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Alexander O’Neal
Boisdale of Canary Wharf, London/Touring
ALEXANDER O’NEAL clearly subscribes to the showbiz motto “always leave them wanting more,” for this was a short and sweet set of less than a dozen numbers.
Yet it was difficult to feel shortchanged as the lights went up. We heard all his best stuff on the night and, in any case, the abbreviated cabaret approach seemed to suit Boisdale’s upmarket set-up, where diners push back their chairs to take in some post-prandial entertainment.
There’s also a suspicion that O’Neal, who has had some well-publicised health issues, is sensibly managing the pace on what for a 64-year-old is a substantial 60-date tour across Britain that will still be going on in February. After three numbers he retreated to his stool to sing Sunshine, followed by his best offering of the evening, If You Were Here Tonight.
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
