Your mother loves him. Your sister fancies him. Your dad has grudging respect for the young man and rather likes his Thai green curry. He is Jamie Oliver – hunky, well-heeled ‘maverick’ TV chef and multimedia culinary phenomenon with a shaggy blond proto-mullet and an army of adoring fans, few of whom are here tonight.
Because when The Naked Chef isn’t chopping garlic, hammering veal flat or whisking a few ostrich eggs, there’s nothing he likes more than to practise his drumming skills. And the band he keeps the beat for are Scarlet Division – as seen on telly once when he cooked them a meal – a pretty intimidating group comprising three stocky sessioneers and a hefty vampish frontwoman with no shoes who sound a little bit [a]Texas[/a], a little bit Blondie and quite a lot pub.
Pukka it ain’t, but Jamie‘s wearing an expensive pair of headphones and is actually a really good drummer. Er, he never misses a beat, thrashes around impressively and, as bands featuring C-list celebrities go, you have to rate Scarlet Division above John Simm‘s group and Joe Absolom‘s mod mad crew. Really, it was some show.