Family band inspire brotherly love

Tribute artists Jive Talkin’ featuring the convincing vocals of brothers Gary and Darren Simmons as Barry and Maurice Gibb.

The siblings travelled the world – career highlights including starring in London’s West End and performing live with the Bee Gees themselves.

In 2013, Darren’s son Jack joined the cast as Robin Gibb. A remarkable soundalike in his own right, he has helped recreate to perfection the extensive Gibb brothers’ repertoire.

From the outset Gary engaged the audience with friendly banter which continued throughout the performance, and from watching how the family interacted with each other and their audience it was obvious they loved their work.

The show was in chronological order, so in the first half we were entertained with the band’s 60s hits, including ‘Massachusetts’ – which prompted mass arm waving in the crowd – ‘To Love Somebody’, and ‘Got To Get A Message To You’.

The harmonies were fabulous, and the audience particularly loved their performance of ‘Words’ and ‘How Can You Mend a Broken Heart’.

The second half of the show was Saturday Night Fever – without doubt the best part of the evening, making you want to dig out your flares, strut your stuff, sing and throw some disco shapes.

‘Jive Talkin’, ‘Saturday Night Fever’ and ‘Stayin’ Alive’ had thetheatre buzzing – feet tapping, heads nodding, dancing in the aisles – and Gary demonstrated superbly how to hit those killer high notes.

An acoustic medley reminded us how many hits the Gibbs had to their credit, and the soundalike quality was really quite stunning.

The two hour show came to a close with ‘You Win Again’ and a deserved standing ovation.

Thunderous applause and cries of ‘more’ brought the band back for one last song. What else? ‘Tragedy’.

Helen Nicholas