The Hollies - Concert Review

Nottingham Royal Concert Hall, 5^th March 2003 - by Lesley Haywood

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Tony with Brian Tansley of BBC Radio Nottingham before the show.

@I was looking forward to this concert for many reasons, the main one being that I wouldn't have seen them in my home town of Nottingham if the tour had gone ahead as planned in November 2002. Rob & I went on a fabulous cruise then to celebrate my 50th birthday, and we would have missed several concerts.

This concert was the first I've seen on this tour and although I had been told by Rob and many of our friends that the show was good, I don't think I was prepared for it to be so fabulous. I was on the front row, in the middle, with my son, Andy, daughter, Jayne & her fiancé, Nik. Most of the rest of the row was filled with very good friends of ours that we have made through our mutual love of The Hollies and their music. Having spoken to most of them the lights went down and we waited for the show.

They started with Long, Cool Woman which immediately got the audience clapping and tapping their feet. Here I Go Again & Jennifer Eccles followed straight on. After a much deserved applause Carl thanked everyone for coming and introduced Tony & Bob as founder members for this 40th year tour.

Yes I Will was sung next and the first half was flying by. Tony spoke of Carl's singing with The Move and promised they would sing some of their songs later, which they did. Sandy was also a new addition, lovely song with a brilliant guitar solo by Alan Coates.

More hits followed then the first half finished with Blowin' In The Wind and the audience clapped long and hard. Carl thanked them for being such a wonderful audience and promised to be back shortly.

We wandered out for a drink, meeting up with our oldest daughter, Helen and her fiancé, David. They were sitting further back than us but agreed that it had been a wonderful first half. This was the first show that David had been to and he was very impressed.

The second half started with How Do I Survive. This song features on the forthcoming new CD and gets better each time I hear it. Sorry Suzanne and Just One Look followed, then The Baby. This is a great song live, as is the next one they sang, Soldier's Song. I remember seeing this at my first Hollies concert in 1985 and thinking how dramatic it was. It has lost none of its magic and remains my favourite live song.

@@Bobby, Ian & Carl then left the stage and Tony, Alan & Ray sang acoustic versions of Gasoline Alley Bred & Too Young To Be Married. These were absolutely fabulous, and deservedly received tumultuous applause. Tony sang Too Young and it sounded brilliant. I wish they could have sung a couple more acoustic songs. The others returned to sing Bus Stop, then another Move song, Blackberry Way. Carl got the audience singing along to this and even held the microphone in front of our good friend, Jim Tann who gamely sang along. Carl soon took the mike back and told him he was too good!!

Carrie Anne was next and then Carl announced they were finishing with Air That I Breathe (we knew differently, there had to be more). This is a very emotional song and the audience really appreciated it. Carl then asked if they wanted more, which of course they did. They then sang their final Move song, I Can Hear The Grass Grow, followed by Stop, Stop, Stop and Tiger Feet. Ray takes the lead on this and there were a few people up dancing to this - there's not much room for this at Nottingham.

The tempo changed then with He Ain't Heavy and all too soon the show was nearly over. The audience were standing and clapping & cheering. Carl thanked them for being such a great audience and they finally finished on the now familiar snippet from It's In Every One Of Us. It sounded brilliant.

So ended my first show of this tour and I am already looking forward to the next.

There are lots of changes for this years show which is very exciting and enjoyable.

Anybody who hasn't got tickets yet and is thinking they might go - buy them quickly before they sell out, you'll see a fabulous show.

Lesley Haywood

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