It was to a packed house that “Mikelangelo & The Black Sea Gentlemen” played at the Spiegeltent. They played a brand of Gypsy-esque music that while not deliberately hilarious in terms of lyrics, was more left of center with their vivid storytelling songs including some strange lyrical analogies.
The band consisted of Mikelangelo on vocals & guitar, The Great Muldavio on clarinet, Rufino “The Catalan Casanonva” on violin (as well as the occasional spot on the Glockenspiel), Guido Libido on Piano Accordion (he was introduced as “The man of a thousand faces, although he will be only using one of them tonight”) & Ruprecht der Schreckliche on bass. All of the band members portrayed their larger than life characters with gusto, complete with European accents of dubious origin. Being the front man, Mikelangelo was the ultimate Gypsy-Rockstar. He wandered through the crowd on many occasions, eying off various audiences like a Sex God. Whilst combing his hair for the umpteenth time, he commented “This place hasn’t got enough mirrors”.
Most of the material played was from their recent album ” Journey Through The Land of Shadows”. Some musical highlights were: “The Formidable Marinade” – A sexy song about Cannibalism. Rufino played a violin solo while balancing on the shoulders on Mikelangelo. “Walk Tall” featuring Guido on the spoons. “Things Will Never Be The Same” featuring vocals by Rufino. He began the song with a preamble that told the story of his life growing up with a French Baker after his parents ran away to join the circus. It was quite an energetic performance from him with his climbing on the piano like a sexy vamp. Towards the end of the song, he made his way to the bar, climbing up on that too. “The Wrong thing to do” with Ruprecht on vocals. He removed his jacket & rolled up his sleeves to perform a bass/cello solo as the rest of the band watched on. He then redressed & continued with the song. “Figueras” a song performed by guest vocalist Anushka, “The Russian Princess”. While we may have expected a Russian song of some sort, instead she sang a vaguely Spanish tune. Just like the rest of the band she camped it up with a dodgy Russian accent.
It would be interesting to see the Black Sea Gentlemen perform in a regular band venue. I’m sure that without a seated audience, people would be dancing up a storm with massive smiles on their faces. Even without the dancing, everyone had a great time.