Rick Astley – Swinging Xmas 2024
Rick Astley appeared looking the part in an immaculate black tuxedo. As others before him, such as Rod Stewart & Robbie Williams, the second career-extending Christmas swing show proved a huge draw to the sellout silver surfer audience at the Brighton Centre.
The talented band surrounded him on the stage & very much played their part in adding to the onstage spectacle. They were tight, bright and really made it swing. We were promised Xmas swing and that’s absolutely what we got.
An opening number of Come Fly With Me showed off the excellent band. There followed a good mix of easy listening numbers such as Strangers in the Night (a gentle & soulful rendition for the nostalgic amongst us) and Nat King Cole’s crooner When I Fall in Love which he sang with feeling and tenderness, and, as he said, a much improved version from his attempt when he was 21! He does have a superb voice (heavy hints of Sinatra) and it’s pretty versatile. Energy and pace boosts arrived with numbers such as The Lady Is A Tramp and Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. The big band sound showcased those numbers really well. The first half finished strongly with Luck be a Lady Tonight.
It did feel as though the solo performances by the band could have been better recognised by the lighting crew, but the sound was magnificent.
In the second set Rick Astley continued with a mix of swing numbers which the audience obviously enjoyed, including some laid back and luxurious songs. The highlight of these, Fly Me To The Moon with just piano and vocals was superb, full of emotion. The pace picked up with I Get A Kick Out Of You before the audience rose as one, danced and sang as Rick launched into Never Gonna Give You Up. It was a complete explosion of energy and excitement in the silver surfer audience! It was clear that the audience had come to see him to hear a selection of his previous hits, alongside the swing numbers!
Closing the show with a wonderful rendition of White Christmas the audience left on a high… It felt like the majority of the audience enjoyed it and loved the chance of a singalong… but I felt the solo instrumentalists could have been honoured with better lighting and and the swing covers fell a little flat with the audience, judging from their polite applause. Most punters were waiting for that chance to relive those days when Rick was a superstar. Finally he delivered.
Lorraine Everard
13 December
The Brighton Centre
[Rating:4/5]
We ‘silver surfers’ knew it was Swing as we can still read (!) and and as you imply,surf. It was just more appropriate to receive those songs politely. Having seen Rick earlier in the year doing his own stuff. Personally I wouldnt want to have mixed in Ricks own hits alongside the Swing band, that would have been as bad an insult or worse than the poor lighting that you mention. I went to hear Rick sing Swing because I deeply admire his versatility, like to hear different music genres sometimes, and because, like Rick’s Dad, my Dad used to sing those songs…..