Q The Music: James Bond Concert Spectacular @ Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London

A sold out Theatre Royal Haymarket for Q The Music’s Meet the Moneypennys was a strange place. The theatre itself was sumptuously regal with its velvety plush seats. You could spot all eras of Bond: there were a lot of dinner jackets (white and black), cocktail dresses, evening dresses (one lady was a lovely dazzle of silver sequins) and even some spin-off’s such as Daniel Craig’s pink velvet jacket from the Royal Command Performance of No Time To Die. Amongst the Bonds, you could also spot some tweed. Given that the focus was on the actresses playing Moneypenny from Dalton to Craig era Bond movies, it was strange that I felt that I’d entered a gentleman’s club cos-play. (Though David Zaritsky would later say that no-one was cos-playing, this was more about clothes making the man and striking a Bond pose).

This invading a gentleman’s club feeling didn’t come from the front, David Zaritsky was a positive, debonaire and kindly host — encouraging wannabe Bonds to embrace their inner care bear (or atleast a Q the Music one called Warren during the interval). Nor did it come from event or maybe even the community itself — perhaps it’s the focus on so many dinner jackets in one place at the same time. It does feel exclusive, and during the interval scramble for a Martini, perilous as it was crushed (not just shaken nor stirred). I felt very much like Brosnan’s Bond in demolition mode in the gentleman’s club in Die Another Day and no doubt Natalya Simonova inspiring my practical public transport friendly clothing didn’t help. Did enjoy seeing all the Bonds have to queue for the loo — true equality! Also in enjoying London sunshine (which other parts of the country in heavy cold greyness are so lacking), I spotted the Zaritsky family walking to the theatre — like encountering Bond royalty! They didn’t walk, they floated, I’m sure! (Followed by a protective posse of white dinner jacketed Bond’s).

Maybe it’s the lack of a Bond movie for so long — I enjoy a Bond movie, I like a small amount of Bond merch, I enjoy a Bond soundtrack, I’m thrilled to see a Bond movie in concert or on a big screen. But I’m less interested in his clothes, brands, style, drink choices. I couldn’t care less about how he scrambled his eggs! I don’t want to be one of his disposable pleasures — though I definitely want his cars, especially the DB5! I’m not bothered about the guns, though I wouldn’t go as far as Amazon and remove them all. Nor do I want to be a spy and pose with guns (or my hand pretending to be one). All of which gives a female Bond fan a dilemma as to dress code and even behaviour: do you have to automatically be a Bond girl/woman, or M (Dench-era), one of the Moneypennys or appropriate the dinner jacket for yourself? Though there is a tweed and bow-tie option for Sir Hilary Bray Day! (But if you want to dress up smart and be surrounded by likeminded people in similar attire knocking back Martinis, then you can!)

I guess for me it’s the nostalgia element too. I’m just not that into nostalgia Bond — I started with Roger Moore (and those eyebrows), it took time to understand the genius of Timothy Dalton, I’m very pro-Craig era. I struggled with Sean Connery’s uber masculine bottom-slapping Bond, but the more you watch his films, the more you appreciate his style and his intelligent Bond, and that he can keep his hands to himself. It was enjoyable to hear the three Moneypennys speak about their entrance into being Moneypenny and their favourite Bond films. Naomie Harris was brilliant in her comebacks and in her genuine enthusiasm for the Bond franchise, not to mention her appreciation for Daniel Craig as an actor, Samantha Bond and Caroline Bliss were sweet in their friendship. The how far their Moneypenny got with Bond was an intriguing question to answer, as was how their interactions with Bond were filmed. For Samantha Bond: in front of a 75 strong crew and on an open set! Whilst Caroline Bliss’s ironic Moneypenny was edited into a drip and is still signing Manilow albums to this day. In it all, I don’t want my Bond to go backwards, but in true Moneypenny fashion, to keep moving like the target he is. Some of this Bond nostalgia came out in audience reactions — whopping for ancient Bond, muted for a fantastic high energy back to back ‘You Know My Name’ and ‘Another Way To Die’, leading me to ponder, do we all want to end up as Bond dinosaurs? Though hopefully not extinct as there was multi-generational Bond sharing taking place at this event. (And the gentleman’s club broke down the doors, allowing people to come along and buy a ticket on the doors to the after-party event).

Celebrating some anniversaries this year, we had the disco James Bond theme from (I think) Thunderball, plus that fatal shot dance-floor sequence. Incredible high note singing in Spectre, the left field of the synth heavy Goldeneye sequence song ‘The Experience of Love’ and the drummer having heaps of fun in Live and Let Die, along with the brass section who got to be part of Paul McCartney. They also managed to pack in celebrating Thunderball’s 60th, A View To A Kill’s 40th, Goldeneye’s 30th and Spectre’s 10th anniversaries — all in one show. And what a bop Duran Duran still are!

Kerry had an incredible time blasting through A-ha, Duran Duran and Dame Shirley Bassey’s standards, often accompanied by a guitarist, whilst poised in incredibly high platforms and oodles of shimmer and sequins, particularly a beautiful mermaid gown at the end. The talent is to bring out the songs themselves and give a unique performance, rather than a pastiche. You could therefore be both dazzled by dress sequins and vocal talent, and the sheer pizazz of it all. When the male lead vocalist wasn’t singing, they played some drums, getting a solo during the Thunderball suite leading to that fatal dance moment. Equally, a flautist got their solo moment during the Brosnan suite (I think from Tomorrow Never Dies), as did the tambourine during Live and Let Die (which was a surprise).

Unlike Amazon, the band were here with all guns blazing, flanked by two enormous golden guns, and every music stand had a smart dinner jacket frontage. At the end, the Union Jack (from Bond’s parachute) was projected at the back of the stage — and why not, because National Treasure David Arnold was about to pop up on stage. He came across as such a humble guy, really lovely to listen to. The flag producing was less queasy than at other times when I’ve seen flags brandished recently, ‘cos you just want to snigger thinking of Roger Moore dropping in and waggling his eyebrows.

Overall, the concert was spectacular. Despite some issues with microphones and a guy in the audience trying to sing along at points, it was seamlessly performed and sung, with backlighting, flows of dry ice (in the Spectre moments) and projections adding to the atmosphere. But I’m not sure about hundreds of Bonds, even with bears, in one room.

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