The Hollies - Concert Review

Carlisle Sands Centre, 7^th October 1999 - by Knut Skyberg, Oslo, Norway

Now why, may you ask, does a Norwegian travel all the way from Oslo to Manchester, and up through England to the border of Scotland, to watch a Hollies concert? The short answer is that the following day the second UK Carousel Fan Club convention was to take place, and no true Hollies fan would let the chance to reach a concert before and after that event pass by. The long answer you’ll have another time, but that’s a story about the 60’s, the quality of music, choice of material, consistency, etc.

This was the first concert in England, after the first 3 shows in Scotland, at the beginning of the autumn leg of the 1999 tour. The Sands is a modern hall in a sports and culture centre, located just outside the town centre of Carlisle. Carlisle is an historic town, with a pleasant appearance, mostly low buildings, and the castle, a fortress tower and the cathedral all give that feeling of treading on historic ground.

At the start of the show, Tony said: "We’re gonna do all the hits and a few things that you’ve never heard before. Some of you have heard them. Some of these regulars at the front have heard them – probably more than they’d wish to." Of course he was wrong. The day we get tired of The Hollies we’ll stop coming, and so far it seems the number of loyal concert goers is just increasing. Some fans save up their holidays to attend most of the concerts, and some fans even come over from the US. That says a lot for The Hollies’ ability to engage people, using just the music, not relying on scandals to get in the limelight, like many other artists.

"Here I go again" started off the show, the good spirit of the 60’s is there from the first note. "Jennifer Eccles" follows, one of the most popular self-penned songs, written after the relative poor chart performance of "King Midas", getting them a 6th and final no 1 hit in Sweden in the spring of 1968.

"Just one look" was given the pretty much original treatment, we were not treated to the acoustic version this time.

Before giving us the Bruce Springsteen song The Hollies have made their own, Sandy, Allan states "We taught Bruce everything when he was nothing". This song has been a part of the stage act for many years now.

"Stay" followed, and this track gives Bobby the opportunity to increase the tempo, he certainly is the backbone of the group.

The next song was very special, using the special playback vocal technique that Ray Stiles had developed for the Buddy Holly and The Hollies’ song on the BH tribute album (To be heard later in the show). This time we heard the voice of the late actor who once had a hit duet with Sophia Loren ("Goodness gracious me"), Peter Sellers, doing the title track from the film "After the fox", written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The outcome today was very much up to the single, perhaps more dominant keyboards, by Ian Parker. Allan told us the single was a no. 1 hit in Canada!

Ian introduced the next song as The Hollies’ first international hit, which means we got "Bus stop". The accordion certainly makes the sound different from the 1966 version, but the harmonies are the way that we know them.

The banjo starts off the next track, with Tony on vocals. It’s the single B-side of "I’m alive", namely "Running through the night", it’s a vast improvement on the old version. As we know from the singles and the album "The other side of The Hollies", the group have had so many strong self-penned single B-sides, they have so many to choose from. My only hope is that they will play "So lonely", this song has always touched me deeply.

Having finished the tune, Tony remarked dryly: "You could have done a bit of line dancing there". At this point Allan and Tony gets the audience laughing, chatting about past experiences with a rocking horse.

Then we get another B-side "Not that way at all" with acoustic guitars. This was on the flip side of " Sorry Suzanne", recently re-released as a bonus track on the French "Hollies sing Hollies". (If this one is too expensive for you, you can have it on The Hollies at Abbey Road 1966-1970.)

The most loyal fans really enjoy these b-sides, as they provide a fine break from the usual string of hits. However, The Hollies would never be allowed not to play most of them, the occasional concert goer would be disappointed. And the group certainly seems to enjoy playing the hits, still after all these years.

Alan Coates then gives Butterfly the 1999 first class treatment, almost acapella, with a modest but effective orchestral backing from Ian Parker’s magic keyboards. Just beautiful. I got a lump in my throat that lasted for the rest of the concert. I just had to walk up to Alan in the hotel bar after the concert and thank him for this performance!

Then we have the synthetic "dub-de-ru-ru" intro to I’m alive, and this song shows us that Allan’s voice may have become more low-key, but still suits the song very well. The high harmony is supplied by Tony, Alan and Ray, in a way that we no longer miss Graham.

Next is the happy-go-lucky banjo with Tony also providing nice vocals on "When I'm dead and gone", and Allan does the harmonica better than ever and Ian is on the accordion.

"On a carousel" once again gives Alan the opportunity to take Graham’s part. This song has been given a different treatment a few years ago, but here is the original. Another song to make you feel good, you almost feel present at the fair, "up down up down up down, too".

After the break, we are urged to take our seats with the usual orchestral prologue. As the band returns to the stage, the audience is clapping their hands, and we have "I can’t let go" in original form. The instrumental break is almost as we know it, maybe a little more organ, but the lead guitar is certainly there.

"Sorry Suzanne" is another hit they seldom leave out of the playing list these days, going down so well. Bobby’s drumming is once again very energetic.

"Yes I will", the classic Carol King (and co-writer Goffin) song that also was a world-wide hit, sounds better than ever. This is another song requiring harmonies, and we get them in near perfection as always. One of the songs receiving the most hand-claps.

Tony threatens to play another Carol King song, the "Locomotion", and we get a few bars, but instead "King Midas in reverse" follows. A small hit for The Hollies in the good old days, it sounds fresh, and represents a rather sophisticated break today, as it did then.

"Let’s go back to Carol King", Allan says, then talking about the Indian girl who went away with Kris Kristofferson, eventually with the help of Tony, remembering the name of Rita Coolidge, who also was a girlfriend of Graham’s." But we get no American tune this time, instead the late 90’s version of "We’re through" featuring Ian walking around the audience with the accordion and a headlight. Once again we get a laugh. Allan saves Ian, by playing the keyboards, since Ian doesn’t get back to his keyboards in time. We learn that Allan is not only a good vocalist and harmonica player, but also is a qualified organ player!!

"A few years ago we took part in a tribute album dedicated to Buddy Holly, and thanks to Ray Stiles’ expertise we were able to back Buddy Holly" says Ian, and we get "Peggy Sue got married", which is the latest recording done by The Hollies. The voice of Buddy Holly is taken from an original demo tape, the backing guitars were removed, and tempo digitally reprocessed without altering the pitch, and here we have The Hollies backing the legend after all these years. Thanks to Ray, who told me all about the recording technique on the train to London the day after the Harrogate event.

"Now we’d like to do our version of the Octopuses garden", says Tony, but instead we get "Blackbird" in 3-part harmony by Alan, Tony and Ray. So much better than the original Beatles version! "Into the light of the dark black night" Alan sings, and we are taken away in time and space.

Some noise from the guitar of Alan makes Tony joke about the importance of sound checks before shows, but I do believe Alan takes this part of the job as serious as all the others!

The long and winding string of continuous hits goes on, this time we have the acoustic version of "Look through any window", with Tony singing the vocal break. This was one of several hits Graham Gouldman (later 10CC) penned for others. The Hollies’ harmony is once again up to a high standard. Halfway through we leave the acoustic version, for the heavy rock version, with an electric lead guitar playing by Tony and Coatsy, easily envied by Jimmy Page or Ritchie Blackmore.

"Carrie Anne" gets a near Mediterranean sounding acoustic guitar break, otherwise it’s very much up to the original. "Stop Stop Stop starts with a long banjo intro, then everyone gets hand-clapping as Allan sings "there she’s goes with cymbals on her fingers".

With the first notes of "The air that I breathe" we get that awful "the show is soon coming to an end" feeling, and anyone who hasn’t come along with a date or partner wishes he or she had. Allan’s vocals and Tony’s guitar really makes this the highlight it is. No wonder it was a hit in so many countries.

The groups latest UK no.1, "He Ain’t heavy" follows, moving us all. We all have strong memories connected to this song. I once translated the lyrics at a 60th birthday party for a cousin. And the following night in Harrogate, when this tune was played, the girl second next to me starts crying, because she lost her brother this year.

The rock section is opened with another Buddy Holly tune, "Maybe baby", and those who want to get up and dance get an excuse. Next rocker is the Chris Montez hit, "Let’s dance", a song I used to practise the limbo twist to, standing on the carpet in the living room. I guess I don’t get that far down today, at least not without suffering knee pain for weeks after. To conclude, Allan leads the band into "Long cool woman", the US smash hit that brought Allan back to The Hollies way back. We’re thankful. Here Allan shows us that he is an able guitar player, too.

Once again, thank you to Allan, Tony, Bobby, Alan, Ray and Ian for a memorable night, this time near the ancient Roman wall of Hadrian. If The Hollies’ music may not stand the same length of time as that wall, (who knows?) they have certainly secured themselves a place in the history of British 20th century rock.

Let’s be grateful that we are treated to great concerts year after year, 36 years after they started. No wonder they got a half page feature story with a large colour band picture in the local newspaper, The Cumberland News, on the day of the concert. Bobby was cited stating " Playing live is what we did before we started recording records and it is still one of the great thrills." That’s easy to see and hear. If you’ve ever been to a Hollies concert, you know for sure that these guys are so professional, and they really enjoy playing. Audiences are very sensitive to that, and that’s why people are filling the concert halls over and over, when The Hollies come around, even at the end of the millennium.

Knut Skyberg

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