Latest news with #JessieWare
The Guardian
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Scissor Sisters review – effervescent maximalism from 00s glam-pop freaksters
Maximalism is too timid a word: the Scissor Sisters' first tour in a decade rolls in like an alien carnival. A gorilla-suited master of ceremonies pulls a curtain to reveal the New York band's logo standing statuesque: scissors split wide open, blades curving into shapely legs. Amid a deserted jeep, retro payphone and broken highway, the metaphor is clear: the Sisters are a crash-landed UFO shaking up dusty Americana. More than twenty years after their self-titled debut album rocketed them from New York's queer cabarets to household-name status in the UK, the band tumble from the shadows – effervescent frontman Jake Shears in bedazzled denim, cool-headed guitarist Del Marquis, and PVC-clad multi-instrumentalist Babydaddy – and the bawdy, stabbing synths of early single Laura pull a sold-out crowd to their feet. An irreverent reworking of classic and glam rock, disco and psychedelia with a vinegary end-of-the-pier humour, the Scissor Sisters album is nine-times platinum in the UK, where the band's freaky theatricality found a spiritual home. From the impossibly falsetto cover of Comfortably Numb to the spiky surrealism of Tits on the Radio, so powerful is the band's magnetism that electropop legend Alison Goldfrapp performs as support, and disco queen Jessie Ware gallops from the wings to scream 'Do it!!!' on a barnstorming Take Your Mama. With songs so evergreen, you might reasonably feel that the staging is … too much. Yet somehow a dizzying procession of animated penguins, elderly folk in VR headsets and the Tragic Clown from the Sims video game franchise makes these bone-deep familiar songs feel as absurd as when they first hit the charts. Missing from the spectacle is the arched eyebrow of founding member Ana Matronic, and the band wisely chose not to replace her. Instead, Bridget Barkan and Amber Martin join as a bawdy chorus line, and Martin's thrillingly unpredictable rendition of Any Which Way is one of the night's greatest highs. Twenty years ago the Sisters were pop aliens. Today they receive a hero's welcome, and today's pop outsiders have a clear lineage with these queer, surrealist showtunes. Shears and co take a Broadway-sized bow next to bouncing inflatable tits, and it's true: sometimes more truly is more. The Scissor Sisters are touring the UK and Ireland until 28 May
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Disco diva stuns fans with surprise appearance at huge Hydro gig
Fans at the Scissor Sisters' 20th anniversary concert were left stunned when iconic disco singer Jessie Ware made a surprise appearance on stage. The American pop-rock band played to a packed crowd at Glasgow's OVO Hydro on Saturday, May 17, 2025, marking two decades since the release of their debut album. The unexpected highlight of the night came when Jessie Ware joined the band mid-performance during their hit Take Your Mama, sending the audience into a frenzy. READ MORE: 'Wildly excited': Date revealed for award-winning musical's Glasgow premiere The Hydro shared a video of the jaw-dropping moment on social media, captioned: "The queen that is Jessie Ware just joined Scissor Sisters for a singsong and we will never get over it." Fans flooded the comments with excitement and disbelief. One wrote: "The way my friend and I absolutely lost it when she came out. Scotland never gets surprise guests, but she was the best surprise ever." Another added: "This was such an incredible moment! My jaw dropped!" A third simply said: "Screaming, crying, throwing up." READ MORE: Band behind Teenage Dirtbag to perform iconic debut album in full in Glasgow Jessie rose to fame with her 2012 debut album Devotion, which reached number five on the UK Albums Chart and featured the breakout single Wildest Moments. She has earned seven Brit Award nominations, including four for British Female Solo Artist, and both Devotion and That! Feels Good! were shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. The Scissor Sisters, formed in 2000, last released an album in 2012 before going on an indefinite hiatus. Their reunion show was already a cause for celebration, but Ware's appearance turned it into a truly unforgettable night.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The spring line-up at Greenwich Peninsula including art, music, food and nature
Greenwich Peninsula has unveiled a line-up of spring activities. The peninsula, just two minutes from North Greenwich Tube, will be hosting a series of arts and culture events. The Secret 7" exhibition at NOW Gallery, in partnership with War Child UK, will showcase sleeve designs for tracks by artists including Jessie Ware, Scissor Sisters, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor from April 11 to June 1. The Firepit Gallery is currently presenting Exposed, a contemporary art exhibition supporting the Pink Ribbon Foundation, with 10 per cent of all sales donated to the charity. This exhibition will run until June 7 and is free to attend. The gallery will also host Stories Around the Fire: Black History 365, celebrating the work of UK Black artists from April 10 to April 25. The Greenwich Peninsula Art Trail will guide visitors through public installations by artists including Damien Hirst, Morag Myerscough, and Ian Davenport. The Ecology Park, a four-acre wetland escape, will host several events, including Feathered Friday on April 17 from 11am to 3pm, and the Women's Nature Wellbeing Club on May 9 from 12.30pm to 1.30pm. Explore exhibitions, nature walks, and street food by the river (Image: Greenwich Peninsula) The park is a 12-minute walk from the tube station. The Tide Walkway, a riverside trail with art, food stops, and meditation pods, is open daily from 7am to 10pm. Design District Yoga offers lunchtime yoga on the rooftop every Thursday from 12pm to 1pm for £5. The Peninsula Golf Driving Range is open daily from 8am to 11pm. Eat your way around the world without leaving The Canteen (Image: Greenwich Peninsula) The Canteen Food Hall & Bar offers daily street food from six global kitchens, with drinks served until late. The Greenwich Peninsula Market operates every weekend from 11am to 6pm on Peninsula Square, offering artisan eats, crafts, and art. The activities aim to provide a variety of options for residents and visitors to enjoy the spring season at Greenwich Peninsula.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Is Spotify down? Users in UK and US hit by widespread outage
Spotify is down for thousands of users in the UK and the US, with some members reporting that they've been logged out of the service and can't log back in. Others claim the homepage isn't loading and the search function isn't working either. More than 5,000 Spotify users have logged reports with DownDetector, a website that tracks real-time outages and service disruptions for online services and apps. The problems started at roughly 9.40am on Wednesday morning in the UK, according to the site. Disgruntled users have flooded social media with reports and comments on the outage. 'Is #spotifyDown? I can listen to music but cannot search for anything, not even the homepage is loading up,' said a user on X (formerly Twitter). Spotify is down? Just logged me out just as Jessie Ware was playing. — LADY ZOE (@TheRealZoeMBE) April 9, 2025 'Spotify is down? Just logged me out just as Jessie Ware was playing,' posted another user. However, Spotify has yet to comment on the outage. This is a developing story...
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Celebrities including Jessie Ware and Annie Mac urge parents to be LGBT+ allies
Celebrities including singer Jessie Ware, DJ Annie Mac and Wicked and Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey have backed a new campaign to urge parents to become LGBT+ allies. The trio have thrown their support behind LGBT+ young people's charity Just Like Us's new Guide For Parents, which aims to combat homophobic language in primary schools when it is released on Monday. Bailey, who is a patron of the charity, said: 'As parents you want the best for your children – you want them to feel safe, be confident, and thrive. 'Any home can welcome in a member of the LGBTQ+ community. 'There should be no shame in parents not understanding or knowing how best to support their LGBTQ+ children and their straight children to be allies, only shame in parents who don't endeavour to protect, nurture, and celebrate their LGBTQ+ children. 'Just Like Us is doing the incredible work of offering our parents' generation an education that wasn't available to them when they were young.' Say You Love Me singer Ware echoed his comments and said she wanted her children to 'grow up in a world where they feel safe, loved, accepted for exactly who they are, knowing that love is love, and that standing up for others matters'. It comes after research from Just Like Us found that 78% of primary school pupils, and 80% of secondary school pupils have heard homophobic language, yet a third of British parents had never spoken to their child about what LGBT+ means. The research also found that despite the majority of straight parents considering themselves to be supportive of LGBT+ people, a third of LGBT+ young people are still not confident their parents will accept them, with almost half estranged from at least one family member. Speaking about the new guide, former BBC Radio 1 DJ Mac added: 'This guide is incredibly useful and vital to help parents support their LGBTQ+ children. 'I love that it's deliberately wide in its scope when it comes to different ways of parenting and different kinds of families. 'There is no one size fits all, only your way and this guide helps parents to find their way by learning about the experience of other young people and then figuring out what's best for them and their child.' The guide focuses on encouraging positive and open conversations about LGBT+ topics and identities with children, and showing them that difference is something to be celebrated, whether they themselves are part of the LGBT+ community or not. Topics covered include unlearning stereotypes, encouraging schools to be inclusive, and how to support children if they come out. Laura Mackay, chief executive of Just Like Us, said: 'No young person should have to fear that they will be rejected by their family for being who they are. 'Yet, sadly, we know this is the reality for many LGBTQ+ young people. 'A lack of family acceptance can have a range of negative effects on LGBTQ+ young people, from a lack of family closeness and lower self-esteem, to estrangement and even homelessness.'
