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Critics' Choice
TheatreSarah Frater
There were huge cheers as the curtain came down, and rarely have they felt so poignant
English National Ballet: Manon
Music
André Paine
Brown often stopped singing, preferring to gyrate to his records
Chris Brown
Comedy
Bruce Dessau
Take a pinch of gothic, add cabaret, dancing and animation and the result is more than a little bit ingenious
Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
Reader reviews
Pubs & BarsPeter, Suffolk
Having lived, worked and still regularly stay in Mayfair, I can enthuse about Ye Grapes until ye cows come home
Clive, London
Bhere was a noticeable lack of emotional weight from the deservedly-popular principals
Dee, London
This is a fantastic pub. The only problem is that it's too good and too popular!
London,
David Smyth
Pop critic
Read the latest reviews from David Smyth in the Evening Standard
- Andrew Gilligan
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- David Smyth
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- Toby Young
Tracy Chapman busks brilliantly
16.12.08
A remarkably rabid crowd cheered Tracy Chapman's bare stage, plain clothes and acoustic guitar as though they were all made of fireworks.
Off the record
12.12.08
Miserabilist singer Morrissey is more interested in his latest album than speculation about a reunion with Johnny Marr. So is it any good?.
Pop stars parade in Jingle Bell Ball
11.12.08
There was little miming and almost all 16 performers used live bands in Capital FM's Jingle Bell Ball.
Off the record
05.12.08
From Keith Richards singing Run Rudolph Run to a Phil Spector tribute by Glasvegas, there is plenty to celebrate this Christmas.
Simply Red aren't done just yet
04.12.08
Simply Red provided dinner party music long before Dido came along and Mick Hucknall still has the energy and the pipes to sing these songs.
Off the record
21.11.08
From modified toys to souped-up Hoovers and dead pigs, some bands are now looking way beyond traditional instruments to make music.
Art rock gets funky with TV on the Radio
20.11.08
As TV on the Radio charged to a close and Sitek started playing Jaleel Bunton's drums from the front, they looked like they were having a ball.
Off the record: It’s the hip-hop President
14.11.08
America’s biggest stars have found a kindred spirit in Barack Obama, says David Smyth.
Songs of Scott Walker mix horror with absurdity
14.11.08
A night of Scott Walker’s music featuring Jarvis Cocker, Damon Albarn and Gavin Friday was disturbing, confusing, horrific and downright ridiculous.
Seasick Steve and Stereophonics back to basics
11.11.08
"Seasick" Steve Wold and Stereophonics went into busking mode at DJ Jo Whiley's Little Noise Session and proved sometimes simplicity is the best...
more
Off the record
07.11.08
A new wave of up-and-coming young women singers are digging out their sparkliest dresses and unashamedly going back to pop basics.
Fleet Foxes touch on perfection
06.11.08
Four members of Seattle’s Fleet Foxes combined voices with such purity and angel sweetness that David Smyth almost felt sorry for the fifth.
The Killers make us all dancers
04.11.08
A practising Mormon and family man at home, the Killers frontman Brandon Flowers is a Las Vegas resident and thus knows a thing or two about...
more
Off the record
31.10.08
Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose is ready to unveil the album he has spent 17 years and £10 million recording. We'll not see such indulgence again.
Antony out of the shadows for breathtaking sound
31.10.08
Antony & The Johnsons' pure, quivering, utterly unique sound made the elaborate musical backdrop of the LSO seem almost drab in comparison.
Retro rockets on full power: Last Shadow Puppets
27.10.08
The Last Shadow Puppets is a side-project which deserves to be more than a footnote of the Arctic Monkeys.
Off the record: Let’s go with the Flo
24.10.08
Her extraordinary voice prompted a bidding war. Now Flo Welch, aka Florence and the Machine, is set to make it huge.
High ideals and hi-de-hi stagecraft from The Streets
24.10.08
Mike Skinner’s first London show to promote his fourth Streets album featured an orchestra and gospel choir as the pioneer of geezer-hop set his...
more
Off the record: Liam joins the choir
17.10.08
Oasis have made some unlikely friends in 50 Crouch End choristers.
Oasis rule the football stadium
17.10.08
Oasis are among only a handful of bands who could make a concert at Wembley Arena seem like an intimate warm-up
-4°c
2°c
Celebrity Big Brother
This year we've got a bog standard line-up of B-listers and too many Americans, says Bruce Dessau
A bum rap?
Video has emerged of Russell Brand allegedly inserting a toy doll up his bottom
Jonathan Ross: An Apology
After watching Angus Deayton at the British Comedy Awards, all is forgiven
