Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python @ New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, NJ
Live Reviews | Jun 25th, 2000
Date: June 25th 2000
Venue: New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, NJ
I’ve been waiting for this concert for awhile now and I finally saw it. I think I was a little disappointed.
It just wasn’t the same with all the Monty Python’s members not there. But it was still funny and very cool to see one of the Monty Phython members do all the songs I liked. The road trip to Newark started out with us getting lost because NJPAC sucks at giving people directions and NJ highways and roads are stupid and make non-new “joysey” people get lost really easy. We finally made it into Newark. I think where the NJPAC is, it’s the nicest area in the whole city.
The outside of the place was very clean and the inside was beautiful as well. While we waited to get inside Eric Idle came through the lobby and walk into the back. Adam, Matt and I eventually got in the theater and it was nice inside. I was wondering how good our seats were going to be since we had Orchestra center- row R. But thankfully, our seats we near to perfect seeing everything and almost dead center. On stage was a big screen with flashing words from almost every Monty Python skit or song. The lights dim down and two guys brought out a big spam container. They had a short movie saying that there is nudity (showing a good-looking naked lady) and bad language and Eric said something along the lines “If you have children here who aren’t allowed to hear stuff like this, you can fuck off.” Then all the spam vikings come out and sang the spam song.
Eric Idle popped out of the spam container. He talked about how he’s exploiting M.P and everything is Money! and then sings “The Money Song,” which is one of my favorites of his. He played a newer song that I heard on some talk show appearances called the “Getty” which was really funny. Before the show, Adam warned me about these type of people, is when they quote lines from the movies and skits and laugh all the time when it’s not funny. Well I had an annoying lady who was doing this and I wanted to smack her. They did a lot of skits like “The Argument skit,” which he said was one of his favorite skits that Michael Palin did with John Cleese, if I recall. Other funny skits of the evening were a montage of the infamous Rutles, “nudge nudge, say no more” , The Bruces Philosophers. I think one of the best skits of the night was where the four guys would sit around and talk about how tough their lives were.
Eric Idle had three back-up singers and performers. Another funny song was by Dolly Taylor, Eric sung a lot of M.P songs that he wrote or co-wrote like “The Penis Song,” “I Like Chinese,” “Meaning of Life,” and “Every Sperm is Sacred.” Eric ended his show with “Always Look on The Bright Side of Life.” Then on the screen they had words saying spontaneous encore 3 minutes, and people would cheer more, 1 !/2 minutes to spontaneous encore, and then 30 seconds and he came out and did “The Lumberjack Song.” Michael Palin did that a lot but I saw Eric Idle do that song a couple of times.
Overall, the show was good but kind of a let down because the original members weren’t there. Maybe sometime they will get back together and do a live performance or a movie like they said they were going to do.
