Reviews from 2006
FRIGHT NIGHT 2006: MEXICAN DAY OF THE DEAD, Hendre Sat 28th Oct 2006
This year's Fright Night seemed to be the best ever, sold out by 9pm! and despite the numbers of people, there was a lovely atmosphere. The Main Room partied to banging techno and the fabulous skeleton visuals by Anti Detail Squad, and surprise guest MC Belle mashed it up with live vocals over the DJs in the Long Barn all night. The Fright Night crew went to town with the decor this year, with lots of skeletons, UV hangings, and authentic Mexican Day of the Dead items, and there were loads of brilliant & inventive costumes.
VIBRATIONS featuring DRYMBAGO, Hendre Hall, Fri June 2nd 2006
Although both the DJs and band were fantastic, I have to begin this review by giving special mention to the visuals (Anti-Detail Squad) - a constant whirl of dancing skeletons and novel cartoon images, which hugely impressed us and several of our friends. Vibrations run a monthly night at Hendre, bringing in a mixture of local and distant DJs and live music, and this was actually the first one I'd managed to get to. Having been a long hot day, the evening started off quietly, but slowly and steadily people arrived, until the hall was nicely packed. There was a good mix of people and ages out for the night, familiar local faces, students, young and old, one of the reasons I love Hendre, and it's good to see Vibrations attracts this range of audience. DJ Moonmonkey warmed us up with a great variety of music, with gems such as the Doctor Who theme tune mixed in there. No disrespect to the technoids, but it's always nice to have a bit of a change from techno! We were also treated to some of Anti-Detail Squad's "homemade" tunes, which were as unique and wellmade as his visuals, with techno influences in the mix, but a interesting soundscape resulting. The band came on after midnight, in time honoured North Wales fashion (Jamaica laidback? It's got nothing on North Wales!), and kept the crowd dancing with their fabulous funky rhythms and Gwilym's distinct voice. A warm, friendly, drunken and fun evening, thanks Vibrations!
GANGSTER'S PARADISE, Hendre Hall, Sat May 27th 2006
It made a complete change to see Hendre dressed for a cabaret rather than the usual band and DJ nights. The stage area had been converted into a seating area, and the cabaret stage was set against the wall, surrounded by more tables and chairs. The house band, Acoustique, had a furry leopard skin double bass which I immediately coveted badly; and the decor was 1920s glitz and glamour. Most of the audience had dressed for the occasion, in feathers, suits, flapper dresses and sequins, which added greatly to the decadent 20s atmosphere. The cabaret was compered by Straight Willie and Trixy, recognizable to locals as Martin (Red Stripe singer) and Sarah, who sang a few nightclubby numbers with great pizazz. The first act, comedian Darren Hoskins, went down extremely well with an already drunken audience, his act enhanced by some fine heckling, and we were then treated to some Charleston dancing by the Hot Hunnies, who looked pretty authentically of the era! I sadly couldn't hear the illusionist very well, but enjoyed more dancing, some more songs from Sarah in character as Trixy, and another local singer Lliwen, both accompanied by the house band. The cabaret culminated with eagerly awaited act The Splott Brothers, who had the room in fits of laughter with a routine featuring a piano and two audience members being served at a table onstage. Once the cabaret had finished, the back room opened for late night entertainment, with a beautiful set by Belinda (Red Stripe singer), followed by a rocking band, whilst DJs Fluffylovebubble and Tiny Bear of Byd Mawr kept the Main Room dancing. The finely dressed guests also enjoyed a cocktail bar, soup stand, and roulette table in the upstairs area of Hendre. Thanks to SNOG and the performers for something enjoyable and different, and a great chance to dress up!
JOHNNY CLARKE, Hendre Hall, Fri May 19th 2006
It was such a rainy night that we nearly didn't go, but I'm very glad we changed our minds! Despite the weather, Hendre was packed to see the Jamaican reggae legend and his band, and there was a great atmosphere. The Byd Mawr DJs played some good tunes as ever, and the man himself came on stage fairly late in the evening, and played a rocking set. I was expecting the music to be quite chilled, and was pleasantly surprised to find it faster and punchier than I expected. The dancefloor was packed right through the set! Like Nuru Kane, the Senegalese star who played at Hendre recently, Johnny Clarke has a charismatic stage prescense, oh, and a great hat! A top night. Thanks to Byd Mawr and Rhys from Reggae Fi Wan for jointly arranging this one!
SPIRIT OF THE HORSE, Faenol, May 2006
I’ve never been to see a horse show before, so wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Luckily, Spirit of the Horse was fantastic, a grand spectacle of music, dance, lights, costumes, riders, and most of all, beautiful and talented horses. The show begins with a unicorn (definitely a real one!) being led around the edge of the arena by a blonde dancer, before the canvas lifts to show Pegasus, the white winged horse, standing proudly in the ring. At this, and many of the other sights during the show, there was an audible gasp from the audience. Music, light and dancers are used effectively to create different effects, and draw the audience into a world of myth and fantasy, but the real stars are the horses and riders. One moment you are awed by the wild grace of the Andulucian riders and their horses, the next moment you are enraptured by the tiny pony walking around the ring with Spanish dancers, and the next you are laughing and marvelling at the amazing comedy routine of Rosi Redsocks and her horse Scout, who nods, shakes his head, and playfully pulls at blankets. The first half finishes with a dramatic display of masked fire spinning around the fantastic chimera (a carnivalesque mythical beast). The second half of the show is full of more wonders, a rider standing with each foot on a different horse, a juggler astride a galloping horse, and, best of all, the fabulous Mongolian riders. The entire crowd was gasping in amazement as they hurled themselves around the arena on horseback like mad barbarians, leaping and hanging from their horses with seemingly no fear. If you like horses, and enjoy a good show, Spirit of the Horse is highly recommended. The one cautionary note is to be prepared for the extra costs, car parking costs £2, and it will cost you a £1 each to see the horses in their stalls after the show.
EMBRACING THE SPIRIT OF THE FOREST, Llangollen Pavilion, Fri May 12th, 2006
My favourite gig this year so far! A group of 7 Bakan Pygmies from the rainforests of Cameroon, who play under the name Baka Gbine, travelled to the UK for the first time to join the group Baka Beyond on tour. We arrived about 20 minutes late, and walked into the fantastic Llangollen Pavilion (my first time in a great venue) to find lots of the audience were already up and dancing, it was a very festivally atmosphere. The music was fabulous, I counted 14 musicians on stage (just 2 less than our own local Red Stripe), including singers, guitarists, drummers, percussionists and a fiddler. During the first half, Baka Beyond and Baka Gbine played together, and then, when we returned from the interval, we were treated to a light effect which created a backdrop of flickering green leaves, and a couple of songs by Baka Gbine, which were truly magical. Baka Beyond then returned to the stage, and all the musicians and singers played a beautiful blend of music which transported you to the forest and made your feet dance. There was a great atmosphere in the audience, with lots of small children dancing by the stage, and lots of long haired and loose clothed people smiling and dancing, the music and vibe felt very euphoric! We were even treated to some fantastic grass skirt dancing by the performers. When the musicians finally tried to leave the stage, we howled and stamped for more, until they came back.
3 ZERO 9, Hendre, Sun April 30th 2006
A truly decadent Beltane Eve celebration at Hendre, with spiky alien inflatables glowing in the multicoloured lights and drunken revellers dancing till 3 to mainly techno DJs in the main room (great debut by Mr Chris, and I really liked the final DJ whoever he was), and Byd Mawr's world and reggae DJs in the long barn. Drymbago provided a mellow live music set with much of the main room grooving to the rhythms, and particular mention must go to Piwi's fantastic leopard skin covered keyboard. Organized by Bindi Slippage, congrats on a smooth running event and party atmosphere.
NURU KANE & BAND, Hendre, Mon April 3rd 2006
Dewi and Byd Mawr organized this fantastic gig with Senegalese singer Nuru Kane, who is currently touring the UK. The Main Room at Hendre was packed solid with people who'd ventured out on a Monday night to hear the band. The Byd Mawr DJs (Dewi and Hippy Ad on this occasion I think) played world music until Nuru came onto the stage alone and sang. He has an amazing voice. Slowly, the rest of the band joined him on stage during the next few songs, bringing a variety of wonderful instruments: a gourd drum, and some amazing looking stringed instruments. Halfway through, they all left the stage for a break and returned having changed their outfits, the first band I've seen do that in Hendre! Several ladies I know were starting to swoon by this point. The second half of the set got faster, and very dancy, and there was a lot of enthusiastic whooping and cheering from the crowd. Well worth seeing. Thanks Nuru & Byd Mawr.
EARTHQUAKE FUNDRAISER / SUNDAY SERVICE, Hendre, Sun March 26th 06
This Mother's Day fundraiser for victims of the Pakistan earthquake was organized by Bandabacana, helped by lots of other people who worked hard to make the day a success, providing nice music and lovely food. The venue, performers and organizers all provided their services for free to raise maximum money for the cause. The day was amazingly well attended, the car park was full and Hendre was packed! As it was an all day event, lots of people had come along with their children, which should show event organizers that there are lots of people out there longing for an event to go to with their kids, lets have more of this sort of thing! The main room was busy all day, with local band Bandabacana playing no less than 3 times throughout the day, a few other bands playing, lots of African drumming from a huge posse of local drummers, and the very brightly costumed and astoundingly loud local Samba band. A delicious meal of Mung Dhal or Ratatouille was also provided for £3 in the early evening. Meanwhile, due to double booking, Joni's Sunday Service was set up in the back two rooms, and I thought the combination of the two events worked extremely well. Joni runs the Sunday Service on the last Sunday of the month, it's an all dayer at a low price, with kids welcome, and the organizers bring along Sunday papers, board games, and have an open decks policy (DJs welcome to come along and play). This is a gem of a monthly event which not enough people yet know about, so come along next time it's running (check Sometimes for info). Quite a few of the children at the event ended up in the middle room (where there was no music) playing with the Sunday Service's board games, and lots of toddlers (and adults) had a great time dancing to the DJs in the back room. Some of the drumming in the Earthquake fundraiser was so loud that some people even came into the Sunday Service to chill out to techno and dance music!! Now there's a first...I didn't catch the evening session, as I left after 8, but am told it was great. Well done everyone who worked on the Earthquake event for raising funds for people who truly need it, and for providing us all with such a fun day, and thanks to the Sunday Service for a great event too!
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY, Greenhouse, Wed March 8th 2006
Greenhouse held a free day of events for International Women's Day, which was well attended by women, a few men, lots of dancing children and some crawling babies. I missed the afternoon craft session but arrived in time for the evening acoustic session, catching the end of some women playing beautiful folk music on fiddle, etc. Belinda and Ros (of Red Stripe fame) played a lovely set of "faerie reggae" with Belinda's beautiful voice accompanied by her guitar, Ros on drums and Tibetan glass bowl, and some small babies gurgling rhythmically. Some little girls floated around the floor like fairy dancers. After the fairy reggae, Banda Bacana took to the floor, with some fabulous singing by LouLou, Kate and Ceri, accompanied by some funky drums and guitars. Very soon, half the room was up and dancing. Hooray for women (and men, and children, and muppets, and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri).
