Chilly Gonzales at the Albert Hall review: music's cult hero triumphs with Jarvis Cocker as his Private Dancer

“At heart, I americium an optimist,” declares Chilly Gonzales, dressed similar a 17th-century vampire composer, each ruffs, moustache and slicked backmost hair, a antheral with the perpetual aerial of a prankster-seer. “I americium a solid half-full person. Or indeed, a venue half-full person.”

It is simply a pithy but not resentful remark astir the Albert Hall having galore bare seats connected this bedewed Monday night, thing which is much London’s responsibility than his. Where is everyone? This amusement was rather evidently going to beryllium 1 of the highlights of the autumn featuring 1 of music’s existent cult heroes, with impermanent prima Jarvis Cocker and enactment from Peter Serafinowicz doing Elvis.

I mean, travel connected Londoners, what are you doing with your lives?

Later, successful 1 of his predominant funny/serious (and fewer bash funny/serious rather arsenic good arsenic Gonzales) monologues, helium reminisces astir his emergence to prominence successful the aboriginal 2000s, erstwhile this Canadian archetypal took connected the Chilly Gonzales moniker, moved to Germany and declared himself the President of the Berlin Underground, and made bully usage of this caller net thing. Gonzalez embraced MySpace and that determination YouTube to find an assemblage for his eccentric signifier of genius, moving with the likes of Peaches, Jane Birkin and Daft Punk earlier astonishing everyone with the merchandise of his acclaimed, beauteous Solo Piano albums.

“But past capitalism got clasp of it,” helium says, “And present we person the Spotify playlist and I find myself classed arsenic ‘Neo-Classicalism’.” Expanding connected his point, helium talks of the blanding retired of euphony arsenic the streamers question to categorise musicians into convenient categories and caller musicians unreserved to capable specified categories with their ain takes connected the ‘genre’ to delight the algorithms. Now each euphony is ending up arsenic “muzak” – that aged word for cheesy inheritance buying centre banalities.

Gonzales past plays his retort to this: a opus called Neoclassical Massacre. He some rages against and lampoons specified euphony successful mode that volition astir apt really delight the algorithms contempt him rapping implicit it, “I was the archetypal underground dude, to marque a soft grounds with a popular attitude/...Today they telephone it neoclassical but don’t confuse it, it’s a agelong to adjacent telephone that s**t yoga music.”

One mightiness deliberation that amid the terribly dull euphony country implicit the past fewer years – amounting to a depressing slew of ‘let’s get this viral’ societal media popular and sentimental firm balladeers – that the genuine eccentrics which euphony utilized to breed are connected the mode out. Except, the grounds close up determination connected stage. There is inactive anticipation for philharmonic maniacs successful what turns retired to beryllium a triumphant show, wherever the progressively ecstatic sound from the assemblage makes the spot consciousness much than full.

It’s yet triumphant owed to the sheer charisma of the antheral up there, and the sheer unpredictability of the show. Gonzalez veers from virtuoso soft displays, to creation epics with his band, to chanteuse wanderings from his spot to clasp the assemblage successful the thenar of his hand.

At 1 stage, helium muses connected Richard Wagner and the trouble of separating the creation from the artist, fixed however Wagner “literally wrote a publication astir hating Jewish people,” earlier launching furiously into playing timpani drums arsenic helium raps implicit the thunder: ‘F-*-*-* Richard Wagner, what a motherf***ing monster/King Kong conquered Western culture, F**k him and his Nazi granddaughter.”

Then helium segues into a spot however helium is (genuinely) moving a run to get Wagner Strasse successful Cologne renamed Tina Turner Strasse’ since she was a Cologne nonmigratory for a clip and, you know, a bully quality being. At which constituent Jarvis Cocker ambles connected signifier to sing a slinky mentation of Private Dancer accompanied by Gonzales connected the piano. It’s precise comic and oddly moving, and astir brings the location down.

Look, you had to beryllium there. Really, you had to beryllium there. Where were you?

It being half-term, determination were a batch of children successful the audience, my 12 twelvemonth aged included. As Gonzales talked of his separation from the euphony manufacture successful favour of “just being myself”, I thought what finer relation exemplary is determination than this guy, our eccentrically dressed, insanely gifted, quip-loaded, Nazi-hating, Spotify-rejecting, mediocrity-defying, warm-hearted Chilly Gonzales?