I PLEAD guilty to being the eternal teenager of the early 1970s and having posters of my favourite band, The Osmonds, plastered on my bedroom walls, so it's therefore a great leveller to find out that Merrill Osmond is about to be a grandfather for the third time!!

Merrill, looking scarily like Barry Gibb, arrived on stage to front one of the loudest bands I've heard in a while, amidst the raunchy Crazy Horses, trademark song of The Osmonds.

What actually made my night was the surprise guest appearance of older brother Wayne, who had apparently turned up while Merrill was on tour in Germany and stayed on for a month to "hang out" with the band!

Wayne was a breath of fresh air following his brain tumour ten years ago. He cracked jokes for much of the night and delivered an hilarious spoonerismic rendition of Cinderella. But most importantly he helped prove that the Osmond brothers are still very marketable.

He harmonised with Merrill on many of the older tracks - Love Me For A Reason, Let Me In, One Bad Apple - as well as many rock 'n' roll songs that seem to be Merrill's fort, suiting his voice perfectly.

I was surprised that the theatre was not full, but the people that did go stood up the whole time singing, dancing and clapping - something which struck me as odd when the tickets cost a whopping £25 and I wanted to sit down to get my money's worth!

The evening was great entertainment, and although I feel that bands should stick together or not at all, I concede that Merrill Osmond is a fantastic musician and an all-round good entertainer.

Updated: 09:46 Saturday, March 26, 2005