Energised Ronan Keating sets example for Voice kids as he headlines pub bash
Never mind rejuvenated, Ronan Keating looked like an artist reborn as he breezed onto the stage in a tailored stretch suit.
The good news at the Leamington Spa edition of Pub in the Park was that one of British pop’s most familiar names had the music to match.
An energized presence centre stage in front of a king’s ransom of sparkling drums, the former Boyzoner is clearly his own man nowadays.
A saltier quality to his vocals than might be associated with his Magic FM-playlisted material, together with the four capable musicians alongside him, gave an irresistible festival makeover to his hit parade.
As he launched into the bounding ode to life, ‘Lovin’ Each Day’, the singer-songwriter’s burning vocals and live instrumentation set the tone for an impressive reduxing of the Keating jukebox.
The platinum-selling household name is a coach on ITV’s The Voice Kids but on Saturday night it was the 46-year-old’s own youthful energy making waves during a peppy headline set.
Lost love was inevitably a recurrent thread on songs such as ‘Baby Can I Hold You’, but no hankies were required in Leamington’s Victoria Park.
There wasn’t a shred of black-suits-and-candelight-sentimentality as Keating’s rolling vocals and the band’s uplift delivered something far more life-affirming for the ballads.
A general rule of thumb for freed pop industry stars appearing at festivals is that they deliver quality performances, gently reverting to the talent that originally got them noticed.
But on this night, the dapper headliner even made songs such as ‘When You Say Nothing At All’, his solo debut in 1999, feel like brand new material.
The hits were beautifully rendered, encompassing a wide range of musical elements including Keating’s own guitar riffs, showing he can mix it with the best of the Blunts and Sheerans.
The 1995 Boyzone ballad ‘Love Me for a Reason’ made it onto the set list but even here it was a masterfully refreshed number that kept it strictly Ronan. Those of us who remembered it the first time didn’t feel old.
Some nifty footwork, including an Irish jig, showed that a soft casual suit is no barrier for a multi-talented musician at home on the stage.
Keating seems to be also enjoying his freedom without a soundtrack, and there was no sign of rehearsed lines as he struck a rapport with a crowd that had spent the evening wandering among the carefully-curated picks of eateries and drinks specialists.
‘Being an Irishman, it makes me happy to look out and see all the alcohol,’ he said of Tom Kerridge’s travelling outdoor pub bash. ‘Is that wrong?’
Backing singer Jo Garland made sure it wasn’t all about the man professing his taste for Pimm’s as she replaced US superstar LeAnn Rimes on ‘Last Thing on My Mind’.
‘When The Going Gets Tough,’ another Boyzone-era hit, was given a jazzy brush that dared you not to dance as the pop maestro whisked the audience away on a cloud towards the end of his set.
This endearing appearance was a welcome reminder that, even in these technologically aided times, you can never truly appreciate some artists until you’ve heard them live.
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