‘Night fever’ set to hit Fife as Bee Gees tribute band Jive Talkin’ comes to town

The original, and one of the best tribute bands to the Gibb brothers, are back on tour and will be performing at the Alhambra Theatre in Dunfermline.

Be prepared to be amazed as the timeless music of the group is brought to life with such authencity that you will feel you’re sitting at a Bee Gees gig. The ensemble is fronted by real-life siblings Darren and Gary Simmons who have been performing their tribute theatre show for the past 25 years.

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In 2014 the duo were joined by Darren’s son Jack who came on board as Robin Gibb to create a stunning three-part harmony blend. They are backed by a fantastic band and live string section which includes a husband and wife duo on the violin and cello, making the show a real family affair.

Gary, who performs as Barry Gibb, revealed what audiences can expect: “The show is around two hours and 20 minutes long including the interval,” he said.

“It starts at the beginning of the Bee Gees career, from the 1960s, right through the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s to their latest stuff.

“The three of us who make up Jive Talkin’ are all members of the same family and we have a fantastic string section who accompany us.

“If you are a Bee Gees fan you will love our show because it has all the hits as well as the tracks that were not hits but feature on their albums.”

He explained how it all began: “My brother and I started out in 1988 but it wasn’t until our appearance on the first series of Stars In Their Eyes in the early ’90s, which, at that time, was hosted by Leslie Crowther, that things really took off” he said.

“The show featured a lot of tribute acts and they were working with a number of agents so they would call them up and ask they if they had any acts who would do for the series.

“Darren and I started off as a duo going round the pubs and bars just trying to get gigs.

“Back then we weren’t a Bee Gees tribute act, instead we focused on performing as harmony acts, of which the Bee Gees were one, but people were telling us that we really sounded like them.

“We did Stars In Their Eyes and a few months later – it took six months for the show to air – that’s when all the ’phone calls started with people wanting to book our act and we just decided to do it.

“We performed throughout the ’90s but it was really at around 2006-2007 when we started doing it on a bigger scale.

“By that time we had been doing it long enough that we had enough resources to make it a full show production with a string section and we could then do it the way we wanted to.

“We had a rocky start in 2008 because of the financial crash but, after that, the ticket sales did better and it is going well now because people know who we are.

“We have people who come to see us and then come back again because they enjoy our show. I am enjoying it more now than I ever have.”

But does Gary have a favourite song he enjoys performing?

He said: “The music in each decade is different but there is one I enjoy doing because of the reaction from the audience and you can hear it as soon as the guitar kicks in and that’s Staying Alive.

“They know it straight away and it always gets an incredible response.

“I also like singing the older ballads like Massachusetts and To Love Somebody.

“We love coming to Scotland and to Fife because these days that’s where our best audiences are.

“They are so welcoming and we love going to the Alhambra Dunfermline because it has been very good to us.”

Gary added: “The one thing I have learned to do since I have got older is to really soak it up and enjoy performing because you just don’t know when it might all stop.”

○ For tickets to see the show visit: www.alhambradunfermline.com