Reviewed by Louise Totton
Comprising of Dave Hemmingway (one half of the force behind The Beautiful South), The Beautiful South’s female vocalist Alison Wheeler as well as the original keyboardist, saxophonist and trumpet player, all of the key ingredients of The Beautiful South, bar Paul Heaton, seem to be present in the line-up. Having been a massive fan of the Beautiful South, and previously The Housemartins, I was really looking forward to an entertaining and somewhat nostalgic Friday evening at St George’s Hall.
Getting to St. George’s hall is simple, the theatre is really well signposted off the motorway and through the centre of Bradford, and there is a large and well lit multi-story car park around 100 yards from the theatre. We have seen a number of shows at St. George’s Hall, and have never had any issues parking. In addition, if you tell the theatre staff this is where you have parked, they will supply you with a discount card that saves around a third on the parking charges.
The staff at St. George’s Hall were as friendly, helpful and efficient as always. The theatre is spotlessly clean, and given that we arrived a little early, we enjoyed pre-show drinks in the downstairs bar. We were served quickly, and thought the prices were pretty reasonable for the type of venue. The bar was rather full, and there was a good mix of ages there, everyone in a good mood and looking forward to the evening.
We were shown to our seats just before the show started, and were really pleased with the view. It seems that pretty much all of the seats have a good and unrestricted view.
The concert started with a couple of The South’s new tracks, from their Sweet Refrains album. I must admit, I knew neither track, but it would seem that The South already have a loyal following because a good number of the audience knew them and were cheering and singing along. These were followed by a couple of tracks from way back when, probably over 20 years old and possibly more ‘obscure’ choices than some of their later stuff. From here on in, The South played a real mixture of The Beautiful South’s really well known, popular tracks their older tracks and The South’s new material.
It was a winning formula, and the pace and tempo of the concert just built and built. The band were simply faultless (not sure the same could be said for some of the equipment; there did seem to be some initial issues, but these were dealt with humorously and were sorted pretty quickly). The vocals of both Dave Hemmingway and Alison Wheeler were just spot on, and I really didn’t think the arrangement or sound suffered at all for being minus Paul Heaton. The band themselves were just fantastic; The South’s stuff translates really well to being performed live, and I thought particularly suited the intimate venue of St. George’s really well.
The audience were on their feet and dancing throughout most of the show, a testament to how much energy and atmosphere there was in the auditorium.
Most of the old favourites were performed, highlights for me being A Song for Whoever, Dream a Little Dream, Rotterdam, Don’t Marry Her and Good as Gold.
I went with my husband who knew a couple of the really popular songs but wasn’t familiar with most of them and he thoroughly enjoyed the evening too. Proof, I think, that the quality was most certainly there despite being minus Paul Heaton. This was much more than a few old members of a band getting together to rehash a few of the big tracks, The South had real energy and purpose, the new material was excellent and they are certainly a group that I’d love to see again.
A top evening.
Rating: 5/5
The South are currently touring the UK, for more information and tour dates visit www.thesouth.co.uk.
St George’s Hall. Bridge St, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD1 1JT | Box Office 01274 432000
