The Hollies - Concert Review
Ipswich Regent, 5th March 1998 - by By Lesley Haywood
This was my first night of the Spring Tour and after saying hello to some of the regular fans, I took my seat and waited for the start of the show. The Hollies came on stage to rapturous applause from the packed audience and launched into the familiar opening numbers of 'Stay', 'Here I Go' again and 'Yes I Will'.
Tony then greeted the audience and introduced a 'number one hit' 'I Can't Let Go'. After this great number Allan introduced the next song 'Sandy', saying that Bruce Springsteen is, in his mind, one of the best song writers around, adding that there is an autobiography of Bruce being produced in the autumn in which he has been asked to say a few words.
Sandy was followed by one of the surprises of the evening - the album track 'Man With No Expression'. It sounded wonderful and I am sure it will prove to be a great favourite with all future audiences. Allan and Tony commented after this song that they are trying to include a few album tracks, but that they are still trying to include a lot of their hits, so they led up to the first acoustic section with 'Sorry Suzanne'.
The acoustics started with the second change. 'If I Were The Priest' has now been replaced by a terrific rendition of 'Don't Let Me Down'. Allan played guitar in the centre and he was joined by Alan and Ray on the left mike and Ian and Tony on the right, all harmonising together producing a wonderful sound. 'Helplessly Hoping' followed and this section finished with Alan Coates taking centre stage to sing the beautiful 'Butterfly'.
The rest of the group returned to the stage to sing 'I'm Alive' - this now has a new intro and sounded brilliant. The first half finished with 'Carousel' and 'When I'm Dead And Gone'.
The second half opened with 'Stop In The Name Of Love', 'Jennifer Eccles' and the slow version of 'Just One Look'. 'We're Through' followed, although Ian couldn't go ''walkabout' - the stage was too high and there was no way for him to go round - he did, however, wander about the stage! The original version of 'Bus Stop' followed, although there was some chatter between Allan and Ian on whether the accordion featured on the original hit. 'Peggy Sue Got Married' led them nicely into the second half acoustics where they sang 'Maybe Baby' and 'Rave On' - which I think is one of their best covers of a Buddy Holly song - Ray's bass voice is brilliant.
At this point John Pratt went to the toilet for a leak. | @
|
'Look Through Any Window' brought the rest of the band back on stage and the second half continued with the familiar routine of 'Carrie-Anne', 'Stop Stop Stop' and 'The Air That I Breathe'. After taking their first bow they then sang 'He Ain't Heavy' which finished to cheers and rapturous applause. They went into the Rock 'n roll section with a fantastic rendition of 'Johnny B Good'. 'Let's Dance' got people dancing at the front and, all too soon, the night finished with 'Long Cool Woman'.
A wonderful evening and I can't wait for Croydon and Brighton.
By Lesley Haywood
Setlist
|