On Saturday night I went to the Central Conservative Club in Wallasey, after being promised a night I would Never Forget!
I sat down amongst dozens of mainly excitable women and waited for the night’s main attraction. Suddenly, an X Factor style voice boomed from the speakers and out came the man with the power to make the crowd roar. His features and mannerisms made me want to fall off my chair in amazement. “OH MY GOD, It’s actually Gary Barlow!!!!” I said. It was only when the X Factor voice shouted “Welcome Dan Hadfield!” that I snapped back into reality.
Of course, I wasn’t actually watching the real Gary Barlow – I was watching the world’s number one lookalike/tribute act Dan Hadfield, who was performing in support of the K Woods Foundation. The Foundation was set up by Adam Woods in 2014 in memory of his father, and all monies raised goes to Dementia UK.
Although it wasn’t the real GB on stage, it might as well have been! I’ve never seen SO many women go crazy over a tribute act! I’ve been in close proximity to Gary and Take That several times and I don’t ever recall them having as wild a response as Dan did!
Dan was so convincing to the point of it being bizarre. His mannerisms were unreal, every hand movement and command was spot on. Even though I knew it was a tribute act, there were moments where I would catch his eye and my heart would drop in excitement, thinking he was the real deal. Fans were clambering on stage, getting selfies and treating Dan like they would the Captain himself.
Dan was truly fantastic and performed all of the big Take That hits including some of Gary’s solo material. He was such a hit that the crowd made him do a double encore. He even attempted some of the Pray moves which was a marvellous sight.
As it was a charity gig, we were also treated to two other performers. Firstly, the brilliant David Bulley who opened the event. The singer songwriter performed a mixture of original songs and covers, providing a chilled start to the evening. Highlights included a stunning version of Ella Henderson’s Glow and Tell Me It’s Over, one of his best originals. David took the opportunity to introduce his friend and K Woods Foundation founder Adam onto the stage during Sunlight, in which they performed a duet. David also sang a mash-up of The Script’s Hall of Fame and Take That’s Patience which obviously went down well. He finished with his soon-to-be-released single Lions which was a great way to warm up the crowd for Dan’s performance.
Finally to end the evening there was a great performance by a folk duo called Niccolls and Moroney. Their set was extremely lively and lots of the crowd got involved, with many women jumping onto the stage and trying to steal their microphones! The boys also had great pleasure in trying to break the sound limiter on the speakers by performing as loudly as possible!
The night was a great success and raised over £800 for Dementia UK. The K Woods Foundation has raised over £10,000 for the cause so far and continue to hold different fundraising events and challenges throughout the year.
Dan was such a hit with the crowd that he has already been announced for a repeat performance in October next year. You can find out more about The K Woods Foundation on Facebook and Twitter.