Type and hit ENTER

Commonly used tags...

Brighton Festival Brighton Fringe Brighton Pride British Sea Power Cinecity Lewes Psychedelic Festival Locally Sourced Lost & Found Love Supreme Festival Nick Cave Poets Vs MCs Politics Rag'n'Bone Man Record Store Day Save Our Venues Six Of The Best Source Virgins Streets Of Brighton Street Source Tattoos The Great Escape Tru Thoughts Unsung Heroes
  • Home
  • News
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Food
  • Tickets
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Home
  • News
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Food
  • Tickets
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
Neil Innes
Reviews

Neil Innes Review

Oct 11, 2018
-
Posted by Ben Bailey

“I don’t do slick,” says Neil Innes as he bumbles onto stage, dodging mic stands and racks of guitars.
The fact he’s surrounded by so many instruments seems incongruous, as if it were an experimental muso taking the stage rather than a man known for writing comical ditties. Even though he’s joined later by other musicians, what we get tonight is essentially a one-man variety act.

Innes alternates between ukulele, guitar and keyboard, but the music is mostly a vehicle for his irreverent humour. He pitches in some good gags between numbers and mixes up the set with enjoyable introductions. We hear how his passion for collecting silly songs from the WW1 era inspired the anachronistic music he made with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. Anyone who came expecting more than a few bars of Bonzos might have been disappointed, but, as he says, the band split up nearly 50 years ago.

We do get slightly more of The Beatles pastiches that Innes wrote for The Rutles, a fake band he devised with Eric Idle for a spoof music doc in the late 70s. And we’re treated to a rendition of ‘Brave Sir Robin’, a tune Innes penned for the movie Monty Python And The Holy Grail. We also hear another song called ‘Run Away’ which never made it onto the film, though it seems it would have fitted in perfectly. It’s all good fun, but these career highlights are over and done with before the interval.

Innes has a new album on the way and actually apologises for playing some of it. A few new songs take an unexpectedly political tone, one or two others feature enough gentle wordplay to keep us intrigued, but the more sincere tracks sit uneasily with the light-hearted larks that went before. He’s joined on a few tunes by UK blues duo Rag Mama Rag, and even lets them have a few to themselves. Their slide guitar and washboard blues adds a touch of class to the music, almost to the point of being slick. It’s fine as it goes, and it goes down well, but it’s not really what we came for.

Innes tries to spark up the laughs later on by sticking a big plastic duck on his head, and gets Rag Mama Rag to join him for ‘Come Dancing’, a Mexican corrido parody complete with matching sombreros. “This is truly ridiculous,” says a woman behind us, and it’s not clear if she’s laughing along or in disbelief. Neil Innes has always dabbled with the ridiculous, it’s almost his forte, but mixing earnest acoustic music with comedy headwear makes for an uneven ride.

Komedia, Tuesday 9th October 2018

Oct 11, 2018
Email
Ben Bailey
Ben Bailey is the editor of Brighton Source and a freelance writer. He also plays in a few bands and can sometimes be found giving talks on a variety of niche topics. He lives in Brighton and rather likes it.
← PREVIOUS POST
Yazmin Lacey, Thurs 15th Nov
NEXT POST →
Jilted John Review
Mailing List

Recent Posts
  • Hansel and Gretel? | Brighton Source
    Hansel and Gretel? Review
    Dec 18, 2020

    A postmodern pantomime with an unrelaible narrator. Outdoors with comedy, dance, camp actors, plenty of fun. On two levels: laughs for kids and jokes for adults

  • Artists Open Houses 2020
    Dec 5, 2020

    After cancelling the May edition, Artists Open Houses tell us what it's like to be back with a December festival that is open to visitors in person for eight days.

  • Cinecity 2020 previewed by Brighton Source
    Cinecity 2020
    Nov 17, 2020

    From the North Laine to Mongolia, Cinecity's lineup is typically eclectic and original this year - catch it before the city's key film festival ends.

  • Macbeth Review
    Nov 2, 2020

    Macbeth in Brighton. One-act play with Scottish Gaelic sounds by This Is My Theatre. Power, ambition, murder, blood. The woods are moving.

  • Lost & Found: Poison Girls
    Nov 2, 2020

    As part of our retrospective series on local bands we look back at the hugely influential and ever-challenging anarcho-punk collective Poison Girls.

  • The Rose Hill | Brighton Source
    Save Our Venues – The Rose Hill
    Oct 26, 2020

    We spoke to the team at the Rose Hill to find out how a series of new creative projects is helping this unique Brighton venue to cope with the current crisis.

  • Spillage! Review
    Oct 19, 2020

    This one-person, one-act play is giddy, funny and seriously entertaining. An odyssey through the madness of corporate pressure on our mental health.

  • Africa In The Lounge – Livestreams
    Oct 17, 2020

    Brighton's leading promoters of African music will be showcasing three star performers, over six nights, in the run up to Christmas.

Website developed in Brighton by Infobo
Copyright © Brighton Source 2009-2020
Neil Innes Review - Brighton Source