IF there’s one thing that can make or break an outdoor event it is the unpredictable British weather so the organisers must have thanked their lucky stars that this weekend turned out to be rain free and just about perfect.

They had also booked the perfect combination of acts that saw a sell-out crowd of 8,000 attend on the Friday night for the ABBA and Killer Queen.

And what great acts they were, if you want to put on a show that will attract a wide and varied audience then you would struggle to find a better combination than the one on offer.

ABBA Mania who looked great and immediately got the crowd involved by launching into Waterloo, Voulez Vous and Knowing Me, Knowing You before continuing with a set that included Fernando, The Winner Takes It All, Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie! (A Man After Midnight) and Super Trouper. Benny and Bjorn certainly knew how to write perfect pop songs and the crowd loved every second of it. Main set closer had to be Dancing Queen and a quick encore of the appropriate Thank You For The Music.

A quick turn around and it was time for Killer Queen who certainly looked the part and delivered a visually excellent set. Lead singer Patrick Myers has the look and moves down to a tee and had the crowd reacting just as they would have to the real thing. The band was spot on and you could see why they have made such a successful career out of this show. Watching from the stage the mobile phone light moment during Bohemian Rhapsody was the highlight of a night full of many great moments.

Saturday saw a mix of Motown and Ben Bowman as Michael Jackson. Roy Hemmings from The Drifters performing the hits of Motown was my favourite set of the weekend. Accompanied by six extremely talented singers and a full band, this show was as smooth and entertaining as the songs themselves including classics such as the Martha and The Vandellas’ smash Jimmy Mack before Roy took to the stage to the opening strains of McFadden and Whitehead’s Ain’t No Stopping Us Now.

The next 90 minutes consisted of a set that could not fail to entertain and get the crowd on their feet and dancing along to Stand By Me, Me & Mrs Jones, Bernadette and a whole host of crowd favourites.

Michael Jackson tribute Ben Bowman takes his job very seriously whilst delivering hit after hit to an energetic and boisterous crowd. There can’t be a person in the country who has not heard of Michael Jackson and danced along to a tune or two so this was always going to be a popular choice of act to close the weekend and sent everyone home with a spring in their step. Beat It, The Way You Make Me Feel, Billy Jean and of course Thriller were all delivered with the moves and energy that you would expect.

All in all this was an excellent weekend of top quality entertainment and I can only hope that the organisers look to return again next summer, or sooner, to do it all over again.