York Rocks Against Cancer at the Grand Opera House York Review
York Rocks Against Cancer
Grand Opera House, York
11 October 2014
Reviewed by Emma Wasson
What a brilliant night of entertainment, all in aid of the worthwhile local charity “York Against Cancer”. We were treated to a fantastic night of varied entertainment from local musicians, dancers and singers, all of whom had donated their time for free to perform for the audience at the Grand Opera House.
As soon as we walked into the auditorium, a gentleman donning a red wig called Tom Potson was already stood on stage, in front of the stage curtain, singing and telling jokes warming up the audience before the first act performed on stage. The theatre was full and buzzing with excitement. With many of the acts being local, I’m sure the audience was made up of many friends and relatives of the bands, with others just keen to support the local charity, which I’m sure was close to many people’s hearts in the audience as well. Before the act started there was a lady selling programmes walking round the auditorium. At £2.50 they were inexpensive and the best programme I have ever seen. Made into a lanyard, each act had their own glossy A6 sheet, which meant you could easily flick between the acts and just pop it over your neck. Jet 2 had kindly donated 2 return flights to Europe and Superbreaks had donated an additional raffle prize of £250 off a short holiday break and each programme had a ticket stapled to the corner for the Superbreak holiday prize draw which was drawn during the second half of the show.
The Grand Old Uke of York opened the show, by one of the band members peeping his head around the stage curtain to check the audience were ready before launching into their act, where he started to play and then joined the rest of the band which consisted of 14 members, all smartly dressed sat in 2 rows. The band performed 6 numbers, including ‘Great Balls of Fire’, and ‘Born to be Wild’, and of course the classic song ‘Minnie the Moocher’ which needed audience participation, which they were happy to oblige by repeating the “Hi De Hi De Hi De Hi’s” and of course true to Cab Calloway’s form, one of the band members on stage, started to sing such long and complex lyrics that the audience couldn’t possibly repeat, which resulted in much laughter and clapping. A group of highly talented musicians, many of which sang solo parts to the songs, whilst playing their ukuleles, succeeded in giving a strong opening rendition to the show.
Tony Audenshaw who compared for the night then came on stage for the first time. Tony is such a likeable chap, loved by the audience, he did an excellent job all evening of filling in between acts whilst they set up the different equipment needed. He had the audience in stitches at his impersonations of many celebrities, for which he donated £5 of his own money for each one correctly guessed, the evening would not have been the same without him. On leaving the show several members of the audience were all chatting saying that “he is totally wasted on Emmerdale”.
Unit 8, a 5 piece band, consists of 3 guitarist, one drummer and lead vocalist Ben. They performed a series of classics such as “You really got me” by The Kinks, and “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder to more modern day rock numbers, including “I predict a riot” by the Kaiser Chiefs, and “Lightening Bolt” by Jake Bugg. The band who were casually dressed, did all the songs proud, and Ben, the lead singer who was shy as he talked between each song, came across to the audience as a very likeable guy who was not shy when it came to singing as he belted out the lyrics giving each song 110%, it was a pleasure to listen to them perform.
Guilty Pleasures were the next act to perform, oh my goodness what an act. They were brilliant to watch, especially Emma Hartley the lead vocalist, with boundless energy and crazy costumes, one of which was a pink tutu with pink bodice with oversized cupcakes over her bosoms and gold tights with no shoes. You could tell the band clearly have a passion for music, especially Emma and she demonstrated this through her kooky dancing as she really got stuck in, giving renditions of classics by Blondie “Call me” and “Dancing in the Dark” by Bruce Springsteen.
Tom Potson then gave a brief “Tour of York” using a slideshow, which consisted of silly jokes which he’d tied together using York landmarks and shops from around the city, which was well appreciated by the crowd.
Next Attitude Dance Group performed a moving piece in memory of Katy Hartzig, and her sister took part in a beautiful dance, whilst the tune “In the arms of angels” played. This, a more poignant part of the show, served as a subtle reminder of the reason we were all there.
Attitude Dance Group also performed another couple of dances after the interval, one fun one and another more moving piece. All the young girls that took part in all the dances did a fantastic job, and it was a pleasure to watch them perform, and the choreography was pitched just right for the messages it was trying to portray.
All the raffles were drawn by Tony, during the second half of the show, where Tony had picked out a ticket for the chocolates only to discover that there weren’t any so off he went to the shops during the show and bought some Milk tray and personally handed them to the lucky winner in the audience, it was very funny. It also included an auction for a look round the set of Emmerdale which raised an amazing £400.
Beth McCarthy performed during the second half, she is a very talented singer songwriter and having seen her perform before at Copmanthorpe carnival, I was looking forward to listening to her again, and she did not disappoint. She has an amazing voice and not only did she perform her own take on popular songs which included a beautiful rendition of Royals by Lorde, but treated the audience to some of her very own songs such as Penny drop and Mr Cliché. Beth chatted easily with the audience encouraging audience participation in her song Penny Drop which she also filmed as the audience joined in. She was an absolute joy to listen to, and came across to the audience as an extremely likeable character.
Barmaid and the Vets, then came onto the stage and belted out a rendition of “I didn’t know I was lost” by Avicii and really got the audience going, and it wasn’t long before people were dancing in the aisles and then everyone stood up in their seat clapping and singing to the songs. They were fronted by 3 ladies on vocals from Emmerdale, and Dominic Brunt on mandolin, which together with 3 other band members made up the group. A good time was had by all.
Lastly before the final act of the evening, Julie Russell, general manager of York Against Cancer came out to thank the audience, the acts and the people involved in putting on the show. This was followed by a beautiful but very moving rendition of “The one I love” by REM performed by Beth McCarthy, whilst photos of loved ones who had been lost were shown on the big screen at the back of the stage.
The final act of the evening was White Van Man, fronted by none other than Tony Audenshaw, and the crowd were ready to finish the evening with a bang. The whole audience were on their feet for the majority of their set, clapping and singing and dancing along. Tony performed each song with such charisma, flair and vitality you couldn’t help but smile and join in the fun. Tony donning a white suit, with matching ruffle shirt and white platform boots, was lead vocalist and together with 3 guitarists and one drummer made up the band. They belted out “Common People” by Pulp and “Sex is on Fire” by Kings of Leon, and then ditching the jacket, Tony then came back on stage with a long curly brown wig and sleeve tattoos, he really looked the part as he performed the classic “Living on a prayer” by Bon Jovi.
The evening concluded by every act then joining White Van Man on stage and together they all gave a rendition of “Hey Jude” by the Beatles, whilst the whole audience were on their feet, singing and swaying along to the music. It was a lovely end to a fantastic evening.
Overall, a brilliant time was had by all, with a fabulous mix of acts. The night was a jam packed fun evening full of fantastic singing, dancing and musicians with a few poignant moments to remind the audience of why the whole event is so important. It was quite a late night not finishing until after 11pm but well worth attending. Tony Audenshaw did a fantastic job of comparing the evening and finished the evening with superb style in his band White Van Man.
Rating: 5/5 
Grand Opera House York, Clifford and Cumberland Street, York, YO1 9SW | 0844 8713024
