Tim Minchin

Tim Minchin

Today Tim Minchin released his latest live DVD, recorded at the Royal Albert Hall as part of his recent arena tour.

Tim Minchin And The Heritage Orchestra Live At The Royal Albert Hall is a live show that, whilst satirical and at times ridiculous, holds its own well as a live music spectacle.

Anyone worried that the step up to arenas is a brilliantly tongue-in-cheek 'Arenas', a sarcastic jibe at rock stars who make the step up to such large venues.

Although Tim told us that he sees himself as a musician and lyricist, it's undeniable that his solo career sees him typified as a comedian.

The show itself does well to balance the two, with every song proving their worth whilst being laugh-out-loud funny.

It's hard to strictly classify Minchin or his work, so it's perhaps best to enjoy it for...well, whatever it is.

Behind songs condemning the Pope, attacking the idea of prayer and lamenting rock star dreams is a real talent, Tim's skill as a pianist leading the Heritage Orchestra through an entertaining stage show.

The set-list itself is well balanced, seeing standards like 'Darkside', 'Rock n' Roll Nerd' and 'If I Didn't Have You' work alongside newer compositions like 'CONT' and 'Thank You God'.

Minchin's actual stand-up between songs is, as ever, rambling and somewhat awkward, which adds to the charm of the show.

He never lets the grand setting of the Royal Albert Hall affect him, commenting towards the start of the show: "Let's just skip the formalities...and have a massive orgy."

Bringing the orchestra into the show, Tim utilises them wonderfully, from fresh arrangements of old songs and writing new material with the grand performance in mind.

Of the new batch of material, 'Thank You God' stands out, despite being another Minchin song commenting on religion.

As always, it's intelligently done, with his usual references to literature littered amongst the well-crafted, hilarious satire.

The best example of older material being reworked comes towards the end, with a stunningly emotional (and genuine) performance of 'Not Perfect', which is as close as Tim ever gets to non-comic songwriter with his "solo" career.

One very minor gripe would be that a few of the jokes focusing on the Royal Wedding feel a little dated, although that's unavoidable given the timing of the show (on the day itself).

The quality of both the video and audio for the DVD is great, and Tim's ambitions on that front have held up well.

The DVD does well on the bonus features front, with a couple of nice documentaries and the inclusion of the animated film for his beat-poem 'Storm'.

Overall, this comes with a very high recommendation for Tim Minchin fans, and could go some way in converting his critics.

Female First - Alistair McGeorge (Follow me on Twitter @AlistairMcG)


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