He made us feel like dancing

Leo Sayer, The Lowry, Salford
Leo Sayer Picuture credit: PA Photo/Kristian Dowling/Lucas Dawson PhotgraphyLeo Sayer Picuture credit: PA Photo/Kristian Dowling/Lucas Dawson Photgraphy
Leo Sayer Picuture credit: PA Photo/Kristian Dowling/Lucas Dawson Photgraphy

There is nothing worse than going to a concert to hear someone sing the songs you remember from your teenage years … and then finding that they have moved on without you.

Take note Joan Armatrading: big mistake.

But Leo Sayer, well he is another kettle of fish! He knows what his fans want … and in his Restless Years tour, he delivers.

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One Man Band, The Show Must Go On, I Can’t Stop Loving You, Moonlighting – all top 10 hits with a comforting familiarity that got the audience on board right from the start.

Is his voice as good as it was? Not really, but he is 67, and it was good enough to belt out Thunder in My Heart and Long Tall Glasses (I Can Dance) and tip over into falsetto during You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, bringing back memories of his extraordinary vocal range.

Oddly, the time when the old Leo Sayer voice was most recognisable was during his rendition of a handful of songs from his new album.

These were sensibly sandwiched in the middle of his two hours on stage, with the audience warmed up and content after hearing their old favourites.

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The album’s title track, Restless Years, was given a good reception and Leo had fun reflecting on his advancing age – “I’m in my late 60s” he announced, incredulously, as he introduced another of his self-penned songs, How Did We Get So Old? “I keep looking at this old geezer in the mirror and wondering who he is!”

Now 67, he admitted that an old injury to his knee was preventing him performing any accompanying dances to his songs; in truth he had a significant limp and treated the knee as though it were made of glass throughout the evening.

He pulled it off though, conversing – at times one-to-one – with devoted fans who just had to have a quick chat with their idol.

Magic moment: the sound of about 1,500 voices, mainly female, gently singing along to the encore number, I Can’t Help Loving You.

Joyce Bishop

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