Manic Street Preachers: Critical Thinking review
From then on, we're on more familiar territory, Decline and Fall and Brushstrokes of Reunion deploying the same galloping Abba piano flourishes that lit up 2021's Ultra Vivid Lament. Dear Stephen jangles in a very 1980s way and is a bittersweet yearning for that era's incarnation of (Steven) Morrissey ('I'm still a prisoner to you and Larkin/ Even as your history darkens'), as opposed to his more troubling recent persona. In the 90s, you'd have bet good money against the band growing older this gracefully, yet here we are with another reflective and thought-provoking set.
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Time Out
3 days ago
- Time Out
Fire cooked food that's flavourful and unintimidating
Chef Yiannis Mexis's new Borough venture Pyro is a contemporary Greek restaurant that both defies and embraces neighbourhood taverna cliches. The food is hardly rustic simplicity or beholden to tradition, but it's rarely overly fiddly, and ultimately comes down to big flame-cooked flavours and robustly fresh ingredients. Pyro has heavy beachside vibes, which is very bold in Southwark but it carries it off in large part because of its surprisingly enormous outdoor area. There is a fully indoor restaurant bit which I completely failed to go into, but is presumably the main focus of Pyro during the colder months. But when I visited at the tail end of a mini heatwave there was no question of going inside – we went for the covered section of the vast terrace, which basically isn't afraid to look like a giant straw-roofed beach hut. That it doesn't fall over the precipice of novelty is due to the mostly excellent food. Seeking to bring the Aegean beach to the centre of London, you can drop a lot of money on seafood here: £85 for a whole 'flame kissed' lobster or £105 for a 1.5kg Cornish brill. But it's actually a fairly broad spectrum survey of Greek-influenced cuisine, and you don't have to spend big to get something nice. In fact the best thing we ate was quite possibly the £10 crudites platter. A world away from the sorry cucumber and carrot batons that blight every British childhood, this was a pristine plate of some of the freshest crunchiest vegetables I have ever had the pleasure to devour. From shimmering white radishes to chalky summer squash, everything was great, especially when dunked in a goopy/crunchy tarama and carob rusk dip. There's a very short 'grazing' menu – we had everything on it just to be clear we hadn't missed anything. A spanakopita pastel del nada was basically a fun tart-style presentation of a classic spanakopita; mussel saganaki (a small fried appetiser) was a light, spicy trifle; intense little pork souvlaki skewers got us thoroughly warmed up for some heartier mains 'from the fire'. The barbecued octopus had a lovely texture – the exact sweet spot between chewy and pliant – although the custardy, yellow split pea accompanying sauce was too rich and threatened to overwhelm. The soft but flavourful whole charred aubergine was much more like it, but the highlight was the side order of 'layered' potatoes. A sort of fantasy hybrid of classic roast potato and pommes anna, it consisted of layered cubes of spud, thinly crispy and lightly spiced on the outside, its inside softly concertina-ing at the press of a tongue on the inside. It was a taste sensation; it was a textural sensation – we ate them all and didn't really have room for any dessert afterwards (the dessert menu is small and while the blackcurrant and almond pie sounded nice it was £19 and apparently pretty huge). Instead I turned to the extremely fun cocktail list, the creation of London-based Ukrainian mixologist Ana Reznik. I went for the Aegeas: the mix of olive oil–infused dry gin with seaweed and extra dry vermouth was weird in a good way, three warm currents of boozy brine gently percolating around each other. Pyro is a good times eatery that serves high quality fire cooked food that's flavourful and unintimidating, influenced by the Med but not aiming to school you about the Med. If you're looking to wow a date with high concept dining it's probably not the place – but if you're looking for a relaxed summer night out, this is the one. The vibe A chilled out terrace taverna in Southwark. The drink A handful of Greek-hemed cocktails and plenty of Greek wine.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
Dressing gown-clad Bishop who told choir to get out of his house and stop their 'terrible racket' was also the vicar at the church when a 'blasphemous' satanic-style fashion show took place
The dressing gown-clad Bishop who told a choir to stop their 'terrible racket' was the vicar at a historic church when it held a 'blasphemous' fashion show featuring satanic images. Models wearing devil horns and displaying upside-down crosses paraded down the aisle-turned-catwalk of St Andrew Holborn church for a London Fashion Week event in 2017. A former Bishop said at the time that the 'satanic' aspect of the show was 'not acceptable', adding: 'Christ's name is being dishonoured, it is blasphemous.' And theologian Dr Adrian Hilton wrote of the event: 'How is it possible that a sacred space can be used for what can only be described as Lucifer lauding? How does hosting a Satanic Fashion Show glorify God?' The show was highlighting the work of controversial Turkish designer Dilara Findikoglu, whose creations have been worn by celebrities including singer Rihanna. In a statement at the time, the church said: 'We took this booking in good faith and were not aware of the content or design before the show took place' Bishop of Fulham Jonathan Baker, who was the vicar of the 1,000-year-old church at the time, didn't comment on the fashion show and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing. But the church was forced to admit it had made a 'mistake' in allowing the show which did 'not reflect the Christian faith of the Church'. Bishop Jonathan, who is still the vicar at St Andrew, once again found himself at the centre of controversy last weekend after he told a choir to stop their 'terrible racket' and get out of his house. The City Academy Voices choir was coming to the end of their performance at St Andrew on Friday night when the barefooted Bishop took to the stage and grabbed a microphone to tell bemused performers and a 300-strong audience to leave. Social media footage of the altercation - which has been viewed more than 500,000 times - shows Bishop Jonathan telling the choir: 'You are in my house. It's gone past 10pm and this is a terrible racket.' 'Goodnight. You are in my house - can you leave it now please. Thank you, it's over.' A church employee then asked the crowd to leave quietly and the musicians to depart the stage because 'this is a residential home', attracting boos and jeers from the audience. Before leaving the choir performed one final song - an a cappella version of ABBA's Dancing Queen - to cheers and applause from the crowd. The choir was performing a special summer concert last Friday and had booked the venue, which is available to hire, having used it previously with no issue. The performing arts academy which runs the choir said the venue had been booked until 11pm - almost a full hour after the concert was interrupted - and that it had 'received a full apology which we have accepted'. Meanwhile a member of the choir said that Bishop Jonathan had been 'hovering' and 'glowering' in the wings for half an hour before asking the choir and crowd to leave as he 'obviously just didn't like us being in 'his house''. The choir member added: 'He was hovering - glowering - in his dressing gown in the doorway from 9:30… he didn't seem terribly rational.' Benedict Collins, who was attending the concert with his 10-year-old daughter and has been to all of the choir's previous performances at the church, said that concertgoers who paid £20 for a ticket had not received an explanation or apology. He told the Mail: 'It's ridiculous, they're happy to take the money, they don't give this place up for free. It's a commercial venue and they rent it out as a commercial agreement. 'It seems like the only person affected is the Bishop and he chooses to rent the thing out doesn't he. It's all rather ridiculous. 'His complaint was that this was a residential site, well it's the site of his residence and he chooses to rent it out as a concert venue.' Mr Collins added: 'But I don't think anyone is bitterly upset, either in the choir or in the audience. We'll talk about it for the next ten years. 'And If this Bishop was having a bad day then I'm sorry for him and I really hope it blows over quickly.' Before he became the Bishop of Fulham, the Right Revd Jonathan Baker was previously made Bishop of Ebbsfleet by former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams despite being a Freemason. This marked a significant U-turn by Dr Williams who had previously said that Freemasonry was 'incompatible' with Christianity and had refused to promote Masons to senior posts. Rising to the rank of Deputy Grand Chaplain, after initially refusing to leave the Masons Bishop Jonathan changed his mind and in 2011 said he would leave so he could concentrate on being a bishop. The Bishop of Fulham declined to comment when approached by the Daily Mail at the St Andrew vicarage and the diocese of London did not respond to a request for comment. At the weekend a diocese spokesman said: 'Bishop Jonathan reached out to the organisers on Saturday to apologise for his late-night appearance at the concert, which he now understands had overrun due to earlier technical difficulties.'
Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Shocking moment bishop tells choir 'get out of my house' in his dressing gown
Bizarre footage of Jonathan Baker, the Bishop of Fulham, has gone viral after he walked on stage and told the choir to leave St Andrew's church in front of shocked audience members A shocking video has captured the moment a bishop stopped a choir performance and told people to get out of his house. Churchgoers at St Andrew's church in Holborn, central London, were left gobsmacked when Jonathan Baker, the Bishop of Fulham, stormed onto the stage. The City Academy Voices choir were wrapping up their performance when the bishop appeared with no shoes and a dressing gown on. The lights abruptly went on as the crowd, made up of 360 people, looked on with confusion on Friday. Bishop Jonathan, 58, suddenly started to shout and branded the music a "racket". In a clip, which has since gone viral online, he said: "You are in my house. It's gone past 10pm and this is a terrible racket." He added: "Goodnight. You are in my house – can you leave it now please. Thank you, it's over." A church worker then asked everyone to leave the premises, which they referred to as a "residential home". The choir decided to sing a rendition of Abba's Dancing Queen, which saw the audience erupt into cheers. Leigh Stanford Thompson, the choir's director, branded the incident "bizarre" and said he had mistaken the moment for some kind of "comedy act." He stated: "I've never experienced anything like it. A lot of people thought it was some weird thing that I had organised, like a parting thing, but I knew exactly what was happening." Benedict Collins, who took his 10-year-old daughter to the concert, initially thought the outburst was a joke. He told Sky News: "The church willingly rents out the premises for performances, for can hardly be surprised if they take bookings for concerts and there is music in the hall." Another choir member commented: 'There were boos and everything, it's just really disappointing. At the end of these concerts, we always end on a real high and everyone goes home full of joy, but this dampened things.' A diocese of London spokesperson said: "Bishop Jonathan reached out to the organisers on Saturday to apologise for his late-night appearance at the concert, which he now understands had overrun due to earlier technical difficulties."
