As the lights dimmed and Bill Wyman made his way onto the stage, the cheers and whistles were straight from a stadium-sized gig.

And as soon as the band launched into action, fingers started clicking and toes started tapping to the kind of rhythm you can’t help but move something to.

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While their style is very definitely rhythm and blues, the musicians take a lead from a range of genres including gospel, country and western and borrow the songs of such performers as Nat King Cole, Nina Simone, Chuck Berry and Eddie Cochrane.

Despite fronting the band, Bill rarely stepped up to the front of the stage, only taking the lead vocals on two songs, All Night Long and You Never Can Tell.

The band raced through a set lasting more than two hours with the gusto of a band half their age and after finishing up at the end of the evening, they must have been impressed with the volume of the cries for an encore. 

And it’s a good job they came back out, as they saved some of the best songs for last. The Everly Brothers’ hit Crying in the Rain and an excellent version of Put a Spell on You, with rhythm queen Beverley Skeete on lead vocals finished the night off perfectly.

By Helen Cartwright