Party At The Palace DVD – Shirley Bassey, Atomic Kitten

Party At The Palace starts with Queen Guitarist Brian May–who looks more than ever like a haircut with a person growing from beneath it–playing “God Save The Queen” on the roof of Buckingham Palace; seemingly missing the point of his obvious inspiration, Jimi Hendrix’s apocalyptic subversion of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Woodstock. Unbelievably, and theoretically impossibly, it goes downhill from there. It can only be assumed that the bill for the Queen’s Jubilee was assembled by an ardent republican. The concert is a motley assortment of has-beens and time-wasters, a curious number of whom felt it proper to celebrate the monarch’s 50 years by singing old Motown songs badly. The concert also features an extended plug for Queen’s (that’s the Band) risible musical We Will Rock You and Lenny Henry shouting. Bewilderingly Party At The Palace is not only redeemed, but made worth owning, by the four-song set by Brian Wilson with his version of “God Only Knows”–accompanied by Andrea Corr—-offering a heartbreakingly earnest performance. The concert ends with a pantomime version of “All You Need Is Love”. Party At The Palace is the night rock & roll gave up. On the DVD: Party at the Palace is presented in 16:9 format. Songs can be selected by title or by artist. There are subtitles in French, German and Spanish. Proceeds from the sale of the DVD, “after the deduction of costs and expenses in relation to its production and distribution”, will be donated to the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Trust. –Andrew Muller