YOU may have bought a seat to watch The Osmonds last night but there was no chance of sitting on it: the audience rose to its feet with the Safety Curtain.

From then on it was a sea of waving hands, cheering, singing along and some screams.

It was just as well the group - four of them - managed to stage a show which matched the adulation.

Wayne and Merrill may have grey hair and Jay and Jimmy are now middle-aged but The Osmonds have not lost the gift of showmanship. Even without the star turns of Donny and Marie, The Osmonds manage to stage a pretty good concert.

The mainly female and middle-aged audience loved every gesture, every song and every move.

Dressed in long Wyatt Earp jackets - and Jimmy wearing a striped tie with a purple shirt! - The Osmonds looked good and sounded good.

They delivered most of the big hit numbers like Love Me For a Reason and I'm Gonna Knock on Your Door with broad grins and breathless energy, apparently enjoying the night as much as their scarf-waving, mobile photo-taking fans.

"What's it feel like being a teenager again?" asked Jimmy, 48.

Each had a solo spot including Jay, 50, doing a tremendous drum solo on his number, Wayne, 54, playing wild guitar and Merrill, 52, with his distinguished beard, just enjoying singing.

Jimmy - naturally - gave us his rendition of Long Haired Lover From Liverpool during which some giant balls were lobbed off the stage to be thrown around the audience.

With a small but useful backing group of slightly younger vintage, the four brothers worked off their cotton socks to generate the sort of excitement they created many years ago.

It was their first time back together in Liverpool since 1975.

A surprise supporting act came from a precocious 11-year-old from Liverpool, Isabella Feld, who belted out a song like a seasoned performer.

Meanwhile, regular support Craig Neil revealed a powerful voice and a lively personality but with his open-necked shirt over a pair of jeans, and performing to backing tapes, he came across as a little cheap - particularly when his final segment of tape broke down twice.

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