Read more about the article Why did Glasgow University need another theatre society?

Why did Glasgow University need another theatre society?

[Written by Amanda Landegren, Publicity Coordinator for GIST]

[Image Credit: GIST//Facebook.com]

With the current existence of over five other performing arts societies, was there really space—and need—for yet another theatre society at the university? When looking to the anglo-centrism of the content performed, the answer was a firm but enthusiastic yes! GIST, Glasgow International Student Theatre, was created last year with the intention of bringing attention to theatre from around the world. With a goal to perform, promote and celebrate theatre in translation and theatre from lesser known authors, the founders imagined a society where all are welcome, no matter accent, experience or prior knowledge. Looking then at the society’s first year in existence, the members are a small but devoted bunch who all contribute to diversifying the performing arts scene. The great advantage of multiple nationalities is not only cultural insight into the plays, but also the ability to share that insight with others.

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Read more about the article Chillies West End: Food Review

Chillies West End: Food Review

GUM was delighted to be invited to Chillies West End, an exciting Indian located on Woodlands Road, to promote the new student deal they have just launched. The invitation coincided nicely with our new food and drink section, which seeks to promote affordable dining for all us broke foodies out there. The deal sees students walk out with 10% off all sit-in meals from Sunday to Thursday, and 10% off take-away throughout the week. A valid student card must be shown on order.

On entering Chillies one is greeted with a warm decor with dark woods and brick inlays offering a casual yet chic ambience. The open kitchen particularly grabbed my attention given the energetic cooking style Indian cuisine offers. The staff were friendly and prompt, with our waiter gladly offering suggestions and explanations of the origin of certain dishes as we sat down to order.The venue has a BYOB policy, but on the occasion that you decide not to drink the smoothies and lassi’s are exceptional. We ordered a mango lassi and a pineapple and ginger smoothie to start, the aforementioned being rich and bursting with flavour, and the smoothie wonderfully balanced with a good kick of ginger. They were so good we ordered a third smoothie with the unusual combination of banana, pistachio and yoghurt, which didn’t disappoint.

 

Smoothies2

The starters offer a range of tastes and textures with a varied origin. The Desi Chilli Puri, the combination of spiced chickpeas on a crunchy pancake was well balanced with the tart mixed pickle. This was followed by two standout dishes, the house speciality of Charcoal lamb Chop, chargrilled with a warm heat cooked in a traditional tandoori oven. It is the chef’s own recipe which draws from North Indian cuisine that is characteristically more dry than the curries we normally associate with Indian here in the UK.

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Read more about the article What’s On: Guys and Dolls

What’s On: Guys and Dolls

The Cecilian Society, Glasgow University’s foremost musical theatre society, proudly present their main show of 2013; Frank Loesser’s hit musical ‘Guys and Dolls’.  The society have previously performed musicals such as ‘Our House’, ‘Anything Goes’, ‘Bugsy Malone’, ‘Oklahoma’ and in September 2012 ‘Little Shop of Horrors’. The society recently celebrated their 60th Anniversary in October, with a fantastic weekend of events including a hit concert packed full of musical classics. Building on the success of this weekend, they now bring this classic American musical to the Mitchell Theatre stage in February. With a cast of over 60 talented people bursting with enthusiasm, it is a must-see event!

Guys and Dolls GUM

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Read more about the article Dauwd @ Rubix 13/12/12

Dauwd @ Rubix 13/12/12

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Just before Christmas the Rubix boys put on the fifth installment of what is becoming one of Glasgow’s staple nights. With past acts including South London Ordnance, Joonipah, Elphino, and staple Point To C; Rubix is the night for those who are particularly enamoured with the cutting edge of electronic music. Subclub was forcefully launched into the festive spirit with lashing of UV lights and rubix cubes hanging from the ceiling, the night proved to be the final assault against those pesky exam blues. GUM caught up with newcomer Dauwd at the afterparty to chat about music, his heritage, and his unwavering obsession with Dylan Thompson.

Interviewing on a sunken sofa surrounded by party goers I begin by asking the inevitable first question; how does Glasgow compare to other cities he’s played in? Without hesitation he says “The Glasgow crowd is really good, they’re boss!”, a statement that reflects the pull the city has on similar musicians, such as James Rand who played at Rubix in May last year. With friendly rivalry in the air at the mention of Rand, Dauwd exclaims “he’s so shit, he’s just like Skrillex”. The musicians met when doing the rounds of the Liverpool club circuit, playing at institutions such as Chibuku Shake Shake, where Dauwd played a supporting act back in October.

A relative newcomer on the electronic music scene Dauwd Al Hilali has taken it by storm, with roots in Iraq, a childhood in Wales, he now oscillates  between London and Liverpool. His first EP ‘What’s There’ was released on Pictures Music in November 2011, while his reputation continues to be solidified by excellent live performances and a few strategic placements on compilations. One such compilation is Adult Swim’s ‘Unclassified’ which includes the likes of Kode9 and Lukid, as well as a recent mix he curated for 22 Tracks, where samples of Andy Stott are used to great success.

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Read more about the article Bold Souls: Pop-Up Fashion at it’s Best

Bold Souls: Pop-Up Fashion at it’s Best

It’s November. Which can only mean one thing in the shopping world: sharpen your elbows, you’re going to need them. Yes, Christmas fever is almost upon us. But what if we told you that this year there’s no need to sweat it out on the high street, fighting over mass-produced items and spending hours in seemingly endless queus? Bold Souls Stardust has come to save us all.

Bold Souls is a fashion Pop-Up, created two years ago by Glasgow-based designer Silvia Pellegrino and blogger Jonathan Pryce of Les Garçons de Glasgow and Another Garçon. Offering a unique shopping experience the event brings a plethora of local designers together under one roof, and give shoppers the chance to buy one-off items and personalised pieces. GUM spoke to organiser Silvia to find out how Bold Souls was conceived:

“What we wanted to do was to promote local talent and expand the community, meet more people that we could work with, meet more customers. We wanted to have a very seamless, open and fresh place where people could go to find unique fashion instead of buying high street and mass made fashion, that we find a lot of the time doesn’t really have spirit”. It is this community aspect which gives Bold Souls it’s buzzing atmosphere, uniting designers, creatives and customers alike over canapes and complimentary Kopparberg.

One year on from the last Bold Souls, Stardust promises to be bigger, better – and yes – bolder than before. Thursday 22nd November 2012 will see Flat 0/1 and Lucky 7 packed out with more than 20 stalls, where you can pick up one-off pieces from a host of local designers, both up-and-coming and established.  As Pellegrino explains: “We try to keep it colourful and diverse, everybody’s got their own style, we’re trying to have different tastes; the taste of our customers.” With such a variety of designers offering up everything from womenswear and menswear to accessories and jewellery, there really is something for everyone. Plus each item is beautifully crafted, high-quality and totally unique: this is a chance to see independent fashion at it’s best.”

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Read more about the article Spotlight: Valerie June

Spotlight: Valerie June

It’s hard to remember the hazy day’s of summer when you’re holed up in bed, surrounded by various unread books, resisting the urge to put the heating on whilst not quite being able to muster the motivation to haul ass yourself to the library.

That’s right folks, essay season is here; thankfully it’s not here to stay.

If you’re reading this, well done, at least your procrastination is less destructive than my Ebay habit. Let’s face it you’re not going to start reading that book anytime sooner, there’s no way you can ever keep up with your reading list so you may as well put those peepers to good use and have a butchers of Tess Hokin’s interview with up and coming soul sensation Valerie June. Disclaimer: GUM accept no responsibility for you blowing the dregs of your loan on ticket for Bestival 2013…

With Southern Belle charm and an resonating, unexpected voice, Valerie June practically glows in an aura of ‘Next-Big-Thing-ness’. She is staggeringly glamorous, with a head full of massive ringlets of dreadlocks and a beaming white smile, yet completely down to earth, chatting away in a Southern drawl you can’t help but find endearing. After years of menial jobs and selling records out of the back of her car, June is finally about to release her first album for a record label. We caught up with her just before her debut UK performance at Bestival, and can only say that you can expect to hear a whole lot more from this unique and talented musician.

How have you been finding the UK and Bestival so far? 

It’s been great so far, this is my first time here so it’s really different, the people here are so fearless in their fashion sense- I love it! I’ve been travelling all over and [Bestival] is incredible. It’s like some kinda magical fairyland.

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Read more about the article Tim Burton: A Return to Frankenweenie

Tim Burton: A Return to Frankenweenie

On the 10th of October GUM were asked to fly down to the heart of London to see the film that would kick off the acclaimed London Film Festival, the 56th year the British Film Institute have thrown the city into movie-mania.


That film was Tim Burtons new 3D stop-motion masterpiece Frankenweenie, a story about a boy and his dog taken to macabre heights by the ex- Disney animators’ notoriously bizarre mind. Heavily based, as the title might suggest, on Mary Shelley’s classic gothic novel Frankenstein, it’s modern animated counterpart is a surprising return to the early days of Burton and his 1984 short of the same title. It is interesting to see how the world has changed that Disney are now wholeheartedly endorsing the flick after sacking Burton for the same unconventional animations over twenty years ago.

For those of us who grew up on a staple of The Nightmare Before Christmas, and more recently the likes of Corpse Bride, will not be strangers to the wonders of stop motion animation- but to see it in 3D and in black and white was a new experience altogether. The films plot rotates around Victor, a young, gaunt boy in typical tortured Burton fashion, and his dog Sparky who gets hit by a car and then resurrected by his stricken owner. With the film being cited as a ‘labour of love” with the director working closely with people of his past, such as Winona Ryder and Caherine O’Hara, as well as long-time musical partner Danny Elfman, the film hits a personal chord any Burton aficionado would be proud of.

With a “traveling road show” of actual sets from the film and an Animators Masterclass after the Press Conference (Burton is just how you’d expect him, wild haired and full of impersonations with madly gesticulating hands) the highlight of the film was indeed expounded to be the talent of the animators.

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Read more about the article Bestival: Preview

Bestival: Preview

It ain’t called Bestival for nothing, folks. If acts like Florence + the Machine, Ben Howard, Rizzle Kicks and Stevie Wonder (I repeat, Stevie Wonder) didn’t already have you on your knees, then just a glance at the rest of the lineup will see you begging for a ticket. The sheer variety of musical styles is staggering, but curator Rob da Bank has chosen only the cream of the crop from each genre, making Bestival the be-all-end-all of 2012’s festival circuit.

Reading the lineup has got us just about wetting ourselves with excitement; it features everyone from the ubersuccessful such as Emeli Sande, Nero, Two Door Cinema Club and Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Ros, to the lovely Lucy Rose (whose folksy sound has had crowds falling in love at festivals all over the country this summer) and DJ sets from Bassnectar and Jamie xx. In fact, there are so many heavyweight musical talents being plonked onto the Isle of Wight this September that it’s in danger of sinking.

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Read more about the article Little Goes a Long Way: Kendal Calling proves that big isn’t always better

Little Goes a Long Way: Kendal Calling proves that big isn’t always better

Festival Season is upon us, and while the Big Guys like T in the Park, Reading, and Leeds are busy swamping the scene with their high prices and massive crowds, its worth taking look North to a smaller celebration of music and art. Think less cattle-herding between stages, more free-roaming wildlife; less queuing for overpriced Tuborg, more real ale from the hands of the bearded men who make it; less wandering lost amongst leering strangers, more befriending everyone you meet. With so much love to give, Kendall Calling offers festival-goers a breath of fresh Cumbrian air.

Music-lovers have flocked to the deer dappled fields of the Lake District and frolicked in the friendly atmosphere, fantastic music and delicious nosh of Kendal Calling for the past six years. At nearly ten times its initial capacity, the festival has grown into a three-day wonderland involving sixteen unique stages, all bringing a different piece of the magical puzzle to the table. There’s the House Party tent, complete with biscuits and beds to jump on; the Garden of Eden, where you can treat yourself to a massage or simply recover from the night before in the tranquil beauty of the Lake District; and the Ladybird children’s area, giving out free story-telling, mask making and music workshops to the wee-est attendees.

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Read more about the article Kelburn Garden Party – Preview – 2nd/3rd July

Kelburn Garden Party – Preview – 2nd/3rd July

This weekend let’s hope it’s a scorcher in Scotland for the Kelburn Garden Party, which is fast-becoming one of the country’s favourite fixtures on its festival calendar. Billed as ‘two days of musical magic and hi-jinx in a fairytale setting’, this is one summer festival that won’t disappoint. Set in the grounds of Kelburn Castle near Largs, the event boasts cross-cutting acts across a range of genres. These range from ‘from folkies, rockers and funk brothers to clubbers, dubbers and jazzers’ we are reliably informed. The festival prides itself on being free from corporate ties. You won’t find any shameless plugging of brands here: it’s all about the music and the festival spirit. More than merely music, festival activities include workshops, acoustic sessions, poetry, walks in the glen, mystery gigs in secluded spots and performance art and theatre, all in the idyllic setting of the grounds of Kelburn Castle.

The venue is equipped with three stages and a dance tent, as well as the many hidden spaces for pop-up events and gigs. This venue has hosted two successful mini-festivals earlier this summer – The Viewpoint Sessions in June and July, both to great acclaim. The festival is an inclusive day-to-night event, and weekend tickets cost only 55+BF, including camping. Children and families are welcome (under 13’s free), and fancy dress is encouraged during the revelry. The impressive line-up favours homegrown talent, with some big names from Glasgow including Sons & Daughters, JD Twitch, Mungo’s Hifi and Jackmaster.

Kelburn’s organisers invite you to ‘So, come one and all, discover Scotland’s quirkiest, funkiest boutique festival for yourself; come dance with us,and share in our dream, built with only you in mind.’

With Thanks to Astrojazz & Kelburn Productions

TICKETS
Tickets are limited to just 700 this year. Outlets/prices are:
Standard: £55+BF
Day Tickets: TBC (depends on demand)
By PAYPAL

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At Ticketweb:
http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/kelburnprods

RIPPING RECORDS, South Bridge, Edinburgh
TICKETS SCOTLAND, Rose Street, Edinburgh

RUB-A-DUB, Howard Street, Glasgow
TICKETS SCOTLAND, Argyll Street, Glasgow

Read on for the full line-up…

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Read more about the article Preview: This Sunday, on campus, Judy’s affordable Vintage Fair
Michael Kors/Celine. Camel Coat: Circa Vintage, Mock Croc Clutch: Circa Vintage

Preview: This Sunday, on campus, Judy’s affordable Vintage Fair

04.05.11

Yasmin Ali

Judy’s Affordable Vintage fair comes to Glasgow this weekend, right on your doorstep! So put down your books for a couple of hours and head to the QMU for loads of vintage goodies that won’t break the bank. With 500+ as attending on the Facebook event page, it’s set to be a success. Show your support on the official Glasgow Facebook group and be sure to join the retro-themed shenanigans. After all, who doesn’t need a deserved break from the books at this time of year? We hear seats in the library are like gold-dust these days…

Listings info:

Open 12-5pm Sunday at QMU, 22 University Gardens, G12 8QN

All welcome, not just students!

Entry £2/£1 concessions / free for under 12’s

You can read on for official press info from Judy HQ.

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Read more about the article An amazing line-up this Spring at April’s DD. Half-price.Be there or be [].

An amazing line-up this Spring at April’s DD. Half-price.Be there or be [].

gumagazine for Death Disco // The Arches
Studying is practically illegal on a Saturday night anyway, so put the books aside for the night, grab your half-price pass below and enjoy your weekend.

Sat 16th April 2011 11pm–3am £14.00 or £7 with pass above.
The Arches, Midland St, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
BOOK ONLINE NOW
take a print out or image on your phone and take to the Box Office on Argyle St in advance of the night

Continue ReadingAn amazing line-up this Spring at April’s DD. Half-price.Be there or be [].