What: The Magnets – 90s Rewind
Where: Wonderland
Spiegeltent at Gluttony – Rymill Park
Duration: 60 minutes
When: now through to March 15
(Reviewed by John Glennie)
I’ve seen The Magnets every year bar one since their first gig in 2012. For me, they lost their way a bit in the last few years but, after seeing this year’s show … The Magnets are BACK!!! For those who don’t know them, they are an a cappella group – originally all from the UK but now 2 Brits (Scotland – founding member Callum MacIntosh – and Wales), 2 from the USA and one from the USA but who has lived in England for 5 years.
They have a couple of new faces from the USA who have exceptional voices and talent. They kicked off with Robbie Williams’ ‘Let Me Entertain You’ followed by Backstreet Boys’ ‘Everybody’. After thanking Adelaide for its hospitality they thanked Australia for AC/DC and launched into ‘Thunderstruck’ – after which they admitted it wasn’t a 90s song, but “how could you leave such a great song out!”.
The hits kept coming with a few surprises –the Welsh singer admitted to being a diva and presented several diva songs throughout the show. This included songs from Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and Britney Spears, and he did them superbly well. We were even treated to some New York rap and just about every 90s genre you can imagine.
Three quarters of the way through the show they said they only had time for one more song – but it was going to go for about 13 minutes! Just after this announcement, everyone in the venue – including the performers – literally ducked for cover as the fly-over for the V8 Supercars seemed like the F18 Hornets flew straight through the tent! It was incredibly loud and they had to fill in time for nearly 5 minutes until the display came to a conclusion.
I had always vowed, but forgot it was this weekend, that I would never book a daytime Fringe show at Gluttony or The Garden when the V8s were on. Luckily we couldn’t hear the cars this year … but those jets?!? Anyway, the last 13-15 minutes was a medley of US / British hits from the 90s which was brilliantly put together, choreographed and performed.
This is a definite must-see this year – don’t be put off if you saw them last year and weren’t that impressed, because this year you will be. I think it is a strong candidate for an award!
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