Sophie Ellis Bextor LIVE

So it was a brand new venue, indeed a brand new town, in the Warrington Parr Hall. Lovely meal in the adjoining Olive Press beforehand (to overhear the waitress saying that only 500 tickets had been sold for the concert) and then it was into the venue itself.

Support act was a group called The Sylvias. They seemed to go down quite well with the crowd but really although they were alright their songs did seem to go on quite a bit. I tell ya, they could teach the Editors a thing or two about stretching out two small verses and a chorus into as long a song as possible.

As the crowd swelled in anticipation of the main event, it was clear that if ever Sophie Ellis Bextor loses her record deal, she will be able to make a killing doing PA's at Gay Clubs and for hen nights. There also seemed to be about 6 men in total in the building who were heterosexual and not with their WAG's.

Indeed at one point in the evening Bextor acknowledged that her make-up was "drag queeny as the best of times" and whilst at times it did seem like the show had been genetically engineered to appeal to the pink pound, it would be wrong to dismiss it on that level.

I personally found myself surprised at just how many good pop singles she's had, and all were met with delight by the small, but very appreciative crowd. Even the album tracks were warmly welcomed, including the more dreary ones.

Ok, so none of this was reinventing the wheel but it was exactly what you would want in a pop concert. Catchy songs, sung with gusto and a hell of a lot of fun.

And on a final note, Bextor's version of David Bowie's Lets Dance in the encore may have been one of the greatest things ever.

Single Releases 06/08/07

Is it hilarious, or just plain sad, that Kula Shaker are releasing a new single in 2007. I didn't think they were any good when they had their moment in the spotlight. I think even less of them now.



Similarly I have absolutely no love for the Magic Numbers. I just don't see the mass appeal of them. Their first album was boring, and their second one followed suit. So needless to say, I'm not exactly over the moon at their new EP either.



And Hellogoodbye. What is it with people liking them? Baby It's Fact might even be worse than the last one.



On the other hand, Richard Hawley's new single is amazingly good. Tonight The Streets Are Ours sounded great from the first time I heard it; it was one of those catchy little ditty's that sounded so familiar right from the off (and I mean that in a good way).



Why Sophie Ellis Bextor has released Tonight's The Sun's On Us when there are much better singles on the album is beyond me.



I know the Robyn single was out last week but I missed it last week. It's good. In fact it's very good. No doubt Edith Bowman is championing it as we speak as a hot new tune from a hot new artist...

Trip The Light Fantastic - Sophie Ellis Bextor

I've never quite been able to make my mind up about the fantastically long-legged Sophie Ellis Bextor. I was quite taken with Theaudience back in the day (with their two top 40 singles) and whilst in solo terms she's occasionally come up with the goods (Groovejet, if that counts, and Murder On The Dancefloor) I can never quite get over some of the truly abysmal lyrics. Seriously, listen again to I Won't Change You...

I used to change my accent, change my stance
My phone number, the way I dance
Some people change lovers like they change their sheets
But I won't change you honey, you're for keeps

That's funny. And not in a "good" funny way either.

But anyway, that's neither here nor there really is it? It's my opinion on the new album you've come to check out isn't it?

Well it's...alright. It's not terrible but it's not awesome. It's an "in the middle" album.

I must get my apology in first of all as I kind of slated recent single Catch You on here a few weeks back but when actually listening to it on record it's a cracker. That's not to say that I didn't listen to it before I originally reviewed it, just that its sounds a lot better on record than it did on tv/radio/the internet.

There are other highlights too; despite the worst vocal phrasing on the word "dance" since Amelle from the Sugababes on Walk This Way, If I Can't Dance is a very catchy number indeed. New York City Lights is another winner, as is the Latin tinged New Flame.

Sadly there's also a lot of the album which is completely unmemorable. It's also very much "what you would expect" and there's only so much of the rent-a-hook dance beats matched with the detached icy personae that you can take in one sitting.

One thing is for sure though, her Greatest Hits collection will be fantastic.

Single Releases 14/05/07

If your only touch with "new" music is Edith Bowman you might well think that the "new" single by CSS is rather good. If you actually have a clue you'll of course have heard Lets Make Love And Listen To Death From Above at least 12 months ago. Still, lets not be too damning. It may be on about it's 37th re-release, but it is still a fantastic pop tune.

I've also been raving about Candi Payne for ages too; she was, pray remember, one of my "tips" for 2007. For the moment we'll ignore the fact that most of my tips have already shown absolutely no suggestion of making it and concentrate that on the back of her performance on Jools Holland last week she's on the verge of cracking it. I Wish I Could Have Loved You More is another reason why she's going to make it.

Alternatively if Lucie Silvas' 2nd album was going to repeat her success of the first time around then it surely would have done by now. Place To Hide will make no difference to that fact.

Maroon 5, on the other hand, are about to hit the stratosphere again. In fact they'll be cracking it on the Timberlake level if Makes Me Wonder is anything to go by.

I'm getting less and less convinced by Sophie Ellis Bextor with every single. Me And My Imagination isn't very good really.

Still she's better than either BWO (who are just plain weird, despite what Popjustice might try to claim otherwise) or Biffy Clyro. I'd espouse more on the latter, but that would bring us back to Edith Bowman again, and I've had more than enough of her for one day.