Lopez Blogs

Avid readers will be pleased to know that the bee-sting on my face has dissapated to far less noticeable levels thanks to copious antihistimines, aloe vera and the power of positive thinking. I had no sympathy from anyone - my mom said "roffle", which after much deduction turned out to be what she thought the text abbreviation ROFL was (ie, an actual word. The goon!); and an ace ganger told me that essentially living things would rather die than sit on my face. Charmant. Let's dwell no more on this tawdry subject and sally forth with the post...

THE OVERTONES (LIVE IN B'HAM-MARCH 25th)

In hindsight, the title of The Overtones debut album, Good Ol' Fashioned Love, sets out the stall for what the boys are all about. They embrace a musical heritage that is rich in melody, harmony and sincerity, yet prove that they can make it sound fresh and relevant in a vocoder heavy musical landscape. They are romantics at heart. And the "good" at the start of the title indicates that they are rightly unashamed to fly the flag for these values - that sometimes a timeless, classic approach will always win out. This was more than evidenced in their sparkling live show on Friday night. Strolling on stage to deafening cheers (from the girls and gays), they looked like they just came from the set of Mad Men - vintage in their style but rocking the timeless, classic mix of cravat, bowtie and tie between them. The show proved that their voices blend together as wonderfully in a live setting as they do on record (still top ten this week after the Dancing On Ice boost. World domination follows?!) with the jaunty opening track Sh-Boom (Sh-Brum!) and the magic continued right through to the enthusiastically received closing number - Gambling Man (which oddly enough I heard a club version of when I was out on Saturday night. Amaze). (Pic above taken from thetoners website - always an excellent Overtones resource!)


Apart from those songs (the audience definitely seemed to be at their most boisterous singing along to the giddy charms of Gambling Man), the highlights included a vocally reconstructed version of Cee-Lo's F*** You, a swoonworthy In The Still Of The Night and a gorgeously romantic Blue Moon that achieved near perfection by being accompanied by an actual wedding proposal. Good Ol' Fashioned Love indeed (thank god she said yes :P). The boys never faltered and it really was over far too soon. After the show (I was too ashamed of my bee sting to stick around and try and meet the guys :/) I was contemplating their sound and I think there is a reason that the Dalton Warblers are the definite highlight vocally of the second season of Glee - unlike New Directions, who mainly do karaoke versions of pop hits, the Warblers seem to really look at a track and evaluate how it will best suit their blend of voices. This is exactly the same with The Overtones - the lead vocal, the backing harmonies, the instruments and the melody are equal components that take no precedence over the other; rather they slot together to create a layered, textured sound that sparkles as much today as it did years ago and as much as it will in twenty years time. People are clearly clammering for a pure musical experience and whether on record or in a live setting, The Overtones excel. I remain smitten... (bring on the nude-ish Cosmo photo shoot!!)

THE HISTORY BOYS (CURVE THEATRE, LEICESTER - March 26th):


I've seen several different productions of The History Boys now. Like a lot of people I've seen the film. I've also seen Ben Barnes play Dakin - once on tour, and once in a London residency. It's been a bit quiet of late for the play, but mercifully the touring West Yorkshire Playhouse production has changed all that. Perhaps the most famous of Alan Bennett's plays, it's a study of Englishness and, in particular, the English education system. Different teaching methods are enshrined in the three main teaching characters - Mrs Linnot, Hector and Mr Irwin - and this sets up a dialogue about truth, the function of knowledge and how history is made. This makes it sound very serious - and parts of it are. It's punctuated by an energetic soundtrack, lovely character studies and some genuinely hilarious moments. Previous history boys have gone onto big things (Dominic Cooper, James Corden, Ben Barnes, Russell Tovey et al) and I suspect it will be the same for this cast. All were excellent in their portrayal of much loved characters, though several of the cast really stood out in this "class of 2011" version. George Banks was a charming yet almost smarmy Dakin who managed to make the chemistry between himself and Irwin (Ben Lambert) utterly believable and totally engrossing (while sporting a particularly sturdy pair of legs for the famous y-front scene!) Philip Franks bought an almost devastating feel to Hector - a difficult role to play considering some of his actions and to keep the audience onside. The classroom breakdown scene and the impact of his death were both really touching and sweetly sad. And Ryan Saunders sparkled through in one of the overlooked roles as Lockwood (I noted he is an understudy for Dakin and would love to see him in that role in the future).

Scenewise, my favourites have always been the Gracie Fields song, the reenactments of Now Voyager & Brief Encounters and the sorrowful Bye Bye Blackbird of the funeral scene. Two additional scenes really shone in this production - Mrs Linnot's delivery of her "c*** struck" line was still shocking and hilarious, while the french bordello scene was the filthiest, bawdiest and funniest I've ever seen it. A genuinely splendid way to spend the afternoon, and one that made me a fan of several upcoming young actors. Delightful.