Theatre had a real buzz

I had the privilege and huge pleasure of being at the recent Dave Stewart concert at the Sunderland Empire and what a memorable night it was.

From entering the grand old theatre it was evident that there was a whiff of excitement in the air – the place was buzzing.

The opening three acts, two of which were from Sunderland Picnic and Lilliput, and Social Room, from Seaham, all played their parts producing quality music.

Full credit to Dave Stewart remembering his roots by supporting three up and coming talented local bands.

Talking of Wearside talent next up was the excellent Martin Longstaff, the man behind the superb Lake Poets and he did a classy performance of City by the Sea about Sunderland.

Then on came the man himself, Dave Stewart, in fantastic form with an array of quality musicians including the excellent Diane Birch and superb backing singers amongst others from Nashville playing many of his famous Eurythmics hits such as There Must Be An Angel, Here Comes The Rain Again, Thorn in My Side, Would I Lie to You, Missionary Man and Sweet Dreams.

The former Barnes resident also played some quality stuff from the Blackbird Diaries and Nashville sessions albums.

Dave made plenty of humorous references to Sunderland such as in his early days when he played in the Rose and Crown and the Derry, living at High Barnes, Binns window in Fawcett Street, dreaming of playing for SAFC and his Careers Teacher doubting his future career as a musician and advising him to get a job at Pyrex!

The crowd sang ‘he’s one of our own’ to Dave and how right they were. The response from DS was I thought we must at the SOL.

If only he could get involved in the running of SAFC. Sweet Dreams...

Tony Ratton