Anyone who has spent perhaps half an hour with me is probably aware of my love for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, and would thus be privy to the knowledge that I admire greatly the songwriting talents of Bob Gaudio. As well as this, they would probably have also been an audience to my expressed love for the film/musical Jersey Boys.
So, bearing all of that in mind, having shed the shackles of my final A Level exams, I toddled off with my mother to Hippodrome Casino in Leicester Square on my first outing as a free woman to attend the UK concert debut of Erich Bergen. VIP seating really meant VIP seating, as our table was practically touching the stage, spitting distance from the enticingly shiny Yamaha grand piano.
After a short wait, on walked the band, the pianist and long-term friend introducing the man himself. 6″3, Thunderbirds-esque hair in a blue sequin jacket, Bergen’s stage presence is unbelievable. My poor mother was on the receiving end of a small flap of fangirling before I finally calmed down, shut up and listened. I experienced his dry sarcasm and contagious laughter, personally apologising for Donald Trump on behalf of the American Embassy, before inviting a collective groan from the room upon the mention of “Bregsit”. Obviously, there was music; the first half was medleys on medleys, first New York-inspired, followed by Billy Joel. I have to say, one of the songs which stuck out most for me was a beautiful cover of Walking in Memphis – Erich is also a wonderful pianist, but he returned to center stage to perform various Four Seasons hits, and he’d obviously included my favourite, Cry For Me, because he’d heard I was coming.
Bergen is a born performer, and when I thought about the show a couple of days later, a lyric from an Air Supply song came to mind – yes I know, but I can’t help it if I’ve been subjected to Air Supply growing up – “every star in the sky is taking aim at your eye like a spotlight.” I suddenly realised that this line fitted part of the Hippodrome show to a T. Obviously it was the angle of the lights combined with my seating position, but you get the gist. Call me a romantic.
I had the opportunity to meet him after the show, and found that the same person who came across as confident yet so normal (re an amusing anecdote regarding a celebrity bowling tournament) onstage was unchanged off of it. Even taller up close though, nearly cricked my neck. Delightful nonetheless.
The reason for the Hippodrome show was also to promote Bergen’s new album, Never Give Up. The first track, Crazy Tonight (which was also performed at the Hippodrome), is such a feelgood, catchy song, rich in Four Seasons inspiration and that New York pizzazz which radiates from him. For that short moment, his contagious happiness and outlook on life, and certain moments which felt rather more personal than I thought they would, Erich Bergen provided a sense of comfort and reassurance in a loud, shouting world.
Plus, he spelt my name correctly. And he gave me a kiss. Any of you lot been kissed by Erich Bergen? Didn’t think so.
