Laura Aston

Review & Photography by John Rawstron

Laura Aston delivered a brilliant performance at The Waterfront in Norwich, combining powerful vocals with genuine warmth and connection throughout the night. From the moment she stepped on stage, the atmosphere felt intimate and welcoming, with the audience hanging on every word and singing along whenever they could.

Her blend of modern country and classic storytelling shone through the set, and her voice sounded even better live than on record. Whether performing upbeat crowd-pleasers or more emotional ballads, she brought authenticity and passion to every song.

The Waterfront proved to be the perfect venue, creating a close connection between artist and audience that made the evening feel special. Laura’s stage presence, musicianship, and interaction with the crowd showed exactly why she continues to build such a loyal following across the UK.

Laura also sang some well known hits from other artists like Kenny Rogers’s “The Gambler” and Nancy Sinatra’s “These boots are made for walking”. But Laura being such a versatile artist, was able to add her country twang to the likes of 4 Non Blondes “What’s going on” and Queen’s “Somebody to love”.

Even tho Laura didn’t have her full band with her, she performed like she was the headline act and the entire auidence loved every moment of her performance, and even if there wasn’t many Country fans in the audience, by the time her short set ended, it was pretty much certain that she got more people in to the Country genre.

Chesney Hawkes

After Laura Aston left the stage, the already hyped audience were all ready for the headlining act. It wasn’t long before Chesney Hawkes entered the stage. with plenty of screaming from the audience, you could feel it in the air, that it was going to get even more lively in the venue.

Chesney Hawkes brought high-energy pop nostalgia to Norwich Waterfront with a tight, crowd-pleasing set. From the opening numbers he had the audience hooked — upbeat stage presence, warm banter, and plenty of interaction made the show feel personal rather than scripted.

Chesney started his set with “Live Forever”, which is taken from his latest album “Living Arrows”. He then went on to play “I’m a Man, Not A Boy”, which was taken from the 1991 film “Buddy’s Song”. Throughout his set he played songs both old and new, and even cracked a joke with the audience on how long it has taken him to make a new album.

Chesney interacted with the audience, like they were longterm friends of his, to the extent that when one member of the audience was revealed as the winner of the Golden Ticket, Chesney Picked up his acoustic guitar and played a soft romantic version of “The One and Only” to her. Then a few song into his set, Chesney asked the audience if they had ever had friends that had ever got together romantically, and that is what led him to the next track.

He told the audience that a couple of his friends had got together, and everyone he knew that while they belonged together, they didn’t want part of this controversial relationship, as the woman was married. There was quite a reaction from the audience, some laughs and some cringe worthy no’s, but overall it made the already energetic crowd even more lively. Chesney then went on to play the song in question which was called “Benny & Alice”, which had a extra nice touch, from the music video of it, with the pen to paper lyrical music video.

Towards the end of his set, Chesney played a cover of the “Nik Kershaw” classic “Wouldn’t it be good”. I had a hunch he would do something like this, as a few years ago when I saw “Nik Kershaw” at a 80’s festival, he explained that he was the brains & writer behind “The One And Only”, but instead of releasing it himself, he thought that Chesney Hawkes would do a good job of it, and not only did he do a good job of it, it was the song that he became most famous for.

After a couple more songs, Chesney then played “The One And Only”. I swear that from the distorted guitar sound, right at the start of the song, I had never heard such a lively crowd on a Monday Night !. It was a joy to see a crowd of all ages, having the time of their lives. After a 16 song set, Chesney Hawkes left the stage, but the crowd still wanted more.

After a couple minutes, Chesney Hawkes re-entered the stage for an encore. To everyone’s surprise, he finished his set with a cracking cover of “The Killers – Human”. everyone including myself still found enough strength in our voices to singalong with him.

Musically the band sounded strong: layered vocals, punchy drums, and crisp guitar tones gave familiar hits fresh life. Of course, “The One and Only” was the moment everyone waited for, turning the crowd into a joyous singalong that summed up the night perfectly.

Sound quality at the Waterfront was excellent for a mid-sized venue, though a couple of mid-set tracks could have used a touch more volume to bring the band forward. The encore was energetic and left the audience cheering. Overall a hugely enjoyable, feel-good performance — a great night for long-time fans and casual listeners alike.