Miss Out On Spice Girls Tickets? Denim - The Reunion Tour Is The Show For You
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If you couldn’t obtain/afford/be bothered to get tickets for the Spice Girls’ re-re-reunion, Denim may just be the very thing you’ve been waiting for. As the motherf***er of all girl bands, Denim did it all, then came back for more. Apparently. Leaving behind the dodgy solo careers, mystical pseudo religions, ‘charidee’ work and body image angst, the girls are back in town. And at least there are five of them.
With slightly out of kilter vocal performances, they nail every faux-empowered, frighteningly sincere, past-their-prime ‘artiste’ on any number of reunion tours. Sound of the Underground, Wannabe, Titanium, Venus and Gaga all get the Denim makeover, and the Beyoncé breakdown in the final sequence channels Norma Desmond as an X-Factor contender.
It’s gloriously, unapologetically uneven. Vauxhall Tavern-style cabaret meets political standup, with the Labour Party, Brexit and Islam given an unmerciful blasting from the hairdryer. The Elaine Paige mash-up (‘Memory’ segueing faultlessly into ‘Smelly Cat’, Phoebe from Friends’ dreadful folk ballad) is a little Fabergé egg for the handful of ageing gentlemen-who-moisturise in the audience.
Five big-voiced talents is a lot to take in. You’ll warm to GlamRou La Denim, especially when reduced to having sex with an antidepressant dispenser, but it’s Tom Rasmussen as Crystal Vaginova who’s the Posh to everyone else’s Sporty. Shakira’s Underneath Your Clothes has never been so affecting as when sung by a comfortably chubby guy-gal who’s just stepped out of a red bustle, and Tom's powerful falsetto to baritone voice certainly covers this, and any other available waterfront.
Denim - The Reunion Tour, Soho Theatre, Wardour Street, W1. Tickets £10-23, until 1 December 2018 (10pm start).
Review by Gloria Trubshaw.
Last Updated 16 November 2018
