Haigh Hall, Wigan, 09.07.10

[jill]

http://www.wigantoday.net/lifestyle/roc ... n_1_840708

Published on Mon Jul 12 09:28:05 BST 2010


THE final night of the huge Tuned In concert proved to be a fitting end to the spectacular five-day event.



Crowds turned up in their thousands to watch Irish crooner Ronan Keating wrap up the festivities.

In what was possibly the biggest crowd-puller of the week, the Boyzone singer pulled out all stops to impress.

He flew in from Australia following his stint in the Aussie version of the X Factor and he put all his past troubles behind him to perform classic hits Love What You Do, Time After Time, and Last Thing on My Mind.

Fans bellowed to the chorus of If Tomorrow Never Comes at Ronan’s request and females went weak at the knees and screamed for his attention as he came down from the stage to shake hands with people.

But the Irish lad was humble over his recent heartache and told the audience: “Thanks for the support you have given me over the last month and the last 12 months. I have had dark days, so thank you very much. I really appreciate it.”

And he dedicated a song to bandmate Stephen Gately, who died more than a year ago.

Although the audience consisted mainly of women swooning over the Irish legend, a few men were dotted in the crowds, seen rocking it to a few tunes.

But a big surprise on the night was Orrell-born singer, Simon Jones, who promises to be the next big thing.

He warmed up the crowds ready for Ronan, with a good mix of cover versions and his own-penned tunes, helped along by his guitar.

The 26-year-old proved he has what it takes to make it big, telling the crowd: “I’m from Wigan, so it is great to be playing here. It’s really special.”

He played to a mellow crowd, singing The Script’s Man Who Can’t Be Moved, a tune which rocked the festival three days ago when N’Dubz covered the song.

He almost had the audience revved up to sing along to Jame’s Morrison’s duet Broken Strings, but due to a technical glitch, he had to abandon that and play his final song – Leave This Town, which was just as good, if not better.

Speaking after the concert, Simon said: “It was nerveracking, but I really enjoyed it. It was amazing. I think Ronan is a great artist. I had a chat with him and he was really nice.”

Despite the slight downpour which threatened to dampen spirits, the Tuned In festival ended on a high.

Pete Gascoigne, executive director of libraries, heritage and arts at Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust, said: “I am very sad it is the final night. It has gone brilliantly. We have had such warm crowds. Everybody seems to have gone away with a big smile on their face.

“It might be the last night of the Tuned In Festival, but we still have the Jazz Festival and eight days of fantastic music

[RonanNo1]

This was such a tough one for him but he got through it very well considering. The audience was so supportive and he was, without a doubt, totally bowled over by the positive reaction and support. Some pics here: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/alb ... 0932090196

[Rine]

Oh Girls, this was a fantastic evening... I'm so happy I went over to UK, even though I was on my own...

Just wanted to share some pics with you, here is the link to a FB-Photoalbum, it should be open to everyone!
It's just a few of the pics that I took, I will upload the rest in the next days, as well as some videoclips

Have fun with it, the album contains both, pix from Haigh Hall and Henley
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64639&id=1559612693&l=af0dd8e64f

[Rine]

Here my videoclips from Haigh Hall, hope you enjoy them...

I love it when we do http://www.youtube.com/user/Rinchen29#p/u/8/y2usrULFxvo

If tomorrow never comes http://www.youtube.com/user/Rinchen29#p/u/6/H7zVbwpn4xU

when you say nothing at all http://www.youtube.com/user/Rinchen29#p/u/3/Tvv0rDz7VHk

In this life http://www.youtube.com/user/Rinchen29#p/u/2/NyGDnjdyecE

Summer Outside http://www.youtube.com/user/Rinchen29#p/u/1/Y5mPN-lYhAA

The long goodbye http://www.youtube.com/user/Rinchen29#p/u/0/VcSw8Aeiy2M

[lovinronan]

Thanks for sharing, will check them out over the weekend.

[HELENMARIE]

thank you for all your pictures and reviews and clips.
It was always going to be hard singing them songs after everything as it proberly remined him of it.
Lets hope that ronan and yvonne are getting back together as they are a great couple

[gilmoregirl83]

Thanks Rine for your videos they are great!!!! Thank you so much for sharing them with us. Glad you had such a great time!

[FUNKY]

thnx so much Rine great video I it

[Christine]

Thanks for all the links, photos and videos. I was lucky enough to go to this concert and we all screamed and shouted as loud as possible to let Ronan know that we love him. You could see him visibly get more happy as the concert went on. An incredible performance, he sounded great, looked gorgeous, and I actually love his new tatool