Olly Murs performing at Sherwood Pines Mansfield on Friday 23rd June 2017.


Images and Review by Kevin Cooper

In a week that saw the searing heat break all weather records, it was a cold, damp and windy night that welcomed Essex boy Olly Murs to Sherwood Pines last night. In the beautiful Forestry Commission setting it was 2015 X Factor winner, Louisa Johnson who opened the first of three concerts taking place over this weekend.

Welcoming a crowd of adults and children, her soaring voice immediately engaged as she owned the stage with her single releases, Best Behaviour and So Good. Proving that she is a class act with Forever Young she then handed over the stage to the star of the night.

Love or loathe Olly Murs, what he does have in bundles is a natural charm and an endearing cockiness. With no fancy visuals or pyrotechnics as evidenced when he came to the Motorpoint Arena in March this year, the crowd right at the back were able to see every bum wiggle and pout with the aid of the backdrop screen as he opened with the lively You Don’t Know Love.

Delivering a set list of fun filled showmanship with strokes of laddish behaviour, dad dancing and chart toppers such as Wrapped Up and Grow Up, he entertained from the off. Running around the stage he is the consummate performer making sure that everyone in his audience is having as much fun as he clearly is.

With a voice that reached all parts of the forest he treated his fans to the lovely ballad, Up, which came after talk of heartbreak which was followed by some outrageous flirting with the ladies. Informing them that he was single and that he had renamed the tour ‘The Find A Girlfriend Tour 2017’, there was no shortage of volunteers to fill the vacancy.

With Back Around morphing into Tina Turner’s What’s Love Got To do With It, there was plenty of opportunity to have a dance, and when Louisa Johnson joined him on the stage for his latest single, Unpredictable, there was a mass sing along from the adoring crowd.

There was an old school music segment with KC & The Sunshine Band’s That’s The Way (I Like It), Luther Vandross’ Never Too Much and MC Hammer’s U Can’t Touch This along with She’s Got That Vibe, Can’t Stop The Feeling as well as Jump Around which for a very entertaining ten minutes, the crowd did just that.

With a very talented band and brilliant backing singers he wrapped things up with Dance With Me Tonight and an arm waving rendition of Years And Years. Murs had delivered 90 minutes of high energy, pure pop fun that was never less than entertaining and eight years after his X Factor days, it’s still a ‘Yes’ from Sherwood Pines.

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