Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Originally published By The Birmingham Mail. February 2009.

Go West kicked off a strong night of soulful rock with their smash hit Don’t Look Down before powering through fan selected songs, including Black and Gold and the beautiful Goodbye Girl, during the first of two sets.

Despite being over 20 years older since Go West burst onto the scene, singer Peter Cox still has one of the greatest voices in music,  If anything, his strong and subtle vocals  are even better now.

By having two sets, Go West was able to indulge by playing some of their favourites in the second half which opened with Man On Fire, Stars Don’t Shine and a gracefully delightful version of The King Is Dead.  Their take on U2’s Vertigo was played out with brooding menace that it actually sounded better than the original.

There was just enough time to close the second part of the set with a couple of songs from their 1985 self-titled album, Call Me and the song that started it all off, We Close Our Eyes, followed by a cover of Smokey Robinson’s Tracks Of My Tears and King Of Wishful Thinking.

Ian D. Hall