As birthday celebrations go, it was one heck of a party. 

From the sublime to the ridiculous; this 20th anniversary performance was a potent reminder of Mnozil’s brilliance - the very best highlights of the intoxicating brand of musicianship they have brought to fans all over the world in the last two decades.
 
Memory banks

Over 900 enthusiasts packed into Oldham's Queen Elizabeth Hall for a night that will live long in their collective memory banks.  

Many a celebration can become a blur as you struggle to recall how a night like this unfolded, yet the only problem here was remembering in what order the truly memorable focal points came and went.

Pizzazz

The three hours of kaleidoscopic entertainment went by in a flash of inventive pizzazz that stunned the senses. 
 
Mnozil's welcoming hosts, Diggle Band conducted by Sean Conway, delivered a neat opening set as an aperitif, before the anarchic septet entered to thunderous applause. By the end of the night hands were clapped red raw in admiration.

Freshness

The congratulatory ‘Happy Birthday' set could have a bit of a self indulgent parody, but the sheer professionalism of Mnozil ensured that even old favourites were delivered with a freshness that rolled back the years to the very first time you heard the pieces played.

From the opening, 'Overture of The Trojan Boat' to the closing 'Nobody Does it Better', the high octane mix of music and performance theatre was never anything but sensational. 

The comedy and the singing, the acting – but most of all the playing, was superb.  
 
Particular and peculiar

Each of the members was featured – from the cool Wilfred Brandstotter and emo-like Leonhard Paul through to suave Zoltan Kiss and impish Thomas Gansch – each with their own particular and peculiar personality.

The familiar tricks (and what tricks they still are) were delivered with an almost ironic flourish, but retaining the capacity to amaze, whilst the punch lines of the visual humour could be seen a mile away – but still gained genuine belly laughs. It all remains brilliant and bonkers.

More

By the time they'd got to the Sinatra hit 'My Way' (which perhaps they should rename 'Their Way') and to a roar of approval, a fabulous 'Bohemian Rhapsody', the audience stood as one to demand more and more....
 
They got their wishes with the lollipop encores and the obligatory closer of 'Nobody Does it Better'.

There was never a truer description.

Malcolm Wood