The Hollies - Concert Review

Bath Theatre Royal, 18^th October 1997 - by Dee Greenaway

This was my seventh show of the 1997 UK Tour. After seeing The Hollies at Hayes, Bournemouth, Southport, Manchester and Derby, this was my first ever trip to the Royal Theatre in Bath.

The theatre was a very old and quaint theatre and it wasn't just the stalls that were crammed. The whole place was packed with people both seated and standing and the atmosphere was very special.

The audience welcomed the Band with open arms as it had been over 30 years since they last played in Bath. The crowd had waited for all that time to see them again and they let it show.
They were up and dancing in the dress and upper circles right from the opening song, Stay.

After Here I Go Again and Yes I Will, Allan took to the mike and welcomed everyone. The roar was deafening.

Allan mentioned that it had been 3 decades since they last appeared here and made a joke with the crowd about how crammed in they were. There was lots of fun and chat over the acoustic section but Allan performed " ..The Priest" brilliantly before "Helplessly Hoping" and then the haunting "Butterfly" sung by Alan Coates on centre mike.

The beauty of old theatres like the Royal is that the acoustics and the lighting are always great. The sound was excellent and the light show really comes into its own. I always prefer 'proper' theatres to sports halls and large arenas because the whole atmosphere is so much better.

The first half was all too soon over with Coatsie on banjo and Tony on mandolin for "When I'm Dead and Gone".

After a drink in the bar and a talk with all of the regulars, it was back to the show for the second half which opened with an old favourite from a few years ago, "Stop In The Name Of Love".
More hits followed with one of the best being "Bus Stop" done in the original style.

"We're Through", one of my all time favourite 'live' songs was brilliant and saw Ian Parker going for a walk around the stalls as he played the accordion. His timing was impeccable as he made back to his keyboards just in time for his solo, phew!

Next came the tribute to Buddy Holly songs, "Peggy Sue Got Married", "Maybe Baby", "Peggy Sue" and "Rave On" with Ray Stiles on base harmonies enhancing the sound quite brilliantly. Perhaps we might get a rendition of "Tiger Feet" one day if we are lucky.!!

The dynamic "Look Through Any Window" saw the full band come back together for the last quarter of the show.

Tony had a few minutes of playing about with an introduction on the banjo before belting into "Stop Stop Stop" and by now the audience were really 'going for it', singing dancing and clapping their way through the R&R section of "Great Balls Of Fire" and "Lets Dance"

When the intro to "Long Cool Woman" was played the place was so electric I thought the power was going to blow the roof off.

This new version of "LCW" with it's key change in the middle ended a fabulous nights entertainment.

I know the people of Bath are hoping it won't be another 30 years before The Hollies are back in town again

Dee Greenaway

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