Rock’ n’ Roll Heaven, a glitzy tribute to six monumental stars of the rock’n’roll era had a good rockin’ soundtrack. Unfortunately, these hits were the only things to recommend this show and, as a whole, this performance provided only summertime blues.

The framing device used to present these songs was frankly weak. The
various rock’n’roll legends were portrayed by four actors. The six taken up here were Elvis, Roy Orbison, Ricky Nelson, Buddy Holly, Del Shannon and Eddie Cochran. These stars each came forward, played a four-song set and introduced the next act. This meant the show had little narrative and any potential for pace was ruined. This was also harmed by the arrangement of the songs. Pieces of the era have identical rhythms that, when listened to back-to-back, simply leave you bored.

This music was performed by a disitinctly boring and inept band. There was a particularly painful moment where the three supporting singers tried and failed to bob along in time to the music. Worse than this, the keyboardist seemed unable to decide whether he was a musical director or a band member. Finally, the whole band lacked charisma and were frustratingly static; I was totally unsurprised when Elvis told us the bassist had won a competition to be on that stage.

This is not to say everything about the show was poor. There was a great deal of talent here. This was made particularly clear by Damien Edwards, who played both Roy Orbison and Del Shannon. Edwards’ singing talent, charisma and interactions with the audience were brilliant. The chosen tunes were very well performed throughout. On top of this, the tech and the set used were both inventive.

Overall, despite the talent of the singers, Rock’n’Roll Heaven was a dull affair. The songs performed have always been brilliant, but this was certainly not the best way to present them. A narrative would have been helpful, if only to give the show some pace. In the end, it stands up on the quality of the music alone and I have all these albums, played by the real artists, on CD.

Two stars

First published 11/10/11