Sunday 3 February 2019

REVIEW: Lipstick On Your Collar - The Charter Theatre, Preston.



The Lipstick On Your Collar band are a fifties and sixties inspired act who are currently touring UK with their evening of non-stop blasts from the past with a nostalgic show which is promoted as being direct from London's West End. On closer inspection I found that the show was staged for one night only at Leicester Square on 6th May 2018. I must admit that I was expecting a musical show with a story interspersed with songs from yesteryear but what we got was a five piece band and a lead singer who did her best to encourage the audience to join in with the songs or to clap along. Lead singer, Nicola Seeking-Smith’s enthusiasm was at times slightly over-the-top and seemed rather contrived but in comparison the other band members were all rather bland and seemed to be going through the motions.

Their publicity states that the band are ‘Made up of some of the country’s top musicians, in addition to their UK theatre tour band members have appeared in many other West End and UK touring shows including Buddy, Return to the Forbidden Planet, Thriller, Dancing in the Street and The Elvis Years’. Their talent as musicians cannot be disputed but for me two hours of sitting in a cramped seat in the Dress Circle of the Charter Theatre, Preston watching a band perform nearly four dozen songs with only a small projector screen at the back of the stage changing from picture stills depicting news footage and TV advertisements from the fifties and sixties to videos of the artists performing during that time period was a little too much.

Lead singer, Nicola left the stage at times for a costume change but other than that the scenario was the same. Nicola and the lead guitarist attempted to interact with the audience at one point by sitting on the edge of the stage but this proved embarrassing for Nicola as she had to sit with her legs spayed apart, either side of a piece of stage equipment (which I think was a stage light, but could be wrong) and then had to be helped up by another band member, by pulling her up to her feet. Nicola’s outfits were mainly of the same style; four consisted of a fifties inspired halter-neck dress with a waspy belt and flared skirt with stiff black petticoats underneath with different patterns, (spotted or plain), except for two dresses which were a sixties inspired tight black and white mini dress and a full length sparkly number which she wore whilst singing a Shirley Bassey hit, ‘I Who Have Nothing’, a particular favourite of mine which I’m afraid didn’t live up to the original.

The set list was ambitious and Nicola was out of breath at times as she covered hit songs from all the well-loved entertainers of the period such as Connie Francis, Brenda Lee, Buddy Holly, Susan Maughan, Petula Clark, Elvis, Cliff, Cilla, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dion, The Everly Brothers, Carole King, Neil Sedaka et al and included a tribute to Phil Spector’s music.

All the elements for a nostalgic night listening to the hit songs from my childhood were there except I just wasn’t feeling it. I couldn’t class the band as a Tribute Act as there were far too many artists and their songs being covered and at times I didn’t think the lead singer’s singing ability was up to scratch as she was at times out of tune; additionally some of the musical arrangements didn’t match the originals. Indeed at times it was difficult to ‘Name that tune’ at the beginning of a number as it was so unlike the original arrangement; it helped that the original performer was on the back-drop screen.

A Beatles medley of a stand-alone routine by the musicians received the best applause of the evening from a mainly over sixties audience. It was a full house and as the performance finished rapturous hand clapping was received by the performers. Although all my favourite songs and performers were
included, I didn’t personally leave the theatre wanting more.

Reviewer - Anne Pritchard
on - 2/2/19

11 comments:

  1. Fabulous show. Singer very professional and extremely talented. Shows are packed. Negative comments are completely unjustified. They dont profess to be a tribute band.They are well worth going to see.

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  2. I'm afraid Annes review is spot on. Just seen this in Blackpool tonight and very disappointed. The lead singer is far over the top and throughout the show swished her dress continuously whilst other band members were playing. She should have left the stage and left them to it. She was very annoying, overplayed her part and her vocals were poor mainly because she was out of breath all the time. Wouldn't recommend!

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  3. seen them twice now, like the songs from the 50s 60s, so just happy to listen to this band, no one is going to sound like chuck berry cilla buddy connie brenda lee etc but the music is still the best.

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  4. Saw them in Maidstone 2021. Professional critics may find fault due to them having wider scope to compare. However, for the the vast majority, a better, all-round evenings entertainment will be extremely difficult to find anywhere. Very highly rated show, full of colour, animation, videos / stills backdrop and of course supreme musicianship.

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  5. Have just seen them at Malvern. Absolutely fabulous show. Would see the whole show again anytime. All could sing. I know we all have different ideas about music but, honestly, even if you're not into rock 'n roll, you'll recognise every song and will have a great time.

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  6. What an awful review. This show was spot on and atmospheric. Every member extremely talented . Can’t wait to see them again.

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  7. Saw the show at Porthcawl last night and throughly enjoyed - the only negative was that it was so hot in the theatre

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  8. I went to see this band at Felixstowe last weekend and was very disappointed in the sound mix. unable to understand the vocals as the mike mix was awful. with reverb and delay left on the mikes when the singer was speaking so it was a blur overall the mikes were muffled with bass and no top end to give clarity
    unable to hear the piano that was played all evening with just 3 breaks where the sound engineer let him have more volume so he was heard. The sax player was also kept quiet and was very hard to hear his input to the music.
    I am being critical according to other reviews but I was a sound engineer and think they need to find a new engineer to improve an understanding of their live sound in various venues which does have an effect according to the acoustics of the theatre

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  9. Just seem them at Darlington, they were brilliant. On for over 2 hours, proper value for money. Go see em, you'll love it

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  10. I had to come look for reviews having just watched the show and was thinking, is it just me? The musicality of the band and the boys was very nearly there with some particularly good moments, but I just can not fathom how the lead singer has managed to out audition competition for the part. I've rarely seen anyone so out of their depth and trying so hard to be the main attraction in a line up of 6 where 5 are clearly miles better. This has potential but not as it stands.

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  11. Saw them last night in Weymouth... disappointed, musicians very good but the singer was mostly not very good! Too much faffing around with costume and was often flat and out of tune... wouldn't want to see them again.

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