Jason Donovan - Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Monday 10th March 2025

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Jason Donovan was arguably at the peak of his power. Fresh from starring in Australian soap Neighbours with a young Kylie Minogue, his star was soaring high in the UK. His 1989 debut album was the highest selling in the UK that year, spawning three number one singles. Following a sophomore album, he moved into musical theatre in Andrew Lloyd’s Webber’s reboot of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. It’s fair to say, Jason Donovan was everywhere! Magazines, TV shows, the West End… and plastered all over the bedroom wall of a then-teenage Mrs Griffiths! Ok, his star waned a bit in the late 90s into the 2000s, with some acting roles in Australian TV shows, more musical theatre and an obligatory appearance on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! But throughout it all, his music remained and Donovan continued recording the occasional album and touring now and again.

Jason Donovan’s music was never far away from the airwaves of the Griffiths household, with my wife Kirsteen regularly playing his hits as she attempted to ward off time by reliving her youth whilst ironing, tidying up, making packed lunches and any other task that a busy working mother does of a day and evening! An email to his longtime manager, the lovely Sam Wright, during the pandemic led to the man himself recording a wonderful video message for my wife as she celebrated her 40th birthday in a world of lockdowns, face masks and social distancing, something that she still watches regularly to this day and is regarded as a bit of a prized possession. But she still hadn’t seen him live in concert… until I leapt into action when I noticed the Doin Fine 25 Tour was stopping off in Glasgow and managed to grab a few tickets seven rows from the front. Not all heroes wear capes! Some are bald and slightly overweight!

“His skin is flawless and he’s gorgeous” gushed one usher as we entered the concert hall. Aye… and my skin would also be flawless if I’d been brought up in the Melbourne sunshine and not an old mining town in deepest, darkest Ayrshire. But I digress! I must admit to being slightly apprehensive that I’d be the only male in the audience, so I was relieved to see a few other males there, some even closer to the front than me and Mrs G! But it was clear to see that the bulk of the audience were females in their mid 40s to mid-50s… and they were ready to have fun! Screams were near deafening as the behind stage screens showed Jason Donovan backstage, preparing to open the stage door. If you’ve ever been to a KISS concert, it was very similar… but without the pyrotechnics! Then Donovan bounced onstage, arms wide as he welcomed the audience with a beaming smile on his face, dressed in a very un-Glasgow-like white (or perhaps cream) outfit of trousers and a waistcoat. The band kicked into the cheesy, yet ultra catchy ‘I’m Doing Fine’, with the protagonist turning his back to the audience and slowly shaking his bum in a circular motion. Swoon!!!! But the cheeky smile between the singer and his drummer made it clear that he wasn’t taking himself too seriously. He knew his audience and he was going to give them a good time. A few bars of the Beatles ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ had the audience singing along but I was surprised that the vast majority remained seated. Perhaps it’s an age thing, I thought. But that all changed with the unmistakeable sound of a Stock/Aitken/Waterman song, R.S.V.P! The audience rose to their feet, hands were thrown into the air, screams and whoops echoed throughout the venue… we had lift off!! During ‘Nothing Can Divide Us’, I even have found my own feet tapping and maybe even a slight swing of my (arthritic) hips, whilst Mrs Griffiths… well… she was 14 years old all over again and loving life!

A Cliff Richard cover, the classic ‘I Just Don’t Have a Heart’, kept the audience bouncing but the pace slowed a bit as the band took us to theatreland with the beautiful and magical ‘Pure Imagination’. It was a brave move for Donovan to allow his voice to be heard with such a stark arrangement but it worked well, helped along by nice visuals on the screens. The Glasgow crowd took a well-deserved break on the seats, allowing them to refuel for the ‘Any Dream Will Do’. There’s something impossibly catchy about the Andrew Lloyd Webber song and it’s difficult not to sing along, even for someone like me who’s more used to headbanging along to hard rock and metal. The “ahh-a-ahhs” must’ve been heard in Sauchiehall Street, as every voice in the Royal Concert Hall sang along. ‘Sweet Transvestite’ from The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Donovan was recently a touring cast member) brought some 70s-style shock-rock to the show but thankfully he left the tights and high heels in theatreland! From the West End, Donovan took us to a variety show in Australia in 1961, singing a wonderful duet of Frank Sinatra’s ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’ with his dad Terence. Terence, of course, wasn’t actually there in person but some clever computer wizardry, a video of the 1961 show on the screens and perfect timing by the live band allowed them to duet. It was actually a nice touch and the reaction of the crowd could very possibly have been felt by 89 year old Terry, even though he was thousands of miles away on the other side of the world. A story of Terry slamming the phone down on Seal and an anecdote of the singer’s young daughter not being a fan of her dad’s work led to a subdued ‘As Time Goes By’ before the tempo was upped again for another Stock/Aitken/Waterman classic, ‘Hang on to Your Love’ and ‘Like It Was Yesterday’. The audience were once again on their feet, although I remained seated for this one to allow the ladies behind to see past my substantial frame! “Let’s have a break” suggested Donovan. “Some of you will have hot flushes to sort out” joked the singer to much hilarity. Yup! He knows his audience!

The shock of the interval for me was how easy it was to access the male toilets, whilst the queue for the female toilets spiralled upstairs and round the corner. However, the serenity of having a whole row of urinals to myself was interrupted by three ladies who clearly couldn’t wait in line for their own toilets, rushing in whilst I was in full flow and going into the cubicles, whilst laughing. I suppose vast amounts of Lambrini on an empty head will do that to you! I dare say there would have been a very different reaction if I had walked into female toilets and I’d very likely have been manhandled out of the venue by security whilst being branded a pervert… but that’s another argument for another day!

A cover of Roachford’s ‘Cuddly Toy’, which I have to admit is a favourite of mine, signalled the start of the second half, with Jason returning to the stage wearing a garish pink version of the outfit he wore in the first half. From thereon in, it was Jason Donovan songs all the way, with no more covers (kind of!). ‘Mission of Love’ and ‘Talk You Down’, a brilliant pop song with a great atmospheric feel to it and superb musical arrangement led to ‘Another Night’ and ‘When You Come Back to Me’. The audience danced and sang along as Donovan returned to his debut album with ‘You Can Depend on Me’ and ‘Sealed With a Kiss’ (ok… it’s also a cover… but Donovan breathed new life into it with his version in the late 80s!). ‘Happy Together’ (ok.. I get it… it’s a cover too!) had such a feel-good vibe that I couldn’t resist singing along and by the time he reached ‘Every Day (I Love You More)’, I was boogying along with Mrs Griffiths. Jason Donovan had me in his musical grip!!!! ‘Just Call Me Up’, with its uber-90s club vibe brought the evening to the song many had been waiting for. The one that Jason Donovan allegedly didn’t like initially… but then it took off and became his signature number; ‘Too Many Broken Hearts’. Throughout the concert, the love between Donovan and his fans was clear to me but if there was any doubt at all, it was destroyed during this number. A quick look around showed that not one person was sitting, with people standing, singing and dancing from the stalls to the balconies. I even saw a few concert hall staff members bopping along as the main set was ended with a banger of a pop song!

Of course, Jason Donovan wasn’t done yet. He returned to the stage in a brand new outfit (think Jean Paul Gaultier sailor boy crossed with a fortnight in Tenerife) to duet with backing singer Sophie Hiller on ‘Especially For You’… and I was shocked to find that I pretty much knew every word, with the lyrics clearly burned into my mind from some misspent youth in the late-80s/early 90s! Again, memories of better times caused the Glasgow audience to swing, sway and sing along at the top of their voices, before all control was lost with the last song ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’ (ok… it’s another cover… but it’s a belter!).

Jason Donovan left the stage to much deserved rapturous applause. A few hours earlier, when he took to the Glasgow stage, I really didn’t know what to expect. As someone who’s musical taste is steeped in rock, hard rock, metal and blues with a smattering of country, I was totally out of my comfort zone. But I’m not too proud to admit that I was taught a lesson by Jason Donovan; live music is live music! Irrespective of genre or artist, live music can bring much needed fun, nostalgia, love, laughter and light to a world that it becoming depressingly darker every day. That’s exactly what Jason Donavan and his band brought to Glasgow on a cold March night. There was singing, dancing and memories of youth in the late 80s and early 90s when I had hair and a waistline! But for me, seeing Mrs Griffiths’ reaction throughout the show as she watched her childhood idol live for the first time was all I needed. I can’t imagine what she’ll be like if she ever gets to meet him!!

Thanks Jason Dovonan. You are indeed, still doin’ fine!

Jason Donovan’s Doin Fine 25 Tour continues until April, with shows in Edinburgh, Darlington, Buxton, Hull, Liverpool, Bury St Edmonds, King’s Lynn, Canterbury, Reading, Northampton, Cork, Dublin and Belfast.