Hello Constant Reader. Remember me?
It's been a while I know. But then it's been a Hell of a month.

As a few of you know, after March I will be made redundant from Flashbacks as the boss declares himself bankrupt. I somehow knew this credit crunch would be the one to finish us off. Maybe we could have struggled on but the bank reducing the overdraft facility too was the final straw.

I am by turn, depressed, bewildered, optimistic, doubting, confident. I have been for my first job interview in 20 odd years - didn't get it which was a real pain as I would have walked from one job to the next. I called the HR Manager for - the dreaded word 'feedback' - and she couldn't have been more positive about my interview and said she is keeping my details on file in case a job with maybe more superiority turns up. So that has given me a bit of confidence. Off to New York for a week next Wednesday... coming back will be extra-miserable as it's back to signing on.

There have been good things though - some great bolstering e-mails from my peeps and have had three stand-out musical events.

First there was a pungent whaft of musical nostalgia when we saw Linton Kwesi Johnson at the Barbican Hall supported by the mighty Dennis Bovell Dub Band and performers Winston Francis, Jean 'Binta' Breeze and Zena Edwards. Indeed Linton said that for a lot of the audience it would be an exercise in nostalgia but also explained each song before singing it, putting it into the context of the time he wrote it.
I was a big LKJ fan back in the late 1970s and many an ornament wobbled on the sideboards of Enfield as the heavy bass reverb-erb-erbed out of my speakers so it was a genuine thrill to see him perform his back catalogue including ALL WI DOIN IS DEFENDIN, DREAD BEAT AN BLOOD, WANT FI GOH RAVE, SONNY'S LETTAH, FORCES OF VIKTRY, REGGAE FI PEACH and recent tracks like MORE TIME and the mighty LIESENSE TO KILL. Righteous and passionate lyrics actually addressing inner-city situations. It sounded strange for a while because you simply don't hear that now.

Just as exciting was the Dennis Bovell Dub Band who impressed me so much I bought their ALL AROUND THE WORLD cd afterwards and am loving it.

After that was Siouxsie at the Shepherds Bush Empire and she was amazing... much better than when I saw her last year at the Astoria. Mind you, then I was drifting around trying to find a good vantage point but here we were a few rows back in the centre of the dress circle. She taunted, she purred, she kicked, she pirouetted, she rocked!

Tall Paul was also in the circle and suddenly appeared beside me to point out someone who had just walked past him to take his place in the VIP section. A certain Stephen Patrick Morrissey. It goes to show how good la Sioux was that I wasn't staring at Moz for the whole gig. Well the half of the gig he actually stayed for. They had a famous falling out after duetting on INTERLUDE so we can only hope there has been a raprochment.

And last night I had a fantastic time at the Barbican Theatre - and I know I have never said that before - when we saw the transfer of the Stratford East production of THE HARDER THEY COME, based on the Perry Henzell film.

Amazingly I have never seen the film - God knows I've sold enough posters of it over the years - but I knew the outline of the story of Ivan the innocent country bwoi who comes to Kingston, Jamaica to seek his fame as a singer but gradually turns into an iconic fugitive due to the corrupt police and music world - and of course I knew the songs.... the title song, YOU CAN GET IT IF YOU REALLY WANT, MANY RIVERS TO CROSS, PRESSURE DROP, SWEET & DANDY, SITTING IN LIMBO, 007 (SHANTY TOWN)... like wow!

The production burst off the stage with vibrant energy and powerhouse singing and by the curtain call - with the inevitable mega-mix medley - we were up joining the cast in song and skanking. All I can say is the musicals I am seeing on the upcoming NY trip are going to have to be extra-special to top this show.

My only criticism is that the pressure does indeed drop towards the end oddly just when the action should be ratcheted up. With the police hard on Ivan's heels and pressing his friends and girlfriend to turn him in, the production seems to lapse into slow-motion. It's almost as if directors Kerry Michael & Dawn Reid and writer Henzell are trying to delay the fate of their hero.
This aside, the evening is a triumph for the cast with so many stand-out performances. Rolan Bell makes a charismatic Ivan, bursting with energy and with a fine voice, and Joanna Francis is also fine as Elsa, a nice-girl role which could become cloying in lesser hands.

The supporting cast is headed by three perennial stars from the 1980s black performer renaissance: Victor Romero Evans as Ivan's rasta friend Pedro, Chris Tummings as the corrupt police chief Ray Pierre and Marcus Powell as Hilton, slippery godfather of the Kingston music scene. There are eye-catching performances too from Joy Mack as Ivan's hard-hearted mother and Susan Lawson-Reynolds as Pinkie the queen of the dance halls.

A huge contribution is also made by the onstage musicians who lend the score some real heft- one was Alan Weekes who I saw last year at the Jazz Cafe playing for the Queens of Lovers' Rock Janet Kay and Carroll Thompson.

I felt so good after coming out of the show that I thought "I want to blog again", again proof positive of the effect good theatre has on my soul.