Radio City Live review @ Liverpool's Echo Arena

Radio City Live christmas bash review at Liverpool's Echo Arena

Surrounded by twinkling fairy wings, various flashing multi coloured bands, necklaces and doodle boppers and a whole lot of squealing girls, you know it's that time of year again. No, not the tinsel drinkers on their obligatory once a year night out but Radio City 96.7's musical extravaganza at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, and it has to be said that this year looked like it was going to blow the rest away. With every act on stage having had at least one number one hit single in the last year. 

The night kicked off with Jason Derulo, with full band and backing dancers on stage to give a slick polished, extremely energetic and at times Michael Jacksonesque performance, complete with many crotch grabbing moments, either that or his leather pants were chaffing, but that didn't stop the crowd from cheering and dancing along to his hits, including "Whatcha Say" and "Fight for You".

Following on was Tinchy Stryder but I have to say as an overall performance, he seemed to be lacking in energy and his DJ had more stage presence during the first track. His pal Dappy, joined him on stage and the two of them bounced around the stage pretty happily although vocally, it could have been stronger.

Pixie Lott and Ed Sheeran though provided some of the best vocal performances of the night for me, with Pixie performing an acoustic set, she cheekily and playfully made her way through a few of her most known number including, "Mama Do" and "All About Tonight" and even the 3 bored young teenage lads in front of me who had spent most of the night playing on games or BBM their friends sat up and took notice, whether that was to do with her performance or just her, we'll never know . I have to admit that Pixie Lott has one hell of a voice and a fantastic vocal range and as for Ed Sheerin, I've always been swayed away from listening to him as he is yet another Radio One prodigy but I can say with all honesty, I am now a fan and can see why he got the biggest cheers, screams and whoops of the night, and yes even more than JLS!! With his mellow vocals, witty banter to the crowd and who can't love the fact he's named his guitar "Cyril". Ed swapped from mellow vocals to a performance Beardyman would have been proud of with "You Need Me, I Don't Need You" and only stopped when Cyril broke two strings and had to be replaced by "Nigel". He finished his set with, "A Team" but I think the crowd could have listened to him all night, and I wouldn't have minded either.

Wretch 3-2 followed with and energetic set and Matt Cardle showed how to keep a crowd happy by just singing alone on stage then followed by  The Wanted, who to be very very honest sucked massively. Vocals off key from a lot of them and their new song, "War Zone" is horrendously drab and depressing and I fear it may be around at Christmas!! I 'm definitely putting ear plugs on my Xmas list of it is as I don't think my ears drums can go through that again.

The night came to one spectacular close with JLS taking to the stage and showed all boy groups, (The Wanted take note) how it should be done. With polished dance routines, harmonious vocals and Aston's cheekiness shining through, to many girls delight judging by the squeals from some of them, they performed "Eyes Wide Shut" "Everybody In Love" and "Take a Chance" an upbeat ballad style song, which is from their new album "Jukebox". JLS also showcased their brand new single, a Christmassy little number called "Do You Feel What I Feel" complete with falling snow ended the night with "She Makes Me Wanna" which saw the entire arena covered in glitter and streamers.

So once again thanks to Radio City 96.7 for bringing us another pop fuelled night at the Echo Arena and lets hope we can all wait till 22nd July 2012 for the next one. Admittedly though this one will be hard to top. 

Review by Alison Goggin

The next Radio City Live returns on Saturday 22nd July 2012 at the Liverpool Echo Arena with another fantastic lineup!

Pre-order your tickets online NOW or from the Box Office for a limited time only.  Visit www.radiocity.co.uk or call the Box Office on 0844 8000 400 (from 9am on Saturday 3rd December) and quote promo code CITY.

Tickets start at £25 plus booking free.

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Radio City Live @ The Echo Arena Liverpool

Radio City 96.7 took over Liverpool's Echo Arena on Sunday night for their Radio City Live pop extravaganza. Playing to a 10,000 strong very excited audience who filled the arena with cheers and squeals as the acts where advertised on the big screens surrounding the stage before it had even started.

Kicking off the event we're special guests McFly who now have a more mature look and definitely rocked the arena, with “Star Girl” and “Five Colours In Her Hair” and brought their the usual energy laden exuberance to their set that we have all grown to love about this cheeky lot.

Following McFly were Dane Bowers and Gabriella Cilmi who performed her new track, “Defender” and looked like butter wouldn't melt during, “Nothing Sweet About Me”. Hot on their heels was Alesha Dixon, who showcased her dance talents from her stint on Strictly Come Dancing during, “The Boy Does Nothing” and new single “Drummer Boy”. With great crowd interaction and a massive bubbly personality, Alesha Dixon was definitely one of the favourites of the night.

Diana Vickers, who is basically another blonde pop princess who seemed a bit more bothered about facial expressions and hand movements, making you feel it was more of an audition for an amature dramatics society than a musical performance and then came The Wanted, a can of manufactured boy band who do exactly what it says on the tin, send pre pubescent girls and middle aged mum's into a squealing frenzy.

The first half closed with The Hoosiers, whose new material which has a more rock edge to it, thankfully sounds better than their old happy retro induced pop. New track, “Unlikely Hero” especially went down well with the crowd.

Opening the second half came Tinchy Stryder, who I have to admit having no idea to who he was before hand, but was definitely surprised at his talents. He not only had a great energy and vocal talents but had a great rapport with the crowd, who were on their feet, dancing and cheering along and joining in with the chorus to each song, especially during, “Number One”. Next up we had Professor Green, minus Lily Allen, but with two backing singers instead gave an extended version of, Just Be Good To Me” and new single “Monster”.

The Saturday's treated us to a superb acoustic set including “Missing You” and “Ego”, as only three of them could make it due to illness. It was one of the best performances of the night in my opinion and definitely allowed the girls to showcase their vocal talents instead of, “the usual prancing about we normally do on stage!” They were followed by The Script, who during “Falling To Pieces” saw lead singer, Danny O'Donoghue jump from the stage to get up close and personal with the crowd.

Next up came X Factor winner, Alexandra Burke, who turned slightly Tina Turneresque during, “All Night Long”. New single, “Start Without Me” is a fantastic pop number which is big on bass and beats and is likely to be an instant hit.

Finally came Scouting For Girls, who closed the show and Radio City could not have chosen a better act to end it on. Of all the acts that played tonight, Scouting For Girls had to be the ones who seemed to enjoy it the most. As soon as they came onto the stage, lead singer, Roy Stride, was there to enjoy himself and ensured the crowd did as well. At one point, the crowd got so noisy joining in the chorus's that he was drowned out. It may have been a short set for them but they played the most famous tracks, “She's So Lovely” and brand new track, “Famous” which saw the band and audience bounce all over the place.

Words: Alison Goggin

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