Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells for Two Assembly George Square
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Half-way through their show, Daniel Holdsworth and Aidan Roberts stop to "turn the record over". They're joking. These Aussies aren't miming. Quite the contrary; they're working their fingers to the bone, pressing flesh to frets, keys and drumstick, often two of them simultaneously. And while they have access to technology that wasn't available when Mike Oldfield toiled over Tubular Bells in the days of ye olde LP, their realisation of this album is a physical as well as a musical feat.
Real-time sampling helps with such passages as the bass line over which the late Viv Stanshall's plummy tones announced "man-doh-lin", "two slightly distorted guitars" and of course "tubular bells". The duo deliver all the parts expertly, grabbing guitar necks amid misbehaving straps and manoeuvring around the stage in time – just – for cues. The sequence where Oldfield resembled two Peter Greens bending blue notes in mellow unison emerges as a truly big moment.
As with the album, the second half doesn't have quite the same magic, although it requires as much elbow grease and musicality, not to mention doubling on energetic drums and kazoo. It's still really enjoyable, and the finale captures an apt mood of jovial triumph.
Run ends August 27.
Andy & the Prostitutes – The Musical
Laughing Horse @ The Phoenix
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If the story at the heart of The Musical is true, Andy McKay has led an eventful and at times X-rated life. From the discovery his father wasn't a Jedi knight through less innocent days of serial ogling and on to sex, drug dealing and prison, where he experienced the downside of being a good lookin' lad, McKay and his shaded 'n' suited-mafia-style squad romp through a darkly humorous programme of banjo-driven skiffle-cum social observation. It's all good dirty fun, blending fearlessly provocative sentiments to singalong choruses and delivered with raucous Rabelaisian vigour and rough-hewn fiddle commentaries. McKay's mum was there; you might not necessarily want to take yours.
Run ends August 26.
Peter Straker's Brel Assembly Hall
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There's shrewd use of the apostrophe in that title, signalling both the possessive and a contraction. This is Straker's tribute to the great chansonnier Jacques Brel, and yet he also becomes his hero at times in a performance that uses film, props (especially alcoholic ones), costume changes and an unobtrusively supportive trio to bring insight and character to Brel's life, loves, foibles and songs. Straker is a seasoned professional and although his voice is beginning to show signs of wear and tear, his delivery of Brel's hits is always well judged, conveying Amsterdam's carousing nature and Next's sexual functionality with realism and investing La Valse a Mille Temps with suitably carousel-like giddiness to create an enjoyable and believable show.
Run ends August 26.
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