Nadine Shah in Salon Perdu - Saturday Night in the Adnams Spiegeltent

I love the Adnams Spiegeltent. I love the ambiance, the excited audiences, the welcoming hosts, and I love the range of events it plays host to during its annual two week visit. It is indeed a 'Salon Perdu', a lost room to enter and enjoy. Many of the acts that I have seen in here over the years were new to me, names that, if it had not been for the Norfolk & Norwich Festival, might have forever slipped me by. Others were acts that drew me in by curiosity or recommendation from other festival hawks. Nadine Shah, though, was different. Having seen her three times live, and bought both the first two albums, this was an artist that I knew and loved. And was definitely not going to miss.

I've been in Chapelfield Gardens all day, stewarding and volunteering on the virtual reality swings. At the end of my shift I had swapped by blue Norfolk & Norwich Festival volunteer t-shirt for a red one and rushed down to catch Billy Bragg perform a free show at Norwich Arts Centre for the Labour Party campaign workers of Norwich South. Labour candidate Clive Lewis was there, and Bragg joked that every politician he has ever met secretly wanted to be a rock and roll star. Lewis did not sing tonight, although ironically Billy Bragg's grey hair and beard is beginning to make him look a lot like Jeremy Corbin.

Anyhow, I digress. I am back at the Spiegeltent before 10pm and a long line is patiently queuing in the late evening drizzle, awaiting the doors to the Spiegeltent to open. Nadine Shah is backed tonight by a four piece band who are tight and provide just the right intensity to suit both the material and the venue. Let's be honest here. The new album Holiday Destination is Shah's best work to date, but it pulls no punches in exploring its themes and messages, and tonight's set list features virtually every track from it. This is a 'tell-it-like-it-is' attack on those who think that the refugee crisis, and migration, are issues that Britain can somehow duck out of its humanitarian and moral obligations over. As Shah points out, we are all migrants. 'There is no such thing as indiginous English people. We are all immigrants'. She uses an expletive to hammer home the point that whilst her father may have been born in Pakistan, she was born in South Shields, and is therefore English. Quite right.

But, as well as being politically charged Nadine Shah is a delightful and engaging performer. She likes a drink and makes no secret of it. Her Tyneside accent gives her a grounded appeal that wins over audiences instantly. Yet, like the moment when she accidentally bangs her tooth on the microphone just before the start of a number, she also displays a vulnerability that is also present in her music.

We get three songs from Fast Food to keep the 'play-something-we-know brigade happy' - the title track plus Stealing Cars and Fool, and the saxophone player gets a chance to deliver a few blistering solos, but the evening really belongs to Nadine and Holiday Destination. Attitudes need to change, and it is albums like this and artists like Nadine Shah that have the ability to help do it.

Congratulations to Norfolk & Norwich Festival for the courage and conviction to book an act like this for the prime Saturday night spot.

New album - 'Holiday Destination'

New video and single - 'Out Of The Way'

Nadine Shah website

Norfolk & Norwich Festival website

Kneebody & Daedelus, White Nights, Penny Arcade and Broken Back - The Variety of The Spiegeltent

'Salon Perdu' - literally 'The Lost Room', although in the case of The Adnams Spiegeltent during the Norfolk and Norwich Festival it is a bit of a misnomer. For the two weeks of the festival one simply has to follow the lights through Chapelfield Gardens, look for Elsie the fire-breathing dragon, and home in on the excited chatter from the outdoor bar and pizza kitchen. The unique form and structure of the Spiegeltent draws people in as the proverbial bees fly towards the honeypot, or like students hovering around short-dated food in Tesco Express. Its interior of wooden floor, mirrored panels and tented ceiling never fail to impress - it's like walking back into an age of walking canes, garters and spats. The top DJ's, bar staff and inimitable Spiegelhosts are there to guarantee an unforgettable visit and, when it comes to the entertainment, the sheer variety of acts will tick more boxes than a Norfolk and Norwich Festival Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire.

I popped this years Spiegeltent cherry with a visit straight after the close of business at The Garden Party on Saturday. I was lucky enough to watch the sold-out performance of White Nights, a cabaret styled circus and music show from Finland's Race Horse Company. The evening is hosted by New York City singer Sophia Urista, who introduces each act and entertains us with the occasional song, including a stripped back version of Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love'. 

White Nights (photo from NNF programme)

The six circus acts start with a gravity-defying turn on the Chinese pole from a bare-chested Petri Tuominen before it is the turn for the naked man with the big balls (I am sorry, it is a cheap joke but I could not resist it). There is a nudity alert in the festival programme, and a 14+ age restriction, but I have to say that the entrance of Rauli Kosonen, whilst possibly justified when artistically portrayed in the shadowed lighting of the opening sequence, cannot be excused away as anything other than pure exhibitionism when the spotlights are turned on and he is cavorting on that balancing ball. I am not shocked, and there are more than a few disappointed sighs from the audience when he finally dons a linen shirt and shorts combo for the remainder of his act, but I just wonder what the reaction would have been if Scottish contortionist Iona Kewney had explored a similar avenue of artistry whilst her limbs were being twisted into stomach-churning angles and places? 

The juggling is good, maybe not as impressive as last year's festival visitors the Gandinis, but the giant hoop performance and the teeterboard finale is stunning. It is a great show, and not one to be missed, but it needs that rumbustuous Saturday night audience to cut loose and embrace the spirit of cabaret with some cheeky repartee.

Having re-fuelled with a pint of Ghost Ship from the bar outside whilst the arena and stage area is cleared, we are re-admitted for the Saturday late show, a performance by Breton singer songwriter Jérome Fagnet and his band (well, drummer Sam), who perform as Broken Back. His Euro-pop vibe, created out of strong acoustic melody infused with electro beats and with Sam's drumkit topped with bongos and being struck with felt-tipped sticks it adds a tropical feel to the evening, is a sure-fire hit. We are dancing by the end of the first number, and don't stop until the end. There is a lovely cover of Bon Iver's 'Skinny Love', but the rest of the set is original material.

Broken Back in the Spiegeltent

I loved Broken Back, and will almost certainly end up downloading the album, but it was such a shame that not one song was sung in French, or even his native Breton. As with other successful Euro acts like Christine and The Queens and Selah Sue there appears to be industry pressure to release English-only product, especially for the Americans. Do we really need to be so intolerant of the beauty inherent in other European languages?

With the Garden party over for another year, I ventured back into the Spiegeltent on Sunday night for the intriguing collaborative performance between funk-jazz quintet Kneebody, and Californian 'beat scientist' Daedelus, collectively recording as Kneedelus. It pays to adopt a policy of 'explore and experiment' when picking shows from the Norfolk and Norwich Festival programme, and this performance was an absolute case in point. Despite the Grammy nomination in 2009 for their album with Theo Bleckmann I hold up my hands and admit to being unfamiliar with the work of Kneebody, but the blistering energy of these five guys, with the stunning saxophone playing by Ben Wendel and trumpet work from Shane Endsley is one of the most amazing things I have heard this festival. And to add into that free-form jazz mix an electronic musician like Daedelus with the seeming ability to escape from the confines of pre-programmed samples and beats and infuse them seamlessly into the jazz riffs was simply magical. Seek in the darkest corners and you will find pure gold.

Kneebody and Daedelus (photo from NNF programme)

For my fourth show from this year's Spiegeltent programme I decided to take a punt last night on Penny Arcade, and her one-woman show 'Longing Lasts Longer'. Described in the programme as 'a force of nature', this former Andy Warhol Factory superstar (whatever that means - famous for knowing Warhol longer than the statutory fifteen minutes?) is certainly a brash bundle of New York energy, dressed tonight in a pink wig and a short red party frock. Her diminutive stature gives her the air of a character that might have escaped off the pages of a Roald Dahl novel, but she is certainly no candy-covered confection. Nothing is off-limits as she rants about the gentrification of her beloved Big Apple, the birth of 'public relations' and our controlled lives at the hands of advertising agencies still worshiping at the church of Edward Bernays and his uncle, Sigmund Freud. Even cupcakes become subjected to her anger.

Penny Arcade (photo from NNF programme)

She happily admits to not being that well-known in the UK, but manages to pronounce 'Norwich' correctly (even if Norfolk does become Norwolk). Checking her out on Wikipedia reveals a long association with avant-garde performance art, and stage shows that go back as far as 1985. She is incredibly well-read, and has an intellectual wisdom that is also drawn from personal life experiences of the past six decades. She is also extremely persuasive in her logic train. It is all too easy to simply climb on board during the performance without having the time to question or counter each statement she makes. At times it verges on salvationism, urging young people to reject consumerism and challenge social media. It may not be entirely original, but it is delivered via the unique perspective by a very genuine and funny performer. 'Force of Nature' is not a term to be used lightly, but in the case of Penny Arcade it fits like the rebellious glove - one finger is constantly sticking up.

There are so many gems within the Spiegeltent this year that it is obviously impossible to see them all, and still find time to fit in other events, but do make sure you visit before it is too late. It is a beautiful, magical place, an essential part of any Norfolk and Norwich Festival. Yes it is a place to meet and have a drink and a dance into the wee hours, but it is also host to some incredible performances.

Book tickets at http://www.nnfestival.org.uk/

Learn more about Race Horse Company at http://www.racehorsecompany.fi/

Check out Broken Back at http://www.broken-back.com/

Explore Kneebody at http://www.kneebody.com/ , whilst Daedelus is at http://www.daedelusmusic.com/

Penny Arcade plays a second date in the Spiegeltent tonight (May 24th). Website is at http://pennyarcade.tv/

Loyalties and Freebies - The Volunteer's Dilemma

So, it is Wednesday. Officially, it is Day 6 of this year's Norfolk and Norwich Festival, although with volunteers having been involved in show previews and rehearsals, it is already starting to become troublesome remembering everything that I have already done and seen, and where. That's why I write this blog. It's not anybody else's benefit, it's simply my own personal memory bank deposit account.

 Last night's stewarding shift at the Great Yarmouth Hippodrome is still fresh in my mind, and most volunteers have either seen William Galinsky's production of The Tempest, or are looking forward to it. Either way, it is one of the biggest talking points among us, that and voting for our favourite flavour of Kettle Chips, or trying to organise a flashmob visit to the Egg Festival Café at Norwich Arts Centre.

Indeed, it is to Norwich Arts Centre that I am suddenly feeling slightly guilty. During the rest of the year I am one of several Festival volunteers who also help out at the Arts Centre, either on the box office or as ushers. During these two weeks there is almost a tug of loyalties developing as I throw myself whole-heartedly into the N&N, conscious that the regular team at the Arts Centre are working their collective butts off doing extra shifts as the venue hosts a full programme of festival events. Tonight and tomorrow is a chance to ease my conscience a little - I will be front of house for two NAC shows featuring Manchester based writer and performer Chris Thorpe.

There has been a very generous offer made to festival volunteers. An e-mail on Monday night gave details on how we might be able to obtain complementary tickets to certain shows, obviously on condition of last-minute seats remaining unsold. Both of Chris Thorpe's shows had already sold out, but we still manage to squeeze one volunteer into each night when a guest-list pass remains unclaimed. I don't get to see either show (someone has to man the desk!), and I potentially also miss out on the chance to see the man-versus-robotic-arm-ballet, 'Sans Objet' (which, I am told, was absolutely stunning), and the showcase production at The Playhouse, 'Wild Life'. Such is the dilemma that manifests through such tugs of loyalty!

I don't waste my daytime during Wednesday and Thursday, either. I manage to get the grass cut, which always makes me feel better, and make it into the city to check out how the Public Jukebox is faring in its new location outside The Forum, and to witness the progress made by the Dennis Design Centre in Chapelfield Gardens ahead of the weekend's two-day Garden Party.

After Wednesday's Chris Thorpe performance,'Confirmation', a fast-moving examination of Confirmation Bias, that tendency to selectively search for and recall information that reinforces our existing opinions, I confirm my own tendency and desire to imbibe in Adnam's Ghost Ship, and duly head off to the Spiegeltent.

Wednesday night is 'Lucky 7's' night at The Spiegeltent. Each night after the late show the Spiegeltent hosts a club night with a selection of top DJs. Tonight is Pushkin, ably assisted by Robbie Powell in a night that challenges us to test out our own DJ'ing skills. On admission we are invited to randomly draw a 7" vinyl single from the haul purchased by the Spiegeltent at local charity shops. Then, if we are so inclined, we can pop on the headphones and be tutored in the fine art of beat-matching and mixing our own vinyl treasure into the set-list. One of the first to hit the wheels of steel is our very own Head of Operations, the one and only DJ C-Lo.

My own allocated single is a little-known ballad from 80's teenage star Tiffany. It is the follow up to the number one hit 'I Think We'e Alone Now', and is called 'Could've Been'. The portents are all in place for it to be a massive floor-emptier rather than floor-filler. Not surprisingly I do not get the call up onto the stage.

I vow to return the following Wednesday armed with a couple of guaranteed crowd-pleasers. Watch out, Norwich. DJ Dav-iD will be back.

White Lines, Smoking Men, and Green and Yellow Shirts - The Chapelfield Garden Party with Norfolk & Norwich Festival

If there is one event within the programme of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival that is really dependent on the weather, it is the Garden Party in Chapelfield Gardens. Now before the shivering maids, and anyone else who has had their crow's feet frozen off over at Felbrigg theses last few weeks, have a go at me, from an audience perspective a little bit of rain and wind considerably adds to the elemental authenticity and power of WildWorks' 'Wolf's Child'. However, nobody enjoys standing around watching jugglers with wet balls in a downpour.

Last year's weekend event was held in glorious sunshine, and although I spent much of it inside the Norwich Puppet Theatre, constructing dinosaurs out of scrunched up newspaper and lolly sticks, my enduring memory is of enjoying a leisurely pint of Adnams from the Spiegeltent bar, lying on the lawns in the sunshine with some fellow volunteers at the end of our shift.

This year, whilst it may not be a heatwave, the forecast is looking good, and a mixture of blue sky and fluffy white clouds greets me as I turn up for my Saturday shift. Originally I would have been scheduled to work right through to the close at 5.30pm, performing a range of duties including the completion of Customer Satisfaction Questionnaires (CSQ's), and some Festival fundraising. As it turns out, I will now only be approaching visitors to get some important feedback on audience demographics, and reaction (good and bad) to the day's events. Which is an excellent excuse to approach anyone listening a radio, or checking their mobile telephone, and get a score update from Carrow Road. For today is the second leg of the Old Firm soccer match between local rivals Norwich City and Ipswich Town. The winner progresses to a Wembley final, and a chance to play in next season's Premier League.

Over the next two hours I manage to get a clipboard full of completed surveys, and still keep abreast of the football. Most people are quite happy to provide feedback, although as it is still only the beginning of the first day, it is possibly a little too early for them to have formed a representative opinion. Some are quite happy just to chat, and a few moments spent engaging with the public is always good PR. Only a very few treat me with the contempt normally reserved for a timeshare salesman, and a few that have already been asked several times already by other volunteers are beginning to show signs of their patience being tested.

Two advantages of a shift that finishes at 2.00pm are, a) I get a chance to enjoy the rest of the day, saved from having to point out the toilets every two minutes, and b) my son, who has driven up from Hampshire to watch the football, can join me for a pint of Adnams Ghost Ship in the Spiegeltent bar. Before he arrives, jubilent at a 3-1 victory for Norwich City, I get a chance to hear the wonderful House Gospel Choir perform from the bandstand, prior to their Spiegeltent gig later in the evening; I marvel at the choreographed juggling from the Gandinis; I am mesmerised by the strength and fluidity of Company Chameleon's street dancing; and I am bemused by Plungeboom's 'Smoking Man', a gentle ambulatory comedy performed by Ben Faulks (CBeebies' Mr Bloom).

Gospel House Choir

Gandini Juggling

Company Chameleon

'Smoking Man'

After that, it all goes a bit pear-shaped. We enjoy the Adnams hospitality until the bar ends its afternoon session, then adjourn to the nearby 'Sir Garnet' for a couple more before ordering a taxi home. Leaving the motorbike in the city seems like a sensible idea.

Day 2 - Sunday. The son and I are up like larks - he has to meet friends for lunch in Cambridge, and although I have until 11.00am to get myself back to Chapelfield Gardens for a full day of stewarding. I am dropped off back in the city centre just after 8.30am! Plenty of time for a stimulating cup of coffee to re-ignite the brain cells.

Kat and Lewis give us our volunteer shift briefing - just to check that we have not forgotten where the toilets are, and that we remember how to deal with a lost child, then we are assigned to our roles. Four of us are posted to the main performance pitch and bandstand area, where we will get to watch both performances by Gandini Juggling and Company Chameleon whilst at the same time attempting to keep the audiences behind the demarcated lines of white tape. We also have to protect the sound equipment on the bandstand from over-enthusiastic children, often encouraged onto it to dance by their parents.

The jugglers perform on dance mats, which have to be unrolled and swept before each performance - cue more inadequately supervised children whose parents seem to think that the dance mat arrives courtesy of Tumble Tots, whilst the street dancers, obviously, perform on the street. We still have to sweep the area thoroughly for them, in order to remove enough the smallest of potentially sharp stones. White tape is again used to attempt to keep the swept area clear before the performance, and, to be fair, most of the audience remain stalwartly behind it during the actual performances. In between, local folk band Feral Mouth arrive and perform a rousing set on the bandstand.

Feral Mouth's singer Jape

The weather remains bright and sunny, and the afternoon is a great success. There is one lost child (who is quickly reunited), one minor injury over by the café, and a couple of concerns over anti-social behaviour, but these are inevitable at any large-scale event, and the Festival organisers have plans in place to deal with all these eventualities, so that the audience experience is not in any way compromised.

There is just enough time for a quick pint at the end of our shift before dispersing. I am safe to reclaim my motorcycle, so head off home for a quick bite to eat, and a change of t-shirt, before heading back to Norwich Arts Centre for the Festival's Sunday Night Beat Club with local jazz band, Mammal Hands.