Keeping it Live!

Dressed in white suites trio Jive Talking are very impressive. The falsetto vocals and harmonies were sheer perfection and have to be one of the best Bee Gees tributes I have ever seen. I cannot fault these guys and the high notations were like pure silk. Although these lads where billed as a Bee Gees tribute, they do other songs by different artists including Phil Collins. Absolutely wonderful.

Again another young high-energy group accompanied by four disco-style dancers, Hits Unlimited had great energy and dynamics. Opening their spot with “Don't Stop Me Now” led by the male vocalist. Nice to see him step back on the second song to let the two female vocalists show what they can do. I am not too sure whether dancers are required for the whole of their act as they can hold their own vocally. Nicely presented but it would be nice to hear something slower as well as the upbeat.

Marc Allen is a typical Michael Buble wannabe. He possesses a great voice and has changed most of his music into a swing style. Not knocking this young lad, he has taken The Temptation's “My Girl” into another style, and before Michael Buble has which is great. So watch out Canada, this young man is hard on the heels of your latest hot property. Great dress sense and stage presentation and at last today we had someone who used the excellent Keeping it Live! band. Not only does he swing he can rock too! Brilliant!

Martyn James and his lovely assistant Manisha dazzled us with some funny illusions. Although I am not quite well up of this type of act, I have to say that I enjoyed them very much. Quite a witty pair together and great fun. But on a more serious note, a very talented magician and great personality. Super!!

Harry Cambridge! Well - what can I say! Just so soulful and smooth, this man is the epitome of the legendary Luther Vandross. Opening with “Dance With My Father”, the packed crowd were silent the whole time he sang and the applause was well earned when he finished. Harry does not only do Luther Vandross just in case you're wondering and his repertoire is varied. Using the Keeping It Live! band this man had the audience eating out of his hands. A dream to listen to and a great appeal to watch. After dedicating his last song “Impossible Dream” to one of his managers, Ray Pallett, who passed away two weeks previously, you could hear a pin drop resulting in a standing ovation. Absolutely outstanding!

Xtreme are a trio is made up of well-established acts, two of which perform in Xtreme Supreme. This is a more upbeat and modern group of girls with a very soulful sound. Blending a mix of varied ranges, their harmonies mould easily together. Well above the league of some of the trios seen in the past couple of days these girls are way above the working men's club standard. A really catchy trio and the feeling is that these girls will be top billing within twelve months. Simply superb.

Silvio is a tribute to Boy George he dressed as the man himself, great vocal range and style. Having, I believe, worked with the man himself; he has obviously studied him in great detail. His set waswell delivered, and I would love to have seen him with his full band and dancers behind him.

Re-Take That are a Take That tribute made up of four lads that bear some similarity to the real thing, but the vocals I feel are not up to the standard of the guys themselves. Great harmonies and great singers but more study needs to put into the vocal side of each individual artist. Having worked with the real Take That I love to see that youngsters nowadays wish to be associated with them. Please do them justice and spend more time on the little details, they will take you further than you think.

Vocal impressionist Spencer Robson opened with a Rat Pack number and then into an uncanny rendition of Tom Jones. Great vocals yet again bringing us quickly into Neil Diamond. A smartly dressed young man with an obvious talent of trying to emanate some of his favourite singers. I always think it's nice to hear the real man behind the voices that they impersonate, but did not get this. Spencer does around 40 different voices not all to a great standard, but still very entertaining. Having announced who he was impersonating it would have been good to try and guess who they where that way you could judge for yourself on how quick you could pick out the voices behind man. Everyone seemed to enjoy his spot and it was well delivered.

Opening with two members of the band as The Blues Brothers, Stardust Express soon got the crowd with them. The lads where then joined by three girls making up the vocal group to five. Some really fast and upbeat numbers a mix of the commitments and some of the older divas. Running into a complete change of style swing while the rest of the gang changed into fabulous costumes. I have to say that the vocal on New York, New York for the male was a bit flat sounding but the lead female vocalist stands out with an amazing talent and should be in West End Musicals. Fab!

Having seen comedy duo No Idea before I have to say that they have come on leaps and bounds. They are a married couple with a great comedy act; different is not in it, everyone was enthralled with them. They take the mickey out of each other and themselves and they are a delight to watch. Everyone was hysterical and they were absolutely fantastic. To recite something mixed up takes real talent and these two have the lot. Absolutely fantastic anyone who books these will have a great night for sure. Well done!

Whenever Shakira is a good looking lass with great vocals, although somewhat low in the vocal range than Shakira. A great mover, which is no small task as the original artist, is renowned for her belly dancing style. I wonder if Shakira had enough hits for this to be very successful. As I sit and listen to this girl she has a fabulous voice to hold her own without being a tribute and should seriously consider this as another option.

There seemed to be a vast amount of tributes at Keeping It Live! today and next we had another one in the guise of Monty Scott as Leo Sayer. Great look of the man himself and he opened his set with “Thunder In My Heart”. Monty has one of those faces that you cannot resist watching, he is like a cheeky kid. A local lad and what you see is what you get. The feeling is that he does look like Leo with the outfit, must be the dimples. Great copycat voice and having fun with the act is what I like to see. Great appeal to everyone and fun to hear and see. I really enjoyed Monty.

Yet another tribute act and Diamonds Are Forever had real class. A tribute to Dame Shirley Bassey, she delivered her first song “Gold Finger” with absolute power and poise. Using both the band and backing tracks she showed most of the vocalist here tonight how it's really done!. A very class act with a powerful vocal to die for and the mannerism of the great lady herself. Again I wonder how she sounds as herself as I am sure that she is just as impressive. Great spot.

Having not heard these guys before and playing live, Let’s Hang On impressed me very much, but could not understand why if they are tribute to Frankie Vallie whey they opened with “Grease is the word” by the Bee Gees. Even so they are vocally tight with their harmonies. The lead singer has a very high chest voice and therefore oozed confidence when singing “Sherry” easily flowing into falsetto range and powerful with it. Cute little lead singer with a look that just made you smile. Great spot and I thoroughly enjoyed them.

Personal favourite of the evening - Harry Cambridge.