If there is any way to enjoy a Sunday night, it’s watching these two groups – what a fun-filled, party night!
First up was Odyssey – the 70s & 80s group, led by Steven Collazo, who’s mother was one of the founding members, with singers Jerdene Wilson & Romina Johnson.
They came out as the support group and sung to a backing track. I was disappointed at the start as this lacked a bit of depth, however their voices didn’t disappoint. I’m pretty familiar with Odyssey as one of their tracks is in my all-time top 10, and although band changes are made through the passing of time, I thought these girls were a very good fit – their tones were as close as you could want.
They open with ‘Native New Yorker’ and the charm of Collazo had everyone’s hands up in this first song – he had us ready to party. They sang all the classics and they did a couple of covers. They had all of the crowd up, singing and dancing to each track.
Not sure whether they were ‘Odyssey of the Future’ but it was fun and they engaged us from the start – a perfect ‘warm up’ group to get the party started.
When the band for The Real Thing came on stage, everyone was ready for more. A brilliant voice over introduction to get us even more hyped-up and set the high standard for the rest of the night – we were all up and clapping before The Real Thing came on!
Sadly, with Eddie Amoo passing only in February, there are only 2 members left and they bounded on stage in white ‘gangster’ clothing & shades….just too cool. These guys are 66 and were moving around the stage and singing as though there were less than half their age – we were engaged from the off and they kept up the energy and sparkle for the whole night – it was total audience participation. All the songs you wanted to hear were played and a stunning version of ‘Children of the Ghetto’.
We were dancing non-stop, singing our heads off and waving our arms about. I felt I let the crowd down as I didn’t know all the words.
The 5-piece band were awesome, great talent from the guys and they looked like they were having a lot of fun. The Real Thing looked like they had heaps of fun too, the audience had a fantastic party night and were on their feet practically all night. Only down side was there was no encore!
Photo Credit Barry Hughes.