10 Years

Celebrating 10 years of…

Bee Gees Fever

The year 2009 marked the 10th Anniversary of Bee Gees Fever, the UK’s Number 1 Premier Bee Gees tribute show. They have been wowing audiences across the UK and Europe with their stunning live tribute to the music of the Brothers Gibb and have put their name firmly on the map as one of the most celebrated tribute bands in the business – by working tirelessly to share the greatest hits of the Bee Gees with as many fans and admirers as possible.

Bee Gees Fever perform all of the soulful ballads from How Deep is Your Love and Too Much Heaven; to the high energy disco classics such as Stayin’ Alive, Night Fever, Tragedy and You Should Be Dancing, faithfully recreating the songs that have helped to make the Bee Gees musical legends over the last five decades.

With a full show of over 2 hours, there is a song for everyone from every era of the Bee Gees’ glittering career and the guys create a striking visual resemblance when they pay tribute to the “Saturday Night Fever” image of the late 70’s.

Unlike some tribute acts, Bee Gees Fever perform all the songs completely live without the aid of backing tracks or sequencers; just 5 guys with their voices and their instruments.

Over the last 10 years, Bee Gees Fever have given a raw energy to their live performances and have performed to sold out theatre audiences and headlined many outdoor festivals in their quest to entertain; and entertain they certainly do!

1999: From small acorns…

Bee Gees Fever were born from a local, and reasonably successful, covers band (20th Century Cox) and started playing in local clubs across the West Midlands and Birmingham. The anticipation was so great that when they played at these venues for the first time, demand outweighed supply and people were being turned away. This happened at the Shed, Brierley Hill; The Robin R&B Club, Merry Hill; The Limelight Club, Crewe; The Rock Café 2000, Stourbridge and the Robin 2, Bilston.

They soon became the hottest tribute band on the circuit and were honoured with the Millennium Eve gig at the Robin R&B Club, Merry Hill which until its closure in 2003 was the most respected venue in the Midlands and home to a large number of well established and chart topping acts of their time.

Bee Gees Fever were already selling out 500 capacity venues and they realised that with hard work and dedication, they may be onto something big.

One of the first ‘official’ pics take of Bee Gees Fever in 1999. As you can see, the wigs and beards improved dramatically!

2000…setting new standards…

The year started well and they were invited to perform at the yearly Bee Gees Fan Club Convention. Guests included cousins to Barry, Maurice and Robin. This was the first time Bee Gees Fever had come into contact with direct members of the Bee Gees Family but it was early days as the best was yet to come….
The Guys started to spread their wings and secured venues all over the UK to establish their name as the Uk’s Number 1 Bee Gees Tribute Show.

Music agents from London began to realise that Bee Gees Fever had that special “WOW” Factor and started to steer the guys onto a different level. The quality of venues were better and they started playing top London shows and networking became essential. Soon they were taking their show to every corner of the British Isles,and making a name for themselves wherever they performed. The reaction from this new type of audience was quite breathtaking and it made them raise “the bar” as they took their performances to a new level of excellence.

Bee Gees Fever live on stage in 2000

They secured top corporate shows with leading multi-national companies and it gave the band a chance to hone their skills to a different kind of audience.

This would add a new element to their show in time for their forthcoming theatre tour the following year.

2001…approval from the brothers themselves…

This year turned out to be one of the most exciting in the band’s history. The first half comprised of Bee Gees Fever being introduced onto the theatre scene – and they took it by storm including sell out shows at the Grand Opera House, York; Embassy Centre, Skegness; The Liverpool Empire; Gwyned Theatre, Bangor, North Wales; Fairfield Halls, Croydon; Spalding Exhibition Centre, Peterborough; Oakengates Theatre, Telford; Assembley Halls, Sussex; Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa; Charter Hall, Colchester; Spa Pavillion, Felixstowe and Aylesbury Civic Centre.

The highlight for the guys was headlining at the Forum, North London. The show was a resounding success but in the audience were 2 very special guests: none other than Robbie Williams and his mate Jonathan Wilkes!!

As you will appreciate they made sure that his entourage got a message to him to say ‘hello’ backstage and he sure did. The guys didn’t waste the opportunity for photos. They even got hold of complementary tickets for Robbie’s Milton Keynes Bowl show later that summer…result!!

Surely it couldn’t get much better for them but the best was yet to come…. 

Their London agent had showbiz contacts and a party had been organised for cancer research, so a lot of celebrities came out to show their support for this great cause.  Bee Gees Fever were asked to perform at the event but unbeknown to them, there were 3 very special guests at the party…yes it was the Bee Gees themselves!

2002: Tonight Matthew I’m going to be…


The band continued their onslaught of theatre shows and were over the moon when they sold out the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, in April. They always felt more pressure when playing on their home territory so this sell out show was a major boost to them.

Two years previously, Dave Cox (who performs as Barry Gibb) had applied for “Stars in their Eyes”; a music television show hosted by Matthew Kelly and shown on ITV1 on a Saturday evening. The show gave opportunities for ordinary people to perform in a copycat style to artists of their choice.

In the summer of 2002, Dave received a phone call from Granada studios in Manchester asking him to come to to the studios and audition as Barry Gibb. He eventually got through as a live finalist on the show and sang his heart out with a fantastic version of Stayin Alive. 

Unfortunately, the show was not shown on ITV1 until March 2004 as Matthew Kelly was arrested in January 2003. Matthew was cleared of all charges and continued with his “Celebrity Stars in their Eyes” specials during 2003. The good news for Dave and the other contestants was that the show, originally filmed in September 2002, would be aired on ITV1 on 6th March 2004.

After the show, Dave continued his role as Barry in Bee Gees Fever and shows were still selling out for these Midands based guys.

This was another successful year but Bee Gees Fever knew they were ready to experience the outdoor festival circuit and 2003 proved to be quite a year!

2003: A Moving Tribute to Maurice…


Nobody could have imagined that on the 12th January 2003, the world would be mourning the untimely and very sad death of Maurice Gibb. 
He was a musical genius, and a calming influence on his brothers and would be sadly missed but never forgotten. This also meant that The Bee Gees would never be the same again. 

It was a strange time for Bee Gees Fever too. Their gigs in early 2003 seemed to be filled with so much emotion and tension, and Dave Cox who performs as Barry Gibb will tell you that talking to the audiences at that time was an extremely emotional experience and their were many tears shed during the shows about Maurice. But as Maurice would have said, “The Show Must Go On” and it certainly did for the guys. 

It was time to embark on Europe first of all and both Germany and Spain had their first taste of Bee Gees Fever and they couldn’t get enough of them! 

By May 2003, Bee Gees Fever were on tour in Holland with the likes of Suzi Quatro, Gibson Brothers, Manfred Man, Racey and the Foundations. These were good times and it was great for the band to be performing with these successful artists. They gave sensational performances and worked hard to keep the music of the Bee Gees alive. Dave Cox (Barry); David Dunn (Maurice) and Duncan Evans (Robin) were quoted in a Dutch newspaper saying that these performances were being dedicated to the memory of Maurice Gibb.
Bee Gees Fever gave up their fees for two of their Dutch shows and donated their monies to the “Gibb Family Foundation”, a charity foundation set up in the memory of Maurice and Andy Gibb and contributes to organisations such as Diabetes Research and the National Drug Abuse Council.

Bass Player Dave Powell (Keith) with his childhood idol – Suzi Quatro, and Dave Cox (Barry) with Cheryl Cole

In July they played their first major outdoor festival on the grounds of The Battle Of Hastings. 10,000 people came that day and Bee Gees Fever shared top of the bill with Hot Chocolate including Errol Brown fronting them.

In August, it was up to the North Of England for a festival weekend sponsored by Pulse fm, which featured all the top stars from 2003 including Gareth Gates (top of the bill); Liberty X; Atomic Kitten and Girls Aloud!  As you will appreciate, Bee Gees Fever were a little down the pecking order that day but it didn’t stop them performing a great set to the crowd of 25,000 who had stormed onto Bingley, North Yorkshire, that day; and more importantly, the guys didn’t miss the opportunity of publicity photos with all the stars!!

In honour of Maurice’s passing away, the Bee Gees Fan Club convention took place in November 2003, in the city where the Brothers Gibb had grown up: Manchester. Fans from all over the world came to England to pay homage to Maurice and celebrate the life of this great man Bee Gees Fever had the great honour in being asked to perform their show in front of this very special audience and the guys did not disappoint. 

The guest of honour that weekend was Blue Weaver who was the original Beegees keyboard player during the Bee Gees most successful era: 1975-1979. Blue had co-wrote some of the songs with the Bee Gees including Nights On Broadway; Jive Talkin’ and created the distinctive synthesiser sound of Tragedy.

Blue Weaver was a well established and very much respected musician and after the show he came on stage to congratulate the guys and told everyone that the bands’ version of Nights On Broadway was better than the original! Now you can’t get a better compliment than that!  He also told the worldwide fan club audience that when Bee Gees Fever went on stage, it felt like 1979 all over again and the guys had gone on stage without him.

It was a fantastic night and ended with fans having their picture taken with the band for over 2 hrs after the show had finished!

Could it get even better? Read on…

2004: By Royal Appointment…

 

As the guys prepared themselves for 2004, they went straight to the town in Emmen, Holland to headline a weekend Festival.  Acts included The Animals, Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Troggs, Chris Farlowe,
Boney M and Dollar.

rThe night finished with Bee Gees Fever keeping the music alive with an emphatic performance and the band even met the cheeky girls at the airport for the flight home. This was the same plane journey that the Cheeky Girls were accused of flying the plane and sitting on the pilots laps. It got a lot of media coverage including a full debate on Radio 1, Sky News and GMTV. Bee Gees Fever were interviewed by the Sun Newspaper and they were bought into the debate on Radio 1! Poor Girls but at least they were found to be innocent and received plenty of publicity out of it.  

More theatre shows around the country continued and they added the likes of the Cornhall Theatre, Cirencester; The Playhouse Theatre, Weston-Super-Mare; Princess Theatre, Torquay and The Beck Theatre, Middlesex to their list of venues. 

By August 2004, Bee Gees Fever had performed at 3 showbiz parties and had played for the likes of Will Young, Ant & Dec, Bruce Forsythe, Philip Schofield, Jimmy Tarbuck, Lenny Henry, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Ade Edmundson.  The guys were hob-nobbing with true celebrities and enjoying every moment.

Their biggest highlight was a showbiz party in aid of one of the Prince’s Trust charities which included an array of “A” listers on the guest list including Simon Cowell, Simon Fuller, Beyonce, Usher and of course Prince Charles himself! Bee Gees Fever were in the company of royalty and had managed to perform on stage to these people. What a night!!


2005: Keeping it Live…


As good as these showbiz parties were, Bee Gees Fever wanted to make sure that their roots were never forgotten and continued to play intimate clubs as well as theatre shows. This combination meant that they could perform a 2 hour theatre set one week talking and laughing with a sit down audience and then the following week be playing in front of 500 clubbers and really feeling the energy and atmosphere that these places gave back to the band.
 

Their big outdoor festival highlight was in the July when they headlined the party in the park weekend at Parkers Piece, Cambridge. The crowd of 10,000 that day were left well satisfied by the performance given by the guys and they later found out that Chris Moyles and his breakfast team from Radio 1 were there in the crowd and had raved about Bee Gees Fever on their show. Free advertising, now that’s what we like!!

The year finished in style with high profile corporate shows in December playing to the staff and management at Next, Sainsburys’, Marstons Breweries and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

2006: Vive L’Espania


This was the year for 2 major highlights: first one was in Spain in March. Bee Gees Fever were just starting their mini European tour and through their Spanish agent had secured a headline gig on the port of Mazarron in Murcia, Spain. The whole town had come out to watch the entertainment as it was the “Big Fiesta” weekend, and there was a full line up of talent that evening. The stage was set out at one end of the beach overlooking the sea; with the sunset in the sky and 40,000 Spanish people waiting in anticipation!!
 

The guys got to the stage at 11.30pm (fairly sober!) and performed to their biggest crowd to date. Spanish TV filmed the proceedings and if you ask any members of the band, they will tell you that this was their career highlight to date. What a night and the response of the Spanish crowd was exhilarating. 

Without doubt, the BEST dressing room to date…

A close second came in the July of 2006 when they shared top billing with Bjorn Again (the world’s number 1 Abba Tribute show) at Stanstead Park, Portsmouth. The temperature off stage was 35 degrees that day but the temperature given out by the guys on stage would have set the whole of the south coast alight! You can see excerpts of this show on the Audio/Video page. 

The Manager of Bjorn Again came up to the band after the gig and said that the guys were the best Bee Gees’ Tribute band he’d ever worked with!

2007: critically acclaimed…


The Musical journey continued and rave reviews from journalists were being reported from all parts of the UK.
One critic noted that “Bee Gees Fever were the most exciting live tribute act in the UK and if Simon Cowell ever decided to do a “Tribute Factor” then these guys would be favourites!”  He also stated that “Bee Gees Fever were not only keeping disco music alive, but should be fully respected on how they cover the whole “back catalogue”of the Bee Gees music and show people that ultimately Bee Gees were a vocal harmony group, and should be commended for their remarkable interpretation of the real thing…”
  

These were humbling words and made the guys even more determined to carry on and continue to produce music from this world class group. 

Highlights from 2007 were playing in London and being watched by Will Young, Paris Hilton, Katie Price and Peter Andre. Obviously more photo opportunities here!!  Could the year get any better? In November Celine Dion was a special guest on the X Factor during the latter stages of the competition. After the show there was a party to celebrate, and Bee Gees Fever were asked to perform a small selection from their repertoire for the invited celebrity guests…

2008: Shining in true classical style…


Despite many years on the circuit, Bee Gees Fever are always looking to improve and to also get their music across to as many people as possible, far and wide.  Club venues and theatre shows took up most of their time and energy, but in July 2008, Bee Gees Fever managed to cross over to the classical side of music. Don’t worry, they didn’t all go out and buy violins or cellos, but they were invited to share the bill at the Rotary Club of Great Britain’s annual show at Carshalton Beeches in Surrey.  

This was not any band to share the evening with; this was the world famous London Royal Philarmonic Orchestra! The outdoor event was a great success and the 5000 classical fans welcomed Bee Gees Fever with open arms and gave them a marvelous reception. 

2009:  Onwards and Upwards...


So the “Tenth Anniversary” of Bee Gees Fever has arrived and the guys already have a busy schedule lined up. Theatres, Clubs and Corporate dates have been lined up and Outdoor Festivals are being discussed at the moment so look out for details as and when they come through.

The band and their agents are currently in the process of contacting the management company of Bjorn Again to see if the guys could perform with them on selected dates of their tour, so watch this space!

Please do not miss the chance to see these guys in action. They really are that good and truly define the meaning of pure entertainment, authenticity, professionalism and just excellent value for money.