Tag: feminism

Full Throttle For The Sixth Devizes Scooter Rally

Featured Image: ©Gail Foster

At least I think it was the sixth Devizes Scooter Rally; after three weekends spent at a sunkissed Lower Park Farm I’m getting a smidgen hazy! Nevertheless, I acknowledge and appreciate folk have their own valid reasons to cite either of these three major and hugely successful Devizes events as their favourite, but, personally this weekend was mine…..

It’s justifiable to suggest big sound and stages, renowned performers or a universal variety of tributes are elements as to why you might choose differently to me, and that’s all good. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed them all. Devizes Scooter Rally may not necessarily win these categories, it’s niche but knows what its punters want, and delivers it with passion, and utmost pride. 

It also makes up for them all when the atmosphere is as electric as it was, the community feel extends to hoards of annually returning visitors from afar, the team’s dedication is second to none, and a campsite so jammed as to make Michael Eavis envious!

Not forgoing, for my personal taste, this one is a retrospective reflection on the music and fashions I grew up with and cherish to this day.

Devizes Scooter Rally 2026 Image: ©Gail Foster

It might also be suggested, because of the success of Devizes Scooter Rally the others implemented similar; I’ve seen two Madness tributes prior to this weekend! But if tributes are essential elsewhere, while the rally had cover bands nodding to the era, and Madness will forever reserve a fair chunk of that respect, it had one tribute which must be as highly praised as those other acts, if not more.

Devizes Scooter Rally 2026 Image: ©Gail Foster

Nestled between magical ska covers eight-piece Hampshire/Dorset collective, Skamageddon, and the sublime soul ensemble All That Soul, Bootleg Blondie rocked my world, and I’ve seen the real McCoy! If you think covering T-Rex’s Get it On in a Debbie Harry style for an encore at an event full of mods and skinheads is risqué, with a certain ease it worked and alongside all their hits, Bootleg Blondie brought the house down with it.

Devizes Scooter Rally 2026 Image: ©Gail Foster

Bootleg Blondie is a concentrated marvel replicating the whole band, not just the adored frontgirl, and they were tight. Yet the latter must be said of all on the lineup.

The returning Butterfly Collective kicked Saturday’s proceedings off with a glorious and vast selection of covers, enveloping every subgenre and youth culture represented in the crowd. From punk to ska to mod, and modernising with Britpop, whatever they followed each song with was as well-received as the previous. From Oasis to Sex Pistols, they knocked them all out of the tent.

Most interesting was a finale where Tom Petty’s Freefalling was meshed into the Jam’s Town Called Malice, and after a ska-fused Woolly Bully encore they finished with a northern soul fashioned cover of Erasure’s A Little Respect. The lively frontman proudly told that it was their fourth time playing Devizes Scooter Rally and hailed it as “the best rally on the planet!” A sentiment reflected by the audience, and me.

Devizes Scooter Rally 2026 Image: ©Gail Foster

With Soul Pressure DJ Terry Hendrick filling gaps, it was onto Skamageddon, who, with matched excellence, gave us a superb repertoire of classic Two-Tone, blended with ska versions of novelty hits and exceptional stage banter. From The Specials to Bad Manners they hit the spot, and took to everything from Nellie the Elephant, the theme from the Fresh Prince of Bell Air, and even Mr Brightside over the rhythm of The Maytal’s 54-46. It was a brilliant set for Bootleg Blondie to follow.

With Park Farm full of food choices, stalls from crafts to scooter parts, and the busiest bar this side of Munich’s Theresienwiese, The Devizes Scooter Club has captured the energy of the already established larger rallies, yet retained the community spirit of the smaller ones. Now nestling in-between them, that is what the returning attendees love about it most. For if last year blossomed because of the arrival of Ranking Junior’s incarnation of The Beat, this year’s didn’t support such a renowned headliner, yet it equalled the size and ultimate atmosphere of last year.

This should be particularly credited to the headline, All That Soul, for I couldn’t think of another tried and tested act by the Scooter Club who deserved it more. This soul singing trio of gospel rooted sisters, backed by an accomplished band, began with Motown classics and moved to a second half of funk and disco floorfillers. In a word, All That Soul is sublime.

Who dares to cover Motown? Most who do disgrace it, it was the crème of sixties soul singers, but All That Soul can replicate it like no other I’ve bore witness to.

Devizes Scooter Rally 2026 Image: ©Gail Foster

Moreover, credit and the highest of praises must go to everyone at the Devizes Scooter Club, and their volunteering family and friends, who labour on making this event as well organised, welcoming and absolutely brilliant as it is. 

If combined, this summer of local events proves we’ve a wide diversity of music options and great scenes here in Devizes, the rally provides something it sorely misrepresented; retro soul, ska and reggae. I’ve eclectic tastes, but these are what I love most, therefore I’ve got to get it while I can, and Devizes Scooter Rally does, with big brass bells on. And brass is class!

Wife Cooks Husband in Devizes!

A wife cooked her husband on Thursday evening in Devizes. I watched the whole thing unfold, but would have politely passed off any offering of a plate, in favour of my funky KitKat Chunky (three for a quid at Derek’s Deals!) What do you know? I’m way too much like Kenneth for my own liking, for after all, the way to a man’s stomach is……

You can get ice cream at Devizes’ wonderful Wharf Theatre, but not at a dress rehearsal, which is what this was; my apologies if the headline deliberately deceived you! You are here now, and might as well read about me sneaking in my own snack, to watch this wicked black comedy from the writer of The Nativity film series, Debbie Isitt. Opening night is Monday 18th May and the final night is Saturday, 23rd. 

Directed by Alison Warren, The Wife Who Cooked Her Husband may have the conclusion given away in the title, but the lead up to it is an unnerving watch with poignantly satirical dialogue. Set in either the late seventies or early eighties, a time when the practices of patriarchy were being questioned via feminism for a younger generation, their elders upheld the traditions of married life. Ergo, for a middle-aged chauvinist to “part exchange” his older model wife, might find himself undone and exposed by his newer model’s more modern perceptions of marriage.

There’s only three characters in this play, sitting around a dinner table. Flashbacks builds a devilish narrative of a cheating husband, how it emotionally affects his ex-wife, and the new wife too. Jessica Bone plays the ex-wife, Hilary, vividly. The focal point of the play is her building concerns for her marriage, and realisation her suspicions were right. Defining her plight is the emotional rollercoaster which justifies her revenge.

Louisa Davidson is Laura, the scandalous, younger, hedonistic mistress, and she plays it with a realistic front. But as the play delves deeper into Laura’s psyche, and her expectations from her marriage, whilst more radically feministic, are of equal burden to Kenneth, the happy-go-lucky fellow, caught in this love triangle of his own making.

It becomes clear the antagonist was never Laura. Kenneth is the lovable charmer, a gluttoness Elvis fan. Hardly a master of deception, he fulfills his desires uncaringly; the basic caricature of an eighties lad with Peter Pan syndrome; me starting this review with what I ate during the show might well be proof! If Jessica’s abject and sentimental monologues are the backbone of the play, they’re contrasted by Kenneth’s playful ignorance, and therein lies the comedy, dark as it may be.  

Andy Bennett plays Kenneth with comic splendour. One who gets his dinner at home but his love elsewhere, and at this successful beginning there’s a scene of visual comedy gold, as the moment of him ingeniously switching from Hilary to Laura delights him. Once reality takes hold, holes in his lies are exposed, and whilst his thoughts on the matter are exposed too, they’re not nearly as nuanced as either Hilray’s or Laura’s. One could argue a writer creates more realistic characters of their own gender, and in this Kenneth’s characteristics are flatter. Another argument is, of course, that’s the fundamental difference between the genders!

Here is a play which either gender can enjoy, and it is very enjoyable, but after-thoughts might some cause healthy debate! That’s what makes this a great show. The production may not be the best I’ve seen at The Wharf, though that’s a high pedestal, but three days later I’m still pondering its details and the questions it raises; it’s a grower.

While it might appeal more to women, the tensions and stress on relationships caused by an affair should alarm the man more, and they should see it if only to find sympathy for the mess they would create, following their desires without consideration. Young men preaching hyper-masculinity and this manosphere concept, should note this play proves these ideas were standard not so long ago, and didn’t work back then. Because, and here’s the real hitter, Hilary ponders at the conclusion, Kenneth has decidedly average levels of chauvinism, passive with it, and is atypical rather than extreme, but still he’s a manipulator and cheat who deserved his comeuppance.

The macabre ending suggested by the title is therefore expected, but the wait for Kenneth’s fate and Hillary’s justifications are more intensely meaningful than the concussion. While this play is of a simple setup, with a simple and common premise, the more its deeper meanings roll over in my mind, the more I accept that The Wife Who Cooked her Husband is a must-see.  

The Woman who cooked her husband

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Flora Fiora Kicking the Tyres

Chedworth, Gloucestershire; proud village soloist, songwriter and model Flora Fiora is kicking the tyres and smashing windows in with a new single, and it’s about…

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Hannah Rose Platt’s Fragile Creatures

If Whitney Houston set a benchmark for female vocalists many did before her too, but while others were influenced by them, they never felt obliged to attain a sound precisely mimicking them, as, it seems to me, many modern female singers striving for pop success do with Whitney’s. And when they do, it sounds, well, manufactured and impassive. A Liverpudlian now residing in Bristol, Hannah Rose Platt releases a concept album tomorrow, Fragile Creatures, of which I’d compare more to like of Kate Bush, whereby Hannah can weave beautiful tapestries, adapting her voice to reflect the sentiment of her narrative, mood and style of the track; and there’s a lot going on in Fragile Creatures….

It is undoubtedly a concept album, anatomising the complex relationship between women and medicine throughout history. It explores how antiquated myths and misconceptions in the pursuit of science have impacted female health, while creating countless injustices and inequalities. If this comes across sounding more akin to a poignant lecture, Hannah Rose Platt shifts between a collection of musical influences to imprint her wisdom, causing Fragile Creatures to be an altering and compelling journey of prowess and refinement.

It opens introductorily with a spoken word sample of Helen Andelin’s Fascinating Womanhood, a controversial sixties manual encouraging women to uphold their conventional marital role. Ataraxia is as calming as the meaning of its Greek philosophical title, ambiently floating over an acoustic guitar riff and drumbeat, musically reflecting on Diazepam-flavoured tranquillity, as if conformity to the sample will land us all in a world to make Aldous Huxley quiver. In this, Hannah’s voice is bitter, eerie, to convey the point.

But by the second tune, Curious Mixture, a drifting acoustic vibe, Hannah’s voice is as silky and smooth as Kylie, which shifts to a sharper more indie-punk feel as the songs progress. There’s a definite Bristol trip hop scene there too, causing me to consider Portishead as an influence. By the fourth tune we’re blessed with the most gorgeous ballad to Mary Magdalene, reminding me of Daisy Chapman’s folk angle. It’s at this conjunction I realise Hannah is reciting her deepest thoughts and observations on the theme, historically, and they’re gender ecumenical rather than bitter stabs of feminist vendetta. I didn’t feel under attack as a guy listening to this, provided I ponder the meanings Hannah so poignantly expresses.

This is eleven tracks strong, melding myths of pseudoscience, superstition and patriarchy with medicine and chronicles of the resilient and defiant women who unyieldingly fought for equality and autonomy. At times it’s Kate Bush vocalising for Massive Attack, as is the tune The Yellow Wallpaper, at others, such as La Grande Hysterie, it’s a contemporary Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill covered by Siouxsie and the Banshees. It ends playfully like musical theatre, but penultimately is horrific and beautiful in equal measure.

The album is a themed anthology. Each song has its own narrative, weaving into each other. From the tale of Anne Greene, accused of infanticide under the Concealment of Birth of Bastards Act, and pardoned after being revived from hanging to reflections on the health gap that lingers to this day. There’s so much more I still need to discover exploring its sheer brilliance as a concept and how the music compliments it.

Hannah explains the concept, “This record is both an offering and a tribute to female pioneers in medicine; and an endeavour to honour, and give voice to, the unsung heroines in the history of our health. What struck me most during the research and creation of this album was the deeply ingrained, sinister nature of myth and misconception surrounding women’s health, and the harmful, cyclical dismissal of experiences; decade after decade, century after century, often reinforced by outdated and dangerous practices. My hope is that listeners will not only be intrigued by these stories but also inspired to dig deeper and empowered to challenge the systems that have long ignored or misrepresented women’s voices, as this dismissal remains so prevalent today.”

At this I could agreeably sigh, like any poignant art which usually preaches to the converted those who really need to take heed of its message will likely overlook it. Nevertheless, if others cite Fragile Creatures as the work of an upcoming artist, I’d favour to compare the depth and production of this fantastic album to Dark Side of the Moon. And with that the right audience might spare its lesson a thought. A high but deserved accolade, in considering it took Pink Floyd seven albums to accomplish this magnum opus, when this is Hannah Rose Platt’s second; what comes next will be astounding because Fragile Creatures is a sublime keeper.

The advance single Curious Mixture is out now. Full album is released tomorrow (April 25th) via Xtra Mile Recordings and mastered at Abbey Road, with production and playing from Ed Harcourt. Launch party is Friday 25th at Rough Trade, Bristol.

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