Andrew Punshon | Guest Writer | 24 October 2021
HINCKLEY’S Revival bar enjoyed a fantastic first on Saturday night when Andy Pierce – The Soul Man made his debut at the venue in front of an enraptured and wonderfully loud audience.
Andy, who is based just up the road in Burbage, raised the audience’s expectations with a backing tape featuring the theme from Shaft, before hitting the stage with his very own theme tune, the highly appropriate Soul Man.
Soul, blues, and reggae then followed in an inspirational mix which saw the audience getting in on the act at the venue which is proudly bringing live music to the town, encouraged by Andy’s infectious personality over the course of more than 20 highly recognisable tunes with plenty of dancing on show.
Numbers included She Caught the Katy, Kingston Town, Stand By Me, Three Little Birds, My Girl, Dock Of The Bay, Kingston Town and an emotional reading of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song.
One of the many highlights of the night at the Regent Street bar was Andy’s tribute to The Drifters, with a trio of the vocal legends’ best-known hits, which included Under the Boardwalk, Save The Last Dance For Me and Up On The Roof.
Andy of course is no stranger to the stage having spent more than two decades in the business, and featuring in BBC One’s All Together Now as part of the 100, a panel of music experts and performers.
He also hosts his own show on BBC Radio Leicester and was part of Cyprus’s renowned club scene for many years, winning the country’s version of X Factor, Search For A Star in 2011 and has taken numerous leading roles in pantomime at The Civic hall in Bedworth in front of thousands of patrons.
But all good things and gigs come to an end, and after two hours’ worth of top-quality singing enjoyed by a large audience, the Soul Man was gone….but he’ll be back! Cheers Andy, or should we say “yamas!”
Andy will hopefully be back at Revival soon and for further information about him go to thesoulmanlive.co.uk.
And for details of future events at Revival see: revivalhinckley.co.uk.