 Thoroughly Modern Music |
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Tuesday, November 11 2003 @ 11:01 PM GMT
Author: Dan. Views: 497
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Ever get that feeling that you're in a movie? That the crowd around you are strangely in step and there's a Busby Berkeley routine about to start?
 Watching Stacey Kent in Horsham's recently refurbished The Capitol it's hard not to think of films. For one, Stacey's clearly an obsessive, as much into The Matrix as black and white musicals. And we are also in a plush and purple art deco cinema, which provides the perfect period setting for this performance.
Of course, almost all of Stacey's repertoire is from the classic film era - and any tunes that aren't have such a familiar sound that it's hard to believe they haven't been used in a soundtrack somewhere. Think BBC2 on a Sunday afternoon and you're just about there.
Tonight's not just about great songwriting, although Cole Porter, Dave Brubeck et al all stand the test of time. It's also the effortless musicianship that makes the performance thoroughly enjoyable. Musicians like Jim Tomlinson (on sax) and Colin Oxley (on guitar) are so laid back it's surprising they don't fall over. The PA is kept in perfect rein too, so it's an intimate, almost acoustic performance we get.
But to be honest, however good her band, it's Stacey's show all the way. She holds centrestage with a glamour, beauty and sheer sex appeal that's at once thoroughly modern and completely historic, equal parts Kylie and Grace Kelly.
More importantly, like all the great stars, she manages to be utterly untouchable and everyone's new best friend. To borrow from a Barbara Streisand song that never sounded better than the airing it gets tonight - Stacey, you're the top. |
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ok back to this band and the review.....
when and where did you see them?
and could this be a future gig for them at roundabout?