Kieran Beattie

2 weeks ago | pressandjournal.co.uk | Kieran Beattie

When I saw the musical & Juliet in Aberdeen earlier this year, I was blown away. It was sharp, witty, and brilliantly modern – but what really impressed me was the music choice. With hits from the Backstreet Boys to Britney seamlessly woven into the story, it felt like those songs had been written just for the stage. And as much as I love discovering new musical numbers, there’s something magical about sitting in a theatre and realising you already know every single word.

3 weeks ago | pressandjournal.co.uk | Mark Lenthall |Kieran Beattie

Few live productions can match the sheer spectacle of Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds, and the 2025 Spirit of Man tour, which landed at Aberdeen’s P&J Live last night, proved why this adaptation of H.G. Wells’ novel continues to captivate audiences nearly five decades after its debut. It also confirmed that nothing quite says dystopian sci-fi nightmare like a room full of people grinning ear to ear as giant Martian tripods incinerate humanity.

3 weeks ago | pressandjournal.co.uk | Mark Lenthall |Kieran Beattie

You’re doing pretty well if you can fill Aberdeen’s Music Hall. Sell out two nights like Nathan Carter, and you’re in a different league. Nathan Carter is a giant in Ireland, outselling the likes of Beyoncé, One Direction, and Michael Bublé. With more than a dozen studio albums and six live releases, he was the first Irish country act to hit number one since Garth Brooks. Not bad for a lad from Liverpool.

1 month ago | pressandjournal.co.uk | Mark Lenthall |Kieran Beattie

It’s not easy being a hard rock band in 2025. Gone are the days when Top of the Pops would beam the big riffs and even bigger hair of Bon Jovi, Guns ‘n Roses and Motörhead into millions of living rooms. Before the internet there was a shared musical experience, and in between Boy George and Nik Kershaw everyone saw rock gods on their TV screens across the nation. Today Those Damn Crows are among the few flying the flag for raw rock ‘n’ roll, doing it the hard way with countless miles on the road.

1 month ago | pressandjournal.co.uk | Michael Alexander |Kieran Beattie

As politicians debate the geopolitics of European security in the face of the Russian threat, it was a privilege to spend five days in bitterly cold Romania with soldiers from north and north-east Scotland. The men and women of 4th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (4 SCOTS) and other soldiers spoke to The P&J as the boots on the ground of Exercise Steadfast Dart.