Matt Berry @ The Masque Theatre Liverpool

Fans of the IT Crowd, Dark Places and of the man himself gathered in the Masque Theatre to witness a one off unique event. Matt Berry had come to woo them with his silky vocal talents and his unique brand of musical entertainment, and he didn’t disappoint. Entering on stage like Elvis Presley after a 3 minute build u, holding onto a Jack Daniels bottle which was almost as big as him, Matt went straight into the first number. That all too familiar voice bellowing out over the musicians.

With such classics as snuff box and Witchcraft the crowd lapped up both the humorous lyrics and Matt’s laid back attitude. In between songs the banter between him and the crowd was almost as if it was scripted and as soon as “One Track Lover” was played the obvious Garth Merenghi fans applauded and sang along.

The musicians themselves were faultless. The guitar player in particular was something to behold. Looking like Rodney Trotter with a curly wig on, he played like a man possessed by the ghost of Jimi Hendrix. The music itself varied from “reggae” to out and out funk-a-delic that would make George Clinton and Prince happy men. The Musicians were tight and played to Matt’s outlandish behaviour.

The encore itself was truly a masterpiece of invention. Singing “Jesus Christ Superstar” Matt left no doubt to his pre-conceived notions of himself and to be honest they were well deserved.

My only complaint to the whole night was the lack lustre crowd that had turned up to see Matt Berry. I think even at times during the end Matt seemed to be getting tired of trying to get some sort of interaction with the majority of the crowd and quite rightly so. But apart from that, this was a tremendous gig. Full of enthusiasm, humour and barrel loads of laughs. This has to be seen to be believed and as Matt Berry himself says...”Liverpool...you’re clever.....I LIKE THAT”