Well, this wasn’t what I expected.

Last Wednesday, I got the chance to go to see who the hell Chas and Dave are. As a French person, I have heard quite a lot from my English friends, about these two special characters, defined as “the most British band you’ll ever find”. I wasn’t disappointed. The Britishness was there, as well as the fun I had. In fact, the audience mostly constituted of 50+, was on fire; from the old man singing along to all their songs, clapping his feet (yes, clapping), to the three men dancing coordinated moves spilling their beers everywhere.

However, I would say that I expected more of Chas and Dave, not very present on stage, standing (and sitting) still with rare movements around, keeping the classical bow at the end of songs. As beautiful as the City Varieties is, it was perhaps not the best place to dance around for the great pair. Indeed, they generally perform in venues where the audience has the possibility to move around, but the concert was surrounded by members of staff making sure everyone kept their seat.

As a completely new discovery, I found the first few songs entertaining, but after a while -and a long 20 minutes break- the rhythmic and melodic similarities lost my attention. I therefore ended up watching the audience and surprised the spectators (and Dave) staring at me a few times, which made me realise the age gap between me, and everyone above their 50s.

The gig was a good laugh, Chas and Dave being more like the uncles singing the same songs everyone knows at family dinners than anything else. But as a stranger, I didn’t feel as excited that I probably should have, maybe the present reality telling us that their audience is now only mostly constituted of fans following them since their hit ‘Rabbit’.

These two figures are however very lovable, making me end this review by quoting one of their songs: ‘I Don’t Know Why I Love You But I Do’.

Sarah Ashford-Brown

Image: Love Southend