[ November 15, 2003 ]
BBC: Nottingham Review
bbc.co.uk
Royal Concert Hall Nottingham 11/15
November 2003
by Neil Heath
Courtesy of Julia Grant
The Beautiful South made their first performance in Nottingham for over ten years - lets hope they don't leave it that long next time.
Q: First things first, who were the support act and what were they like?
A: Magnet. One man and his guitar/synthesizer. A one man band sort of thing. His name was Evan and he sounded a bit like Thom Yorke - a strange support act for a jolly band like the Beautiful South.
Q: What was the crowd's reaction like?
A: He got a good response, he's clearly talented - but like I say unusual choice of support.
Q: On to the BS, define their audience.
A: That's difficult. You can't define the crowd. There were children, teenagers and embarrassing dads (who danced like courting hippos) all under one roof, can any other band bring all those generations together?
Q: Why do you think that is?
A: I guess it's because you can't really pigeonhole The BS; what are they? Pop, indie, easy listening? They're a band that will never really be 'cool' to admit to liking, for example lead singer Paul Heaton, wore some kind of pom pom hat and Dave Hemingway wore a deerstalker and danced like one of the aforementioned dads - is that cool?
Q: No. So they got a good response?
A: Absolutely. There were people in the midst of hysteria when the band walked on. Plus they have a new female singer Alison Wheeler - who, bizarrely, sounded like both previous female lead singers. She got a round of applause after each line of 'Little Time' - like they do on 'Stars in their Eyes'. It seemed to give her a buzz - it was a welcome to the family type of thing.
Q: Did they play all the old stuff?
A: Yeah most of it including: Old Red Eyes, Carry on Regardless, Little Time and some of their new material. One of my favourites Dumb, was missing though, which was a shame.
Q: What was the highlight?
A: A rousing performance of 36D got the crowd going and Carry on Regardless in the first interval left everyone with a smile on their face. They also did a cover of SClub 7's 'Don't Stop Moving' which was, actually, a pleasant surprise.
Q: So you're going to start listening to SClub?
A: Never! It was one of those novel moments like when Travis did Britney's 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' - You see it's cool now because a proper band have done a cover of it. Just wait until Oasis do a cover of Westlife's 'Flying Without Wings'.
Q: You're so fickle.
A: Thanks.
Q: Anything else to add?
A: It was a perfect pop concert. A great show, lots of fun and BS's songs are some of the best pop that this country has ever produced - long live the Beautiful South. 5/5
Delores / Link to Here
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