{"id":849,"date":"2013-06-09T23:01:36","date_gmt":"2013-06-09T22:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/?page_id=849"},"modified":"2015-10-28T08:32:07","modified_gmt":"2015-10-28T08:32:07","slug":"alexander-oneal-in-leicester","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/reviews\/gig-reviews\/alexander-oneal-in-leicester\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexander O’Neal in Leicester"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Alexander O’Neal at the O2 Academy Leicester<\/h1>\n

1st June 2013, O2 Academy Main Stage<\/p>\n

The Alexander O’Neal show tonight attracted an audience of over 1,500 people to the main stage arena of Leicester’s O2 Academy.<\/p>\n

\"alexander
Alexander O’Neal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Reminisce Summer Concert Tour was headlined by the soul sensation – from the USA – Alexander O’Neal who performed his hits Criticise<\/em>, Fake<\/em> and If you were here tonight<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Supporting \u00a0the legend of the 80s soul scene tonight were local singer Ten<\/strong>, Heatwave<\/strong> and soul 2 soul artist Jazzy B<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Appearing in Leicester for the first time, three acts from the era of soul grooves drew a large audience – one that reflected those who had been there in the 80s when soul was enjoying its golden age and quite a lot of younger people who wanted to experience for themselves what it had all been about.<\/p>\n

Alexander O’Neal is best know for his top ten hit of 1987, Criticise<\/em>. \u00a0Other hits, including\u00a0If You Were Here Tonight,<\/em> were favourites with the capacity crowd.<\/p>\n

Heatwave<\/strong>\u00a0reached second place in the UK charts in the late ’70s with their song Boogie Nights<\/em>. They also enjoyed hits with Mind Blowing Decisions<\/em>, Always<\/em> and Forever<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Jazzy B<\/strong>, the producer and artist known as ‘soul 2 soul’ played a set of his funk, soul and reggae songs.<\/p>\n

Audience members got a full night of music – from the DJs who played their set of r ‘n b and Motown classics to warm up the audience through to the appearance of the man they had all been waiting for.<\/p>\n

For many in the audience it was a trip down memory lane; for others it might well have been a voyage of musical discovery. Featuring the sounds of disco and ‘old skool’ the night’s music got many ladies moving.\u00a0Compering the night was Bob Peters, one-time DJ with the famous Flamingo club in London.<\/p>\n

The first act of the evening was Leicester singer Ten<\/strong>. We saw her at Sumo on Thursday when she appeared at the City Link-Up show.<\/p>\n

On stage Ten made a colourful splash and, even though most of the audience would not have known her, the crowd responded warmly to her beautiful voice and appealing stage presence.\u00a0Ten sang her single, which is out now. Ten is starting out on her musical career now but I have a feeling this is a name we are going to see a lot of in the future. You can see Ten at the Leicester Belgrave Mela, later this year.<\/p>\n

Heatwave<\/strong> came on to the stage and gave the audience a full hour of their catalogue of songs. The two singers at the front were backed by a full band that included keyboard players, guitarist, drummer and bassist and two female backing vocalists.\u00a0What the room got was sixty minutes of compelling beats and rhythms and a storming stage presence. Their front man made the most of his\u00a0\u00a0lively stage act, which included a full cart-wheel, which brought the house down. They got the audience singing along to their songs and refraining back “ooo baby yeah baby”.\u00a0The room was filled with their fans and what was clear was that this style of music is widely loved and enjoyed by Leicester people and, fo course, those who had traveled quite some way to be at the show.<\/p>\n

Watch Heatwave performing Boogie Nights on Top of the Pops<\/a><\/p>\n

Masters of the big romantic ballad, Heatwave delivered a stormingly good set. The song everyone had been waiting for came right at the end of their set. Boogie<\/em> Nights is the one hit that we all remember.<\/p>\n

While the stage was re-set for the headline act, DJ Jazzie-B<\/strong> gave the room his offering of soul 2 soul tunes.<\/p>\n

After a big build up from compere Bob Peters, Alexander O’Neal<\/strong> came on to the stage, greeted by exuberant cheering and applause from the ample audience. With a full band and backing singers, the great soul legend sang some of his memorable songs. Now aged 60, O’Neal is an iconic performer and top-class singer.<\/p>\n

Watch Alexander O’Neal singing Criticise<\/em><\/p>\n

The evening was organised by K Kong Events<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alexander O’Neal at the O2 Academy Leicester 1st June 2013, O2 Academy Main Stage The Alexander O’Neal show tonight attracted an audience of over 1,500 […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"parent":171,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-849","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P73uhX-dH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":171,"url":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/reviews\/gig-reviews\/","url_meta":{"origin":849,"position":0},"title":"Gig Reviews 2013","author":"Trevor Locke","date":"06\/02\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Gig Reviews 2013 This is the home page for the Gig Reviews Section. Content previously on this page has been moved. \u00a0This page provides links to our content reviewing live music. 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