Call Upon The Author

The New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth is not known as a live music venue, not unless you count occasional opera performances and musical theatre anyway, but after tonight’s gig, part of the theatre’s ‘Sprout’ season, that may be about to change. With a headline slot from The Strange Death of Liberal England (ably assisted by the Richard P Horn Wind Orchestra) the support act had to be something a bit special, so step up to the plate Mr Joe Black. Melding an approach to song that can only be described as Tom Waits and Danny Elfman performing lost songs from the Kurt Weill catalogue, Black is a mesmeric performer, and assisted by Burlesque performer Dolly Divine he put on a true show here, theatrical, funny and never afraid to cross the boundaries of good taste his set was full of pace and energy and loosened up the crowd perfectly. TSDOLE, who had been seen lurking stage-side throughout the first set took to the stage after a short interval and played a blistering set of artful rock that sent shivers down the spine, especially when their backing orchestra hit their mark. It was a brave decision to mount such a performance, but it paid off as the band were lifted by the arrangements and soared through their set delivering multiple spine tingling moments, none more so than when front man Adam Woolway stepped away from his microphone to deliver sections of the beautiful ‘September Swallows’ straight to the audience! For everyone who was in the packed out theatre tonight, this was a very special gig that will stick in the mind for years to come!