John Shand Posts

December 15, 2019 / Theatre Reviews - Archive

Old Fitz Theatre, November 30 9/10 When Jonathan Biggins’ decrepit Krapp grieves for a lost love at the play’s end, it tears at your chest like claws. For this monumental sadness to work, the character must be firmly established as too filled of self-loathing to wallow in self-pity, the miracle…

December 13, 2019 / Concert Reviews - Archive

Blue Mountains Theatre, November 22 8/10 What a sound. Just as a child draws a generic house with a door, two windows and a chimney, this is the generic sound conjured by the words Electric Guitar: raw, visceral and neon-bright. When a Martin Barre solo erupts from a song, it’s…

December 11, 2019 / Album Reviews - Archive

WE LIKE IKE (Triangle 7/Planet) 7/10 The late Ike Isaacs’ supple interweaving of beautifully-voiced chords and melodic lines laden with a pensive longing made him beloved by such guitar giants as Jim Hall and George Benson. Because the Rangoon-born Isaacs, who became preeminent in British jazz before moving to Australia,…