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Precious is a new-style weepie but one that is much more bracing than depressing
Precious
Theatre
Ian McKellen is captivating throughout. He delights in the play’s gallows humour, yet is also maudlin and poignant
Waiting for Godot
Theatre
Slight quibbles notwithstanding, this will set the West End’s stock riding high
Enron
Utterly, utterly brilliant. You really are in for a treat
Though 'Trilogy' has won rave reviews, I personally found myself exasperated after about an hour
We went on a quiet sunday evening and the food was excellent, but the experience let down by the service and ambiance
London,
David Smyth's rating
Reader rating
In this esteemed organ we don’t often review covers bands in pubs but seven-strong Kent 2‑Tone group The Skatonics were good enough to bid a sizeable sum of money in the Evening Standard’s latest charity auction.
They could have had an audience with Brian Sewell or lunch with Sebastian Coe but opted instead to have an opinion expressed about their live performance, in print, by me.
Their generosity does not impede honesty when I say that their sweaty, brisk set was far more enjoyable than I thought it would be when first surveying the unremarkable scene.
Ably racing through the finest examples of possibly the most joyous, danceable sound ever conceived — Monkey Man by The Maytals, Too Much Too Young by The Specials, The Skatalites’ Guns Of Navarone and so on — how could they fail?
A crowd far smaller than they are used to in their home county belied its disappointing size by dancing, almost without exception, as if the floor was on fire.
Burly singer “Slick” joined them on the Bad Manners track Lip Up Fatty and Baggy Trousers, one of a number of trips to the Madness back catalogue.
Despite having formed two years ago to play decades-old music, The Skatonics’ arrival in London is timely.
Madness are lapping up praise for their first album in 10 years and The Specials have reformed to delirious reviews.
After bidding hard they’ll be after a quote for their website, so here it is: a raucous, rollicking, heavy heavy monster of a gig.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
