Peter the Great thrills his fans (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Peter the Great thrills his fans

12:29am Thursday 25th March 2010 in Reviews By Emma Clayton

Team Andre was out in force at St George's Hall last night, raising the roof with deafening chants of “Peter!” as their white-suited hero made his entrance from behind a closed door.

It was a symbolic entrance, since the opening number was his hit Behind Closed Doors – see what he did there? It would’ve been quite dramatic had the door not been a rickety wooden one, like a prop from a village hall panto.

Looking moody in airline pilot shades, Peter karate-kicked his dancers, dressed as paparazzi photographers. I think it was a statement about Press invasion of privacy, which was a bit rich for someone whose life unfolds in glossy magazines.

The fans, of course, loved it. It goes without saying that they were mostly female; like heat-seeking missiles they swarmed towards the stage, sporting the fluffy pink stetsons and flashing bunny ears that had been piled high on the merchandise stall.

“I just want to see his abs,” sighed a girl behind me. He didn’t disappoint. A dazzling array of costume changes included a tight white T-shirt, showing off the body beautiful that had his admirers swooning. I’m not a fan of Andre’s cheesy R&B, but he proved an impressive performer, combining slick dance numbers with ballads and a fun medley of his Nineties hits. There was a sweet moment when he sang to a little girl on stage, but I could’ve done without the cutesy footage of his children.

With a gutsy performance from support act Laura White, this was a polished, scaled-down version of an arena gig.

Andre’s voice and moves echo Michael Jackson and a highlight was his tribute to his idol, with moving performances of Human Nature and Man in the Mirror. “It’s been a difficult eight months and I want to publicly thank you for giving me my life back,” he told the roaring crowd. The bunny ears went wild.