Billy Ocean - All Plain Sailing In Halifax

They were one of the biggest bands in the late eighties and early nineties, culminating in 1994 when Wet Wet Wet spent fifteen consecutive weeks at Number One with their version of Love Is All Around.

The group are still recording and touring, though original frontman Marti Pellow is now a solo artist besides having an acclaimed acting career. Pellow has the 'Marmite effect' – you either like his grinning and good bonhomie persona or prefer to stay clear.

Opening up for Billy Ocean at the Piece Hall in Halifax, Pellow was surprisingly enjoyable and entertaining. It helps when you have the Wet Wet Wet back catalogue of hits at your disposal, aided with other cover versions which included a wry version of David Bowie’s Let’s Dance.

A decade before Wet Wet Wet first came to prominence, Billy Ocean was already gracing the charts with Love Really Hurts Without You and Red Light Spells Danger. Now aged 76, Ocean still had the voice that made his pop-soulful tracks so commanding back in the seventies.

Dressed in a cream suit, his voice blended in perfectly with his three backing singers, which included his daughter Cherie.

His cover of Bob Marley’s No Woman, No Cry would have benefitted from being curtailed somewhat as the song seemed to become more of an excuse for some audience participation.

Saxophonist David Baptiste brought a jazz influence to the evening and added a new dimension to tracks such as Loverboy, his solos were breezy with a soulful touch.

When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going ended an accomplished ninety-minute set before Ocean returned to the stage for Caribbean Queen. As the atmosphere warmed up to a higher level, the aptly named track felt like the perfect soundtrack to a warm midsummer evening in one of the most historic venues in Yorkshire, which has now become a prominent venue on the summer touring circuit.

The charts might be a sadder place without Ocean, though tonight in Halifax the joyful smiles witnessed at the end of the evening said it all.