Casino show Scotland Archives

James Bond Show for Edinburgh Hilton Launch

February 10, 2018 By Lisa Martin Leave a Comment

A James Bond show was the theme of the evening for the launch party of the new Hampton by Hilton Hotel in the Edinburgh West End. I was delighted to be asked to perform my ‘Casino Royale’ show, which features a mixture of classic James Bond themes together with songs to suit a Vegas Casino theme night.

Hilton Hotel Edinburgh James Bond Casino night

Trying my luck before the show!

The West End of Edinburgh is becoming a fantastic area for new businesses, with the Fountainbridge area boasting a huge range of attractions, including multiplex cinema, restaurants, bowling alley, casino, and even a trampoline park.

I discovered that Fountainbridge has something of a connection with James Bond, as Sean Connery was born here. Prior to becoming the original iconic Bond he had a slightly less illustrious job here – as a milkman!

Hampton by Hilton prides itself on its friendly service, and I must say all the staff at the hotel were the friendliest I’ve ever encountered. They were so cheerful, and really couldn’t do enough to help. Paul and Lauren were in charge of the night and they made a fabulous team, making speeches, organising the raffle, and mingling with the crowd throughout the evening to ensure everything ran flawlessly.

The hotel restaurant had been magically transformed into a James Bond style Casino, with soft mood lighting and pictures of various Bond movies all around the walls. The guests had fun at the casino tables, magician ‘Pop’ was on hand to keep everyone entertained, and I performed music throughout the evening to set the musical backdrop.

Here’s a snippet of the famous ‘James Bond’ music, plus my rendition of ‘Skyfall’ by Adele:

I also performed a mixture of easy-listening background music while the guests were sipping their martinis and trying their luck at the casino – here are some of the songs I performed:

Many thanks to Tracey at The Entertainment Company for organising the acts on the night as expertly as always.

Corporate Entertainment in Edinburgh

July 27, 2017 By Lisa Martin Leave a Comment

The Balmoral Hotel provided a beautiful setting for my show recently, where I provided some corporate entertainment in Edinburgh. I was booked to perform a surprise James Bond tribute show at the Chaine Des Rotisseurs Gala Dinner.

The Balmoral has been a landmark in the heart of Edinburgh for over a century, beginning life as a grand railway hotel and now remaining a striking feature of Princes Street with its historic Balmoral Clock and kilted doormen. It was a good choice for a James Bond tribute show, as everyone’s favourite ‘Bond’ – the one and only Sean Connery – officially re-opened the hotel in 1991.

J.K. Rowling is also a fan of this hotel, and obviously found it inspirational, as she stayed here to finish ‘Harry Potter and the deathly hallows’, making the Balmoral something of a pilgrimage for Harry Potter fans.

Did you know that the Balmoral Clock has traditionally always been set three minutes fast, so the people of Edinburgh don’t miss their trains?! How thoughtful! It is set at the right time just one day per year – and as you can probably guess, that is at Hogmanay (New Year’s Eve), so nobody gets confused as to when to set their fireworks off!

The Chaine Des Rotisseurs are an international gastronomic society who celebrate fine food and wine around the world. By the looks of the sumptuous dinner they were served at The Balmoral, they were certainly well catered for in Edinburgh and shown some of our famous Scottish hospitality.

My James Bond / Casino Royale show is perfect for these sort of corporate functions, as it is a show that people can just sit back and listen to. Featuring all the great theme songs from the movies, it includes classics from the 1960s right through to modern day favourites such as Skyfall by Adele, so it has something for everyone.

And here’s Dame Shirley Bassey with a couple of all-time greats that I always make sure I include in the show!

Las Vegas Tribute Show at Alea Casino Glasgow

July 11, 2017 By Lisa Martin 1 Comment

I had the pleasure of returning to the Alea Casino in Glasgow recently to perform at a glittering ‘Las Vegas’ style night.

The Alea is a great place in Glasgow for a night out, as not only can you try your luck at the Poker table or on the slot machines, but they also have a variety of live entertainment and tribute shows in their bars and restaurants.

Alea Casino prides itself on its Las Vegas style, located on the waterfront at Springfield Quay with stunning views of the River Clyde and the Glasgow skyline. So it was the perfect venue for a Las Vegas style evening.

I performed classics from the 1950s and 1960s from stars such as Frank Sinatra (and his daughter Nancy!), Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Nat King Cole, and many others to keep us all in the Vegas mood. The audience were really up for singalong after they enjoyed their dinner at the casino’s fantastic Face to Face function room.

Many thanks to Ford McGill at the Alea for organising such a stylish and fun-filled night.

Wedding at Orocco Pier Hotel South Queensferry

September 4, 2015 By Lisa Martin Leave a Comment

I recently paid a visit to South Queensferry to sing for a wedding at the gorgeous boutique hotel Orocco Pier. What a charming place it was, set on a quaint little cobbled street in a seaside town near Edinburgh. The bunting that had been arranged all the way down the street gave it a real vintage feel.

Once I got to my room I was very pleasantly surprised by beautiful views right out over the Firth of Forth.

The function room for the wedding also shared these same views, making the balcony a very popular place as it was a lovely warm summer evening.

I was very impressed by the bride and groom’s first dance selection – they had put together a cool mash-up which started off with a romantic love song then blasted into 80s classic ‘The Power of Love’ by Huey Lewis and the News, as they invited all their friends up to join them on the dancefloor. Great choice – that’s got to be one of my favourite 80s numbers!

As for my part of the proceedings, the bride had asked for a mixture of music from a variety of eras and genres, and specifically requested some theme songs from my James Bond/Casino show – including the famous Shirley Bassey classics ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘Diamonds are forever’ to add a touch of diva-type sophistication to the evening! I was happy to oblige, and as the evening went on I added in some more upbeat numbers to keep everybody moving.

Julie, the bride, very kindly sent me some excellent feedback, which you can read on my testimonials page.

Wishing Mr and Mrs Ryan all the very best for the future!

James Bond Shows in Glasgow

November 21, 2014 By Lisa Martin Leave a Comment

I’ve been performing my James Bond shows in Glasgow over the past couple of weekends, in some marvellous venues.

The first was for a fundraiser ball at Oran Mor, a stunning building right in the heart of Glasgow’s West End.

Oran Mor is a converted church, and this is evident in its beautiful architecture and unique setting, including the celestial ceiling mural by Alasdair Gray, which is one of Scotland’s largest pieces of public art.

Unique ceiling at Oran Mor

Top funk soul and disco band ‘Funk Nation’ were also on the bill, looking and sounding absolutely fantastic. Here they are in action (I got a bird’s eye view from the gallery!)

The evening was compered by Glaswegian comedian Alan Anderson, and we were also joined by the fabulous opera singer Lucy Kay, who you may remember from Britain’s Got Talent.

A big thank you goes out to resident Stage Technician Ross, and also to agents Freak Music .

My next James Bond show was at the very plush Grand Central Hotel, right in the middle of Glasgow. This hotel can be accessed directly from Central Station, so I was able to travel to the gig by train, which made a nice change for me!

For this event I teamed up with Richard Knight, a wonderful tenor who specialises in Opera and West-End show songs, as well as James Bond themes.

Richard has to be one of the most hard-working acts I’ve ever worked with. He managed to look cool, calm, and collected, and remained in true charming ‘007’ style throughout the evening, despite having spent all day travelling all the way from Bournemouth to Glasgow. He kept the audience thoroughly entertained from start to finish with his fast-paced show, and didn’t rest until he had the whole crowd up on their feet singing and clapping. What a star performer!

It was nice to hear some happy feedback from the clients too:

“Dear Lisa & Richard

Just wanted to say a great big thank you to you both for a fantastic night. I have feedback from other guests and people have said what fun they had – they loved your singing and the fact they could dance and sing along too. Thank you once again and I hope we see you again soon.

Best wishes

Gillian, Colin & the team”

Big thanks to agents Masquerade Productions.

Corporate function at The Forest of Arden Hotel, Birmingham

September 26, 2014 By Lisa Martin 1 Comment

It was a busy week of gigs for me last week. Thursday saw me heading down the M6 to Birmingham where I was booked to perform at a corporate function in The Forest of Arden Hotel and Country Club.

What a beautiful venue it was. With an impressive golf course and herds of wild deer roaming around the grounds, you would never imagine it was just a few miles away from Birmingham Airport.

Whenever I sing at a corporate function I always find it fun and interesting because I get to meet and work with other businesses and entertainers, and this was no exception.

I performed my Swing show, and was joined onstage by the beautiful Vegas Show Girls.

They certainly added a touch of glamour to the night, with their glitzy costumes and fabulous dance routines (choreographed by Emma-Jane Ashman).

The Vegas Showgirl dancers and Lisa Martin

The Vegas Show Girls in action (Photo courtesy of www.brillpix.com)

They were also lovely and helpful backstage in helping me with my dress, which seemed to have developed a mind of its own!

Even more glamour and showbiz was to be found in the reception area, where a stunning Marilyn Monroe lookalike was onhand to provide drinks, alongside a very convincing Oscar award ‘living statue’, both provided by top corporate event agency www.steppin-out.co.uk.

Jamie Bennion and his team at http://businessav.co.uk/ took expert care of sound and lights.

Steve Brill of Brillpix Photography was busy all night taking photos of all the proceedings.

Northamptonshire-based, Steve specialises in wedding, commercial, and corporate photography. Check out his excellent work here: http://brillpix.com/

A big thanks to Steve for letting me use some of his photographs from the event.

That night I headed straight back up north to Manchester, to break up the journey back to Glasgow. Unfortunately the M6 was not kind to me and I ended up driving for hours due to various road closures – all the while listening to the Scottish referendum results as they came through on the radio.

It was around 3am by the time I reached my hotel – a beautiful little country guest house called Ash Farm in Altrincham.

This was such a charming place in very picturesque surroundings, with very friendly hosts – unfortunately though, I didn’t have much time to enjoy it as I was heading straight back to Glasgow later that morning. Hopefully I will get a chance to return for a longer stay whenever I’m next in the Manchester area.

That night I was singing at a cabaret night at The Columba Club in Barrhead. It was a lovely night, very well-attended, and lots of funds were raised for Mary’s Meals charity.

On Saturday I revisited one of my favourite clubs, The RAFA in Prestwick, for their annual Battle of Britain ball.

I’ve performed at this event for the past few years now and it’s always a pleasure to return and see all the friendly and familiar faces.

As usual, the dancefloor was packed from start to finish with lots of talented and energetic dancers, and lots of fun was had by all.

Check out this video from the RAFA club, it seems that we had a lot of teenagers in that night! 😉

Glenburn Hotel Cabaret Shows

March 16, 2014 By Lisa Martin 2 Comments

I will be visiting the lovely Scottish Isle of Bute quite a few times over the coming year to sing at the Glenburn Hotel in Rothesay to perform some of my shows, including 1950s Rock n Roll, Swing and James Bond show.

One of the best things about the Glenburn Hotel is the fantastic staff there – especially the wonderful entertainment team. Host Gary MacKean is a great favourite among all the guests, providing lots of laughs plus a very popular Elvis tribute act. John and Marianne form the talented duo ‘Limited Edition’, supplying a wide variety of music for all the guests to enjoy. They all made me feel very welcome when I appeared there last week performing my 1950s show, so I am very much looking forward to my future visits to the Glenburn this year.

Fancy a weekend away on a beautiful island off the western coast of Scotland? Then come along and join us at the Glenburn Hotel.

Phone the hotel on 01700 502500 to check what dates I’m appearing and which show I’ll be performing. Looking forward to seeing you there!

PS, check out the stunning views from the hotel.

(Thanks to John Martin for the beautiful picture)

The view from your room!

Hogmanay in Perthshire

January 21, 2014 By Lisa Martin Leave a Comment

Happy New Year!

Well it’s been a busy time for me over Christmas and New Year. I’m just about settling back to normal routine and quite amazed that it’s nearly the end of January already!

I managed to get back home to see the folks for a couple of days over Christmas, so it was lovely to have a little break. New Year’s Eve saw me performing up north again, in a beautiful little Perthshire village called Alyth, where I celebrated Hogmanay with a mixture of locals and visitors.

Alyth must be a very healthy place to live, as there was a lovely gentleman at the bar in his 90s, still looking very fit and active, who had served in the distinguished ‘Black Watch’ Scottish regiment in his younger days. Him and his wife enjoyed the whole night and stayed well into the wee hours!

As it was Hogmanay I included several Scottish favourites, including the essential Loch Lomond and Auld Lang Syne at the stroke of midnight. I also added in some more contemporary Scottish songs by artists such as Rod Stewart, Frankie Miller, Eddi Reader, Paulo Nutini and Emeli Sande.

It turned out to be a very romantic night, as one young man proposed to his girlfriend just after midnight. I think that’s the first time that’s happened at one of my gigs – as soon as she said yes I launched into the traditional Scottish song ‘Mairi’s Wedding’ to get everybody in the mood!

I am booked to sing at quite a few weddings over the next few months, plus a few of my friends are also planning to tie the knot this year – looks like 2014 is going to be a very romantic one!

So, let’s get in the mood with this sentimental swing classic by Ella Fitzgerald: ‘I only have eyes for you’.

James Bond Show at The Angus Hotel Blairgowrie

October 9, 2013 By Lisa Martin Leave a Comment

A sunny and scenic drive up North took me to the pretty town of Blairgowrie in Perthshire last weekend, to perform my James Bond Theme/Tribute Show ‘Casino Royale’ at the Angus Hotel. I was met by Noel, the friendly and helpful assistant manager, who showed me around then proceeded to demonstrate his vast knowledge of James Bond movies and theme tunes! The pressure was on – I knew I would have to get all my Bond facts right tonight, with such a huge fan in charge of the proceedings!

I performed my show after dinner to a very smart-looking audience – many of the men had come ‘dressed to kill’ in tuxedos and the ladies would have made any Bondgirl proud with their elegant dresses.

The audience at the Angus were a real hoot, and they certainly took the Bond theme to heart. If I asked any of the guys their name I received an answer such as ‘James’ or even ‘Scaramanga’!

There were a couple of 60^th birthday celebrations in – one male and one female – so of course I couldn’t resist the temptation to get both birthday boy and girl up to play the part of James and his Bondgirl. They proved that 60 is definitely ‘just a number’, as they really got into the swing of things and started improvising to great comedy effect. Many thanks to Hazel and Tam for entertaining us all!

Later on in the evening I performed a mixed set of songs from the 60s to the present day for everyone to dance to. I was most impressed by the standard of dancing – from ballroom to disco, everyone filled the dancefloor and seemed to be having great fun.

A big thank you to all at the Angus Hotel for giving me such a friendly welcome on my first visit here – may there be many more to come!

James Bond Tribute and Best of British Music at Berwick

May 18, 2013 By Lisa Martin Leave a Comment

Last weekend I nearly made it back onto English soil; travelling down to The Borders to perform my James Bond tribute show ‘Casino Royale’ at Berwick Holiday Park. They put on a special ‘Best of British’ themed night for the owners’ party – so of course ‘Bond’ fitted the bill perfectly!

The team at Berwick did a great job in decorating the room in true British fashion, with plenty of bunting and balloons to add to the atmosphere. The crowd were obviously up for a party and many had come in fancy dress (including one very inventive ‘postbox’ from Newcastle!) so I added into the set some uptempo pop songs from British favourites such as Emili Sande, Jessie J and Amy Winehouse to keep them on the dancefloor.

I was appearing with top Elton John Tribute Act Joel Coombes. What a great performer this guy is! He not only looks and sounds the part, but he is also a fantastic musician. A true professional and a pleasure to work with, he really got the crowd going with all the popular Elton John classics such as I’m Still Standing, Rocket Man, and of course the classic Candle in the Wind.

Joel Coombes as Elton John

About Lisa Martin