This Saturday sees Eton Messy play Exeter Phoenix in a night that is sure to kick off term 2 with a bang, the Bristol based DJ collective are aiming to spread musical joy and fervor as the bloggers bring tunes from favourites like Applebottom, Aaron Lipsett, Polkadot, Maribou State and Bondax to Devon. Check out their latest in the awesome series of Messy Mixes here: Messy Mix #11 or alternatively their Youtube channel. Eton Messy Youtube
Every week we bring you our special selection of all things arty. From interesting websites to highly anticipated performances for your diary, there is something to spark all kinds of creative interest.
1. Kit Poulson @ The Phoenix
2. Demilked Website
This website features beautiful art, design, photography, advertisements, web design and architecture. From posts called ‘Portraits of Toddlers Tasting Lemon for the First Time’ to ‘Famous Paintings Recreated Using Thousands of Color Pencils’, this website is fascinating and fun. Check it out here.
Charlie Baker, stand-up comedian and highly acclaimed jazz-singer and actor, is coming to Exeter on 25th November for his shower ‘Baker’s Dozen’. He will be singing the biggest selling UK singles from each of the last 13 years, interspersed with his stand-up comedy.
The show is at the Barnfield Theatre and they are offering a student discount of £8.00 tickets (full price £12.00). The code is ‘Charliediscount’, which will apply online and from the Box Office.
4. Kaleider – The Money
Kaleider’s new event The Money is somewhere between a game and an interactive performance. Taking place at the Exeter Guildhall, you are given the option to be a ‘silent witness’ or a ‘benefactor’ and take part. Exactly what is involved in taking part is unclear. The event states that: ‘There will be money on the table. Not fake money, real money. It’s up to the group what to spend it on. You have two hours to come to a decision.’
It sounds really exciting as it pushes the boundaries of what we expect from live performance. Kaleider are definitely worth checking out!
The Money is at 7pm to 9.30pm on 25th, 26th and 28th November. For more information and to buy tickets click here.
5. Beauty of Mathematics
BEAUTY OF MATHEMATICS from PARACHUTES.TV on Vimeo.
Bryony James and Giverny Masso
Click here for last week’s Arts Recommend.
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Tristan Gatward went along to the Phoenix to review Villagers and even inadvertently met them, here are his thoughts.
A good pub dinner followed by a dramatic wind-and-rain-swept walk into Exeter’s Phoenix promised a suitably bohemian start to what turned out to be a phenomenal evening of performance and musicianship.
Positioning ourselves behind the smallest family which the audience kindly provided us (height not being one of our own best qualities), the support music came from three-piece Parisian band, We Were Evergreen, who offered a refreshing punch of alternative electro-pop complete with ukulele and xylophone. It was like watching a lively Andrew Bird discover a drum kit and a more complete harmony.
It turned out that We Were Evergreen were at the merchandise table during the interval, meaning the group I was with left me guarding the spot with side lunges until their return, somewhat taken by the French aesthetics.
The increasing crowd, however, quite fairly didn’t allow their return to the front for the headline act, leaving me trapped between people who assumed the roles of Olympic rower and power walker whenever a recognisable drum beat surfaced. While I’m not one to judge dancing, lead singer Conor O’Brien seemed just as confused as I was by a leather-clad man attempting to mosh through their slower songs.
It soon became apparent that a small state of alone-ness was the right state for watching Villagers. O’Brien’s stage presence of the introverted extrovert revealed genuine flashes of anger and insanity through ‘Judgement Call’, while ‘Becoming a Jackal’ and the opening song ‘My Lighthouse’ showed a man truly lost in some thoughtfully self-aware sorrow. Tommy McLaughlin (lead guitar), Cormac Curran (keys), Danny Snow (bass) and James Byrne (drums) showed great composition in adapting to O’Brien’s occasional improvisations, though one comedy moment came when Byrne attempted to start a song by banging his drumsticks together only for O’Brien to turn round with a confused “what are you doing?”
Two new songs were also played; ‘Hot Scary Summer’ and ‘Occupy Your Mind’ were reminiscent of the eeriness of their first album. But the true pièce de résistance came with their penultimate song, ‘Twenty Seven Strangers’, bringing out the true tone of O’Brien’s voice, and exemplifying the lyrical genius that much of the band’s success has been founded on.
The beautiful sets by both bands was topped by accidentally meeting the guys from Villagers afterwards, meaning my desperate grab for their set-list and my previous acquisition of four coloured pencils from The Impy seemed altogether a little less shameful. Using the night to celebrate their fifth year as a band, performances like that can only make us hope for many more anniversaries to come.
Tristan Gatward
Hype can be a dangerous thing in the cut-throat UK music scene, and being heralded as ‘the next big thing’ is often more a curse than a blessing. For psychedelic rock band Temples, hype doesn’t come much bigger than comparisons to The Flaming Lips and The Beatles even before the release of their debut album.
Not to be distracted by such lofty praise, the quartet from Kettering underlined their credentials as one of the most promising young bands in the UK with a confident and mature performance at Exeter Phoenix.
The modern auditorium of this fashionable small venue hardly reflects Temples’ whimsical, nostalgic vibe. Nevertheless, the hardy fans that brave the miserable Devon conditions are rewarded with an onslaught of 60’s pop rhythms and velveteen vocals that wouldn’t sound out of place back in the days of McCartney and Lennon.
Following support from the energetic but admittedly slightly raw Telegram, Temples saunter onto the stage; with lead singer-guitarist James Edward Bagshaw oozing with the panache and glamour usually reserved for artists of much greater stature.
The band opens with ‘Sun Structures’ a dreamy and slow-paced into, before gently coaxing the audience into life with the groovy ‘Prisms’ and ethereal ‘Colours to Life.’ The ironically named ‘Sand Dance’ is a darker number, dripping with brooding guitar chords that could seldom be further from the alternate form of entertainment available at Arena’s ‘Cheesy Tuesdays.’
Bagshaw’s occasional mistimed delivery during B-side ‘Ankh’ does not detract from the psychedelic rifts that set the audience alight. A slightly underwhelming new track ‘Move with the Season’ is quickly followed by their next single, ‘Keep in the Dark’ – an entrancing and captivating melody containing echoes of 70’s glam-rock icons T-Rex.
The band cap off a short set with hit single ‘Shelter Song’ before departing the stage, leaving the crowd dazed and hungry for more.
By James Beeson
With World Mental Health Day fast approaching, The Mind Your Head Committee implore the students of Exeter to get involved with mental health events in the community and on campus.
What’s happening this Thursday? Yes, of course. The usual crush at Rococo’s. But what else is happening this Thursday? In fact, this Thursday is World Mental Health Day and this year you can get involved with Exeter’s very own tribute to the global awareness push for all things that affect your mind.
The event is taking place on the 10th October between 10am and 5pm at the Phoenix Arts Centre on Gandy Street.
World Mental Health Day was first celebrated in 1992 by the World Federation for Mental Health. The federation’s original aims of raising awareness, educating people on the breadth of its effects and celebrating the global scale of available services are still paramount today. With recent headlines about waiting lists for eating disorders patients, misguided Halloween costumes in supermarkets, and a lack of acknowledgement of the severity of criminal reports made by mental health sufferers, we clearly cannot afford to sweep mental health under the carpet.
But why would we attend this event, we hear you cry? This event is something that us students love… free! With workshops and tasters available in tai-chi, circus skills and massage, we find it hard to believe there isn’t something which will appeal to everyone, especially those on a tight budget.
With the region’s leading mental health charities Mind, Rethink Mental Illness, Recovery Devon, Stonham and Devon Partnership NHS Trust all taking part, it is set to be a great day.
We couldn’t agree more with Andrew Hawkins, event organiser, who has said that he is ‘proud that the mental health community have been able to come together to create such a great event that will hopefully bring our community together and help forge stronger bonds between us all.’
So why not, eh? Mind Your Head challenge you to meet us there and try something new. After all, it’s a great cause and as nice as it is, we can’t just stay in the Forum forever! Click here for more information. See you there!
The Mind Your Head Committee
Find out more about promoting mental health awareness on campus by liking the Mind Your Head Facebook page. How important is mental health as an issue on campus? What is your experience of the services provided? Leave a comment below or write to the Comment team at the Exeposé Comment Facebook Group or on Twitter @CommentExepose.
Megan Furborough, Screen Editor
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debates the pros and and cons of a variety of cinemas on offer in Exeter.
For a small city, there are a lot of ways that you can see the latest films. Aside from Campus Cinema, which is the cheapest cinema in Exeter, we have an Odeon, Vue and Picturehouse, as well as the Phoenix. But whilst there are a number of places to grab your popcorn, each cinema has its own respective quirks.
The Odeon and Vue in town are your typical multiplexes – air-conditioning blasting all year round, the familiar stick of well-trodden popcorn under your feet and gigantic screens are pretty standard fare. The number of screens at each venue means that they can show all the latest films, and for your big blockbusters you may even be able to catch a midnight screening.
But as you may expect, they’re pretty soulless and you pay a premium for slowly turning into an icicle over the course of 120 minutes. And the prices vary between the two. At the Odeon, an off-peak student ticket is £4.65, rising to £5.50 at peak times. In contrast, an off-peak student ticket at Vue is £6.95, rising to a peak time price of £8.15. All in all, if you want to go to a multiplex, go to the Odeon – it’s cheaper, closer to the high street and seeing as neither cinema is particularly special, at least here you’ll have some money left over for snacks.
However, if you want to catch a film that’s a little different, or just want to see the latest film in a nicer setting, independent is definitely the way to go.
The Exeter Picturehouse is located at the bottom of town, but is well worth the walk. Equipped with a lovely restaurant and bar, there are two screens which show a mixture of Hollywood, art-house, world and independent cinema. It’s spacious, clean and the staff are really friendly. On a Monday you can get a half price student ticket for just £3 and the E4 Slackers Club, which offers free screenings of films every month, is partnered with Picturehouses. What’s more, the seats recline, meaning that sitting in the front row doesn’t require extensive back and neck surgery.
The Phoenix isn’t a cinema, but is a hidden gem when it comes to seeing something alternative and special. Most of the films are projected on 35mm film, a rarity when most cinemas have gone digital in the past few years, and there are often special screenings such as live orchestras and Q&As. There are also regular film nights including Kino Queerling, which showcases queer and cult cinema and each year the Phoenix presents the Two Short Nights film festival. Even more enticingly, their normal screening tickets are just £5.50. The Phoenix isn’t a standard cinema, which makes the experience of seeing films here even better.
So really, it all comes down to you. What do you like watching? What’s your price limit? Do you want a box of popcorn the size of a child? There’s no right answer. But with our handy guide to the cinemas in Exeter, Screen hope that you all get out to the cinema as much as humanly possible – wherever you choose!
Megan Furborough, Screen Editor
Call off any plans you may have for the 7th June and head down to the Phoenix for what promises to be one of the biggest and best events of the year. Exeter’s own Thick as Thieves have teamed up with dance music giants ‘DIRTYBIRD’ to throw a huge party so you can celebrate the end of exams and herald the start of summer in style as dance heavyweights behind the desks spin the best of DnB, House, Jungle and Dubstep.
The Thieves have been at the forefront of Exeter’s burgeoning scene and have enjoyed a hugely successful year promoting the cream of Exeter’s local talent, while also attracting household names, including the likes of chart-topping Duke Dumont, to the deep, dark depths of The Cellar Door.
And the student-run set-up have upped their game one again for a final flourish. Acts from Claude Vonstroke’s DIRTYBIRD label will be behind the decks, with a plethora of talent is offer: UK based dance veteran Shadow Child, genre-bending Kill Frenzy, innovative Kry Wolf and exciting house producer Friend Within will all look to lay down soulful, bass-heavy grooves to ensure the dance floor and ear drums pulsate throughout the night. Thieves residents Tonic, Budos and Simba will provide support and continue to show us what they do best.
Elsewhere, fellow party people ‘Beats and Bass’ will command Room II with their distinguished murky mix of DnB, jungle and dubstep that so many have enjoyed this year at The Cavern. Keeping the B&B residents company are Manchester-based Compa, who will be spinning a rolling, textured minimalist dub sound to compliment the energetic, swarming DnB offered by LSB.
Other Cellar Door squatters ‘Exit’ will occupy the Terrace, with residents OJF, JOSH TOOGOOD & WONKA supporting AERIAL, while ‘Our House’ residents SOUTHPAW, VANDELEUR, WILL THOMPSON & WITHDREW will pump out the grooves in the bar. It’s a true bassy love affair not to be missed.
There is a free BBQ starting at 7.30 running through until 9, before the real party begins at 10pm. Get your tickets here – it’s sure to be a night packed full of good company, great dancing and some of the best electronic music around.
Ben Clarke, Online Music Editor
Looking for a creative escape during the chaos of Freshers Week? A haven of imagination is not as far from the city as you might think. In fact the Exeter Phoenix lies hidden right in the middle of Exeter. Take a turn by Urban Outfitters on the High Street and you’ll find the cobbled pedestrianised Gandy Street (famed for being J.K Rowling’s inspiration for Diagon Alley). At the end of this small street you’ll find the stairs up to the Phoenix.
If you consider yourself a creative person, there is bound to be something that you will be interested in inside. For me, the art galleries are a great (free) chance to catch up on some culture. This autumn sees the return of a contemporary art competition called the Contemporary Open now in its seventh year. The selected works that are on display are the shortlisted pieces chosen from submissions from across the globe.
It offers viewers the chance to encounter some of the best new talent in the world of contemporary art. The exhibition is free to visit, however there’s a big cash prize for the winner. This year’s selected artists are; Chloe Brooks, Anita Delaney, Nisha Duggal, Aly Helyer, Brendan Lancaster, Olivier Lariviere, Ruth Piper, Siobhan Raw and David Theobald. So if you are looking for a free fun and artistic way to spend an afternoon in Exeter, then look no further than the Contemporary Open at the Exeter Phoenix.
The show opens on 13 September and runs until 1 November. Exeposé are always keen to hear feedback from its readership, and we love publishing new writers’ reviews. Sign up to Exeposé at the squash and you could be reading your own review of the show published in the next issue!
If you had been a deaf fly on the wall behind Andy Brown and Don Paterson in the Voodoo Lounge at the Phoenix last night, just the audience’s glowing faces would’ve shown you the musicality, quality, humour and poignancy contained in the evening’s poetry.
Andy Brown, the Director of Creative Writing at Exeter University, read selections from collections including his most recent, The Fool and the Physician, and from his new work on domestic scenery and the details of peoples’ homes in the ‘exurbs’, the communities beyond the suburbs. His poetry was refreshingly rich in sound echoes and rhyme; some of his poems rhymed the same sound throughout the whole poem, or contained refrains, making it a pleasure to experience the works read aloud rather than on the page.
Brown’s use of the constraints of form allowed for more musicality and intriguing thought-puzzles, as well as being fascinating in their own right (if you can tell me what an englynion is without Wikipedia, well, I’ll award you tickets to Exeter’s next poetry reading). The imagery was vivid and the underlying thoughts were handled softly and subtly. The effect of this was palpable throughout the event in the audience’s sighs, laughs and enchanted expressions.
Don Paterson’s reading was one of stark contrasts, as he read selections from his award-winning body of work. His often self-effacing, tongue-in-cheek and playful poetic voice gave way in moments to poems of sincere and touching sadness, such as “Mercies”, written about the death of his dog, a poem which it was clear many of the audience could relate to.
Some of the poems were delicately understated, avoiding sentimentality and instead, out of words, conjuring tangible emotion, which we could all step into as listeners. He read with informality and as though he was among friends, and his lack of ritual made the audience comfortable and cosy, with strangers exchanging names and stories during the interlude.
The spaces between poems were almost as enjoyable as the poems themselves, as Paterson and Brown quipped about their pet poetic peeves, while the audience filled the intimate space with warm laughter and comic responses. Paterson showed his dry Scottish wit in remarks such as (pre-sonnet-reading) “I’ve been writing sonnets. I don’t know why…I don’t even like sonnets! …On a good day I’m indifferent about the damn things.”
The sonnet was an ode to American TV drama House and its star Hugh Laurie, (who Paterson said had been cosmically misfiled as a sex god!) ranging from the comedy of “stop the chemo, he just needs to fart” to a sober ending: “let that thousand and one-inch stare see through us too, for we don’t have a prayer.”
Though unafraid to show he’s a poet well-versed in American TV shows (“I’ve given up reading…mostly ’cause it was taking up my TV time”), Paterson also engages with politics, technology and philosophy through his poetry. These poems often come with sharp, witty satirical bite, such as in “A Scholar”, a poem written in response to a negative and ill-informed review, and “The Big Listener”, a poem whose preamble featured the words “If Tony Blair was Stalin…”
After the reading, a brief Q&A session allowed the poets to talk further about their writing habits and processes, telling the audience that their poetic muses usually stop helping after two lines, and that they don’t know what a poem is going to say until it’s written. They also offered the following counter-intuitive gems of advice to writers. Brown: “The bin is your friend,” (writing badly is good!) and Paterson: “If you’ve got a good idea [before you start], it isn’t!”
exeposedev 