My last gig of 2009 was a rather special affair - Boy George "Up Close and Personal" at the Leicester Square Theatre which, when it was called The Venue, was the home to his great musical TABOO.I was a little concerned to be honest. Although George gave three excellent performances last year at the Shaw Theatre, we have seen him before when he was... how shall we put this... feeling no pain. After the recent court case which ruled that he was not able to take part in the upcoming Celebrity Big Brother - thus losing out on reportedly £400,000 - I was wondering whether we would be faced with a depressed George. Luckily this was not the case - George was in great spirits.
George took to the stage with longtime collaborators John Themis on guitar, Kevan Frost on bass and with Lizzie Dean and John Gibbons on backing vocals. He said he is appreciating his music now more than ever and it showed. Although they were not too many surprises in his setlist it was great to see him so happy and relaxed on the stage.

As we were back at the home of TABOO George sang two songs from his memorable score STRANGER IN THE WORLD and PETRIFIED while dipping into his U CAN NEVER BE 2 STRAIGHT album for UNFINISHED BUSINESS and THE DEAL which segued nicely into KNOCKING ON HEAVEN'S DOOR. Also included were his solo classics EVERYTHING I OWN and IL ADORE.
He included some new songs - THE PENTONVILLE BLUES (a reggae take on his recent incarceration), LIGHTS (in memory of a recently deceased friend), YOUR PAIN MAKES A BEAUTIFUL SOUND (his rather over-the-top hymn of praise to Amy Winehouse), SHADOWBOXING (which we first heard him sing in 2006 at the Pigalle) and his celebration of ballsy women MORE GIRLS JUST LIKE YOU.

George also included recent setlist favorites DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE and THS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE as well as SUMMERTIME - an unseasonal additional treat for us. A new cover of BLUE MOON was included although I can think of many other songs I would like to hear him interpret.
And of course there were his Culture Club hits: this time he treated us to I JUST WANT TO BE LOVED, DO YOU REALLY WANT TO HURT ME, VICTIMS and an impassioned duet with Lizzie Dean on ONLY TRYING TO TELL YOU. I would love him to sing MOVE AWAY just once... or THE DIVE.... c'mon G!! He also told us that he and Jon Moss are on good terms at the moment.

As usual the show ended with the mighty double whammy of KARMA CHAMELEON and BOW DOWN MISTER and he left the stage with smiles and waves to a rapturous ovation.

Happy New Year George... I hope to see you again soon!