GUEST POST: Bend the Walls and Smash the Floor

Local band Poeticat have held the first of their Arts Council funded nights at the Windmill Brixton. Catherine Martindale of the band tells us how it all went.

Poeticat onstage. Photo by Hanna-Katrina Jedrosz
Poeticat onstage. Photo by Hanna-Katrina Jedrosz

Our residency is now officially underway! We launched it with Bend the Walls, Smash the Floor on Sunday 23rd of June. Let me tell you what the title means.

Bend the Walls – look again at what you believe the boundaries are. Something which seems solid and impossible to manipulate can be. See the world through inverted glasses.

Smash the Floor – we need to be powerful about what we want to change. You need a space to stamp your feet. You never know, you might just fall through into another dimension.

It was a smashing and bendy event!

We went a bit wild on the old posters so look out for pink and yellow posters along Brixton Hill. There are still some lurking around and a prize will be given to anyone who tweets us photos.

Artist Elisavet Kalpaxi completely outdid herself with her second Windmill shed transformation. Last week was National Bookstart Week and we asked the audience to submit their favourite children’s book titles. Elisavet took images from the books and drew them into a white labyrinth in 3-D images.  Audience members were given a mask with 3-D lenses and had to find the jelly beans at the end. It was very trippy. The shed seemed triple the size!

Adam Kammerling performing. Photo by Hanna-Katrina Jedrosz
Rapper Adam Kammerling. Photo by Hanna-Katrina Jedrosz

Rapper Adam Kammerling was very popular. Poeticat first met Adam at Glastonbury three years ago in the back stage area of The Poetry and Words stage. We hit it off immediately and shared camping food and booze. I was reminded of his skill when I did a solo performance at Apples and Snakes Jawdance. The event combines live spoken word with video and Adam’s music project Adam and Cuth aired their video for Hold That Note.

We were also wooed by poet Abi Palmer who we’ve invited back for the August 24th residency for a longer set.

Abi Palmer. Photo by Hanna-Katrina Jedrosz
Poet Abi Palmer. Photo by Hanna-Katrina Jedrosz

A surprise melancholy, folky and sombre set from Gianluca Galetti was a welcome addition in which he included a Syd Barrett cover.

All this was neatly tied up with Seamus (the Windmill landlord)’s famous BBQ. He cooked up a feast in the garden with salads, meats and condiments to tickle all taste buds. Even our half-veggie band got seriously involved.

Our February gig at The Windmill has been made into a Poeticat Rough Guide video which is worth checking out if you want a taste of what’s in store.

Our next theme for our response song is based around Lambeth County Fair which we are playing on July 20th after an act called Chickenwing All Stars (which is an amazing band name!). So we are asking you “If you were in charge of your own day festival, what would be your main attraction?” To get your response in our response song and in the art shed tweet us using #PoeticatRes.

Photo by Baj of Poeticat.
Photo by Baj of Poeticat.

 

1 COMMENT

  1. Love the photo of the empty stage. Beautiful. Love the colours.

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