Hydrogen Jukebox
Death Metal Special
Tuesday October 14
The theme of The Rocky Horror Picture Show - Hammer Horror saw the north-east's performing arts students in pink fishnet tights and deathly pale make-up: and that was just the men! Hailing from Darlington, the mixture of poets, performers and musicians regularly pack out the local arts centre and have recently been given funding from the Arts Council North East to develop their ideas.
The evening was compered by poets Jo Colley and Andy Willoughby. Introducing up and coming young people (both poets and performers) the event proved that indeed, you don't need silence and seriousness to enjoy poetry and music. One of the sketches put on by the performers was called A Twocker Halloween and involved representations of Darlington's finest cider-swilling teenagers going trick-or-treating at Jason's (Friday the 13th) door so that they could get a few quid together for a packet of fags and some White Star.
Note: Dictionary (or Monsieur Davide, Hydrogen Jukebox Cabaret Genius)'s definition of 'twocker': A person of teenage years who hangs around north east (mainly Darlington) shops and yells at people to buy him/her cider of the very cheap variety, and when refused, commits GBH on said person.
Other sketches included We're the girls of Burger King to the tune of Girls Aloud's The Sound of the Underground and, in keeping with the horror/Frankenstein theme, a glimpse of what the future might look like if Kenneth Williams's brain were transplanted into Hitler's body and the filth that would come out of Geri Halliwell's mouth (aka Ginger Spice - brilliantly played by Claire Metcalfe) if her brain were replaced by Joe Pesci's!
Another high was the mighty Nemain, a hard-core death metal band whose gothic feel was perfect for the themed night. The band have gained a somewhat cult status in Darlington and surrounding areas and with the energy and synchronicity of the band, they deserve to carry this following much further afield.
Following the literary feel of the festival, Andy Willoughby (current poet laureate of Middlesborough) read from his collections of poems, No Smoke Without Fire and Moochbox, and from some unpublished poems. With the musical accompaniment of Shaun Lennox on the guitar and Kev Howard on digeridoo, Andy produced a powerful and memorable reading. Jo Colley, along with musicians, provided a quieter yet no less eerie few poems, reminding us that the undead may be closer than we imagine. She read from her collection As If... and from poems published in Sand magazine. Also introduced was Catherine Bergen, an up and coming young poet who will be having one of her poems published in a national poetry anthology.
The event was used as a kind of experiment to see how a Durham literature-festival audience would respond to an evening which moved away from the traditional poetry/literature feel of the festival. Unfortunately, there was a poor turn out but the performers stayed enthusiastic and perhaps with more work, a more alternative approach to poetry could also be achieved in Durham. If people work harder to support the interests of youth culture then perhaps they will begin to see that without the kids of the cabaret, a bored and 'twocker' cult of teenagers may be all we are left with!
Guest reviewer: Bea Colley
