Morning:
9°c
André Paine's rating
A heartfelt tribute
By
André Paine
17 Sep 2007
Egotist that he was, Marc Bolan probably expected everyone to still be talking about him 30 years after his death.
Nevertheless, his songs justify all the anniversary nostalgia, and this concert was a consistently heartfelt tribute. Shakin’ Stevens bawling over a T. Rex covers band may not sound like a heartfelt tribute. But everyone on stage was clearly intimately acquainted with Bolan’s songs, none more so than Marc Almond, whose quivering interpretations showed the timeless wonder of tunes such as Life’s A Gas.
“It’s fantastic to be singing Marc’s songs, I’ve waited 35 years for this,” said Almond. Draped in feather boas, T. Rextasy turned out to be a superior tribute band, which was just as well as they dominated the show.
That was fine with the Bolan devotees, though, and this ersatz T. Rex performed 20th Century Boy with enough gusto to ensure it still sounded like one of the best pop songs ever written.
There were also popular appearances from T. Rex producer Tony Visconti, Linda Lewis and former soul singer Gloria Jones, Bolan’s girlfriend who survived the car crash that killed him.
Her bizarre duet with Almond — he sang, she jumped around excitedly — summed up the peculiar charm of this glam-rock celebration.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (1)
Well what a night for any true Marc Bolan fan. This was about the best it is going to get if you have any interest in Marc Bolan.
T Rextasy played Marc's songs to perfection as you would have expected from the best Bolan tribute band around.
The highlights had to be Cosmic Dancer which was played superbly with the added arrangement of Tony Visconti who in turn conducted the Dirty Pretty Strings and as I watched this on stage this was a perfect Bolan moment.
Everyone on stage had a particular love form Marc from Andy Ellison who gave his usual spectacular performance to Linda Lewis whose vocals on Children of the Revolution were powerful and made for the song.
Other special moments had to be Marc Almond's complete performance and his duet with Gloria Jones performing Tainted Love were a once in a lifetime must see moment - very special.
Danielz performed brilliantly and as anyone knows or has seen T Rextasy perform will realise this is as close to T Rex as you're going to get.
There were fans from Europe the USA and Japan in the audience who could not have wished for a better way of celebrating Marc's life and music listening to the comments that were made every mile they travelled was worth it to be part of what will never be seen again.
Without naming all the stars that graced the Shepherds Bush Empire those that attended all made the effort for Marc and should be proud of what a special night they gave everyone - I will never forget the evening.
- Steve Gibbings, Cullompton, England, 18/09/2007 09:40
Report abuse
