Press Releases

Oh brother, those boys still have what it takes
TOM MAXWELL
The Osmonds
The Playhouse ****
March 13, 2006
Edinburgh Evening News

Submitted by Elaine Thomason

THE message on one woman's T-shirt said it all: "I'll be your Long-Haired Lover from Stockbridge." Yes, the Osmonds were back. Well, most of them.

Other commitments (Donny and Marie) and ill health (Alan) meant only four of the world's most famous Mormon rockers - Wayne, Merrill, Jay and 'Little' Jimmy - appeared at The Playhouse last night.

But that didn't stop almost 3000 fans - mostly 40-something women - screaming, stamping their feet, waving scarves, and singing along as Osmania made a triumphant return to Edinburgh.

The initial appearance of the brothers on stage threatened to take the roof off the grand old venue as they launched straight into Down by the Lazy River, the group's first UK top 40 hit.

Jimmy celebrated their 20-date tour's only performance in Scotland by donning a kilt for the first half of the show - and a louder scream than the one which greeted his twirl during Yo-Yo would be difficult to imagine.

The way screeching women crowded down to the front, reaching out to touch lead singer Merrill's hand, was a scene which could have been taking place 30 years earlier.

"Are you all having fun?" asked Jimmy. "Yes!" came the roar. "So are we, it feels great to be a teenager again, doesn't it?"

Experienced and gentlemanly showmen with an insatiable appetite to perform, the brothers constantly invited their fans to clap their hands, sway and sing along to their greatest hits.

For the vast majority of the songs, the Osmonds stuck to vocals and left the instruments to their backing group.

But Jay got behind the drums for a three-minute solo during a version of Grand Funk Railroad's Some Kind of Wonderful.

Meanwhile, Jimmy proved handy on the keyboard and Wayne showed he could still cut it as a lead guitarist.

But it was as a four-piece "boy band", complete with synchronised moves - although not quite as energetic as Take That in their heyday - that the Osmonds worked best. The voices still strong and the harmonies still tight, it was a good mixture of soft numbers like Let Me In and rockier songs like Hold Her Tight.

The group also did creditable covers including The Eagles' Heartache Tonight and the highly appropriate He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother by The Hollies.

At one point, Jimmy took centre stage to sing the solo hits from his childhood: I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door, Tweedle Dee and the ever-popular Long Haired Lover From Liverpool.

One of the group's final songs was Love Me For a Reason, familiar to a slightly newer generation of teenyboppers as a smash hit for Boyzone.

The atmosphere throughout the concert was electric and the cries of "We want the Osmonds" before a rousing encore of Crazy Horses were deafening.

Jimmy suggested it may be the group's last visit to the Capital, but the lure of performing again to such an appreciative audience will surely prove too difficult for the brothers to resist.