BWW Reviews: BOND AND BEYOND, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, November 23 2014

Bond and Beyond was a concert staged to celebrate music from the 23 James Bond films. Accompanied by an orchestra we are presented with a variety of songs from the movies along with a few additional music pieces from other spy/crime themes from film and television. Between song introductions conductor Clive Dunstall delivers facts about the making of each movie and the song which is featured in it.

The guest singers featured were Tim Howar and Louise Dearman. Howar was excellent, although a little intense throughout some of his performance. Dearman was the stand-out singer for me as she took on "Goldfinger", "Skyfall" and "Nobody Does It Better" effortlessly. Both performers also injected their own personality into the onstage chat between songs which made the concert seem a little less stiff.

The "beyond" parts of the concert were a little unnecessary in my opinion and stood out as filler pieces. There were two medleys which were performed by the orchestra and featured over 30 theme tunes from the likes of Charlie's Angels, Hawaii 5-0 and er, The Bill..

While Clive Dunstall was an excellent conducter, he was a somewhat nervous host. The material was scripted but his delivery came across as awkward and some of his jokes fell flat. However, he was also responsible for the excellent arrangements that we heard so I think he is far more at ease as a conductor.

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