On paper, a Holiday Inn doesn’t promise to be the most inspired of venue choices for a showcase, but in reality, the Plymouth variant of the well-known hotel chain offered all the right ingredients, the main room being very professionally presented, with a spot-on stage for the billed acts.
Very much in corporate gig style, seven-piece band Risky Business opened the evening, there being nothing risky really about any bookers plumping for this solid sounding ensemble with both male and female lead vocals and fine brass section. The female vocalist’s attire didn’t really shout glamour, but that small criticism apart this was the ideal act to get everyone enthused for the night ahead.
What came next was 14-year-old female classical singer, Poppy Mills. Unsurprisingly, given her tender years, she looked nervous and spent most of her impressive, powerful set rooted to the spot. I’m not sure a light entertainment showcase is the right platform to promote her undoubted vocal talents, but appearances such as these can only help develop her stagecraft and hopefully build greater self-confidence.
It’s not often you are confronted by something quite scary, and very hairy, at a showcase - unless eccentric, excellent comic Arnold Gutbucket is on the bill - but in the case of Plymouth, this took the form of a pretty big and very real-looking spider. Thankfully, said creature was in the capable hands of Neil Vaughan from the Really Wild Experience, who having met guests armed with the ‘friendly’ arachnid earlier, now introduced a reptile to the showcase audience as part of his traveling, educational rainforest show. Billed as suitable for children and adults alike, the youngsters will surely appreciate this the most. In the event, Noris the reptile looked most unimpressed when dropped on to the floor from the head of a female volunteer, and as interesting as it is, I think it would have been better kept as a ‘meet and greet’ turn on this occasion.
I’m not sure how old he is, not that old surely, but coming on stage dressed like a bank manager didn’t really do male vocalist, Stephen Neilson any favours. He’s got a decent, if not sensational voice, as his opener, the much-covered Sex On Fire, proved, and his finale, Oasis’ Don’t Look Back in Anger, proved he’s at least not stuck in the same old covers groove that many fall into. He badly needs to update his ‘threads’ though. After a quick burst from impressive deadpan compere on the night, and fine sax player, Simon Mansfield, back on form after his lack lustre spot at the previous night’s Vern Allen Showcase in Exmouth, it was time for something completely different, from illusionist, magician and indeed, body popper, Mr Eerius. I loved his act from the first minute, but that’s not really surprising since he was previously one half of brilliant duo, Celtic Storm. This was inventive, fast-paced, creative and fun, and even if his ‘pulling large dice from an impossibly small box’ illusion went on far too long, there was never any doubting this act’s quality. The set had a clearly defined beginning, middle and rousing end, and though I wasn’t sure about his body popping, you just had to be impressed, not least by the physical effort involved.
On rare occasions, performers at showcases have a nightmare. That was the fate of singer/comedian, Garry Dorsey, who try as he might couldn’t even buy a laugh at the Holiday Inn. He didn’t help himself by getting the name of the hotel wrong for his opening joke, and it was downhill all the way from there. He’s a capable musician/singer, as his opening number proved, but if there was ever an act that should drop the comedy part, it’s Dorsey. As a colleague said on the night, I’ve read better material on the side of a lollystick.
Juggler extraordinaire, Steve Arnold, has been a showcase regular for some time now, and though his short set hasn’t really changed that much over recent years, it’s always captivating. What he’s added, compared to when he first started, is a bit of audience participation, and even some saucy banter, and that helps give his dazzling dexterity some variation. He’s always worth watching.
New comedy duo, Tim and Tony Strange, had the Exmouth Pavilion audience the night before, in the palm of their hands by the end of their act. Their identical Plymouth set was even better received, mainly because the stage offered better all-round visibility for the audience, Tony Strange’s (aka Tony Harris) clandestine tomfoolery dressed as a waiter building perfectly. Being the experienced artists they are, they also coped admirably with a well lubricated heckler.
Watching comedian Jimmy Quinn going through his funny but patchy material, you couldn’t help feel that he was born out of his time. He would have been perfect on the now infamous, but legendary The Comedians show on Granada TV in the 1970s, getting laughs alongside the likes of Bernard Manning and Frank Carson. He’s abrasive, often near the knuckle, but very funny in parts, though he also added some very personal information, which some audiences just might feel uncomfortable with. He just about won me over come the end. Just.
What this showcase had lacked so far was a little bit of showbiz glamour, so the appearance of female vocalist Stephanie Coombes was the ideal act to remedy that. Immaculately presented, and with a fine, comfortable range, her cover of Nat King Cole’s, Orange Colored Sky, was certainly the highlight of an effortless set that was solid professionalism and vocal versatility personified.
Allegedly zany comic, Paul Zee, knows how to make an entrance, here dressed in a sort of hybrid Humpty Dumpty creation and soon urging the audience to join in with some good, very old-fashioned chanting. In truth, it was only during the final routine - three male volunteers being worked by Zee as a human xylophone during an amusing recreation of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody - that I got into the spirit of his act. Up until then, his brand of humour had left me largely bereft of chuckles.
Comic fancy dress also played a part, mid-set in The Bruise Brothers act. You couldn’t fault this duo’s effort, packing a whole lot of entertainment into their showcase appearance, but their Blues Brothers opener wasn’t that inspired and an uptempo version of Rihanna’s Umbrella hit was a very messy musical affair. Promising “a party set like no other” on this performance, that’s an invite I’ll take a rain check on.
Despite an early microphone malfunction, five-piece covers band, Decibelle, proved well worth hanging around for. Not least as they successfully mixed up the old and the new - their final Adele cover was a cracker - and they sounded an impressively tight musical outfit throughout.
This was an enjoyable, varied evening offering most of the entertainment options that potential bookers expect. Given that the Vern Allen Gala Showcase had taken place only the night before, down the road, in Exmouth, it would have been only too easy for Hartbeat Entertainments (part of Vern Allen Ents) to have put on the same acts as in Plymouth. Only two acts performed at both shows, and that deserved a round of applause in itself. Highlights? Without doubt, Mr Eerius, and Tim and Tony Strange.
Holiday Inn, Plymouth , November 15
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