Borderline are a very lively party band and opened the second afternoon session of the Keeping it Live! showcase with a bang. They are certainly very talented musicians and quite funny with their tribute to some of the greats including the male lead dressed and performing as Tina Tuner. I really enjoyed their ten minute set.

The is the second time I have seen Amy C, and this time Amy opened with one of my favourite songs “Maybe This Time” and using the Keeping it Live! band it was superb, with lots of drama which this kind of song requires. Amy followed the song with a fab number by Donna Summer “Last Dance” ending a nicely delivered spot with Tina Turners “River Deep Mountain High” Well done Amy - you really came into your own this time.

Jamie Reeves is certainly an act with a difference, portraying both a tribute to The Rat Pack and Robbie Williams in the same show. Jamie showed good vocals but there seemed to be some slight miss-pitching on the opening number “Lady Is A Tramp”. On the other hand the Robbie part of the show was, for me, far better. This young man has a great concept for a show that just needs a tiny bit more work to make it fly.

Shaun Conley is in a class of his own! With bags of experience behind him and a personality to match, there is nothing much you can say about this young man other than excellent. It is very hard to get a crowds attention, especially an audience of agents and bookers, but you could not help but be mesmerised by the talents of Shaun. An absolute dream to watch.

Milan are made up of three stunning female vocalists performing their renditions of some wonderful classic opera songs. It was an absolute pleasure to hear these ladies and I have to say that these girls must be the very first “Popera” all female group that I have seen. The vocals are stunning and obviously well trained and this extremely polished trio should by anyone’s standards be up there with Il Divo.. Superb.

Paying tribute to the late and fabulous Roy Orbison, Paul Hopkins has his look and the vocals are uncanny. Roy was renowned for the high range of notes that he could reach and Paul can replicate these notations to a T and playing guitar as well make Paul a bookable act for any event. Excellent use of the falsetto head voice and using the band to back him on his first song “Pretty Woman “ and the second “Crying” he had me totally sold.

Vocalist Samantha Starr showed us today a new string to her bow with her tribute to some of the classics of Country and opened with “Rose Garden” but please get rid of the dreaded fade out tracks. Samantha followed by a version of Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” and using the Keeping it Live! band Samantha finished her spot with Harper Valley PTA. It would be great to hear some additional country tones in the vocals to make it sound a little more authentic but she performed a good spot.

Is there no end to this mans talent! Breaking his 10 minutes into two 5 minute sets Paul Hopkins appeared again onstage, this time in his tribute to Gene Pitney. Yet again Paul was just superb and I am sure if Gene Pitney would have ever had the opportunity to see Paul he would be extremely pleased with the result. I really enjoyed this tribute from a very talented young man.

Alan Gill is a very witty young lad from Liverpool who not only is a vocalist but also a talented multi-instrumentalist. He opened his spot playing the penny whistle followed by singing Whiskey In The Jar and play the Bodrhan at the same time. His enjoyable set was ended with a song that was recorded originally by Phil Collins as he played the keyboard.

Opening their spot with “Don’t Take Away The Music” Star Star are two guys that harmonise like coffee & cream. Their stage presentation is outstanding and their renditions of classic soul songs are amazing. I would really like to see these guys with a live band behind them. I absolutely loved them.

This is the third time I have reviewed three girl vocal group Stiletto these girls and they have replaced one member of the group since I last saw them in October, but one thing that hasn’t changed is that yet again they were full of energy and produced a really visual show that was all singing and all dancing. I love these girls and they all have great personalities and off stage they are lovely. Again I really enjoyed their show.

Next on the Horseshoe stage was male vocalist Stuart Waldron who has a canny look for Shane Ward but definitely a bigger voice and is better looking. Stuart opened his spot with a brilliant song “Gold” followed by a Sam Sparrow number “Black & Gold”. Both songs really suited his voice, but it seemed that at times the music seemed to me to drown him out a bit which was a shame and that was a comment that was also passed to me whilst he was on stage. This young lad would seem to suit most venues from clubs to corporate.

What a refreshing change to see a male & female duo wowing us with their fantastic voices and this is exactly what Opera Nano did - their vocal ranges are unbelievable. Their second song Nessum Dorma was performed without the use of any microphones, which just shows you the outstanding power, and volume, that these two can put out and over backing music too. Theirs is an outstanding talent and a massive range of shows are also available from this duo.

Paul Ryley is a very lively male vocalist with a lovely smile, and a personality that would really get any party going. At times I felt there was a slight use of nasal singing, which seemed to take away the true sound of his voice. He is quite a funny young man who should easily be classed in the vocal entertainer/comedy category. Paul just needs to slightly adapt some of his timing as comedy is one of the hardest things to do, especially to a room full of agents and bookers.

Bongo Eddie is fab! This is the second time I have had the opportunity to see and review this vocalist who has a great personality and a style that is extremely unique to himself, I could not imagine anyone else wearing the bright, fantastic colours that he does and have the same style. He is also very funny and with his American wit you can’t help but be enthralled by him. Eddie ended his spot backed by the Keeping it Live! Band with a terrific rendition of “Take Me To The River”. One minor criticism - please get rid of your fade out tracks. Yet again Bongo Eddie was outstanding.

Following Bongo can’t have been an easy proposition but proved no problem at all to Susie Cassidy, a very classy looking lady who, using the Keeping it Live! Band, showed she has a lovely voice. Susie has a very infectious smile, which is a must in my opinion, and she kept the audience captivated with her medley of Cilla Black numbers before dragging Steve Walls onto stage to help her remove her dress revealing an all leather outfit for a total change of image and ended her spot with “I Kissed A Girl” and “Devil Gate Drive”.

A lovely lad with a lovely voice, vocalist Adam James uses light and shade in a superb way. Adam used the Keeping it Live! band and his rendition of “That’s Life” was great. His dress sense suits his image and songs very well and its nice to see someone take time out to work on their appearance. His rendition of “Walk Away” is a very big song to perform and I think that Adam should try doing some big show numbers, he could be more suited in that field and could make a great performer in this area of entertainment.

Closing another excellent afternoon session at Keeping it Live! and taking us back to the 60s were Back 2 Beat, great musicians and vocalists who opened with “Bad Moon Rising”. I love an all-live band that does not use tracks to play to and these lads are certainly professional all the way. Their look and style for the kind of music that they play suits them including all matching guitars. I really enjoyed you lads.
With the band closing the show we were halfway through Keeping it Live! - Blackpool 2009.

My act of the session: Milan