Jools Holland with Lulu

On Friday night a smiling Jools Holland arrived onto the Plymouth Pavilions stage, that is the signal that the man is in the mood, and I knew that the capacity crowd and myself were in for yet another special Jools Holland experience.

As ever Jools was backed by his fantastically gifted rhythm and blues orchestra, the 16 strong band were in sublime form, everyone of them getting time front and centre to showcase their individual talents, but always staying as a single unfeasibly tight unit. Jools himself was in sublime form, producing the driving piano blues sound that took no time at all in persuading people to leap from their seats and boogie. The massive screen at the back of the stage alternated between live shots of the onstage action, and various film clips both real and animated, that complimented perfectly the music being performed at the time. Jools switched from piano to harpsichord to guitar with such effortless ease, to give his musical skills various on stage outlets.

First guest singer of the night was Louise Marshall, who had been on backing vocals duty up to that point, and proved to be more that capable of holding the spotlight in her own right. Next up the massive vocal talents of Ruby Turner, whose voice possesses a blend of power and subtlety that epitomises the blues sound, got a fantastic reception for her own vocal spot.

 Whether behind keyboards or on guitar, playing Jazz, Ska, Blues or boogie, Jools leads the orchestra to unbelievable levels of performance quality, all that was left was to produce the extra special guest in the form of the Lulu, who, looking and sounding amazing, came, saw and conquered the crowd in an instant, she finished her stint with an unbelievable rendition of Shout that got the whole crowd singing.

                                       Review - Greg Taylor