Everyone knows the feeling you get when you witness something monumental. Some of us go our entire lives without ever getting this feeling; others are all too aware when they see something that will change the world. I was once lucky enough to experience this feeling my friends, I felt the way I imagine Jimi Hendrix did when he first realised;

“Yeah this guitar thing isn’t too bad”

When Slash first understood;

“Damn…I am really working the afro look”

And when David Bowie inevitably uttered the words;

“Dressing like a space woman makes you cool? It’s so simple!”

However the moment I realised nothing was going to be the same was not really anything to do with myself, it was witnessing the utter terror and complete ecstasy of Fight Like Apes. The intricacies of the gig I saw cannot be re-told as I was hit over the head several times during the performance and all I can remember when trying to recall the ins and outs is a noise similar to that of a monkey hitting cymbals together; some things I do remember are as follows :

The keys player smashing a metal chair over the railings to keep beat

The lead singer screaming like a wounded animal seconds before singing fantastically

The best use of samples I have ever heard

The keys player as he stared into my eyes like a man possessed

It’s needless to say with a gig like that I bought the 2008 album ‘Fight Like Apes And The Mystery Of The Golden Medallion’. I remember the first time listening to the entire album, solemnly taking the headphones off and placing them in front of me, wiping a tear from my eye and saying ‘That was truly a thing of beauty’. Alright, I’ll be honest with you, I’m not that poetic when improvising, I probably swore and bounced around the room to the music like a squirrel that had chewed a suspicious looking pill; either way the message is the same.

From the very first track ‘Something Global’ you know good things are happening, the very pace of the song is enough to get you going but coupled with the abstract lyrics that become such a pillar of the music they play and the splendid synths you can’t help but wonder why they aren’t already a musical superpower.  However, my favourite part of Fight Like Apes are not the lyrics (amazing as they are) and not even the beautiful May – Kay and her subtle Irish tones/furious screams, but something somewhat different.

My personal highlight of this band is that their songs are good, fast and slow alike; they don’t rely on the pace or hook of a song to carry it, nor do they expect us just to be content with the slower more heartfelt numbers, but offer us the variety complicit in the creation of a good album (see Justin Bieber for example of bad album, very bad album).

All in all, Fight Like Apes are a battering ram of talent, they don’t grow on you or get you humming a track unawares because they don’t need too, they are just, quite simply, brilliant.

Tracks I Recommend:

Something Global

Battlestations

I’m Beginning to Think You Prefer 90210 to Me

Tie Me Up With Jackets

Digif*cker

This event is not not be missed and there is more to come from the guys behind it and we can not express enough that ALL funds raised will be going to the charities that are on the ground in Haiti right now, MSF HAITI, Action Aid HAITI.  The work that these organisations are doing is undeniably hard and fraught with a great deal of need and worry.  To get a real idea of the work that is at hand and the work that has already done we want to share with you this BBC News Story:

The BBC’s Creole-language programme in Haiti has helped reunite a Haitian-American mother with her son in the quake-devastated capital, Port-au-Prince.

Simone Macary, who lives in Boston, Massachusetts, had not heard from her 16-year-old son, Penaisse, since last month’s earthquake. He was in Haiti studying.

But when Penaisse texted his mother’s phone number to the Koneksyon Ayiti (Connexion Haiti) programme, the BBC was able to let her know he was alive.  The two later spoke on the phone for the first time since the 12 January earthquake, which killed at least 150,000 people.

Koneksyon Ayiti first heard from Penaisse on Sunday, when he sent a text message to the programme’s US phone number.
Penaisse’s text read: “I am homeless, the person responsible for me is dead, my mother is Simone Macary. She is American but cannot help me. The embassy is closed and I am on the street.”

Penaisse gave a number for his mother, but when the BBC called it, it turned out to be the wrong one.

BBC HAITIAN CREOLE SERVICE
Broadcasting on FM radio daily in Haitian Creole at 0910 local time (1410 GMT), for 20 minutes
Giving up-to-date information about where to get basic services and aid
Also available on satellite and online, and via social media

On Tuesday, Koneksyon Ayiti broadcast a message to Penaisse asking him to resend it. He was listening to the programme and immediately texted the correct number.  When the BBC phoned Simone to tell her Penaisse was alive, she sobbed: “I’ve been looking for you, my only son! I’ve have not been able to eat or sleep since the earthquake!”

She told the BBC she had been trying to fly to Haiti, but had not been able to find a flight, and asked the BBC to help find him.
The Koneksyon Ayiti team in Port-au-Prince managed to make contact with Penaisse and interviewed him.  When the programme called Simone and played the interview to her later on Tuesday, she reacted by singing How Great Thou Art while listening to the sound of her son’s voice.

On Wednesday, Simone told the BBC she had finally managed to make direct contact with him.  ”He’s still on the street, but at least he’s alive and I know he is going to be OK,” she said, adding that she would go to Port-au-Prince on the first available flight.
Penaisse and Simone are among the hundreds of thousands of Haitian family members separated by the earthquake.

The Red Cross has set up a family reunification programme for victims.

This is just one of the many millions of stories that are being experienced by the people of Haiti and they need your help.  An event like this needs no real plug or push because we all know and are aware that what is needed to people who have means and ability to reach deep and say ‘I care’.  What the BBC programme has shown is that there was a very important need for information and for people to be able to get help and through this they reunited a mother and son and this act has brought  a great deal of hope to the many other millions of displaced Haitians.

The Haiti Fundraiser at The Roundhouse is going to be OUR chance to say, to shout and to scream ‘WE CARE’!

So we hit the Edinburgh Fringe Festival scene HARD this evening, and saw more than our fair share of traffic-unaware tourists from all over the world; all manner of street performers; and even managed to catch the first uncomfortable-silence-at-a-comedy-show of the month in one fell swoop through the many leveled streets of Edinburgh.

The New Current has hit the Fringe!

What We Did Tonight

As it’s opening night, we did what I’d recommend to anyone heading to Fringe for the first time, or after a break, and ambled our way up the Royal Mile from the bottom, taking in the sights and sounds, before stopping to collect fliers from some of the more “out there” performers and chatting to some of the more outgoing types we found there.

The great thing about Fringe is that a lot of the performers are out there ramping their shows personally, so you can get a real feel for who has and has not got some personality. Those that impressed us personally were:

Naylor and Gant (see the YouTube of them on Richard & Judy below) who are starring in their own show Naylor and Gant Present 12 Angry Sketches which they, with no little hint of irony, told me had been well reviewed by legends of comedy, Cannon and Ball, who described them as “A terrific up and coming double act – look forward to seeing more of them on TV” – Naylor and Gant are playing at the Apex City Hotel in the Grassmarket between 8:15 and 9:05pm for the duration of Fringe. Tickets are £7/£6 during the week or £8/£7 on weekends.

We also met the team from “Otherworld” who promised Improvised Comedy – where they will transform audience suggestions “into fantastically funny improvised scenes and songs…” – this crowd looked young enough to get plenty of contemporary references in the mix, but importantly could take my less than rigorous interrogation which lasted all of thirty seconds. They are playing C venue 34 at 10:40pm every night, which is well past my bedtime on a Thursday this busy.

We were passed by a mad army of painted faces encompassed in a large circular rope at some stage, who, rather than a gang of townies with a plan were actually the crew from The Grime Show – something I discovered when a flyer was thrust into my hand by a man whose look I can only describe as a gimpesque or grotesque cabaret. Their show has an interesting idea behind it: “What act would you perform for eternity?” – you can see what they chose at C venue 34 at 18:05 every evening for £6.50-£9.50 – except the 17th august(!).

Following this we did some more venue locating around the underbelly (including the venue of the same name!) of the City before heading to see our first show of the night: Trevor Lock (from behind Channel 4′s Star Stories) Some Kind of Fool (click here for the review of that one).

What’s Happening Tomorrow:

Tomorrow we’ll be opening early, at noon, with some hard hitting Drama, in the form of Chronicles of Long Kesh which tells stories based in Northern Ireland’s prison of the same name. We’d also recommend the following who we’ll be dashing back and forth, to and fro, all afternoon, hopefully before being invited to a famed Fringe barrel bashing party in some dirty venue somewhere… The update will follow here, of course!

When we aren’t doing that, we’ll be doing this:

Comedy:

• Alistair McGowan in the Assembly @ George Street @ 4:45pm (£11-£12)
• Laura Solon in the Assembly @ George Street @ 5:05pm (£5 Preview Price)
• Janeane Garofalo in the Gilded Balloon @ 8:30pm (£11-£12)

Music:

• Cathedral Lunchtime Concert @ St Mary’s Cathedral 13:10 (FREE)

Theatre:

• The Interminable Suicide of Gregory Church @ Traverse 20:15pm (£5-£14)

One of the most incredible aspects of the Fringe Festival is always the festivals ability to ensure that student get the opportunity to showcase their wide variety of skills and a creative talent.  This year is no different. 

Students from Oxford are to come to the Fringe this year with a solid variety of shows that have already got the Fringe buzzing.  We have already been in touch with some of the producers and directors and will be making sure you get all the news, previews and reviews from this incredible groupa players.

Plays/Musicals: 

A Special Boy – The Vault | 25th-31st Aug, 16:00

Doctor Faustus (OUDS Summer Tour 2009) – Sweet ECA | 16th-30th Aug, 15:05

The Norman Conquests – The Spaces on the Mile @ The Radisson | 24th-29th Aug, 18:30

The Boyfriend – Musical Theatre @ George Square | 19th-31st Aug (not 25th), 13:15

Emma – C soco | 16th-31st Aug, 16:10

A Clockwork Orange – C | 5th-22nd Aug, 22:00

The Canterbury Tales – C too | 6th-31st Aug (not 18th); 18:45

Comedy:

Etch-a-Sketch (The Oxford Revue) – Underbelly | 6th-30th Aug (not 19th), 17:00

The Oxford Imps – Gilded Balloon Teviot | 5th-31st Aug, 15:00

Bamboozlement (Morgan & West) – Gilded Balloon Teviot | 5th-31st Aug, 17:00

Music:

In the Pink – C | 16th-31st Aug, 17:00

Out of the Blue – C | 6th-31st Aug (not 21st-2nd), 14:50

The Oxford Gargoyles – C | 23rd-31st Aug, 13:50