19 hours ago
2
Rick Astley's Swinging Christmas (Royal Albert Hall, London)
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Culture Club (The O2, London)
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The Christmas chart once belonged to the 1970s. We would party like it was 1973, shouting along to Slade and Wizzard. But lately the 1980s, true to form, have launched a takeover.
First it was The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, sprinkling vinegar on the merriment. Now it’s George Michael, bringing a gorgeous sadness.
His untimely death on Christmas Day 2016 gave Last Christmas a new lease of life. After finally reaching No 1 in 2021, it was back there this week.
Rick Astley seems as if he should have a Christmas hit. His one attempt, Love This Christmas (2020), was a surprise flop, so instead he does a festive tour. It’s Santa meets Sinatra. If you can’t have old chestnuts at this time of year, when can you?
Rick has what it takes – the bonhomie, the big band, the tuxedo and the timing. He can revitalise tired material just by slipping behind the beat. In a parallel life he’d be a great cruise-ship crooner.
He finds top gear when the music slows down. His versions of As Time Goes By and When I Fall In Love are so delicious they should be a double A-side. Maybe next Christmas.
Rick Astley has what it takes at the Royal Albert Hall – the bonhomie, the big band, the tuxedo and the timing
Astley finds his top gear when the music slows down, with classics such as When I Fall In Love and As Time Goes By
The 1980s revival continues at a packed O2. Heaven 17 (four stars) light the fire with Temptation, and Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet (three stars) warms the heart with True. But this is Culture Club’s show, so it’s all about Boy George.
I first glimpsed George in a London club in 1981, before he was famous. Aged 20, he was exotic yet cuddly, oozing charisma, generating laughter.
At 63 he still is. In a parallel life he’d be Graham Norton.
Here he makes one bad decision – to play Culture Club’s first two albums in full. Most of those tracks are forgotten for a reason. But they make Karma Chameleon shine even more brightly, and everything else is done well.
Boy George of the Culture Club performs at The O2 Arena on December 15 2024
George's patter is a joy, the design vivid, the video sparky, the costumes lovably ludicrous
The design is vivid, the video sparky, the costumes lovably ludicrous. And George’s patter is a joy. He’s like Adele in reverse: you wish he wouldn’t shut up.
He loves his anecdotes and aphorisms. ‘Repetition,’ he declares, ‘is the backbone of genius.’
Introducing Do You Really Want To Hurt Me, he remembers Virgin Records wanting to release it. ‘I said, “Are you crazy? It’s too slow, too personal.” But it was the truth.’ And it made his career.
‘It’s not the truth now,’ he adds, ‘but I can pretend.’
English (US) ·