The Hollies - Concert Review

St Albans Alban Arena, 4^th March 1998 - by Sue Kelly

he eagerly awaited first concert of the 1998 Spring tour! The steward on the door said that the tickets were "like gold dust" and had "sold out months ago". That was a good start.

It was like a school reunion as the familiar faces of the regular fans started to arrive and, after the usual pre-concert natter, we settled ourselves into our front row seats.

Stay was the first song, with the group arriving to a burst of applause, followed by Here I Go Again and Yes I Will.

Allan was wearing a bright blue suit, Tony was in black and Coatsie was wearing black jeans and T-shirt with a red jacket. It was just like old times. However, there were a few changes in store...

Sandy was still there but Draggin' My Heels had gone, as had If I Were The Priest. In came the lovely Man With No Expression, featuring some great high harmonies from Alan Coates, Long Dark Road - Tony taking lead vocals - and Don't Let Me Down. As this song was introduced, Ray and Ian both came to the front of the stage and hovered. The idea was that Allan remained at the centre mike and accompanied himself on his acoustic guitar, while Ray joined Coatsie and Ian joined Tony to do backing vocals. This worked very well and the audience seemed to like it.

As he prepared to sing the song, Allan told Rod Shields to do something about the lighting because he couldn't see the words. A yellow spotlight promptly came on behind him. He made no secret of the fact that the lyrics were on the floor in front of him. In fact, he had worn his glasses for an earlier song, endearing himself to the audience by openly telling them that he needed them to read the words!

It turned out that we were privileged to have heard Long Dark Road because it was dropped the following night.

The first half ended, as it did on the Autumn tour, with Butterfly, I'm Alive, On A Carousel and When I'm Dead And Gone. By then, the audience was happily clapping along and the atmosphere was building.

The introduction to I'm Alive was new: as Ian played the opening notes, the sound of the boys singing the 'original style' beginning of the song could be heard echoing in the background. It was a nice idea and very effective.

The second half got underway with Stop In The Name Of Love, followed by Jennifer Eccles, (on which Coatsie played some very nice slide guitar). Next was my preferred What Goes Around version of Just One Look, featuring Ray's great bass playing. Lovely!

By now, the audience was getting well into the spirit of the occasion and they thoroughly enjoyed Ian's walkabout during We're Through. Encouraged by Tony, he leapt from the stage, complete with torch strapped to his head, and did a tour of the stalls. He didn't find it quite so easy to scramble back onto the high stage!

Bus Stop won a roar of approval from the audience before it was time for the Buddy Holly segment. Tonight, this consisted of just the three songs: Peggy Sue Got Married, Maybe Baby and Rave On. These also went down very well and Ray's bass harmony was brilliant. Allan gave a mention to Ray's career with Mud - which brought a selection of appreciative "oooh"s from the audience! - and even threw in a bit of a Mud dance.

Look Through Any Window was as popular as ever, and then Coatsie and Tony swapped sides for Stop Stop Stop. Sadly, Tony decided to go straight into this. As he and Coatsie returned to their own places, he played the introduction to The Air That I Breathe and then mimed the fact that Coatsie had left his microphone stand too high, discreetly lowering it several inches!

The inevitable He Ain't Heavy led the way to the end of the show and we Regulars - together with some natives of St Albans - gathered at the edge of the stage for the rock 'n' roll. There was another change here with Johnny B. Good being a great first choice. This featured some smashing guitar from Tony and was absolutely brilliant. Rock 'n' roll at its best! Next, the familiar pounding of Bob's drums led into Let's Dance. The show ended, naturally, with Long Cool Woman.

Overall, some nice surprises and good choices for the new songs, and a creditable first night. The audience obviously thoroughly approved, giving the group a standing ovation at the end.

Setlist

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