Showcall Showcase - Part II: Day One, Evening Session

Published Wednesday 1 February 2006 at 12:20 by Peter Hepple (additional material by Marcus Collingbourne)

With the hall filling up rapidly for the evening session, Stretch and the Boys got proceedings going with guitarist Alan Wormold taking the lead vocal. After the usual welcome from Tufty, the stage was set for opening act Cultural Club. With backing musicians and vocalists from Y’Abba D’Abba certainly earning their Showcase corn, this striking tribute to Boy George and Culture Club were into the swing. Two numbers, Karma Chameleon and Victims, were all it took to prove that we had an extremely accurate vocal rendition and a pretty good lookalike, albeit a bit taller than the original. This is a new tribute to the market and on this showing one which should have a busy diary, providing they are given time to apply all that slap.

One of the hits of the evening was young vocalist Andy Leigh who really ripped into his Showcase set and took no prisoners. A powerful yet controlled voice coupled with superb technique gave a voice a voice of distinction. The highlight of the set was undoubtedly a great arrangement of Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight, a song not heard enough as a solo ballad. An excellent set from a young man with tremendous potential who should really go places. Watch out for him.

First of the evening’s solo female vocalists was a classy young lady performing as the Alex Laine Show. Well presented and confident, she mixed her set with ballads and up-tempo numbers and on the whole the voice carried it off, particularly in her closing number, Midnight Train to Georgia. Wholly at ease onstage and with great audience rapport, she utilised both tracks and the house band to deliver a strong set.

One of the artists on meet’n’greet duty earlier was Aright Charlie, a Chaplin walkabout act. Surely Tufty must have wished he hadn’t asked him to come on stage to take a bow but this gave us one of the comedic highlights of the show as for once Tufty was rendered nearly speechless. Having said that his Chaplin routine is spot on.

Recent visitors to Showcall Showcases will have seen Chris Bylett performing as a meet’n’greet performer but it has been quite a few years since Chris has showcased his vent stage show at Showcall and he certainly let the audience see what they had been missing. After introducing us to Charlie, his likeable young doll he then let Desmond, the fowl-mouthed duck take centre stage and with gags and even impressions flowing this was fully appreciated by the audience. Great fun from one of the UK’s leading exponents.

Another confident solo vocalist was Joanna Love. Despite suffering from a cold she more than did herself justice in another varied set. Again a well chosen mix of numbers showed her vocal range but the highlight was definitely Tennessee Waltz. She closed her set with a catchy original number, Island Romance, written for her by her MD Keith Anderson.

Speciality acts are always popular at Showcase and we were treated to something different with mind reading act Franklin. An entertainer of great experience, he showed his professionalism throughout his act. Pulling assistants fom a showcase audience is never to be recommended and Franklin nearly had his act spoilt by his final helper for a wordsearch from a dictionary routine but with three successful demonstrations of his art this is surely top of the tree for the cruising and corporate markets.

A complete change of pace followed with 50s Rock n Roll at its best with the Jukebox Eddies. This fast faced four-piece rattled through hits from the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly. I’m sure the lads wont mind me mention that they are not teenagers but they showed terrific energy and the one thing money cant buy - experience. Mention must go to the double bass player who climbed all over it without falling off once, though he came close. This is a band who are totally confident in their show and on this viewing it is a confidence that is not misplaced.

Girl vocal group Sweet Rebellion, now expanded to a four-piece since I last saw them, showed off their vocal ability in their opening overture, Madonna’s Like A Prayer. Fronted by charismatic Libby Paige the girls were all costumed and choreographed and delivered a well constructed set that had something for everyone from musical standards to bang up to date material such as a ripping version of Pussycat dolls Don’t Cha. Judging by the audience reaction this was another act to make the bookers in the audience reach for the publicity.

With adult comedian Dave Adams you get exactly what it says on the tin but don’t be put off as he is a class performer. In this current PC climate it is easy to dismiss comedians of this nature but he wins through as he is a true raconteur and has a great fund of throw away one-liners. With topical gags and his exquisite timing he must surely be one of the leaders in his field, a point reinforced by the laughter from the Park Hall audience.

Making one of the most eye-catching entrances of the evening was Elton John tribute Aaron Hart’s The One. Bedecked in a typical Reg costume consisting of feathered wings he raced through a well selected Showcase set of snippets from the great man’s back catalogue. Piano parts were well performed and the voice was pretty much there on most of the tracks and he certainly had worked on the mannerisms. There is a fair amount of competition as Elton out there and it will be interesting to see if this young man can cut himself a piece of the tribute cake.

Three handed group Private Collection was a solo female backed by two dancers, superbly choreographed throughout by Karen Western. Robbie Williams’ Let Me Entertain You seemed as strange choice of song to open for a female but worked surprisingly well. Pick of the set vocally was the Corrs’ Breathless. Again. This was a young act that certainly could deliver and made some friends at Showcase.

The success of the Rat Pack renaissance has led to many male vocalists putting together a croon set. However when they are delivered with the panache of Andrew Beasley presenting his Frank Sinatra tribute you cant complain. With Stretch and the boys in fine form backing easily recognisable standards Andrew exhuded confidence and is vocally right there. Nice and Easy Does It - and it was.

Bringing a varied evening of entertainment to a close was Shiver. Part of the nine-piece band Life & Soul who were unable to perform due to prior commitments, this duo featured female vocalist Gina and Paul, one of the best guitarists I have seen in a showcase setting. An amazing virtuoso performance of Gary Moore’s Still Got The Blues that was as close as you could get to the original both in phrasing and tonal quality could have taken the whole ten minutes in my view. This was for me one of the high spots in an evening of good quality entertainment and judging by the applause I was not the only one of that opinion.

With Tufty and the band closing the show in time honoured tradition, this meant we were one third of the way through the extended Showcall Showcase - Part II.

Peter Hepple (with additional material by Marcus Collingbourne)

BOOKER’S CHOICE

Roger Caldwell from the Studio 1 Group chose Sweet Rebellion and Jukebox Eddies