.
Ladies and gentlemen, we're back...
Tomas Ford, a good friend of mine in Perth, wrote Steve Smart and I earlier this year recommending we check out a spoken word fringe act he'd seen over there called Anthropoetry by two travelling UK artists, and maybe try help set them up with a gig over here.
Tomas, himself one of the most daring, imaginative and confronting performers in Australia (peered I think only by, say David Stavanger, Adam Hadley or the mighty Emilie Zoey Baker), anyway Tom to a certain extent shares my ambivalence and impatience with elements of the spoken word scene, thus is not given to make these calls lightly. That immediately got my attention.
I'd love to say I was looking for an excuse to bring Sweetalkers back, because I always enjoy lying to people. However because the window was closed on all the other gigs around town, and because I'm at heart just a fan of good, rich spoken word performance myself, I realized this was my, I mean our only chance to see this thing performed in Melbourne.
So, as a Melbourne exclusive event, we're very excited to be presenting you Anthropoetry. So excited in fact that we made a poster, no kidding, look, look!
ANTHROPOETRY is a musical journey around the human anatomy, infused with hip-hop, science and comedy , inspired by anthropometry, the study of measuring the human body. Exploring modern life through the lens of archaic quack medicine and hokey beliefs, UK (BBC R4) slam champion Ben Mellor delivers a social and political commentary at once searingly topical and deeply personal.
Created in collaboration with Dan Steele, a multi-instrumentalist and sound designer, the synergy between Ben’s blend of free-verse poetry, rap, beatbox and satirical humour and Dan’s subtle but emphatic use of guitar, keys, drumpads and live-looping technology, has earned the show 4-star reviews and audience acclaim at this year’s Adelaide Fringe Festival, and at the Edinburgh Fringe, where it was first performed in 2012.
We've been getting nothing short of a barrage of message and comments from people from Perth and Adelaide since I announced this event on Facebook, and while that means a lot more to me that critics reviews, let's look at some of these too (out of Edinburgh):
‘Elegantly crafted rhymes… always engaging’
**** (The Scotsman)
‘A fine body of verse… vitally affirms poetry as a spoken medium… a joy to listen to.’
**** (Broadway Baby)
‘Slick poetry set to music, and a particularly impressive political and lyrical bent’
**** (Sabotage Reviews)
‘A talent and attitude that makes him one of the most intriguing spoken word artists out there…
Mellor and Steele provide a formidable double act… the synergy between poet and musician is key’
**** (The Flaneur)
I've been listening to the accompanying album over and over since Ben sent gave me a copy. If you'd like to listen for what you're in for, check it out at: http://www.benmellor.bandcamp.com
____________________________________________
-Peace
.
Ladies and gentlemen, we're back...
Tomas Ford, a good friend of mine in Perth, wrote Steve Smart and I earlier this year recommending we check out a spoken word fringe act he'd seen over there called Anthropoetry by two travelling UK artists, and maybe try help set them up with a gig over here.
Tomas, himself one of the most daring, imaginative and confronting performers in Australia (peered I think only by, say David Stavanger, Adam Hadley or the mighty Emilie Zoey Baker), anyway Tom to a certain extent shares my ambivalence and impatience with elements of the spoken word scene, thus is not given to make these calls lightly. That immediately got my attention.
I'd love to say I was looking for an excuse to bring Sweetalkers back, because I always enjoy lying to people. However because the window was closed on all the other gigs around town, and because I'm at heart just a fan of good, rich spoken word performance myself, I realized this was my, I mean our only chance to see this thing performed in Melbourne.
So, as a Melbourne exclusive event, we're very excited to be presenting you Anthropoetry. So excited in fact that we made a poster, no kidding, look, look!
ANTHROPOETRY is a musical journey around the human anatomy, infused with hip-hop, science and comedy , inspired by anthropometry, the study of measuring the human body. Exploring modern life through the lens of archaic quack medicine and hokey beliefs, UK (BBC R4) slam champion Ben Mellor delivers a social and political commentary at once searingly topical and deeply personal.
Created in collaboration with Dan Steele, a multi-instrumentalist and sound designer, the synergy between Ben’s blend of free-verse poetry, rap, beatbox and satirical humour and Dan’s subtle but emphatic use of guitar, keys, drumpads and live-looping technology, has earned the show 4-star reviews and audience acclaim at this year’s Adelaide Fringe Festival, and at the Edinburgh Fringe, where it was first performed in 2012.
We've been getting nothing short of a barrage of message and comments from people from Perth and Adelaide since I announced this event on Facebook, and while that means a lot more to me that critics reviews, let's look at some of these too (out of Edinburgh):
‘Elegantly crafted rhymes… always engaging’
**** (The Scotsman)
‘A fine body of verse… vitally affirms poetry as a spoken medium… a joy to listen to.’
**** (Broadway Baby)
‘Slick poetry set to music, and a particularly impressive political and lyrical bent’
**** (Sabotage Reviews)
‘A talent and attitude that makes him one of the most intriguing spoken word artists out there…
Mellor and Steele provide a formidable double act… the synergy between poet and musician is key’
**** (The Flaneur)
I've been listening to the accompanying album over and over since Ben sent gave me a copy. If you'd like to listen for what you're in for, check it out at: http://www.benmellor.bandcamp.com
But wait there's more, I've also lined up two amazing support acts for the show, in the persons of Briohny Doyle and Emily Anderson, both of whom are old-school poets, neither of whom have been seen gracing our stages in years, and both of them we'll be excited to see in equal measure. But I'll tell you more about that, them, Ben, Dan in the next blog...
____________________________________________
-Peace
.
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