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Sold-out show for VPD cop turned crooner

Phil Moriarity started his career with the Royal Canadian Engineers but got out of the military in 1968.

Phil Moriarity started his career with the Royal Canadian Engineers but got out of the military in 1968.

He then joined his father's real estate company "but that wasn't exciting enough for me" so the Ontario native moved his family to the West Coast in 1977 and he signed up as a police officer.

Until his retirement with the Vancouver Police Department in 1994,Moriarity served with the K-9 unit, as an undercover cop and on regular uniformed patrol before ending his work in charge of the international crime section of VPD's intelligence division.

His life, the father of seven admits, has been a rather extraordinary journeybut he said, "I'm getting more excitement and more enjoyment out of doing a couple of hours on stage than anything else that I've done."

Moriarity started singing his favourites - i.e., Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, Tom Jones - years ago in out-of-town karaoke bars "because I didn't want to be standing in front of someone that I had just put in jail," he said.

He turned professional in 2004 after someone in the studio suggested he should take his act on the road. He landed a gig at Federico's Supper Club on Commercial Drive in Vancouver and has had regular bookings ever since.

This Friday, Moriarity will play a sold-out show at the Inlet Theatre in Port Moody with his 12-piece orchestra; special guest Andrea Superstein will also join him.

Moriarity said he prefers to sing the old stuff "because that's what I was brought up with," adding, "I think there's a thirst for good music where you can actually hear the lyrics and a melody that is infectious, as opposed to something that just keeps thumping and you can't really understand it. When you're being entertained, you like some familiarity with the music."