THE biggest compliment I can pay Roger Dean is if you close your eyes you would think you are sitting in a room listening to the great Johnny Cash live.

From the first to the last song, Roger had the voice, aura and class of the country music legend.

Superbly backed up by the Lazy Boys, hit after hit was reeled off for the best part of three hours. Bearing in mind Cash wrote more than 500 songs himself, it is no mean feat to try to fit in all the favourites, but Dean, who also played guitar, managed just that.

It takes real versatility to turn your hand to the Cash collection that includes rock and roll hits, country music classics and gospel greats.

The packed audience was also treated to the fascinating life story of the Arkansas-born artist between songs.

Interesting nuggets of information were dished out, like the tale of how a young Cash, who was in the US Airforce as a radio interceptor in the early 1950s, became the first westerner to hear of the death of Joseph Stalin. The Soviets were trying to keep news of his passing quiet, but a talented Cash managed to decode a message over the airwaves and “break the news”.

The only criticism I can make is the lack of a female vocalist to act as June Carter and bring hits such as Jackson into Dean’s impressive repertoire.

Overall, it was a fantastic evening and there cannot be many better tributes to Cash than Roger Dean.