"On a stage in Edinburgh, thick with dry ice, a bus shelter materialises and a man in black steps out. Mike Skinner, AKA the Streets, has come to take us back in time. Pint in his right hand, mic in his left, he begins: It was supposed to be so easy And just like that it's 2004 again. Had he been trying to court a mass audience, Skinner wrote in his memoir, I certainly wouldn't have made a concept album about someone losing"
"Full-album shows can be hit and miss, but the picaresque nature of the record suits a recital, and an impressive live band reproduces its colourful sound world. The staging is semi-theatrical. Skinner, head to toe in Stone Island, remains in character for the time it takes to run through all 11 tracks. He doesn't acknowledge the audience. His delivery is deadpan."
"Roo Savill, in particular, is fantastic in the role of Simone, the girlfriend in the album's story: flirty on Could Well Be In, combative in Get Out of My House. After a brief interval, Skinner runs through a selection of other work. Breaking character, he raps into faces and phones. Given the earlier intensity, he seems happy to be playful."
Mike Skinner stages A Grand Don't Come for Free at the Corn Exchange in Edinburgh, recreating the album's 2004 narrative with a semi-theatrical bus-shelter set and dry-ice atmosphere. He remains in-character, delivering the story in a deadpan tone while a talented live band reproduces the album's colourful arrangements. Backing vocalists, especially Roo Savill as Simone, provide crucial, characterful performances. After an interval Skinner performs other songs, briefly breaking character to interact playfully with the crowd, which suits some tracks but undercuts the emotional weight of Never Went to Church. The concert concludes with Skinner crowd-surfing.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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