I was super excited even walking along the seafront on the way to The Spa Pavilion! Not only is it a first time visit to this theatre, and I love exploring new venues, I love, love, love….LOVE…. Dolly and Kenny.
The age group of the audience was as expected, and it was good to see a group of ladies arrive with their glittery cowboy hats – we were all excited.
The stage opened with the four-piece band and backing singer straight into the chorus of Islands in The Stream – I was slightly aghast as this would surely be the last track and the highlight of the night after a huge build up? Dolly and Kenny came out and gave us a quick rendition of the track just to sate us and to make sure we were in the mood for the rest of the night! Phew…..there was more to come.
Obviously it wasn’t the real Dolly and Kenny, however, these guys did a great job of ‘being’ them for the night, engaging the audience with ‘their’ stories. Dolly had more energy and charisma and Kenny had a relaxed charm about him, a combination that worked the crowd.
The overall format worked well: a couple of duets then Dolly went off while Kenny entertained us, then Dolly came back on (in another dress and wig) for her tracks, followed by a few more duets and then more taking it in turns. I liked it, it allowed them each to engage with the audience individually and together and we all enjoyed it – we were clapping and singing along.
All the classic hits with a few lesser played songs: Jolene, Ruby, 9 to 5, Lucille, Here You Come Again, The Gambler, I Will Always Love You, Coward of the Country, Two Doors Down, Lady, Real Love, She’s Still A Mystery, Ruby, She Believes in Me, We Got Tonight……….and many, many more.
There might have been a few Dolly squeals too many but as an entertaining country evening celebrating a brilliant musical partnership, it was fabulous night out and we were all up and dancing at the end. Of course there was Islands in The Stream as the big build up end song…….with several extra chorus run throughs. Fabulous. Exactly what we wanted.
The Spa Pavilion has a charm of it’s own, plenty of space, food, drink and you get to walk along the seafront before and after a show – what a bonus that is!
This review first appeared on GrapevineLIVE.
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The Spa Pavilion