Age Does Not Bring Wisdom, Only The Appearance Of It
It's been a busy few days both musically and with the book as the summer goes into full swing.
Firstly it was so say a fond farewell to Tommy Bentz & his band as they continue their tour of Scotland before returning to the States.
As Tommy's gig at the Lindisfarne clashed with Old Man Goat's turn at The Black Bull Pub, we went to our mutual friend Anne's home for a wonderful dinner held outside in her lovely garden. Great news from Tommy; his performance at the Ouseburn Blues Festival went down so well, The Tyne Bar has asked him back. Word has also gone round The Schooner in Gateshead so opportunities ahead!
Tommy also said he might be back in September so I wonder if he needs a support band!
In the meantime, Old Man Goat did their spot at The Black Bull, and the response from the audience was extremely positive, made much better by some great looking young women dancing away and asking for (old) songs) in our repertoire. Not bad going!
The band's next gig is in September (although there may be a couple of possible gigs beforehand) so the break can give us a chance to work on a few new numbers.
Finally I returned to the Castle Keep to do my much anticipated talk on the late great Peter Lorre, followed by a screening of the film that made him a star, Fritz Lang's controversial and disturbing masterpiece M (1931).
The story about a child killer terrorising the streets of Germany would hardly be called entertaining, and M has not lost any of its power after almost 90 years.
It makes uncomfortable viewing, and Lorre's performance as Hans Beckett (based on real life killer Peter Kurten - The Vampire of Dussledorf) is nothing short of magnetic, made all the more unsettling by the fact he plays it for sympathy. A film that has to watched at least once.
My next talk at the Castle Keep will be on 14th July on Bela Lugosi, followed by a screening of Plan 9 From Outer Space (1956), another film that has to be watched once - but for the wrong reasons!!!!!!
Watch this space!
