Post by carol on May 9, 2013 11:34:38 GMT
What a fantastic write-up this is for Gareth's gig at Neath tonight, and fully deserved I might say 
Enjoy!
love carol xxx
CHOIRBOY-turned-pop-idol Gareth Gates was prepared to be moulded, packaged and told where to stand when he was enjoying his early TV break on a Simon Cowell production.
But 10 years later he is stretching his wings as a writer and singer, and he will get up close and personal with Neath audiences at the Gwyn Hall tonight, with an acoustic show.
?Gareth stretches his wings
.
The night will see him share many of his own songs, along with the pop chestnuts he is known to cover, and he says he is looking forward to showing another side of himself on this tour.
"I have been performing for 10 years now but for the past four I have been in musical theatre, on shows like Les Miserables, Legally Blonde, Boogie Nights and Joseph
"That has been great and I've learned so much about acting and about the whole theatre world, but I had started to miss just being a singer for an audience that has come to see me.
"Finally I found some time to focus on writing again, which I hadn't done for so long."
He and his guitar player have been pulling together songs, recording rough cuts at Gareth's home studio, and those numbers will make up part of his Neath show.
He says appearing in productions like Boogie Nights has helped him to polish up his pop music education.
"My background was completely in classical music. I played classical guitar at nine and piano by 11 and I have all of my grades in classical.
"It wasn't really until Pop Idol that I started to really listen to pop.
"And I had found myself a bit stuck on the 1980s bands, acts like Foreigner and Bon Jovi.
"But being in Boogie Nights had meant learning songs from the 70s."
He says the era might be maligned by the taste-makers, but it did produce some of the most memorable and the most played tracks in pop music history.
"I learned working with The Osmonds on Boogie Nights that if you have a song that captures people's imaginations then it does endure. And to see audiences dancing every night to songs that are such a part of their life has been great.
"The thing about the 1970s was that there was so much variety of music, from the whole disco movement to great soul, to pure pop."
It might seem like an age now when Gareth's puppyish face first appeared on our TV screens, but he is well and truly ensconced in the life of a jobbing performer.
He says it has its bumps in the road, but it is a satisfying life all in all.
"It can be hard, being in different hotel room every night and being away from your family, but it is what I have known for the past 10 years. And I am fortunate that I haven't really been without work in all that time."
The show begins at 7.30.
Enjoy!love carol xxx
CHOIRBOY-turned-pop-idol Gareth Gates was prepared to be moulded, packaged and told where to stand when he was enjoying his early TV break on a Simon Cowell production.
But 10 years later he is stretching his wings as a writer and singer, and he will get up close and personal with Neath audiences at the Gwyn Hall tonight, with an acoustic show.
?Gareth stretches his wings
.
The night will see him share many of his own songs, along with the pop chestnuts he is known to cover, and he says he is looking forward to showing another side of himself on this tour.
"I have been performing for 10 years now but for the past four I have been in musical theatre, on shows like Les Miserables, Legally Blonde, Boogie Nights and Joseph
"That has been great and I've learned so much about acting and about the whole theatre world, but I had started to miss just being a singer for an audience that has come to see me.
"Finally I found some time to focus on writing again, which I hadn't done for so long."
He and his guitar player have been pulling together songs, recording rough cuts at Gareth's home studio, and those numbers will make up part of his Neath show.
He says appearing in productions like Boogie Nights has helped him to polish up his pop music education.
"My background was completely in classical music. I played classical guitar at nine and piano by 11 and I have all of my grades in classical.
"It wasn't really until Pop Idol that I started to really listen to pop.
"And I had found myself a bit stuck on the 1980s bands, acts like Foreigner and Bon Jovi.
"But being in Boogie Nights had meant learning songs from the 70s."
He says the era might be maligned by the taste-makers, but it did produce some of the most memorable and the most played tracks in pop music history.
"I learned working with The Osmonds on Boogie Nights that if you have a song that captures people's imaginations then it does endure. And to see audiences dancing every night to songs that are such a part of their life has been great.
"The thing about the 1970s was that there was so much variety of music, from the whole disco movement to great soul, to pure pop."
It might seem like an age now when Gareth's puppyish face first appeared on our TV screens, but he is well and truly ensconced in the life of a jobbing performer.
He says it has its bumps in the road, but it is a satisfying life all in all.
"It can be hard, being in different hotel room every night and being away from your family, but it is what I have known for the past 10 years. And I am fortunate that I haven't really been without work in all that time."
The show begins at 7.30.
