Lipstick On Your Collar
Grimsby Auditorium
Friday 29 July 2022
Lipstick has the honour of being the first show to receive a second review on this site. We last reviewed the show just over a year ago when it was performed at The Embassy Theatre in Skegness. It was their first show post-lockdown and was an emotional experience all-round for the team responsible for bringing the hits of the '50s and the '60s to the stage. I loved the love and enthusiasm generated by the show then and wanted to see how it has progressed over the last year, now that they are back in the groove performing regularly around the UK as one if its most popular touring shows.
Fronted by the effervescent Nicola Seeking Smith, the show retains its wide-eyed enthusiasm and love of the era. Many fans in the audience echoed Seeking Smith's love of a good '50s frock by dressing appropriately too. The colours are joyful and the sound is magical. It requires a strong personality to front the show and Nicola certainly provides that. She is a little firecracker as she skips across the stage shaking her dress for all its worth, with a 50,000 watt smile to light up the entire auditorium. She is ideally suited to lead the ensemble through its journey from the mid '50s through to the '60s.
A screen at the rear of the stage shows multimedia projections to remind the audience of the years being mined for source material and showing images of many of the time and visually adds to the look of the show drawing the visuals together, and elevating it from a tribute band performance to a theatrical show.
The set list remains more or less the same as the last time I saw the show (there were no noticeable changes). I did notice that the musicians roster had undergone a few personnel changes though. If you look at the tour programme, there are far more musicians listed than appear in any one show. This is due to the nature of constantly touring and the availability of very much "in-demand" musicians of the highest order. One such example is lead guitarist Tom Wright, who has just completed the tour of Walk Right Back - The Everly Brothers Story as lead guitarist and Buddy Holly. Grimsby marked his return to Lipstick for the immediate future. Wright is an excellent singer as well as a guitarist and took lead vocal on many of the numbers in tonight's show. After the show I remarked on my love of his Gretsch 6120, Eddie Cochran's signature guitar to be informed that it is a new acquisition and his pride and joy.
Also featured was Dan Carney on guitar, bass and vocals. Dan is also an incredibly accomplished musician and provides the acoustic backing for the Everly Brothers tribute sung by him and Nikki sat on the very edge of the stage and chosen by the members of the audience. His array of bass guitars and double bass are all notable instruments too and appropriate to each era being performed.
The other bass player, also playing guitar, keys and sax is Curtis Lavender. Curtis managed to make his mark singing lead on several numbers too such as Del Shannon's Runaway. Lavender demonstrates versatility and love for the sound, but also seems to have a penchant for climbing atop the white grand piano with both his saxophone and later with his double bass.
The piano man behind the aforementioned white grand piano is Tomek Sowinski who provided the show with some memorable work during the show pounding the keys with aplomb and bringing a certain Jerry Lee Lewis-like flair to proceedings, including when he "set fire" to the piano during Great Balls of Fire towards the show's conclusion. He also provided the lead vocal on a rendition of The Big Bopper's Chantilly Lace.
The man keeping perfect time at the rear of the stage is drummer Toby Drummond. His metronomic timekeeping is impressive ad the driving beat was particularly breathtaking during a version of The Surfaris' Wipe Out with its classic relentless rhythm.
The show is an absolute delight for nostalgia fans as Nikki and the Boys lead the audience through the rock 'n' roll years, recreating the look and sounds of an era where many of its heroes are now, sadly, no longer with us or capable of performing live. I have a number of favourite tracks, none more so then the titular Lipstick On Your Collar, originally a hit for Connie Francis.
But Seeking-Smith manages to remind us of a wide range of fabulous songs that we still need to experience live such as Peggy Lee's Fever, You Don't Have To Say You Love Me and I (Who Have Nothing). Her wonderous show is a visual and an auditory pleasure from start to finish and the charm and grace she portrays on stage is natural. Her connection to her audience and her understanding of what they are there to see is so evident for all to see. It is a glorious celebration of the music she loves.
Lipstick On Your Collar continues to tour the UK and will be visiting Skegness in October and will return to Grimsby next year. We thoroughly recommend it to those who enjoy a rockin' good time and want to be reminded why we all fell in love with music in the '50s and '60s. So, get out your poodle skirts or your best brothel creepers and we will see you at the next one!
Andy Evans 31 July 2022
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