“Thriller Live”

Nottingham Royal Concert Hall

Now in its tenth year, this show takes you back in time and remembers the many periods of Jackson’s career. Right from his early Jackson Five days all the way up to the end of his career, this show has toured all over the world giving fans who never had the chance to see Jackson live a taster of what they may have missed.

Now, no one can dance like Jackson, but these dancers do a damn good job to emulate the moves and the aura that Jackson had. But no one can match Jackson's natural dance skills, especially in those "pop and lock" to the beat. Even the great Fred Astaire listed him as one of the best dancers in the world

Let’s face it, he was one of the most exciting entertainers in the world of music and dance, so you have to be very good to even try and get close to the energy and excitement seen in one of Jackson’s live shows

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Six different vocalists cover Jackson’s career led by Britt Quintin, whose natural stage presence will grab you as soon as he appears on stage.He looks like Jackson and sounds like Jackson in a natural way

Who can keep their feet still when classics like “I Want You Back”, “ABC”, “Can You Feel It”, “Off The Wall”, “The Way You Make Me Feel”, “Smooth Criminal”, “Beat It”, “Billie Jean”, “Dirty Diana”, “Bad”, “Rock With You”, “They Don’t Care About Us”, “Dangerous” and of course “Thriller” are churned out. Not I!

Performed in a concert like atmosphere, it’s like being at a gig with the lighting and the throbbing sound system, at times leaving you breathless. Something these dancers never showed signs of.

At first it was all quite Cruise ship entertainment, and that's not a criticism as I know how hard Cruise ship entertainers work, it just had that feel.

But come Act Two, this was the explosive to Act One's touch paper!

They had the crowd on their feet with even more classics and also held two of my highlights from this show.. Rory Taylor's version of "She's out Of My Life" dripped heart felt emotion in Act One, but in the second half came another, "I Just Can'r Stop Loving You" and the incredible version of "Earth Song". We also had to wait for "Thriller" almost to the end.

Jackson is famed for his innovative choreography, and I can remember seeing him do the moonwalk for the first time at the Motown 25th Celebrations on TV, and that blew my mind. How did he do that? I practised for weeks, unable to pull off that move.

Director and choreographer Gary Lloyd re created the iconic dance moves of the man, including a gravity defying lean forward move in "Dirty Diana".

I had my doubts as to whether every thing we saw was "live", the "Dangerous" and "Billie Jean" sections sounded pre recorded, but who cares, the music is iconic.

That aside, I'm not going to take anything away from these singers and dancers because they have enough energy on that stage to keep the stage lights shining all night. Not to mention that incredibly hi tech set designed by Jonathan Park.

There was though one moment at the start with singer Shaquille which caused a little concern, not from the ladies in the audience when his trouser zip seemed not to be in the up position. Thank goodness he was wearing pants underneath! Like the pro he is, he carried on regardless.

This is the second time that I have seen this show and I can’t see me getting tired of hearing these songs or watching these dancers for many years to come.Okay, it;s not Jackson himself but it's as close as you're gonna get.

“Thriller Live” is at the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall until Saturday 13 January 2018.