Crowd falls in love with Scouting for Girls

There was a sublime night of unadulterated pop from Scouting for Girls - and an impromptu marriage proposal - at the Inchyra Arts Club on November 13, writes Peter Drummond-Hay.

The show opened with the Dunwells,who were making a welcome return. The Leeds-based brothers David and Joe Dunwell, playing as a duo, entertained with their own brand of catchy tunes as they featured tracks from their latest album and some old favourites.

Then came Scouting for Girls, who started with a real bang.

Old favourite‘Heartbeat’set the tone for the evening with the audience singing along word perfectly.

Scouting for Girls have inherited the mantle of the Kinks and Squeeze with their melodic perfection and kitchen sink lyrics.

They play what can only be described as brilliantly constructed and eminently singable,‘old fashioned’pop songs.

Their rendition of the James Bond theme leading into their wish to be the secret agent and‘blow the bad guys away’ would make a cracking, if not politically correct ,theme song.

Their set came mainly from the new album‘Trouble with Boys’and that classic eponymous debut.

There was a seemingly unplanned stage invasion as someone called Jimmy stepped on to the stage and got down on one knee to propose to his true love Katie, who accepted. The proposal led to‘All I Need IsYou’complete with impromptu lyric change. I think we can guess what the happy couple’s first dance at the wedding might be.

With the atmosphere completely ramped up, the band went on to even greater heights with‘Posh Girls’and a real proper love song‘Count On Me’dedicated to the happy couple.

‘Elvis Ain’t Dead’quoted from the King’s back catalogue and had the crowd energised in true pantomime style as the chorus of‘Can’t Help Falling in Love With You’was performed by band and audience competitively.

This was a show of superb , good humoured entertainment led by the charismatic frontman, Roy Stride.

The energy exuded by the band was extraordinary as exemplified in the closing number,‘She’s So Lovely’.

It had been a fantastic show to finish the current run.