Today I went to say goodbye to an old friend along with many others, Keith,' Karaoke', Hammond. Keith was taken ill on holiday and died as a result aged 74.The Kettlethorpe Crematorium was packed to the doors with family and friends. Keith, a widower, loved singing and was a regular at karaoke nights at the Lupset singing for his friend Mick McGinley. He was usually the first to sing, he had a pretty good voice and sang lots of different songs over the years. He sang with Mick in lots of other venues over the years. Keith will be sadly missed by everyone who knew him and many that didn't. The order of service started with a recording of Keith singing, 'Unforgettable;, which which was very apt, during the service another recording of Keith singing was 'Venus', and the music to leave us was, 'After The Loving'. A Karaoke show at the Lupset followed which was in Keith's Memory... Keith Hammond, A true gentleman.
This was my first viewing of Jonathan Redfearn from Huddersfield; he appeared at Ossett Central club in Ossett. The club was quite busy in both the concert room and the Lounge. Jonathan was already on stage when I arrived; he was very smartly dressed in a pin striped suit and black shirt.He has a good strong voice and sang the songs of Dire Straits, Billy Ocean, The Killers, Gene Pitney, Elvis and I particularly liked his rendition of Meatloaf's, 'You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth'. The members liked this young singer and sang along in some of his songs; that's what I like to see and hear.. Man and Wife duo ‘Crazy Diamond’ was the act on Saturday night at a very busy New Brookhouse Club in Wakefield; they appeared on stage in matching black outfits adorned with silver accessories. They sing songs from the 60’s to the present day in fact they started their show with the latest clubland anthem, ‘Human’. Personality, good voices and harmonies, humour and a super rapport with the members, that’s always a winner. A couple more of their songs were, This Kiss and one for Mr and Mrs T, ‘When You Tell Me That You Love Me’. This lovely couple had the dancers on the floor from song number one and I’m sure for the rest of the night.. Crazy Diamond, a super Duo…
Wakefield Starsearch; Heat 5
It was a poor attendance at the Wakefield Starsearch on Wednesday night; there were five contestants hoping for a place in the ¼ finals. After his opening song compere Jonathan Carroll introduced the first act, Hull’s Kristian; he has a strong voice and a couple of his songs were, ‘The Great Pretender’ and ‘Love is All’. Next was Andrew Colclough from Normanton. Andrew sang in his set, ‘Bad Romance’ and ‘Pack Up’. Next up was another singer from Hull, Dan Furniss. He sang in his set ‘Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher’ and ‘Highway To Hell’ Castleford’s Stephanie Sweeting looked lovely in a sequined top over black tights (Liked the shoes). In her set Stephanie sang, ‘Black Betty’ and ‘Hey Mambo’. I have folllowed Stephanie's progress over the last few years and she has certainly made great strides in her performances. Well done Stephanie! The final act was, again from Hull, Sami Lou. Sami sang ‘Hallelujah’ and then unfortunately had to withdraw from the heat due to what we think was a problem with her throat. She told me afterwards that her throat wasn’t sore but she was having difficulties with her singing. This is such a pity because Sami is a fine singer and in fact she won the Castleford Star Search last year. I hope she gets better real soon!. The judges chose, 'Kristian', 'Don Furniss' and 'Stephanie Sweeting' for the ¼ finals… Pictured left to right; Stephanie Sweeting, Kristian and Dan Furniss.. A well attended concert room that gave Dave Bryan their full attention; he performs a completely different show every time you see him. Gilly first booked Dave in 1980 at the Wakefield Pride, [Now known as 'The Snooty Fox'] when he was playing with a band called ' Moonshine'. He has been booking him at least twice a year since and he remains peoples top favourite solo country act. Songs last night included a Merle Haggard song, 'That’s The Way Love Goes', a Johnny Cash song, ’The Ways Of A Woman In Love', ‘People Are Crazy' a Billy Currington song. What a memory Dave Bryan has for songs Over at Horbury club which was equally busy the artiste was, ‘The Richie Taylor Show’. Richie sings the songs of Billy Fury, Cliff Richard, Roy Orbison and many more. I just heard his very impressive Beatles tribute which covered most of the top ten chart hits. Richie has a sound man and a very impressive back cloth. an artiste not to be missed! Earlier in the evening some of the committee including the club's Secretary of 30 years, Dave Robinson and the club’s President Dave Marsden made a presentation of £2,000 raised by the club’s members to Marie, the administrator for the McMillan Nurses. Well done Horbury WMC. Pictured below:- Dave Robinson, Dave Marsden, Marie,the McMillan Nurses Administrator and dave Womersley, Horbury Club Trustee and Committee Man. Weekend Viewing…
On Saturday night I called in at a very busy Crofton club in Wakefield, to see a four piece band, new to me called, “Don’t Tell The Wife”. The band line up is Wayne Simon on vocals, Paul Jewel [who also does a Neil Diamond Tribute show]is on keyboards, Tony Big J Toulson on guitar and Steve Storm, [who has just joined the band] on drums. All the guys do sing the harmonies and are very good at it. I heard a couple of their songs of which one was ‘I’m A Believer’. Although it was a short visit I loved their music before I had to dash off to another venue. Check out ‘Don’t Tell The Wife’, it’s a great fun band… Pictures will be posted on arrival.. 62nd Blackpool Command Performance,Friday, April 8th, 2011...
Yet another sell out for this annual Glittering Show where the artistes are chosen from preview shows around the country. Opening the show was that superb compere/comedian and Hull born Carl Schofield looking immaculate as always. Carl opened with a song and a few one liners. He introduced the first act, boy girl duo from Lytham St. Anne’s called ‘On The Level’. John and Debbie make up this super duo, all the music came from John’s keyboards, he sang harmonies with Debbie who has a wonderful voice. She was dressed in a long turquoise evening dress, (Loved the shoes) John wore black trousers and a crisp white shirt. ‘Car Wash’ followed by Relight My Fire, a 50’s medley ‘Misty Blue’ were some of the songs they sang. What an amazing entrance by Lee Lambert, a 17 years old singer / entertainer from Morley near Leeds; the lights were used to great effect and he appeared on the stage as if by magic; {Well Done Neil}; Lee just oozes charm, confidence and charisma. His performances belies his age. I have known Lee since he was a 10 years old fresh faced and excited boy who just lives for his music. Lee can be seen at Club Tropicana, one of the top entertainment venues where he will be appearing for a summer season from June onwards. Tonight Lee appeared on stage looking immaculate as he always does and was in fine voice as he sang in his show; Cry Me A River, All That Matters To Me, Human and Amazed. The audience just loved his show Hayley ‘J’ is a young lady from Leeds who has a fine voice and a great personality; she too has a good repertoire and always looks great on stage. Tonight she was wearing a sequinned evening dress; Hayley opened her show with a fantastic version of ‘One Night Only’ and she continued her set with ‘Kiss Me Honey Honey Kiss Me’, My Cherie Amore’, ‘All The Lovers’ and ‘Run’’. Dave Betton really needs no introduction; this man is a legend in both the clubs circuit and Blackpool where he is known as Mr Blackpool; he is a comedian and who has a fabulous tenor voice. He did a few impressions including John Wayne and Walter Brennan; hilarious to say the least Dave has been in the entertainment business for over 50 years. He finished his set with a double impression of Elvis and Willie Nelson’s ‘You Were Always On My Mind’. The last few lines of the song were in Dave’s own fabulous tenor voice. Dave Betton truly is a legend. Carl introduced Elite, a top male duo from Yorkshire; Chris Lafferty and Lee Camm the owners of great voices make up the duo. Elite started their show with ‘Take That’s ‘Hold Up A Light’. Looking trendy on stage they were wearing white designer jeans and Michael Jackson style Tunics. The choreography was excellent. ‘The Way You Look Tonight’, ‘Chasing Cars’, ‘Bad Romance’ and ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ were their songs; A superb performance’. After a 30 minute interval Carl Schofield came back on stage with more of his priceless jokes; he introduced Johnny Dee also from Leeds and is best known for his tribute show to Neil Diamond he has a remarkably close sound to the great man. As always, very smart on stage and aside from his Neil Diamond show he has a wide variety of songs in his repertoire. Johnny opened his show with ‘Hot Stuff’ continuing with ‘Beautiful Noise’, ‘Forever In Blue Jeans’, The Night Has A Thousand Eyes’ and ‘This Is The Moment’. Carl Schofield returned to the stage dressed in a quirky outfit and spread more happiness with his comedy; it was in this part of the show he did his famous Rap, in which he mentioned every act in order of appearance. He sang ‘Mustang Sally’ and finished this part of the show with a song about the Titanic. (You will have to go and see Carl for this). Carl then introduced the lovely Michelle Montuori. I have seen this lady perform several times but never the same show twice; she has a wonderful repertoire and uses them to the full. Tonight Michelle looked stunning in a Black/Red/Silver and other colours, sequined evening gown. The coloured lights gave the effect of various colours. She opened her part of this most prestigious show with ’Over The Rainbow’ demonstrating her powerful voice; she also sang in her set, Valerie, a superb version of Mack The Knife and Don't Cry For Me Argentina sung with such feeling. Michelle Montuori is a natural comedienne and had the audience laughing loudly. Another great performer who incidentally cancelled a cruise to appear on the show. Carl then introduced the final act of the night; Re-United, Father and son Ricky and Azzi along with Phil are an excellent male trio from South Wales; again, top class choreography as they sang and danced their way through, ‘’Hang On In There Baby’, Dancing On The Ceiling’, ‘Like Sister And Brother’ and many more; they closed their show to a standing ovation. What a superb and well produced show by Brian Cliff of Globe entertainments. Thanks must go to Alan Pilborough, Chairman of the Blackpool Concert Secretaries Federation and to ‘Neil’ for his superb sound and lights control. Everyone I spoke to said the atmosphere was to quote a famous line in a song, "Simply The Best".. Well done Neil. See you all there next year I hope. Pictured :- Carl Schofield, Lee Lambert, Hayley, 'J', Dave Betton, Elite, Johnny Dee, Michelle Montuori, Re-United, Producer Brian Cliife and On The Level. Heat Four Of Wakefield Star Search.
Jonathan Carroll the Compere opened this heat four of the Wakefield Star Search with a song. It was quite busy despite the Chelsea/Manchester United match on Television. He introduced the first contestant Charlotte Jones. She is a lovely girl from Wakefield who has a lovely voice and a winning smile. A couple of her songs were I’m So Excited and Summer Of 69. Next was Leeds girl Natasha Bosely; she too looked great on stage and was full of life. Natasha has a good strong voice and sang in her set You’ve Got The Love And Someone Like You. Hull girl Sherina Donkin was our next competitor. Again a super voice and presentation on stage; Sherina sang in her set, Don’t Stop Believing and Love Is Battlefield. A top quality first half. Jonathan opened the second half with Stone In Love With You and went on to introduce Dean Moon also from Hull; Dean was dressed in a smart suit and he too can sing. Live It Up and Like I’ve Never Been Gone. It was comedy time with a duo from Wakefield called Bone And Idle; no letting on what the jokes were but it was funny. There were a couple of songs from Mr Idle who was accompanied by Mr Bone who sang some good harmonies. The final act was Sarah James from Batley; Sarah looked good in her trendy outfit, plenty of glitter in her top and a tight pair of trousers. Sarah sang in her set Black Velvet and Pack Up, A good finish to the night! Going on to the quarter finals are, pictured on the top row, in no particular order; Dean Moon, Sherina Donkin and Charlotte Jones.. Pictured below are; left to right runners up, Sarah James, Bone & Idle and Natasha Bosely... Gilly’s Country Club.. This country music club in the City club in Wakefield goes from strength to strength; there was a very good attendance tonight. On stage was a male/female duo called Rivendel which I always thought was a band. I arrived just as Graham and Denise, [pictured on the left], were into their first song which was ‘Good Morning America’. The harmonies were very good and the sounds of the guitar and banjo were excellent. One song that I hadn’t heard for many years was, ‘You Are No Angel’.’A Galway Girl’ and ‘Blue Roses’ finished off a good first set. The music starts each week at near enough 8-30pm so come on Y’all and let’s keep this club going; Chris, (Gilly) books great acts every week. Next Week Emmerdale actor, the incomparable Dave Bryan, pictured below, is the artiste on stage. Do Not Miss.. |
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THE WORD "PREVIOUS" AT THE BOTTOM LEFT HAND SIDE AND YOU WILL SEE MORE REVIEWS... ****************** The Nash... October Entertainment. Sat 17th. Sara Daniels. Young Female Vocalist. Sun 18th. Maddie Storm. Excellent Female Vocalist. Tue 20th. Ricky Graham. Class Male Vocalist. Thu 22nd. Bethany Brooke's. Excellent Female Vocalist. Fri 23rd. Scott Carr. Top Male Entertainer. Sat 24th. Spike Davis. Male Vocal Entertainer. Sun 25th. Mitchell James. Male Vocalist. Tue27th. Gracy 'B'. Excellent Female Vocalist. Thu 29th. Mark Richie. Male Vocal Comedy Entertainer. Fri 30th. Joe Ross. Young Male Vocalist. Sat 31st. Kelly Owen. Young Female Vocalist. Kevin Grundy's Second Pub Book.
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