04/04/2018 – Scene Magazine – From the heart of LGBTQ+ Life

Radical Love! LGBT+ meditation with Lama Rod Owens

Posted on 04/04/201811/04/2018 by Besi

Lama Rod Owens, one of the leaders of a new generation of Black and Gay Buddhist teachers in the US, comes to Brighton, as part of his European ‘Talking Love and Liberation’ tour in April.

Brighton LGBTQ Meditation Group and MindOut are hosting an evening of discussion and practice with Lama Rod on the theme of Compassion and Self Care for LGBTQ People at Community Base, 113 Queen’s Road, Brighton BN1 3XG, on Friday April 20, 2018, from 7 – 9pm.

MindOut CEO Helen Jones, says: “It’s a great opportunity to have Lama Rod here in Brighton. MindOut is delighted to be part of these events and to be co-hosting with the Bodhi Tree LGBTQ Meditation Group. These events will give us all a chance to reflect on our activism and how we look after ourselves, all are very welcome”.

This is a free event. Donations welcomed to help towards cost of the venue.

For more information, click here:

MUSIC REVIEW: Joan Armatrading – I like it when we’re together

Posted on 04/04/2018 by Ray A-J

New isn’t always better!

Joan Armatrading offers a plate of the old classics we know and love, in her latest single I like it when we’re together.

If I were to offer you an extravagant, giant, sugar-filled chocolate cake or a perfect little victoria sponge, which would you pick?

At first the chocolate cake is tempting, it’s sweet, rich and a little naughty; you know it won’t do your figure any good and it’ll ruin your dinner if you have it now, but you want it anyway. The latter is just basic, it’s nothing special – you could have it any other night of the week if you want to.

The obvious choice here is the first cake. But about three bites into the delightfully devilish coca extravaganza, regret comes knocking at the door of your taste buds. You change your mind, it’s far too rich and it’s getting too much for you to handle. Yuck. You feel sick. It’s tickling your tongue, grating on your teeth, and the whole time the delicate victoria cake is just staring at you with teasing eyes. It’s looking better now isn’t it? Why did you have to go and pick that dang sugar explosion?

Now of course music isn’t like a cake; I wouldn’t recommend eating it. But the point still stands: if you were offered an over the top extravagant song, or a simple old classic, which would you listen to? The newer, more interesting one, right?

Well just like the chocolate cake, the lavish song isn’t always the best. Sometimes it can tempt you into a terrible trap, not really sounding as good as it looks. But one thing you can always rely on is a classic. And the latest vanilla cake from Joan Armatrading delivered just what I hoped it would.

The song is a menu filled with homemade comfort food. The rustic guitar melodies and filling chords offer a perfect plate of healthy authenticity. It’s home-grown, and packed with everything you need for the tastiest meal.

As you dig into the delightful pie of music, you find the drums mash well with the other instruments to perfectly carry the rhythm, whilst still standing on their own buttery merit. Just like solid greens, the tonic and diatonic tonality (full of simplistic fifths and perfect harmonies) avoid spice or tension. Instead they create something that’s filling and nice to listen to in the background. I personally was listening to this whilst cooking and it was delightfully calming.

It’s not just Joan that’s impressive here though. The musicians are accomplished enough in their abilities to perform a memorable and pretty piece even when it’s just an instrumental version. The bass is a cheeky little lashing of red wine gravy; it has its own stage, demanding its own attention. It works well alongside the other vegetable instruments but is still worthy of its own limelight. As you can probably tell, it was my favourite part.

On top of your pie is a tingle of onions (caramelised of course). They are the simple yet sweet lyricism, with their powerful and often overlooked kick of directness. Oddly, they avoid the cliché of rhyming couplets and instead bring about an air of sophisticated clarity.

Usually I despise direct and obvious lyricism – I much prefer the metaphorical poetry of Passenger, but in this track the element gets a free pass. And all of this is carried on a force of well controlled impressive vocals.

Unlike Mariah or Beyonce, Joan doesn’t need over the top vocalisations. It’s not at all attention seeking or distracting, she gives room for the other musicians to breathe. She’s humble and modest in her singing. I wouldn’t expect anything less from her. The only additional little spice she has is a gorgeous vocal break at the end of the word “together”. The word just splits in two and drips out a heartwarming vulnerability that I can’t seem to escape from.

The whole song is subtly heart grabbing. It’s the perfect meal for a night in with a glass of something.

My only issue, is the awfully thin electronic piano. It doesn’t fit, it’s desperately missing reverb and ruins her authentic sound. But that’s just picking hairs at this point. I’m quite happy with my plate of home cooked, heart warming food, and wouldn’t change it for anything else.

Good work Joan, I look forward to your next release.

BOOK REVIEW: Boys Keep Swinging: A Memoir by Jake Shears

Posted on 04/04/2018 by Eric Page

Boys Keep Swinging: A Memoir

by Jake Shears

If you love what he does on stage and in his music then you’ll love this book, it’s the same. He’s a sexy, writhy, cute, filthy and charming and his prose is as compelling as his dance moves. Never one to shy away from anything, He says “The purpose of my life is to entertain. It’s a constant feedback loop” and he never fails to do exactly that in this hugely enjoyable romp through his rather fascinating life.

From charting his life as lead singer of the Scissor Sisters to his boyhood life as kid with an imagination and a love of He-Man. His childhood was marred by bullies and the terror of the AIDS virus. Shears finds a sense of belonging – first in Seattle, then in the street life of New York City where, with friends and musicians also thirsting for freedom and the stage, he would form Scissor Sisters.

All the way up and down, in and out and every which way he can Shears is searingly honest and this makes this autobiography a rare thing, a pop star who can write beautifully and entertain on the page as much on the stage. Sigh, he’s such a hottie!

Recommended.

Out Now

For more information or to buy the book, click here:

Night-time roadworks in April

Posted on 04/04/201804/04/2018 by Besi

Work to repair the road surface in Old Shoreham Road, Sackville Road and the Nevill Road Junction starts on Monday, April 9.

The resurfacing will take place over five days at night from 7.30pm to 6am in order to keep disruption to traffic flows, bus services and local businesses to a minimum.

During the work, the following temporary traffic management measures will be in operation:

♦ Sackville Road and Nevill Road will be closed to all traffic at the junction with Old Shoreham Road (ie. traffic will not be able to travel in a north or southbound direction on the approach to the junction with Old Shoreham Road).
♦ Old Shoreham Road will remain open to east and westbound traffic only.
♦ Orchard Gardens will be closed to all traffic at the junction with Nevill Road.
♦ Frith Road and Poynter Road will be closed to all traffic at the junction with Sackville Road (both of these roads will be temporarily subject to ‘two-way’ traffic during the working hours).
♦ Diversions will be in operation during the road closures. Bus stops in the area will be suspended and vehicles will not be able to enter the working area from adjoining side roads or driveways.

Cllr Gill Mitchell, chair of the environment, transport and sustainability committee, said: “These roads are in a poor condition and urgently need repair. We apologise in advance for the inconvenience but we have scheduled the works at times to cause as least disruption as possible in this busy area and liaised with the contractor to keep noise levels as low as possible.”

Record numbers attend 32nd edition of LGBT+ film festival

Posted on 04/04/2018 by Besi

BFI Flare: London LGBTQ+ Film Festival – the UK’s leading LGBT+ film event, last month celebrated their successful 32^nd anniversary attracting an increase in industry and filmmaker delegate numbers.

High profile guests attending included Hugh Grant, Rupert Everett and Trudie Styler.

BFI Flare 2018 also saw a substantial increase in accreditation with 299 Industry delegates (an increase of 16% on 2017 attendance) from 17 countries outside the UK: Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Myanmar, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States. 798 guests attended BFI Flare industry events over the ten-day festival.

The Festival offered an exciting industry programme alongside talks with Robin Campillo (writer/director of 120 BPM and Eastern Boys), Elizabeth Karlsen (producer of Carol, Colette, The Crying Game and Hollow Reed) and recent BAFTA Nominee Francis Lee (writer/director of God’s Own Country).

The Industry Programme also included events Anatomy of an Episode: The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, with writer/executive producer Tom Rob Smith joining the BFI to dissect the show’s acclaimed fourth episode House by the Lake, and Casting a Wide Net, a panel on casting LGBT+ films and characters in partnership with Spotlight.

Michael Blyth, Senior BFI Flare programmer, said: “Supporting and nurturing UK talent is so important to us at BFI Flare. We opened the Festival with the powerful My Days of Mercy, from British screenwriter Joe Barton, and closed with the sexy and stylish Postcards From London. We also hosted the World Premiere of UK filmmaker Jason Barker’s A Deal with The Universe as our Centrepiece Presentation. This commitment to supporting UK voices continued through our annual mentorship programme, now in its fourth year, in which we welcomed 6 emerging UK filmmaking voices into the Flare family.”

Highlights of BFI Flare in 2018 included the Opening Night UK Premiere of My Days of Mercy. Powered by stirring performances from Ellen Page (Juno, Inception, Freeheld) and Kate Mara (House of Cards, The Martian), Shalom-Ezer’s follow-up to Princess is a poignant love story between two women from vastly different backgrounds and opposing political views.

The Festival’s Closing Gala was the European Premiere of Steve McLean’s stylish and sexy Postcards from London. The film tells the story of beautiful teenager Jim (Harris Dickinson, BEACH RATS) who, having travelled from the suburbs, finds himself in Soho where he falls in with a gang of unusual high-class male escorts The Raconteurs. Set in a vibrant, neon-lit, imaginary vision of Soho, this morality tale manages to be both a beautifully shot homage to the spirit of Derek Jarman and a celebration of the homo-erotic in Baroque art.

For the fourth time BFI Flare and the British Council made five LGBT+ short films available to audiences across the world as part of the ground-breaking #FiveFilms4Freedom LGBTQ+ digital campaign.

BFI Flare teamed up with UK government’s GREAT campaign and the British Council to celebrate #FiveFilms4Freedom with a spectacular projection on the Tower of London with filmmakers from four of the films in attendance. The collaboration was also marked with a high-profile reception at the Houses of Parliament with BFI Flare filmmakers and industry in attendance. To date the five films have been viewed over 2.5 million times across 12 days, in 146 countries.

The centrepiece screening of the festival was the World Premiere of UK feature documentary, A Deal with the Universe, the debut from former BFI Flare programmer Jason Barker, which tells the inspiring tale of a very different kind of pregnancy.

Special Presentation was Robin Campillo’s modern queer classic: 120 BPM a rousing, heart-breaking account of AIDS activist group ACT-UP: Paris.

Special Event was Rise: QTIPOC Representation and Visibility in Film – a special one-day series of talks and workshops, this examined the importance of inclusion and the stories of queer people of colour, both on and off the screen.

183 filmmaker guests represented 19 countries, covering global LGBT+ cultures including India, Lebanon, Argentina, Thailand, Ireland, UK, Brazil and Canada.

Among the many filmmakers in attendance were: BFI Fellow Hugh Grant who introduced Maurice on stage alongside co-star James Wilby, Rupert Everett (writer, director and star of The Happy Prince), Robin Campillo (120 BPM), Trudie Styler (Freak Show), Jason Barker (A Deal with the Universe), David Weissman (Conversations with Gay Elders), Tali Shalom-Ezer (My Days of Mercy), David Hoyle (Uncle David 2), Steve McLean & Harris Dickinson (Postcards from London), Liz Rohburgh (Becks) and James Crump (Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex, Fashion and Disco)

BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival was programmed by Jay Bernard, Michael Blyth, Zorian Clayton, Brian Robinson and Emma Smart, led by Artistic Director Tricia Tuttle.

MUSIC REVIEW: Luka Sambe + Filter Bear

Posted on 04/04/2018 by Ray A-J

Luka Sambe and Filter Bear- Lavine’s creatures e.p along with remixes from Jay Haze and Ruede Hagelstein. Spacey, trippy and groovy! (or the same song repeated three times).

Warning: this e.p is not for the lively listener, or even alive!

Usually electronic songs are lively and interesting. There’s no dilapidated droning rhythms, or dull construction. The music is a driving force behind you, forcing you to dance in an ecstatic trance of joy. But that’s not always the case – at least not with this album.

To tell the truth, I have a tumultuous relationship with this genre at best. I’m a stickler for authentic instruments and acoustic timbres, and don’t really appreciate the fake sounds created by some DJs on a computer. So the outlook for this album was already bleak. Their are some exceptions to my unusual rule though, with MGMT and Passion pit, so I hadn’t entirely written Luka Sambe and Filter bear’s Lavine’s creature off, just was dubious. And rightfully so.

Imagine listening to the same petty drum on loop for about ten minutes, with the occasional addition of white noise and sporadic melody. It’s tiring. The…same…four…beats, over and over with nothing but an out of date synthesiser as company, humming it’s own four note melody.

Actually to call it a melody would be generous, it’s more of a desperate fumbling over the keyboard to create an atmospheric minimalist spread of notes. And if the lack of melodic direction was off putting, the attempt at metamorphosis is worse.

There’s no light or shade, not even a flicker, it’s just a barrage of synthetic noise that blares through the speakers. It’s all at the same volume, and stays in the same monotonous humdrum with nothing to add except the odd off beat thud from another layer of drums.

And it wasn’t just the first incarnation of the track that threw me off. Neither of the other remixes of Lavine’s creatures are very dynamic. They seem to both be stagnant and static, like a murky pond with no current. They’re repetitive and ignorantly drone on as loud as they can for as long as they can.

Occasionally the artist adds flares of sounds and different patterns, but they never stick long enough to matter. It’s as though someone has just thrown together loops from Logic or an audio workstation and went: “that’ll do, now where’s my money?”; it’s just lazy. I’m sure a lot of hard work went into this, and not to disparage the creators, but I just don’t want to indulge in a ten minute loop of the same thumping drum beat over and over.

It’s ironic because their names offer far more promise than this E.P.

It seems that all of the tracks sound the same, they just have “remix” at the end of their names in a feeble attempt to establish a difference.

Weirdly, as I listened to these tracks, I found something very familiar. It’s uncanny, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that these tracks sound very much like my own. Perhaps that’s why I find them so disengaging. They seem to have hit the same wall I did, in that it’s impossible to make a decent evolved piece with just electronics – that is, if your’e not as good as Passion pit, MGMT or anyone else. Making electronic music is hard, just as hard as any other genre, but some of the artists just seem so lazy in what they finally produce and call ‘music;. It’s lost it’s heart, and Luka Sambe or Filter Bear need to try harder to find it, if they’re music is to improve.

Unlike the tracks, I’m not going to drone on and on for too long. But I hope somebody out there can listen to this E.P and explain to me what I’m missing, because I so wanted to love these songs.

Update: After scouring the Internet for some time, I found the possible inspiration behind this E.P. and it finally makes sense. Listen to Say by The creatures, and there is a little redemption for Lavine’s Creatures‘ many sins.

By Ray A-J

UKPride 2018 announce main stage line-up

Posted on 04/04/2018 by Besi

Isle of Wight Pride announce line-up of artists for UKPRIDE in July 2018.

Joining favourites from IOW Pride 2017 including Miss Jason, Allan Jay and Divalicious Duo will be the likes of Danny Beard from Britains Got Talent, Charlie Hides from RuPauls Drag Race, and the incredible Spook School from Scotland.

There will be some of the UK’s best tribute acts including Lady Gaga, Dolly Parton and Paloma Faith, mixed together with talent from the Island, including the Medina Community Choir and VotePedro.

2018 will see a disco area with top DJ’s Rob Da Bank, Adam Turner and Kriss Herbert from Gaydio and Alfie Ordinary playing everybody’s favourite hits.

The Pride team will also be joined by Gok Wan who will be performing a DJ set and Livin Joy who are best known for fantastic 90s dance classics.

Another surprise act will be announced, later in the year! The only hint that the Pride team are giving, is that it is a winner of Eurovision.

Yve from Isle of Wight Pride, said: “We are overwhelmed that over 4 thousand people have registered to come to Pride already and we haven’t even announced who would be coming to perform yet. Pride is much more than the acts on stage, but we also want to create a special day of celebration that everybody will enjoy and everybody can relate to. This years Pride event will have various areas that will cater to all tastes, including a cabaret tent, our popular Tea Tent, a disco area, a large Children’s area as well as the main stage on the beach. It will definitely build on the family friendly, inclusive atmosphere from 2017.

“We are delighted that influential speakers such as Peter Tatchell, Caroline Paige, Jacqui Gavin, representatives from Stonewall and AllOut will be joining us as well as many Unions and public sector organisations such as the Tri-Services, Police and Fire Brigade, to march and take part in the Pride event.”

Matt Bundy from Isle of Wight Pride, added: “Pride is delighted with the diverse line up that we have organised for this year. This was really important to make sure that there is something to cater to everybody’s tastes whilst also being fully reflective of all sectors of society. We are keeping our big headline act under wraps until June. With so many tickets already gone, we want to ensure that everybody has the opportunity to register to come to our gorgeous beach pride.”

Brighton Fringe PREVIEW: Jane Postlethwaite – Last Night at the Circus

Posted on 04/04/2018 by Besi

Jane Postlethwaite returns to Brighton Fringe with the World premiere of her new comedy show, Last night at the Circus at Otherplace Productions in The Warren’s Theatre Box.

The show was inspired after a year of many changes hit Jane like a bus such as quitting a day job that was making her ill and moving back to her childhood home in Cumbria to live with her parents. But, she’s been through tougher times and the show explores what it’s like to live with a brain that’s trying to kill you when you have Bipolar 2 disorder and what happens when everything you thought was your life is turned upside down in an instant.

The show is a new direction for Jane as she touches on raw themes of mental health, suicide and self-help. Last Night at the Circus is a gut wrenching yet hilarious one woman multimedia show exploring what it means to sabotage your own success set in a dystopian yet breathtaking Circus landscape.

The show involves beautiful projections, live recordings, animation and other visual props to drive the narrative and expression of the themes.

The aim with the show is to spark conversations about mental health long after people have seen the show and there will be a fact sheet given out at the end of the show highlighting mental health charities including the local Brighton charity Grassroots Suicide Prevention.

‘★★★★ A darkly funny Show’ — Funny Women

Jane’s a Funny Women Awards finalist 2015 and a Brighton Comedy Festival Squawker Award finalist 2015. Her first character show, Made in Cumbria had a sold out run at Brighton Fringe in May 2016 with Lamb Comedy Productions. It was nominated for two Brighton Fringe awards – the Latest Comedy Award and for the Audience Choice Award.

Her multimedia character comedy show for 2017, The House debuted at Brighton and was taken to Edinburgh Fringe throughout August with Sweet Venues.

She was recently heard on the Radio 4 comedy drama, Almost like being in love written by Catriona Knox and produced by Caroline Raphael.

The play stars Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones and Moorside) and Rosie Cavaliero (Hunderby and Midsomer Murders).

Event: Jane Postlethwaite – Last Night at the Circus

Where: The Warren: Theatre Box, St Peter’s Church North, York Place, Brighton BN1 4GU

When: Monday 7 May 8.30pm: Saturday 19 May 5.30pm: Sunday 20 May 5.30pm

Cost: £8-£9.50

To booking online, click here:

Call us now

Day: April 4, 2018

Radical Love! LGBT+ meditation with Lama Rod Owens

Lama Rod Owens, one of the leaders of a new generation of Black and Gay Buddhist teachers in the US, comes to Brighton, as part of his European ‘Talking Love and Liberation’ tour in April.

MUSIC REVIEW: Joan Armatrading – I like it when we’re together

New isn’t always better!

BOOK REVIEW: Boys Keep Swinging: A Memoir by Jake Shears

Night-time roadworks in April

Work to repair the road surface in Old Shoreham Road, Sackville Road and the Nevill Road Junction starts on Monday, April 9.

Record numbers attend 32nd edition of LGBT+ film festival

BFI Flare: London LGBTQ+ Film Festival – the UK’s leading LGBT+ film event, last month celebrated their successful 32^nd anniversary attracting an increase in industry and filmmaker delegate numbers.

MUSIC REVIEW: Luka Sambe + Filter Bear

Luka Sambe and Filter Bear- Lavine’s creatures e.p along with remixes from Jay Haze and Ruede Hagelstein. Spacey, trippy and groovy! (or the same song repeated three times).

UKPride 2018 announce main stage line-up

Isle of Wight Pride announce line-up of artists for UKPRIDE in July 2018.

Brighton Fringe PREVIEW: Jane Postlethwaite – Last Night at the Circus

Jane Postlethwaite returns to Brighton Fringe with the World premiere of her new comedy show, Last night at the Circus at Otherplace Productions in The Warren’s Theatre Box.

‘★★★★ A darkly funny Show’ — Funny Women

Latest News

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Lama Rod Owens, one of the leaders of a new generation of Black and Gay Buddhist teachers in the US, comes to Brighton, as part of his European ‘Talking Love and Liberation’ tour in April.

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New isn’t always better!

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Work to repair the road surface in Old Shoreham Road, Sackville Road and the Nevill Road Junction starts on Monday, April 9.

Share this:

BFI Flare: London LGBTQ+ Film Festival – the UK’s leading LGBT+ film event, last month celebrated their successful 32nd anniversary attracting an increase in industry and filmmaker delegate numbers.

Share this:

Luka Sambe and Filter Bear- Lavine’s creatures e.p along with remixes from Jay Haze and Ruede Hagelstein. Spacey, trippy and groovy! (or the same song repeated three times).

Share this:

Isle of Wight Pride announce line-up of artists for UKPRIDE in July 2018.

Share this:

Jane Postlethwaite returns to Brighton Fringe with the World premiere of her new comedy show, Last night at the Circus at Otherplace Productions in The Warren’s Theatre Box.

‘★★★★ A darkly funny Show’ — Funny Women

Share this:

Latest News

BFI Flare: London LGBTQ+ Film Festival – the UK’s leading LGBT+ film event, last month celebrated their successful 32^nd anniversary attracting an increase in industry and filmmaker delegate numbers.