21st February, 1999. NEC Arena, Birmingham
I hope by the time you have finished reading this review, all those of you yet to see the CORRS live will have made the right decision and bought themselves a ticket for the next performance!!
It was definitely an experience not to be missed and by all accounts a totally awesome 90 minutes of live performance mixing amazing musical talent with the passionate tradition of Irish music.
From the second Sharon appeared with her violin in a spotlight on the stage and the first chords of “When he’s not around” were struck I knew this was really happening, The Corrs were live, here and now, and I was listening to them……an amazing feeling I have to tell you…
After the opening songs, including “No Good for Me”, Andrea finally greeted the crowd to much whistling and cheering then the show cracked on with a brilliant rendition of “The Right Time” one of the real highlights for me.
Then to my surprise my attitude towards Jim changed completely when he came on stage to do a piano solo and he really won the show…he acted like a true professional and came across as witty and a real character! The crowd loved him of course! Good on you Jim!
The next surprise was Sharon and Caroline’s solo version of
“ No Frontiers” which they carried across with such style and flair..a truly amazing performance, allowing them to be in the spotlight for a change and show us their talented voices, which sometimes are hidden away from us all.
Andrea came back out to join the rest of the band and they then rolled into a further succession of hits such as “Haste to the Wedding and “The Queen of Hollywood” simply fantastic…one of my all time favourites “Runaway” was just perfect with Caroline on the piano..
Then the next highlight…after a brief introduction from Andrea the hugely popular “Dreams” was played causing a real stir in the arena as everyone stood, clapping and singing along…. a wonderful atmosphere to be a part of and one which buzzed on for a long time afterwards……I found it amazing how long you could clap your hands for and not feel tired at all…the music seems to carry you along somehow and you just know that you can’t stop clapping now…or something will just be missing….
Then came more brilliant performances of “I never loved you anyway” and “Only when I sleep”…. and after the band had been introduced the grand finale had arrived….
The band left the stage and the crowd were left to whistle and cheer desperately hoping that they would return for an encore…..and sure enough out they (eventually!) came in dazzling silver outfits for an unforgettable finale of “So Young” and “Toss the Feathers” accompanied by the audience, once again on their feet, clapping and singing along….AMAZING…….
So what a night it turned out to be and one certainly not easily forgotten. The atmosphere had been amazing; all the favourite songs were there from “Forgiven not Forgotten” to “What can I do?” and best of all the entire band were simply outstanding. They all looked fabulous and gave an all round PHENOMENAL performance.
If you only go to one concert this year, PLEASE don’t miss out, go and see THE CORRS..
NB. One last point, top marks for the dancing baby from Ally McBeal which they put up on the screen behind the stage!!!!!
Nice touch and very entertaining!!!
Emma Langley