Review: Diversity at Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle
Dec 20 2010 by Mike Kelly, The Journal
FOR a moment I wondered if the Diversity gig at Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena was jinxed.
Cancelled from last Monday due to illness and re-arranged for Friday, there was a longer than expected delay between the departure of support act Marvel and the arrival of the dance group. And when its leader and choreographer Ashley Banjo came on stage on a pair of crutches, I feared the worst.
He told the crowd how he had damaged his ligaments the previous evening in Sheffield but assured everyone the show would go on without him.
It was a big ask and to begin with you were aware of his absence as the rest of group had to adjust to the loss of their leader. However their years of experience dancing together proved crucial and it didn’t take long before they hit their straps and it was business as usual for the 2009 Britain’s Got Talent winners.
A rapturous crowd certainly helped and the arrival of Aidan Davis as Bionic Boy ended any lingering doubts. A street dancer of the highest calibre, the diminutive 13-year-old filled the vast stage with his astonishing body popping movement.
It was a proud Ashley Banjo who hopped out onto the stage at the end of the show having seen his crew do so well without him. And so he should have been.
For as my sons Jack and Peter put it, the show was “epic” and “electrifying”.
