REVIEW: The Geordie Rat Pack Destroy Songs from the Shows, The Customs House, South Shields

Comedy crooners The Geordie Rat Pack returned to the stage for a rib-tickling night of musical performances.
The Geordie Rat Pack.The Geordie Rat Pack.
The Geordie Rat Pack.

The lads – Jason Cook, Steffen Peddie, Neil Grainger and Glen Roughead – teamed up with the Paul James Band to take on songs from the shows.

The sold-out gig, part of the South Tyneside Comedy Festival, was absolutely electric.

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They’ve sold out every show they’ve done so far, with people who’ve seen them desperate for another chance, and those who haven’t dying to see what everyone’s talking about.

Plenty of hilarious surprises were in store as the guys performed songs from famous shows like Oliver, Les Misérables and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Armed with one ridiculous costume after another, the lads had their audience in stitches.

Roughead dressed as Susan Boyle for a rendition of I Dreamed A Dream was a hilarious, but slightly confusing moment. He performed the big song so beautifully that, had you had your eyes closed, you could have easily been reduced to tears. But the sight of him in a dress and curly wig was too much to handle.

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He was also made the butt of a joke by Cook, who secretly acquired a home video of him performing Joseph’s Close Every Door as a child, before dressing him in his very own technicolor dreamcoat, but Roughead had the last laugh as he belted out the song with his effortlessly-smooth vocals.

It was a night of celebration too. Roughead became a dad just two days earlier, and just last weekend, Grainger tied the knot.

He introduced the crowd to his new wife, Zoe, before surprising her by inviting her on stage to serenade her.

Belting out Meat Loaf’s I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That), he handed her a microphone so she could join him in duet.

It was a fun and gorgeously-sweet moment.

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The lads put their own twist on songs, including a brilliant Geordie version of Do Re Mi from the Sound of Music – I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to sing the real words every again.

They threw in some swing classics, like Ain’t That A Kick In The Head and Geordiefied ‘Wor Way’, and the atmosphere in the room was absolutely electric.

The entire crowd clapped and waved in time to the music, joined in by singing along, and rose to their feet in a thoroughly-deserved standing ovation.

These guys put on an incredible show every time they get together on stage. If you haven’t seen them yet, where have you been?

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The lads will be back later this year with a special Christmas show. They’ll be at the Tyne Theatre & Opera House, in Newcastle, on November 18. Click here to book tickets. You’ll have the time of your life!