Bonzo Dog Band Reunion Concert, de recensie/the review

Wij waren eigenlijk niet zo blij met het feit dat onze Engelse correspondent pas een maand na dato vertelde dat er een reünieconcert van de Bonzo Dog Band was geweest. Wij hebben hem dat per epost verteld en met zijn reactie strooit hij nog fijn wat zout in de wonde. Hij geeft een recensie waaruit blijkt dat we echt iets gemist hebben. Wij hopen dat de beloofde DVD niet te lang op zich laat wachten. Vergeet niet het dagboek van Yvonne Innes te lezen. Het woord is aan onze correspondent.

I've included here a link to the diary of Neil Innes' wife prior to the event.

A set list

(Neil on vocals unless otherwise stated)

Set 1

Cool Britannia (extract)
Hunting Tigers Out In 'INDIAH'
For Viv Stanshall and Dennis Cowan - a minute's cacophony
My Brother Makes The Noises For The Talkies
On her doorstep last night
Little Sir Echo (Bob Kerr)
Ali Baba's Camel
Falling in love again (in German) Vernon
I'm Going To Bring A Watermelon To My Girl Tonight
Look Out, There's A Monster Coming
Whispering (Roger on leg)
By a waterfall
The Sheik of Araby (Rodney, Sam Spoons solo)
Hello Mabel
Jollity Farm
The Equestrian Statue

Interval

Set 2

"I'm bored"

Cool Britannia (extract)
We are normal
The Strain (Ade Edmondson vocal, and Phil Jupitus, gtr)
The Sound of Music (Stephen Fry)
Exodus ?? (Roger)
Trouser Press (Stephen Fry in at the end)
My Pink Half of the Drain Pipe (Roger and Ade Edmondson)
I'm Bored (Ade Edmondson)
Sport (Stephen Fry)
Mr Apollo (Phil Jupitus - 8 separate gorillas)
Humanoid Boogie
Tent (Ade Edmondson)
Can Blue Men Sing the Whites (Phil Jupitus)
Look at Me I'm Wonderful (Legs)
I Left My Heart In San Francisco (Legs)
Rhinocratic Oaths (Stephen Fry)
Narcissus
Mr Slater's Parrot (Ade Edmondson as parrot invading the audience)
Monster Mash (with Paul Merton)
I'm The Urban Spaceman
Canyons Of Your Mind (with Phil Jupitus)
The Intro And The Outro (on tape)
Slush (on tape)
<No encore>

One separate gorilla

And my review for the Bonzo Dog group:

Saturday night at the London Astoria

What a night!

Firstly a lot of us met at the Pillars of Hercules for a drink or two. It was good to renew acquaintance with old friends, put faces to email names and make new friends. It was heart warming to see so many Bonzo fans. One highlight was Dave Williams bringing Viv Stanshall's hexagonal glasses. Lots of trying on and taking photos of ourselves with them on. Riley was there giving out free copies of the Talking Pictures DVD despite the fact he couldn't get a ticket for the show for himself. What a good guy. Jonathan was there with lots of goodies for sale and, due to various arrangements, I found myself arriving there with 10 CDs and leaving with 20. We resembled a bunch of drug pushers, dealing surreptitiously in the corner of a pub.

Outside the touts were pleading for tickets to no avail. A man gave away flyers for the forthcoming "Prehistory of the Bonzos" CD. He was miserable as he didn't have a ticket either.

The gig itself was incredibly good. Fred Pipes has listed what happened but I was too busy laughing to really remember the order, especially as there was so much disorder. It began with Neil Innes saying "Shall we bother to tune up?" after which all hell broke loose. Wherever you looked someone was doing something crazy. It didn't all work but that was hardly surprising considering how much mayhem was happening. Some highlights of the first half Vernon Dudley Bohay Nowell's version of "Falling in love again" complete with saw solo. He hardly moved all evening as befits a septuagenarian but played exquisite saw and occasional banjo all evening. Roger Ruskin Spear's loud aside to the woman who brought out one of his machines "Don't milk it, bitch" which reduced the band and audience to hysterics. Sam Spoon's inspired spoon playing and general clowning. He was dressed as a reject from Play School and behaved like a demented nursery child. Roger again playing "Whispering" on an artificial leg fitted with theremin. In between was a generous fifteen songs you knew and loved from their earlier days immaculately.

Some of them never left the stage during the interval as I suppose they would never have made it back again. This also meant it was mercifully short.

The second half was far more rock music and included the awaited guest appearances. Ade Edmondson was obviously thoroughly enjoying himself and labelled the Bonzos as his heroes. He wandered the front of the audience dressed as a parrot saying "Hello". Phil Jupitus, presumably standing in for Bill Bailey, played "Mr Apollo" (dedicated to John Peel) and "Canyons of your mind" with gusto. Stephen Fry looked like a child locked in a sweetshop and performed "Rhinocratic oaths" superbly. Paul Merton did "Monster mash" but everyone's eyes were fixed on the tableau the boys in the band were presenting. It was inspired to finish with "The intro and the outro" played over the PA system, leaving people to file out during "Slush". There was no encore. How could you follow that?

We all floated out to a freezing winter's night oblivious to the cold, missing any planned rendezvous in the euphoria of a night spent blissfully.

28-02-2006 21.00 | Door: Cpt. Iglo

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