On Thursday 11 April, the electric Liam Cooper brought his show, King of the Keys, to the Shoalhaven Performing Arts Centre. The interactive show gave the audience the chance to vote for who they thought was the King of the Keys. Read on to hear who won!

Liam’s infectious energy had the audience singing and dancing to old favourites. Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Freddy Mercury, Ray Charles and many more. With over 40 songs in the set, the band was as tight as Liam’s jeans. 

My personal favourite was Liam’s rendition of Isn’t She Lovely, which he dedicated to his little fur baby, Millie. 

His powerful and nuanced vocals helped with flawless transitions through clean belts and controlled falsettos. The versatility enabled him to tackle notoriously challenging tracks like Take On Me and Crocodile Rock, daring even to jump the octave on the last note of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ as if it isn't challenging enough already!

In the spirit of Freddie Mercury’s (alleged) famous quote "Do what you want with my music, just don't make it boring", Liam embraced creativity together with his guitarist, Noah, who stood upon the piano as if it were a stage during his stunning Bohemian Rhapsody guitar solo. The Beyonce effect was in full swing, as Liam brought out a leaf blower to get Noah’s long locks spectacularly blowing in the wind.

The band was phenomenal with an especially strong horn section. The trumpetist, Angus, deserves a special shout-out, as he had some show stopping solos. Liam himself showed off his multi talented musical skills on harmonica, kazoo, keytar and of course piano.

Liam, obviously a well seasoned performer, reacted calmly and humorously to the pyrotechnics not turning off and seamlessly let the backstage crew know to unplug the fire hazard. 

Not only did Liam put on a fabulous show, but he did it all in heels.

So, who won the grand title of King of The Keys? Drumroll please … Elton John!

Liam closed the show with Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me and I'm Still Standing as a tribute to the ‘Rocket Man’. The standing ovation from the crowd was well deserved.