25 May 2007 – Josh Groban, Birmingham Symphony Hall

'Awake' tour.

With only two UK dates, it was a choice between Hampton Court with doubtful weather and the guaranteed acoustics of distant Birmingham – the day trip to Brum won.

This likeable young performer already has a devoted following of ladies (the Grobanites) – the gig trademark being glowsticks (see Dec 2004). Combine a seriously good venue (a modern, wooden-panelled hall with the ultimate design for acoustics and sight lines) with a seriously good artist (with the ultimate voice for depth and reach) and you have pretty much a perfect evening. One fly in the ointment for me - the West-coast banter was a bit cheesy at times, along the lines of “..even the guys here love me because they brought along the ladies who love me, and they’ll be getting their (“thanks”) later …” Cringe.

Enough of the negative, get back to the voice. Josh’s voice is clear and mesmerising – it’s like listening to opera without the difficult bits. Every song is moving, whether sung in English, Spanish or Italian. There was quite a bit of joshing around with the band, particularly the drummer who had been teaching him “a few tricks” – only turned out to be a 5-minute drum solo from JG which shook a few rafters. Also to be mentioned was a fantastic violin solo (Led Zeppelin) from Lucia Micarelli.

I’m thinking New Three Tenors, I’m thinking Josh Groban, I’m thinking Enrique Inglesias, I’m thinking (fill in your own suggestion) but, hey, Harvey Goldsmith – how about it?

2004 - Rockin' Oldies (and a Newbie)

07 October - Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, Royal Festival Hall
12 November - Status Quo, Brentwood Centre
22 December - Josh Groban, Hammersmith Apollo

This is what I imagine the Traveling Wilburys would have been like - really good musicians playing really good music and giving everyone a really great time. Bill's band of seriously professional musicians and singers played for the sheer fun of it - I'd have to list all twelve band members to be fair to one and all. Dead-pan and as laid-back as ever, Bill shunned the limelight but you could tell he was in charge. Surprise of the night - Ronnie Wood shambled onto the stage. It was a case of "Hiya Bill, what you want me to do?" - "Stand there and play, stoopid." Nice one all round.

Status Quo. The Brentwood Cenre must be on about the 'D' or 'E' list of tour categories but, what the hell, it was easy enough to get to. Certainly a dedicated audience and lots of faces being picked picked out by their nibses, Rossi'n'Parfitt. Fan gimmick - blow-up air guitars were handed out among the faithful and held aloft with gusto.

This was a rocking gig - quite literally. You see, the Brentwood Centre is a sports hall and the tiers of seats are pulled out from the surrounding walls. Fair enough when you're sitting down, but as soon as the Quo came on everyone stood up and as they rocked along to "Whatever You Want", the whole structure rocked along too.

Josh Groban. Young Josh hasn't been around as long as the gents mentioned above, but even so his fans have developed their own 'gimmick' - the glow sticks. Oh yes. Went to this as a 'surprise' evening out and was, pleasantly. The boy sure can sing - very strong tenor voice - and a lot of thought had gone into the whole show. The Japanese electro-violin lady was riveting, too.