REVIEW: Jools Holland and friends get Bridlington Spa audience to boogie the night away!

The audience was calm and collected, everyone keeping their composure even in the summer heat of the longest day of the year.

However this composure soon went out of the window as soon as Jools came onto the stage and immediately started playing his piano alongside a number of talented musicians, including double bass, drums, trumpets, saxophones and more.

The cacophony of sound soon had the audience moving and grooving, with Jools and his band encouraging people to get up and dance- not that most needed any encouragement.

Jools captivated the audience in between songs with his charisma and charm, telling anecdotes and using his sharp wit to keep everyone engaged.

The first guest of the evening was Sumudu Jayatilaka, who stopped touring with Sir Van Morrison in order to accompany Jools on his 2023 tour.

Following this Jools introduced his next special guest- his piano. In this segment he gave the audience a history on how he began playing the piano at his Grandmother’s house in Greenwich and how he progressed to the music sensation that he is today.

He also spoke about his time in the band Squeeze, alongside his former bandmate Gilson Lavis who is also the drummer in the Rhythm and Blues band.

The next special guests included vocalists Ruby Turner and Louise Marshall, whose powerful, soulful voices captivated the audience and got everyone moving to some blues and jazz classics.

Other special guests include Pauline Black and Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson from The Selecter, a English two tone ska revival band formed in 1979. Pauline and Arthur’s energy was electric while performing crowd pleasing hits such as ‘Too Much Pressure’, ‘On My Radio’ and ‘Missing Words’.

As the perfect end to a fabulous evening, Jools and his band got everyone on their feet to sing the feel-good hit ‘Enjoy Yourself (It's Later than You Think)’, a song reminiscent of his hit New Year’s show ‘Jools' Annual Hootenanny’. With the same energy as a New Year celebration, the whole audience were on their feet singing along and dancing in the aisles.

Visit https://www.joolsholland.com/tourdates.htm for information on Jools’ 2023 tour and visit https://www.bridspa.com/ for more events at Bridlington Spa