ONCE IN A LIFETIME @ BIRMINGHAM N.E.C.

You had to be there to believe it - an almost full to capacity auditorium with several thousand 'women of a certain' age (and a sprinkling of blokes) singing the Bay City Rollers hit 'Bye Bye Baby' acappella style to an emotional Les Mckeown who stood with one hand held to his face and the other holding the microphone out to his fans. Mr McKeown - former lead singer of the 70's band has had bad press in recent years but he opened the 'Once in a Lifetime' Tour with such energy and enthusiasm that he couldn't fail to win his audience over.
He was followed by the eternally slick Osmond Brothers who for me stole the show with their deft choreography and serenaded us with hits such as Love Me For a Reason and Let Me In and of course the inimitable Crazy Horses. With the absence of Alan who is sadly suffering from MS, young Jimmy has joined his brothers on tour and thrilled the audience with an updated version of his hit 'Long Haired Lover From Liverpool'.
The sublime David Essex kicked off the second half and after all these years still undoubtedly oozes that cheeky charisma across the footlights. He showed that not only his smouldering looks but also his voice has stood the test of time as he belted out such classics such as Oh What a Circus, A Winter's Tale and Silver Dream Machine. The audience became a sea of illuminated digital camera and mobile phone screens each time he came towards my seating area. The auditorium positively erupted when he returned for an encore with 'Gonna Make You a Star'. No one would have been disappointed with this captivating performance.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the final act topping the bill. David Cassidy who I am reliably informed was superb in Nottingham last year, was definitely having a bad performance day. He struggled through his set vocally and his plight was unaided by technical faults which meant he was unable to use his guitars. Unlike a true professional, he did not carry on regardless but lost his temper to the point where having swept the guitar stands out of his way with his feet, proceeded to quite unbelievably (and I hope uncharacteristically) smash a guitar to smithereens in front of us! He did apologise and stated it was a result of 35 years of frustration of guitars letting him down on stage. His fans weren't convinced and left the building in a constant stream throughout his performance which he suddenly cut short and left us wondering what was happening. No encore. This performance was sadly lacking as he criticised the preferences of British fans (apparently we think he talks too much!) and as an end result he is now sadly lacking a number of these British fans. Fortunately the memory of the previous acts shone through to make it a Concert well worth my 5 hour round trip.