Flo & Joan, the musical comedy duo consisting of sisters Nicola and Rosie Dempsey, launched their new show With Feeling at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, tackling the music industry’s perception of musical comedy by building their first-act setlist from a discarded indie-rock setlist left by the band the Feeling four years prior, theguardian.com reported.
The Show Structure and Setlist Experiment
- The duo’s new show stems from a chance discovery of a setlist left on stage left by the indie-rock band the Feeling during a previous Shepherd’s Bush Empire appearance.
- The first half of With Feeling matches, title by title, the exact setlist played by the band four years earlier, featuring a suite of brand-new songs.
- The second half unleashes rock band aesthetics—complete with leathers, bandanas, and a drum kit—to deliver reworked favorites like “The Rest of My Life” and “Lady In the Woods.”
Turning Secondhand Rock Titles Into Neurotic Social Commentary
The structural experiment challenges the sisters to evaluate their own standing as a musical act rather than traditional comics. As theguardian.com noted, the duo deadpan on stage that the core problem with being labeled “musical comedy” is that “no one takes it seriously.” Using the borrowed song titles from the Feeling’s historical setlist, the sisters subvert the original meanings into sharp, contemporary observations.
In the sisters’ hands, the track “Fill My Little World” transforms into a frantic, neurotic number examining modern consumption, cheap food, fast fashion, and AI slop. Meanwhile, “Never Be Lonely” leans into their signature theme of toxic sibling co-dependency, featuring a live sight gag involving Rosie Dempsey’s questionable trumpet playing, according to theguardian.com reporting. Additional numbers in the first act tackle poor punctuation and a cultural call to “bring back shame.”
Trading Comedy Norms for Full Rock Band Posturing
The sisters don rock band gear—including leather jackets, bandanas, and a full drumkit—to anchor their musical back catalogue. according to theguardian.com, the set features fan favorites dealing with social gaffes and eternal cringe, alongside nonsense folk spoofs.
thenote.app reported that the tour runs through December 12, showcasing the duo’s signature richly wrought lyrical wit and sumptuous harmonies paired with a droll top layer of bathetic rock posturing. Whether they ever achieve status as a proper band remains secondary to the sheer execution of the stunt.
| Tour Element | Act One Details | Act Two Details |
|---|---|---|
| Musical Approach | New songs matching the Feeling’s setlist title-by-title | Reworked numbers from their own back catalogue |
| Visual Aesthetic | Verbal sparring, backchat, and unexpected trumpet gags | Rock gear including leathers, bandanas, and a drum kit |
| Lyrical Themes | AI slop, fast fashion, toxic co-dependency, punctuation | Social gaffes, eternal cringe, nonsense folk spoofing |
The Ongoing Tour and Future Dates
The production continues its run across venues, maintaining its schedule up until the final performance date on December 12, as documented by thenote.app. The performance blends structured musical constraint with unscripted sibling banter, proving that the boundary between proper rock performance and musical comedy remains delightfully porous.
