Growing up in the 70's with an older sister in the house I was pretty much raised on a musical diet of David Essex and Donny Osmond (until I could afford my own records).

Having seen the latter here a few years ago last night I got to complete the set when Mr Essex performed at the BIC on a cold wet Friday.

As soon as he strolled onto the stage a portion of the crowd made their way to the front and turned this from an all seated gig in to a partly standing affair.

Starting with Beautiful Day and If I Could it was good to hear that the voice has weathered well over the years and still has that distinctive David Essex sound to it.

It was probably also great for the crowd to hear him as if they went to a gig first time round they were probably too busy screaming to actually hear very much.

Lamplight got the first big reaction of he night but it was definitely not to be the last as the set list included everything a fan would have wanted to hear.

The stage set up was nice and simple with a single screen mid-stage that projected clips from the original videos from some of the biggest million selling hits of the seventies.

Stardust and Silver Dream Machine were accompanied by extracts from the films of the same name and served to remind us all of just how big David Essex was, and still is judging by the size of the crowd in tonight.

Rock On from That'll Be The Day and his lone US hit prompted a second wave of people leaving their seats to make their way to the front and was great to hear as it bought back memories of trying to get to watch the film even though I was far too young.

Imperial Wizard and Ships That Pass In The Night built the mood for the final two songs of the main set. Gonna Make You A Star and Silver Dream Machine, both tracks from hit movies were the perfect end to the main show. After a short break the band returned for a three-song encore and it was then goodbye Bournemouth.

This outing has been billed as the final tour so I may have left it until the last minute to see David Essex but I am definitely glad I did.

He has been a true British superstar and lived the life that most aspiring pop stars can only dream of.

Judging by the size of the crowd and the reaction I don't know how he could walk away without missing it so you never know, he might be back and there were a few thousand people here tonight who hope he is.

Review by Allan Jones