Sophie Ellis Bexter Brings the Disco to Parr Hall, Warrington UK. 11th March 2022

 

 

WORDS AND IMAGES BY WARREN MILLAR

 

‘Everyone Was Dancing And It Was Like A Scene From  70’s/80’s Disco’

 

The Queen of the Kitchen Disco stopped off at Parr Hall, Warrington tonight with her “Kitchen Disco” Tour. Born in 1979 Ellis-Bextor first came to prominence in the late 1990s, as the lead singer of the indie rock band The Audience. Her First solo album “Read My Lips” was released in 2001 and reached number 2 in the U.K. Album Charts whilst also reaching double platinum status.

Every Friday during the spring lock down, for 10 weeks (March-May 2020) Ellis-Bextor held her live Instagram shows from her home. These Kitchen Disco shows were a massive hit. From this came her first greatest hits album “Songs From The Kitchen Disco” and now we get to see the live tour.

It’s raining quite heavy as we reach tonight’s venue Parr Hall, Warrington, but we know this won’t dampen the spirits of the people outside waiting for the doors to open. Amongst the die hard Bextor fans we notice a lot of youngster’s with their mums and dads, and lots of sequin dresses, tops and pants. Listening to one conversation it turns out that one young girl, waiting  in line with her dad, is attending her very first live music gig. Say what you want about Disco, cheesy pop music but for this young girl at her very first gig this is where, hopefully, her support for artists, bands, venues and live music gigs will start, no matter what the genre it will be in the future. That to me is a happy thought.

Once inside its noticeable that this is going to be an all seated event. This was not to be the case latter on in the evening once the disco beats started!

Our support for tonight is “Holiday Sidewinder”, great name by the way. Real name Holiday Sidewinder Carmen – Sparks is an Australian born indie/pop singer song-writer. She comes on stage wearing a great dress featuring Sandro Botticelli’s painting “The Birth of Venus” and looks every inch a disco deva. She sings along to her backing tracks also using her guitar and bongos and gets the ever growing audience well prepared for what is about to come. Would love to see this girl live with a band at some stage. Great support “Holiday”

 

 

The time had come for The Kitchen Disco Queen to come on stage, with the house lights lowered all we see on stage is the big Disco Ball lit and shining its reflections onto the white curtain covering the stage then the light changes and we can see the silhouette of Sophie Ellis Bextor on the white curtain which after a couple of seconds falls and to the delight of the crowd the show starts.

Bextor dressed in a red silk dressing gown starts the set with “Take Me Home” dancing and pulling disco shapes all over the stage. Her band suitably sequin clad are tight and poppy. Mrs Bextor knows how to get her audience wanting more and during her little chats in-between songs she has a few facts about Warrington (She’s done some research)  For instance she tells us that Warrington was the site for Ikea’s first ever U.K.  store (Educational as well as entertaining)

Just to mix things up a little Bextor has her own “Wheel of Fortune” which every now and then she spins. No money on this wheel, just a load of songs and where it lands that’s the song she and her band do next, Brilliant !

 

 

Bextor effortlessly goes through her set off disco classics and covers such as “Disco Inferno”, “Groovejet (If this Aint Love)”, “Walking On Broken Glass” and “Like a Prayer” amongst the stand outs. The set ends with her classic “Murder On the Dance Floor”

We then have a two song encore, Both covers starting with a Madness classic “Our House” and finishing the night off with Rogers & Hammerstein’s “My Favourite Things”.

As stated before by now no one was seated, everyone was dancing and it was like a scene from some of the cheesy 70’s/80’s disco night clubs we all went to at some stage in our musical upbringing.

All in all a very enjoyable night, even if it’s not your scene, musically, you would have to be tone deaf or just plain miserable not to have liked this show.

Hats off to The Queen Of The Kitchen Disco “Sophie Ellis Bextor” Great night. As a final thought I hope the young girl with her dad for who this was her very first live music gig I hope that this gig has lit the spark to a future lover of live music. The Power Of Music !!

 

 

SET LIST

1/ Take Me Home (Cher cover)

2/ Disco Inferno (The Trammps cover)

3/ Wild Forever

4/ Dancing Queen (ABBA cover)

5/ Mixed Up World

6/ Young Blood

7/ There Are Worse Things I Could Do (Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey cover)

8/ Walking on Broken Glass (Annie Lennox cover)

9/ Get Over You

10/ Lady (Hear Me Tonight) (Modjo cover)

11/ Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love) (Spiller cover)

12/ Sing It Back (Moloko cover)

13/ Crying at the Discoteque (Alcazar cover)

14/ Like a Prayer (Madonna cover)

15/ Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer) (Freemasons cover)

16/ Murder on the Dance Floor

Encore:

17/ Our House (Madness cover)

18/ My Favorite Things (Rodgers & Hammerstein cover)

 

 

 

 

FOLLOW SOPHIE ELLIS BEXTER

WEB SITE

 

FOLLOW HOLIDAY SIDEWINDER

  1. WEB SITE

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA