. . . listening to
Monkeemania: The Very Best of The Monkees– every bubble-gum pop song a zinger. It also reminds us that Head is one of the greatest, if most disturbing and confusing, pop-band movies ever made. It ruined the group's career, of course.
. . . recommending
Michael Harding's affecting one-man play The Tinker's Curse, which has been touring Ireland and is in Longford on Thursday; tinkerscurse.net.
. . . watching
If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Riseon DVD. Five years after Hurricane Katrina and his award- winning When The Levees Breakdocumentary, Spike Lee returns to New Orleans to assess the rebuilding of the Crescent City.
Adam Curtis's brain-scratching documentary series All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace(Mondays, BBC2), about our overbearing relationship with computers and the internet.
. . . going to Roger Waters at the O2
History is doomed to repeat itself, and so it comes to pass that Roger Waters, erstwhile bassist and high conceptualist with Pink Floyd, has decided to restage his great folly 30 years after it was first erected. The Wall was huge, monolithic, imposing, a towering monument to one man's ego. It was everything rock'n'roll shouldn't have been, an easy target for punk to kick its Doc Martens against, but there's still a thrill of anticipation at the prospect of seeing this flawed work being played out again before our eyes. And it's probably the most entertaining act of theatrical bricklaying you'll ever see.
The Wallwas last staged at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin in 1990, just after the fall of the Berlin Wall. This time around, Waters has greater visual technology at his disposal, and he uses it to the full. This isn't a Las Vegas-style replica of a great landmark; it's a bigger, bolder and even more bombastic spectacle, perfectly tailored for Floyd fans too young to have seen the original show.
A white, half-built fascia stretches the width of the O2 as Waters sneers the immortal opening line: “So ya thought ya might like to go to the show.”
Audiences were bemused by this fresh spectacle first time round, this time we pretty much know what to expect. There’s still a thrill, though, in seeing the whole shebang – with its inflatable creatures, crashing aircraft and Gerald Scarfe’s visceral animations – unfold.
An unwieldy concept it may be, but The Wallstill has some great rock songs. Another Brick in the Wall is an early highlight. The giant inflatable teacher looms over the primary-school children of St Joseph's, East Wall, while Uncle Roger looks on proudly. During Mother, he duets with his younger self, and later jokes about the "f**ked up" young man he used to be.
He tries to look threatening in fascist-style greatcoat and jackboots during Run Like Hell but can't hide his delight at revisiting The Wall's darker recesses. The best song, Comfortably Numb, finds vocalist Robbie Wyckoff and guitarist Dave Kilminster perched atop the wall, and proves that there's room for a concept album exploring the power and pull of nostalgia. Kevin Courtney
. . . curious about
Latch, which will run during Cork's Midsummer Festival next month. The play will take place in Harbour Heights, a ghost estate in the city. The production company Hammergrin describes it as "the story of a boy who believes in everything he's told, until the day things start to fall apart".
. . . mesmerised
By
Cloud Gate Dance Theatreof Taiwan at Grand Canal Theatre on Thursday night. With a remarkable use of masses of rice, it was a mesmerising performance and a highlight of Dublin Dance Festival.
. . . disappointed
That The Hangover Part II was a poor remake instead of a funny sequel.
. . . delighted about
The collapse of the Irish banking system. Eighteen works, from Sean Scully, Barrie Cooke, Elizabeth Magill, Nick Miller, Edward Delaney and others, have gone to Imma from Anglo Irish Bank.
. . . talking about
How the Irish media dealt with Obama and the royal visit, strange festival line-ups and the worst Slane ever. The Irish Times Culture podcast, at irishtimes.com and iTunes.
