Saint Etienne are frequently sublime, but they can also be ridiculous. It is surely beyond the ability even of Pete Wiggs and Bob Stanley to rehabilitate their chosen support act here: 1980s kids’ TV duo Trevor and Simon, in Christmas sweaters, gamely revisiting the Singing Corner and swinging their pants.
Yet it is this love for whimsy, nostalgia and the ephemera of British pop culture that has always driven Saint Etienne, and this show is a landmark for them. Twenty-five years after Wiggs and Stanley formed the band, this “Croydon Christmas caper” marks their debut hometown gig.
They have beefed up for the occasion, adding a full band to their usual lineup of keyboardists Wiggs and Stanley and singer Sarah Cracknell but, as ever, all eyes are drawn to the latter. An effervescent vision in a feather boa, Cracknell nevertheless serves up several reminders that her vocals have always been valiant rather than virtuoso. At times, she is comically flat.
It’s a Christmas show, so Saint Etienne correctly neglect their recent output in favour of a greatest hits set. Spirited, wistful early singles You’re in a Bad Way and Pale Movie delight a following who have grown old with them; a kid-glove cover of Chris Rea’s Driving Home for Christmas confirms they have never been too far from high-concept easy listening.
Cracknell trills through an encore version of If I Thought You’d Ever Change Your Mind as a tribute to Cilla Black, then Trevor and Simon return to caper around the stage during I Was Born on Christmas Day and Nothing Can Stop Us. It’s all as camp, cheesy and sentimental as a Christmas panto: very British, and very Saint Etienne.
