RACHEL O'CONNOR reviews The Manfred at the King's Hall, Ilkley on Sunday night.

He strutted onto the stage not looking a year older than when he fronted the chart topping group Manfred Mann.

No, we weren't looking through rose-tinted spectacles - Paul Jones at 61 was still the ultimate pop icon.

Whatever he is preserving himself with we had better all have a dose!

He had the Ilkley Kings Hall audience eating out of the palm of his hand from the moment he bounded onto the stage until he and The Manfreds left it a couple of hours later.

However, it was not all one-sided as Wharfedale's finest 60s survivors gave it their all much to the surprise of Jones and his cohorts Mike d'Abo and Tom McGuinness.

They got an audience response far beyond their wildest dreams. When Jones, playing to his audience, blew a few chords of Ilka Moor Bah't At on his harmonica he hardly expected the whole audience to respond with full verse and chorus!

He and the rest of the band - ultimate musical professionals - just simply joined in.

It is a long time since the Kings Hall has rocked in this way - perhaps not since Jimmy Elder's famed discos or the nights local groups such as Moldy Warp and The Tarantulas packed them in.

It was Moldy Warp member Brian Bailey who promoted this Manfreds concert and he was on to a winner.

The event booked up quickly and he had a waiting list of nearly 200 people. They certainly missed out - it was a night of sheer entertainment.

The blues and jazz influences were still very much to the fore as Jones played a mean harmonica and sang with a soulful voice which has lost none of its power.

But it was a tight musical sound all round with Mike Hugg from the original Manfred Mann line-up on keyboards along with Mike d'Abo, who replaced Paul Jones as lead singer in the original group.

They ran through the whole gamut of Manfred Mann songs with the hall fairly thumping to such hits as Pretty Flamingo, Semi-Detached Suburban Mr James, 5-4-3-2-1, Mighty Quinn and a fun packed rendering of Do Wah Diddy Diddy in which the audience played their full part.

Such was their impact that d'Abo thanked the audience and asked if they would turn up at all the local venues the Manfreds are booked at.

Mike d'Abo's song writing talents were showcased with his classic Handbags and Gladrags and surely Chris Farlowe, Rod Stewart or the Stereophonics have never put more into it than the man who penned it.

There was also a rendering of d'Abo's Foundations hit Build Me Up Buttercup.

A truly professional set ran the whole gamut of emotions from the powerful Driva Man from Jones to the gentler Bob Dylan number Just Like A Woman.

Tom McGuinness delighted with his old McGuinness Flint numbers.

It was simply a show that had everything and this Ilkley audience will be hoping that it is not too long before it is repeated.

It was certainly a night for nostalgia. A look round the audience saw old school friends, friends from teenage years and the giants of the local pop music scene of the 60s.

How some of those band members must have wished they had aged as well as Paul Jones. He still had the women swooning, the men in the audience casting envious glances and the youngsters in awe.