The Printed Word

The first time you see The Book Of Mormon you end up doing that strange meercat impression, constantly looking up to see if everyone around you is laughing. The jokes are so brutal and near the knuckle you find yourself pausing before working out of it’s okay to find them funny. Of course it is. We may live a weird world of folk being cancelled for hurty words, but the beauty of humour is that it can - and should - be robust. You have the right to be offended while everyone else rolls about the flooring laughing. On so many levels, The Book Of Mormon should spark walk outs galore, but, strangely, it doesn’t. The jokes, stereotypes, language and songs all hit you straight between the eyes, but when it’s served up with a knowing smile and more than a bit of style, it takes on a life of its own. Seven years in the making, this musical is a bona fide smash hit - one that carries a mighty shock on first viewing, but then still gets you on return visits to the theatre, and there were plenty ...

The music of 10CC always stood out from the crowd even back in the 1970s - and it was  a crowded field back then. Five decades on and their 2024 ultimate greatest hits tour is still packing them in. Little has changed from the set list they used in 2022, but no-one minded. They came for the hits and the memories. The band’s mainstays are in their 70s now, and the audience likewise, prompting a few to shift from their cramped seats up in the Gods - “cartilage gone, need to stretch my knee” said the fella next to me as he relocated to the stalls. The climb up the uneven stairs to the very back rows almost saw staff summon some sherpas. Still, they were (almost) all on their feet by the end of a 19-song set which not only gave them all the hits they wanted to hear, but they came from a band that clearly had fun on stage. Graham Gouldman is the sole surviving original member, although guitarist Rick Fenn and drummer Paul Burgess have been with him since those very early days when the b...

Fifty years after they first formed, Squeeze are bouncing with glee on the stage at the Usher Hall as they wrap a 23-song set which was so much more than a stroll down memory lane. Suited and booted, and razor sharp, this expanded eight-piece line-up played with a genuine zest in front of a full house.  Badly Drawn Boy’s opening set was as mellow and meandering as this was punchy and damn near perfect. The audience may have been of a certain vintage, but that didn’t stop the first of them getting  up and dancing within a handful of songs, only to be told to sit back down. Welcome to Edinburgh. It took a  “stand up if you want” invite from Chris Difford to instantly transform the room. From there it was a blast. The guy standing in the aisle shook his middle-aged booty like there was no tomorrow - lost in them music and moment, and deliriously happy. It reminded me of the old fella at Hyde Park who burst into life the moment The Who took to the stage. As he played his air ...

Watching Tom McRae wander round the old dissecting room at Summerhall strumming his guitar and leading the crowd in a sing-along rendition of Bloodless took me back to the very first time I saw him play live. It was 2008, and he was touring his Hotel Cafe - a glorious concept which introduced singer-songwriters from America to UK audiences, and vice versa. Upstairs above the old Waterloo Bar, just off Princes Street, we got McRae, Brian Wright, Jim Bianco and, I think, Katherine Feeney. They doubled up as each other’s backing bands, and ended the night in the middle of the room for another glorious sing-along. It was a night which could easily have rolled well into the wee sma’ hours - and had it done so, no-one would have bothered about rushing for the last train or bus home, such was the quality and warmth of the performances. My gig buddy from back then is now too ill to attend concerts, but I will always be grateful for their introduction to the music, and humour, of McRae, one of ...

The list of superlatives to describe a Springsteen gig has been used up. We need to invent new words. If Cardiff was a mesmerising UK tour opener, then the first night in London, which marks his departure from these shores, surpassed it in every possible way. A flawless set delivered with such energy and intensity he didn’t actually pause to formally say hello to the crowd. The Boss had business to attend to - a jaw-dropping, highlight reel show of 31 songs over three and a quarter hours. It’s incredible to think this came on the cusp of the 50th anniversary of his first ever UK gigs - modest affairs at the Hammersmith Odeon which entered Springsteen folklore as he bristled against the hype surrounding the release of Born To Run, and famously tore down a poster from the front of the venue declaring “finally London is ready for Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band." London was more than ready for this first of two Wembley gigs. Standing on the pitch, I’d forgotten just how vast ...

Where this gig rates on Springsteen’s tour is entirely subjective, but it will go down as one of the wettest, if not THE wettest ... A summer’s night in Sunderland saw the heavens open and the poncho sellers make a quick buck as they huddled in bus stops on the road leading to the rather mis-named Stadium Of Light which was shrouded in low cloud. It made Manchester 2016 feel like nothing more than a light shower, so all credit fo Springsteen and the E Street Band - and their tech team - for turning in a superb 28-song, near  three hour show in the most challenging of conditions. Any time you thought the rain had eased, you only had to look to the lights to see it swirling round the stage and the stadium. Instruments were soaked, and the close ups on the giant screens showed just how wet things really were up there. While the band donned jackets and scarves, Springsteen strolled out dressed as if it was just another day; waistcoat, tie and shirt, took one look at the rainfall and op...