Adam Ant - Live At he Bloomsbury

Antmania is alive and well and lives in London

After an 11-year absence from live performance, Adam Ant returned to the stage at London’s Bloomsbury Theatre on 24 September 2007 (not 24 July 2008 as mistakenly noted on the sleeve here). Billed as “an intimate evening”, the 500-seat venue was sold out within days of the performance being announced, which shows there are still signs of Antmania in the UK. Those present saw a wonderfully fit and alert Adam performing with vigor and wit. The recordings made that night were originally shelved but, after much pressure from Antfans on the internet, Essential Works have released this trimmeddown version of the evening.

Ant was accompanied on acoustic guitar by childhood friend Dave Pash, who had written new arrangements for classics such as Stand & Deliver, Young Parisians, Goody Two Shoes and surprise covers of Catch A Falling Star and Softly As I Leave You (the latter unfortunately not included on this release). Between the songs Adam read passages of his autobiography and three lengthy excerpts of these have been included.

In all, this is a very promising release on several counts; Ant shows himself to be an eager and fit performer, Pash a very able guitarist. Add to that the power of fans who made it possible for this album to be released, and a very promising catalogue number (ANTCD 001) – is this the return of the Ant?

Essential Works | ANTCD 001

Reviewed by Freek Kinkelaar
<< Back to Issue 361