Dec 26 Teatre Buffons

A wonderful theatre with a great atmosphere made this a memorable night out.

The show, by Miguel Gavalan, was very well put together and extremely entertaining. Some very clever illusions made you realise why this performer is so highly rated in Spain. How does he do the handkerchief trick? The only criticism could be that to fully appreciate some of the humour a basic understanding of Spanish was required, although most of it could be worked out.

The food on offer was Pa amb Oli with a choice of 14 different toppings. There was something for everyone from simple vegetarian options, along with fish and meat selections. The large portions were well presented, tasted good, along with the added bonus of selecting 2 different options on one plate, all served with a good garnish. This was a remarkably well priced night out, which included a dessert and a drink for 29.95€. By the end of the evening, after far too many drinks, well it was Christmas, the total bill was less than 40€ a head including a tip.

Keep an eye on http://www.digamemallorca.com/ for updates on what is going on at this intimate theatre in the centre of Palma. We already know of 2 more dates for Miguel Gavalan along with a promising tango show in January.

Dec 15 Handels Messiah

Fantastic performance by a mixture of amateurs and professionals set in the stunning background of La Seu, (Cathedral) Palma. Altthough it does go on for 3 hours and the seats get a bit hard, it is well worth making the effort to see this live performance. The quality of music playing and singing is enough to get the hairs on the back of your neck standing on edge. They will hopefully do this again next Christmas and I strongly recommend getting in the queue early to see it!

November 18 Circo Mamma Mia

This great little show is travelling the island over the next few months and is worth a visit by both children and adults. We managed to catch it in the municipal theatre of Muro.
A show, that rather than move into the realms of cirque nouveau, sticks with the traditional circus theme. From the very beginning this team make you feel welcome with a free cup of cider whilst guiding you through to your seats.
They only have one animal, the family pet poodle performing, which is good to see, plus if they had anymore it might get a bit messy on the stage. Here you will find the acts you would expect to find in the circus of 20 or 30 years ago and it is great to see. The clowns, the lassoo show, the strongman, acrobats and a magician all with a good amount of humour. This is a hard working troupe who will cheer you up, bring back memories for some of you, and create some nice new ones for those of you that are too young.

Keep an eye out in digame over the next few months or check the website http://www.digamemallorca.com/, to see when they are performing near you.

17 november Barber of Seville

Every year the Palma Auditorium stage their opera season. 4 nights with 4 different operas. La Traviata by Verdi, Don Giovanni by Mozart, La Boheme by Puccini and The Barber of Seville by Rossini were on offer this year.
As a first time visitor to the opera my expectations were low, but I was pleasantly surprised. what with a live and very good orchestra performing from the pit and a group of performers that appeared to be enjoying themselves this was very good entertainment. From the famous opening through to the final curtain my attention was kept even though I did not understand the language too well. Although as this production and most operas are in Italian I was far from being alone.
A good evening of entertainment, well worth the visit and a type of entertainment I will go to again.

16 November Chris Barron

Another unusual Mallorcan venue for music, which according to Hawaiin born, singer songwriter, Chris was a first for him. The Posada de Biniatro in Campanet was full to watch this Spin Doctor perform material from his solo album Pancho & the Kid and nobody seemed disappointed. Even the Mayor was up on his feet with words of praise and presented Chris with a Campanet plaque and a bell (I assume this has a link to campanology/ Campanet). Also included in his set was the chart topping song Two Princes, which was as expected, great. Not much has changed this relaxed performer who sounds as good now as he did 15 years ago when he and the other Spin Doctors first burst on to the music scene in New York and then across the world. This was a great solo performance from another platinum record performer who we have been lucky enough to see here on Mallorca. He is hoping to get back, with a band, in the summer for an outdoor performance which will be another concert not to miss, I am sure.

8 November Dolores O'Riordan

This was a fantastic concert that really rocked. Dolores (The voice of The Cranberries) really showed us how to enjoy a gig. She kept the whole audience on their feet for just about the complete show, stamping their feet, clapping and singing along to some fantastic music, both new and old. She finished, far too soon, with one of my favourite tracks of all time, Dreams, and by the sound of the audience reaction I was not alone. The shouts for more could only be stopped by Snr. Ferragut putting the curtain down!

Watching this surprisingly small, but extremely gifted singer, songwriter and musician was a real privilege and probably one of the best concerts in Mallorca in 2007. (Sorry Joe, she pipped you)

A performance by a real bona fide rock star, whose closing line "see you in 2008, Mallorca" sent a lot of people of to the box office to get first in the queue! Can't wait to see if she does come back, let's hope so, but if she does it will sell out damn quick.

31 Oct Dolly Varden

3 out 0f 5 = 10 out of 10

An unusual venue for a concert, the ARCA building in the old town of Palma saw 3 of the band Dolly Varden performing material from both their new album along with some songs from older albums.

The gothic surroundings didn't quite reflect the style of music, alternative country would be the best way to describe it. With moody ballads and up beat tunes this was a very good concert in a room with surprisingly good acoustics and around 100 very appreciative listeners.

Hopefully they will make a second trip to Mallorca in the near future with the rest of the band.

Well done to Joan of Pecan Pie for consistently tracking down and bringing us some very good acts - keep it up!

6 Oct Jaye Kaye

Apearing at the cool and cozy jazz voyeur club this master of blues, soul and rock is always worth getting to see. An accomplished performance as ever by Jaye and his band in great surroundings. Take the time out to see him if you get the chance. Check our website http://www.digamemallorca.com/ regularly as we try and list all of his concerts, which generally are free!

29 Sept Grupo Corpo de Brasil

Our research on the two pieces, “Onqotô” & “ Breu”, performed by the Grupo Corpo Brazil on Saturday promised an exciting & innovative evening....we were not disappointed. Every element enhanced the next, from the scenery to the costumes, the music to the choreography, creating a stunning visual & audio experience.

The dancers’ movements often verged on acrobatic with intricate movements that were timed to perfection. Both performances were totally mesmerising.

The Mallorca Ballet Season offers a diverse selection of the finest ballet troupes in the world, performing beautiful classical productions through to cutting edge modern dance. If you are a dance lover, then make sure you book your seats for the next performance on 24th November by the Ballet Victor Ullate –“Samsara”. (Full details in our November issue).

22 Sept - Carmen Burana

A Childrens choir of 40, an adult choir of around 75, 6 percussionists, 2 pianists, 3 opera singers and a conductor (oh and the 2 page turners), put them all together in the Conservatori auditorium in Palma, with its fantastic acoustics all performing Carl Orff's masterpiece Carmen Burana and you have a recipe for success. This performance did not disappoint in any way. After a sold out performance in Pollensa the night before, it goes without saying that the 600 or so of us priviliged to watch this left humming the famous opening (and closing) and wishing we could all go through it again.

This has been an annual event so if you get the chance, get in early for tickets next year as it does not disappoint on any level. A 5 star night out!

16 Sept - Santiago Auseron in concert

Sunday evening saw the second of the Santaigo Auseron concerts at the beautiful refurbished Teatre Principal in Palma. Just seeing this wonderful restoration project complete would be enough but, wow, what a concert. Not really knowing about Spanish pop of the 80's did not affect the enjoyment of what was a top quality performance by a real star of pop along with a fantasic swing and jazz band of 22 musicians. Santiago was the lead singer of the band Radio Futura for those of you who don't know, which is probably most of us, but they were a great influence on early 80's Spanish pop. By the end of the show even us 'extranjeros' (or is it guirris? :-)) were standing and applauding and wanting more. This was a great show as we predicted in the latest issue and I would highly recommend you going out of your way to seeing this guy perform with The Original Jazz Orchestra if you get the chance.

15 Sept - Centro Canino open day

On Saturday morning Centro Canino held an open day with a raffle, bring and buy sale and guard dog exhibition. There was a good turnout by supporters new and old, all taking the opportunity to see this fantastic new facility. There was an impressive show of dog handling with David the alsation doing a particularly good minding job.
Just recently added are the accomodation and shower unit to enable two of the staff to reside there permanently. (This has been neccessary due to some of the mindless action by a few of their less intelligent neighbours.) The main object of the day was to raise funds to update the cattery section, so as to bring it on par with the fantastic dog facilities.
A large sale is planned next month at Pasatiempos in Palma, we will keep you posted, check the digamemallorca.com news page for info.

14 Sept - The Pocketmen

Another rousing performace from the boys at Sart Club, Inca on Friday night. A packed house listened to them bashing out all their favourite tunes and enjoying themselves at the same time. If you've not seen these guys perform you should really try and make the effort. Apart from supporting fellow Brits, they are actually very good. They compare to early Beatles with modern writing, well that's what they think and it's not too far of the mark. Keep an eye on the Digame news page and we'll post up the next time they are performing, although it'll probably be a month or so as Matt has to go back to school in sunny Leeds, somebody has to do it.

New format launched

The September issue saw the launch of our new size digame. We hope that you all have found it easier to read and being bigger, easier to find. The response we have had so far has been fantastic. Well done to Patricia our new designer for her 4 am stint to help get the magazine out as quickly as she did.
A few samples of the comments received so far:-

"Just a quick email to say how good the new version of Digame looks; It's our favourite monthly 'What's on', and in many ways is a better read than the big 'free' magazines." Dan, Costa Den Blanes

"Congratulations on your new format" Andrew, Santa Ponsa.

"Just picked up the new Digame in Cala d'Or and had to say we love the new size" Lynn & John

We love to hear from our readers and appreciate any comments (good or bad), as we are nothing without you!

Hasta pronto Charlie & Melinda

A quick note to say thank you to Charlie for the design work over the last two years and Melinda for the pasta bakes. We hope your new life in Somerset works out well and look forward to seeing you soon.

digame team

Aug 23 - Dancing Queen

What promised to be a cheesy show was just that. Everybody enjoyed it, with the accomplished singers and cute dancers performing a non stop medley of Abba hits and other great numbers from the 70's and 80's. By the end of the evening all of the audience were on their feet asking for more, but only a small encore left us all wanting. A good night, a professional troupe, good sound and accomplished dancing

Aug 25 - Sterlin live

This highly anticipated concert was to a full house in Bellver Castle, Palma de Mallorca. A band that can entertain all ages with their unique rock ballad sound and the fantastic voice of Adela Peraita. They performed songs from their new album Destroy and some older material. The audience loved it. An elderly couple sitting in front of us, who must have been there just to visit the venue were tapping their feet, shaking their heads and shouting for more with the rest of us.

Their new album Destroy has some incredibly catchy tunes. It's an album you just keep playing , especially in the car. When you think I'll just play something else, the next day you get back in the car and without realising, you've put it on again. A good night.