Hello all! We hope you are doing well and have been out enjoying the snow today! We grace you with a short but (mostly) sweet round up of news this week; a week full of highs and lows, with music featuring prominently throughout.
We must of course start off with the 46th presidential inauguration, which took place on Wednesday 20th January. It truly was both a historic and uplifting moment watched by millions across the globe, as President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn in at the US Capitol. Lady Gaga led the musical contributions to the ceremony, with a unique rendition of the US national anthem. A self-declared classical music nerd has even gone as far as notating Gaga’s iconic vocal tricks, if you fancy kickstarting your singing career from home #reskill.
Meanwhile, the world said a final “bye, bye” to Donald Trump as he exited The Whitehouse to Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’. It was actually revealed by Nancy Sinatra this week that Frank outspokenly declared his dislike for Trump, an irony that was not lost on the Twitter community, but the outgoing president’s stunt was largely overshadowed by a farewell like no other….
On the night before the inauguration, James Corden released a hilarious spoof of the iconic Les Miserables tune, ‘One Day More’, starring some of Broadway’s most respected faces. ‘His term is done, the day is here’. It is an absolute must watch!
For many of us this week, hopes for a Summer 2021 festival season have been dashed with the announcement that Glastonbury 2021 has officially been cancelled. The news has been greeted with disappointment but also understanding as safety concerns continue to be of utmost importance. The cancellation is likely to prompt a pivotal few months for smaller festivals who will likely be forced to consider their viability also.
Although many are still currently planning to go ahead, for now it is looking like we might be spending another year recreating the festival vibe from our back gardens with a pot of glitter, a can of lager and a pair of headphones!
Bored of scrolling through Netflix? Finished Bridgerton in 24 hours straight? Look no further, for Pia has located your next box set obsession. Russel T Davies’ new drama ‘It’s a Sin’ (Channel 4) is a poignant mix of joy and heartbreak. The series follows the lives of a group of young gay men in London, all from incredibly conservative families, at the start of the AIDS epidemic. The show is as much a dramatic masterpiece as it is a stark lesson in history, as it highlights, on a huge scale, the attitudes towards the gay community during the ‘80s and how the disease was quickly stigmatised. One of the main characters is portrayed by Years and Years frontman, Olly Alexander, who famously stole the show at Glastonbury Festival in 2019 with an empowering speech about the LGBTQ+ community.
Named after the Pet Shop Boys’ song, ‘It’s a Sin’, the series pays meticulous attention to both the soundtrack and sartorial choices of the ‘80s. The faultless line up of eighties bangers includes artists such as Bronski Beat, Culture Club, and Blondie:
This week we had the pleasure of chatting to our very own Artist Liaison, Charlie Hewitt on Episode 5 of the Apocalypse Music Podcast. Head over and have a listen as we gab about our experiences of live music and our different approaches to listening.
Words by Pia Rose Scattergood & Hermione Kellow
Photo © Apocalypse Music
