I had never seen the Kings before nor Bill in a small venue so I was very much looking forward to this show. I was not let down. In fact I really even got MUCH, MUCH MORE than I had even hoped for. The show began with Rita Chiarelli & her band. They were
great... Before Bill & the Kings came on the crowd was given a real surprise treat. We were introduced to Johnnie Johnson, the famed piano player who was with Chuck Berry for decades & last year was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Mr Johnson was joined on stage by another famed keyboard player, this one a member of the boogie-woogie Hall of Fame, Mr Bob Seeley. These two gentlemen took the stage & played several songs together, one where they both even used the same keyboard! It was a lot of fun to see the interplay of two such talented musicians.

At this point the crowd was primed & on came Bill & the band. Moving from right to left the first thing on the stage that
caught my eye was the red suit worn by Mike Sanchez & the matching red jacket on Martin Taylor. About a microsecond later Janice Hoyte & Beverly Skeete caught my eye with their great stage presence & wonderful appearance. Next I moved to Bill who was right smack in the middle of the stage. He looked very mellow & relaxed. With the short remark from Bill that went something like ‘we`ll have a lot of fun and music tonight so let`s get started. We`ll talk later’, the fun began. This eleven-piece band was primed for action.

The show began with two songs where Gary Brooker & Mike Sanchez alternated on lead vocals. You could immediately tell, this was going to be a good night. I knew Gary would be great but didn`t know much about Mike... At first I was bummed that Georgie wouldn`t be there since he`s such a great musician. Let me tell you, by the end of the night, & for that matter long before, Mike Sanchez had made a believer out of me! His non-stop energy & musical talent, as both a vocalist & keyboard player, were used to really get the crowd going. By the middle of the show the guy was dripping wet with sweat. Even Bill couldn`t resist poking fun at him as he lifted up his arms to show us that he had been able to maintain his cool.

The rest of the band also did their part to make certain that the crowd stayed fired up. Personally I loved the wonderful vocals of Beverly & Janice. Still, not to be outdone, Frank Mead was a wild man on sax. At times he came to the front of the stage where he played his heart out, at other times he rocked in unison with Nick Payn who also played sax & stood next to Frank. Nick also had his turn in front where he too did a great job on harp.

Throughout the night the interplay of the three guitars of Martin Taylor, Albert Lee & Terry Taylor was superb. All three have their own unique styles but put them together under Bill`s direction & watch magic happen. Of course throughout all of this Bill & Graham Broad provided the steady backbeat that helped keep everyone else solidly on track.

Another big surprise occurred when Bill invited Johnnie Johnson on stage to join the band. Johnnie took Mike`s keyboard for a few songs & away they went. Johnnie & Martin got into some nice jamming together. For me the most fun was when the band did Route 66 with Johnnie doing the lead vocals. Here he managed to insert his own special verses that made everyone, even Bill, crack up just a bit. It was GREAT to see these Hall of Famers playing together.

The show that started shortly after 8:00 ended after 11:30! What a musical treat! We even got a great series of encores. For me though, the very best part was when after the show, as the band was taking their bows, Bill reached out into the crowd & shook a few hands, including mine! This is a show I will never forget. Bill thanks so VERY, VERY, much for coming to Windsor! All the best, your fan & friend.