Do you know how the Bee Gees got their name? It is simply the Brothers Gibb shortened to B G or Bee Gees. This was one of the facts shared with the audience during tonight’s show.
It opens with You Win Again but then goes back in time from their first hit, New York Mining Disaster with a narrator giving us the story of the Bee Gees in between each track. New York Mining Disaster was released on a plain white cover so that people had to go out of their way to see what the Bee Gees looked like. This song was during The Beatles fame and has a real 60’s feel to it. Massachusetts was next and this was a hit in the UK as well as the USA. Only watching this story of the Bee Gees do you realise how epic thier song writing was and how much they have touched people’s lives.
Of course, the audience are waiting for Disco and although the Bee Gees may not have liked the title it certainly put them on the map with Saturday Night Fever being a huge hit film and the soundtrack being one of the top selling soundtracks ever. We are treated to More Than a Woman, How Deep Is Your Love, Saturday Night Fever, You Should Be Dancing and Jive Talkin’. The audience are up on their feet dancing away. However, then there is an interval and the second half opens to Staying Alive. This felt like a bad place to break as all the disco set should have been kept together especially while the audience are dancing.
The second half covers some tracks the Bee Gees wrote for other famous people including Celine Dion and Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers and of course the classic Grease sung by Frankie Valli. Again, the audience are up on their feet singing and dancing. They talk about the sad passing of Maurice and Barry and also their brother Andy, but then it’s back to the classics with a disco set and finishing with Tragedy (more recently covered by Steps).
This is a great show with fantastic harmonies from the three performers, Robin played by Martin Spooner, Barry played by Rowan Lyle and Maurice played by Yvan Silva. They can all sing well individually too and Yvan gives some amazingly high vocals which would make Maurice proud. Martin Spooner who plays Robin sang a little too much like a parody of the Bee Gees which is really unnecessary because they could all sing very well and sounded great together. They all looked the part too so you can easily identify which brother was which. They were supported by a drummer and bass player known as the men in black with extra support from a backing track. And some female dancers gives some seriously smooth dance moves that the audience try to emulate.
The narrator is warm and friendly and does his job well. He was useful for some of the lesser known hits but actually his role stops the flow and energy of the show having to introduce each track. The audience just wants to sing and dance along. It would work better with less narration or alternatively some words on a screen would be more appropriate to introduce the lesser known tracks or more interaction with the cast members themselves. The audience want to feel they are at a Bee Gees gig.
However, this was still a great night out and reminds you how awesome the Bee Gees are and that their music will live forever. As there will not be another chance to see the Bee Gees perform together again, this is the next best thing.