THEATRE REVIEW Helter Skelter/Union Square Friday, November 13, 2009 metrolife 19 CLUBS Electric Shock / Dave Clarke / Technasia GIG Yusuf Islam hasnt always received the best press in recent years but at least one of its high-profile converts has been in the news for all the right reasons. Following a three-decade hiatus from the music business, Yusuf the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens returned in 2006 with An Other Cup, a thoughtful, well-received collection of gentle pop tunes with a vaguely spiritual bent. On this years Roadsinger LP, he served up more of the same and if some tracks feel a little anodyne, fear not for this tour, he will no doubt be revisiting his beloved, oft-covered back catalogue. London- born Stevens became a Muslim in 1979 after bewailing the sin and greed of the music industry but before he discovered Allah, he found time to record some of the most enduring, heart-felt pop songs of that decade. While hell be debuting tracks from his forthcoming musical Moonshadow at The O2 this Sunday, fans will surely be relishing the prospect of hearing drive-time favourites like Father And Son, Wild World and break-up weepy First Cut Is The Deepest. Daragh Reddin Sun, The O2, North Wall Quay D1, 6.30pm, 76.20 to 93.70. Tel: 0818 719 300. www.yusuf islam.org Pro: Backstreets back alriiiiiight! Having weathered the fickle storms of showbiz, the multi- platinum four-piece have retained their sound, their fans, their penchant for matching stage apparel and made it to the grand old age of 16. In pop terms thats, like, 1,000 dog years. Con: ...Which makes them men, not boys. Grow up already! Youd think that having braved AJs My Drug Shame, Kevins dramatic departure and notched up several births, deaths, marriages and divorces between them, the quintet mightve matured a tad. Sample lyric from their delightfully named new ditty PDA: Baby your suspense can be intense/ Its got me convinced, oh yeah/ Youre the fingers to my instrument. Pro: Oh, lighten up. Who hasnt sung or danced to at least one of the following at a wedding/ karaoke/hen/birthday party (delete as appropriate): I Want It That Way, Quit Playing Games With My Heart, As Long As You Love Me? Con: Yes, and regretted it immediately. It wasnt an homage, I was being ironic, okay? Pro: This Is It is their seventh album and also the title of their ninth world tour, which aint half bad given that the impresario who launched their career back in 1993, Lou Pearlman, is serving a 25-year jail sentence for money laundering and conspiracy. Con: Behind bars is exactly where AJ, Nick, Brian and, er, Dave?, ought to be Millenniums ode to groupies, The Perfect Fan, is a crime against music. Fact. Pro: Has anyone seen Nick Carter lately? Hel- lo! In BSBs early years, he was their prime pin-up then ate all the pies and stopped using Clearasil. Good to have you back, Nick: clear visage, manly facial hair, tattooed biceps and all. Con: He once dated Paris Hilton, which instantly bumps him from hotty to notty. And his little brother Aarons a t**t. Lucy White Tonight, The O2, East Link Bridge, North Wall Quay D1, 6.30pm, 44.50 to 59.50. Tel: 0818 719 300. www.backstreetboys.com To See Or Not To See... The pros and cons of The Backstreet Boys Promoters Electric City put on their most ambitious line-up for this months Electric Shock. Marco Bernardi is the only European producer performing, but the Glaswegians evocative sound- scapes and punishing basslines will be the perfect accompaniment to the haunting electro of Shad T Scott aka Gosub. When hes not engineering for mainstream acts, Scott makes benchmark albums like 2007s sublime Watchers From The Black Universe. New-school US producer Jimmy Edgar uses electro, as well as techno, jacking house and booty as inspiration, making him the ideal candidate for a support slot for Chicagos DJ Funk, making this an unmissable night of bass music. Tomorrow, Electric Shock, The Twisted Pepper, Middle Abbey Street D1, 11pm, 10. Dave Clarkes ability to ignore trends is one of the reasons why he has remained a constant in techno for twenty years. Of course, it helps that the UK DJs sets are punctuated by his impressive cut and paste skills and that he champions music underground electro, ghetto techno that no one else has the courage to support. While Clarke has yet to issue a follow-up to his 2004 Devils Advocate album, the past few years have seen him move to Amsterdam, where he broadcasts the consistently excellent White Noise radio show. In between constant touring, Clarke has also launched a label, also called White Noise, as an outlet for underground artists like Marco Bernardi, Woddy McBride and Terence Fixmer. Tonight, 515, Tripod, Harcourt Street D2, 11pm, 19.50. If a marketing team was going to create a techno super group, its possible theyd want it to consist of an Asian tech-savvy member and a European music lover. This is exactly what happened when Amil Khan and Charles Siegling met in the mid 1990s. By 1996, they formed Technasia (pictured), combining Khans technical know- how with Sieglings DJ background. The partnership yielded a series of singles including Oxide, 2 The Floor, Hydra and Force acclaimed albums that fused Khans futuristic leanings with Sieglings intuitive knowledge of what works on the dance floor. While Khan left Technasia last year his influence lingers, expect Siegling to deliver a slamming yet cutting edge set. Richard Brophy Tomorrow, Big Dish Go, The Underground, Westland Row D2, 11pm, 12. Neil LaBute (In The Company Of Men) has always enjoyed watching audiences squirm at the amoral, misogynistic antics of his creepy male creations. In these two one-act plays he places marriage under the spotlight and, once again, its men who are found lacking. In Union Square, an affable hick (played by Dermot Magennis, pictured) arrives in New York to search for the wife who has abandoned him. He directs his seemingly naive, out-of-towner monologue at an unseen hobo and while we initially sympathise with his sorry tale, the tone shifts from light-hearted to menacing once he states his intentions for his wayward partner. Its hardly LaButes finest hour but Magennis has the characters transformation from harmless buffoon to possible psychopath perfectly pitched. Helter Skelter is a more considered piece. Here a heavily pregnant young woman joins her husband in a plush New York restaurant following a days Christmas shopping. When she requests the use of his mobile phone, his cagey response precipitates some shocking revelations. Les Martin gives a superb turn as the simpering and adulterous husband, hilariously resorting to platitudes in a bid to placate his partner, while Olga Wehrly is steely and stoic as the wronged spouse. The bloody climax feels a little too restrained but otherwise both cast and director Stewart Roche do justice to a nasty slice of contemporary Americana. Daragh Reddin Until Nov 28, Bewleys Cafe Theatre, 78/79 Grafton Street D2, 12.50pm 15. Tel: 086 878 4001. www.bewleyscafetheatre.com index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html28.html29.html30.html31.html