Adelphi Theatre, London – 13 June 2023
Reviewed by Phil Brown
3***
For one night only – at least for 2023 – the Adelphi Theatre on the Strand played host to the never ending tour that is Lost in Music, and its encyclopaedic repertoire of 70s disco music.
And what a night…
The air conditioned respite from a very warm London night didn’t last that long before the Lost in Music band had the audience on its feet grooving, singing and sweating along to the disco beat of classic 70s hits. Across both halves of the show, the full set list ran to a mammoth 25 or so songs and several medleys covering all of the greats – Earth Wind & Fire, Gloria Gaynor, Donna Summer, Bee Gees, Tavares, Chic, Barry White, Family Sledge, Rose Royce and many more.
Lost in Music is essentially a very professionally presented concert in two one hour sets with a live band and 5 singers. The audience is required to play its part in generating atmosphere and singer Kevin Coles who also MCed the show, worked consistently hard on audience engagement. The exhortation to “make some noise” did wear thin pretty quickly but the audience seemed ever ready to cooperate. In a move that is likely to trouble the usual theatre crowd, the use of mobiles to post on social media and acknowledge performers is actively encouraged at this show.
As stage sets and lighting systems go, these would probably be regarded as no frills options compared to the state of the art, and are almost certainly designed for ease of touring. The stage costumes on the other hand are a lot more glam – at least for the three female singers – Jackie Walters, Natalie Collins & Taryn Charles.
Even though the Lost in Music show is only a few days into its 2023 tour, the seven piece band was already road honed and impressively tight. Tony Woods on keys and musical director seemed content to take a back seat, while all of the horn section enjoyed good solo moments showing off their chops and sparring with vocalists up front (Lee Hallam – Trombone, Pelham Wood – Sax and Dylan Herbert – Trumpet). (They’re also worth keeping an eye on for their dancing). Chris Dawkins on lead guitar took a few decent solos while the rhythm section (Des Woodbine – bass and Cameron Meek – drums) were thunderingly relentless. Sadly, the band wasn’t well served by the sound system which seemed murky to my ears.
The singers rotated roles slickly throughput and were very polished without ever quite attining the peaks of the original recodrings. Aside from the amusing Travolta moves, there were occasional moments of choreographic interest, and both Kevin Cole and his limber male vocalist partner, Bilal Aygei impressed with their athleticism.
For me, the first set took a while to warm up and then tended to drag. Things got off to a much livelier start in the second set and although it doesn’t look like it on paper, whoever programmed the running order has loaded many of the best songs and performances into Set 2. Even so, Set 2 also seemed to go on too long. Unrelenting disco music offers little scope for varying the dynamics of a show and there is a delicate trade off between sending the audience on its way feeling sated or bloated.
With 70s disco surely being a niche market, it’s quite a feat to virtually sell out the Adelphi Theatre. Most of the audience were female of a certain age. Any men along were probably designated drivers, walking wallets or reviewers. It’s good that 70s disco is still being played live to such a high standard, but there will come a time when that audience starts to dwindle. In the meantime, Lost in Music is a surefire way of scratching that disco itch for a few years to come.