James Bond Gala Sunderland Empire Theatre 4 February 2024

An ageing well ambassador goes to see an ageing well secret agent in our great Empire theatre

This was an early evening performance which my PA and I attended at the Empire Theatre. I was intrigued to see the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform James Bond. It took me back to my childhood. My dad was a massive movie fan and every week he would take me to the local cinemas in and around Sunderland and Newcastle. We would often go to the cinema 3 or 4 times a week on the evening after school. Those were lovely, innocent, childhood days.

I recall going to see many movies: all of the Disney cartoons, The Man from Uncle films, Cliff Richard in Summer Holiday, Born Free, Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu, the Beatles in Hard Days Night and Help and, of course, all of the James Bond films from Doctor No onwards through From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, the spoof Casino Royale and You Only Live Twice.

I was a massive fan of the Sean Connery Bond films and the theme tunes: the James Bond theme by the John Barry Seven, "from Russia with Love" and the velvet voice of Matt Munro, the magnificent "Goldfinger" by Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones soaring through "Thunderball" and the twisting, turning vocals of Nancy Sinatra and "You Only Live Twice".

So I was looking forward to this performance of the James Bond theme songs and music, by no less than the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor Stephen Bell and vocalists Alison Jiear and Lance Ellington. I attempted to start the evening with a James Bond favourite drink: vodka and martini (shaken not stirred) but the Empire bar did not manage to provide this so I had to settle for a single Jack Daniels with ice (which was very nice). During the interval Chris tried again in the entrance bar to buy a vodka and a martini separately but once again this did not work as the bar did not stock martini. Never mind, another Jack Daniels with ice went down well.

The concert itself was excellent with great deliveries of the songs going from the early Sean Connery days up to the present day and epics such as "Skyfall" originally performed by Adele and "A View to a Kill" originally performed by Duran Duran. The vocalists delivered the songs excellently and the entire concert was just fine. I even decided to buy some of my old favourites on eBay (see images) and I purchased a natty little programme at the concert.

Setlist: Dr No - Theme; You Only Live Twice - Title Song; GoldenEye - Title Song; Live and Let Die - Title Theme; From Russia With Love - Title Song; Quantum of Solace - Another Way to Die; The World is Not Enough - Title Song; Goldfinger - Title Song; A View to a Kill - Title Song; Thunderball -Title Song; Skyfall - Title Song; For Your Eyes Only - Title Song; The Spy Who Loved Me - Nobody Does It Better; Moonraker - Title Theme; No Time to Die - Title Song; On Her Majestys Secret Service - We Have All the Time in the World; Casino Royale - You Know My Name; Diamonds Are Forever - Title Song; Spectre - The Writings on the wall; Licence to Kill - Title Song