Grand Opera House York – Saturday 5th May 2019.
Reviewed by Michelle Richardson
5*****
For Christmas and New Year just gone, my husband and I had the holiday of a lifetime, we went cruising. Setting off from Southampton on the QM2, we went across to New York before jumping ship and hopping onto another around the Caribbean, then back on to the QM2. On getting back onboard the QM2, all the chatter was about how great The Barricade Boys were, who had performed the night before, I was gutted that I had missed their performance by one night. To my delight I then found out that they were coming to York and I would be given the opportunity to see them, and it was a delight.
Local boy Scott Garnham co-founded the group with Simon Schofield several years ago to showcase the male voices from the musical Les Misérables. Since then they have travelled all over the world and are frequently performing on cruise ships, of which the standard of entertainment on some are superb, I have been on a few so have first-hand experience. The Barricade Boys consist of four members, which can and do change. For this performance I got to see Scott and Simon, accompanied by Kieran Brown and Dougie Carter.
Hitting the stage with a live four-piece band in place, the boys looked very dapper and slick and straight away we were treated to I Dreamed a Dream. At this stage I must admit I was not convinced, they all have such powerful voices, but the sound was a bit distorted, maybe the acoustics weren’t quite right for this size of theatre, for this particular tune, I’m no expert. I’m glad to say this was not an issue for the rest of the performance, the complete opposite in fact.
We were treated to a bit of Blues Brothers, before the boys were joined on stage by Kirkham Henry Performing Arts Choir, which Scott is an alumni of, to perform A Million Dreams from the Greatest Showman. What followed was a mixture of Motown, Reach Out being a favourite of mine, used to listen to this on my mum’s vinyl when I was growing up, to rock, pop, ballads, you name it this show had it. One poignant moment was the dedication to the Armed Forces with Bring Him Home from Les Misérables which bought a cheer from the audience. Hit close to home that one, I have been a “wife of” a soldier for many years and have been left at home many a time whilst he was away on operations.
The show was awash with highlights but I must mention the tribute to the Jersey Boys and Simon with his falsetto, plus another favourite of mine, My Eyes Adore You, a song I only came to know after the release of the Jersey Boys film. This was not the best bit of the show, no way, that came towards the end, in the form of Bohemian Rhapsody. The boys, and band, led by the very talented James Doughty, literally blew my socks off, it was absolutely fantastic, I cannot express how good it was. I was straight on my feet and it thoroughly deserved the standing ovation it received. They sang the song in its entirety and did justice to the name of Queen and Freddie Mercury. I saw Queen perform about 18 months ago, best concert I have ever been to, and they would have been an excellent addition to an already fab show. Now that’s a suggestion, how about the boys performing with Queen?
All four had incredible voices, harmonising beautifully with each other, their personalities shining through. The camaraderie, fun on stage was fantastic, so infectious to watch, by a talented group of performers. A great evening full of Uptown Funk and flossing, Oh what a night!!