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Graham Clark
Music Features Writer
@Maxximum23Clark
11:37 AM 17th November 2018
arts

Rick Astley, Leeds Arena

 
Whoever thought of asking Gabrielle to support Rick Astley on his current arena tour was thinking along the right lines: both acts are from the same period and appeal to the same generation.

Mention Gabrielle and her worldwide hit Dreams, comes to mind. Naturally she saves the track until the end of her strong set though Out of Reach was a highlight of her set too.

Gabrielle
Gabrielle
Mention the 80's and Rick Astley comes to mind. Pop can be a fickle world, after his late 80's success the hits seem to dry up after Cry For Help in the early 90's. The former Stock Aitken and Waterman singer disappeared only to resurface a few years ago when he released his album, 50.

The album went to Number 1, his first for 29 years and a theatre tour sold out venues across the country. In support of his new album, Beautiful Life his popularity means he can now play venues the size of Leeds Arena.

In what must be one of the most simple yet dramatic entrances, the lights go down, a bright light shines centre stage and there he is, stood alone with an acoustic guitar as he sings Try.

The new songs are strong though the fans want to hear the old stuff. "A woman has just shouted out let's hear something from the 80's" he says by way of an introduction to Together Forever. Whether she did shout it out or not it was the perfect introduction to the pop classic.

This time around he seems to be enjoying it more, always sending himself up and not taking it all too seriously. On Whenever You Need Somebody he momentarily misses his cue at the start of the song only to then deliver a storming version.

There are a lot of contrasts throughout the show including an unexpected cover of the Daft Punk classic Harder Better Faster Stonger.

The new songs are wiser and deeper: Hold Me In Your Arms was written for his wife. He jokes about the men in the audience who do not want to be there, who might have been brought along with their partner. Though even they might have been impressed when he gets behind the drum kit as he and his band perform a version of AC/DC's Highway to Hell!

The Good Old Days, a track from his last album might sound like a man longing for the past, but in reality the song is about all the classic albums he discovered in his youth.

Of course he was never going to perform the song that launched his career until the end of the night: Never Gonna Give You Up was taken over by the Leeds Female Vocal Choir and we all could be back in 1987 again. The track is mixed in with Copacabana and We Will Rock You, along with the band introductions (the latter might have been better done earlier in the gig) and Astley had a smile on his face that is as wide as the Leeds Arena and so did his fans.