GIG OF THE WEEK

Cliff Richard SSE Arena, Belfast ★★★★★

If Cliff Richard, at 78, feels his age, he doesn’t intend to show it. There are songs to be sung, jokes to be cracked and dodgy leather trousers to be donned. This gig starts in the Fifties and, like Cliff’s career, gets off to a rapid start. By 8pm, he and his band are finishing curtain-raiser, Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel. Next it’s Buddy Holly’s Peggy Sue and The Everly Brothers’ Wake Up Little Susie – all great. His own Living Doll, Summer Holiday and The Young Ones hit the spot. The second half is harder work. The covers become more random, ranging from Bright Eyes to Beat It. A singer with a hundred hits doesn’t need to dish up eight covers. As Oscar Wilde would have said, be yourself, Cliff: everybody else is already taken.

Tim De Lisle