listings
Inclusion in Buzz’s listings is free. Send to Listings Editor Noel Gardner via email ([email protected]) or post (Suite 3, Castle House, 1-7 Castle Street, Cardiff CF10 1BS). Deadline is the 17th of the previous month. Buzz takes no responsibility for material sent or any errors made after the deadline time.
THOMAS DOLBY: THE INVISIBLE LIGHTHOUSE
Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff Sun 15 Sept Tickets: £20. Info: 029 2030 4400 / www.chapter.org
Long destined to be thought of as a punchline to some particularly clichéridden “hey, remember the 80s?” yuks, Thomas Dolby would in fact be a fool to care about this sort of guff. A square peg in the British synthpop scene of 30 years or so back, his early efforts – She Blinded Me With Science, a single, and debut LP The Golden Age Of Wireless – made him an unlikely star in the USA, but their commercial heights were not repeated. Dolby had nevertheless established himself enough to subsequently make records which were both lavish and free of chart-based constraint. In the 90s, he became something of a technology whiz, notably in the field of polyphonic ringtones. Recently, Dolby has been emotionally affected enough by the closure of a lighthouse that he’s learned how to make films, so as to document its demise. Orfordness Lighthouse, on a small island off the Suffolk coast, has been standing since the late 18th century; Dolby claims to recall its beam while going to sleep as a youth. It was decommissioned in late June, and coastal erosion will probably cause it to collapse in the next decade. All of this is addressed in The Invisible Lighthouse, which was filmed on the hard-to-access island against the wishes of the Ministry Of Defence – it’s been a weapons testing ground in the past. When it’s screened in Chapter, likewise the other 17 dates on its UK tour, Dolby will narrate it live, and intersperse it with songs from various stages of his career. Possibly including the hit(s), but possibly not.
pic: BRUCE + JANA
pg 58 pg 60 pg 62 pg 70 pg 75
CONTENTS art clubs events live stage
BUZZ 57