Issue 626

Take Me Out

From cycling, pirate ships, dolphin watching and woodland walks to face-painting, castles, beaches and alien designs, Anna Millar handpicks some of the finest days out and events this Easter, whether you’re a big or a little kid

Larry Charles: Beyond Belief

‘The controversy of people standing in front of a theatre with placards means nothing to me,’ announces Larry Charles. The Borat director and US comedy colossus, famed for his creative input into genre-redefining TV shows Seinfeld and Curb Your…

Site Specifics: The Glasgow Necropolis

What is it? A Victorian Gothic fantasy of what a cemetery should look like. At least 50,000 Glaswegians have been buried there, in 3,500 tombs and mausoleums. You want us to go to a graveyard? It’s not just a graveyard. It’s a fascinating look…

Trouble Weekender

Tearing up the rulebook: that was the basic premise when we started Trouble in 2002. Jay Feeney (Freak Music) and Erik d’Viking were programming a new live music/club venue sponsored by legendary US jazz label Blue Note Records and wanted me to run a…

Mark Radcliffe - Thank You for the Days

Showbiz is, as many will attest, a fickle business. Radio DJ, TV presenter, musician and all-round music boffin Mark Radcliffe has managed to exist on its periphery, trousers and dignity both relatively intact, for over two and a half decades. That’s…

Orgy of Tolerance

A quick glance at the poster for Jan Fabre’s latest show, Orgy of Tolerance tells you the Belgian artist clearly isn’t afraid to push people’s buttons. On it, a bearded, long-haired performer stands wearing Y-fronts, a gold-link chain and a crucifix…

Dananananaykroyd

You’ll probably have been aware of the name Dananananykroyd being shouted from the rooftops of the Scottish music scene for a few years – it’s so joyfully unwieldy you could hardly have missed it. Yet, only now are the self-styled ‘fight-pop’ Glasgow…

Edinburgh International Science Festival: The Appliance of Science

With 170 events taking place in 26 venues, it’s safe to say that Edinburgh International Science Festival has got everything pretty much covered. The star of the show this year is ASIMO, the world’s most advanced robot. Appearing four times a day at the…

Gun Crazy - Poverty Row

Since I heard that his ‘lovers on the lam’ film noir Gun Crazy was to be revived I have spent a lot of time trying to get hold of Joseph H Lewis’ other films. If ever there was a wonderful filmmaker who deserves his own DVD box set, it is Lewis. My old…

Neil Clements: Built. Lacking.

While primarily known as a painter, whose shaped canvases based on the designs of classic rock guitars were shown at DCA last year, Neil Clements’ new series of works for Edinburgh’s doggerfisher has required him to adapt his usual working methods. ‘I…

Fool’s paradise

The large scarlet doors marking the entrance to the former Lawson’s Timber retail site on Edinburgh’s Lady Lawson Street look innocuous enough. What the guidebooks don’t tell you is that this is actually a portal to another world. Behind the Big Red…

In The Frame

A glut of ceramic centres has sprung up recently, offering lots of creative fun – but at a price. If you can only run to a pottery painting session every few months or for a birthday treat, there’s no need for the kids to miss out on a regular dose of…

Parklife

With a family ticket to the average theme park costing close to £100, it’s worth remembering that a day out at one of Scotland’s country parks can offer just as much fun – for no money at all. None of the parks listed here charges for admission or…

Beach Babies

Portobello Back in the swinging 60s Portie was a popular seaside destination. After getting a little rough around the edges in 70s and 80s, it has once again become an enjoyable jaunt for visitors and locals alike. Walk along the beach, play on the…

Easter Eggcitement 2009

Chicks, Eggs & Bunnies Week Mon 6–Thu 9 Apr, 10–11am. £8 per day. Imagination Workshop, 136 Marchmont Road, 0131 466 0148. Make a chick, egg or bunny in this Easter-themed workshop. Price includes a chocolate egg. Ages 6+. Easter Egg-citement…

Al Murray

CHARACTER COMEDY As Al Murray’s cabinet of characters expands from just the one well-developed incarnation as the Pub Landlord to a whole myriad of personae in his current ITV1 series Al Murray’s Multiple Personality, he notes that he never really…

sh[OUT]: Contemporary Art and Human Rights

PREVIEW EXHIBITION Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex life is placed centre stage this summer as part of GoMA’s biennial social justice programme, which explores human rights through the lens of contemporary art. While there are few…

Catching a View

Dolphin watching Bottlenose dolphins are plentiful in the Moray Firth and the best land-bound spot to see them is the Black Isle. The Dolphin and Seal Visitor Centre consists of a hut with interactive displays and simulated dolphin noises, so stretch…

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It’s Blitz!

Show Your Bones almost broke them, but if any band could survive their self-professed darkest period and come back all cylinders firing it’s the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Snooty types have always been quick to pooh-pooh the art rock trio’s muso credibility…

Let The Right One In (Lat Den Ratte Komma In)

DRAMA/HORROR Let the Right One In is a chilling Swedish coming-of-age story that breathes new life into a tired vampire genre marred by American high school teenagers and Christian lobbyist novelists (Stephanie Meyer, Anne Rice). It’s the early…

Artist Rooms

GROUP SHOW One of two flagship group shows to stem from Anthony d’Offay’s gift to the National Galleries of Scotland and Tate last year (the other is at Tate Modern), Artist Rooms is bright and inspiring and bulges with defining work from some of the…

Interview - Richard Curtis

Richard Curtis’s pirate radio romp The Boat That Rocked could be seen as a step into new territory for the Love Actually director, as it is noticeably free of his two main preoccupations up to this point: romantic love and Hugh Grant. But according to…

The Associates

ANNIVERSARY GROUP SHOW The DCA celebrates its tenth anniversary with this show of 17 now major artists weaned on its doorstep at Duncan of Jordanstone College. Named in homage to the most flamboyantly brilliant pop group ever sired in the city, pop…

The Boat That Rocked

COMEDY/DRAMA Richard Curtis’ return to the big screen after six years back working in television is not as rockin’ as it is rolling, loose, baggy and freewheeling. It feels like a very long musical montage with little structure or direction. Some…

Substance

TECHNO/DUBSTEP/RAVE In terms of Edinburgh’s electronic musical heritage Neil Landstrumm and Tobias Schmidt certainly rank in the upper echelons of the Capital’s techno innovators. And Substance have secured the talents of both Landstrumm and Schmidt…