Latest news with #CabaretVoltaire
Scotsman
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
All the TRNSMT 2025 acts with shows lined up for Scotland — including James Marriott
Missing TRNSMT already? Here is every act from the 2025 festival with gigs lined up for Scotland. Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It was a warm and glorious weekend at TRNSMT, with some of the biggest names in music entertaining thousands of fans at Glasgow Green. The festival has now wrapped for 2025 and attendees will be taking it easy after days in the sunshine enjoying music from acts including 50 Cent, Gracie Abrams and Fontaines D.C as well as those appearing on smaller stages, such as rEDOLENT, Vlure, Aaron Rowe and more. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad An incredible crowd turned up this weekend in Glasgow. | PA For those who weren't able to make it to Glasgow, there are live sets available to stream on BBC iPlayer. But if you are already thinking about your next gig, here are all of the acts from TRNSMT 2025 with shows coming up in Scotland this year. Nell Mescal The sister of Hollywood star Paul Mescal, Nell Mescal played TRNSMT on Sunday. She has a shot lined up for Cabaret Voltaire in Edinburgh on Monday, July 14. Kerr Mercer A rising star, Glasgow singer-songwriter Kerr Mercer made his TRNSMT debut on the King Tut's stage on Sunday. His next performance in Scotland is supporting Tom Jones during Discovery Festival in Dundee on Sunday, July 27. Fourth Daughter Appearing on the BBC Introducing stage during this year's festival, Fourth Daughter - whose real name is Emily Atkinson - will perform at Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival on Thursday, July 31. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Tom Walker The singer is famous for songs including Leave a Light On and Just You and I. | PA Scottish singer-songwriter Tom Walker has already performed a few shows in Scotland this year, including The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) gig which Lewis Capaldi made a surprise appearance during in May. Following his main stage slot at TRNSMT, Walker will perform during Belladrum on Sunday, August 2, with additional gigs around Scotland in support of Tom Grennan in Aberdeen and Glasgow later this year. KuleeAngee The project of Keshav Kanabar and Duncan Grant, who are from Glasgow and Edinburgh respectively, KuleeAngee played the BBC Introducing stage at TRNMST on Sunday. Their other Scottish shows this year include during the Edinburgh Fringe, where they will perform at La Belle Angele on Friday, August 15 as part of Wide Days' Made in Scotland programme. Kyle Falconer Best known as the frontman of The View, Kyle Falconer played a solo set at TRNSMT on Sunday. He has a few shows lined up around Scotland in 2025, including at the Music & Food Festival in Arbroath on Saturday, August 23. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In addition, Falconer is set to play Galashiels on September 18, Alloa on September 20, and Aberdeen on September 21. Pat Hamilton Having played the BBC Introducing stage at TRNSMT on Sunday, Scottish singer-songwriter Pat Hamilton will headline two shows at The Poetry Club, SWG3 on Sunday, August 24 and Monday, August 25. Nxdia Alt-pop musician Nxdia entertained crowds on the King Tut's Stage on Sunday at TRNSMT 2025. Her next show in Scotland will be in support of Sofia Isella at SWG3 TV Studio on Thursday, August 28. Aaron Rowe Having recently opened for Ed Sheeran's arena tour, singer-songwriter Aaron Rowe performed on the BBC Introducing stage during TRNSMT's final day. He won't be headlining any gigs of his own anytime soon, as he will be joining Lewis Capaldi during his upcoming UK tour. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Rowe's next Scottish gigs will be at Aberdeen's P&J Live on September 10 and 11, as well as at the OVO Hydro on September 13 and 14. Miles Kane A last minute addition to the TRNSMT 2025 line-up after Wunderhorse were forced to withdraw, Miles Kane is set to play just two shows in Scotland this year - both of which are instore performances at Assai Records in Glasgow in support of his new album Sunlight In The Shadows on Thursday, September 11. Nina Nesbitt Scottish singer and songwriter Nina Nesbitt played the King Tut's Stage at TRNSMT on Sunday, with her next Scottish gig part of Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls Lost Evenings VIII. Running from September 25-28, Nesbitt will perform at the O2 Academy in Edinburgh on Friday, September 26. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Dictator With their next performance post-TRNSMT also part of Lost Evenings, West Lothian band Dictator will perform on Saturday, September 27 on the Nick Alexander Stage at the Edinburgh O2 Academy event. Good Neighbours Good Neighbours | ryanjohnstonco / Ryan Johnston English indie rock duo Good Neighbours released their debut single Home in January last year and climbed the UK charts. Having already played several shows in Scotland earlier this year, including their King Tut's stage slot at TRNSMT, the band will next perform in Scotland for their album launch show at The Caves in Edinburgh on Monday, September 29. Alex Spencer Supporting Corella on tour, Alex Spencer will follow up his Saturday TRNSMT slot with a show at Glasgow's Garage on Wednesday, October 1. Welly Following their time at TRNSMT on Saturday, Welly will bring their unique mix of genres to Scotland once again with shows in Edinburgh and Glasgow later this year. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The act will perform at Cabaret Voltaire on Friday, October 3, before playing King Tut's Wah Wah Hut on Saturday, October 4. Chloe Qisha After her Saturday TRNSMT slot on the King Tut's stage, 21st Century Cool Girl Chloe Qisha's next Scottish date will be at Glasgow's King Tut's Wah Wah Hut on Sunday, October 5. The Kooks The Kooks have a date with Glasgow. | Getty Images Announced following their Saturday main stage slot at TRNSMT festival, iconic noughties band The Kooks will perform at the OVO Hydro on Wednesday, October 8. The K's Though they have no headline slot of their own coming up in Scotland, The K's will support The Kooks at the Hydro on Wednesday, October 8. The English indie band also performed at TRNSMT over the weekend, with an early evening slot on the King Tut's Stage on Sunday. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Chloe Slater Known for her song writing which tackles social and political issues, Chloe Slater played the BBC Introducing stage at Glasgow Green during the 2025 festival. It was her second show in Scotland this year, with her next performance in the country on Saturday, October 11 as part of Tenement Trail. The Rooks Also following up their TRNSMT set with a performance as part of Tenement Trail are Glasgow band The Rooks. Fright Years The final act from TRNSMT 2025 performing as part of Tenement Trail in Glasgow this year are Edinburgh-based band Fright Years. JADE Jade performing at TRNSMT | PA After her first solo Scottish show on TRNSMT's main stage on Sunday, former Little Mix member Jade is set to perform songs from her debut album That's Showbiz Baby during a gig at Glasgow's O2 Academy on Monday, October 13. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Nathan Evans & The Saint Phnx Band It was during their TRNSMT slot that Nathan Evans & The Saint Phnx Band announced the details of their biggest headline slot to date at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow on Saturday, October 25. Ben Ellis Another act from the BBC Introducing Stage, emerging artist Ben Ellis is set to perform at SWG3 in Glasgow on Monday, October 27. Remember Monday With their Friday TRNSMT slot announced at the last minute, the UK's 2025 Eurovision representatives Remember Monday are set to perform at SWG3 in Glasgow on Tuesday, October 28. James Marriott James Marriott | Ryan Johnston Youtuber turned musician James Marriott's most recent album Don't Tell the Dog reached No.1 on the UK charts. Following his Saturday slot on the King Tut's stage at TRNSMT, the English singer-songwriter announced his upcoming gig at the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow on Tuesday, November 4. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Cliffords Cork-based indie rock back Cliffords performed during TRNSMT on Friday, with their next Scottish show set for King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow on Sunday, November 9. VLURE Following their BBC Introducing slot at TRNSMT, Glasgow band Vlure will embark on their headline UK and Europe tour later this year with the final date at Glasgow's Art School on Friday, November 14. Amble Dublin folk band Amble played the King Tut's stage at TRNSMT with their next Scottish show set for Thursday, November 20 at the Barrowlands in Glasgow. Arthur Hill Playing 'Costa Del Glasgow' as he explained to his followers on social media, Arthur Hill will follow his TRNSMT slot with a show at the city's Barrowland Ballroom on Friday, November 21. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Wet Leg Having just released their second album Moisturiser, Isle of Wight band Wet Leg took to the main stage at TRNSMT on Sunday. Following their performance, they added a show on Monday, November 24 at Glasgow's O2 Academy to their upcoming tour. The Guest List Indie-rock band The Guest List were on the BBC Introducing line-up during TRNSMT, with their next show at Glasgow's King Tut's Wah Wah Hut on Friday, November 28. Alessi Rose After an early main stage slot at TRNSMT on Saturday, English singer-songwriter Alessi Rose will tour the UK later this year with a show set for Sunday, November 30 at Glasgow's O2 Academy. Brògeal Kaitlin Wraight Originally from Falkirk, five-piece band Brògeal have performed at TRNSMT on more than one occasion, with their latest set seeing them take to the King Tut's stage. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Following their appearance during this year's festival, the folk band are set to play three shows around Scotland later this year including The Caves in Edinburgh on December 2, Cafe Drummond in Aberdeen on December 3 and at Beat Generator in Dundee on December 5. Calum Bowie Banchory-born singer Calum Bowie took to the main stage at TRNSMT on Friday. He will follow up his appearance at the festival with his biggest headline gigs to date later this year. Fans can watch Bowie at the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen on Thursday, December 4, followed by a show at Glasgow's Barrowland Ballroom on Friday, December 5. Rianne Downey Glasgow-born singer Rianne Downey was among the acts who performed on the King Tut's stage at TRNSMT 2025. Her next Scottish gig will be at The Old Fruitmarket in Glasgow on Saturday, December 6. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Amy Macdonald The legendary Scottish singer played a surprise set. | PA Under the pseudonym Mrs Rock and Roll, Amy MacDonald played a secret set at the Hangout during TRNSMT 2025 following the release of her new album This What You've Been Waiting For. The Scottish singer will play two shows at Glasgow's OVO Hydro on Thursday, December 11 and Friday, December 12. Brooke Combe Having already performed in Glasgow twice this year - including her TRNSMT slot - Scottish singer-songwriter Brooke Combe will once again play Glasgow at Saint Luke's on Wednesday, December 17. Lucia & The Best Boys
Euronews
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Why Zurich's creative side makes it a top city break destination
When I checked into my hotel, I noticed a man slumped in the corner of the lobby. He looked dishevelled, more like a jet-lagged backpacker than a guest at a five-star retreat. The front desk staff barely glanced at him, so I thought better of rubbernecking. It wasn't until later, while touring the property and admiring works by Salvador Dalí and Joan Miró, that it clicked. I returned to the lobby, got face-to-face with the man in the corner and realised he was no man at all. He was an art installation. I was at the Dolder Grand, a lavish resort built among Zurich's wooded hills, like a fairytale castle towering over the Zürichsee. Originally opened in 1899 as a Curhaus, or spa retreat, it still attracts the world's well-heeled with Alpine views and quiet luxury. But inside, the Dolder Grand offers a glimpse of a lesser-known Zurich, where art, not just affluence, shapes the experience. With more than 100 pieces by major 20th- and 21st-century artists scattered across the property, the hotel doubles as a gallery, reflecting the city's deep ties to creativity and design. And it's far from an outlier. Public artwork brings unexpected beauty to everyday life Zurich is often seen as the domain of financiers, FIFA officials and other members of the Maserati-driving classes. But it also gave the world Dadaism, the radical movement that emerged in 1916 at Cabaret Voltaire and laid the groundwork for surrealism and pop art. Later, Zurich became the birthplace of Swiss Style, which championed grid-based design, sans-serif typefaces like Helvetica and a pared-back, rational aesthetic that still shapes everything from transport signage to websites. Its creative spirit isn't limited to the annals of history, either. 'Zurich is understated but buzzing,' says Jacqueline Uhlmann, manager of the Löwenbräukunst art centre in the up-and-coming Zurich-West district. 'There's a quiet confidence and a collaborative spirit here, driven less by trend and more by substance. It's a city where design, art, architecture and technology constantly intersect.' Some of that is credit to the city's Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (KiöR) programme. It has commissioned and maintained over 1,300 public artworks, ranging from underpass murals to sculptures in cemeteries and playgrounds. At Zurich Main Station, you're welcomed by Niki de Saint Phalle's purple-and-gold 'Guardian Angel.' At Zürichhorn, Jean Tinguely's mechanical 'Heureka' greets you with spinning parts and surreal charm. Even Bahnhofstrasse, the city's high-end shopping boulevard, hosts Max Bill's minimalist 'Pavilion Sculpture.' 'There's a growing movement around reclaiming and creatively using urban space,' explains Milica Vujcic of Zurich Tourism. Perhaps the most surprising example of Zurich's artistic undercurrent is found inside the last place you should be: the police station. Here, the entrance features a vivid fresco of blooming flowers painted by Augusto Giacometti. Known as 'Blüemlihalle,' it's a landmark you can visit freely – no arrest required. A former industrial district now leads Zurich's creative renaissance Follow the Limmat River west from Zurich's medieval centre and the cobblestones give way to train tracks, industrial towers and a different rhythm entirely. Zurich-West, once the city's manufacturing core, has been transformed into a creative hub humming with energy. At its heart stands Löwenbräukunst, a red-brick brewery transformed into one of Europe's most unique cultural complexes. Under a single roof, you'll find the Kunsthalle Zürich, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst and major galleries like Hauser & Wirth and Francesca Pia, alongside Edition VFO, which specialises in limited-edition prints. In one moment, you can be peering at kinetic sculptures and oil paintings, and in the next, you're eating vegan dishes at Bistro LOI or chatting with gallery owners. 'Zurich's strength lies in its diversity and density,' says Jacqueline Uhlmann, Löwenbräukunst's manager. 'While it may be quieter than Basel during art week, it offers a year-round, highly active contemporary art scene with a remarkable mix of galleries, off-spaces, major institutions, collectors and universities – all within walking distance.' That proximity can fuel cross-pollination. Uhlmann explains that the Löwenbräukunst hosts regular meetups that allow anyone interested in art to plug into the district's creative pulse. 'Initiatives like our monthly Art Walk West – a collaboration across the Zurich-West district – are designed to activate and connect with the broader community,' she says. 'It fosters informal conversations that often lead to real collaborations.' Back in the old town, the art spaces offer a different aesthetic. Kunsthaus Zurich, the city's most renowned fine arts institution, is one of the largest museums in Switzerland, housing works by Marc Chagall, Alberto Giacometti and Swiss-born innovator Sophie Taeuber-Arp. But it's not all reverent silence and oil portraits. Recent exhibitions have tackled everything from NFTs to feminist interventions. And if you need a breather, the leafy Heimplatz square outside is perfect for people-watching with a pastry in hand. If you time your visit right, you might also catch Zurich Art Weekend, a three-day event in early summer that features more than 70 exhibitions across the city. Organised just before Art Basel, the annual art weekend involves everything from rooftop talks to guided tours, all free and open to the public. Zurich's hotels offer discovery as well as design Even Zurich's hospitality industry has a creative edge. The vibrant 25hours Hotel Zurich West was brought to life by Swiss designer Alfredo Häberli. The Boutique & Art Hotel Helvetia houses sculptures, paintings, prints and more in its clean riverside space. And then there's the Dolder Grand, where art is everywhere. Reportedly worth over €800 million, its collection is interwoven with the guest experience. One morning, I walked into Blooms, the hotel's garden restaurant, and found a towering Keith Haring sculpture rising from the flower beds. 'Unlike in a traditional museum setting, guests encounter art in a relaxed and inviting atmosphere,' says Markus Granelli, the general manager. 'It encourages lingering, observation and conversation.' You experience that whether you're sipping a cocktail at the Canvas Bar & Lounge – where each drink is inspired by a different piece in the hotel's collection – or admiring a giant mushroom sculpture by Takashi Murakami in the modern wing. There are works by Francesco Clemente, Urs Fischer, Mel Ramos and even Sylvester Stallone. But the piece that lingers is Duane Hanson's 'Traveller,' also known as the man in the lobby. Made with a mix of found materials – clothing, hair, paper tickets – he looks startlingly lifelike. Orlando International Airport has a version, too, and passersby regularly try to wake him. I nearly did the same. While he may not move, let alone talk, the man in the lobby will tell you everything you need to know about Zurich. Art isn't kept behind glass here; it's part of the experience. As Uhlmann puts it: 'It's a place where something is made, not just shown.'
The Guardian
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Yes, there was a riot, but it was great': Cabaret Voltaire on violent gigs, nuclear noise – and returning to mark 50 years
Fifty years ago, Cabaret Voltaire shocked the people of Sheffield into revolt. A promoter screamed for the band to get off stage, while an audience baying for blood had to be held back with a clarinet being swung around for protection. All of which was taking place over the deafening recording of a looped steamhammer being used in place of a drummer, as a cacophony of strange, furious noises drove the crowd into a frenzy. 'We turned up, made a complete racket, and then got attacked,' recalls Stephen Mallinder. 'Yes, there was a bit of a riot, and I ended up in hospital, but it was great. That gig was the start of something because nothing like that had taken place in Sheffield before. It was ground zero.' Mallinder and his Cabaret Voltaire co-founder Chris Watson are sitting together again in Sheffield, looking back on that lift-off moment ahead of a handful of shows to commemorate the milestone. 'It is astonishing,' says Watson. 'Half a century. It really makes you stop, think and realise the significance.' The death in 2021 of third founding member Richard H Kirk was a trigger for thinking about ending things with finality. 'It'll be nice if we can use these shows to remind people what we did,' says Mallinder. 'To acknowledge the music, as well as get closure.' It's impossible to overstate how ahead of their time 'the Cabs' were. Regularly crowned the godfathers of the Sheffield scene, inspiring a wave of late 1970s groups such as the Human League and Clock DVA, they were making music in Watson's attic as early as 1973. Their primitive explorations with tape loops, heavily treated vocals and instruments, along with home-built oscillators and synthesisers, laid the foundations for a singular career that would span experimental music, post-punk, industrial funk, electro, house and techno. 'There was nothing happening in Sheffield that we could relate to,' says Mallinder. 'We had nothing to conform to. We didn't give a fuck. We just enjoyed annoying people, to be honest.' Inspired by dadaism, they would set up speakers in cafes and public toilets, or strap them to a van and drive around Sheffield blasting out their groaning, hissing and droning in an attempt to spook and confuse people. 'It did feel a bit violent and hostile at times, but more than anything we just ruined people's nights,' laughs Mallinder, with Watson recalling a memory from their very first gig: 'The organiser said to me after, 'You've completely ruined our reputation.' That was the best news we could have hoped for.' Insular and incendiary, the tight-knit trio had their own language, says Mallinder. 'We talked in a cipher only we understood – we had our own jargon and syntax.' When I interviewed Kirk years before his death, he went even further. 'We were like a terrorist cell,' he told me. 'If we hadn't ended up doing music and the arts, we might have ended up going around blowing up buildings as frustrated people wanting to express their disgust at society.' Instead they channelled that disgust into a type of sonic warfare – be it the blistering noise and head-butt attack of their landmark electro-punk track Nag Nag Nag, or the haunting yet celestial Red Mecca, an album rooted in political tensions and religious fundamentalism that throbs with a paranoid pulse. Watson left the group in 1981 to pursue a career in sound recording for TV. Mallinder and Kirk invested in technology, moving away from the industrial sci-fi clangs of their early period into grinding yet glistening electro-funk. As the second summer of love blazed in the UK in 1988, they headed to Chicago instead – to make Groovy, Laidback and Nasty with house legend Marshall Jefferson. 'We got slagged off for working with Marshall,' recalls Mallinder. 'People were going, 'England has got its own dance scene. Why aren't you working with Paul Oakenfold?' But we're not the fucking Happy Mondays. We'd already been doing that shit for years. We wanted to acknowledge our connection to where we'd come from: Black American music.' This major label era for the group produced moderate commercial success before they wound things down in the mid-1990s. But in the years since, everyone from New Order to Trent Reznor has cited the group's influence. Mallinder continued to make electronic music via groups such as Wrangler and Creep Show, the latter in collaboration with John Grant, a Cabs uber-fan. Watson says leaving the group was 'probably the most difficult decision I've ever made' but he has gone on to have an illustrious career, winning Baftas for his recording work with David Attenborough on shows such as Frozen Planet. He recalls 'the most dangerous journey I've ever made' being flown in a dinky helicopter that was akin to a 'washing machine with a rotor blade' by drunk Russian pilots in order to reach a camp on the north pole. On 2003 album Weather Report, Watson harnessed his globetrotting field recording adventures with stunning effect, turning long, hot wildlife recording sessions in Kenya surrounded by buzzing mosquitoes, or the intense booming cracks of colossal glaciers in Iceland, into a work of immersive musical beauty. When he was at the Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania with Oscar-winning composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, recording sounds for the score to the 2019 TV series Chernobyl, he couldn't help but draw parallels to his Cabs days. 'It was horrific but really astonishing – such a tense, volatile, hostile environment,' he says. 'But it really got me thinking about working with those sounds again, their musicality and how it goes back to where I started.' Sign up to Sleeve Notes Get music news, bold reviews and unexpected extras. Every genre, every era, every week after newsletter promotion Mallinder views Watson's work as a Trojan horse for carrying radical sounds into ordinary households. 'The Cabs may have changed people's lives but Chris is personally responsible for how millions of people listen to the world,' he says, with clear pride. 'And one of the things that helped make that happen was the fact that he was in the Cabs, so through that lens he opened up people's ears.' Watson agrees, saying Cabaret Voltaire 'informed everything I've ever done'. Watson's field recordings will play a part in the upcoming shows: he'll rework 2013 project Inside the Circle of Fire, in which he recorded Sheffield itself, from its wildlife to its steel industry via football terraces and sewers. 'It's hopefully not the cliched industrial sounds of Sheffield,' he says, 'but my take on the signature sounds of the city.' These will be interwoven with a set Mallinder is working on with his Wrangler bandmate Ben 'Benge' Edwards as well as longtime friend and Cabs collaborator Eric Random. 'We've built 16 tracks up from scratch to play live,' says Mallinder. 'With material spanning from the first EP' – 1978's Extended Play – 'through to Groovy …' Mallinder says this process has been 'a bit traumatic – a very intense period of being immersed in my past and the memories that it brought, particularly of Richard. This isn't something you can do without emotion.' Mallinder and Kirk were not really speaking in the years leading up to his death, with Kirk operating under the Cabaret Voltaire name himself. 'Richard was withdrawn and didn't speak to many people,' says Mallinder. 'And I was one of those people. He wanted to be in his own world. It was difficult because I missed him and there was a lot of history, but I accepted it.' There will be no new music being made as Cabaret Voltaire because, they stress, tsuch a thing cannot exist without Kirk. Instead, it's a brief victory lap for the pair, a tribute to their late friend, as they sign off on a pioneering legacy with maybe one last chance for a riot. 'Richard would probably hate us doing this but it's done with massive respect,' Mallinder says. 'I'm sad he's not here but there's such love for the Cabs that I want to give people the opportunity to acknowledge what we did. You can't deny the music we made is important – and this is a way to celebrate that.' Cabaret Voltaire play a Forge Warehouse, Sheffield, 25 October, then tour the UK from 17 to 21 November. Tickets on sale 10am 6 June
Scottish Sun
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Huge rap star hails ‘maddest energy yet' as he's spotted showing Celtic allegiances before sold-out Glasgow gig
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A HUGE UK rapper kitted himself out in Celtic colours before his sold-out Glasgow show last night. He shared two pictures of himself donning a Celtic tracksuit in the city centre on social media ahead of his much-anticipated gig at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in St. Vincent Street. Sign up for the Celtic newsletter Sign up 2 He posted two pictures to his Instagram story 2 He enjoyed some Irn-Bru before his Glasgow show Do you recognise the famous rapper and record producer? It's London-based music icon AJ Tracey. The 'Thiago Silva' artist is currently in Scotland for his aptly named sold-out UK tour - 'Not Even A Tour'. He played at King Tut's last night and will perform in Edinburgh at the Cabaret Voltaire tonight. The 31-year-old divided fans in Glasgow with his outfit choice as he proudly displayed his Celtic allegiance in the hours leading up to his show. He posted two snaps of himself in the tracksuit on his Instagram story to his one million followers and even enjoyed a taste of Scotland too. In his first upload, the rapper confirmed to his fans he was in fact in Glasgow and proudly displayed two bottles of Irn-Bru which he no doubt enjoyed. He then thanked his Glasgow fans for their support at the show before posting another picture in Celtic colours. He wrote: "Thanks Glasgow - maddest energy yet! "Glad I had the chance to come up here and link you lot face to face. It's been a minute." Gordon Strachan on burying the hatchet with McGeady and THAT Boruc 'Pope' t-shirt Then standing with his arms crossed in popular clothing shop End Clothing, the brand shared a snap of him - which he reposted - visiting the store along with the caption: "Big up @ajtracey for pulling thru." The 2022 Brit Award nominee didn't wear his Celtic tracksuit for his gig last night. The London music star, whose real name is Ché Wolton Grant, is a big Tottenham Hotspur fan. Glasgow was the third night of his UK tour. His third album 'Don't Die Before You're Dead' is due to be released on June 13. Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
Boston Globe
11-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
A look back at when art was revolutionary
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Related : Advertisement Into this debate marches Morgan Falconer, an art critic and educator at Sotheby's. His new book, ' enfant terribles of the early 20th century, who radically transformed our perception of what art can be with their unorthodox, confrontational, and irreverent methods. It's an engrossing survey, full of colorful characters and winning personal touches. Like all good art, it ultimately raises more questions than it answers. Falconer is bored by what he sees at today's big art fairs and exhibitions. According to him, where once artists sought to épater la bourgeoisie — that is, to disturb the conventions and the complacency of polite society — today, they seem more inclined to cater to it. He describes a sad epiphany he experienced at Art Basel Miami: 'I sat down at a picnic table and tried to rouse my soul with another espresso and an intensely refrigerated pastrami sandwich. … I realized I didn't want any more art. Not today … but not tomorrow either. I wondered, in fact, whether I'd ever want to see more art again.' Advertisement He, too, longs for the excitement of a bygone era, and out of this crisis divines his mission: 'We need to recall what an extraordinary thing it could be,' he writes, 'for art to enter life.' With this in mind, he takes readers on a tour of last century's most radical avant-garde movements — Futurism, Surrealism, Dada, De Stijl, the Bauhaus, Russian Constructivism, and Situationism — in search of inspiring examples that he hopes can shake us — or, maybe just him — from this torpor. Related : The movements Falconer explores are by no means identical, but they share a few common threads: a bold vision, often articulated in a brash manifesto; charismatic hype men, capable of promulgating that vision beyond the movement's insular clique; and a commitment to taking art out of stultifying museums and comfortable sitting rooms in order to recenter it in the daily lives of regular people. Their adherents were not interested in simply making pleasant, aesthetic works for the contemplation of high-minded collectors or appreciators. In the troubling aftermath of the Great War, when little seemed certain, these artists sought to make the world their canvas and desired no less than to reshape society in their own image. 'Over a hundred years ago, a generation of artists were serious and ambitious enough to question what art's purpose was in the world,' he writes, 'and to ask whether it might be put to new ends.' To illustrate this, Falconer provides readers with compelling capsule biographies of important figures, including the bellicose Filipino Marinetti, author of the Futurist manifesto, which declared the movement's intention to 'sing the love of danger, the habit of energy and fearlessness.' He illuminates the short life of the anarchic Cabaret Voltaire, which lasted less than six months but launched a slew of trailblazing artists, etching Dada indelibly in the annals of art history. And he charts the rise and fall of Walter Gropius and the Bauhaus school, whose minimalist aesthetic and practical ethos is today essentially the foundation for all modern design. 'They bound together in cultish cells,' Falconer writes, 'they explored obscure knowledge, and they scorned the public.' And while he isn't advocating that contemporary artists should mirror their tactics exactly, he does believe that there's much to be learned from the avant-garde's disdain for convention and their desire to utterly separate from the past. Related : Advertisement Art is a never-ending dialectic between a disruptive, revolutionary spirit and an anesthetizing bourgeois sensibility that seeks to blunt the cutting edge. Kissick and Falconer argue that the pendulum has swung too far in one direction and a rebalancing is in order. To put it simply: Art needs antagonists. But it's important to be clear about who exactly we should be antagonizing. Pinning the blame on identity politics lets the institutional-curatorial complex that has co-opted a genuine concern for marginalized voices to its own commercial ends off the hook, and risks inviting a reactionary backlash that would only serve to validate bad-faith culture-war grievances. One need only to look at Marinetti and the Futurists to see how easily the avant-garde can serve as a catspaw for fascism. Falconer marks out his target more clearly — it's the money. '[T]he wealth that nurtures [art] seems only to increase its power and mystique, and hence its distance from us,' he writes. No matter what form art takes, be it a narrow exploration of personal identity or a broad, universal commentary on society, its future — and perhaps our own — depends on reducing that distance. Advertisement HOW TO BE AVANT-GARDE: Modern Artists and the Quest to End Art By Morgan Falconer Norton, 288 pages, $32.99 Michael Patrick Brady is a book critic from Boston. He can be reached at mike@
