Fascinating Aida: Pearls Before Wine

Assembly George Street
6 - 14 August, 19.25

Returning to help celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Assembly, Fascinating Aida are on top from. They may have been going almost as long as the venue (Assembly that is not the actual building!) but the razor sharp wit and skill is undiminished. It is wonderfully disarming to watch the three chanteuses dressed in their best sequinned party frocks singing about dogging and euthanasing their elderly mothers, throwing in the odd f word along the way.

The evening is a mix of songs old and new and you realise just how strong the songs, written by Dillie Keane and Adele Anderson, hold up. Numbers written 15 years ago are just as fresh, relevant and funny today. There is new material too, including a splendid new song about a nameless budget airline. It is down to the enormous charm of the three performers, Liza Pullman  is the third member, that they get away with some risque material that might have some in the audience tutting disapproval if delivered by younger, less experienced performers.

The trio have been a fixture of the festival for such a long time that it is tempting to take them for granted. You forget just how sharp their material is. Peerless performers in a terrific show.

- by Keith Paterson