Review of Bill Bailey Concert in Cardiff

By Nic Owen - I’ve been waiting for some years to see one of Bill Bailey’s shows and finally got to fulfill my ambition with his ‘Limboland tour’ in one of Cardiff’s, best venues.

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By Nic Owen
School of Education - MA Programme

I’ve been waiting for some years to see one of Bill Bailey’s shows and finally got to fulfill my ambition with his ‘Limboland tour’ in one of Cardiff’s, best venues.

The show is simply outstanding, by the finale (a typically madcap story about meeting Paul McCartney, which eventually leads to Bill poking him in the eye, has to be heard to be believed) which had me go through hysteria and out the other side, where I just sat in my seat, wheezing and whimpering with laughter, almost begging for mercy.

This shorter tour is a precursor to a stadium based tour next year. So clearly Bailey was ‘Trying out’ ideas, though nothing ever seem less than polished and engaging. St. David’s Hall lends itself well to this more intimate style of performance, where Bill can relate more to his audience. For myself, I’ve always found the Stadia style tours require a good pair of binoculars to see the distant action.

Bailey covers a wide range of topics; from politics to trying to teach his Dad how to skype, via a trip to Norway and a coruscating skit on a One Direction concert (i.e. ‘there’s the one who can’t sing, the one who can’t dance, the one who can’t sing or dance, and the one who knows which way the door opens so they can get out!’).

Hilarious from start to finish, he also has some of his inimitable musical interludes which included; a chicken protest song (marching on Kiev), Abba via German heavy rock and an audience participation session, where we generated our own Dance music. 

Bill will be back with this and more, when ‘Limboland’ returns for its stadium re-incarnation in 2016 (CIA in June). Unmissable, just remember the binoculars.

  • Recommended for those with a surrealist sense of humour
  • Not recommended for: young Tories, fans of one direction.