Tag: Bruce Devlin

Letham Nights 13, The Loveliest Night of the Year

Talking late into the night we got onto the subject of recipe’s. The discussion went onto discuss the fact that recipe’s aren’t

always food related. There are recipes for, say, a happy life, a good book or a perfect day, I bet you have many more examples.

With these thoughts bouncing around our heads Claire, Michael and I thought about the recipe for the perfect Letham Nights.

This is what we came up with

1800g of Celebrating Fife
2 fl oz of Midsummer
7 visiting relatives, From the USA
70°F of fantastic weather
13 Locally sourced performers, young and fresh
6-10 seasoned open mic musicians, various ages
1 compere, preferably juicy
2 professional, performing arts-based practitioners.
100 burgers from Pillars of Hercules
25 punnets of free strawberries
4 pints of cream, optional.
1 Clap and Tipple bar, fully stocked and staffed
1 Luva Anna.

To start, early in the morning mix together the two Arts practitioners with the 13 young performers, leave to photosynthesise for the rest of the day, making sure the creative juices flow nicely. Set aside to marinade towards a performance.

Meanwhile, arrange the Hall, the Clap and Tipple bar, the Pillars burgers, the strawberries, cream and the 7 relatives along with the PA, the Celebrating Fife funding and weather. Leave to soak up the atmosphere.

Then, mix all the elements together for the food part of the day, Make ready the audience by serving great veggie burgers/salad and very tasty free strawberries, allow situation to relax until done. Mix in 70°F temperatures and sunshine.

When replete, start the performance.
It started in a “flash mob” style, no introduction, straight into the performance, the young people walking through the hall from the various entrances. It took the audience a few seconds to realise what was happening. The performance included the spoken word, both solo and collectively, singing and musicianship. They conveyed a surprisingly honest take on teenage thoughts, fears, humour and sorrow. Being in the “gang” or not, loneliness, body image were issues also touched. Haggis man being particularly poignant.
They had written a song called the Loveliest Night of the Year and sang it beautifully.
Huge thanks to the young performers, to the tutors Fiona Miller and Mick Slaven for their fantastic efforts. What they managed to achieve in a day was remarkable.

Next, allow the musicians to play and sing their hearts out. First up, and as a wee taster for the music side of the day Roy Campbell and Mick Slaven performed two songs one of which Roy knew and the other Mick knew, neither had been practised beforehand.
Rhythm Is a Dancer and Pills and Booze were well received.
Steven Tom Smith soulfully sang through his beautiful songs, You Burn, Invisible Boy and If This Song Had a Name.
Mick Pritchard – Wow, who would have thought that voice would have come from Mick. He played Soul and Blues classics as well as a new song about his tortoise Herbert.
Kevin and Karen Scott, half of Ladybank Supergroup Skin and Bones played “May you never”, ”Still haven’t found what I’m looking for” and a version of The Black Oil Brothers’ Wednesday Afternoon.
Xander Duffy. Well, this was Xander’s second visit to Letham Nights and his voice soared and soared. He is completely unique and engaging, a tremendous voice and song writing skills. His songs featured a couple of covers – Hit the Road Jack and Halo along with his own I Go Back To and the brilliant Freedom.

Then add the acoustic Anthill Mob to finish. They played through rock and Blues classics from AC/DC to Zeppelin, to get everyone dancing.
What a fabulous mix of people – we do have some brilliant talent locally.
All this was seasoned with “peppered” comments from our comedy compere, the very “fruity” Bruce Devlin as each musician took the stage. Thanks Bruce… no really, thanks!

Finally, place on stage, one of the best live band’s the world has ever seen, Luva Anna.

They played for us in November and were truly fantastic then. This time it was no different.
They kicked off with the chillingly beautiful Sea Shanty, a 4 part vocal harmony that had the audience stunned. They then “battered” through old favourites like Coma Girl, Angry Fat Bouncer, Pigeon Song and The Ballad O’ Boaby Smith as well as newer numbers like Dumba Dumba, Sober, This is F*****g Urgent and Postcards – and of course the wonderfully evocative love song ‘Hold Still’.

Two encores were demanded by the audience which had an insatiable appetite for Luva Anna.


Want to perform? Create a new piece of theatre with drama and music professionals?

Letham Nights, with support from Celebrating Fife 2010, will be offering an all-day, free drama and music workshop for 12-21 year olds called ‘Do it in a Day’ on Sat 19 June 2010. The participants will kick off Letham Nights with the performance they have co-written and rehearsed that day, followed by local organic food provided by Pillars of Hercules, an open mic set compered by comedian Bruce Devlin and, to finish off the evening, a set from highly-acclaimed Dundee band Luva Anna.
About the workshop

Starting at 10am, with theatre skills, music and your imagination, you will devise a piece of theatre that you will perform at 7pm the same day! If you have an instrument bring it. If you don’t play an instrument and love music this is for you too.

* No Experience Necessary
* 12 to 21 year olds
*
This workshop is FREE

What will you do in the day…

10am to 12.30pm: workshops…
Lunch…
1.30pm to 5pm: workshops and rehearsals…
Tea…
7pm: performance… to kick off…

Letham Nights special celebration, the ‘Loveliest Night of the Year’!
Workshop leaders…

Fiona Miller, Director & Theatre Practitioner
Fiona is a highly experienced and versatile artistic director, who designs and devises new drama projects across the UK. She is also: Artistic Director, Tricky Hat Productions / Creative Partner & Lead Artist, National Theatre of Scotland / Associate Artist, Cumbernauld Theatre.

Mick Slaven, Musician
A talented and versatile musician with a wealth of experience in composing, teaching, recording and performing.He has also performed and recorded with: Deacon Blue, Justin Curry, Del Amitri, Leopards, Eddi Reader and many more.

To book your free place please complete this form or contact Michael at the usual address (Top righthand corner)

Letham Nights would like to thank Fife Council for the generous support from Celebrating Fife 2010


The Loveliest Night of the Year

Just imagine: it’s nearly midsummer. The evenings are balmy and light and spirits are high. Puck has administered his magic potion and you are feeling not just dreamy but a little daring…Put on your best bib and tucker and be a night wanderer to Letham Nights! Burgers, strawberries, a performance from local young people who have been taking part in drama and music workshops, an open-mic session compered by Dundee comedian Bruce Devlin.

And then… the Grand Finale – the return of another great Letham Nights favourite, highly acclaimed Dundee band Luva Anna.

If you want to take part in the performamce workshop / open mic session please contact richard@hoolet.com & see article Letham Nights Performance Workshop: Do it in a day!

There will also be the launch of new Letham Nights T-shirts designed by local artist Claire Heminsley will be on sale on the night. View Claire’s designs here.

Tickets to the evening performance will be £7.50 (£5 concs / under 12’s are free). To buy or for more information get in touch with Mike at lethamnights@btinternet.com, tel.01337 810372, mob 07802 436391. Bar provided by The Clap & Tipple.