I love The Blues Brothers film, the soundtrack and the live shows as performed by Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi.
I booked the tickets for this show on a whim. I didn't check if it was my Friday off or how I'd get to the venue on time or how knackered I might be if I had been working. It was The Blues Brothers. It would be a fun night out.
I turned out I was working, I didn't have time to eat beforehand and I was shattered and sore from a hard day. I was so tired, during the first half, I closed my eyes briefly and nodded off. I didn't have the energy to stay awake. That shouldn't happen during this kind of show.
So my review does not accurately reflect how much the rest of the audience enjoyed the night. They were dressed up, pulling dance moves and singing to their hearts' content. There was a wide age range present, with three generations of one family for example in the row in front of us. To be fair, the toddler did fall asleep too, on top of his gold chain wearing grandfather, but at least he lasted beyond his normal bedtime.
I wouldn't call this show a proper Blues Brothers show. It was like they were wearing the clothes but had lost the attitude. For example, I've never seen Elwood grinning like he was Marti Pellow. I was irritated by the way the guitarist bounced about in the background, giving much more energy to his performance than the rest of the band. And I was put off by the way one of the girl singers looked scarily like a Buffy vampire with her massive forehead and teeth. I know it's wrong to judge someone by their looks but her face looked like a Botox nightmare.
It felt like this was an evolution away from a regular Blues Brothers tribute show. They still played the big numbers, Sweet Home Chicago and Everybody (Loves Somebody), but the movie theme pushed us into things like 'Footloose', 'I've had the Time of My Life' and even 'Shallow' from A Star is Born, Elwood duetting with the vampire. The intention I'm sure was to give the repeat audience something different but I wanted the proper Blues Brothers and these guys weren't. Jake didn't even attempt a cartwheel.
My final complaint was that the entire cast was white, which seemed unrepresentative giving the music was originally the blues. A little diversity could have meant Elwood wouldn't have had to pretend to Cab Calloway during Minnie the Moocher.
I finally got my dinner at 11 pm. It was too late for four whole fried chickens and a Coke so I settled for a chef's platter from my local Indian restaurant. It was the best thing about the night.
