I was lucky enough recently to go along and experience the Q The Music James Bond Tribute act at the William Aston Hall a few weeks ago.
Warren Ringham
I’m a bit of a Bond fan, and I’ve followed our favourite secret agent through his many incarnations and very varied film history.
The music is, of course, a huge part of the JB experience, and I’m proud to be able to name the artist of every Bond film so far (yes, even Never Say Never!). Consequently, when I heard a band covering Bond theme tunes (and more) was coming to town, I just had to go along.
Professional trumpeter Warren Ringham wanted to create a unique tribute to the iconic music of James Bond and so founded Q The Music in 2004. The band made history as the first in the world to offer such a tribute, using a mini-orchestra lineup to deliver the unmistakable sound of 007’s theme songs without compromising on the authenticity of the original music.
In 2013, the band won Best Tribute Band and Best Female Vocalist awards at the National Entertainment Awards and in 2019, they scooped the UK Best Vocalist award at the National Event Awards.
Gold-Finguuhh!
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up right from the word go as they launched into “Goldfinger”, and when the trumpets kicked in, I didn’t think it could get any better. However, I’d reckoned without female vocalist Kerry Shultz, who just sent the
whole thing into the stratosphere when she belted out “Goldfinguh!”, followed by the iconic der-der der!
It was then full tilt into the big hits: “For Your Eyes Only”, “Live And Let Die”, “Goldeneye” and “Moonraker”, to name but a few. In fact, the only theme I think they didn’t play was “Die Another Day” (apart from the aforementioned “Never Say Never” and the 1967 version of “Casino Royale”).
A special mention to male vocalist Matt Walker, whose flawless voice lifted every song he sang, even when he went up an octave (or two!) to deliver a masterful version of Sam Smith’s “The Writing’s On The Wall” from 2015’s Spectre.
Caroline Bliss
Caroline Bliss (Miss Moneypenny from The Living Daylights and License To Kill) performed her duties admirably as the evening’s compere. Her Barry Manilow compilation story brought a smile to my face.
The band were meticulous in their interpretations and even treated us to excerpts from within the Bond films, such as “Bond
77” from The Spy Who Loved Me, which you’ll recognise when you hear it. Standouts apart from the ones I’ve mentioned were Matt’s renditions of “Thunderball” and Kerry’s barnstorming “License To Kill”, which closed the show (and brought the house down!).
And it was over all too quickly. It was a brilliant evening and one that I’ll certainly be repeating in the future.
Q The Music have 250 dates lined up for the next leg of their tour. Go to qthemusicshow.com.
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