The Hollies - Concert Review

Guildford Civic Hall, 27^th February 1999 - by Wendy Holt & Wendy Shepherd

The Guildford Civic Hall appeared to be full for the fourth night of the Spring tour and the first night for us on 27^th February 1999.

The lights dimmed and the audience loudly applauded the new light show which started the concert. The group all came on stage together and opened with Here I Go Again, the first time we’ve heard this song open a show, it was well received by the audience, who seemed to be out for a good time. The group all looked well and happy, some of them wearing different outfits to last time we saw them.

All through the show the lights were impressive, complimenting the songs and spotlighting the soloists and the audience were vocal and enthusiastic.

We knew there were some new songs but who would have expected them to include another dead person? After The Fox was a surprise inclusion but very effective and enjoyable. Running Through The Night has been featured before but was dropped after a few times, hopefully they will keep it in this time. All the hits were there and surprisingly also Butterfly and Don’t Let Me Down. The lights in Butterfly are really effective and make this a beautiful song to listen to and watch.

It was good to hear King Midas again. A new song in the second half is Paul McCartney’s Blackbird, sung beautifully by Tony Hicks, Alan Coates and Ray Stiles. There’s also a new song in the rock ‘n’ roll section, At The Hop, which lets us hear Ray again with his deep bass voice. It’s got a good beat and fits in very well in this final part of the show.

A first night always has so much happening that it’s impossible to remember it all, but we do know we enjoyed it all, the audience enjoyed it, the group seemed to enjoy it and we are really looking forward to the next one.

Wendy Holt & Wendy Shepherd from Sheffield

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