What do you want from an ADC late show? Starting at 11pm, it is almost certainly going to be the last thing in your day, save for perhaps a few last drinks and a misguided trip to the van of your choice. As such, the job of the late show is to send you home in a good mood, and this was done in style by Saxual Healing and Coach House Company last night. As an hour’s worth of entertainment, it was absolutely faultless. Both groups were musically excellent, and the atmosphere in the auditorium reflected the celebratory mood of people finishing e**ms. It was pretty much a full house, and there was a tangible buzz of excitement before the arrival onstage of both Saxual Healing and Coach House Company respectively; both outfits fulfilled the high expectations of the crowd. What ensued was a display of great talent and ingenuity, audience participation at its best, and some remarkable pink dresses.

Saxual Healing is a group that is quite hard to describe. On Facebook they describe themselves as ‘Cambridge’s saxiest new girl band’, but in reality they are far more than a pun-tastic Atomic Kitten with saxaphones. Made up of four female saxophonists, wearing startlingly pink dresses (matched, notably, by ring binders of the same colour), their performance was quite amazing. Starting proceedings with a Stevie Wonder medley, one girl at a time walking on-stage to join in ‘Superstitious’, Saxual Healing took us from Stevie to Disney, through Billy Joel to Britney Spears, all quite fluently and with great skill. What was most striking about the performance was the sheer tightness of ensemble; complex rhythms and fast melodic runs were tackled effortlessly in an impressive virtuosic display which was at the same time extremely entertaining. Special mention must here go to ‘Saxual Healer’ Karys Orman, who managed to make the baritone saxophone – perhaps one of the least dainty instruments ever to be invented – look dainty, and sound easy to play. It’s really not!

For the most part, the girls remained stationary, fixed to their music stands, letting the comedy of the music speak for itself – even their spoken introductions were quite dry and understated. In fact if there was anything lacking in the performance, it was a bit of eye contact with the audience. However the set really was a treat, and the last few songs saw the girls link arms and dance, whilst still handling their cumbersome instruments, and playing them well! This is no mean feat. 

Next on stage were the five members of Coach House Company, the line up involving double bass, cello, violin, guitar, mandolin and trumpet. Coach House Company offered us their take on folksongs, pop songs and some of their own compositions, and the band was very impressive. Where Saxual Healing inspired clapping along (the predominance of musicians in the audience made for a satisfyingly in-time clap..), Coach House Company often had the packed theatre in stunned silence. The most successful songs in the set were those which involved most or all of the band singing in harmony together, particularly the old Irish folksong ‘Star of the County Down’, which showed off the talent of violinist-cum-mandolin player-cum-singer Maya Amin-Smith, and was as good a rendition of the song as one could hope to hear. Guitarist Patrick Milne composed the beautiful song played second in the set, further highlighting how packed with musical talent this group is. But as well as the singing and playing, the group had an easy and natural way of communicating with the audience which had people on-side from the start. Sadly, rumour has it that this was Coach House Company’s last appearance in Cambridge. If it was their last, then what a way to end – a thoroughly enjoyable set to a packed-out ADC. If it wasn’t their last, then you really have to go and see them. 

For the encore, they were joined on stage by Saxual Healing for an arrangement of Adele’s ‘Rolling in the deep’, which blended funky sax playing with the vocal artistry of Coach House Company, and saw everybody clapping along and joining in. This was an ADC late show to be remembered, and which left me on such a high that a trip to the van didn't even feel necessary.