Thanks to the wonderful Nicola, I became the lucky owner of two tickets to see Vampires Rock when she couldn’t make it to the performance. I’d heard mention of the show, but wasn’t sure what to expect. Wendi was the first to shove her hand up to grab the extra ticket and we headed to the Edinburgh Playhouse last night to see it.
First up, £4.50 for a drink in the bar. Ow. Wish I’d spotted the Wetherspoons next door earlier! Secondly, if you’re getting tickets for the Playhouse and can do so, get them direct in person from the box office. I picked up three for Spamalot and they worked out at £3.50 per ticket less than using Ticket Master, plus they accepted my student ID, plus they were offering a wider range of seats than I seemed to be able to choose from on the website.
Anyway, the show. It’s a simple affair, much more of a musical show with little bits of performance than the other way around. The stage set is a simple, stationary one and the volume’s cranked way up.
The major downside to this is that the vocals and spoken voices are often very hard to make out. This is a hell of a shame, but at least the music’s spot on.
Ah, the music. Rock legends a-plenty are paid tribute to – Queen, AC/DC, Guns n Roses, Bon Jovi, Meatloaf, Bonnie Tyler… Erm, yes. Hey, who can complain at a bit of Total Eclipse of the Heart? Especially when the woman singing it is ridiculously hot?
Most of the band and some of the supporting cast get a go at leading the singing including an awesome rendition of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’. Yes, Journey. For those under 25 years old, this isn’t an original song by the cast of flipping Glee. In fairness, I’m from a generation that thought Ballroom Blitz was by Nuclear Assault instead of Sweet. It could be worse. I could have been convinced Tia Carrere wrote it.
The band and cast are great, although lead Steve Steinman’s accent seems to have got lost somewhere between Transylvania and Blackpool. The girls are gorgeous, and the men… well, let’s just say if I had any less testosterone in my body I’d be at risk of fancying the guitarists and bassist. I swear Wendi was calculating exactly how risky jumping from the balcony would be to get her hands on them.
Vampires Rock is, much as it claims it’s not right at the start, a pantomime of sorts. It craves audience reaction and it gets it. It’s silly, has stereotypical characters, the jokes are cheesier than the scruffy character’s bell end and you’ll enjoy it despite feeling a little guilty about it afterwards.
