Forget Miracle on 34th Street. This was miracle on Kensington Gore. Aged 85, Sir Cliff Richard belted out the hits for the first of two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. The Peter Pan of Pop may be slightly doddery these days but – dressed in a sparkly jacket and diamanté loafers – he spun and jived across the stage while performing a set that included a dozen number ones spanning five decades. If the definition of a good gig is one that gives the crowd what they came for, then Richard delivered in spades during what was, astonishingly, his 125th Albert Hall show.
He even gave the faithful a festive bonus. Richard had a number one single for three consecutive Christmases, from 1988 to 1990, with Mistletoe and Wine, Band Aid II, and Saviour’s Day. Last night, we got the first and last of those, along with The Millennium Prayer, the holy mash-up of The Lord’s Prayer and Auld Lang Syne which saw Richard return to the top of the UK singles chart in 1999.
In decades to come, these three songs will be treasured relics from an era in which Britain’s Christian tradition was still given mainstream representation in popular culture. Christmas number ones these days are more likely to be about sausage rolls. Besides – let’s be honest – Mistletoe and Wine is a total banger (as the new cover version by rockers the Darkness reminds us). The fans in the Albert Hall, many festooned in fairy lights, swooned and swayed. It was like a Christmas knees-up at the Thursday Murder Club.
