You couldn't script it....On Question Time a question was asked about legalising prostitution and in particular the bizarre idea of Home Secretary Jackie Smith that a brass' client should ask her has she been trafficked - as if she would say yes!

Douglas Alexander, Secretary for International Development said with a totally straight face that he believed the client should ask the question because it would make him have to think "long and hard".

Cue.. audience bedlam.

*note to self - don't apply for a job at The Wonder of Woolworths*

Only in America...

Former N Synch boyband member Joey Fantone opened the Charmin's Deluxe Public Restrooms in Times Square.

Truly... the opening of a toilet.

NOW I was getting all excited... a public lav is a hard thing to find in New York but these are only open until New Years Eve.

Do tell what they are like Dawn.

Congratulations to Margaret Tyzack and Penelope Wilton who have jointly won the Best Actress Evening Standard Theatre Award for their wonderful performances in "The Chalk Garden". They both gave performances that have stayed in my mind.

It was quite a year for the Donmar with Chiwetel Ejiofor winning the Best Actor for it's production of OTHELLO as well as Michael Grandidge winning Best Director for IVANOV, THE CHALK GARDEN and OTHELLO.

The Best Play award was won by THE PITMAN PLAYERS which I am seeing next February when it returns to the National Theatre.

Best Musical was STREET SCENE at the Young Vic. Sadly Bertolt Brecht was unable to pick up his award as he is currently dead.

For the past few days I have been suffering with a pained back toof which I suspect is a root problem as the pain has spread along my jaw. It is strange to be so encumbered - as much as I wish the pain away it has become such a part of me that I look upon it as a close companion now.

Anyways the three of us - me, Owen and my toof, went to see Boy George's end-of-tour gig at the Shaw. This is the third time we have seen him at this venue and it certainly seems to bring out the best in him as again he was in great form even if his voice was a bit strained from the tour. He mixed up his setlist so we had 'big' songs like VICTIMS quite early on which left room for a great acoustic section which showcased UNFINISHED BUSINESS, IF I COULD FLY and the terrific addition of GENERATIONS OF LOVE. The audience were a bit rooted in their seats which was a bit odd but George was great, chatting away sharing thoughts about songs and life.

His band were again on the money thanks to his regular companions Kevan Frost on bass and John Themis on guitar. There were also excellent contributions from backing singers Lizzie Dean and 'fierce' Mary Pearce. Mary also did a special soul-church version of THREE BLIND MICE and said she would love to sing it for an "X Factor" audition just to hear Cheryl Cole say "That's difficult to sing but you did it really well". Mary's riposte would be "It ain't difficult to sing... if you can sing". Amen gurl. It's been great to see George three times this year, each time a winner.

On Sunday Owen and I went to a 3pm matinee of the Donmar production of Chekhov's IVANOV at the Wyndham Theatre which stars Kenneth Branagh and ergo, is sold out. Before going in Owen suggested I take one of the tablets he had been prescribed after his back operation to see me through the show with no pain. I should have remembered we hadn't eaten before.

About halfway through the first act I started to feel a strange pain in my back and chest, like I was sitting badly in the seat. I shifted a bit but that didn't help. I then started to have difficulty breathing. Then the cold-sweat started. Then I felt faint and vaguely sick. Yes, constant reader, I left in the interval. We made it to St. Martin's Lane where after a sandwhich, two pots of tea and a slice of strawberry cheesecake I started to feel better.

What ultimately pissed me off about my 'turn' was I was enjoying the production.

Bugger.

Earlier this week Owen and I had the opportunity to see the mega-hyped MONKEY: JOURNEY TO THE WEST at the specially-designed space around the back of the O2.

Now the blurb is playing up the fact that this is a unique experience that starts 90 minutes before curtain-up but my suspicions were confirmed - it's a low-tented foyer with a bar, merch stand and allegedly a restaurant space. I say allegedly as we went on press night and that area was Guest List only.
Oh and fuck you too.

I appear to be the only person who never saw the series which ran in the late 70s - I was like.. working - so I came to the story fresh. I can't say I was particularly gripped by yet another tale of a disparate group of characters taking a journey to find their destiny but then I guess the 400+ year old JOURNEY TO THE WEST might have been the inspiration for quite a few of them stories!

As the libretto is sung in Cantonese they have come up with the whizzer idea of flashing up an English translation. Not above the stage where you might expect it.. but on two screens on either side of the stage! A particularly bad idea as it meant you had to look away from the stage to squint at the underlit text. And of course the subtitles went on the fritz during one of the scenes which afforded much tittering in the peanut gallery.

Much has been made of the spectacular nature of the show but I kinda didn't see anything I haven't seen in Cirque du Soleil to be honest. And for a hero Monkey *is* an annoying shagger. I cannot say I was particularly bothered about any of the characters to be honest.

Sounds like I am putting the blast on the whole show but luckily there was the double whammy of Jamie Hewlett's wonderful designs & filmed links - to be honest I would have been happier with the whole thing being handed over to that medium - and Damon Albarn's score which pushed the five note template into some wonderful sonic areas played by a great set of musicians. It's just a shame it's not particularly memorable. Apart from the lalalalala bit which I reckon he filched from Minnie Ripperton's "Loving You".

See it for the visuals, hear it for the score.

Although not of a military frame of mind, World War I has always been a subject that I am drawn to and more precisely, the heroic and tragic lives of the soldiers of the western front. So the marking of the 90th anniversary of the Armistice this week has been particularly poignant especially with the appearance at the Cenotaph yesterday morning of the last three surviving veterans of the conflict.

In hunting out my birth certificate a week or so ago I found it in a cache of family documents. Among them was the marriage certificate of my paternal grandparents. I discovered that John Voisey married Nora Wright in 1916 while he was serving in the army. For some unknown reason I had never figured out this family connection to the War To End All Wars. On quizzing my ma about it she said that my Gran had told her that he had been gassed on the western front and his health was affected afterwards, dying in 1932. I never talked to her or my dad about this that I can recall and am sorry about that.
The anniversary has also inspired some fine tv programmes. Ian Hislop followed up his excellent Channel Four series NOT FORGOTTEN with an interesting insight into the lives of Concientious Objectors - men and women who risked public and private disgrace by refusing to fight; there were also sympathetic and idiosyncratic profiles of Wilfred Owen by Jeremy Paxman and Vera Brittain by Jo Brand - the last one was particularly good - and the BBC also had a series of four programmes where eight 'names' discovered their own connections to the War.

The two I saw were quite moving, Natalie Cassidy discovered her grandfather had voluntereed to clear bodies off the post-war battlefields and then to clear unexploded shells and she was shocked to see this job is still going on - and still claiming lives. Dan Snow was peturbed to find that his great-grandfather Major Thomas Snow was not only responsible for the catastrophic first few days of The Somme but at the enquiry tried to shift the blame onto his subordinates. Most poignant of all were the journeys of Kirsty Wark and Rolf Harris to trace the footsteps of great-uncle & uncle only to find that both died within an arm's reach of peace. Rolf's uncle died as a result of wounds in a battle two weeks before the war ended wheras Kirsty's great-uncle died of the devastating Spanish flu epidemic 12 days after the Armistice was signed.

The stories of these men and women tested to beyond endurance at times by the events around them never fail to move me.

I am just finishing Anthony Beevor's thorough history of the Spanish Civil War - another conflict that reflects no glory - and I am hard-pressed to think of any TV series which has covered this at all. Anyone know better?

BUT NO THEY CAN'T - not if you're gay and in California...

Californian voters appear to have voted to ban civil partnerships.. 5 months after the law was passed. This now means California joins 27 other states which ban same-sex marriages.

So there you go... maybe America hasn't changed all that much.

To my American fellows..

I would not be so presumptious as to tell you who to vote for just as long as you do!

You don't want a spanking off of Madonna do you?

I just found this online from The Independent last Sunday in a review (unnamed writer) of Oasis at Wembley and Alphabeat in Newcastle:

Oasis "make a noise which is worthy of the term "wall of sound", but it's a featureless wall: grey, municipal and concrete, with a "No Ball Games" sign in the middle."

"Alphabeat are six people who see capital-P Pop as something to believe in passionately, rather than a means to an expedient end. In the Popism vs Rockism war, Alphabeat are the anti-Oasis. They exemplify everything in this world that is pure and good and right, and if you hate them, you're the enemy."

Damn right.

I have seen the future - and it's shiny and Danish! Last night we braved the weather to go to Shepherds Bush Empire and see Alphabeat.

Now you know how sometimes an album just hits you at the right time? This year that album for me has been THIS IS ALPHABEAT. After a quick glimpse of the "Boyfriend" video I pelted out and bought the album and it has been seeing me through some dodgy old times this year... many an unhappy hour in the Borehamwood job was made bearable by the powerpop of Alphabeat.

So I quickly booked tickets when their tour was announced and then the gnawing doubt started... what if all the things I love about them was just studio invention? What if they were in fact an acoustic folk band??

I nervously took my seat with Owen - who went despite being appalled at them doing a whistling poptastic cover of PUBLIC IMAGE. After the bizarre Pandering & The Goldiggers - a sort of 2008 Boney M with two girls and a camp bloke with a tiny voice - and the upbeat Das Pop from Belgium, 3 skinny lads and a Giant Haystacks lookalike it was time to meet the Beat. THEY WERE FANTASTIC!!! The usual knob-offs of people coming in and out of the row and friends of Das Pop yakking away behind us could not stop an insane grin making me look like I had a fliptop head and wearing my hands out clapping along. They were everything a pop act should be - bouncing all over the place, happy at all times - even during the ballads, an excellent light show which drenched the stage in colour... and of course, loudly thumping their great songs at us. The songs had a bigger monolithic sound to them - like having giant pop juggernauts coming at you every four minutes! They played all but two tracks off the album - Owen was happy that PUBLIC IMAGE was left out - and they also filled out with some new songs which seem to be carrying the sound forward into a slightly edgier territory.
Owen asked who was my favorite before it started - like all great pop acts you should feel they are all dolls you can play with - and I said Stine the girl singer but now I have to say it's Anders SG - he never stopped moving and had a great voice. However I would happily have the whole set of 6 if possible - (see picture above) Anders B the guitarist, Troels the thumpy drummer, Rasmus the keyboard player (with growable hair), Anders SG, Anders R the bassist and Stine. I would keep them in the original boxes and *everything*.Favorite tracks? Oh I don't know.... all of them. However I know I was in Pop Heaven during "Boyfriend" (eeeeeeek), "10,000 Nights", "Fantastic Six", "Touching Me Touching You", "Go-Go", "What Is Happening" and of course "Fascination" which they did as an encore with all Shepherds Bush singing, clapping, screaming - and that was before they let off the huge glitter confetti canons which totally obliterated the stage!
Oh and here is the photo of us all that Stine took halfway through the evening - sadly we were in the back-row of the dress circle! I am now quietly kicking myself I didn't book to see them tonight as well.

I loved it all!!

In the past few days I have seen two favorite female singers - one can cut it live, the other is showing signs of concern.

On Thursday Owen & I went to St. James Church, Piccadilly to see Beth Rowley. Now it's an impressive building in a COE way, but despite it's popularity as a music venue it kinda blows. It's first-come-first-served so if you were in the pews facing the stage - oh alright altar - you were ok. We got there about 30 minutes after the doors opened and had to make recourse to the - um.. dress circle. The seats that ran down the side were awful unless you were in the front row and could lean forward - even standing up you could only see a bit of the stage... altar. Luckily Owen managed to find a tiny mini-pew behind the two pews facing the stageltar down the length of the aisle. After two dreary folky support acts came and went it was time for Beth and I must admit to being a bit underwhelmed. It was the third time I have seen her and she seemed ill-at-ease and unsure during her whole set. She was roadtesting new material which sounded ok but she was so listless on stage I really felt uncomfortable watching her. She mentioned that she was getting over a cold but even so.. there is such a thing as Doctor Theatre - even if it's in a church! She also had a mild kvetch that she wasn't used to playing to an audience that remained seated and her oddly-paced set was curtailed by the fact that the church had a curfew - so why pick the bloody place as a venue? She played a good selection from her LITTLE DREAMER cd which are always good to hear but I left feeling that maybe I should give her the go-by next time.

However all was put right with the world on Saturday when we saw the glorious Linda Lewis at the Jazz Cafe. I was a bit of a fan during her 70s heyday but have only seen her in little guest slots in bigger shows so I was a bit excited sitting in the mezzanine looking directly onto the centre of the stage. She made a dazzling entrance in a multi-coloured silk fringed affair and black dress and she was totally entrancing.

She sang songs from her lengthy career - she started her solo career in 1970! Her material is hard to define as it crosses so many genres - which I guess is why she has never achieved the longterm chart success she deserves but all her songs have a gentle, humorous, loving quality which makes her an artist that it's a joy to see. Her great 'cheeky eastender' personality was also much in evidence, joking and laughing with the audience and her band.

Her backing band were great and none other than Sylvia Mason-James was on backing vocals - I nearly fell off my chair when Linda announced who the aloof-looking singer with the bejewelled flat shoes was - it was nice to see Sylvia with someone other than the Pet Shop Boys. There was also a great middle-section with just Linda and her acoustic guitar.

My favorites of the set were ROCK-A-DOODLE-DOO (of course), REMEMBER THE DAYS OF THE SCHOOL YARD, BABY I'M YOURS (yaaaay!), IT'S IN HIS KISS (eeek!), REACH FOR THE TRUTH, SIDEWAY SHUFFLE ("Ooo I nearly lost my bra shaking like that") and I KEEP A WISH. Speaking of which, when we got there I saw a cd lying a bit further up the table which on further investigation was a signed copy of the single of ...WISH - so that was a great bonus! Linda is hoping to have an album of new material out early next year so it would be great to see her again - and then I will definately not be shy about shouting out for THE MOON AND I when she asks for requests!

Whilst waiting for my train to leave I realized I had a magazine lying on the seat in front of me which turned out to be a copy of Reveal. I had never seen it before. Next to it was a free evening newspaper.

Needless to say the Three Weird Sisters of media terrorism were represented in both, the Sirens of Sleaze who go by the ancient Babylonian name of Jodkerkat.

Not trying to be judgmental or anything, but are people's lives really *that* empty to give a flying fuck about these oxygen thieves?The latest news on these fine examples of womanhood is Jodie is now a lesbian because she is fed up with men and is also looking for a sperm doner - Kerry is not going on This Morning again as the presenters had the temerity to question her soberness when she slurred her unfocused way through a live interview - Katie is stressing there is no problem with her marriage.

And all I can think when I see these Dark Angels of The Apocalypse is Kirsty MacColl's lyrics for her prophetic song FIFTEEN MINUTES:

"In Sunday papers every week
The silly words you love to speak
The tacky photos and the phoney smiles
Well it's a bozo's world
And you're a bozo's child"

I have to admit.... a little wee came out when I saw this

Just to say that the new album CATFIGHTS AND SPOTLIGHTS from The Sugababes is well up to their high standards - maybe one too many ballads but still a great addition to their catalogue. At least they will be able to sing these live... over the weekend I saw video of Girls Aloud singing their new single live on The X Factor - less happening on-pitch than Spurs.

Needless to say all the reviews for The 'babes last week harped on & on about the changing line-up of the group and only then grudgingly admitted that they are still a class pop act. What made this all the more absurd was that one such review was next to a huge article about Oasis.

Current score of ex-members:
Sugarbabes 2
Oasis 5

Elitism mixed with a heaped teaspoon of sexism. You get used to it when you are a Madonna fan too.

Meanwhile as seen on Perez Hilton's blog... One thing you can say about John McCain... he tells it like it is - clicky here

Last night was Boy George night! He was playing the Shaw Theatre where Owen and I saw him earlier in the year and it stands out for me as one of the best gigs of the year. The gig before that in 2007 had been at Koko and George seemed a little.. um... distracted.

No such problems tonight, he was in blazing form. With his core band members of guitarist/composers John Themis and Kevan Frost and again backed by the soaring vocals of Lizzie Dean George had us in the palm of his hand from the get-go.

A little too much in his palm... there were times I could hardly hear him as George does attract a percentage of female fans who just holler WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO whether he is singing or not - I mean for fecks sake... George is one star who is worth listening to when he speaks, let him speak bitches! Anyways that was my only quibble - otherwise it was Pop Fierce. Cutting a dash in his usual glittery B-Rude ensemble of hat, jacket and 3/4s - the latter a brave design choice - George raced through the set and was loudly called back for three encores.
The setlist included CHURCH OF THE POISON MIND, DO YOU REALLY WANT TO HURT ME, DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE, EVERYTHING I OWN, GET IT ON, I'LL TUMBLE 4 YA, MISS ME BLIND, STARMAN, STRANGER IN THIS WORLD, SWEET TOXIC LOVE, THAT'S THE WAY, THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE, VICTIMS, VOTE FOR LOVE and particular favourites included thumping happy clappy versions of BOW DOWN MISTER and KARMA CHAMELEON. I think the song I loved the best was his new single YES WE CAN, a real euphoric anthem. Download it on iTunes now, 79p worth of pop pleasure.

We are seeing him again at the Shaw in November at the end of his tour - I hope he makes it a hatrick of memorable gigs.

Again I have to write about the passing of a true Motown legend.
Levi Stubbs - the lead singer of The Four Tops has died after a long struggle with cancer. Levi had been battling cancer since the mid-90s and this led to him having to leave the group in 2000.

Levi was 18 when he joined student friends Abdul Fakir, Renaldo Benson and Lawrence Payton in a doo-wop group. After several years on various labels with no hits but a polished live act, Berry Gordy signed them to Motown in 1963. They soon came under the artistic wing of Brian & Eddie Holland and Lamont Dozier which proved to be the perfect combination leading to a dazzling collection of recordings - BABY I NEED YOUR LOVING, ASK THE LONELY, I CAN'T HELP MYSELF, IT'S THE SAME OLD SONG, SHAKE ME WAKE ME, REACH OUT I'LL BE THERE, STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF LOVE, 7 ROOMS OF GLOOM, BERNADETTE, YESTERDAYS DREAMS, I'M IN A DIFFERENT WORLD.... stone soul classics all.

Levi was a perfectionist and at times bridled at the production line ethic at Hitsville U.S.A. He also strove to invest the lyrics with real meaning - he even consulted an Italian opera singer to get to the real emotion of BERNADETTE. A natural baritone, Holland-Dozier-Holland would write and produce Levi's vocals for a tenor voice which gave the tracks his strained, sandpapery growl that has made them unforgettable.

When Holland-Dozier-Holland quit Motown after rows with Gordy the Tops found themselves eclipsed by the Temptations in the hits stakes and it wasn't until they found a sympathetic producer with Frank Wilson in 1970 that they started charting again. However Motown's move to Los Angeles in 1972 was the sign to leave and the Tops were back where they started... moving labels with occasional hits - they even re-signed to Motown for a while - and constant touring. Their last hits were the great INDESTRUCTABLE and LOCO IN ACAPULCO in 1988. Levi also had a personal success in 1986 providing the voice of Audrey II in the film of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, one of that film's few abiding pleasures.
I was lucky enough to see the Tops in 1971 at the Albert Hall when they were promoting the single SIMPLE GAME which reached #3 in the UK Top 10 - and I've just found out it had backing vocals by The Moody Blues yet. They were fantastic and I nearly toppled out of the box when The Supremes joined them for an encore!

When I saw that he had died earlier this evening I realised I was reading through moist eyes. I guess there are some people you think will always be around.

Wow... it was the wait for the rebuild of the New York TKTS booth in New York.
The booth is covered by a staircase of 27 ruby-red glass steps up to a 16 foot platform above the street affording great views of the Great White Way.

I know someone whose camera finger is getting itchy!

Clicky the picture above to see Mary Wilson of The Supremes accepting the Mobo lifetime achievement award on behalf of Motown Records and then doing a really good "Stop! In The Name Of Love" with The Sugababes.

Marvel at Mary! Smile at The Sugababes' intro - "century" indeed Amelle! Gawp at the balls-up Mel B makes at the start! Then gawp some more at her shiteous ensemble!

She will still come and see us won't she?

Oh my chips.

We have tickets to see the force of nature that is Grace Jones next January at the Roundhouse.

I am letting out a little bit of wee.

With excitement.

And a tiny bit of fear.

I have been in her presence once before, in Glen Goei's dressing room on the opening night of M. BUTTERFLY at the Shaftesbury Theatre in *gulp* 1989. I think I actually stopped breathing.

Last night Owen and I braved the slightly enervating Soho Theatre to once again gaze on the dark glittering talent that is Justin Bond in his new show LUSTRE. Always a rollercoaster ride Justin was as entertaining as always but sadly his frocks glittered more than he did. He confessed towards the end of the show that he was still recovering from the opening night party - for which I hold Dawn responsible frankly. I just *know* she was the one plying him with champagne.

An ominous but soothing invocation was heard as Justin appeared on the darkened stage in... well a creation. I immediately thought "I bet he tried that number when he was a teenager". In black pants, dark tights and mesh-top the front was covered in floor-length coloured ribbons. It looked like a Bob Mackie Cher outfit sold by Lidl... and that set the tone for the outfits - although I did like his smokey-grey sequinned number. He sang a handful of fine song, interspersed with his unique and salty views on life, love and the joys of all things transgendered.

Justin was accompanied by the impossibly glamorous Our Lady J who played a fierce piano. Throwing her Ann-Margret-like mane of blonde hair around she filled the stage with sound. She even got a solo number "Pink Prada Purse" which was a riot - why not shoot men if you know they will probably dump you for their girlfriend? Oh and the girlfriend too. It saves an awful lot of time. I bought her cd from her as we left and I'm glad I did. The songs are startlingly original and beautifully performed.

We also had guest vignettes from Novice Theory, a shock-haired lad with a tiny accordian who sang an odd little song - he augers well for further investigation - and Dickie Beau giving us his own spin on "Ain't Got No" from HAIR metamorphosing from a sad clown to a basqued harlequin with red glitter swirling around him. LUSTRE is playing until 1 November, Justin, Our Lady J and Novice Theory will be on each night with a different guest performer. It's a constantly engaging evening - provoking, tart and moving.

 

Oh ker-fuck.  I know where I want to be on Monday January 12th. And it ain't here.

For one night only Natasha Richardson, Victor Garber, Christine Baranski, Laura Benanti and Vanessa Redgrave will appear in a fundraising concert version of Stephen Sondheim's A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC. Vanessa sings Sondheim!

The ticket prices would bring on a new credit crunch - the cheapest at the back of the mezzanine being $150.

NIGHT MUSIC is being staged at the end of the year at the Menier Chocolate Factory and I have tickets for December. Only instead of Vanessa Redgrave they have Maureen Lipman.  To quote one of the songs "Every Day A Little Death".

Well done Aravind Adiga who won the Booker Prize tonight for his debut novel "The White Tiger". You can't go wrong with the Booker if you have set your novel in India.

I won't be reading it of course. Not with my batting average.

In the 40 years of the Booker Prize I have read 4 winners:
Anita Brookner's "Hotel du Lac" (1984)
Michael Ondaatje's "The English Patient" (1992)
Roddy Doyle's "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha" (1993)
Pat Barker's "The Ghost Road" (1995)

and read 5 nominated books:
Barbara Pym's "Quartet In Autumn" (1977)
Jane Gardam's "God On The Rocks" (1978)
D.M. Thomas' "The White Hotel" (1981)
Thomas Keneally's "Schindler's Ark" (1982)
Peter Ackroyd's "Chatterton" (1987)

Hey ho.

Dear God... they give awards for anything.

Oh.

On Friday Owen and I went to Koko - my least favourite venue - to see Amanda Palmer for the second time this year. But unlike her earlier gig at the ICA this was a full 'bells & smells' show with a full supporting ensemble. I am always quietly anxious before an Amanda show - will this be the one where it doesn't work for me? I enjoyed the intimacy of her ICA showcase so much that I was a bit worried it might all get a bit lost in the cavernous Koko. Needless to worry, she was as enjoyable as ever - but I am presuming that due to her broken foot she was sitting at her keyboard on the stage proper and not on a raised dias. Fatal at this venue with it's flat floor so apart from a few lucky moments the best I saw of her was her eyes, forehead and hair.

I did, however, have the unparalleled joy of having a zombie Amanda shuffle past me in a wedding veil and her best fixed stare - well as fixed as she could be pushing through a crowd in the dark with her broken foot in a cast. She's brave I'll give her that.

She tore through most of her WHO KILLED AMANDA PALMER? album as well as some Dresden Dolls favourites. Stand-outs were a compelling "Strength Through Music" her song of a high-school gunman; "Guitar Hero" with her Australian dance troupe The Danger Ensemble joining her at the front of the stage in full air-guitar wigout; "Coin-Operated Boy" - always a pleasure as that's the song that made me fall under the Dresden's sway originally; her 21st Century torch song "I Google You" and "Half Jack" which had a concerto-style opening with cello and violin augmenting Amanda's keyboard. The show ended with her miming to Rihanna's "Umberella" with the Ensemble doing full brolly work ending with a bottle of wine being splashed over them from above - inspired lunacy.

The show ended with a showstopping version of "Leeds United" as a v-sign to her record company who have intimated to her that she looks a bit fat in her video for it! "Who do they think I am? Britany fucking Spears?" So she gave it a huge production number dancing with a line of gold sequinned chorus girls - until the Ensemble manhandled them off the stage so they could join in.
An odd thought crossed my mind watching the scantily-clad Amanda cavorting with her showgirls - what an interesting Sally Bowles she would make!