Strange goings-on at London's Royal Albert Hall raise some sharp questions about the role of private censorship in the public domain. The good Lord Eccles has already told us that the State, in the disguise of the Arts Council, is not going to give any more money to those naughty sinful plays. Of course, you can have nudes in opera, because that's Art. Opera, that is. And the Arts Council, always manages to find the odd extra £100,000 for opera, especially when Peter Hall is likely to provide a few more nudes in a few more operas. (read more)

Source: Spectator Archive

Beside me in the stalls of the Hammersmith Odeon last week were two young Scotsmen, both extremely genial and very evidently the worse (or better) for considerable ingestions of illegal chemicals. They rocked back and forth in their seats, flicking dandruff-laden rats tails in my direction, oblivious of all except the polyphonic stampede booming from massive banks of loudspeakers on the stage. (read more)

Source: Spectator Archive

Holographic tours are increasingly big business. Michael Hann on the rise of the posthumous encore.