Princess Theatre, Torquay, 27th February 2004
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Set List
I’m Alive / Here I Go Again / Jennifer Eccles / Yes I Will / On A Carousel / Listen To Me / Can’t Tell The Bottom From The Top / I Can’t Let Go / We’re Through / Fire Brigade / Look Through Any Window / Blowin’ In The Wind
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Long Cool Woman / Sorry Suzanne / Just One Look / The Baby / Soldier’s Song / Gasoline Alley Bred / Too Young To Be Married / Bus Stop / Blackberry Way / Carrie Anne / Stop! Stop! Stop! / The Air That I Breathe / I Can Hear The Grass Grow / Tiger Feet / He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother / It’s In Every One of Us
The
chance to see one of my favourite bands of my youth in Torquay at the end of
February 2004 was not an opportunity to be missed. I saw the original line up in
the Sixties and the quality of musicianship and sheer professionalism hasn’t
changed one jot!
The
group members have changed, but the music hasn’t. I was a big fan of Graham
Nash and followed him to CS&N, and I am still a big fan; but the
ever-youthful Tony Hicks and Carl Wayne made this occasion in Torquay a visit
back to the early days. When I shut my eyes I could have been back in the Bath
Pavilion forty years ago.
Carl
certainly proved an ideal replacement for Allan Clarke, with the added bonus of
some of the best of the Move’s music. Coates, Parker and Stiles’
contributions made it more than just a Hollies concert, dipping into the best
music of the Sixties and Seventies. I loved the variety.
Tony
Hicks has obviously discovered the secret of eternal youth and his musicianship
certainly hasn’t aged. Likewise for Carl Wayne and the ever-impressive Bobby
Elliott.
A truly memorable concert with one very slight personal disappointment- they didn’t play “King Midas in Reverse”, a particular favourite of mine. However, you can’t have it all and I am looking forward to the next tour. As long as the band continues to produce live music of the highest quality, as they have done for the past 40 years, I will always be one of their biggest fans.
Review by Derek Wilcox
Photo by Helen Macdonald