The Debbie Curtis Radio Big Band, complete with Hobsons Choice Re-Enactors and Dancers, Glenn Miller’s nephew John Miller, Broadcaster Patrick Lunt and a surprise appearance by unbilled vocalist Iain Ewing swung London’s most prestigious theatre back to the days when Sunday Night Swing Sessions were just as popular as today’s resident show, The Sound of Music.

This was not just a concert, it was a sleek, well produced show and the entertainment began well before the audience took their seats.

West End traffic temporarily ground to a halt when around 40 re-enactors dressed in 1940’s civilian and military costumes took to the street outside the Palladium entrance to entertain the crowds with jive and jitterbug dancing!

The crowd were further delighted when Debbie Curtis & John Miller left the confines of their dressing rooms to come outside and join the re-enactors and dancers for a meet and greet as the audience began to arrive.

As curtain up approached, there was an air of anticipation inside the theatre, this was the first time a show of this type had been staged at the London Palladium since Ted Heath closed there in the 1950’s and aside of the fact that Debbie Curtis is young, she is also the UK’s only female Big Band leader from only a few throughout history!

He finished with “Music Maestro Please” and the curtain raised to the sound of Debbie and the 16 strong band performing St Louis Blues March. The stage was shrouded in a brilliantly lit mist with colour one would normally expect at a Robbie Williams stadium show.

From that moment on, the audience was Debbie’s, they cheered and whistled their appreciation of every number performed throughout the show and by the end, there were people literally dancing in the aisles.

Hobsons Choice dancers, joined the band on stage regularly throughout the show, a wide range of ages, their dancing was dazzling and had the audience cheering mid songs as they jived and jitterbugged!

The band performed faultlessly, smart and polished, every note played sounded sweet to the ear. Fine solos were turned out by every band member at some point in the show, especially noticeable were Bob Cutting on Trumpet for You Made Me Love You, Saxophonist Loren Hignell with the Pink Panther Theme, Lee Hallam with Wish Upon A Star and when drummer Bob Howard went solo for Gene Krupa's Leave Us Leap, the audience went wild!

Throughout the show, leader Debbie kept the band totally disciplined and together, clearly commanding every tempo from start to finish. She included many popular favourites such as Woodchoppers Ball, Harlem Nocturne & her personal favourite ‘Autumn Leaves’

She provided her well oiled vocals on songs such as Tuxedo Junction, Sentimental Journey and Indian Love Call.

Featured vocalist John Miller turned out great numbers such as Chattanooga Choo Choo, Under My Skin, At Last, Pennsylvania 65000, Nice & Easy and Beyond the Sea.

The big surprise came when shortly before the end Debbie announced to the audience that whilst looking through the MySpace website, she had come across vocalist Iain Ewing from Glasgow and had asked him down to London to see the show. Totally unrehearsed she invited him to leave his seat in the audience and join the band on stage to perform Mac The Knife, this was clearly a surprise to him and the band who were then told by Debbie that she had slipped the arrangement into their music pads during the interval.

The audience were clearly delighted by this impromptu performance and sounded their appreciation when Iain took hold of a microphone and told them that he had originally intended to fly down but had instead come on a bus after the airport was attacked by terrorists, his comment that we weren’t beaten in 1945 and wouldn’t be beaten now was met with rapturous applause.

Iain then turned out a fantastic performance of Mac the Knife and filled the stage with his presence. The audience loved it!

Throughout the show it was clear that Debbie Curtis knows what she wants to do with this music, she obviously knows the history and has a passion for it inherited from her late father, trombonist and band leader Eddie Curtis.

The show wasn’t just about 40’s music; it was about music performed by a big band without a Marshall amp in sight! Her arrangement of the Hawaii Five O theme tune was greeted with gasps of excitement from the crowd.

All great things have to come to an end and when met with a standing ovation Debbie encored and finished the show with Glenn Miller’s ‘In The Mood’ but not the Miller version, a more modern ‘Doc Severinson’ arrangement which had the audience leaving their seats to dance in the aisles.