Off-kilter

(Morning Star, Wednesday 25 May 2005)

FESTIVAL: Perth Festival of the Arts

KIRSTIE MAY enjoys a diverse mix of contemporary art and culture at Scotland’s second-biggest festival in Perth.

A small town in rural Scotland, Perth is remarkable for its natural beauty.

A gem for visitors and a haven for residents, for 10 days in May, the appeal of Perth is magnified for those with an interest in both traditional and contemporary culture.

Now in its 34th year, Perth Festival of the Arts offers a distinctly varied menu to suit all tastes.

Originally founded to promote artists from classical music and opera, the festival board has, in recent years, sought to expand the appeal of the programme to include all art forms and to attract all people to this, Scotland's second arts festival.

"It's important that we get that mix," says festival administrator Sandra Ralston.

"There are so many things going on that even I'm excited to see."

With a bill that covers the best in comedy, interesting talks from household names and a wide variety of music - from folk to classical to opera - this year, the festival has proven to be yet another winner.

The ArTay art marquee in St John's Place is the home of a variety of artistic showcases throughout the festival and, in each of the programme's five other venues, there is no shortage of diverse spectacle.

Early in the festival, it's hard to tell what will be the talk of the town, which act will shine out brightest among the vast array of stars.
But Friday night in Perth City Hall sees a potential winner, as a diminutive, wonderfully coquettish singer takes to the stage and US citizen Stacey Kent proceeds to hold the audience spellbound.

Internationally successful and uniquely alluring, Kent and her musicians - including her husband on saxophone - weave a seductive musical web around the hall, dipping liberally into the great American Songbook as they deliver their unique take on some of the greats.

Starting out with a version of The Best Is Yet to Come that would have Ol' Blue Eyes smiling, other joys come from Rodgers and Hammerstein - Cockeyed Optimist and State Fair's It Might As Well Be Spring - and the inimitable Cole Porter's You're The Top.

Colin Oxley's sweet guitar ushers in George and Ira Gershwin's They Can't Take That Away From Me and Kent's vocal has the hall ringing with just the right mix of cheer and melancholy.

The warmth of her voice also wrings out every last ounce of emotion from Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars, a personal favourite of Kent's husband from the Brazilian songbook and the perfect leveller of all the wonderful musicians playing here.

The remarkable talent on display during An Evening with Stacey Kent and her Musicians is but a fond memory by the time we reach the Perth Theatre for Paul Merton's Impro Chums.

A comprehension of Whose Line Is It Anyway? notwithstanding, the only cultural competence audience members need to bring to the show is the ability to laugh at anything with impunity.

Merton's "chums" number old cohort Jim Sweeney, music man Richard Vranch and token female Suki Webster.

There are some high points to the proceedings and, before the interval, few targets escape a whipping - from the Pope to George Galloway via the Crazy Frog.

But the interval - when the audience are invited to submit written suggestions - seems to set everyone off-kilter.

The quickfire sketches that follow are lame in the most obvious way, but none of the comedic brains here seems to know when to cut a bad story loose.
A Costa Rican snowboarding coffee picker and a skit involving hedgehogs throwing javelins are both very satisfying, but, all too often, there's nothing to work with.

Merton especially comes up short on all fronts, the try-hard surreality that he exposes on Have I Got News For You being positively natural compared to his performance tonight, miscast horribly as some sort of comedy mentor.

Aberfeldy, however, are about as natural as bands get.

Radiating goodwill from the stage at the Perth Theatre, the Edinburgh quintet charm and disarm the expectant audience.

Even for those who don't know their album Young Forever, the accessibility of Aberfeldy's music cannot be overstated.

Where other shows have packed out the theatre with a mix of genders and generations, Aberfeldy seems to be a show just for the kids, putting it at odds with the generally inclusive nature of the festival.

With the excessive music press buzz that surrounds them, it would be easy to write Aberfeldy off before their second album, but these Rough Trade signings prove here that they have substance in spades.

Riley Briggs's gentle, persuasive manner makes him the ideal frontman for peddling Aberfeldy's folky wares, offering as he does a natural affinity for a strong, sweetly crafted tune and, in the occasional knowing smile, a quiet hint of even greater things to come.