Reviewed by Jan Mellor
Entering the packed hall to the full-on sounds of the Cutting Crew, the Parr Hall in Warrington was already jumping at 7.30pm. The 6-piece band sang thunderously through their hits of ‘Been in love before’, ‘Till the money runs out,’ ‘Berlin wall’ and finishing with the audience on their feet clapping wildly to their hit ‘I just died in your arms tonight’. The energetic singer Nick Van Eede whose powerful voice filled the hall joked ‘Thanks Warrington – we are finally Icons!’ A great start to what was going to be a fabulous evening.
Next on were Nick Kershaw and Go West to an ecstatic crowd as they opened with U2’s ‘Beautiful day’. Go West left the stage so that the talented Nick could sing to us ‘Wide Boy’ and ‘Dancing Girls’. The wonderful duo returned to give the crowd powerful ‘Don’t look down’ and ‘Faithful’. Peter Cox’s voice was still absolutely astounding even some 30 years on. Go West and Nick sang wonderfully together and ‘knitted’ seamlessly. Supported by a very talented drummer, keyboardist and guitarist who remained on set throughout – the quality of playing and singing was second to none with each person on that stage singing and playing note perfect and the audience loved it. Going through a combination of their own work and those of other stars of the 80’s they energetically played and sang ‘One and only’ ‘Everybody wants to rule the world, ‘Sweet dreams’ and ‘Sex is on fire’ it was obvious that these guys could sing and play anything. There were moments of pure adoration when Nick sang ‘Wouldn’t it be nice’, ‘Won’t let the sun go down on me’ and when Go West gave us ‘Call me’, ‘King of wishful thinking’ ‘Goodbye girl’ and my absolute favourite ‘We close our eyes’ (the crowd were jumping for joy and nearly took the roof off!).
The night was absolutely brilliant. It was very clear, as Richard Drummie explained, that Warrington was their prenuptial gig, that they all still loved what they did and what they had been doing for years. The band shouted ‘See you all next year!’ to a screaming response – so the annual festivities are definitely one to look out for if you want to see raw talent at its utmost best. I had waited 30 years to see these bands play – it was worth every minute of my wait.
A fantastic evening.
Rating: 5/5
For other shows at the Parr Hall in Warrington visit www.pyramidparrhall.com or call the box office on 01925 442884.
Pyramid & Parr Hall, Cultural Quarter, Palmyra Square South, Warrington, WA1 1BL
