REVIEW: The Jerseys: Oh What A Nite! - The Met Theatre, Bury.

Nobody will be surprised to learn that The Jerseys are a tribute to Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons but unless you’ve seen them live you won’t know just how good they are – this was the second time I had seen them live in the last couple of years. The band is made up of Jack Wealthall, Max Fox, Daniel Cartwright and Frankie himself Dominic Creighton.

The first thing I noticed about the stage when I arrived was just how much had improved since the last time I saw them. The stage was very well lit with some top quality spotlights, the purple backdrop gave the whole stage a professional feel and there was a piano at the back – something that was new since my last experience. As the boys arrived on stage, they were also accompanied by dry ice and a musical entrance – their residence in Blackpool last Summer had clearly yielded some funds for investment in their show.

The band wasted no time in getting into the Frankie Valli back catalogue which included classics such as “Walk Like A Man”, “Sherry”, “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Grease” – this quickly got the audience into the right mood and increased the noise levels at the end of each song. The show was a complete sell-out in the larger room at The Met Theatre in Bury.

The reason for the piano then became very clear as they went into a series of Frankie Valli ballads, accompanied only by the piano – a real highlight for me being “My Eyes Adored You”. Dominic Creighton then went on to perform the beautiful “Fallen Angel”, a song that was never released by Valli but covers the topic of his daughter who passed away from a drug overdose – it is a song Valli himself performs at all of his concerts.

It is very clear that Creighton is a huge fan of Frankie Valli and he educated us throughout the night with simple facts about the man himself. The most surprising facts involved songs that you may know but not associate with Valli – songs such as “Bye Bye Baby” (Bay City Rollers) and “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” (The Walker Brothers) which were released by Valli but were not successful.

The second half of the show kicked off in similar style to the first but instead of Valli material, the boys sung a number of Motown Hits – a tribute to the album released by Valli of his favourites from that era. The Jerseys then covered a number of other hits songs from the 60s and 70s with Creighton joking that these are probably favourite songs of Valli.

Creighton is without a doubt the leader of the band but they all make significant contributions. They have excellent individual voices but it is the harmonies that bring this show to life – they are world class. The band did deviate from purely Frankie Valli songs but this just showed off their significant vocal abilities – not least when they covered Il Divo’s version of “The Power of Love” sung in Spanish. This received a deserved standing ovation. This seemed like a good opportunity to announce that they will be touring later in the year with a show of musical theatre numbers rather than as the Jerseys – I suspect many of this audience will be in attendance.

The show’s finale involves the title of the show “Oh What A Night”, followed by a medley of Frankie Valli songs as the band return to the stage in sparkles and sequins. All in all this was a very good show with some excellent vocal performances and a huge sense of fun throughout.

Reviewer - John Fish
on - 15/2/19