I seem to be seeing a lot of tribute bands recently and to be honest most of them have been pretty good but Purple Rain (A Celebration of Prince) may just be the best of the lot.

Considering the fact that Prince himself was one of the most charismatic and musically talented people to ever have walked the planet anyone who takes on the job of covering all of these songs deserves an award just for getting up there.

The show consisted of an incredibly talented eight piece backing band supporting Jimi Love who has the whole Prince thing pretty well covered.

They went straight into a set of songs which was a trawl through the entire Prince catalogue of hits with the occasional lesser-known album track thrown in.

With no break between songs for a chat it was non stop funk with any talking done to a backdrop of bass, horns and keys as they glided straight into the next hit.

A brilliantly funky extended version of musicology morphing into Sexy saw most of the band getting a chance at a solo and the crowd singing and dancing along, a state of affairs that continued for the whole first half of the show.

The second half started with a version of Sign of the Times that once again reminded of us the lyrical genius of Prince and the talent on the stage tonight at the same time.

The lesser known Play in the Sunshine followed as did a sing-along version of Raspberry Beret leading into Cream and a call for people to join the band on stage for a quick version of Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough’ (I know it’s a MJ song but it worked well and the thirty people in stage certainly didn’t mind).

When asked what’s it like being the best guitar player in the world Eric Clapton apparently replied, ‘I don’t know, ask Prince’ so Jimi Loves ability to replicate the sound on stage is no mean feat and deserves every round of applause and cheer that came his way.

The main set ended with a riotous version of U Got The Look that nearly took the roof off but with a couple of songs not yet making an appearance it was never going to end there.

The encore flew by with If I Was Your Girlfriend, Kiss and Baby I’m A Star and just as it looked as though they were gone it was time for one final song which just had to be Purple Rain.

This was an excellent night of great songs and terrific musicianship from a band paying tribute to one of the greatest there has every been so if you are looking for an excuse for a night out then this is the show to see.