Review: Monica Michael And Blue - Sheffield City Hall

Simon Webb from tonight's headliners. Blue introduces Monica Michael on stage. He informs the audience that he was invited to a barbeque by the band's sound engineer who asked him to listen to this exciting new talent. " I was very impressed" he says " She has the melody and lyrical insight of someone like Mary J Blige" he continues " She gave me a lot of help when I was at a low point and encouraged me to get back up"

This former X Factor contestant certainly has a stage presence and tracks too that are more mature than her age. Wish You Luck has a very direct lyric all about relationships, whilst Pretty Little Sister sounds like it should be up there in the charts.

If she was American she would probably be better known than she is but by guesting on the Blue tour she has found more fans and is surely destined for bigger things.

Blue arrived on stage and it was like they have never been away. With a new album out entitled Colours, they opened up their set with the first single off the album. King of the World - it sounds like Sitting on the Dock of the Bay and the dance routine they perform with the track is straight out of a Take That video but the largely female audience here tonight did not seem to matter.

The new album is a mix of old and new soul tracks: their new direction suits them, now more mature they work well together and there is definitely a bond between them all that comes across throughout the show.

"We spent a lot of time in Sheffield" Simon Webb offers "We recorded our first album up here with Eliot Kennedy" he continues.

There are some good tracks on the new album such as Something which they perform tonight.

They share jokes with the fans about when they performed with Stevie Wonder and also Elton John. A hilarious impersonation section by all band members of the artists that their producer Brain Rawlings has produced such as Cher and Tina Turner showed the warm side to the band.

Of course it was their own hits such as One Love and All Rise that most of the fans came to hear and they were duly performed amongst other tracks off their new album.

The young band behind them worked hard and although the stage set was minimal, their personalities and professionalism made for a memorable night for the true fans and even the male members of the audience who had probably been dragged there by the female partners.