Music / Previews
Preview: Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band & The Rutles
Music and comedy can be awkward bedfellows. From the well intentioned agony of the charity single to whimsical three-chord fumblings at stand-up shows, there’s enough weak stuff out there to test the patience of the jolliest music fan. There are exceptions of course, and when an act comes along that’s both musically inspired and properly funny we should treasure them. So it is with The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, who are in Bristol this month to celebrate fifty years in the business. It’s part of a fourth annual season for Christmas at the Spiegeltent – a month-long series of shows that also features performances by Al Murray, the Puppini Sisters, Greg Wilson and the Hackney Colliery Band, not to mention a craft beer festival and a masquerade ball.
The Bonzos are the stand-out booking this year though, and there’s a Bristol connection too. As well as being a genius performer of rare and surreal wit, original Bonzos frontman Vivian Stanshall was the man who turned Thekla into an entertainment venue. While Stanshall sadly passed away in 1995 the Spiegeltent show is the real thing, as five original members including Rodney Slater, Sam Spoons and Python-affiliate Neil Innes revisit the likes of Mr Slater’s Parrot, Rhinocratic Oaths and Canyons Of Your Mind. Guests include Michael Livesley, whose Viv Stanshall tribute Sir Henry Lives! received rave reviews in 2011, and “prefab four” beat group The Rutles, as seen in the Innes-scored 1975 mockumentary All You Need Is Cash.
The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band & The Rutles, Christmas at the Spiegeltent, Wednesday, December 2. For more information visit www.christmasspiegeltent.co.uk
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