REVIEW: LIPSTICK ON YOUR COLLAR @ THE PALACE THEATRE
Updated: Aug 20, 2022
🎭 LIPSTICK ON YOUR COLLAR
📍 Palace Theatre, Palace Avenue, Paignton, Devon, TQ3 3HF
🗓 Friday 5th August 2022
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A ROCK & ROLL REVELATION
Last night saw the first visit to Torbay from The 50's & 60's Show Lipstick On Your Collar. This group of versatile musicians & singers gave us two & a half hours of unashamed nostalgia & the energy coming from the stage was surely enough to power the entire bay!
This show takes you on a musical journey of jukebox hits, starting with the explosion of rock & roll in 1955 with songs from the likes of Bill Haley, Buddy Holly & Brenda Lee, through to Beatlemania & the swinging sixties with the music of The Hollies, Dusty Springfield & Cilla Black to name just a few.
The songs are performed in chronological order & the audio visuals at the back of the stage show images of the artists whose music is being performed alongside television footage & newspaper articles detailing the big events from each year.
The group is led from the front by lead vocalist & producer of the show Nicola Seeking-Smith. She has a fantastic voice & is equally great at singing rock & roll hits such as 'Great Balls of Fire', pop songs like 'Please, Mr Postman' & belting out huge ballads such as 'I Who Have Nothing'.
Her rendition of 'Fever' sent chills through the body & when she concluded 'You're My World' the audience went wild.
As well as her vocal talents she has a great stage presence. She was likeable from the start & had great banter with the audience which added to the party atmosphere in the theatre.
Nicola is backed up by an incredible band, who are obviously masters of their craft as well as having great singing voices themselves. From the programme I assume that the band are changeable depending on availability & at Paignton we had Dan Caney on bass & guitar, Curtis Lavender on guitar, keys, sax & bass (what a chameleon!), Tomek Sowinski on piano, Thomas Parrish on guitar & Toby Drummond on drums.
The music was performed with great authenticity & you can tell that they wanted to stay true to the original tracks & so what you get is raw rock & roll performed to the highest standard.
Each band member were also given their time to shine, whether that be musically or vocally. I loved their energy & the way that they would move seamlessly from one instrument to another, sometimes mid-song!
The entire group had good singing voices & never tried to sound like the original artists, which I loved about it. So rather than hearing some bad impressions of the artists (which is what I was half expecting) we were treated to great musicians performing fantastic timeless songs & looking like they were having the time of their lives doing so.
During the second act, there were audience members jiving in the aisles & by the end of the evening the entire auditorium were on their feet enjoying the party.
The lighting design was fantastic & really helped to lift the production even higher.
Overall, this was a thoroughly enjoyable night out & I'm sure that this show is going to keep growing & getting better & better.
Lipstick On Your Collar is currently touring the UK until 12th November 2022. For a full list of tour dates as well as show information visit www.lipstickonyourcollar.co.uk.
The show will be touring again next year & will be back at Paignton's Palace Theatre on Friday 11th August 2023. Tickets on sale soon.
So C'mon Everybody, don't be a Stupid Cupid! Dust off those Blue Suede Shoes & head out for a great nights entertainment with Lipstick On Your Collar.
Neill Kovacic-Clarke
All views are my own & I pride myself on being honest & free from influence.