SUNDAY night in Manchester and The Shires are ready to party.

Sadly for them a sold out audience at the Bridgewater Hall was more in the mood for listening than dancing so couple of early attempts to encourage audience participation fell a little flat.

But that was the only thing to misfire all night as Crissie Rhodes and Ben Earle showed exactly why they have had such a meteoric rise and are now at the forefront of the new country explosion in the UK.

For this tour, their biggest to date, they have added an additional guitarist to the line-up to bolster the sound and with two hit albums' worth of material to go at there's plenty of fine songs to choose from.

The show opener Nashville Grey Skies suffered a little from the usual Bridgewater boom - it's a fabulous venue but it does pose challenges for the soundman when faced with drum kits and bass guitars. But gradually the wobbly sound was sorted and those beautiful harmonies which are at the heart of the Shires output started to shine through.

Naked, the heart wrenching Daddy's Little Girl and a remarkable cover of Robbie Williams' Angels all demonstrated exactly why The Shires have been signed up by one of the big labels in Nashville and why America is beckoning.

For all their rapid rise, Crissie and Ben appear to be firmly grounded, remarking on several occasions about how lucky they are and thanking the fans for their support.

And those fans loved the show - and eventually Crissie's persistence paid off. "I know it's Sunday but just pretend it's Friday night" she said before launching into the infectious Friday Night and bums finally rose en masse off their seats.

By the time A Thousand Hallelujahs came along for the final encore, it was a full blown revival meeting with hands reaching into the air.

Just a word too about support Canaan Smith, a name for UK fans to watch out for.

He's already had a hit in the States with the single Love You Like That and his songs are heartfelt stories of real life. His emotional introduction to Bronco, the title track of his debut album and written about the death of his brother in a car crash 16, made you wonder if he would actually get through the song but it proved a special moment in a pretty special night.