Islington Academy, London
Richard Fairbrass's opening line is not one that instills the greatest amount of confidence in tonight's performance: "I'm on Tramadol!" he says cheerfully to the awaiting pack of Fred heads.
The Night of the Living Fred tour is not your typical live-music experience. Rather, it's billed as part live show, part Q&A session with the Fairbrass brothers, whose star has slipped somewhat since I'm Too Sexy was a huge transatlantic hit back in 1992.
Only the first three singles from 1992's surprisingly brilliant debut album Up are played tonight. This means much of the show is taken up with songs from their new album Stop the World ? good news for those who've been dying to know what Right Said Fred's more political direction might sound like. Attendees also get to hear Deeply Dippy played with a kazoo, the airing of contractual grievances with EMI North America (always a crowdpleaser) and a bizarre story about ? how else can we put this? ? inserting a room-service Toblerone into one's bottom.
Rather bracingly, one fan asks, "Your career has been up and down ? how do you deal with it?", to which they reply "Huge amounts of cocaine, Temazepam, LSD and steroids." The night's strange appeal perhaps lies in the fact that you can't tell how much of this is a joke.
As such, it's virtually impossible to review it from any serious critical standpoint. It's certainly entertaining, albeit an entertainment that's laced with a barely concealed bitterness. In some ways, then, you could argue that it's a fitting end to the night that the band log on to Twitter post-gig and reply to comments. One fan, who voiced the opinion that they didn't do enough early material, was hit with a stern reply: "That's the stupidest tweet we've ever read ? are you this stupid every day?" Well, they do say don't tweet your heroes.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/apr/28/right-said-fred-review
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