Spiegeltent Palazzo

George Square

4-6 August

 

“Yes I was that soldier !” Glen observes as he introduces the show. The performance is an 80 minute mélange of reminiscences and songs from a varied career that was launched when he was catapulted from the anonymity of working behind the counter in Malcolm MacLaren’s shop to national infamy as bass player with the Sex Pistols.

 

Glen describes the beginnings of the Sex Pistols including the pivotal role that the Sensational Alex Harvey Band had in influencing MacLaren’s thinking about how the Pistols might present themselves. He recounts his time with the post-Pistols band The Rich Kids that also featured Midge Ure and Rusty Egan. He also talks in detail about his work with Iggy Pop on the Soldier album and notes that his first meeting with David Bowie who also worked on that album was memorable (DB – ‘I believe you were in the Sex Pistols’ .. GM ‘Yeh’ … DB [haughtily and dismissively] ‘Ah the Noble Savage’ … Glen thinking to himself ‘what a cunt’). Glen recounts with pride and affection his recent contribution to The Faces who were always big heroes of his when he was growing up in London.

 

 

The songs Glen performed solo with his Gibson acoustic guitar included the two Pistols classics ‘God Save the Queen’ (‘this is a song I wrote and John wrote the lyrics’) and ‘Pretty Vacant’. The most powerful performance was his rendition of ‘Ambition’ that he wrote for Iggy Pop and features on the Soldier album.

 

This was a compelling gig – fascinating and enjoyable in equal measure. The ex Sex Pistol Glen Matlock is a thoroughly nice bloke ! My only gripe is that 80 minutes was nowhere near long enough – we never did get to hear why he left the Sex Pistols – I guess I will have to buy the book of the same name. The show runs until Wednesday the 6^th August and I would recommend catching it. FOUR STARS

 

 

Reviewer : Chris Donkin

 

 

 

 

 

 

30^th July -24 Aug

21.45pm

Assembly Rooms

£17.50

 

 

It’s Camille O’Sullivan’s 10^th year as part of the Edinburgh Fringe and this maverick diva’s loyal fans were out in force to welcome her. And rightly so. She has a voice that cuts to the core and her eclectic mix of songs and burly stage presence create a musical journey that takes you from laughter to melancholic awe in the beat of a heart. Time dissolves and the hour and a half show felt like minutes as she reinvents a plethora of classic songs and sings with a heartfelt passion that ricochets around the theatre. The audience sits spell bound as she slips from Bowie to Cohen, Dilly Keane to Nick Cave, her delivery reminding you of the poetry of song and the narrative power of music, all the while breaking the somber mood with her fiery character.

 

 

Her present persona of drag king contrasts starkly with her previous image of glamorous drunken diva, swings and ball gowns hang around the stage like ghosts of the character who is constantly reinventing herself as effortlessly as the songs she delivers with such unbridled emotion.

This woman is a living legend though and her shows will sell out without a doubt, and rightly so, she takes you back to the days of smouldering cabaret and reminds you of the emotive depth of music. A standing ovation from a wildly appreciated audience speaks volumes. FOUR STARS

 

Reviewer – Glenda Rome