To rescue Kahlo from the clutches of the corporate art market, we need to acknowledge the overt and covert political dimensions of the work, demands GAVIN O’TOOLE
THIS is a performance to cherish, with Eddi Reader and an intimate band loving every minute of their time on stage and an audience swept along by the sheer, joyful enthusiasm of the spectacle.
In what is more of a revue than a concert, Reader gives over large parts of the evening to musical reminiscences of her life and times, in particular to affectionate memories of Glasgow — where her childhood was brightened by a host of singing relatives — and London, where she lived in a squat before finding fame with Fairground Attraction.
Although the set is preordained, everything else seems wonderfully natural and impromptu as Reader sails off on flights of fancy while her band of friends and family — including husband John Douglas and songwriter Boo Hewerdine, both on guitar — lovingly try to keep her on the straight and narrow.
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