Alan Fletcher/Riley Catherall

ALAN FLETCHER/RILEY CATHERALL

IAC 9th September 2025

You know you've been to a special gig when you leave the hall with a warm glow, the last song constantly rattling around your head and, however many great artists you will be seeing, you are already looking forward to the next tour... such a gig was Alan Fletcher last year... and last night he was back, this time at the International Arts Centre, and i left last night with the same glow with the same feelings...

First up was the excellent RILEY CATHERALL. Riley is a class act writing some great songs and has a great relaxed singing voice and style, matching perfectly his warm engaging personality and stage presence

Riley connects instantly with the audience and delivers a lovely set of his own songs accompanying himself on guitar and supported by a really high class rhythm section of bass and drums, used sparingly and to great effect. Absolutely lovely opening set delivered by a great singer/songwriter.

After s short break Alan's band, comprising Riley on guitar and his rhythm section, Jennifer Hansen (aka Mrs Alan Fletcher) on keyboards and vocals took the stage before Fletch came on to a great ovation from the large audience...

Fletch is maybe best known as Dr Kennedy in Neighbours (never seen an episode!!) but he is a superb writer and performer leading an outstanding country/americana band...

His personality shines through as he greets the audience before launching into the first song.

The rhythm section are outstanding, forming a great basis for the band and Riley shines and shows his brilliance on guitar while Jen plays great keyboards...

Up front Fletch is a captivating artist... full of life and fun and a great voice singing some great songs.

The show is beautifully paced including upbeat pieces, ballads, serious and light-hearted pieces... with a large percentage of love songs... midway through the first half Jen steps up to duet with Alan on a couple of love songs before taking centre stage to sing one of her own songs... and what a fantastic voice she has... belting out the song with terrific style and energy...

The second half follows the same pattern, but included two songs that resonated totally with me, and which i found rather emotional... they were "I Ain't Done Yet" about fighting back after difficult times (a phrase i have used myself more than once in those circumstances) and "Hey You" about the feeling that a loved one who has passed away is still with you... i am sure many of us feel that. Having said that the whole show is totally upbeat and inspiring and the warmth between the musicians, and between the stage and audience were clear and a pleasure.

At all the breaks Fletch and Riley were there to meet people and have pictures taken... Fletch repeatedly said "nobody leaves the room until we've had a chat and a picture taken"

Wonderful performance, totally uplifting and joyful... delivered by a really lovely bunch of people... i left the room with a warm glow and "Crush on Susie K" rattling around my head... and its there now as an ear-worm!!

Bring on the next tour!!

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