Pop classics help heal the cuts

Super Troupers

Theatre Royal Norwich

Fed up with 'breaking news' about spending cuts? Well here was the chance to pull on your flares and head back 40 years to an era of ...er...recession and a rocky economy.

The 1970s were a grim decade of rising unemployment, union unrest and terrorism. But they were also a time when people could escape the harsh reality of everyday life through the songs of two pop superpowers, say thank you for the music and realise they should be dancing.

Abba and the Bee Gees have sold more than 200 million records each. Both penned and performed timeless songs - some sad, some happy - whose glitz and style have not tarnished over the years, unlike many of us who listened to them first time around.

There are plenty of tribute shows to both bands but Supertroupers, passing through Norwich on a one-night stand, was a cocktail of both shaking and stirring the audience into singalong swayalong action.

The first half was the Bee Gees , beginning with the melodic numbers such as Massachussetts and Words. But the crowd was there for the classic disco pop corn which sweetened their lives back in the day, and the tight six piece band dished it up by the bucketload. When the falsetto strains of You Should be Dancin, Staying Alive and Night Fever kicked in it was party time in some of the aisles.

The second half Abba band had more visually through choregraphy and overhead projections but was less polished musically. However they still had the crowd cheering when they delivered Mamma Mia, Dancing Queen and Waterloo with plenty of verve.

It was a good time show to help forget the bad times, by turning back the clock, because the only potential pop antidote to the current economic woes is...an X Factor winner. Oh dear. Where is my Tardis?

Richard Batson