Bedford Live Reviewed by The Hills Musketeers Tabitha, Tots, and Finn

On Tuesday March 24, 2020 my dear friend Tony Moore took to Facebook live shows as a way to entertain the masses in the optic of a very volatile pandemic.  As the RIGHT HERE! with Tony Moore evolved — it was quickly evident that we had all together fused into one MASSIVE sized Ohana (family in Hawaiian).  The impact of this beautiful emotive and very aesthetically pleasing (thanks Spiz for all the elegant graphics you produce) show emerged to be a lifeline for many — me included.  When the whole world is on fire and no one knows what to do there could be a tremendous amount of anxiety associated with that extreme level of uncertainty.  Nevertheless, each day from 8-10 PM UK time, regardless of what was going on we could always count on Tony being there not only to entertain us but appreciate the moment.  To be honest, RIGHT HERE! put the music back in my voice — and I believe that\’s the best gift I could have received in 2020. 

Nevertheless, when Tony announced that on September 1, he and iLO would take to the Bedford stage live, well, you can imagine the excitement. As someone, who has watched Tony & iLO on the Bedford stage for years — I must admit, I was equally eager to view them from that particular venue.  The synergy between the two of them is truly PHENOMENAL two chameleons who honestly give each of their performances everything they house with an undeniable work ethic.  

As Tabitha, Tots & Finn Hills have been with us since day one of RIGHT HERE! With Tony Moore, and GENUINELY ADORE TONY\’S MUSIC —  I thought it completely appropriate to ask them to write this article together.  There are so many details that I would like to share however, the Hills Musketeers have covered all that content in this tremendous article below. They\’ll tell you everything! Time for me to turn the reins over to them…  

Thank you so much Tabitha, Tots, and Finn! This article is honest, fun, and extremely thought provoking.  I wish you three every success in all future endeavours! ❤

Rania M M Watts, Founder CCIQ Press 

Within lockdown one of the main things about ourselves that changed and made us grow within our understanding and personal wellbeing is music. If you told us in January this summer we would be unable to attend any festivals or listen to live music, we would of laughed in your face. However due to the current climate that was the case. Furthermore by being children brought us attending festivals each summer since before we can remember, this not only came across as a shock but also was detrimental to our routine, and to say upset was caused would be an understatement. 

However all hope was not lost. On March 23rd Boris Johnston’s announcement wasn’t the only important news we received. It was declared that Tony Moore, former member of Cutting Crew and Iron Maiden, would be streaming nightly live performances with the help of Spyros and Rania, the aim of which was to raise morale during times that can be unpredictable. These live streams would be filled with laughter, LOLS and live entertainment. Tony was one of the many artists to open our eyes to a new form of live music, although we weren’t there in person to support the show, we all had an online presence. Coincidently streaming music seemed a lot more personal than your usual live performance, most definitely due to the atmosphere created, by being able to talk in a chat room meant that you could communicate with others from all over the world, this was highly influential due to the fact that you were able to forget about your day and the stresses you were dealing with in which you were able to unite as a nation, to enjoy quality entertainment. 

During the current climate it is predictable that many artists have taken to live streaming, as a result of this as young children we are given the opportunity to widen our knowledge and experiment within what music we find comfort in. beside from listening to Tony’s performance at 8 pm each evening, as children constantly on social media we were able to mix between different artists like Marcella Detroit and Hazel O\’Connor, to name a few. Without having a bias it was clear that Tony’s music helped us the most by widening our music understanding due to the constant covers and renditions performed and we all quickly honored Tony with his constant attempts to perform classic hits within only hours of learning them, and as you can guess by making them his own only created more appreciation for his talent. This drastically improved our understanding as we were able to focus more on the lyrics and the story told within the song due to the high standard of performance and all the emotion going in, rather different to searching the song within spotify or YouTube. By watching the lives streams we were able to chat with the artist performing and they were able to normalize there often professionally rushed performance, another benefit to the streaming’s were that there were no set time limitations meaning that the artists could take all the time they needed to perform and feel confident in what they were performing. 

Our lives were turned upside down as soon as we learnt the severity of the current climate meaning that many of us were left with heightened anxiety, as a result of this many within our own household felt a loss of purpose and due to the uncertainty felt lost by where they stand in the world. With things changing daily and feelings of being trapped or lost rising we turned to music for a new source of comfort. Due to music being extremely influential and our father working in the industry we knew it was the best place to turn to. We found that different music relieved our stress in different ways, for example Finn found comfort in Pink Floyd, Tots received all her comfort from Tony originals or Shakespeare’s Sisters and Tabitha relieved her stress through the likes of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. For many children aged between 14-16 these would not be known music however this shows how lockdown impacts your personal growth. As children we were able to open our eyes to the deeper meaning of the music and related to many of the emotions expressed within it. To express this we will take Hazel O\’Connor\’s Will You, within this you understand the deeper meaning of a relationship between two young people, it expresses the awkwardness of first loves and the struggles and uncertainty, as to if they truly like each other. As teenagers experiencing their first relationships this song meant everything and showed complete understanding to those award encounters. Songs like Breaking The Law by Judas Priest also showed us that its normal to go through tough times and that its okay to feel down because although you might feel like no one cares things can only get better. And even within Tony’s Dear Me it expresses that its okay to be sad but the future will always be better. These songs were continuously repeated within our house as it expressed that we are not alone although these songs were written a long time ago when there wasn’t a pandemic it expresses that these feeling are normal and that you just have to learn to move on from them. 

Within Tony’s live shows as children we were all given the opportunity to discuss our hopes and dreams for the future, this was a highly influential part of the shows as it gave us a purpose and something to look forward too, within these interviews we were able to answer questions about ourselves for those to learn more about our lives. As children who come from a large household it was nice to get our 15 minutes of fame as it regained our confidence and allowed us to think into the future and prove to us that we still have a purpose. Emphasizing the fact that although that path might currently be paused it will be waiting for us once the pandemic is over. Furthermore these interviews gave us the opportunity to connect with others worldwide and share mutual interests. 

On the 1st of September the worries of missing live music came to an end, this was when an outstanding performance was put on at the Bedford venue in London. Not only were you able to watch in the flesh as soon as you got home you were able to relive the remarkable performances of Tony and iLO as it was streamed. This evening was crammed with the 134 video shows greatest highlights performed to a refreshing standard and personally what a comeback it was! As children we were blown away by the quality of the performances and were touched by the personal honour’s,  Tony opened his show dedicating Tunnel Vision to Finn, and the true emotion and expressions of feelings, were moving, this strong opening brought Tabitha to tears as she felt the true meaning of the song proving the fact that live music is so much more touching than anything you hear through your phone. Then Tabitha received the dedication of Rockstars Don’t Retire which is her favourite song, truly highlighting that a rock stars work is never done and that it becomes a particular lifestyle. Throughout the evening we were able to meet the people behind the screens meaning we could connect with David Stark, Spyros and Georgia, the Cooper family, and even Tony Moore himself. Coincidently this created an overwhelming atmosphere and will go down in history as the Hills children’s best evening of their lives. I think it’s fair to say after seeing performances of Iron Maiden, ACDC and many other high named artists no performance could ever be as precious as that evening in a little pub, on the corner of a London street.