IF YOU had gone to the Olympia Theatre last Saturday night in search of comedy, you would have been sadly, disappointed; but if you had gone for a bit of good time rock n soul, then Lenny Henry and his band proved themselves well capable of knocking out the crowd pleasing standards.

This was The Commitments without the expletives, or The Blues Brothers without the sight gags. Henry ignored the funny bone in favour of the hip joint, taking it higher with the help of a loosely wound but tightly bound musical unit.

Henry eschewed his usual well tailored stand up suits for casual trousers and T shirt, more appropriate to the sweat building workout which lay ahead.

There were no Stevie Wonder impressions during Superstition, just a straightforward soul workout with a bit of rap thrown in for good luck. In The Midnight Hour was your everyday Wilson Pickett tribute, while the James Brown covers steered clear of fancy footwork.

It wasn't all Sixties soul, however, and the Poor White Trash delved into some classic 70s disco, stepping up the tempo and the temperature in preparation for some smooth reggae and some manic ska beats.

Lenny may have been serious but at least he wasn't completely straight faced, and the band didn't do too badly for a bunch of Poor White Trash.