A huge array of comics and musicians pay tribute

There was no confusing the two fanbases at the O2 last night, with Charlie XCX playing London’s largest arena and a much greyer crowd paying tribute to the late Neil Innes in the smaller Indigo room.

‘Never meet your heroes,’ said Stephen Fry in a video introduction. ‘Unless they are Neil Innes. He was a true hero because of his wit and the purity and brilliance of his musicianship’ – and utterly charming as a person, by all accounts shared at this gig.

The first half focussed on his music more than his comedy, with Martin Lewis – the one who produced The Secret Policeman’s Ball rather than the money-saving expert –  saying the Python collaborator was such a sublime songwriter he deserved to be mentioned in the same breath as icons such as Cole Porter and Noel Coward.

He was, of course, more famous for his parodies, especially pastiche band The Rutles, who often sound more like the Beatles than the Beatles, and who reunited to close the night with a greatest-hits medley, ending in a rousing version of Shangri-La. Though another highlight was Joe Stilgoe – formerly of Alex Horne’s band the Horne Section – belting out the perfect Elton John parody Godfrey Daniel, fully of wittily twee aphorisms.

The list of musicians lining up to pay their respects to Innes, who died at the end of 2019 at the age of 75, was lengthy. And if the vibe was often that of old men jamming, well that’s only to be expected. 

Lewis called on the audience to proselytise on Innes’ behalf, so he would not only be remembered by ageing baby boomers. One of the few areas Innes didn’t excel at, Lewis explained, was self promotion ‘because he was humble, only interested in creating great songs and entertaining the audience’.

Among the countless acts taking to the stage were two of  Innes’ colleague in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, 83-year-old Rodney Slater and  80-year-old ‘Legs’ Larry Smith, the latter sadly revealing he had ‘the thing that Johnny Walker’s got’, the lung disease pulmonary fibrosis.

Maddy Prior and Julian Littman from Steeleye Span performed Innes’s apathists’ anthem Lie Down And Be Counted; Tom McGuinness sang the poignant Old Age Becomes Me and Isabella Coulstock injected some youthful verve with I Must Be In Love, her vocal style reminiscent of Sophie Ellis Bextor. 

Ade Edmondson broke ranks by doing a song Innes didn’t write, but they loved to perform together as part of the Idiot Bastard Band. But we had to wait to the second half before more musicians started to treat Innes’ music with more fun than respect. Step forward Slovenian folk band Terrafolk, complete with nose flutes, and a knockabout outfit called The The Spammed, fronted by the actor Kevin Eldon.

And in the only bit of stand-up comedy on the night, America’s king of weirdo surrealism, Emo Philips, performed an all-too short five-minute slot, ahead of his full shows at the Soho Theatre tonight and tomorrow.

The most powerful tribute came from poet Roger McGough. who dubbed Innes ‘the urbane spaceman’ before offering a moving and poignant – but never saccharine – reflection on the first and last time they shared memories, without ever knowing when any encounters would be the last.

While we are celebrating one national treasure after his passing, we should appreciate another while he’s still here as McGough is a a rare talent.

But the biggest names leading the tributes – and a singalong go a couple of tracks Innes wrote for  Monty Python and the Holy Grail – were Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin.

They shared memories of their collaborator joining them on the road, including what Palin called a ‘disastrous tour’ of Canada.

‘Neil and I had to share a dressing room,’ Giliam recalled, as they had smaller stage roles than the other Pythons ‘out there busting their asses trying to entertain Canadians and Inuits and various Eskimo tribes’.

He said they ‘really got on, while they are out there working, we’re having a wonderful time, giggling.

‘The best moment for it, for me was being his accompanist on How Sweet to Be An Idiot. I'd been given a little piano, and Neil would come out there with a cowboy hat on, his guitar, looking very sad, and he'd say, "All my life, I've suffered from my art. Now it's your turn…" and that brought the house down.’ 

Palin recalled Innes hitherto unknown skills as a doctor, recalling how he lost his voice during a big run of gigs in New York. He was attended by the finest throat surgeons and given cortisone injections, but nothing worked.

 In the dressing room half an hour before the show he told Innis of his predicament. ‘He said don't worry, and about five minutes he came back, gave me a half bottle of scotch and said, "Take this. This’ll do it. It won’t be bring your voice back, but you won't care."

Palin also recalled how John Cleese was less sympathetic to his plight. ‘We did Silly Walks and I have a very long speech there. I did just manage to get it out. And John, who was playing opposite me, just said, "Sorry, what was that again?"

‘The other nice memory [of Innis], was of him being sweet on my 30th birthday. We were on the road, in Birmingham, and there was a big celebration.  I don't know what happened, but everybody sort of ended up in my bed – fully clothed, I have to say – giving gifts and making music and all that

‘Neil had decided to read me some poetry, and almost last thing I remember, before I lost consciousness, was Neil. reading very nice poetry. 

‘In the morning, everyone had gone, obviously, apart from Neil, fast asleep with the Oxford Book Of English verse across his face. That’s my memory. He was a considerate and  lovely man.’

He did, in the words of one of his songs, dip everyone’s brain in joy.

Review date: 29 Nov 2024
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Indigo at the O2