Whelan’s may be many things but, as I’m sure no-one will mind me saying, it is not an international sex palace. Not that this proves any deterrent to Har Mar Superstar, who bumps and grinds his way through tonight’s set as if he were playing a LA strip joint. And if tonight is unquestionably all about sex, it is also a strictly solo performance. Those in the crowd who have come expecting to see a mass of naked (largely female) flesh on stage – and you suspect there are more than a few – are to be disappointed. That particular aspect of Har Mar’s performance has been left at Manumission.
The schtick is as expected – that a small, freaky looking guy can pass himself off as some sort of love machine and can hold a room of people rapt by gradually stripping down to his underpants. It would make an OK 20-minute cabaret show. Sooner or later, however, the focus has to shift to the music and that’s where the whole thing comes up short.
So-so single ‘Brothers & Sisters’ is tossed off early on in fairly tuneless fashion, followed by several variations on the same theme. Sometimes the vocals are alright, sometimes painful. The 45-minute set is padded out with variously, a prolonged funk jam wandering aimlessly in search of a tune, a cover of ‘Sir Duke’ which does little other than highlight Har Mar Superstar’s myriad shortcomings, and much by the way of idle banter and empty bravado. As one night stands go, this one was a grave disappointment.