Galway Advertiser 2003/2003_07_24/GA_24072003_E1_040.pdf 

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The Waterboys' universal appeal
THE WATERBOYS' latest album Universal Hall is their most spiritual to date. Recorded in the basement studio at Universal Hall, Find horn, Scotland it brings together the mystical combination of Mike Scott and Steve Wickham. With this stripped down sound The Waterboys now bring their acoustic show to the Galway Arts Festival for a series of dates. The band have added a three piece acoustic matinee show at 1pm on Friday at the Town Hall Theatre. This is an addition to the sold out shows at Roisin Dubh (9pm, Friday), Radisson Hotel (8pm, Saturday), and Druid Theatre (8pm, Sunday), and Richard Naiff's free organ recital at St Nicholas Church (Ipm, Saturday). Universal Hall was first given its outing on The Late Late Show some weeks ago and Scott followed that up with an appearance on Coulter and Company. Ireland and indeed Galway remains an integral part of The Waterboys' history past, present, and future. However, Scott has also lately been taking prolonged visits to the islands and rural communities of his native Scotland. Findhorn where Universal Hall was recorded - is a spiritual community in north-east Scotland and Scott made his first recording in the shape of 'Bring 'Em All In' there many years ago. Scott also name checks the pilgrimage island of Iona in the track 'Peace Of Iona' as he sees it in the birds, the trees, the rocks, the sea, and the peace of the island. When I contacted The Waterboys' HQ to arrange an interview it seemed Scott was adventuring again among the islands of Scotland and is out of mobile phone coverage. The lead single from Universal Hall is 'This Light Is For The World' where Scott laments: "This



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light is for the world/send out from this wooden frame/a beacon made of holy flame/like a bridge across the morning sky/from candle to the hills of high." This draws parallels with the ancient paschal flame which adorned the hills of old Ireland in the time of the Celts and St Patrick. In the 'Silent Fellowship' Scott has created one of the sweetest melodic tunes that The Waterboys have created for many a long year as he ponders his thoughts while sitting in silence watching the rising sun raise itself to the sky. The track ' I ' v e Lived Here Before' was cowritten with Hothouse Flowers front man Liam O ' M a o n l a i . O'Maonlai and Scott were contemporaries in the late 1980s when they took traditional music to unconquered heights and looked as though they would engulf the whole world with their message of fisherman and black cats. This is the first studio recording with Steve Wickham since The Waterboys reconvened for the 2000 release for A Rock In The Weary Land.

Wickham rejoined the fold to tour the album and indeed took in Galway's Heineken Green Energy Festival the following year. Previously Wickham played with Cadenza and the Connacht Ramblers. Scott came to see him play in Galway's Town Hall Theatre in 2000 and they continued their association which was so successful on Fisherman's Blues. Indeed, tracks such as 'Always Dancing', 'Never Getting Tired' and "The Dance At The Crossroads' on Universal Hall are reminiscent of their work on Fisherman's Blues. The saxophonist on those sessions Anthony Thistlethwaite remained in Galway after The Waterboys split in the early 1990s and produced three solo albums: Aesop Wrote A Fable, Cartwheels, and Crawfish And Caviar before joining The Saw Doctors on bass. Scott discovered The Saw Doctors in The Quays in 1988 and went on to be one of their main patrons. The Waterboys/Sawdoctors association continues to this very day. Saw Doctor' manager Ollie Jennings states: "Even though w e ' l l be busy with the documentary we're making we're hoping to slip away to meet up with Mike Scott and The Waterboys. Incidentally, the guy who is managing The Waterboys these days is a guy called Philip Tennant who produced our first two albums. He's a great friend of ours - as is Mike and the rest of the band. I'd particularly like to see The Waterboys in the Roisin Dubh because 1 think that'll be very special."
JUST W H A T
DOCTOR

T H E

ORDERED

Taking place a few days after The Waterboys tour of Galway will be two shows by The Saw Doctors at Black Box Theatre on Tuesday 29 and Wednesday

30. It will see ex-Waterboys member Anthony Thistlethwaite returning to bass following some time off - Davy Carton jr (son of lead singer Davy Carton) filled in on bass for the recent US tour. The shows will be filmed for DVD and a documentary titled A Different Kind Of World. "There was a documentary made on the Saw Doctors in 1991 by Granada Television," Jennings outlines. "The man responsible for that was Steve Lock. It had a huge impact on the profile of the band in the UK. About four years ago we met Steve; he'd left Granada and was thinking about moving to Ireland. About two years ago we talked about seriously doing a follow up. So, Steve wrote a script for A Different Kind Of World. Basically the documentary goes along the lines that the difference The Saw Doctors have is what is important in the music industry." The Saw Doctors have been spending a lot of time in America lately, so, have they had any opportunity to kiss The Bangles yet? "The Bangles are based in LA and we tend to do more work on the east coast and the midwest," admits Ollie with some regret. "However, the V Graham Norton show had The Bangles on the show following their comeback album. He contacted us and wanted to play the song 'I'd Love To Kiss The Bangles' as they were coming down the steps. He played it and I believe they were totally dumbfounded. So, yeah, they know about us and it would be nice to meet them!" Tickets are selling fast for The Saw Doctors' second show on Wednesday July 30. So get them first before The Bangles do! Kevin McGuire

Acrobat
EVERY YEAR the Galway Arts Festival finds something to make audiences hold their breath. There was Storm in 2001 and last year there was Rota. This year we have been blessed with two - Junebug Symphony from France and the Australian Acrobat. If you have already seen Junebug Symphony, that was just a gentle walk in the park compared to the frenetic, high-octane, high-decibel, in-yourface, performance that you can expect from Acrobat - think Mad Max meets French circus Archaos. Physical theatre has become more than acrobats - with flips and twists, up in the air, on trapeze or high wire telling a story or even more than just modem dance with a few gymnastics thrown in. It has become an art form in itself, transforming itself into a spectacle that draws on as many theatrical traits as possible. Acrobat admits that it owes more to its circus origins than the theatre. Indeed founding members Simon Yates and Jo-Ann Lancaster started their career by working with other Australian circuses - Circus ()/. Desoxy. Primary Source, and Legs on the Wall, as did subsequent members of Acrobat, However Yates and Lancaster have taken their theatre/circus company on a whole different level when it comes to commitment to their performance. The

swings into action tomorrow
Australian troupe, six performers and one musician, live and train together in Albury/Wodonga on the border of Victoria and New South Wales. They have created a collective of performers who want to share a lifestyle and philosophy. At the same time trying out new innovations in their chosen field of physical theatre. Living and working together the company have formed bonds of trust that is necessary for the feats they perform. Around the world they have stunned audiences with acts of athleticism, precision-timed so they appear to be gracefully flying and yet know exactly where they are going to land. Their performance has been described as a "combination of honesty, humour, incredible human skill, bravery, grace and sheer magic... [Acrobat] illuminate a renewed sense of what the theatre can be: an opportunity for people to engage socially in real time in a spirit of openness and generosity". But do remember these are Australians after all - so despite all their openness and generosity they do have* a wicked sense of humour and will be making fun of all those circus acts which take themselves ever so seriously. Acrobat runs from Friday to S u n d a y at 9pm in the Black Box Theatre. Tickets are 19/17. To book contact the arts festival box office on 091 - 5 6 6 5 - 7 or call into Victoria Place.
M i l I H U Viney

Follow that picture

BEFORE THE Galway Arts Festival comes to an end, take some time out to follow the Streets of Art, an exhibition of work from the Artspace artists located throughout the city. At 13 different locations throughout the city, there are

various different works by the different artists involved in Artspace. A map with details of the exhibition can be obtained from the Galway Arts Festival box office, for any further information contact Artspace studios at 091 773046 or

artspacegalway @eircom.net. Artspace is an artists' collective established in Galway almost 17 years ago. Since its establishment members have exhibited locally, nationally and internationally.

Daniel O'Donnell winners
THERE WERE three lucky winners in our Daniel O'Donnell competition who will be going to see him in concert in Leisureland this Friday.

T h e w i n n e r s are: K a t h l e e n Sherry, L o u g h r e a ; Marie Hogan, C o Clare, and M a u d Connolly, Galway.