{MUSIC} Reviews
LE GATEAU CHOCOLAT Moreish cabaret feast ●●●●●
With his delicious charm and La Clique credentials, Le Gateau Chocolat’s solo debut is an evening treat that leaves you wanting more. Enter the fabulous Bosco tent, and the gentle strains of ‘The Way We Were’ are just audible, a feast of colour and sequin dresses before us. The lights dim and from the back of the tent, a black-robed baritone renders the crowd silent. Full, red, glittered lips punctuate every note as a Barbra Streisand rendition of ‘As If We Never Said Goodbye’ fills the room. From these auspicious beginnings, the real fun
begins, as a (literally) larger than life Le Gateau dons a Riddler lime-green catsuit and the show begins. He’s a drag act, we’re told, but he’s no drag. Flower in hair and wig in place, he hurtles into ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’, before venturing ‘backstage’ to partly derobe for a devastating performance of Radiohead’s ‘Creep’. Where some cabaret fails to emote, Gateau excels,
stripping back the layers and revealing the 29-year-old, Nigerian law student at his core. We learn of his failure to get accepted at the Royal Academy, the passing of the family parrot, and his first experiences of love. As a performer he inhabits all the genres, whether its boogieing with the crowd to Madonna’s ‘Holiday’ or in a delightfully simple rendition of ‘The Ship Song’, as he works his way through his wardrobe of wigs and wonders. His Britain’s Got Talent/Susan Boyle skit hits all the right notes, so too a slightly daft, audience- interacting Drag Terrorist routine. Even a simple, delicate version of ‘Old Man River’ finds a home amidst the madness. In turns, sweet, (ful)filling and carefully baked – his ‘Nessun Dorma’ finale is the icing on the cake. (Anna Millar) ■ Assembly George Square, 623 3030, until 28 Aug (not 22), 9.15pm, £12 (£11).
HOW I INVENTED HIP HOP . . . AND OTHER FAUX PAS Overly styled idea taken too far ●●●●● SHLOMO: MOUTHTRONICA Incredible noise-making skill from a loveable entertainer ●●●●●
BEST OF THE FEST CABARET Glass half full ●●●●●
L A V I T S E F
It’s hard to know what the joke in this act is – does it mock hip hop, or posh English accents? The two are combined in what Mr B, The Gentleman Rhymer, calls ‘Chap-hop’, but playing the ‘Straight outta Surrey’ card doesn’t work for longer than one song. George Formby style, he whips out a banjolele, which, with no relevance to hip hop or the upper classes, is just an eccentric add-on. Switching lyrics of 90s US bad-boy superstars with ‘Lapsang souchong and devilled kidneys’ is not a novel idea on the Fringe, and neither is using BBC English to analyse street music – this certainly doesn’t live up to Peter Cook and Dudley Moore’s ‘Grooving the Bag’ sketch. B’s fast-mouthed rap is admittedly, impressive, but underwhelming when that’s all it is. There must be more to Mr B than this ability, but attempts to interact with the audience fall flat. On a Friday night, the room was full and merry but one song, a bizarre, ranty version of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Rehab’ rendered the crowd schtum as the line ‘crack cocaine/takes away the pain’ kept cropping up amidst incessant strumming. (Natalya Wells) ■ Voodoo Rooms, 226 0000, until 28 Aug (not 22), 11pm, £10. 62 THE LIST 18–25 Aug 2011
Shlomo has been practising his art since he was a child. Growing up in an Iraqi-Israeli family in London, he dreamt of playing drums on Top of the Pops but to avoid disturbing the neighbours, practised rhythms using only his mouth. It wasn’t until he heard a tape that he realised other people did that to show off. Years later, that’s exactly what his first solo set is, but in the most charming way possible. He begins with the ten rules of Mouthtronica, demonstrating the voice, air, teeth and lips in turn, all with calm effortlessness. LoopStation (a loop pedal, and beatbox contest – of which he is world champion) allows him to record live samples and create multi-layered tracks, even using audience cheers. His set is a soundtrack to his life, from his dad’s jazz band to Björk, with heart-rending anecdotes about grandparents along the way. His multi-cultural upbringing brings excitement to the beats, and fundamentally, all the technology is a bit much for him. As his innovative use of the Indian ‘morchang’ jaw harp shows, pure sounds and rhythm are the antidote. (Natalya Wells) ■ Underbelly, Cowgate, 0844 545 8252, until 27 Aug, 9pm, £14 (£12).
Any festival ‘Best of’ night lives or dies on the collection of acts and, suffice to say, it’s a mixed bag of delights, depending on your luck. And so it is here. Gloria, our slightly manic, rambling comedian host for the evening, struggles, her lacklustre attempts at humour flailing, for the most; though her rather fabulous West Side Story finale, complete with audience interaction ensures all’s (almost) forgiven. Things begin with a whimper before Kitty
Cointreau’s burlesque charms warm things up to the strains of a rocked up ‘Feeling Good’, before improv musical act The Noise Next Door steal the show – with their quick wit, contagious energy and boy band set piece. The Twoks are up next with a slice of a show that ought really to be seen in full context, their electric violin and tribal drumming attempt to bring Justin Timberlake’s ‘SexyBack’ failing at the pass, before the bare torso assault of Aussie, boylesque collective, Briefs – think a (very) poor man’s Chippendales, only slightly funnier. In short, if you’ve £15 going begging, this is decent bang for your buck. (Anna Millar) ■ Assembly George Square, 623 3030, until 28 Aug (not 22), 7.15pm, £15 (£14).