THE fabulous 14-piece Greg Francis Orchestra set their tone to swing with a foot-tapping instrumental to start an evening of polished rat pack music.
As soon as Jason Isaacs came on stage, an eruption of applause welcomed the man billed as the biggest voice in swing. Isaacs is returning to his home town for the sixth consecutive year and for this Geordie crowd he’s their very own croon of the toon, their Emperor of easy.
They love him. He’s young, suave, sophisticated and very easy on the eye with the swagger of a kickboxer, tempered with friendly banter and he soon had the audience hanging on every note.
Kicking off with Ain’t That a Kick in the Head, Isaacs was joined by the Dream Girls, four delectable dancers with legs all the way up to their eyebrows.
All too soon with Let There Be Love, Cheek to Cheek and other classics under his belt, Isaacs welcomed guest star, Fay Tozer, to perform a duet of How Do You Like Your Eggs In A Mornin’, a song made even more famous by a certain brand of orange juice.
Ex Steps singer, Tozer proved her guest star quality with a superb solo version of Hey Big Spender.
Proving his all-round appeal, Isaacs produced a brilliant upbeat saxophone solo In The Summertime.
Another guest star, Jason King, joined him for a couple of duets, most notably Me And My Shadow.
By the end of the show, Isaacs had the whole audience swinging and swaying to My Way, ably assisted by the sparkling Fenner Sisters. When you watch a man who is born to sing with vocal chords this good, it’s a pleasure to behold.
Helen Brown
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