Review: FOREVER PLAID, St James Theatre Studio, April 8 2016

The conceit at the centre of Forever Plaid concerns an All-American early 60s boy band cut off in their prime by a car crash who have returned to earth and are finally able to give the gig for which they were always destined. Sure they're dead but they, er, sing like angels, with plenty of close harmony classics from the 50s to work through. Another way of looking at it would be to imagine The Beach Boys, frozen in time wearing their stripy Pendleton shirts long before Brian dropped acid and stared into a future revealed by the Beatles' Rubber Soul.

What transpires is an evening of the most undemanding entertainment you will ever enjoy, the perfect conclusion to day spent answering emails and staying awake through meetings. The songs are all half-remembered from adverts or movies, and the boys deliver them with a winning charm and no little skill. It's a show that isn't just delightful but one that's full of delights.

Each of the lads is eager to please, each swiftly establishing their characters with a bit of intra-band bickering or a moment or two's joshing with the audience. Each sings well individually (with Matthew Quinn, behind geekish glasses, also impressing on double bass) but the real joy comes with the four-part close harmonies that drive the tunes. Quinn gets the baritone stuff, but Jon Lee (yes, him out of S Club), Keith Jack (yes, him out of Any Dream Will Do) and Luke Striffler work together with such lovely vocals and convey a real sense that they're enjoying it as much as we are. You can't help but be swept along with the sheer bonhomie of it all.

Amongst the songs, Perfidia and Catch A Falling Star stand out, as does a pitch-perfect pastiche of She Loves You (that's if the Beatles came from Louisiana not Liverpool, you understand). I'd have loved to have heard Buddy Holly's sublime True Love Ways too, but you can't have everything.

And, in the blinking of an eye, the lads were done and we left happy to have been whisked back in time for a blissful couple of hours.

Forever Plaid continues at St James Theatre Studio until 24 April

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