Never before have I had to so strongly caution an audience - if you don’t enjoy having all eyes on you, look away now. It’s time to grab your headphones and get down to some classic funk, whilst also visiting some of the top sights around Edinburgh’s Royal Mile district. This is a fusion of two traditional concepts which, quite frankly, I’m amazed no one has thought of before.
Without a doubt, this one is for the move busters, the disco divas, the stuff-strutters - the ones who are first on the dance floor and last in the taxi - and it’s an absolute blast.
Of course, even the most acclimatised performer wouldn’t dream of beginning a show without a warm-up - the tour starts with a spot of disco yoga, to limber up the muscles and loosen the inhibitions. Sheltered inside the large crowd of like-minded disco lovers, I can promise that you will very soon stop noticing, or caring, who is watching - which on this busy Saturday afternoon seemed to be the majority of Edinburgh city centre.
Coaxing you in gently, with finger pointing and hip swaying escalating into full-on freestyle, Guru Dudu (the alter ego of David Naylor) is utterly at ease in his unmissable day-glo one piece, exuding an aura of confidence and warmth that goes hand in hand with the feel-good tracks transmitted to our ears from his radio backpack. Within minutes we are marching as one up towards the Royal Mile, hands in the air as we go. With Naylor’s voice in your ear, you will always be equipped with the lyrics to sing along, should you wish to. I must warn that this is the most new information you may glean from the tour, and if you are looking for an in-depth account of history and Scottish culture then it would be perhaps best to look for a more traditional route.
Dancing with strangers, cheering at passers-by and even gathering on the steps of Assembly Hall to sing Queen’s beloved Bohemian Rhapsody, this is an adult game of Follow The Leader with a childlike sense of spontaneity and wonder. Singing makes you feel good (especially when you can’t hear exactly what you sound like), but seeing and sharing the smiles with other people, the fellow disco-ers and people who probably didn’t have a clue what was going on, is even more satisfying. It’s such a shame that the temperamental nature of radio tech interfered with the signal at several points during the tour - but even these potentially awkward moments were danced away and we were back to boogieing before you could say “flares”.
Without a doubt, this one is for the move busters, the disco divas, the stuff-strutters - the ones who are first on the dance floor and last in the taxi - and it’s an absolute blast.
