After a break of three years Michael Bolton is back at the BIC and sounding just as good as ever.

When you can put a cover of Otis Redding’s (Sittin On) The Dock of the Bay as the second song in your set list and make it sound like your own you must be pretty confident that you can follow it up with other tunes that are just as strong.

Well, that’s just what he did and then followed through on the implied promise over the next 90 minutes.

Bournemouth Echo:

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The stage set up is stripped back to the basics but that was all that was needed when you have such great songs and such a talented band behind and alongside you. This was an evening made up of many cover versions that he himself has had hits with and made his own.

Sinatra’s That’s Life was an early highlight delivered just before he was joined on stage by Rebecca Ferguson to perform Bob Dylan’s Make You Feel My Love, his first number one record and worldwide hit How Am I Supposed To Live Without You and a fabulous cover of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrells’ Ain't No Mountain High Enough.

For the first time a portion of the audience got out of their seats for a dance. With regular cries of “we love you Michael” between every song to reply to he could probably have played an extra couple of songs.

Bournemouth Echo:

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Michael engaged with the audience between songs and was quite funny in a reserved way that the crowd really appreciated.

Leaving the stage, he put us in the more than capable hands of Jason Petersen and the band who delivered a flawless musical number followed by a solo piano slot that led seamlessly into When A Man Loves A Woman as Michael returned.

How Can We Be Lovers followed as the show stepped up a gear. Steel Bars followed that keeping the party atmosphere going and the audience on their feet. When we got to Time Love and Tenderness it had turned into a greatest hits set that reminded me just how many records Michael has sold over his career.

The main set was quite brief at an hour and a quarter but of course there were cries for more and he duly obliged.

After a round of thanks for the crew and band and more random shouting from the crowd we were treated to a soulful rendition of Georgia On My Mind with the appropriately named Soul Provider closing a great evening’s entertainment.