Dr Glam invades the Octagon (from left) Laura Howison,
Genevieve Lawrence, Rachel Trainor, Ian Chapman, Mitch
Smyth and Marek Rogale. Photo by Nigel Benson.
The Dunedin Fringe Festival glams up today.
Extraterrestrial eccentrics meet Planet Earth's spandex
fashion sins of the past in Dr Glam Presents Freaks
Cabaret at Refuel tonight.
"It's a chance to showcase all the different components of Dr
Glam in a cabaret concert, from glam rock to free-form jazz,"
University of Otago music lecturer Ian Chapman says.
Chapman started the band two years ago to impress upon his
students the power of marketing.
The centrepiece of any Dr Glam set is the hang drum, a
mesmerising instrument that resembles, and may even be, a
UFO.
The cabaret-format concert will feature covers of songs by
glam giants T Rex, David Bowie, Alice Cooper and Marilyn
Manson.
"I've also written a goth song about a vampire teddy bear,"
Chapman tells me.
Also appearing will be a belly-dancing troupe, soloists Hana
Fahy and Geva Downey, glam rock bagpiper Daniel Milosavljvic,
fire dancer South Murdoch and female impersonator Miss Ruby
(Grant Benson - no relative, honest!).
Dr Glam makes an earthly visitation to Refuel at 9pm today.
Sequins optional.
The Biff Merchants return to the scene of the crime when they
appear at BigUps Yourself at Sammy's tonight.
The band recorded its new album, Harold, in Sammys
over five days last year, because they loved the acoustics of
the building.
"We just did the national release tour for Harold and
we really wanted to do the proper album release here at
Sammy's, where we recorded the album," guitarist Andy
Straight told me yesterday.
The Biff Merchants hit Sammy's at 9pm.
Kristelle Plimmer sticks it up the arty-farty types in The
Therapeutic Hour: Art History Explained tonight.
"The Art of Art History: a Critical Anthology, has
become the principal text for the study of art history
methodology since it was published in 1998," Plimmer says.
"It's been translated into all the main European languages
and now it's about to be published in Chinese.
"But, what I'd like to know is: when are they going to
translate it into English?"It's filled with words like
`epistometemological technologies' and `metonymic
contiguities'."
Plimmer is a former-singing telegram gorilla who now works as
a concept designer at Te Papa.
Always wondered what happened to retired singing telegram
gorillas.
The Therapeutic Hour: Art History Explained is on at the
Otago Polytechnic School of Art seminar room at 6.30pm till
tomorrow.
There is also a 2pm matinee today. Entry is by koha.
I saw Footnote's gorgeous 2009 Made in New Zealand at
Allen Hall last night.
A highlight for me was former-Dunedin dancer Sarah Foster's
nostalgic Quick Unpick, about her grandmother, Jean
Leggett, who was president of the North Otago Embroiders
Guild.
The stitches continued at the Festival Club at XII Below,
where comedians Chris Brain, Steve Wrigley and Simon McKinney
were performing.
McKinney is from Dunedin and still has family here.
"I always love getting back home," the former-Otago Boys High
School pupil told me before his show.
"I come down for a recharge and then I can cope with Auckland
again."
Oh, and I got a gentle serve yesterday from Christchurch
dancer Julia Milsom, whose stunning Corrupt Productions
dancework, Self Portrait, I saw at Allen Hall on
Wednesday night.
Turns out I've been claiming artist Rita Angus, whose
paintings inspired the dances, as a Dunedin artist all week.
Angus actually spent most of her life in Christchurch and
Wellington, although she was known for her Otago paintings.
Ooops.
I just assume all good artists are from Dunedin . . .
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.