Date: Thursday 1st December 2016
Venue: Metro Radio Arena (Newcastle, UK)
In November Michael Ball and Alfie Boe released an album together with a collection of songs mainly from Musical Theatre. They have both had incredible careers on stage and it is brilliant that they decided to work together to create the album and a tour to go alongside it.
I had certainly had the tickets for quite a long time, which is always a shame when it comes to any concert, show or performance. But it did allow me to be able to listen to the album over and over and over again. Really appreciating how the pair bring out great things in each other the way they have arranged the lyrics in the songs.
The show was very well put together and went in a different direction to how I expected. But that is certainly a huge compliment, as I thought they would be mainly singing songs from the album. They started that way which was great especially as they sung my favorite A Thousand Years, which I loved originally when it was in one of the Twilight films but please don’t judge me on that! This version is amazing and I was so pleased it was part of the set list and so early on in the show!
It really does satisfy many of your Musical Theatre needs which is always great when at an arena venue, showing that the songs are just as powerful as they are when you see them on stage. I also loved how they both talked to the audience in between and explained why certain songs made it onto the album. The charisma from the pair really added to what was going to be a vocally incredible show!
The first half of the show ended with a tribute to Elvis Presley which isn’t really something I was expecting. Singing their favorite songs by the King and a fantastic duet of Suspicious Minds! We have a short break at that point and I was very curious to what the second half was going to hold. The only thing I already knew was that Les Mis medley and You’ll Never Walk Alone were part of the encore.
The second half started with a small tribute to swing music, come on who doesn’t love that type of music and it worked so well! That was then followed by a James Bond section with them singing small parts from many of the very popular and well known Bond themes!
We then got some solo moments as Alfie Boe took to the stage first and really got the crowd going and singing along. Michael Ball then sung his most well known song and had a few jokes about it as well. Closing the show with Les Mis and You’ll Never Walk Alone was a very nice touch. Both performers have been in Les Mis over the years so that really did feel like a massive treat.
I was very impressed and very pleased that I went to the concert and throughly enjoyed every second of it. Two incredible voices that just work together so well and really do bring out something extra in each other. You can tell that they are enjoying themselves up on the stage and I think that made it even better to watch.
Thank you Michael Ball and Alfie Boe not only for a great night but for a great album as well!
