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Time Out - John Gill
The washed-out shop signs hinting at dowdy old Deptford High Street and introductory tape of pub singalong tunes in Labelled with Love (Albany Empire) led this particular song of the, uh, Cockney diaspora to half-expect a Sid James/Peggy Mount-style working class romance. Working class it is, with roots in WW2 and the sprawling estates, but set in the multiracial present and more and more a song-cycle-with-tableaux from Squeeze's East Side Story than a full-blown musical. That's a minor criticism though, for it's crammed with classic Difford-Tilbrook songs, but their sheer number limits the dramatic action. The story of the pub band falling apart when their leader is lured off to the shampooey doom he mistakes for rock stardom, and the peripheral affairs, fights and reunions, will hopefully smooth away its few amateurish edges, but the energy and verve of the cast, especially the stunning song and dance routines from Alison Limerick (last seen upstaging W Sleep in Dash), Danny John-Jules (a dead ringer for No Problem's Beastie) and Eammon Walker, more than compensate.
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