Review: Shrewsbury Quarry concert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce3ZYlu4Dps

Many of the people who attended Shrewsbury Quarry's latest concert were schoolchildren when the main attractions ruled Radio 1, Smash Hits magazine and Top of the Pops.

More than twenty years later, Smash Hits and Top of the Pops are no more, and those schoolchildren are all grown up. Quite a few had brought along their own youngsters to see their former pin-ups on stage last night.

And some have never stopped listening to those old songs.

"My husband Dave is eighties mad," said Dawn Dyer, of Much Wenlock.

The couple were with their children, Adam, 9, and Joe, 7, listening to Howard Jones singing his hits, including Things Can only Get Better and What is Love?

"It's been pretty good so far," said Mrs Dyer. "The kids are enjoying it."

The concert, which was blessed by perfect weather, began at 7pm when soul singer Mica Paris took to the stage to sing One Temptation and songs from her new album.

She was followed by Howard Jones and then Go West, who played hits including Don't Look Down, The King of Wishful Thinking and Smokey Robinson's Tracks of My Tears, which became a duet when Rick Astley was invited on to the stage.

On the whole the years have been kind. The singers may be older and heavier, but their voices are still strong and they seemed to love performing in front of almost 7,000 people, many of whom sang along to every song.

Their clothes, too have calmed down, with over-the-top 1980s gear replaced by smart suits in the case of Tony Hadley, or a casual white shirt and jeans for Go West's Peter Cox. Only ABC's Martin Fry flew the flag for old-school fashion, even if his orange suit and dark shirt appeared to have been inspired by a Jaffa Cake.

Fry breezed through songs including Poison Arrow, All of My Heart and The Look of Love, before Rick Astley bounded on to the stage.

At this point some people at the front got carried away. It seems underwear was thrown at the singer, who looked at the culprit and joked: "I'm not Tom Jones, love."

The audience, smaller than last year's 10,000-strong crowd, seemed to be enjoying the show, with a sizeable number gathered at the front of the stage, dancing and singing. "You were almost pogoing there," Rick Astley told them.

Libby Lear, of Meole Brace, was sitting with James Morgan at the back, near the Quarry gates.

"I think it's brilliant," she said. Ms Lear had no complaints about the volume, despite criticism after the 2009 concert. "It's loud enough," she said. "Last year my sister-in-law came and she said you could not really hear at the back."

Gareth Ingham, 38, of Castlefields, was sitting with his wife Elizabeth and watching the acts from under the shade of a tree. They were quite happy not being nearer to the stage. "You've not got to worry about not being able to see," said Mr Ingham. "It's nice sitting here in the sunshine."

Tony Hadley was billed as the evening's main attraction, and he belted out several Spandau Ballet songs, including his personal favourite, Through the Barricades, and duetted on a number of cover versions with Rick Astley and Go West.

A cover of the Kaiser Chiefs' I Predict a Riot brought the show to a close, and a spectacular fireworks display ended the evening in style.

Alison Lowe, of promoters IML Concerts, said they had been pleased with the response to the concert and hoped to organise more in the future.