I have to admit..I'm a child of the 80's! I like new music sure, but the beat of a Stock Aitken & Waterman classic will always transport me back to my youth! Rick Astley was probably one of the bigger PWL acts, with Rick starting as a Tea Boy in the studios before progressing to bone fide pop star!

Ive seen Rick perform on a couple of the 80's Revival shows and he has always been in good voice belting out those 80's hits. But, there is more to Rick than the nostalgia circuit as tonight's gig proved. In the relatively small (and VERY hot!) surroundings of the Academy 2 room (reminded me of a school hall) Rick and his band treated us to a selection of his 80's hits, kicking off with "Together Forever" mixing in some Motown Classics, updated versions of old hits and some suprisingly good new matierial.

It must be frustrating for an artist to be pigeonholed into one era, but Rick mannaged to give the fans the hits they craved for and some new stuff that could easily sit in today's chart (his new album is set for release in early 2013, but you can buy a copy at the gigs) Rick has a fine soul voice and his band are adept at switching from the 80's sound to soul to rock.

Gone is the shy persona of the 80's, replaced by a confident and witty approach. Lots of banter with the audience, there was even a raffle half way through! Inevitably, the show closed with "Never Gonna Give You Up", but to be honest, there was so much other good stuff, that if he hadn't done it, for me, it wouldn't have been missed!

The crowd was a mixture of couples, 80's loving thirty and 40 somethings! and suprisingly a number of young hipsters..good on ya Rick!