ShareSophie Ellis-Bextor performing her Christmas Kitchen Disco Tour at The Royal Concert Hall Nottingham on Saturday 9th December 2023.
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
Sophie Ellis-Bextor brought her all singing, all dancing Christmas adaptation of her Kitchen Disco to The Royal Concert Hall on Saturday night and the lockdown glitter ball party sensation she streamed live on Instagram during the depths of the pandemic ensured that there was not a seat to be had.
With her husband, bassist Richard Jones and the band all wearing Santa hats, Christmas trees adorning the stage, and tinsel around the microphone stands, she kicked off the show with a sparkly version of Leroy Anderson and his Pops’ seasonal 1948 classic Sleigh Ride, which had the crowd up on their feet to join in with her festive celebrations.
Pitching a seamlessly ninety minute festive bonanza, she bounced around the stage and launched into the likes of Music Gets The Best Of Me, and her disco fuelled Get Over You. There was also an outing from her latest album, Hana, called Hypnotised which transitioned smoothly into another new song, A Thousand Orchids.
She switched it up again for an acoustic version of Lost In The Sunshine, which was a real highlight with the addition of the vocal harmonies and an elegant string arrangement. Never keeping still for a moment she introduced a wheel that on a spin dictated that Catch Me and Cher’s Take Me Home would entertain the crowd, before the Christmas staples, her faithful but fun take on the likes of Brenda Lee’s Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree, and Shakin’ Stevens Merry Christmas Everyone was peppered among pop standards such as a fantastic version of Madonna’s Like A Prayer.
Segueing Ibiza classic number one, Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love) into The Waitresses’ Christmas Wrapping and back again worked really well, before Crying At The Discotheque and set closer, Murder On The Dance Floor had everyone singing right back at her.
For the encore there was a cover of Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You and an incredibly beautiful version of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas accompanied by just her violinists which saw many a moist eye in the crowd.
Delivering a show where everyone in the crowd had something to enjoy, whether it be her classics, her excellent covers of outstanding tunes or her Christmas favourites, Sophie Ellis-Bextor had certainly started the festive season early.
