Soldiers on parade for Theatre Severn date
Three British soldiers took to the stage at Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn for an intimate performance.
Sergeant Major Gary Chilton of The Band of the Army Air Corps, Staff Sergeant Richie Maddocks of the Corps of Army Music and Lance Corporal Ryan Idzi of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards are The Soldiers – the first group ever made up of serving British soldiers.
The group entertained fans at Theatre Severn last night with songs from their latest album Thinking of Home or Home in my Heart.
It was all part of the group's Up Close Tour – a live and intimate show. The group was supported by warm-up act Josh Taerk.
The Soldiers created history by being the first group of serving soldiers to hit the British pop charts.
They are soldiers first and foremost, having served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait.
They are real life heroes, have several medals between them and can be called up at any time.
Their two top 10 albums, Coming Home and Letters Home, released in the space of a year, exceeded sales of 800,000 and have helped raise more than half a million pounds for army charities. The Soldiers have performed for the Queen at the Royal Variety and at the Festival of Remembrance two years in a row.
The youngest, Ryan Idzi reached the boot camp stage of 2007's X Factor. Caerphilly-born Lance Corporal has seen active service in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the 20th Armoured Brigade.
Oldham-born Staff Sgt Maddocks is a trained soldier who provides musical support for the army.
He was a medical assistant in the first Gulf War and awarded the Gulf Medal and now serves with The Minden Band as drum major of The Queen's Division.
