Friday September 26: 15.15pm
47 POSTS AND COUNTINGWell, it seems today's hot talking point is Barry Gordon's two star review of Travis at the official opening of The Picture House last night.
If you haven't read it yet, he wasn
't too impressed. Check it out online.
With 47 posts responding to his jottings (so far) it seems Travis are not as popular as they once were – well, according to our readers that is, however, my favourite post must be this one from Joe Smith, Moscow, posted at 2:12:49pm.
It reads:
"Frank Healy is an Anglo-Scots cyborg, who was created by an evil chimpanzee warlord who wanted to make a band that would be even more bland and commercial than Deacon Blue."The big question is, who is Frank Healy?
Follow or join the debate by clicking here Friday September 26: 11.20am
CALLING ALL UNSIGNED EDINBURGH BANDSGrab a copy of today's issue of The Guide and your band could be supporting up-and-coming indie rockers Last Gang when they play Cabaret Voltaire on October 15.
To be in with a shout of sharing the stage with the fast rising Wakefield band, simply e-mail your best tune as either a Windows Media or MP3 file to fringe@edinburghnews.com along with a colour picture of your band.
Your track will then be uploaded to www.edinburghnews.com where readers will vote for their favourite. The highest rated song come D-Day, October 8, wins the support slot.
Today's edition of The Guide, which comes free with your Evening News, also features interviews with Lemar, Benidorm's Kenny Ireland on directing Sunset Song, and Mary Poppins star Daniel Crossley.
In this bumper give-away issue you can also win tickets for the opening night of Mary Poppins at the Edinburgh Playhouse; tickets to see Lemar and Leon Jackson at the Queen's Hall on Sunday; tickets to see Ruby Turner at the Jam House; copies of One Voice, the new album from Britain's Got Talent star Andrew Johnston; and the acclaimed BBC drama Criminal Justice on DVD.
Don't miss it.
Thursday September 25: 10.20am
BRAND NAMEI remember the first time I ever heard the name Russell Brand. It was August 2004. His then press manager called to ask if I would interview him about his new stand-up the show.
At the time he was only really known to MTV viewers and XFM listeners – and his (now widely reported) addictions had cost him both jobs.
Two years previous he had appeared on the Fringe and was now on the comeback trail. I remember he postponed the interview briefly with the immortal line, "Can we change the time please? I forgot I had an AA meeting to attend."
What I liked about Brand was his straight-talking. His 2002 Fringe experience had culminated in him being arrested and spending a night in the Royal Infirmary after he went battling with an member of his audience.
"I was arrested at the Gilded Balloon where I was performing and taken to the Royal Infirmary to have surgery on my leg. I'd smashed it through a door because, back then, I was still out of control with the narcotics and alcohol," he told me matter-of-factly at the time.
His 2004 return was called Russell Brand's Better Now: A Shockingly Honest Tale of Whores, Heroin and Hairdos, it played a fairly intimate venue at The Pleasance Courtyard – tickets started at £8.
Four years on and Brand is a Hollywood star, but he hasn't deserted his stand-up roots altogether. This morning he has just announced a new tour for 2009 called, A Brand New Year!
Unfortunately, you'll need to travel through to the SECC's Clyde Auditorium to see him. The cheapest ticket now... £23.50.
Tickets for the gig, which will take place on Valentine's Day go on sale tomorrow morning at 10am from the SECC Box Office 0870 040 4000 or www.secctickets.com
Tuesday September 23: 12.11pm
HUBBLE BUBBLE TOYAH AND TROUBLEA week away and it seems like a lifetime – yet I still managed to catch a few shows.
First up was
Macbeth, at the Royal Lyceum, which runs until October 11.
Now, much has been written about the Grindlay Street company's season opener. It appears you will either love it or hate it, with few sitting on the fence. Here are my thoughts:
Liam Brennan in the title role makes Shakespeare's text accessible to a modern audience. Conversational and thoughtful he epitomises a man over-whelmed by the mental turmoil induced by his actions.
Allison Mackenzie as his Lady, is a simmering maelstrom of emotion and ruthless ambition, a combination that allows her to walk the path to madness with a convincing tread.
Jimmy Chisholm too is impressive, flitting from character to character with ease while charming the audience as required.
The production does have its downsides however, Lucy Pitman-Wallace's direction is, at times, bemusing, and at others ill-considered.
The sword-fight as the piece reaches its climax is badly choreographed, leaving Brennan appearing to run from his opponent – the man-mountain that is McDuff.
In the bar afterwards, on the night I saw it, Brennan wore his battle scars on his knuckles, where McDuff's sword had caught him.
Another shaky moment comes when the scene in which McDuff is told of his wife and child's murder is reduced to comedy by the cack-handed delivery of lines that should allow the character to explode with impotent fury, yet somehow leave him spluttering like an end of the pier turn.
Doubling the actresses playing the witches as boys doesn't work either. Boys with breasts? Must be the ladyboys of Cawdor.
Second up was
Flashdance, at the Playhouse. Seldom does a five star musical tour the provinces so I didn't expect much from this reworking of the cult 80's movie.
Consequently, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that director Kenny Leon's take on the story of the female welder with an ambition to dance was one of the best pieces of musical theatre to visit Edinburgh in the last decade – if not longer.
Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, who played the lead character Alex Owens, is a star in the making. You'll be paying big bucks to see her on the West End soon, mark my words.
Former Hear'say member Noel Sullivan, as her love interest proved an accomplished and captivating lead man, demonstrating an acting ability which will soon allow him to break out of the song and dance man category.
In the Theatre Royal Bar afterwards Noel admitted the part has taken him out of his comfort zone, but that he is loving the challenge.
As for the veteran Bernie Nolan as Alex's mother, well, she just makes it look so easy, as does – surprisingly – ex-Corrie star Bruno Langley.
Then we come to the choreography: Arelene Phillips might now be in her 60s, but in this production the Duchess of Dance shows she can still give the youngsters a run for their money – not least in the surreal yet tear inducing routine in which Alex learns of the death of her mother (Nolan). Stunning stuff.
Finally, in Doncaster of all places, I caught
Vampire's Rock featuring Toyah Willcox - a heroine of my youth.
Vampire's Rock has a story... somewhere. Set in 2030, Baron Von Rockula (Meatloaf tribute act Steve Steinman) is the owner of New York's Live and Let Die club where the undead are livelier than ever.
When Pandora, an aspiring singer, arrives for an audition, little does she know that she is not only auditioning to be the club's resident vocalist, but also to be the eternal bride of Baron Von Rockula – much to the chagrin of the Vampire Queen aka Toyah.
Following that story however, as the cast and their live band, The Hellbound Express, blast their way through the hits of AC/DC, Guns 'N' Roses, Led Zeppelin, Bon Jovi, Meat Loaf, Joan Jett and Suzi Quatro is easier said than done.
So when the show returns to the Playhouse in 2009 (minus Toyah), I reckon the secret is to go along prepared for a rock concert featuring all your head-banging favourites, rather than a piece of theatre.
Now back to the present...
Friday September 12: 4.17pm
BEN ELTON ON WE WILL ROCK YOUBlackadder, The Thin Blue Line and Filthy Rich and Catflap are just three of the writing credits on Ben Elton's long and varied CV.
He is also the author of 12 novels, three West End plays, one movie (Maybe Baby, which he also directed) and three musicals.
There is however, only one dream, one vision, that has driven him for the best part of a decade. It's a project he says doesn't so much have a title as makes a promise, We Will Rock You.
Now in it's seventh year on London's West End, We Will Rock You is a juke-box musical based around 24 of Queen's greatest hits.
Set on a dystopian future Earth (now called Planet Mall) where musical instruments have been banned, it is the story of one man's quest to rediscover the rhapsody of rock music.
Sitting in the screening room of the Charlotte Hotel in London's West End, at the launch of the show's first national tour – it comes to the Edinburgh Playhouse in 2009 – Elton explains how he joined Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon as the latest member of Queen.
Ben Elton
"They came to me and said, 'We have been trying to do something theatrically with our songbook.' They were working on a Freddie biography but it was getting nowhere, and I'm not surprised, it's not what they should do with their music. Their music is not about Freddie, it is about everybody's lives.
"Queen's music is universal, it has gone far beyond the life story of one man, no matter how interesting and fine that man may have been."
He continues, "They wanted it to be a comedy. 'That is why we have come to you, we want a bit of Black Adder in it. We've always liked a laugh,' they said.
"I was very busy doing Maybe Baby and writing a musical with Andrew Lloyd Webber at the time so it took me a year to get back to them. I was really worried that I night have missed the boat.
"I rang them and said, 'I expect you have found someone to write your show.' They said, 'As it happens we haven't. We are in no great hurry.' So I sent them a synopsis. I knew it was right for them. I was so excited, I was tingling, and yes, it was a bit nerve wracking because it would have been a bitter disappointment if, at that point, they had said, 'We don't get it'."
They didn't just get it, they loved the Arthurian epic Elton penned around such classics as These Are The Days Of Our Lives, We Are The Champions and Killer Queen.
"I knew that what they needed was a show that reflected the spirit of the band – their sense of humour. Everything they did had a sense of humour and was on an epic scale. Suddenly the word legend came to me. Queen are a legend. They needed a legend, not some pop story that was either a biography of Freddie or, the other obvious idea, a Queen tribute band on the road story.
"They needed something as big and as vast and as silly as they are. That's why I came up with this Arthurian take of a guitar buried in rock, with a certain edge of satire because Queen also are serious and take their fun seriously."
We Will Rock You
Addressing the satirical nature of the production unleashes one of Elton's famous rants. This time rallying against the globalisation / Americanisation of our society.
"High School Musical 3 and camp rock now appears on every lunchbox in the country, and suddenly kids in England and Scotland are having prom nights – please, we don't do that," he protests, hitting his stride, "And I have this ongoing battle with my children because, obviously, the word bum has gone from English culture. They talk about their butts, because they all watch The Simpsons, which is great, but I'm sorry, maybe I'm just some old curmudgeon but it offends my ear to hear English or Scottish kids talking about 'my butt'. I think a great deal will be lost if we are all talking the same slang."
We Will Rock You
Pausing for breath he concludes, "So there is a certain satire to the piece – Planet Mall is a world where you are not allowed to play your own music for fear that the Ga Ga Corporation's pre-planned chart will be upset. It has reached the point where musical instruments have been banned so that kids can't write their own songs anymore.
"That ensures they will continue to download the ones that Ga Ga/Disney/Dreamworks/Sony download to them. So, that's the satire... but it's basically just a big load of laughs. As with all my work the satire is there to serve the comedy."
Elton's own love of Queen was cemented at the age of 16, although the track that first caught his attention was the seminal Killer Queen.
"I discovered them slightly late. Killer Queen was 1974 and they had brought out Seven Seas of Rye and a couple of singles before that," he remembers.
"Really, Queen stamped themselves on me fully the year that I left home. It was 1975 and Bohemian Rhapsody was No 1 for nine weeks in the days when you had to sell records to be No 1.
"They were a big part of my adolescence, but I liked a lot of rock. Today, Queen have been a part of everybody's life for almost 40 years and getting the chance to work closely with their music is just incredible."
Being such a fan, Elton is clearly proud of his honorary band member status.
"Over the years I always had a copy Queen's greatest hits in my CD collection but I never dreamt that Brian and I and Roger would become brothers.
"And much as I love musical theatre I never thought for a second that my life would be taken over by it in the way that it has by We Will Rock You."
We Will Rock You
Recalling the moment he revealed the show's storyline to the band he shrugs, "I was pretty confident about it. I've always had a healthy regard for my own work because I wouldn't have suggested it to them if I didn't think it was right.
"So, if they didn't like it I'd think, 'Well, more fool them.' Now that might sound a bit cocky, but I really felt I had a good idea. Then I wrote the script and they said, 'We love this but we want to talk.'
"So I went around and Jim Beach, their manager, said, 'You realise you're a member of the band now. We are all honest with each other and if we think something is sh*t we say it. So we are going to tell you what we think is sh*t.'
"They had a few criticisms but after that build up I was expecting them to tear the thing to shreds, but no, they basically loved it. We immediately got on and Brian, Roger and I became close friends."
But what of the other member of Queen, bassist John Deacon?
"John obviously supported it. He read the script, gave me some notes and that was it," says Elton, confiding that Deacon likes to live quietly. "I can't claim to be a friend of John's but I have his thumbs up."
We Will Rock You
Another celebrity with a claim to be an honorary member of Queen is Hollywood star Robert De Niro. His production company Tribeca co-produces We Will Rock You. So might we see the production make a transfer to the big screen any time soon?
"Yes, a film has been talked about and I think we could get one together if we really worked hard at it," admits Elton, "but the whole point about We Will Rock You is that it is about the rebirth of live music.
"What we are celebrating on stage is every second of live rock and roll. At the moment we are so involved in bringing live rock music to the theatre, that a movie would kind of spoil it. That is what puts us off. So maybe one day, but at the moment the theatre is where this show was born and where we love it to be – that's why we continue to work at it."
It's also why both Roger Taylor and Brian May have been known to make surprise guest appearances in the show's finale, Bohemian Rhapsody.
Both can be spotted in the preview video. Whether or not Edinburgh audiences are in for that treat however, remains to be seen.
"That's not remotely what we are promising Edinburgh," cautions Elton. "The fact that Brian sometimes appears in the show is testimony to his love of it and his commitment to the company.
"I would never say to any audience member that Brian might appear because the chances are tiny. He's appeared 30 times in seven years... and that's in London where he lives. Maybe, it isn't even 30, maybe it's 25, I don't know.
"In a way I wouldn't have included that in the video but I think its worth doing so only because it demonstrates Brian and Roger's ongoing day to day commitment.
"We Will Rock You is unique in musical theatre because no originating creatives (director, writer, musical director and composer) stay with a show like this – normally it is done in London and that is it."
Whether or not Brian May or Roger Taylor appear in Edinburgh Elton is happy to re-iterate the production's promise: "We will rock you," he vows - and you know, they probably will.
Read more from Ben Elton in The Guide, free with the Evening News on September 19.For your chance to win a copy of the We Will Rock You soundtrack on CD simply e-mail your name, age and address to fringe@edinburghnews.com with the word QUEEN in the subject line. Entries to be received by noon on September 22. Usual Evening News rules apply.
We Will Rock You opens at the Edinburgh Playhouse on November 2, 2009, for a ten week season. Tickets priced £16-£40 are now on sale from 0844-847 1661 and www.EdinburghPlayhouse.org.uk Friday September 12: 10.14pm
I DON'T THINK WE'RE IN KANSAS ANYMORE TOTOIf you loved How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? Sat rapt through Any Dream Will Do and wondered just how far the girls would go to win the role of Nancy in I'd Do Anything, then prepare yourself for another round of TV auditions.
A whisper reaches me that the rights for The Wizard of Oz could soon be difficult to come by. Apparently, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber has his sights set on them.
A quick call to a showbiz insider confirms that in 2010 we could indeed all be tuning in to the BBC on a Saturday night to cast a new Dorothy, and maybe even a new Tin Man, Cowardly Lion and a Scarecrow?
But what to call the series? Click Your Heels And Your There In The Spotlight perhaps or, the obvious one, Follow The Yellow Brick Road... To Your Dreams.
Just for the record, in 2009 the Lord is concentrating on his long-awaited sequel to Phantom of the Opera – Phantom: Once Upon Another Time. Or so I'm told.
Thursday September 11: 5.21pm
CALEY CINEMA, CALAIS PALAIS, AMPHITHEATRE, CENTURY 2000, REVOLUTION, GIG... AND NOW INTRODUCING THE PICTURE HOUSEI'm gutted to be missing the opening of The Picture House on September 25. Travis are playing, but I'm already spoken for that night.
A new lease of life for the historic Lothian Road cinema is long over-due and hopefully the new refurbishment and management will allow the venue to recapture some its former glory.
The Boomtown Rats were the last band I saw play there. They were at the height of their fame at the time. In the days before he was sainted – and the venue was known as the Calais Palais – Geldof's vocals were electrifying.
I also recall that there was a serious drop from the stage – probably why the Live Aid hero never came too close to the edge.
The place was packed and buzzing, let's hope that as The Picture House some of that energy can be rekindled.
Check out The Picture House gig list at www.mamagroup.co.uk/picturehouse
And while I remember... who would admit attending the venue in its next incarnation... The Amphitheatre. I never yet have got over the sight of toga clad door-staff, have you?
Thursday September 11: 1pm
WE WILL ROCK YOUFrom the circle of London's Dominion Theatre, looking onto its artificially distressed proscenium arch, the words of Ben Elton rang in my ears: "Over the last seven years Brain May has made around 30 surprise appearances during We Will Rock You."
Would he do so tonight?
It wasn't to be as it turned out, although the whisper is that he may well attend one of the Edinburgh performances when the show goes on tour next year. Whether he'll be on stage or off however, is anyone's guess.
Back to last night: The year is 2046 and all musical instruments have been banned.
All the kids want is 'Radio Ga Ga, Video Go Go, Internet Ga Ga', supplied by one global company controlled by the Killer Queen, until some rock'n'roll rebels go off in search of Brian May's guitar, which has been hidden - Excalibur-like - in a rock.
The story might not need a lot of thought, but all the hits are there, from I Want To Break Free to Days of Our Lives, with just about every track in between, before and after referenced somewhere along the way.
Fantastic lighting and a tight score, performed live, make We Will Rock You the ultimate sing-a-long feel-good musical – think of it as a testosterone fuelled Mamma Mia! with Tina Turner playing the Meryl Streep role as though still in Mad Max.
Stand-out scenes include Killer Queen – a Tron moment – and two poignant tributes to Freddie Mercury.
The first comes as the introduction of Bohemian Rhapsody video – or as Ben Elton insists on calling it Boh Rap – is played on an old TV screen (creating instant silence in the auditorium); the second when the ghost of Freddie Mercury appears as a computer generation.
And here's a teaser for those yet to see the show. My favourite line was 'Victoria Beckham died to save us.' And In We Will Rock You
he does. Work that one out.
"We Will Rock You isn't a title, it's a promise," Elton had insisted at the launch earlier in the day. This show will definitely do that. Tickets go on sale for the Edinburgh run on Monday.
Wednesday September 10: 4.41pm
RAPID FIRE Remember Ben Elton's rapid fire stand-up delivery back in the 80s when he was the scourge of Thatcher?
Well, little has changed, he still seems to speak without ever pausing for breath.
I've just interviewed him in the screening room of the Charlotte Street Hotel in London's West End, where he and Arlene Phillips were launching the first UK tour of We Will Rock You – the Queen musical which Elton penned and directs.
By all accounts the juke-box musical with a futuristic Arthurian twist and enough Queen tracks to keep even their most ardent fan happy had a difficult birth.
Elton still smarts at its initial reception from the press - and that was seven years ago. Read all about it in next week's issue of The Guide.
Tuesday September 9: 4.45pm
DIVORCEDThere comes a time when you just have to say no... and that time is now. Well tonight to be precise.
Yes, I'm looking forward to We Will Rock You tomorrow. And I can't wait to see the Lyceum's new Macbeth on Saturday. I'm even looking forward to Flashdance on Monday... but wild horses couldn't drag me to Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, which opens at the Edinburgh Playhouse tonight.
It's up there as one of my musical theatre pet hates – just how much longer can it, and other clunky old pot-boilers like Fiddler on the Roof, Oklahoma and Calamity Jane, continue to tour professionally.
Even the amateur companies, once champions of all musicals long past their sell-by-dates, are moving on and choosing more contemporary works.
Thank heavens we can also look forward to The Witches of Eastwick, Can't Smile Without You, Mary Poppins and the return of Sunshine On Leith over the next couple of months.
Tuesday September 9: 4.30pm
LONDON CALLINGI'm off to London tomorrow for a sneak preview of the Edinburgh Playhouse Christmas show... for 2009. Talk about planning ahead!
Still it promises to be a goodie. We Will Rock You – a jukebox musical by Ben Elton, built around 24 of Queen's greatest hits.
Set in a future where rock music is banned, We Will Rock You spent six years in development before opening at the Dominion Theatre on London's West End.
Now in its sixth year there, it has been seen by more than 5 million people, many of whom have seen it more than once.
Although you'll have to go some to beat the show's No 1 fans – Londoners Kevin Morrissey and Julie Daw.
On January 25, 2005, they married in Las Vegas where, for their honeymoon evening festivities, they sat through the show at the Paris Resort, Las Vegas – Kevin for the 61st time, Julie for the 42nd. I believe taht they have both seen it again since.
Now that's what I call rocking all over the world... sorry, wrong band.
Friday September 5: 11.03am
CHIM CHIMINEYThe morning after the night before – why did we sit up until 2.30am Simon and Arlene? – and Daniel Crossley reveals that his trip to the Capital to play Bert will not be his first visit to the city.
Daniel Crossley and Caroline Sheen
That was when he was 17 years old and just breaking into show business as a dancer. Apparently he auditioned to be in the chorus line of a King's panto in the days when Sheridan Nicol directed and choreographed.
He laughs as he recalls that he didn't get the part.
As they say, he who laughs last...
Thursday September 4: 22.47pm
BACKSTAGEMore than 120 people work backstage on Mary Poppins. Just discovered this on a tour of the set which has proved a bit of an eye-opener.
I now know how a number of the special effects are achieved, but the company manager would probably run me through with one of Mary's many brollies if I told you how the magic is created.
The show itself is much darker than the film – scary in fact, in parts. And there's one great scene reminiscent of a 1920's Weimar cabaret. Read all about it in The Guide on September 26.
Thursday September 4: 18.30pm
DINNER IN BRUMBirmingham's Mal Maison Hotel: A press pack has gathered under the watchful eyes of Pam Blyth and Milo Spence of the Edinburgh Playhouse and Simon Rawe, PR manager of Cameron Macintosh and Disney's hit musical Mary Poppins, which flies onto the stage of the Edinburgh Playhouse next month for a ten-week season.
Before the show however, there just time for a bite of dinner, during which we discover that Pam makes Christmas cakes to die for (place your orders now) and that Forth one's Arlene Stuart (hear her on the Breakfast Show from Monday) makes a wicked Pavlova.
Simon also reveals that there are to be further Edinburgh auditions – Disney are looking to cast a couple of local kids as Poppins' charges, Michael and Jane.
Apparently, auditions held earlier in the year at Erskine Stewart Melville junior school failed to find the talent required.
Does your child have what it takes to go fly a kite? Watch this space for details.
Wednesday September 3: 5.45pm
EXPLANATIONJust thought I better explain the heading on the last entry. There have been a few puzzled brows.
Read on:
"Has anyone seen me dad's tits? He's mislaid them," is a great line from Irish comedian Brendan O'Carroll, reminiscing with me about the backstage dramas of touring with his family in the early days of Mrs Brown's Last Wedding.
His son is now in the show... as is his daughter.
Wednesday September 3: 10.45am
HAVE YOU SEEN ME DAD'S TITSKen Dodd once took to the stage of the Festival Theatre at 7.30pm and was still there, cracking jokes, at midnight.
It was long show. He warned us it would be. People left to catch their last bus home or because they had work the next morning, but the King of the Diddy Men just ploughed on.
The audience that stayed certainly got value for their money.
It was a bit like that at the Edinburgh Playhouse last night when Mrs Brown returned to Edinburgh, with comedian Brendan O'Carroll firmly ensconced as the loveable foul-mouthed Dublin mammy.
Brendan O'Carroll
Ten minutes late going up, the show was already over-running by 20 minutes at the interval, and by the fall of the curtain... well, let's put it this way, it was supposed to come down at 10pm. Final bows didn't happen until 10.40pm.
Still, the Irish have never had a concept of time. The son of a Dublin mammy myself, I know.
Not that a packed Playhouse minded. Certainly, if the standing ovation O'Carroll and the cast received at the end was anything to go by, they didn't.
Good Mourning Mrs Brown is the second in quadrilogy of plays about O'Carroll's comic creation – Agnes Brown.
A cross between a stand-up routine, a soap opera and a farce, O'Carroll's ad libbed antics often leave the cast laughing as much as the audience.
It bawdy, rude and even occasionally crude – but laugh out loud funny.
If you have yet to experience an evening in the company of Mrs Brown, let me recommend it, just don't expect Shakespeare... and remember to bring a flask of tea and sandwiches to keep you going.
God forbid they ever allow Brendan O'Carroll and Ken Dodd on the same bill... you'd need a sleeping bag too.
Tuesday September 2: 9.45am
FIT TO DROPThe problem with the Festival is that regular routines go to the wall. All those mornings spent at the gym trying to erode what was once a six pack, but is now a beer barrel, wasted.
Okay, so there was never quite a six-pack, but you get my drift.
Consequently, climbing the stairs leading to Escape Health Club on Market Street this morning felt like ascending a small Munro.
But it was worth it, if only to discover that after three weeks away, I wasn't as out of shape as I could have been, which can only be due to all the trekking from venue to venue during the Festival... not forgetting the endless stairs that seem to be a prerequisite before seeing any Fringe show.
Monday September 1: 10.25am
LEMAR AND LEON JACKSONNews just in via e-mail that's sure to bring a smile to the faces of all Lemar and Leon Jackson fans.
The pair are to appear at the Queen's Hall in the latest Be Live event, sponsored by Forth one and Asda.
Lemar
All tickets for the show, which will take place on Sunday September 28, are free, with the majority due to be given away on air or via in-store competitions. So keep your eyes and ears peeled.
Headliner Lemar comes to the Capital fresh from recording his brand new album The Reason. X Factor's Leon Jackson is still best known for his No 1 When You Believe. The pair will be supported on the night will be soul-pop songstress Natalia, direct from supporting Girls Aloud.
