Jimmy Cliff brought a full repertoire of his classic reggae songs to the Brighton Dome – and his fans turned out in force to enjoy an evening of ballads and rocking reggae delivered with energy and panache.

The evening started with Jimmy on a hand drum backed by assorted hand drums and percussion before moving on to his classic hit You Can Get It If You Really Want It.

All his famous trade mark songs from The Harder They Come to Wonderful World, Beautiful People were included in the medley of instantly recognisable and catchy tunes and after 90 minutes the stage was still rocking and the crowd were loving it.

Backed by a brass section of trumpet and sax together with two keyboard players and backing vocalists, Jimmy was the ultimate showman. He knew exactly how to engage an audience and despite decades in the business he never looked like flagging.

The only slight bad note was the gritty version of Cat Stevens’ Wild World which failed to do justice to Jimmy’s tuneful and powerful voice.

The backing singers added to the depth of his sound – not to mention adding to the atmosphere with their energetic dancing.

Four stars