Gold!, Gala Theatre, Durham

Feb 17 2008 by Pauline Holt, Sunday Sun

IT had to be something pretty precious to tempt me away from the final episode of the BBC’s Mistresses on telly, and Gold! certainly did the job.

The Eighties are enjoying a bit of a revival at present, with Ashes to Ashes gracing our screens, and this show reminded me just how much great pop music this decadent decade handed down.

The stage is a wedding marquee and part of the stalls a dance floor as the fabulously named band "Stained Silence" reform for a friend’s wedding.

Their lead guitarist tells his mates that he’s a major force in the music industry but they gradually discover, to good comic effect, that he’s actually a postman.

But the storyline is all just a glorious excuse to replay a string of 80s hits from Culture Club’s Karma Chameleon through Aztec Camera’s Somewhere in my Heart to Frankie’s Relax.

The whole ensemble were great and, like any good tribute band, had the audience on their feet by the end of the night as the theatregoers became "extras" as party guests