Tony Stace & Andrew Nix

December 4^th 2004

Christmas Time comes round but once a year, with time between each one seemingly flying by. This year we had booked the inimitable double act of Andrew Nix & Tony Stace. The stage was set 'alight' by a fireplace with a 'roaring' fire, Christmas Tree and all the other festive trimmings which make this time of year so special.
Tony had brought his trusty Yamaha HX1 with him, whilst Andrew plays a Roland Atelier AT80S). They opened proceedings with a rousing rendition of the Radetzky March, before Tony continued with a solo slot.
Tony likes playing light classical pieces; the first of these was the 'Prelude in Classic Style'. As a complete contrast we then had a very fine arrangement of 'Jealousy', which featured some of the beautiful Hammond sounds. Rekindling memories of the Dublin Festival we had an Irish Medley that included amongst others 'Burnt Potato' & 'An Irish Washerwoman'. The ever popular 'Stars & Stripes' march next, before Tony handed over to Andrew.
Andrew also delighted us with a march, namely the 'Sword & Lance', played in Theatre Organ style. We are all familiar with the "Last Of The Summerwine" TV series, however, I am sure that we were surprised to hear that good old "Compo", Bill Owen himself, had actually composed a beautiful piece of music for his wife - entitled 'So lucky'. Bless you Bill. La Mer - or otherwise known as 'Beyond The Sea' followed, played for a change in jazzy style. Another piece in Easy Listening style "Carillion" before Andrew continued with a medley of Singalongs which featured amongst others 'Happy Days Are Here Again' & 'Hey Look Me Over'. To bring us up to the break Andrew & Tony played 'Hello Dolly' - 'I Wanna To Be Like You' & 'Sweet Georgia Brown' for us.
With everyone suitably refreshed by the obligatory Sausage Roll, Mince Pie & Swiss Roll, we had the raffle, which consisted of many fine prizes.
For the second half Andrew sported a light mauve jacket, whilst Tony had changed into a red glittering shirt. They took us straight into a medley of seasonal tunes: 'Winter Wonderland' - 'Have Yourself A Merry Christmas' - 'Dreaming Of A White Christmas' - 'Jingle Bells' - 'Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer' & 'Silent Night' with the added touch of Keith's Happy Christmas dancing about.
Andrew then continued with the 'March Of the Cobblers', before launching into the 'Carioca' Samba. Continuing with some film themes, it was the turn of 'Telstar' & 'Ghost Riders In The Sky'.
Andrew then handed over to Tony for a 'Rootin' Tootin' Christmas', took us on a 'Sleighride', showed us 'Frosty The Snowman' and then told us that 'Santa Claus Was Coming To Town'. With January not far away we had Strauss' 'Blue Danube' & Waldteufel's 'Skaters Waltz'. Tony always makes audiences laugh by announcing the exact length of his tunes or medleys, this time we had 4m & 20 seconds of 'Lonely'- 'Devil Woman' & 'Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen'. If he needed a finger exercise, the 'Bel Viso' polka was the one to do. Followed by 4 1/2m of 'One Moment In Time' and a further 2m of 'Dizzy Fingers'! Time to relax a little and slow things down with Andrew Llloyd Webber's 'No Matter What' - 'Memory' & 'Music Of The Night', before launching into a couple of sambas, namely 'Tico Tico' & 'El Cumbanchero'.
Thus we had reached the end of our December meeting, what an enjoyable evening we all had, the audience literally buzzing. However, Andrew & Tony were not allowed to open their Christmas Stockings from the 'fireplace' before they obliged with an encore, for which they chose 'The Lady Is A Tramp' & 'All Of Me'.
Our thanks to both of them for entertaining us so superbly for our Christmas Concert, not only for making us all laugh with their light hearted jokes, but also with their special kind of music. To Keith for his spectacular lighting displays, and the rest of the team for working extra hard.

Why not come along to a Basildon Keyboard Club Concert, you will be made very welcome, have a great evenings entertainment, a complimentary cup of tea or coffee with biscuits and of course experience the delights of live music played on top of the range electronic organs & keyboards by the best players.