I arrived at the theatre early so I was able to watch the audience settle into their seats. It was an eclectic mix of young-at-heart over 70s, 1960’s rockers, middle-aged hipsters and fresh-faced youngsters proving that this show has something for everyone. It was advertised as an amazing new live production celebrating the best of classic rock paying tribute to many of the world’s all time classic rock greats and I think in the main it lived up to this. The show started to welcoming applause as I suspect many in the audience had seen the show before. Strobe lights lit up the stage and penetrated into the audience as the show opened to the sounds of Queen’s 'One Vision'. A video was projected onto the split-screen backdrop with scenes of Freddie Mercury with other band members as Rudy Cardenas performed a superb rendition of the popular Queen hit.
'Who Are You?' by The Who followed with Jesse Smith taking lead vocals as a video of The Who played on the backdrop. Next, Jess Harwood took the lead vocals on Fleetwood Mac's 'Dreams' taken from their infamous Rumours album of 1977.
The pulsating beat of Deep Purple’s 'Highway Star' from their Machine Head album was next as Rudy Cardenas took centre stage on lead vocals. There was a spectacular guitar solo from James Cole emulating the Richie Blackmore performance, whilst Henry Burnett played a solo on keyboards and the piece culminated with the four guitarists playing together at the end.
Eric Clapton was showcased next accompanied by a psychedelic video presentation followed by a haunting guitar introduction to 'Voodoo Child' with Rudy Cardenas getting down from the stage and into the aisles to serenade the audience.
'Because The Night' by Patti Smith followed with the beautiful tones of Jess Harwood’s voice and then Joe Cocker’s 'With A Little Help From My Friends' which received a standing ovation from the audience.
Renditions of Led Zeppelin and Cream hits had people in the audience dancing whilst the dulcet tones of Pink Floyd’s 'Comfortably Numb' received a standing ovation as Jesse Smith took centre stage on lead guitar and the coloured strobe lights hit the heads of those standing.
After a short interval we were treated to The Eagles' 'Hotel California' after lead singer, Rudy Cardenas confided how nervous the band were of performing the popular hit song but the spot-on performance by James Cole on double neck replica guitar as used by Don Felder in the original recording, beautifully played, received rapturous applause and recognition.
Toto’s Rosanna featured an outstanding guitar duet and Queen’s 'Bohemian Rhapsody' brought the house down. Jess Harwood did more than adequate justice to Heart’s 'Alone', before we heard the sound of a motorbike revving up and recognised the introduction to Meatloaf’s 'Bat Out Of Hell'. Jesse Smith featured on lead vocals and the audience showed their appreciation clapping and dancing.
Van Halen’s 'Jump' kept up the tempo and vibrant mood of the audience as they continued to dance and clap along to the music. AC/DC’s 'Thunderstruck' and 'Since You’ve Been Gone' by Rainbow from their Down to Earth album of 1979 proved popular and brought the show to a close with enthusiastic applause and the audience wanting more.
Justifiably, the audience hadn’t had enough and the band came back on stage for an encore. Wayne Banks threw off his t-shirt as they paid homage to Liverpool by declaring that The Beatles were the best band ever and if they hadn’t won over the hearts of the audience by this point, then they had by saying this. The interpretation of the Beatles' 'Golden Slumbers' and 'Carry That Weight' were excellent, albeit that it is my favourite Beatles' song and the band finished with 'Won’t Get Fooled Again' by The Who.
It was a very enjoyable show and the band is to be commended as they are gifted musicians and vocalists. The band consists of eight multi-talented musicians, Wayne Banks on bass guitar, James Cole, guitar and vocals, Pete Thorn, guitar and vocals, Jesse Smith, guitar and vocals, Jess Harwood on keyboards and vocals, Karl Penny on drums, Henry Burnett on keyboard and vocals and Rudy Cardenas on vocals. They managed to bring the original rock recordings back to life on stage, with a sound and light show to match, performed in the main with note-for-note precision. There were a few guitar licks which didn’t sound quite right on a few numbers during the first half but these were quickly forgotten as the band got into the performance and warmed up. Also during the first half the sound was overly loud causing my ears to hurt but again this was rectified and settled down as the show went on.
Having seen the show last year, I must admit I preferred that set list as some of the hits performed at this show were a little obscure, I think because they had probably been more successful in USA rather that in UK but this is a minor detail as in the main most of the songs and performers were recognisable without the split-screen videos and photographs on the backdrop.
It is a gem of a show, the vocals and guitar playing were outstanding and a testament to the ever increasing admiration of classic rock music and the popularity of the band, this show now seems to be a firm favourite with Merseyside audiences with this year’s tour culminating with another performance at The Liverpool Philharmonic on 23rd February 2020.
Reviewer - Anne Pritchard
on - 8/2/20
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