THE OVERTONES

Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

TAKE five guys with silky smooth voices, iconic pop songs and a sprinkling of festive fun and what do you get?

A tried and tested night of musical loveliness with vocal harmony group The Overtones at their annual Christmas concert outing.

Mark Franks, Mike Crawshaw, Darren Everest, Timmy Matley and Lachie Chapman were back at the Bridgewater Hall on Sunday evening.

It’s become a staple of the calendar for the band’s fans, as the fivesome hit the road with the ultimate festive party - Christmas With The Overtones.

Launching into hit after hit, the setlist included classic covers of Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Pretty Woman, Can’t Take My Eyes Off You and Runaround Sue.

The lovely thing about The Overtones is they always genuinely look like they’re having just as much fun as the crowd and are appreciative of every fan in the room.

There was a heartfelt section where Timmy stopped and spoke to the audience about his recent skin cancer battle, talking openly about how difficult it had been and thanking everyone for their well-wishes.

Back to the concert and new for this year was a brilliantly entertaining TV theme tune segment with the music from 1980s American sitcoms Cheers and Golden Girls, as well as Canadian TV show The Littlest Hobo – only at an Overtones show!

Not an occasion to take yourself too seriously, the boys hopped into some fun Christmas costumes for a rendition of White Christmas.

The Bolton News:

They sang a few of their own original songs including the brilliant Gambling Man and promised some new material for 2018. 

The only bit that didn’t quite work for me was the foray into the modern day, Lachie’s lovely baritone voice and the rap in Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You were a bit of a mismatch.

Working the stage like the experts they are, the boys reappeared for an encore of Do You Love Me.

A great show that left me feeling fabulously festive.