The Front
Atomic Kitten shd 'ld ha played at last year’s Pride. now it is no more
r'. .
Glasgow festivals in crisis
Pride comes in for a fall. Words: Jane Hamilton
he year has barely begun and two of Glasgow's more
diverse festivals have hit financial crrsrs. Pride Scotland. the
lesbian. gay. bisexual and transgender festival has gone into voluntary liquidation. while Gig on the Green is trying to climb out of debts owed since the 2001 event.
For many. the demise of Pride rs no great surprise after a year of in-fighting. backstabbing. resignations and general drsorganrsatron. After a t0ugh start to 2002. it tried to regain credibility by booking Atomic Kitten as the headline. only to end up with a legal wrangle. Fer many in the gay community. Pride is an important pan of life. a chance to show pride in their sexuality and promote the rights of gay. lesbian and transgender people. There rs a need for a gay festival. as the overwhelming Success of the recent Glasgay has proved. but whether or not peeple will want to do the work for little reward remains to be seen.
“All large gay festivals seem to be floundering at the moment.‘ says David Leddy. director of Glasgay. 'Maybe people are bored or want them to be more political. Glasgay rs in excellent health so I don't believe Pride‘s collapse wrll affect us. but as a gay man. it is really sad as it is very important for gay people as well as for
Speed dating comes to Scotland
Fast romance for the flirtysomething generation. Words: Ruth Hedges
t's a sign of the times that's for sure. 3
Speed dating — the new
phenomenon to hit London — is the latest manifestation of an ever- accelerated lifestyle. And it's coming to Glasgow and Edinburgh this February. FOr the young professional who simply doesn‘t have time to meet people. let alone woo them. this is for yOU. Sign up. ‘80 come to a bar and meet 30 or so other f5;‘;"f‘s ’4, ‘ go-getters who can Just about fit in a ' QUle flirt after work and before the gym.
Working on a rotational basis. each
partiCIpant has three minutes to impress before getting moved on to the next person. After the event yOU mark up who yOu‘d like to see again and if there are matches. they put you in touch. A form of shag—tag for yuppies.
4 THE LIST 10-80 .Jan 2001*.
‘We can’t afford not to have it, both socially and culturally’
Founder of British Speed Dating. Srrnon Prockter. explains where the idea came
from: 'l‘he origins lie with a rabbi in the west coast of America who held the equivalent of a church parish meeting and asked how they were going to stop the
young Jewisl‘ people marrying out of faith.
Scotland. l would love to see it return as we can't afford not to haye it. both soczally and culturalry.‘
l as’. year's (‘iig on the Green focused on "ock acts. targeting a young market and featuring grea‘. sets by .Janes Add-ctron. Slipknot and the Strokes. Although it was a strong line up. it ‘a'eo tc at:"z‘:::t the numbers who flocked to ()asis :n 20011 and [June-'7‘ anti lr'a‘~.:s in 200i. lhe festryal hopes to continue tiws yea'. but perhaps ur‘de' a different name. at. a smaller site and u'srth a snit‘. to artc uoe cthe" musical styles.
Despite its debts. the company. ()n the Green l td. has the £1(t‘.(tltt£t(}(} of perng backed by Mean l idoler and Regular Music ‘~.'.'hich are making efforts to keep rt going. \‘Jnrie a eyes are or‘ thet urnburg" t'estr.al in August. (lg or: the Greer‘ is the only major eyent staged .r‘ (.‘ilasgow at that fine and has duck». estabirshed itselt on the (:tiltur'a calenda'.
Despite the problems of Pride and Gig :r‘ the (-‘rreer‘. Glasgow has recently welcomed the Merchant ()ity l estrua? as we as encouraging the continued success of exrstrng events inc ud'r‘g ti‘e West t nd Festival and (teltic )onr‘ecticns. l'frs year. the City of Love festival will return which. contrary to 'eports. is back or‘. Pack for another ten days of events In t ebruary
they came up with this idea of get: ng al. the local young .Je‘icxrsh peor>3e tcgetne' to meet each other in (ruck sessions . . . and then a giant Israeli c"gan:3atzon reformed st into the concept o" speed dating."
like the Big Brother concept. :3 has that bu// duality: coir‘pu7s.\.ely 0‘ fine moment. a big flashrr‘g untago!‘ to gump aboard. And apparently. after starting it October. Prockter' s; ys they l‘axer"! been able to meet (t(}l‘l(t.'l(t. to glue you the stats: there are three age g oups 2.1 30. 29 3.1.3.1 .16: 90
get matches and -l() :50 ~ ot those go
of peope
on to date one of thezr rt‘atc'r‘es ll‘ the followrng week.
Not corixinced'r‘ l ear not. Ice! 's.' as sending a trusty repo'fer to test to.rt. head all next issue out lhuuxlay .tl‘ .Ja'fua'y to
find out more ii‘ the mear‘tiritrt- (weak «a.
‘.'.".'.".‘.'.f3[ )( ?( Z'( 1( it 1U I".(I( ).Ll'\.
Pure mince‘ ‘
I Not content with barging his way into the world of film. the ever so polite Eminem is set to launch his own line of clothing. Apparently. a new collection of sportswear called Shady wrll be a ‘pure reflection of Eminem and what he'd be wearing' . . . YOu can only guess what Trinny and Susannah will make of it. But what would Marshall Mathers think of the What not to Wear girls' musical debut? An album is in the pipeline provisionally titled You Wear it Well. containing covers of tracks by Rod Stewart (guess which song’?). Barbra Streisand and Radiohead. for pity's sake . . . Julian Clary has announced a 46- date national tour called the Natural Born Mincer show. His first tour for fetir years promises to be a ‘celebration‘ of his 20 years in comedy and wrll drop in on Edinburgh's Festival Theatre and Glasgow's Pavilion at the end of May and start of June. . . Being a largely forgotten figure in Hollywood's higher echelons. it makes sick sense for Bruce Willis to be playing an amnesiac. Me Again sees the former actiOri hero playing a man who wakes up in a hotel room wrth a dead body but no memory of who he is or how the corpse got there. One for his diehard fans only.