Watching a sea of 6,500 fans collectively bounce and sing along was a glorious sight to behold as Welsh rockers Stereophonics raised the roof off the P&J Live last night in true rock n roll style.
An atmosphere so electric you could cut through it with a knife, the raucous crowd – cheeky Sunday school night drinks in hand – were fully charged and raring to go for what was to be three and a half hours of epic live music.
KT Tunstall
Kicking off proceedings in style, Scottish singer songwriter KT Tunstall was clearly buzzing to be back on stage.
Looking every inch the rockstar – black and white guitar in hand – she told the crowd “Aberdeen is a very special place as it gives birth to some very special people” before launching into Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics and declaring “Annie Lennox, I love her so.”
As her distinctively husky voice filled the arena, the audience roared in appreciation as she belted out hits like Suddenly I See and Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.
Huge cheers rang out when KT, effortlessly chic in a silver chainmail top and ripped jeans, announced that she was going to perform a cover of a Phonics song before she launched into a beautiful version of Pick a Part That’s New.
As such a stellar support act, KT left the audience wanting more as she left the stage to rapturous applause.
Stereophonics
Warmed up, the crowd went into a frenzy as the lights dimmed, marking the arrival of the mighty Phonics aka frontman Kelly Jones, bassist Richard Jones, guitarist Adam Zindani, drummer Jamie Morrison and touring member Tony Kirkham on piano.
Wasting no time, Kelly – sporting his trademark black leather jacket – let his raw and raspy vocals do the talking as he belted out Do You Feel My Love, the brilliantly bass heavy anthem from their new album Oochya!
Festival fever
Just seven minutes into the gig and already people started clambering on each others shoulders as a festival vibe swept through the arena.
Walking out into the centre of the crowd via an elevated catwalk style runway, Kelly’s goosebump inducing voice sounded better than ever as he launched into 2015 hits C’est La Vie and the beautiful I Wanna Get Lost With You.
But it was listening to over 6,500 voices collectively singing along to Maybe Tomorrow that made the hair on the back of my arm stand up, an acoustic ode to the power of music.
Deafening cheers
The massive singalong continued as the crowd joined Kelly in Fly Like an Eagle, everyone singing the verse “Hey, hey, my, my, everything’s gonna be alright”.
Confessing that he never thought the music he made on his bedroom floor as a teenager would still be around today, the claps, cheers and whistles were deafening as Kelly performed songs including Traffic and the ethereal Billy Davey’s daughter from their 1997 debut album Word Gets Around.
One of the stand-out moments was when Jamie Morrison let loose on the drums as the explosive climax to Mr and Mrs Smith.
Handbags and Gladrags
All the band had their moment to shine with Tony Kirkham coming into his own on the piano for Handbags and Gladrags.
Edging closer to 11pm, there was no sign of the crowd tiring as The Bartender and the Thief ensured everyone was on their feet.
Leaving the stage, the venue erupted with people stomping their feet and whistling, desperate for more.
“Thank you very much” shouted Kelly as the band stepped back on stage to finish on a high with hits including Forever and Make Friends with the Morning.
Dakota
But the best was saved until last in the form of Dakota.
To see thousands of people dancing and singing together with their hands in the air was a beautiful sight.
So as a writer, I’m going to tell you how it really is, it was really, really brilliant.