NEVER has a tour been so aptly named.

For Simply Red’s opening night of a year-long European tour on Saturday was about nothing but love.

The audience was heaving with life-long fans and the excitement spilled out into the lobby long before Mick Hucknall even set foot on stage.

Right from the word go they got what they wanted. Hucknall wandered out, acoustic guitar in hand, with a performance of Holding Back the Years which showed the crowd his angelic voice was as strong as it was when the band formed 30 years ago.

What followed was a near two hour set of non-stop hits and the venue swelled with some 4,000 voices singing along to every single one, and especially Stars Musically, there were no surprises.

Each song was enjoyably as expected. There were no ‘new tracks’ interrupting the flow and the band had many an impressive solo to offer.

But the reaction from the audience was a sight to behold. Hucknall’s slightly dubious choice of leather trousers and gyrating as he sang Fairground did little to put off the wolf whistlers and swooning women who flocked from their seats to the front of the stage to dance through most of the set.

Right to the very last sing-a-long of If You Don’t Know Me By Now, after two encores, the air was filled with romance.

Four stars