Brothers go to town on show.

Byline: Blues Brothers

crowd-pleasing Geordie references, including impromptu blasts of Fog on the Tyne and When the Boat Comes In.

The performance was not polished -the vocals were hit and miss at times and the dancers weren''t always in sync - but it was enthusiastic and everyone, from the front men to the band, exuded a confidence and energy that were great fun to watch.

The Brothers conceded to the Yuletide theme at the end, with a suitably saccharine medley, but by that point any Scrooges in the audience were enjoying themselves too much to notice that Christmas was still six weeks away.

Laura Pitel IF you're thinking the second week of November seems premature for a Christmas party, you're in good company. The Blues Brothers themselves began the evening with an embarrassed admission that it was far too close to Bonfire Night to be talking of sleigh bells and Santa.

Thankfully, they steered clear of an overly festive programme and tended instead towards what they do best: the (non-Christmassy) blues.

Jake and Elwood (Simon Connolly and Ben Watson) were joined by the seven-piece Magnificent Blues Band and the Sensational Sisters of Soul -four scantily-clad dancers/backing singers, whose role was to liven up an evening built around a rather thin premise.

The Xmas Party wasn''t pretending to be a musical or a rip-off of the film, so there was no attempt at plot.

Instead it was a string of unashamed sing-along hits belted out by Jake, Elwood and the Sisters.

The best were the classics -Mustang Sally, Gimme Some Lovin'' and a rousing Jailhouse Rock, which came complete with striped uniforms and prison bars on wheels.

Between songs there was swaggering, wisecracks, and some

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SING-ALONG HITS The Blues Brothers.