THE BIG REUNION BOY BAND TOUR 2014 - UK TOUR REVIEW

THE BIG REUNION BOY BAND TOUR 2014 AT THE LG ARENA, BIRMINGHAM

Tour Dates: Until Monday 27 October 2014
Performance Reviewed: Tuesday 21 October

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

“Do you all remember ‘Smash Hits’?”

“…How about CD:UK? Top of the Pops?”

If my inner teenage self hadn’t already erupted to the fore at this early stage of The Big Reunion Boyband Tour, these pitch-perfect 90’s callbacks certainly did the trick.

Catapulting off of the surprise success of the ITV2 show of the same name, this years incarnation is a decidedly testosterone-driven event, eschewing the likes of Eternal and Girl Thing (Google the latter) whom were part of the 2014 TV line up in order to focus on what the vast majority of the baying audience were seemingly there to see anyway; the boy bands. And, be it cynical cash grab or audience savvy, some of last years groups, notably so-recently-disbanded-it-couldn’t-really-be-called-a-reunion mega band Blue, have been invited along for the ride once more.

DOLLY PARTON: BLUE SMOKE WORLD TOUR - REVIEW

DOLLY PARTON: BLUE SMOKE WORLD TOUR AT THE LG ARENA, BIRMINGHAM

Tour Dates: Until Wednesday 2 July 2014 (UK dates), 14 July 2014 (International)
Performance Reviewed: Sunday 22 June 2014

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

As the undisputed Queen of Country drew a crisp, powerhouse a capella rendition of ‘Little Sparrow’ to a close at Birmingham’s LG arena this evening in the second act of her Blue Smoke World Tour, it was difficult to fathom what superlatives could be reached for to do this veritable legend of the music industry, and entertainment industry as a whole, justice suffice. The enamored audience had already been treated to an impressively diverse catalogue of hits old and new (including highlights from the titular new album), and many of her prolific, signature numbers were still to come, but it was surely with the reflective, almost mournful ‘Little Sparrow’, it’s stripped back, minimalist staging and Parton’s faultless vocal that the irrepressible charm, charisma and undeniable genius of Miss Parton was at it’s most raw and irrefutable.