I was wondering if I was the only one who watched that travesty last night, the "Party at the Palace". And I was so looking forward to it. So much so that I hadn't even bothered looking at the guest/playlist. I just assumed it would be top-notch pop entertainment. Oh dear GOD was I naive. My EYES, My EARS! Does Mr B. McNeill need his ears syringed? On what planet would Brian Wilson's performance be regarded as faultless? Does Mr McNeill not realise that Wilson turned into a Thunderbird puppet years ago? He stumbled on to the stage, all awkwardly controlled strings, extremely puzzled, not quite able to get his bearings, surprised to find himself expected to perform Good Vibrations for the Nth time and not at all expected to sip his camomile and a nice nap, more's the pity. So he sat behind his piano, looking very dapper indeed, and proceeded to murder four Beach Boys classics, somehow managing not to hit a single right note on any one of them, reading from the autocue in a manner that makes Bush Jr. look like a great orator. His backers -- Eric Clapton, Andrea Corr, and Emma Bunton - - looked terrified that he was about to pass-out at any moment, or perhaps stand up and call loudly for his nurse. I know. I'm being churlish. But a little of it *is* excusable. I'm not complaining that they didn't have Belle and Sebastian, or Hefner; it was the Palace after all. I knew it was going to be Establishment and nothing more. But how come Wilson got to come on and stagger through four pieces of well-worn Americana and Ray Davies gave one extremely respectable rendition of Lola, and disappeared? Talk about feeling short-changed. Wasn't this marketed as a celebration of British music? Is it just me? Why was everyone performing Motown? Don't get me wrong; I love Motown. That's precisely why I don't want to see Will Young castrate Heard It Through The Grapevine. Jesus. I read Sir George Martin was in charge of the festivities. Perhaps that's why Bowie was no where to be seen. Perhaps that's why there was so much fluffy dross. Did music not happen in the 50s and 80s? I'm not sure about the former, but I'm damn sure I remember some great, epoch-defining music from the later. I'm don't want to brownnose Macca, but it was shameful that he was so easily able to steal the show. Ozzy was great, but even he didn't know what he was doing there. The cynic in me wonders how much money changed hands between the organisers and whoever owns At Home With The Osbournes. I read some reviews in the papers. The Times lavished praise all over it, as did most of the broadsheets, natch. Only the Guardian called it for what it was: "a dress rehearsal for the next Royal Variety Performance." I suppose it was worth *something* to see Ozzy arm-in-arm with Cliff Richard toward the end. If any one image could encapsulate the my sense of ennui, that's it. The self-confessed Prince of Fucking Darkness singing along to All You Need Is Love with Cliff, smiling beatifically at one another. I suppose that was worth something, too. The end. I was almost prepared to forgive them their sins during Hey Jude and then those beautiful fireworks. ++ LINKS ++ Playlist: http://www.guardian.co.uk/jubilee/story/0,11550,727280,00.html Guardian concert review: http://www.guardian.co.uk/jubilee/story/0,11550,727289,00.html The Times concert review: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-316439,00.html Offical BBC Brainwashing Propaganda: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/music/newsid_2022000/2022060.... +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-+ Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+