GIG REVIEWS

Chas n Dave
@ The Stanley Theatre, Liverpool
26th October 2000
www.vanguard-online.co.uk

 The gentleman tramp is a thing of the past. Gone are the days of the pensioner winos shouting incoherently from the park benches. Oh, hark for the time when a clutch of miniatures is about the worst to be discarded to the gutter. That was a different age, an era confined to history. That was, of course, until Chas and Dave rolled into town. It may be unfair to refer to them as vagrants, these great men responsible for such cockney classics as "Snooker Loopy" and "Rabbit", but with suits two sizes too big for them and beards you could insulate lofts with, they certainly look the part. Never mind though because with any inkling of rock and roll excess going to the dogs, Chas and Dave rattle off the greatest music hall spectacular the Stanley Theatre has probably ever seen. Along with their decrepit looking drummer, Mickey, the duo make the most nonchalant of stage entrances. Consummate entertainers, professional geezers with little need for introduction they launch into a blistering set of forgotten classics. They ignite a crowd fuelled on beer and probably pie. The ten minute extension of "The Sideboard Song" births a spontaneous conga and a rush to the stage by any who can walk without a stick. Those chair bound risk a coronary with their furious foot stamping. Everyone fully aware they are witnessing something truly great. Chas and Dave saviours of "Rockney", champions of Tramp Chic, Britain's best knees up since Jim Davidson's "Boobs in the Wood". Diamond.

Martin Scott