Radio Luxembourg
Things we loved
- Authentic recreation of classic songs
- Perfect balance between story and song
While much popular music is a stream of artists tapping into the sound and “vibe” of the day, the things that keep it from growing stagnant are the unexpected downpours of fresh ideas and some random acts of novelty.
Although I grew up on a diet of 60s, 70s, and 80s music, I appreciate the lyrical linguistics of a Taylor Swift, and the kaleidoscope of sounds and ideas produced by the likes of Billie Eilish who morphs from one musical idea to another like a fascinating chameleon.
The human tendency to fall for recency bias in which current music, art, etc, is thought of as fresh and past efforts are dubbed “stale”, is a thief of wonder, robbing younger ears and minds of the rawness, the beauty, the energy, and the surprise of past eras where “that old stuff” was fresh and emerging.
What happens in Radio Luxembourg, is that John Waters and his band breathe new life into classic songs, describing the context of their emergence and conspirators who gave rise to them and then, present them to us in an exquisitely mixed soundscape that leaves the shackles of old and tired recordings behind.
This was the chief wonder of this show. Waters and co transport us back to the 1960s and they give us an opportunity to experience these musical creations anew, whether you were there first time around, or you’re fresh to this music today.
This reviewer wasn’t quite old enough to soak in 60s songs by The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Hollies, or The Kinks when they were first released. This show rights that wrong.
Radio Luxembourg is an ah ha moment for the musically curious.
Opening with My Generation sets the stage perfectly. We see the “older bodies” on stage, but we hear the “energy of youth”. At once, John Waters becomes Roger Daltrey, and we experience The Who, as if for the first time. Indeed, we ask, just whose generation was Pete Townsend advocating for? Theirs? Ours? In the hands of Waters and the superb band, “generation” becomes an irrelevant term, redundant in the face of music that is timeless. In fact, the band helps a slew of radio classics break free from the shackles of tinny recordings and reanimates them into the larger-than-life anthems they deserve to be enjoyed as. In this way, Radio Luxembourg is the Jurassic Park of popular music, minus the terrifying ending, unless you include the heartfelt rendition of Sympathy For The Devil which heralds the end of the show being near.
Yes, there is some cabaret-style storytelling about the rationale behind having a radio station on continental Europe, Radio Luxembourg, broadcasting raunchy rock ‘n’ roll across international borders into England to fill the entertainment gap left by the conservative BBC’s eschewing of such “noise”. But, honestly, the recreation of a select number of iconic songs is what truly stands out in this show. In the end, the balance is just right.
The band is a superb outfit, delivering music and backing vocals with Jo Elms on percussion, Paul Berton on guitar, Greg Henson on drums, and Victor Rounds on bass. Special mention must be made of Stewart D’Arrietta on keyboards and vocals. What D’Arrietta can’t get his twin keyboards to produce isn’t worth producing. From the fat Hammond sound on Tin Soldier to accordion on Where Do You Go To (My Lovely), with many stops and changes in between, he enables the band to metamorphise from style to style, and always WITH style. It would have been a sin for Waters to have D’Arrietta on stage without letting him pour his lorry full of gravel into the show, by channelling the late, great Joe Cocker’s vocals on Feelin’ Alright.
In short, Radio Luxembourg is a show that helps us rediscover the artistry and joy that has long sat in the 60s archive, gradually fading into “those songs” due to saturated familiarity. John Waters takes us up close to the musical wallpaper we’ve all just been taking for granted and walking past, and points out the detail, the cleverness, and the storm of human creativity that could not be stopped at the border and which shouted at the establishment that its ironclad grip on public tastes was out of time!
Radio Luxembourg has completed its 2025 Adelaide Fringe run but can be followed at Radio Luxembourg Live.