Wonderful tribute at Coventry blues show

‘We’ve got a full tank of gas, a half-pack of cigarettes, it’s dark and we’re wearing shades.’

Every journey I make starts with those words and it’s also the starting point – approximately – for this wonderful tribute to John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd as Jake and Elwood Blues on a mission from God to collect money for their erstwhile home,

The Rock Island orphanage in Chicago’s South Side. As an act, it crept into our consciousness in the 1970s and, like the earworm that the wonderful blues and soul music recreates here, it stays long after the last strains have died down.

You probably know the film and can possibly quote long passages from the script – so can I. The car chase at the end which apparently took the film 11m dollars over its not ungenerous budget is iconic and involved 60 police cars - and a Ford Pinto dropped from a helicopter a mile up in the sky.

The music from Jake (Brad Henshaw) and Elwood (Chris Chandler) is fantastic, with live blues band, the Bluettes backing singers/dancers (Alexus Ruth, Jenesssa Qua, Jenny Fitzpatrick) energetic and great singers. My favourite by a long way was Jake’s rendition of Lennon and McCartney’s With a Little Help from my Friends – dressed as a bee complete with DeeleyBopper antenna.

If the blues has got you, try this as a cure. You won’t be disappointed.

Jane Howard