10/£12 + Booking

Friday, 13 November Time: 8pm Tickets:£12

SOUS LE MONDE Sandinos

Friday, 20 November Time:9.30pm Tickets:£3

The Rambling Boys of Pleasure are a collection of Irish musicians who love to explore their music and look for new directions in which to take it.

Sous le Monde are a local based 4 piece original Band. The band formed in 2015 and are growing in support and notoriety for having create songs and a sound that is instantly recognizable, with a number of tunes ear marked for release. With support on the night from Tau Tree Serpents and Neil Doherty

As part of their Basic Colour Theory Album tour Catz ‘n Dogz are back having played a sell-out show back in March

THE BON JOVI EXPERIENCE

Waterside Theatre

AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH RUSSELL WATSON

Time:7pm Tickets:£12.50

Wednesday, 25 November

Millennium Forum

Friday, 20 November

Time:8pm Tickets:£32.50

MEILANA GILLARD QUINTET Bennigans

Sunday, 22 November Individually and as a band they produce the looks and sounds of the real thing so closely that Jon Bon Jovi has said they are “the best tribute I’ve ever seen”!

Time:9pm Tickets:£5

Meilana Gillard is joined by MOBO Award Nominee David Lyttle on drums, Rohan Armstong, John Leighton and Michael Barkley

Russell Watson never imagined he would one day be one of the world’s most prominent tenors, selling in excess of seven million albums worldwide.

PHIL COULTER: THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT Millennium Forum Thursday, 26 November

Time:8pm Tickets:from £15 Phil Coulter is one of Ireland’s biggest selling recording artistes of all time and the Derry born muscian will be back to the city this month as part of his 50th

SCHOOLS ORCHESTRAS WINTER CONCERT Waterside Theatre Thursday, 26 November Time:8pm Tickets:£5

DJANGO DJANGO Nerve Centre

Friday, 02 December Time:8pm Tickets:£16.50 + Booking

JAZZ SUPPER CLUB: URSULA & CO

Encore Brasserie Millennium Forum String, wind and brass players from across the schools in the North West come together to perform an eclectic mix of seasonal favourites

Anniversary celebration tour. To help celebrate his 50th Anniversary in the music business, Phil, his musicians and guests will perform new arrangements of all his classic songs, The Town I Love So Well, Steal Away, Ireland’s Call, Scorn Not His Simplicity and many more.

Friday, 27 November Time:8pm Tickets:£25

Ursula has been joined on stage by some of Northern Ireland’s finest Jazz musicians. Price includes live jazz music and a three course meal with wine

Three years after the release of their Mercury Prize-nominated, self-titled debut the band are back with Born Under Saturn.

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~ Echo Echo Festival of Dance and

Photo taken from â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Short Worksâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

23 Movement 2015, 5th-15th November ~

POETRY IN MOVEMENT WITH LOCAL & INTERNATIONAL DANCE ARTISTS T

he largest Dance and Movement festival of its kind outside of Dublin returns with a packed schedule from local and international dance artists. The eleven day festival celebrates poetry in movement and has over 60 guest artists from Ireland, UK, Finland, Norway and Italy taking part in this year’s event, including a largescale ensemble work by Stellaris. Back for it’s third installment, the Echo Echo Dance and Movement Festival has grown year on year and promises to be even bigger for the 2015 edition. Based within the beautiful studio on Derry’s famous City Walls, the first class facilities at the studio are second to none and will host the fantastic performances which will be on show. “We try to make our festival a place where the work that is presented is not

obscure and inaccessible, but does have the potential to touch people deeply, to open the heart, to awaken a watchers own potential for peoptic physicality” said Artistic Director Steve Batts. One of the festival highlights is that of ensemble work by the Norwegian dance company Stellaris DansTeater titled Whispers – at the Pearly Gates. The large scale ensemble work is inspired by the choreographer’s encounters with Alzheimer’s where she marvelled at the complexity of the brain and how different character changes happen. The highly emotive piece uses dance and film as the characters communicate with each other in a landscape which is seemingly real for each of them. The guys at Echo Echo were inundated for this years festival open call. 2014 attracted 30 submissions, while this year over 100 different artists and

24 theatre,dance & verbal arts

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~ Echo Echo Festival of Dance and Festival Schedule: Thursday 5th Class Ayesha Mailey 10am-12pm Studio Two Oona Doherty: DOCNITE 8pm Studio One Friday 6th Class Oona Doherty 10am-12pm Studio Two Oona Doherty: DOCNITE 8pm Studio One Saturday 7th Short Works 8pm Studio One Sunday 8th Class Kelly Quigley 10am-12pm Studio Two Dance Picnic 2-4pm Spzio Seme CIMOSA 4.30pm Studio One Monday 9th Class Zoe Ramsey 2-4pm Studio Two Spzio Seme CIMOSA 11am (Schools), 4.30pm Studio One Tuesday 10th Class Spzio Seme 10am-12pm Studio Two Stellaris Whispers 8pm Studio One Wednesday 11th Class Stellaris 10am-12pm Studio Two Symposium 2-5pm Studio Two Stellaris Whispers 8pm Studio One Thusday 12th Class Stellaris 10am-12pm Studio Two Madden/Svensson Double Bill 8pm Studio One Friday 13th Class Maria Svensson 10am-12pm Studio Two Open Studio Performances 2pm Studio Two Contact Jam 5-7pm Studio Two Madden/Svensson Double Bill 8pm Studio One Saturday 14th Class Janie Doherty 10am-12pm Studio Two Performance Workshop 1.30-5.30pm Mirva Makinen Spherical Space 8pm Studio One Sunday 15th Class Mirva Makinen 10am-12pm Studio Two Performance Workshop 1.30-5.30pm Mirva Makinen Spherical Space 7pm Studio One Velvet Alibis Closing Party 8pm-late

Spzio Seme CIMOSA

companies from around the globe submitted which then needed top be whittle down to only eight. With submissions from as far away as Nigeria and Japan, Echo Echo Artistic Director Steve Batts and his team had some hard decisions to make but were thrilled at just how far-reaching the festival has become. The evening of short works provides a fantastic opportunity to get a taster of local, regional and international performances, ranging in diciplines. Another highlight of the festival is

25 Movement 2015, 5th-15th November ~ Photo by Jussi Tuokkola

Docnite (pictured inset) which is the first full length pogramme of choreographer Oona Doherty, consisting of three episodes exploring metapysical states and is a ‘hunt for truth and hope with the flesh of the body.’ Based in Bangor Co.Down, Oona has been performing and cre-

ating internationally since 2010 with previous collaborations including TRASH Dance (Netherlands), Abattoir Fermé (Belgium), and Emma Martin (Ireland). For the kids the must see show is Spazio Seme’s CIMOSA which is a ‘small fragments of surreal stories, romantic

and ironic moods that transport you... a show without speech. Noises, sounds and music. Shadows and dancing bodies. Theatrical tricks and distorted perspective’ performed by the Italian dance company for this funny and touching show. There will also be numerous chances to get involved with workshops being available which offer a fantastic opportunity to learn first hand from the vast array of dance artists and companies taking part in this years festival.

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Sw a

26 theatre,dance & verbal arts

ake

an L

Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet comes to Derry T

he world renowned Moscow Ballet has brought the classics to our shores for many years and are constantly in demand worldwide. Swan Lake is a classic in every sense of the word. Perhaps the most loved of all ballets, I challenge you to find anyone who has not heard of it whether they be a ballet fan or not. The Moscow Ballet bring world-renowned soloists Nadezda Ivanova, Andrey Shalin, Andrey Lyapin and Dmitry Smirno under the direction of Elik Melikov. Known by many as ballet’s greatest love story, Swan Lake was composed by Tchaikovsky in 1875 and was initially considered a failure. Now over 140 years later Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece is performed by hundreds of ballet companies throughout the world each year and is one that all leading ballerinas dream of performing in. Swan Lake is traditionally told in two acts and tells the classic story

of how a princess called Odette is turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer’s curse and she must remain a swan, except between midnight and dawn, unless she is saved by true love. The leading male is Prince Siegfried who has no interest in his royal role, but due to the recent death of his father must now act as king and take a bride. He is determined however to choose a bride whom he loves and during a hunting expedition deep into the forest he sees Princess Odette, the Queen of the Swans. As he is about to shoot, she transforms into the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. Overcome with love he professes his love for Odette and promises to take her as his bride but the evil sorcerer Von Rothbart has other ideas. A story of hope, love, and loss is the ultimate fairy tale ballet where the power of true love overcomes evil.

>> You can see the Moscow Ballet’s performace of Swan Lake at the Millennium Forum on Friday 6th November at 7.30pm with tickets starting at £12.50.

28 theatre,dance & verbal arts

Paddy

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A story of emigration and life on the building sites of London as told by multi-award winning singer Tommy Fleming in his first major acting role

ommy Fleming is no stranger to walking the floorboards of the Millennium Forum, but this month he returns in a different capacity. The International multi-award winning singer will take to the stage in what will be his first major acting role in a new and original musical drama titled ‘Paddy’. Tommy has a special connection to Derry for it was with Phil Coulter that he received his big break in the music business when he appeared as a guest singer on his USA tour in 1993. He went on to play for huge audiences all across the USA and Canada during Phil Coulter’s tour, culminating in two shows in the Boston Symphony Hall and the legendary Carnegie Hall in New York. Since then Tommy has graced the stage with many big international acts and played in some of the biggest venues worldwide.

‘Paddy’ is co-written by Tommy alongside Knock based singer/songwriter Gerry Carney and Tommy Marren, writer of the play ‘It’s the Real McCoy’. The play follows the story of Patrick Murphy who leaves Ireland in the 1960’s for England in search of new life while working on the building sites of London. The show itself is very relevant to modern day Ireland where hoards of young men and women have been leaving the Emerald Isles since the economic downturn in search of employment and a better quality of life. Set over a 25 year period, the play follows Paddy during his travels from Ireland to England as his hopes and dreams are played out alongside 16 original songs. A play of hope, dreams and aspirations through emotions and humour, Tommy Fleming’s role as Paddy has been going down a storm.

>> You can see Tommy Fleming performing Paddy at the Millennium Forum on Sunday 15th November at 8pm with tickets priced at £26.50.

30 theatre,dance & verbal arts

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31 The Story of how Tom Crean beat the Antarctic A

idan Dooley tells the story of one of Ireland’s unsung heroes in this award winning solo production. Reliving the riveting true story of Crean’s Antarctic explorations as one of only a few men to have served with both Scott and Shackleton and survive three famous expeditions, all told in this dramatic and humorous account. Crean’s first experience of exploration was when he volunteered for Captain Scott’s Discovery Expedition of 1901-01 which aimed to carry out scientific research and geographical exploration in what was then largely an untouched continent. The Discovery Expedition launched the Antarctic careers of many who would become leading figures in what was later to be known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Captain Scott’s ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition of 1911–13 saw the race to reach the South Pole lost to Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and also ended in the deaths of Scott and his polar party.

Crean received the Albert Medal for Lifesaving due to the role he played in the expedition when he made a 35 mile solo walk across rough terrain on the Ross Ice Shelf to save the life of Edward Evans. Crean’s final expedition was that of the Imperial Transantarctic Expedition of 1914 where he joined Ernest Shackleton, who was also Irish born, on what was known as the Endurance Expedition. Yet another expedition fraught with danger and misfortune, the party’s ship named ‘Endurance’ became well and truly stuck in the ice and during the efforts to work the ship free, Crean narrowly avoided being crushed. For months the ship remained stuck until it eventually sank. The expedition party began a long and tireless journey to get help lasting more than two years. Aidan Dooley’s critically acclaimed account of Tom Crean’s incredible expeditions has sold out performances throughout Ireland, USA, Australia and Europe while 2015 has seen the tour return to the UK by popular demand.

>> Play On Words Theatre presents Tom Crean – Antarctic Explorer

Written and Performed by Aidan Dooley at The Playhouse on Sunday 8th November to Monday 9th November at 8pm, with tickets priced at £12.50.

32 theatre

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how hard COULD it be to get a visa... I

rish comedian and actress Sonya Kelly (from The Savage Eye) is back with another hit show. Following up from the success of The Wheelchair on My Face, How to Keep an Alien is a real life tale written and performed by Sony Kelly and directed by Gina Moxley. The tender, funny, yet serious story charts the difficulties she met whist trying to secure an Irish Visa for her Australian girlfriend Kate, and the subsequent battles with bureaucracy that it entailed. The story follows her journey from Offaly to Queensland, from mountains of paperwork to proving to a government that their love is real. “Initially, Kate came over on a one-year work visa. But then she had to leave, because there was a prohibitive bar where, if you didn’t earn €60,000 or more, you had to go home” Sonya told the Irish Examiner. This then led the pair to apply for a ‘de facto’ relationship visa, however two years’ worth of dated documentary evidence

proving that the pair exist as a couple needed to be submitted. “There are 27 rules and regulations, and let’s just say that they are the opposite of sexy. You’re at a point in your relationship where there should be a sense of spontaneity and freedom, but, actually, you’re just collecting receipts and putting them into a dossier for some stranger to look at” said Sonya. This critically acclaimed hit show was winner of the Tiger Dublin Fringe Best Production Award and is presented by Rough Magic who produce a broad spectrum of work which includes over 50 Irish premieres and the professional debuts of many Irish theatre-makers. Tearfully funny yet tender, How to Keep an Alien brings to the forefront the bureaucracy that exists and the difficulties that come with it, but promises to be a show that audiences will love. >> Rough Magic presents How to Keep an Alien with Sonya Kelly at the Playhouse on Saturday 21st November at 8pm with tickets priced at £8 & £11

34 theatre,dance & verbal arts

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OONA DOHERTY BIG TELLY THEATRE AN EVENING OF COMPANY PRESENTS SHORT WORKS Echo Echo PRESENTS DOCNITE Saturday 07 November Echo Echo

Thurs, 05 - Fri, 06 November Time:8pm Tickets:£10/8

DOCNITE is the first full length programme of choreographer Oona Doherty’s original work consisting of three episodes exploring metaphysical states. A hunt for truth and hope with the flesh of the body.

GULLIVER

Time:8pm Tickets:£10/8

The Playhouse

Friday, 06 November Time:8pm Tickets: £8/ £11

When Gulliver returns from another amazing experience at sea, his family are more than a little perplexed.

An Evening of Short Works consisting of eight great pieces from local, regional and international artists for the Echo Echo Festival of Dance and Movement

MOSCOW BALLET PRESENTS SWAN Millennium Forum Friday, 06 November

Time:7.30pm Tickets: from £12.50 As the company of Moscow Ballet – La Classique once more dance themselves into the dreams that legends are made of and yet another world class production of Swan Lake.

TOM CREAN: ANTARCTIC EXPLORER

SPAZIO SEME PRESENT CIMOSA

Sun, 08 - Mon, 09 November

Time:8pm Tickets:£12.50

Time:4.30pm Tickets:£10/8

The Playhouse

Echo Echo

STELLARIS DANS THEATER COMPANY PRESENT “WHISPERS......BY THE PEARLY GATES” Echo Echo

Tues, 10 - Wed, 11 November Time:8pm Tickets:£10/8

Tom Crean, the intrepid Antarctic explorer and one of Ireland’s unsung heroes returns to The Playhouse in this dramatic and humorous solo performance.

Spazio Seme, from Arezzo in Tuscany present the funny and touching show, CIMOSA

This performance work originated from the choreographer’s meeting with Alzheimer’s

35 SHAKESPEARE DOUBLE BILL – MIRVA MÄKINEN & SCHOOLS FESTIVAL BRIDGET MADDEN & COMPANY PRESENT Waterside Theatre MARIA SVENSSON SPHERICAL SPACE Wednesday, 11 November Time:7pm Tickets:from £6

The Shakespeare Schools Festival is the UK’s largest youth drama festival and enables over 35,000 young people from a thousand primary, secondary and special schools to stage abridged Shakespeare productions in their local professional theatre.

Echo Echo

Thurs, 12 - Fri, 13 November

Sat, 14 - Sun, 15 November

Time:8pm Tickets:£10/8

Time:Sat 8pm/Sun7pm Tickets:£10/8

This performance is a double bill, ‘ionsú’ by Bridget Madden and ‘The Importance of Shepherds’ by Maria Svensson

‘Spherical Space’ is a performance based on Contact Improvisation and is part of Mirva Mäkinen’s doctoral studies at the Theatre Academy in Helsinki.

PADDY

Millennium Forum Sunday, 15 November

Time:8pm Tickets:£26.50

International multi-award winning singer Tommy Fleming takes to the stage for his first major acting role in a brand new original drama/musical entitled ‘Paddy’.

NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE PRESENTS: OF MICE AND MEN The Playhouse

Friday, 20 November

HOW TO KEEP AN ALIEN The Playhouse

Saturday, 21 November

PLAY ON

Waterside Theatre Friday, 27 November

Time:8pm Tickets: from £8

Time:7pm Tickets:£11/8

Time:7pm Tickets:£11

The hit Broadway production Of Mice and Men, filmed on stage in New York by National Theatre Live, comes to UK cinemas.

A story about falling in love and proving it to the government. Sonya Kelly (The Wheelchair on my Face) is back with a tearfully funny, tender memoir about securing an Irish visa for her Australian partner Kate.

Play On is a lively farce featuring a well-known cast and for anyone who has ever been involved in amateur dramatics it’s sure to open a mixed bag of emotions!

36 fashion fest 2015

#MusicCity #DerryLive

From the High Street to the Catwalk, Fashion Fest is back F

ashion Fest is back this month for its second installment and runs for three days from Thursday 12th - Friday 14th November. Showcasing the latest in cutting edge design and local trends, the festival has an exciting programme of events which gives everyone a chance to get involved. Speaking about this year’s event, Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District, Councillor Elisha McCallion, said: “Last year’s programme was a real success attracting talent from across the country who found the perfect platform to showcase their work, and forging new links between creative talents from both sides of the border. Derry is really beginning to establish a name for itself in the fashion world and with centres such as the Fashion and Textile Design Hub providing support for emerging new designers, we really have the potential to make the city the fashion capital of the North.” Business Opportunities Manager with Derry City and Strabane District Council, Louise Breslin, said: “This year we have some really inspirational designers taking part, and we will be announcing further details of this exciting programme over the coming weeks.

I want to encourage as many local businesses as possible to take part and to look at ways they can engage with the festival and the growing focus on the local fashion industry.” Derry has long been associated

and also the rules for operating in a crowded marketplace as well cost effective retail promotional strategies. Following the workshops there will be a Designer Showcase which offers an exclusive fashion and accessories pre-season buying opportunity. There will also be special guest designers in attendance including Mariad Whisker and Mary Cullan. Friday sees the return of the successful Junk Kouture Catwalks which will be held at Foyleside Shopping Centre and also the Richmond Shopping Centre. Not only will there be a catwalk in the shopping centres, but also various demonstrations and exhibition with its fashion, in particular the across the city highlighting the ladies of the city so it’s a fantastic effectiveness of recycled material opportunity to be in fashion. Kicking things off on Thursday Closing the festival will be the 12th at St.Columbs Hall, there is an Gala Fashion Show which is a tickin depth Creative Retailing Worketed event. Held at St Columb’s shop with Eddie Shanahan who is Hall, it is the most anticipated chair of the Council for Fashion and glamorous event within the Designers and has a long history Fashion Fest programme and is of success working with iconic designed to celebrate the internadesigners and retailers in both the tional grade designers and labels Irish and International markets. who are putting our region on the This workshop allows participants fashion map. International guest the opportunity to engage and designer Helen Cody will be in shows just how important retail attendance as both designers and branding and consumer behavthe high-street will come together iour are for the retail industry for this event.

Fashion Fest 2015 12th -14th November

36 comedy

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HERE’S LOOKING AT YOU DAVID O’DOHERTY D

avid O’Doherty, the Perrier Award winning Irish comedian, author, musician, actor and playwright returns to Derry this month. No stranger to our shores, David was here in March during the Humdinger festival with illustrator Chris Judge for a hilarious lesson in Dangerology with his David O’Doherty: Danger is Still Everywhere show which he will be repeating on Saturday 28th November at 11am when he returns. The Edinburgh Fringe regular burst onto the scene in 2000 when he won Channel 4’s new act competition, ‘So You Think You’re Funny? And with it, a huge card-

board cheque with £1500 written on it. He was told it was legal tender, so he decided to take it to the bank and get it cashed. “I made the cashier almost weep with laughter. Seriously, she got the other people from round the back to come out and laugh at me” he said. Since then the Irish funnyman has published countless children’s books, been a regular on our screens as well as doing the rounds on the comedy circuit. Armed with various stories and his trusted keyboard from 1986, David’s new show We Are All in the Gutter, But Some of Us Are Looking at David O’Doherty follows on from

where he left off, whimsical observational comedy delivered effortlessly in a childlike innocence with gags broken up with a quick burst of song accompanied by his miniature electronic keyboard. His two night show is sandwiched into a hectic tour which sees him make his way throughout Ireland, a quick jont across to the north east of Scotland followed by a trip through England and finishing up next year in sunny Australia. Always in high demand, We Are All in the Gutter, But Some of Us Are Looking at David O’Doherty is undoubtedly a must see gig at The Playhouse this month.

>> Lisa Richard and The Big Tickle presents: David O’Doherty: We Are All in the Gutter, But Some of Us Are Looking at David O’Doherty will be at the Playhouse on Friday 27th November to Saturday 28th November at 8pm, with tickets from £14. His Danger is Still Everywhere show will take place on Saturday 28th Novemberat 11am with tickets priced at £4.