TURNING up as a 21-year-old with a blue-haired friend to an operatic tenor’s concert surrounded by people where the average age was well over double, if not triple, my own, I felt we were somewhat the odd ones out.

So it was a pleasant surprise that once the music kicked in, I discovered everyone there was equally as Alfie Boe crazy as the next person.

Support act Sole Mio kicked off the evening, singing a handful of classic opera songs from near and far. The New Zealand trio keep it in the family with two brothers and a cousin, and had an infectious boisterous humour about them that got the audience giggling contentedly.

Not to mention that their intensely powerful rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone had myself and many others visibly blubbing.

When the man himself walked out, the reception seemed fairly subdued. Alfie sang his socks off on his three opening songs to a reasonable round of applause, but it was when he broke into musical theatre ballads that the audience began to get warmed up.

Come What May was a beautiful track, while signature Les Miserables song Bring Him Home received a standing ovation from many.

Backed by a live orchestra, Mr Boe’s vocal abilities shone throughout the set, even during the up-tempo numbers that finally got the crowd on their feet and participating.

Asking members of the audience to join him on stage was a stroke of genius, greatly pleasing a few hands-on supporters who took their moment to get perhaps too close to the bearded tenor.

Alfie’s encore was met with rapturous applause, starkly contrasted by the pin-drop silence as he sang Danny Boy without a single instrument in the background. A truly stunning moment.

Covers of upcoming performances to be seen in Quadrophenia in London next year rounded off the show, and he finished with the audience in the palm of his hand.

What may have started off as a dubious evening of what to expect, it certainly ended with a huge smile on everyone’s faces.

If I didn’t wholly Boe-lieve in Alfie before, I certainly do now.

KIRSTY FENSOME