The Nolans have reformed after performing their last show twenty five years ago. Much of this reunion is possibly due to the publicity Coleen Nolan has attained through marrying & then divorcing Shane Richie, appearing on Loose Women & those Iceland adverts, playing Kerry Katona's on screen mum!!! Talking of mum's the support act where Shane & Jake, Coleen & Shane Richie's sons. Now when I heard this I immediately thought oh this should be a car wreck of a show in itself & the insults would be as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. However I was to be proved so wrong, very quickly.
Walking on stage dressed very smartly in contrasting suits, Shane aged 20 and Jake aged just 17 had an immediate air of confidence. Striking up an instant rapport with the audience, who instantly seemed to hang onto every word they said. Jake takes up guitar and Shane on the mic they sing kings of Leon's 'Need Somebody' as though it was their own & really did it justice. In a nod to the older members of the audience they chose their material to perfection. Michael Jackson's 'Man in The Mirror', Take That's 'Million Love Songs' and a Westlife song, during which Shane grabbed a stool so he could sit down & stand up with his arm outstretched in true mocking Westlife style. When not singing they are cracking jokes to the audience as though they are a pair of stand up comics, just like their father, with some better gags. They where I have to admit, very, very entertaining & well worth the admission alone.
I don't think it will be long until an ITV exec catches these two in action & they get their own show as that is where their true future lies. Ant & Dec look out; you have some serious competition here.
The stage set for The Nolans is huge and probably more suited to a huge Arena stage than the smaller Sheffield City Hall. Comprising of huge steps up the middle to a walkway along the back of the stage high up leading to steps back around to the stage, similar to a TV show set. A guy dressed as a boxer is first onto the stage, closely followed by a cowboy, a welder & a fireman complete with hose. This seems to get some of the ladies in the audience excited as they start to scream. The backdrop at the top of the stairs is drawn apart curtain style to reveal The Nolans dressed in black & white trouser suits & sunglasses. Opening song 'I Need a Hero' is great with the dressed up dancers cavorting raunchily with the Nolans, leading up to the inevitable male striptease from them.
The production for the show is huge with five members of their band, seven dancers and themselves along with the huge set makes for a cramped stage and sometimes it was difficult to see who was singing & sometimes difficult to actually spot The Nolans.
The show itself is split into four different segments, girly night, jazz club, individual and finally disco. Jazz club section brings out even more props including a full size pool table & a poker table which some of The Nolans dance on.
The individual section was a little too X Factor for me, with each Nolan performing their own solo spot. Coleen, covering Alisha Dixon's 'Boy Does Nothing', Maureen that regular talent show song 'Valerie', Linda obviously goes for Duffy's 'Mercy' leaving it to Bernie to rescue the show with a fantastic cover of Pink's 'So What'.
The show gets even better with the song 'The Voice Within', again Bernie's voice is superb, and is a joy to watch, truly connecting with the predominantly female audience.
Finally the disco session has a huge disco mirror ball raised to the ceiling as 'I Will Survive' gets the City Hall' crowd to its feet and a truly fabulous 'I'm In The Mood For Dancing' leaves us all shouting for more.
The Nolan's 'I'm In The Mood Again' show has been billed as the Ultimate Girl Night Out, that it truly is judging by how happy the audience left the City Hall. Let's hope we dont have to wait another 25 years for the next tour girls???
article by: Gary Stafford
photos by: Gary Stafford
published: 04/11/2009 08:44
FUTURE GIGS
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