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 ...