Thursday, January 21, 2010

RONAN KEATING

Last night, I was fortunate to see Ronan Keating in concert. It was a last minute invite. How lucky am I?! Thanks Mandi!



The night began with Tina Arena as the support act. What a voice! Tina’s set was perfect — a mix of the best material from her Songs of Love & Loss album plus her biggest hits — Chains, Sorrento Moon and Burn. Beautiful is the best way to describe them. She also sang some real classics like Oh Me Oh My, the hands-down killer version of To Sir with Love and my two favourites of the night - Now I Can Dance and the aching cover of Alice Cooper’s Only Women Bleed. WOW! Despite no longer living in Australia she continues to be one of our greatest vocal treasures.

Ronan Keating – what a nice guy with an equally powerful voice. His set list contained all the pop and ballad favourites, ranging from the solo hit which started it all — When You Say Nothing At All from the movie Notting Hill — to Life Is a Rollercoaster, If Tomorrow Never Comes, a cover of Time After Time and I Love It When We Do. Ronan’s themes of love, devotion and longing for home pervaded. His lyrics speak straight to the heart. His strength is that he sings the songs which are moment-makers in his fans’ lives — the wedding waltz, your song, the proposal, a song for mum or one simply for love. It wasn’t all about the ballads though, as the moments to dance came with songs like the jubilant Lovin’ Each Day.
It was a treat to see Ronan Keating and Tina Arena share the stage for Last Thing on My Mind.
Off his new album Stay, Ronan chose the title track and a great version of Paul Simon’s Homeward Bound. Most moving was his thanks for the love he received while in Australia late last year to promote Stay, just after the death of friend and Boyzone mate Stephen Gately. “If I’m going to go anywhere and lift my spirits, it was Australia,” Ronan told the crowd. “I swear to God, thank you from the bottom of my heart.” A smile just kept creeping on to his face all night. In the encore, he went for the unexpected — a cover of Midnight Oil’s seminal Beds Are Burning. The audience roared their approval at another first for Ronan. From the look on Ronan Keating’s face and beaming smiles from the audience, both sides were well satisfied with the outcome.



what a great concert!

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