The Hollies - Concert Review

Southport Theatre, 9^th November 2003 - by Spev Lane

Southport Theatre – 9 November 2003 by Spev Lane

@@I was always looking forward to Southport more than Sunderland simply because I grew up in Southport so this was basically a Hollies gig on home territory for me. By the time Sunday came, and especially due to the events of the Sunderland gig on the Saturday night, I was more excited than ever. I’ve seen a few gigs at Southport Theatre, so I knew the venue was ideal – just opposite a pub.

After the opening three songs, Long Cool Woman, Here I Go Again and Jennifer Eccles, Carl went through his opening comments. The audience seemed very receptive and even laughed at his jokes – an immense achievement in itself!

Sandy, as always, was performed beautifully, after which Carl, Bobby and Ian left the stage so that Alan, Ray and Tony could perform Listen to Me. The thing that really impresses me most about the acoustic performances in the gigs is the fact that, due to Alan’s absolutely textbook perfect rhythm guitar playing, I barely miss the rhythm section of the songs. After Listen To Me, Tony left Allan to take centre stage whilst he performed Butterfly.

@@Tony’s sitar solo just before they played The Baby was beautifully hypnotic – not even Carl’s Bradford jokes could put him off! Nothing, of course, is more enjoyable to the Hollies Gig Regulars than the Obligatory Tony Hicks Rambling Session – and just before Stop Stop Stop, he didn’t fail to disappoint. After what seemed like an eternity of getting the history of Popular Music in 1940s North West England, and after Carl deciding to quit The Hollies to join the Beverly Sisters – and Tony agreeing that he’d look great in the outfits – Mr Hicks decided to wake us all up by launching into the intro. Another wonderful performance, and I was starting to wonder if they weren’t just secretly miming all along. I realised that they actually weren’t, they just have a very unfair advantage over many other live bands. Talent.

Once again, I couldn’t possibly attempt any review of a Hollies concert without speaking in the most glowing terms of undoubtedly the most naturally talented drummer on tour today – Bobby Elliott. Every time the band perform Soldier’s Song, I always get shivers up my spine and there was something about Bobby’s drumming that always left me gasping for breath – and it wasn’t until Southport that I realised what it was. He plays the most incredible floor tom rolls in such a way that it simulates the sound and effect of the timpani rolls he played on the original recording. That, tempered with the sensitivity of the cymbal flourishes made it all the more perfect.

@@The ‘final’ song of the set was the beautiful Air That I Breathe – another of the Hollies canon that sounds so much more exquisite when it’s performed live. The band attempted to leave the stage – which was admittedly more than they’d done at Sunderland – but the audience seemed to persuade them to play a few more songs easily enough. They obliged with the brilliant Move number; I Can Hear the Grass Grow.

Then we were treated to what I always deem to be the most incredible of sights. The Band’s Dancing ‘Skills’. Yes, that’s right – for the second encore song, they played Tiger Feet. Each member of The Hollies has his own very interesting style of dancing – Carl just goes off on his own somewhere, while Ian and Bobby are obviously slightly hindered by the fact that their keyboards and drums are pretty stationary instruments. Ray wiggles his shoulders excessively, Alan does a lot of hip gyrating, and Tony just bobs his head up and down and bends his knees more than usual. After all that excitement I was quite grateful for a rest when they sang He Ain’t Heavy – much to the amusement of a certain band member.

All too soon they left the stage, and after rushing to the stage door to wave them off, we were all left counting down the seconds to the Manchester gig… Roll on Friday!

Spev Lane

Setlist

Back to Review Index