The Shires are the biggest selling British country act ever and on tonight’s performance it’s easy to see why.

They exude a feeling of being alive with a set of songs that just make you want to join in and spend the evening enjoying yourself.

Crissie and Ben bounce onto the stage and immediately encourage the crowd to get to their feet and dance along, which they do until the first ballad of the evening.

A simple stage set up with a plain white backdrop is compensated for by an effective light show that draws the attention on to the singers and lets their voices do the rest.

This outing is called the Accidentally On Purpose tour after the new album of the same name written during and after their last trip to Nashville.

Despite being about a short lived liaison it’s carries on the uplifting theme, even the songs of broken hearts carry a message of hope for the future.

State Lines, All Over Again and Friday Night all put in early appearances and went down a storm.

The poignant Daddies Little Girl played to a silent house was followed by the more upbeat The Hard Way.

Bens guitar and piano playing were complemented perfectly by a four piece band who were note perfect the whole evening.

The latest release and the first single from the new album Guilty was followed by the bands first ever-single Nashville Grey Skies. The set was well balanced between the bands first three albums with the balance just about right.

This is a band who are already at the top of their chosen genre and should continue to get bigger and bigger as time goes by.

Judging by the crowds reaction tonight I am sure it wont be long before they make the move from these mid-sized venues and start to appear up the road at the BIC and it will be well deserved.

*The two support acts of Sinead Burgess and Andy Brown both had excellent voices and put on great sets in the run up to the main event. The audience really took to them and I am sure we will be hearing more of them in the future.