Red's Way

Concert: A Summer’s Night with Red Hurley
Venue: Olympia Theatre, Dublin
Date: Sat 2nd July 2011

I have reviewed Red Hurley’s live shows many times in recent years, spanning his gradual rise back to the top of Irish Showbusiness and his new found significant international success in the United States & UK. It seems everyone is praising the singer of late from leading Irish media figures such as Kevin Myers & Ryan Turbridy to American luminaries such as Oprah Winfrey and her own mentor Maya Angelou. Yet it wasn’t always this way.
Not so long ago Red's once glittering career had gradually ebbed away and his live appearances and recordings were few and far between. During the 1990s in particular, he seemed almost invisible spending most of his time in the USA. Gradually in the 21rst century all that began to change. Just as he had done in the 1970s & 80s it was through well produced recordings that Red Hurley slowly rebuilt his career. Unlike his contemporaries of the showband era, Red always placed a premium on well produced records often working with the very best international producers and writers at a time when others were content to churn out covers and poorly recorded material. It was this professionalism in the end which enabled him to make what must surely be one of the most spectacular comebacks in Irish Showbusiness history.
During the past 5-6 years he has recorded almost half a dozen successful albums, appeared regularly on top TV shows including his own US TV special (Recorded live in Ireland) and mounted at least 2 concert tours a year, selling out shows at Dublin’s Grand Canal Theatre and other nationwide venues despite the recession. It seems Ireland has fallen in love with Red Hurley all over again.
There are few who can possibly envy Red his return to the top. Well liked by his peers and admired by musicians and composers alike for his wide musical repertoire and sheer vocal power, the man is literally riding the crest of a wave at present. Despite this he is never complacent and always striving to innovate and even educate his own audience on differing musical styles.
His Olympia Theatre summer show on July 2nd (part of a small Irish summer tour) showcased once again not just his still stunning voice but his varied musical influences. The concert naturally featured his crowd pleasing greatest hits but also material as diverse as Jerome Kern’s ‘The way you look tonight’ and Paul Anka’s Sinatra classic ‘My Way’ which he sang with moving pathos and deliberate restraint. Never derivative and always original he managed to avoid a Sinatra esque imitation finding new depths to the song and virtually making it his own.
A songwriter’s dream, Red Hurley can find so much to say through his skilful and impeccably judged vocal performances breathing new life into classics and reenergising even his own back catalogue. Some of his biggest domestic hits ‘When & Love Is All’ have been brought into the modern era with fresh contemporary arrangements. He has even ventured into Gospel music similar to his idol Tom Jones. Both singers have recently recorded well received Gospel Albums aimed primarily at the US market but which have crossed the Atlantic and found an audience here and the UK.
Red Hurley is due back in Dublin later in 2011 to play a Christmas Concert at the Helix which will no doubt once again be a sell out. 2011 has been a good year for him. He has returned to the top of Irish Showbusiness with a high profile Late Late show appearance, sell out Irish and US tours and seen his talents recognised as never before by a wide variety of critics. Red Hurley is one of those rare singers who can actually sing ‘My Way’ with complete authenticity. Despite the setbacks and career ups and downs, he has endured and prospered with a voice which sounds better than ever and a stage presence that has not diminished. The man has indeed done it 'his way' remaining faithful to his own unique musical style but always open to change and innovation and indeed to pushing his own musical boundaries and those of his loyal fanbase. He is quite simply, a living legend.

Daniel Lindon

Michael Ball
The Heroes Tour-(Opening Night)
Grand Canal Theatre Dublin
24 May 2011

Michael Ball made his name initially through his association with a string of successful West End shows and as the principal male lead in a succession of Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals. His outstanding performance in the now legendary Cameron Mackintosh production of ‘Les Miserables’ made him a major star and established him as one of the major vocal talents of modern British entertainment. His versatility coupled with clever marketing and intelligent personal management has given him a superstar career his West End contemporaries can only dream about. Not generally acknowledged are his steady and consistent album sales and album chart success over the past 20 years. He has sold literally millions of albums principally in the UK & Ireland in recent years. He has also enjoyed a parallel career as a successful live artist selling out numerous concert tours through his huge and fiercely loyal fan base. That same fan base are fascinated with a star equally at home on the West End stage and the concert halls of Europe and a canny media operator who regularly pops up on TV or Radio shows and in the UK album charts with most of his recent recordings. Few performers can offer such a diverse range of options to their fans who cant seem to get enough of their idol. In short the man is a one man multi media star.

His latest ‘Heroes’ tour, named from his most recent album of the same name in which he explores the songs of his own musical inspirations, enjoyed its first night premiere before a sell out crowd at Dublin’s beautiful Grand Canal Theatre on 24 May. He had already enjoyed a sell out run at the same venue in 2010 in the Musical ‘Hairspray’ and had chosen the venue personally to premiere his new concert tour. Musing on the night about his varied career, Michael revealed that his next role will be as a serial killer in a new production of Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Sweeney Todd’ with the involvement of Sondheim himself. Versatility is clearly the key to the singers continuing success. Observing the diverse range and ages of fans attending the show demonstrates that Michael Ball has been very clever indeed at carving out a unique career for himself in an era when performers of his type have struggled and mostly failed to connect with a long term fan base. Recognising that West End success alone was no longer a guarantee of longevity, he diversified into television, radio and recording and of course live concert performances. As a result he has enjoyed a wider and more diverse fan base than his contemporaries which enables him to have a proper real singing career instead of being pigeonholed as just a star of West End musicals. Troubled by occasional weight problems during recent years, the 2011 Michael is looking leaner than before and seems to have regained his distinctive cherubic good looks which helped make him a sex symbol in the late eighties and early nineties.

The new ‘Heroes’ concert had some initial teething problems on its Dublin opening night. The first set showcasing a pseudo rock star Michael with a cool (high octave) talented quintet of backing singers while interesting and at times original had some of his older fans moving a little uncomfortably in their seats. His knock out set of New York themed songs in which Ball seemed willing to share the stage equally with his vocal troupe was a major crowd pleaser and a definite highlight. Those who felt they were perhaps not getting quite what they had paid for i.e. songs from his West End shows, were catered for admirably in the second part of the show when Ball delivered a rousing set from Les Miserables and Sunset Boulevard, the latter containing some of Lloyd Webber’s most interesting and often underrated work. His rendition of the title song from Sunset remains one of Michael Ball’s best vocal recordings and a fantastic showcase for his powerful voice.

Michael Ball has slowly and steadily built a significant and varied career for himself over the past 20 years or so and can now claim to be one of the UK’s most successful entertainers. The secret to his success is simple. Yes there are others who perhaps match his talent but very few who can match either his huge energy or infectious self belief. Be warned, if you are tired or a little depressed with the state of the world around you, Michael Ball will put you through a range of emotions when attending one of his concerts. His sheer enthusiasm can be irritating at times but eventually he will seduce you through the sheer effort he puts in and his obvious professionalism. Michael Ball’s Heroes tour continues throughout the UK in May and June 2011.