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Review: Doreen Doreen, Electric Bristol – ‘Leave your ego at the door, get on the dancefloor”
When I grow up, I want to be in Doreen Doreen.
For a band founded in 1982 they are full of childlike mischief, maintaining the wonder and still ecstatic to be together on stage after all these years.
The Bristol legends brought their annual Doreen Doreen party two a packed out Electric for two nights of glittery festive fun.
This is the first gig I’ve been to where the queue for the guest list is bigger than standard entry, with rumours of a list 250 people strong.
Carol Whitworth takes her throne centrestage
Their set is a mammoth 25 songs which contain another 25 within them. If you haven’t seen Doreeen Doreen, you really should: they blend songs together better than any band I’ve ever seen. Five ABBA songs effortlessly glide like Santa on his Sleigh through the starry spangled night.
Centrestage is Carol Whitworth, sitting on her star-shaped throne. The most energetic and vibrant band in the business, they are a hive of captivating creativity. There is no end to their ways of having fun on stage.
Carol converses in her thick Geordie accent as if in conversation, constantly making people crack up: “It’s better than last night already”. “Turn the lights up I wanna see my babs!”
Never has a crowd been such a perfect reflection of a band on stage. It’s clear that most people are ‘out out’: everywhere I look there are kaleidoscopes of glitter, sequins and baubles. The confetti canons are the icing on the Christmas cake, sprinkling ecstatic revellers during an Elton John megamix.
‘Leave your ego at the door and get on the dancefloor’
There’s time for a brief flash during an epic cover of Bohemian Rhapsody. The show is packed with Christmas songs, but we all draw breath to sing happy birthday to an emotional Carol, this being the last day of her 60s.
Giving us PROPA BANGAS From LADY GAGGAS, which in a Geordie accent will always be funny, the band don Star Suits to dance their hearts out and join us in the crowd. They must have been boiling, and it’s all so silly.
This is not a gig for people who take themselves seriously: leave your ego at the door and get on the dancefloor.
What for many is Bristol’s one true Christmas party raged for two consecutive nights at Electric
The pyrotechnics are fizzing, and crowd is filled with sparkling smiles, as Queen’s We Are the Champions ends the set.
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without this glorious event in my calendar. Same time and same place next year.
All images: Matt Barnes
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