Lytham Festival: Lionel Richie warms the cockles of the audience with show-stopping performance

"They advertised this as a summer tour..." he mused mid-set as the wind whistled in off the Fylde coast. "I don't want to even think about winter.

"When you're being pushed on stage against the wind..."

Indeed, the big man's running dialogue with the crowd about how cold he was provided as much entertainment as his wall-to-wall catalogue.

"This one's called 'Three Times a Lady'...if my fingers can play despite being so damn cold' was another observation.

The sight of heating and fire during 'My Destiny' was therefore a most welcome sight.

"I'm gonna leave this heating on for the whole damn show," he mused to much chuckling from the audience.

If there was one criticism, it would be the length of time Lionel kept us waiting before coming on stage way later than billed.

The gap between penultimate performer Gabrielle and his appearance was not quite 'All Night Long'.

It was almost an hour and a half, though, and just felt a little uncomfortable given the increasingly 'freshening' weather conditions.

However, his on-stage display just oozed superstardom, and showed why - even at the age of 74 - we're all still 'Stuck on You'.

Gabrielle had also impressed during a set littered with 90s hits, although her repeated reference to the wind helping her menopausal symptoms was a tad bizarre.

After Kevin Davy White had kicked off, the stage was set for Kim Wilde to keep us hanging on for a 45-minute set that the popstrel-turned-gardening-guru seemed to love as much as her audience

"You get an 80s pop star and gardening tips from me...I'm a great booking," she laughed.

And, as she finished with 'You Came' – the maiden single purchase of this reviewer, some 35 years ago - we were all absolutely glad we had.

The Lytham Festival for 2023 concludes on Sunday night with Motley Crue, Def Leppard and Vivas taking over for a night of heavy entertainment, with a small number of tickets still available from the usual outlets.