ShareMichael Ball and Alfie Boe performing their Back Together Tour at The Motorpoint Arena Nottingham on Friday 28th February 2020.
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
Last night Michael Ball and Alfie Boe came to the Motorpoint Arena and delivered a show that saw them as comfortable together on stage as a well worn pair of shoes.
Touring to promote their third album, Back Together, they showcased many of their famous songs and musical influences and despite Ball being more famous for his involvement in musical theatre and Boe renown in operatic circles, these two old friends have perfected a formula that offered entertainment from the start.
With the excellent use of strobe lighting, huge screens, a full orchestra and backing singers they began with The Greatest Show from The Greatest Showman and the fun began. There were plenty of other musical favourites such as Sunrise Sunset from Fiddler On The Roof, Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again from Phantom Of The Opera and You’ll Be Back from Hamilton.
In between the musical magnificence, they had time for the odd joke and between song banter. There was some tongue in cheek digs about who is the most popular and who has the best hair; a battle lost by Boe as he berated the camera man for exposing his bald spot on the big screen behind them.
A version of Gene Pitney and Marc Almond’s hypnotic duet Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart and a new song written by The Shires’ Ben Earle, Army, sung in front of a screen montage of poppy fields, were very impressive. The stadium anthems of Something Inside So Strong and You’re The Voice had the crowd singing along at the top of their voices.
Highlights of the set included a stunning version of Snow Patrol’s Run by Boe which saw the Arena lit up by hundreds of mobile phones and a rousing rendition of Love Changes Everything, one of Ball’s signature standards. With both singers arguably having made their name in Les Misérables, the worldwide smash musical was remembered last night with solo spots from Ball with Stars and of course Boe’s Bring Him Home which saw the crowd up on their feet to show genuine appreciation.
It was hard to top that but they certainly did with a section that featured Circle Of Life and He Lives In You from The Lion King before they ended their main set with a medley of Queen songs which included Who Wants To Live Forever, The Show Must Go On and Friends Will Be Friends.
For their encore there was a spine tingling version of My Way before they upped the tempo with a romp through the Grease soundtrack to bring an end to an evening that had this crowd dancing out of the Arena.
