By Sallie Phillips

ShakinÔÇÖ Stevens is back!

The Cardiff-born singer, nicknamed ÔÇÿThe Welsh ElvisÔÇÖ due to his musical style, performed at St. DavidÔÇÖs Hall on Sunday 3 March. Backed by a 10-man strong band, this was one of ShakyÔÇÖs first performances back in his hometown, and certainly the first time I have ever seen him perform live.

I like the music of ShakinÔÇÖ Stevens because of his old rock nÔÇÖ roll style, the way his music, big in the 80s and 90s, brought back that classic rock last seen in the 1950s, mostly pioneered by Elvis. For me, it was like my favourite era of music had been reborn when I was introduced to ShakyÔÇÖs music for the first time, and because of that, my favourite songs from his repertoire all have that similar style of old rock to them.

The support act for ShakinÔÇÖ Stevens, a Danni Nicholls, was also very good. I have been to concerts previously where I didnÔÇÖt feel the support got the crowd going properly, but this musician was particularly good and I really enjoyed her warn-up performance.

Despite the fact that my friend and I were the youngest in the audience by about 20 years, there were still some fairly big hits to enjoy. Given his age, ShakinÔÇÖ Stevens hasnÔÇÖt lost any of his recognisable tone of singing voice or ÔÇÿdance movesÔÇÖ, and during the performance he was often seen bopping with the band during instrumental sections.

Some of the big hits he played included ÔÇÿMarie, MarieÔÇÖ, ÔÇÿGreen DoorÔÇÖ, ÔÇÿItÔÇÖs RainingÔÇÖ, ÔÇÿRadioÔÇÖ and ÔÇÿTurning AwayÔÇÖ. These were all songs I recognised and felt somewhat pleasantly surprised when he sang his hit ÔÇÿA Love Worth Waiting ForÔÇÖ for the first time in years, admitting it hadnÔÇÖt been in his live set for a while. I do have my favourite Shaky songs, and was delighted that two of them got played live: ÔÇÿCry Just a Little BitÔÇÖ closed the first half of the show, and ÔÇÿLipstick, Powder and PaintÔÇÖ closed the second half. ShakinÔÇÖs smash hit ÔÇÿThis Ole HouseÔÇÖ, which first bought him fame in 1981, was one of two songs played in a much-welcomed encore, something I fully expected when this song was not part of the main set.

Despite the fact that there were a number of songs that I recognised and was able to enjoy, he also played a number of songs from later albums that I didnÔÇÖt know, and also felt they were a little bit of a removal from the genre of music he is famous for. Generally, both my friend and I thought the songs were ÔÇÿcountryfiedÔÇÖ a little, so didnÔÇÖt necessarily sound the way they were originally recorded as rock nÔÇÖ roll songs. Partly because of this, I was minorly disappointed, especially when some of the other songs seemed not only unusual, but entirely different, and not what I would have expected from him at all.

I think my final verdict would be, if you came for vintage ShakinÔÇÖ Stevens, this was not it, but there were some big hits you could enjoy, and I did. Although there were a few disappointments with song choices, I still felt it was a great night out and I appreciate the opportunity to see this man perform live, as to me, he is one of the greats whose music recreates a bygone era of one of the greatest styles of music ÔÇô rock nÔÇÖ roll.