The expectant crowd sat in the baking bank holiday Monday sunshine, as the DJ banged out some 80’s classic pop tunes and the tension mounted in the Lambley pub garden.
For those of the audience with a good enough memory and very vivid imagination, it was like waiting for Live Aid to kick start back in the ’80s. And then, finally, the DJ cut short Bananarama and immediately switched to the pre-recorded backing track (no Andrew Ridgely look-a-like, unfortunately) and there he was. An amazingly accurate incarnation of George Michel, dressed in black trousers and a black shirt with a glamorous, shiny blue jacket topped off with the regulation sunglasses and gleaming white teeth.
Minding he didn’t hit his head on the rafters of the patio roof, he belted out a mixture of George Michael and Wham songs such as Freedom, Careless Whisper, Club Tropicana and more. The crowd were fully bought into the scenario and enthusiastically clapped and sang along, and when ‘George’ asked if anyone had any requests, a lady at the back yelled “I want your sex” which had to be pointed out that it was a song title rather than a personal demand.
After thirty minutes of non-stop craziness in the blazing sun, George had to take a break, much to the disappointment of a group of lightly inebriated and overheated ladies who stood on the pub decking.
It was a rather surprising coup that the landlady managed to get George, or Rob Lamberti as he is otherwise known, for a second performance at the pub. He was at the beginning of a re-scheduled tour of the UK which takes in venues such as Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall and other illustrious theatres from Inverness to Cornwall. His first visit was in 2020 when a brief easing of the lockdown allowed a show to be arranged. It was said that it was the ‘best day out of the year’ for the devoted village following. As it happened, due to the lockdown being reinstated, it was the only day out of the year but that was just unfortunate.
As the bar staff toiled in the heat to keep the audience in cold drinks, the second part of the show began with a costume change from George. He had swapped the smart blue jacket for a black American Police Officers uniform complete with handcuffs and black leather gloves, as famously worn by George in the ‘Outside’ video back in the day. Continuing with the accurately impersonated songs and realistic dance moves, the party was now in full swing. Even when he resorted to singing the unlikely, Last Christmas, in the June sunshine, the crowd merrily joined in with gusto.
At the end of the show and after an obligatory encore, ‘George’ or ‘Rob’, was gracious enough to spend time having photos with his fans and stayed for a while to have drinks on the balcony.
The consensus among the crowd was that a great fun afternoon had been had by all and it was agreed that it’s not every bank holiday Monday that you get to see a popular music legend in Lambley, especially one who passed away five years earlier.