Anyone Hank Marvin for the days when Brighton was all about the potted whelks and jellied eels should get themselves down to the Concorde2 this month, for a chance to sink a few Britney’s in the company of those two most rockney of rollers, Charles Nicholas Hodges and David Victor Peacock, known more commonly to their old china’s of course as Chas and Dave.
Actually, the Brighton date is just one of many stops the duo are due to make on a tour that sees venues booked up until the end of year. Testament not only to the vitality of an act that has been going the best part of 4 decades, but also illustrative of the continued appetite audiences display for the London lad’s self-styled blend of cockney rock n’ roll.
Despite the discernable sound of Bow bells that can be heard to permeate much of their back catalogue, the pair boast a musical ability sure to win over even those born the wrong side of the Watford gap, so there’s no need to pack the rhyming slang dictionary for this show, (unless of course you haven’t worked out what a Britney is by now).
In fact, so versatile is the pair’s performance that the resolutely un-cockney Marshall Mathers III was moved to sample the duo’s session work on his debut single ‘My Name Is’. Truly, if there is a God responsible for pop collaborations, Chas and Dave and Eminem will be coming to a stage near you very soon. Well, if said God answers my nightly prayers, that is.
In the meantime however, those attending the St George’s Day do are going to have to make do with a support act that’s less Slim Shady, more Large Lady. Well, actually, not quite. The large lady in question, 1960s party pianist Mrs Mills, is sadly no longer with us, having rolled out her mortal barrel back in 1978 but, in the shape of The Mrs Mills Experience, her ample legacy lives on. The reviews for this most venerable of tribute acts tell of an act ‘as British as fish and chips’, responsible for ‘delivering a dance floor filling selection of authentic, working class sing-along tunes.’
Strange. I thought ours was a classless society. Still, it seems in these days of post-Thatcherite delirium, everyone’s making a song and dance about something.
Starting at 18:00, £22.50 in adv plus booking fee, aged 14+
For more information and tickets, visit chasanddave.net
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Words Ed Kirby
