Afternoon:
9°c
John Aizlewood's rating
A couple of troopers amid all the heroes
By
John Aizlewood
13 Sep 2010
“This is one of the greatest moments of my professional life,” smirked Robbie Williams. “My wife calls him my boyfriend, I call him my captain ...” And with that, Gary Barlow joined him on stage for the first time since 1995 to sing Shame.
The northern hams stared into each other’s eyes and danced at each other like over-excited schoolboys who’d secured parental permission for a sleepover, but there was so much joy there, even conscientious objectors in the Take That wars couldn’t fail to be moved.
Wisely, they left it at that. They hugged like genuine friends and Williams continued his brief but blistering mini-hits set which reminded us that as entertainers go, there are few more beloved.
This jamboree of comedy cameos and pop was in aid of Help for Heroes, which supports wounded members of the British armed forces. Before a 60,000 crowd including Prince Harry, the occasion wore its cloak of conscience lightly (apart from a surprisingly polemical Jason Manford shouting “it’s a disgrace one in four homeless people are ex-services”), with only an appeal for text donations and soldiers’ personal stories to distinguish it from an ordinary multi-act stadium show.
The far too handsome Enrique Iglesias made every woman (and a few men) swoon, Pixie Lott out-Kylied Kylie, for whom this show would have been ideal; Plan B hinted at edge, and James Blunt, being an ex-soldier, could hardly fail. He didn’t.
The Wanted and Katherine Jenkins re-assembling Evanescence’s Bring Me To Life with dance troupe Spellbound were, surprisingly, neither naff nor bland. Alas, The Saturdays, Alesha Dixon and Alexandra Burke were out of their depth and Jack Dee and Kevin Bridges were more crass than funny.
Whether any of the acts is a squaddie’s first musical port of call remains a moot point, but as a showcase for mainstream British pop (and, weirdly, Iglesias), it more than passed muster.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (2)
The cause was a worthy one and the filmed inserts of injured soldiers struggling to cope with lost limbs were inspiring and very moving.
But there were times when it seemed the point of the concert was to promote the acts latest single.
And the show was immediately diminished by having lightweight Cat Deely 
host it, instead of someone with gravitas.
The between-act comics ( most of whom I'd never heard of ) either had no material and tried to wing it or were just not funny as they thought they were. Jack Dee seemed to be talking in a foreign language.
That said, I hope it raised a lot of dosh as well as awareness of the charity.
- Jargonaut, South London, 14/09/2010 10:25
Report abuse
Yeah right, let's get some pop stars to thank our heroes, why don't you? It's all showbiz after all, isn't it?
- ID, Brighton UK, 14/09/2010 09:29
Report abuse
