Sympathy for... the audience

As if the sword ’n’ sorcery epic laid on by Dorsey & Whitney The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King wasn’t enough entertainment for a crowd of pre-Christmas revellers, the hosts of the sneak preview also provided an ear-splitting soundtrack to announce the arrival on stage of London managing partner John Byrne.

Byrne bounded on stage in full rock star mode, dressed from head to toe in black. “Please allow me to introduce myself…” warbled Mick Jagger through the speakers on Sympathy for the Devil. And bless him, he did just that. It got decidedly a lot less rock ’n’ roll, though, from that point on.