The Week in Light & Sound
Tuesday, 27 April 2021
Silent Spaces - Venues and spaces that have remained largely unused due to the pandemic feature in a new series of films in which performers and musicians take over the spaces. The series of films, called
Silent Spaces, is described as a “creative lockdown response driven by a pervading sense of Covid-induced personal and professional loneliness”. It has been created by musician and composer Soumik Datta and directed by his brother Souvid Datta. Featuring a team of British Asian, black and ethnic minority musicians and dancers, the film-makers and performers create works in the British Museum, the Royal Albert Hall, Depot Mayfield in Manchester and Sage Gateshead, alongside Hawkwood College and London King’s Cross station. The six films explore “resonant themes in keeping with the choice of venue”, the producers said, and tackle issues around mental health, activism, the environment, colonisation and identity.
Bay City Rollers star Les McKeown wanted to move back to Scotland before death
The Edinburgh-born vocalist, who passed away on Tuesday, revealed his tongue-in-cheek epitaph during an unpublished interview.
Bay City Rollers frontman Les McKeown who sadly passed away at the age of 65 (Image: hipimages)
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THE night of my 60th birthday in 2015 turned out to be a little bit special. I celebrated this milestone by going to see The Bay City Rollers play live at Barrowland in Glasgow. During the concert, I got the surprise of my life when I was inducted into the Barrowland Hall of Fame … becoming the first music journalist to receive such an accolade. On stage – before the 1500-capacity, tartan clad audience – singer Les McKeown presented me with a handsome trophy. Minutes later he was singing a song whose chorus went:
“Well we sang Shang-A-Lang/As we ran with the gang/Doin’ doo wop be dooby do ay.”
Injuries in Jerusalem clashes
Dozens of people have been injured in violent confrontations in East Jerusalem after hundreds of far-right Jewish activists shouted “Death to Arabs” as they confronted Palestinian demonstrators. The Palestinian Red Crescent said at least 100 Palestinians were injured. Al Jazeera says nightly clashes between Palestinians and Israelis in Jerusalem during Ramadan have “laid bare simmering tensions in the holy city”.
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Postmasters await appeal news
A group of 42 sub-postmasters and postmistresses will discover today whether convictions for stealing money will be quashed. The convictions came after the Post Office installed the Horizon computer system in branches. The BBC says the system was “flawed”, leading to false allegations of fraud which in some cases resulted in conviction and imprisonment. Some postmasters say they have been shunned by their communities and are still struggling to secure new work.
THE sudden death of Bay City Rollers frontman Les McKeown last week sparked memories of Rollermania among York fans. Several Press readers recalled seeing the Scottish pop band play the Cat s Whiskers club which was at the Rialto venue in Fishergate. Gavin Craft, Michael Hodgson, Rob Stagnell, Sheila Gomez, Linda Jones and Kay Fawcett all remember seeing the tartan-glad pop stars at the Cat s Whiskers in the mid 1970s at the height of Rollermania. Michael Hodgson posted: Saw the Rollers at the Cat s Whiskers 1974 I believe. Cost £1 a ticket to get in. Rob Stagnell added: Saw them in the Cat s Whiskers in York, the place was packed.