John Shand Posts

April 10, 2017 / Concert Reviews - Archive

The Basement, March 12 8/10 If improvisation is not a dialogue it is merely craft with no art. Even in a solo performance multiple layers of dialogue are in play, most obviously between the performer and the audience, the instrument and the song or improvising vehicle. But when the music…

April 6, 2017 / Album Reviews - Archive

NITTY GRITTY (Mixed-Up Music) 7.5/10 Tim Rollinson has rare control over the aesthetics of his guitar sound. When he applies distortion it doesn’t so much dirty up the sound as give it an edge and make it glint. When the sound is cleaner it’s never antiseptic, but has a warmth…

April 5, 2017 / Theatre Reviews - Archive

Roslyn Packer Theatre, March 4 7.5/10 A single man carrying two plastic shopping bags confronts the first in a column of tanks. The Tiananmen Square image spoke not only of individual frailty facing the clanking steel of monolithic power, but also of sufficient moral outrage to invert fear. Chimerica is…