Electric Hotel by Fuel (Review)

It would be very easy to describe Fuel's Electric Hotel as glorified interpretive dance but I fear that to do so would be unfair and would certainly not do the performance justice.

As I sat in front of a four story building, I put on my headphones and waited for the show to start. The atmosphere was immediately set by the audio track and I very quickly found myself completely immersed in the show. As the curtains rose in the hotel windows I could see the perfectly timed footsteps that I was hearing, aside from a couple of mistimed door slams, the timing continued to be spot on throughout and the few mistakes there were did little to detract from the performance.

The narrative starts out simple, begins to become peculiar and eventually builds into the surreal as the audience observes the hotel guests repeat a continuous cycle which becomes stranger and more sinister with each repetition. During this cycle the bar staff on the ground floor go about the usual tasks, sweeping up and tidying before eventually gathering their things and leaving for the night. I found several moments where there seemed to be a lot going on in different rooms of the stage but the audio always followed the action, leaving me in no doubt as to where the excitement was really happening.

The music was well suited to the mood of the performance and added a lot to the atmosphere of the show. Wearing headphones while watching a performance seemed strange at first but I soon found myself becoming very fond of the format. Because I was unable to hear anything going on outside of the show it really made me feel like I was some strange voyeur observing the residents of a hotel. At one point the person next to me recieved a call on his mobile phone, he answered it, had a brief conversation and put it back in his pocket, ordinarily I would have been appaled that he had his phone switched on during a performance and outraged that he answered it but since I couldn't hear either phone or conversation I just continued to enjoy the show with no feelings of rage.

The sign at the top of the building describes Electric Hotel as having 5 stars, which I consider to be a little generous but I'll certainly let them have 4 out of 5 for a show which is dark, surreal, and most important of all, entertaining.

Fuel will be performing Electric Hotel again at 10pm on Saturday 8th May and at the same time on Sunday 9th May at Millenium Plain, Norwich as part of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, the event is free but ticketed as spaces are limited.