The Hollies - Concert Review

Bournemouth Pavilion, 5^th April 2003 - by Knut Skyberg, Oslo, Norway

On this trip to England, 3 friends came along with me for the Bradford concert. Our base was Manchester. We were originally to go to St. Albans in November, but as you know that tour was postponed. So we made new plans, Man United played Liverpool at Old Trafford the same weekend as The Hollies played nearby, so plans were made.

Bradford was in fact a pleasant experience, a break from the sometimes a little stiff concert hall environment. Although the rest of the group were a little worried about that event, Ray Stiles was very enthusiastic about it. This input I got at the well-organized Bournemouth convention, where I had the chance to talk to all of the band members individually.

All of the guys recognized me, I was really flattered, and Carl was so easy to talk to. Credits to the Fan Club for arranging this!

Now I won’t tire you about the 5-6 hours on the train from Manchester to Bournemouth. More important was that I got there, and had the chance to attend the convention, meet the group and experience one of the best Hollies concerts I ever have heard.

This time I decided upon sitting more in the middle of the hall, instead of up front, where most the true fans use to sit. Since the sound is mixed from the soundboard further back, it is no wonder the sound is better there. To those of you who always sit on the first row, try sitting in the middle of row 10-20 for once. You’ll hear a different show!

Once again the hall was packed, and there was an aura of high expectations when the show was announced to begin. We were treated to the now familiar opening version of “Long cool woman”, which set the standard. I won’t go into detail about all the songs you know. What I think is most remarkable on this tour is that you meet a very tight band, playing much more together, feeling loose, compared to 2 years ago.

Some details, though: The electric sitar intro from Tony at the beginning of the beautiful “The baby”. Can we have “Magic woman touch” on the next tour, please?

The acoustic break with Listen to me, Gasoline Alley bred was so beautiful. You may compare Coates, Stiles and Hicks to a certain other harmony group.

The first half ended with a powerful “Blowing in the wind”. You could see smiling faces all around (haven’t I heard that phrase somewhere else?).

During the second half we got the new song, “How do I survive” that sounded better than on the record, and during the whole show we were treated to 3 strong Move songs, “Fire brigade”, “I can hear the grass grow” and “Blackberry way”. Excellent!!

Due to the special stage at the Pavilion, we missed Australian “belly dancer” Christine that did an act that fitted so well in for the “Stop stop stop” in Bradford (sorry about a safety guard dragging her down there, though).

I also have to mention “Too young to be married” which is one of the best self-penned Hollies songs.

“Soldier’s song” was dedicated to the soldiers fighting in Iraq.

Carl also mentioned people coming from all over the world for the concert, and was thankful for the loyalty of the fans attending the convention.

The Mud song “Tiger feet” made people almost climb their seats.

Once again the Hollies received a standing ovation, this time I believe people stood or danced during 3 of the last songs. I only wish I could have the full version of “It’s in every one of us” live once.

After the show some of the Carousel members met for a talk and a drink, and another memorable day had passed. Good luck for the rest of the tour, lads.

Setlist

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