Boy George @ The Lowry
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/entertainment/music/live_reviews/s/1035069_boy_george__the_lowry
4/ 2/2008
03/02/08
THE back of Boy George's self-designed top hat is emblazoned with the word `Pride' which, rather appropriately, he has opted to put behind him forever.
If these intimate shows are a deliberate attempt to refocus attention back on his music after a turbulent couple of years, opening with two new reggae-influenced numbers sang entirely in cod-Jamaican patois is perhaps not the most effective way to send out the message that you're sane.
Things go from baffling to bland. Culture Club's laudable gender line-blurring smoke-screened just how few good songs they actually had, with their best moment - Church of the Poison Mind - given a well-judged Bowie glitter-stomp reswizz.
George's soulful voice remains in fine fettle, demonstrated on a version of This Little Light of Mine, but ballads that aim to be stark heart-on-sleeve confessionals - such as the acoustic Losing Control- simply sound MOR, anchored by lyrical clichés or malformed ideas.
Arguably those comprising the audience couldn't care less about the material. They're largely here for the School Disco thrill of reliving their youth, so there's dancing in the aisles to the irrevocably naff Karma Chameleon, and they lap up his single-entendres.
Sharks
These days, they're more tedious than witty: like sharks who must keep swimming or they'll suffocate, George must seemingly bang away about being gay or he might forget how to have sex with a man.
It's a shame because the night belies the fact that George has produced some decent pop over the last few years (his collaboration with Anthony & the Johnsons; Time Machine featuring Amanda Ghost; even his club-electro alter-ego The Twin).
The highlight is an impassioned version of Talk Amongst Yourselves, a tribute to his mother taken from his musical Taboo, with sandblaster vocals by his female backing singer.
Pretty depressing, when you consider George is offstage for the song's duration.
Boy George @ The Lowry
Gary Ryan4/ 2/2008
03/02/08
THE back of Boy George's self-designed top hat is emblazoned with the word `Pride' which, rather appropriately, he has opted to put behind him forever.
If these intimate shows are a deliberate attempt to refocus attention back on his music after a turbulent couple of years, opening with two new reggae-influenced numbers sang entirely in cod-Jamaican patois is perhaps not the most effective way to send out the message that you're sane.
Things go from baffling to bland. Culture Club's laudable gender line-blurring smoke-screened just how few good songs they actually had, with their best moment - Church of the Poison Mind - given a well-judged Bowie glitter-stomp reswizz.
George's soulful voice remains in fine fettle, demonstrated on a version of This Little Light of Mine, but ballads that aim to be stark heart-on-sleeve confessionals - such as the acoustic Losing Control- simply sound MOR, anchored by lyrical clichés or malformed ideas.
Arguably those comprising the audience couldn't care less about the material. They're largely here for the School Disco thrill of reliving their youth, so there's dancing in the aisles to the irrevocably naff Karma Chameleon, and they lap up his single-entendres.
Sharks
These days, they're more tedious than witty: like sharks who must keep swimming or they'll suffocate, George must seemingly bang away about being gay or he might forget how to have sex with a man.
It's a shame because the night belies the fact that George has produced some decent pop over the last few years (his collaboration with Anthony & the Johnsons; Time Machine featuring Amanda Ghost; even his club-electro alter-ego The Twin).
The highlight is an impassioned version of Talk Amongst Yourselves, a tribute to his mother taken from his musical Taboo, with sandblaster vocals by his female backing singer.
Pretty depressing, when you consider George is offstage for the song's duration.