16/03/13: Four-piece girlband B*Witched certainly – well – bewitched us impressionable and decidedly more innocent boys back in the ‘90s, when all that mattered were lyrics that related life’s experiences to funfair rides – and fifty different shades of denim on denim.
Times have certainly changed since then, we’ve all grown up and gotten decidedly more degenerate – and feel-good music has taken a backseat to some seriously relentless bump-and-grind bassline.
Now, trashy modern antics have their place – but it’s hard to deny any man last Saturday thatr was especially excited to see the nostalgic return of Ireland’s most euphoric, clean-cut pop exports of all time! After all it’s been 12 years since we’ve heard a peep! So the show begun – funnily enough, with a thoroughly modern Irish Riverdance and… dubstep mix!
You’ll be surprised what works when a group of starry-eyed, screaming men have packed out a club’s main floor, determined to show their old favorites unadulterated affection – and so Edele and Keavy came bounding out in pigtails, denim on denim (a la acceptable 2013 style); Irish jigging and simultaneously sending sparks across the stage with an industrial work tool. The show had begun; Sinead and Lindsay completed the very Country Western looking line-up, revealing that the girls had obviously grown-up with us, too – with ripped and wonderfully rounded figures to show for it!
With cute routines, crowd-rousing shout-outs and – of course – the craze-inducing tracks that made them staples of an era. ‘Jesse Hold On’, ‘Rollercoaster’ and of course ‘C’est La Vie’ had the boys wailing along in a state that might have indeed inferred some witchcraft was involved – while ballads like ‘Blame It On The Weatherman’ and ‘To You I Belong’ were reminders of the melodies a lot of us are loathe to admit we miss!
All too soon, a wonderful, nostalgic night was brought to an end – you can’t get those days back, but it all came emphatically close!
Heaven, Under The Arches, Villiers Street, WC2N 6NG
Words by Yaf Brown
