Entertainment
Crime and passion create The Fall’s perfect storm
TV Watch with Dave O’Connell
There are times when you wonder if The Fall is a crime drama or a chance for the two main stars to smoulder into the cameras.
It’s gripping for sure – and sometimes even in the way that the makers intended – but honestly, it took a series and a half to see Detective Stella Gibson in uniform while every other week she was in her silk nightie or swimming costume.
Gillian Anderson is clearly a woman who knows her strengths and the most obvious one isn’t an ability to fight serious crime.
Because she’s sleeping in the police station – and occasionally, indeed, with members of the police – she even brings this state of undress into the office.
Those silky blouses from series one have now given way to loosely worn dressing gowns and revealing night-attire – all of which have as much to do with catching a mass murderer as Irish Water has to do with common sense.
Then again when the murderer is played by the man who will shortly hit the big screens as the sadist from Fifty Shades of Grey, you have to fight hard to hold your corner.
Jamie Dornan was obviously committed to series two of this BBC/RTÉ co-production before he landed the part of Christian Grey, but – as Paul Spector – he walks the streets of Belfast in search of female brunettes to murder with a giant pair of scissors.
This smouldering serial killer is no stranger to removal of clothing either in the cause of television ratings and between the pair of them, all that’s missing is a no-holds-barred encounter on the hard floor of a prison cell.
Of course, to manage that, Stella would have to catch Paul and while she’s closing in at a rate of knots now, you’d have to say that a series and a bit of buffeting around in the dark does nothing for the PSNI’s reputation for fighting serious crime.
Perhaps the blame for that should also lie at the feet of Assistant Chief Constable Jim Burns, because he spends most of his time gazing forlornly at his temporary recruit from the Met, a woman he had an affair with two years earlier.
So he goes all doe-eyed every time she walks into the room, rendering him completely incapable of making a rational decision that doesn’t involve a return visit to Stella’s hotel room.
The Fall is good, but it’s not good enough to sustain a second series of the same old thing – Spector working as a bereavement counsellor by day and killing at will by night, in a city that the world and its mother knows has a police force capable of dealing with much worse than a one-man murder machine.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Folk duo Niall Teague and Pádraic Joyce are launching their new album What Will We Be, a blend of folk, Americana and acoustic music, this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in An Taibhdhearc.
The success of their well-received 2020 release Taobh le Taobh, as well as recent successes at the Pan Celtic and Oireachtas Song Contests, spurred the duo on to record this new album which represents many years of collaboration and musical development.
It features Niall and Pádraic on vocals, harmonies, and acoustic guitars, Maidhc Ó hÉanaigh on double bass and Neil Fitzgibbon on fiddle. The catchy title track, What Will We Be, features contributions from percussionist Jim Higgins (The Stunning, Christy Moore, Paul Brady) and haunting, driving melodies on vocals, guitar, and fiddle.
Themes of love and hope are woven through Come Away with Me which features interplay between piano and fiddle as well as rich vocal harmonies.
People, places, and broken dreams are celebrated and lamented on Martin and Tom, Guitar Gold, Memories of You and Achill Island. The influence of David Henry Thoreau’s novel Walden features on the tracks Simple and Wise and Walden, with the beauty of nature, escape and simple pleasures at their core.
The album moves from minimalistic folk ballads such as Galway Ghost to swirling, string-laden arrangements on the song Neptune, both of which are influenced by maritime tales from Galway. Much of the work on this album was supported by the Arts Council, including work with musical arranger Eoin Corcoran and the string ensemble Treo.
The album will be launched this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in an Taibhdhearc. Tickets €22, plus booking fee at Eventbrite.ie.
Dunmore is the place to be this weekend for lovers of traditional music, as the Galway County Fleadh will take place there from this Friday, May 19, to Sunday, May 23.
It is 10 years since Dunmore last hosted a fleadh and the local Comhaltas branch, which has re-formed since Covid, is looking forward to facilitating this gathering of music, song, dance and craic.
The official Opening Concert will take place in Dunmore Town Hall this Friday at 8pm with the acclaimed Mulcahy family from Limerick. Mick, Louise and Michelle are well known throughout the country, thanks to their live performances, television appearances and numerous CDs. They were the winners of the TG4 Gradam Ceoil Grúpa Ceoil Award for 2023. Tickets for their concert can be purchased on the door and a great night of music is promised.
Two days of competitions will kick off this Saturday at the town’s Community School, with more than 1,500 competitors taking part. Participants will be hoping to qualify for the Connacht Fleadh 2023, which will be held in Ballina, County Mayo, from June 23 to July 2.
Competitions for those aged Under 10, Under 12 and Under 15 will be held in a large variety of instruments on Saturday, as well as in singing and Comhrá Gaeilge. Sunday’s competitions will be for the Under 18 and Over 18 ages groups, as well as in dancing.
On both days a large entry is expected for Grúpaí Cheoil and Céilí Band competitions across all age groups.
Seventeen Comhaltas branches from across Galway will have participants in this weekend’s competitions, which will result in a large number of visitors to the Dunmore area.
Members of the public are welcome to attend the competitions, which offer a great opportunity to hear and see the talent on display. There will be sessions in local pubs over the weekend as well and everybody is welcome to attend these.
For more information on the County Fleadh, go to www.galwaycomhaltas.ie.
Music for Galway’s concert with renowned Swiss pianist Cédric Pescia which had been due to take place on April 27 but which had to be deferred, will now take place next Tuesday, May 23, at 8pm, in the Emily Anderson Concert Hall at the University of Galway.
This concert of German classics with Bach at its core, will brings the Bach element of Music for Galway’s 41st season to an end.
This world-class pianist who won the famous Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition, has a repertoire that spans many eras from baroque to contemporary and he is widely known for his elaborate programmes. Cédric Pescia describes music as ‘language and movement at the same time’.
Audiences will have a chance to experience his soft, clear touch as he performs a programme for solo piano that will include classics such as Schumann’s popular Waldszenen (Forest Scenes), a suite of nine short pieces, and the penultimate of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, No. 31. These pieces will be interspersed with French Suites by Bach.
■ Ticket for Cédric Pescia’s concert are available at www.musicforgalway.ie, or by phone 091 705962 and on the door on the night. They cost €20/€18. The price for fulltime students of all ages is €6 while MfG Friends can avail of the friends’ rate of €16.
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