The Eighties singer-songwriter is my total hero and any chance I have seeing him live I will be there.

My wife and I have seen Billy Ocean before, but this was at festivals rather than the more intimate casino performance on Saturday, July 26. So with our glad rags on we made our way there early for some food before the performance.

G Casino is a fantastic venue with a great layout, atmosphere and good food. We had the buffet option and the choice was fantastic, anything from chicken curry and mini burgers to hot dogs, even for the fussiest diner like myself.

Eager to get a good seat for the show, we made our way to the room half an hour early, and we were impressed by just how ‘up close and personal’ it was.

The room wasn’t too small and it was set up perfectly. The stage was directly in front of you and the bar was located at the back, so that meant nobody got in your way while queuing for a drink. The prices of the drinks were reasonable, with most costing the same as a night out in the town centre.

We waited for the arrival of the man himself while his band played some acoustic music to tide us over. Billy came on to the stage with a rapturous reception that nearly took the roof off, blasting straight into Nights (Feel Like Getting Down) which got everyone in the mood for the great set ahead. I must say the sound quality was amazing in the room, and he certainly knows how to work a crowd as demonstrated by his next song Love Really Hurts Without You when he got the whole crowd singing the chorus.

He then went on to sing more classics like Red Light, Suddenly, When The Going Gets Tough and Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car before saying thank you to the crowd and going off stage without singing arguably one of his best songs, Caribbean Queen.

but sure enough 30 seconds later he was back and the crowd went wild. Little did I know that my wife had gone to the front of the stage with one of our friends and was now being serenaded as the Caribbean Queen by Billy himself.

So the night was over, but not before my wife, Renee, managed to get hold of his daughter and ask her to get Billy to personally sign a vinyl and CD set, which capped off a fantastic evening.

MATTHEW RILEY