My long overdue first experience of this show … I’ve never had even one iota of interest in “Blood Brothers”, despite not really knowing the story (I definitely recall at one time thinking it had something to do with the Krays, lol) or anything else about it, and despite its long-running status which really speaks for itself: it was simply a case of, almost literally everyone I ever heard talk about it with any enthusiasm happened to be just the kind of people whose opinions really didn’t fire me up. It struck me as a musical a lot like the dire stage version of the movie / TV show “Fame”: something filled with upbeat pop songs, designed to make the audience come back unnecessarily again and again, sing along, dance on their seats, in general be annoying, lol. Cheesy as hell, simple as a soap opera.

The funny thing, it is kinda exactly that, and yet I’ve found myself going back to listen again and again and I will dive happily into any other recording I find (after the first listen, the only thing I could think of was, “did Maria Friedman ever do this!?!??!?” ... I can’t find anything online about her ever having done it – I think her as the mother would be effing amazing) It’s so earthy and real, it just totally straddles the line between cheese and art perfectly. I was astonished to learn that Willy Russell not only wrote the lyrics but also the music (apologies if I’m sounding like a musical neanderthal right now) ... the music is one of my favourite things about it, in this recording in particular, it’s so airy, like it’s been recorded in a forest or something … “Long Sunday Afternoon” is just gorgeous, a disembodied saxophone creating instant mood.

I imagine this is a killer experience live, there’s no way you couldn’t get wrapped up in the story and the anthemic tunes. I’ll be going to see it as soon as I get the opportunity, no matter who’s in the cast, and I urge everyone to give it a listen … I can only speak for this recording, but I imagine others are the same if not more inclusive of the whole plot – this one does get a little hard to follow around the point of “The Robbery” – ... you still get the gist of it, it’s pretty simple to begin with, but utterly moving. If I ever get round to making a list of my all-time fave musicals, I’m still getting over the surprise to say this will be in the top ten, I think.

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