The Spooky Men's Chorale: St George's

IT would be easier to explain the rules of cricket to an alien than to fully explain what the Spooky Men's Chorale is all about.

Here's a summary: 16 men, mostly from Australia, dressed in black, wearing various hats and performing stunning harmonies.

Virtually the entire show is made up of songs and chants about everyday, manly things such as Don't Stand Between a Man and His Tool which is (believe it or not) an ode to the contents of the tool shed. I'm Big a clever song about life through the eyes of a small child (I think) and We Like Concrete which needs no explanation (or does it)? The spookmeister Steve Taberner who combined conducting, singing and compering has all the hallmarks of genius. Often appearing to be on another thought plane to the rest of us non-spookies, his off the wall one liners were exquisite. He had the audience in the palm of his hand for the duration of the show whilst urging every last drop of lunacy out of the assembled Mastadon-loving Spookies.

Putting aside the wackiness for a moment, this is a choir of the highest quality, sharp and precise in their delivery, unaccompanied and enthralling to watch.

Despite the apparent manliness of the programme, it is a show for all ages as my 13-year-old son Matt proved when he was leading the clapping, cheering and singing at the end.

The support for the evening was Kate Rowe, playing acoustic guitar and singing her own songs without the need for a microphone, using the acoustics of the wonderful hall. The result was charming and her quirky songs about her love for coffee and the blind date she never met were in the same league as Victoria Wood at her best.

The last word must go to the Spookies who sang the most unusual version of Boogie Wonderland imaginable before giving Abba's Dancing Kveen the Spooky treatment complete with Swedish accents and Viking helmets. Spooktacular!

9/10

LES GILLAM