The Little Big Club Stockport Plaza

I always really feel for performers who play to a half empty house so my heart went out to The Little Big Club Band when they burst onto the stage at Stockport Plaza last Saturday to a quarter full venue, but like true professionals they sang, danced and pretended to play their instruments as if the theatre was packed. The Little Big Club is the brainchild of Hot Animation who use the band to bring together some of their biggest animated characters. Fireman Sam, Bob The Builder, Pingu, Fifi and the Flowertots, Angelina Ballerina and Barney were all present – much to my son’s delight.

If you’re hoping for pyrotechnics and amazingly choreographed routines, this probably isn’t the show for you, but who cares when the real live Bob the Builder is on the stage? Certainly not the kids.

The story, props and the scenery are very basic – the band are holding a concert and they want the audience and their friends (Sam, Bob et al) to help them finish their songs. If you’re hoping for pyrotechnics and amazingly choreographed routines, this probably isn’t the show for you, but who cares when the real live Bob the Builder is on the stage? Certainly not the kids. There’s lots of audience participation, singing, dancing and generally being an embarrassing parent. The band also have a video camera on stage which they turn on the audience at regular intervals, (usually just as mum’s stuffed a handful of minstrels in her gob), the kids loved seeing themselves up there on the stage and many of them were dancing up and down the aisles.

The staff at the Plaza were really helpful and even managed to coerce the band into announcing my son’s birthday on stage. He still can’t quite work out how they knew. I was also really pleasantly surprised by the prices of refreshments- just a quid for a bottle of juice- compared to cinema prices it’s a steal and it makes a huge difference when you have kids in tow.

Towards the end of the show the band bring out two enormous balloons, the challenge this time is for the audience to keep the balloons in the air for the full duration of the next song. The kids squealed with excitement every time they managed to push the balloon back up into the air. We were seated in the middle of the theatre and the balloons seemed to hover around the front and then hop over us completely. I could see my boy getting frustrated so we stood up determined that we would assist The Little Big Club in completing this task. We rolled up our sleeves and followed the balloon’s progress. Suddenly the blue balloon wobbled into the air, bounced off a seat and headed straight for us. We put our hands in the air. “Wait, wait for it, here it comes, get ready to hit it....” Then from nowhere THWACK!!! Dad jumps up from his seat and bloody wallops the balloon right down the other end of the theatre. I looked at him in utter disbelief and he looks back as if to say “no need to thank me dear”. It wouldn’t have surprised me if Peter Kay had jumped out with a pint of John Smiths “AVE IT!”

The Little Big Club put on a great show for kids and I’ll definitely be visiting the Plaza again, but next time I’ll leave the 31 year-old at home – he gets a little bit overexcited after a juice.