|
Post by eric on Feb 17, 2019 23:21:34 GMT
The Hollies started their Australian tour by playing in Perth on 16th February and then travelling 2,131 kilometres (1,324 miles) in less than a day (due to a 2.5 hour time difference) to perform the night after at Adelaide’s Festival Theatre on 17th February. What a hard working band! Surely they could take things a bit easier after all these years and have some time out to enjoy the Aussie summer for a day or two?
Notwithstanding their demanding schedule, they put on a high class performance to another sold out concert in Adelaide, receiving a standing ovation in the process. I won’t spoil the fun for our Melbourne and Sydney members by detailing the set list in full prior to them going to their concerts. However, I will say though that several of my favourite songs, being “Gasoline Alley Bred”, “Listen To Me” and “Stop In The Name Of Love”, were cut from the band’s 2017 set list.
Tony Hicks has not lost any dexterity on the guitar(s) and his vocal on “Too Young To Be Married” was the best I have heard from him. His voice sounded stronger and confident.
In an interlude, Bobby recalled hanging out with Bruce Springsteen and his band after The Hollies February 2014 Adelaide concert (Bruce was playing the next night). Yes, “Sandy” followed this anecdote.
Peter Howarth noted that Bobby had finished his book and was now looking for a publisher. So no positive news on this front.
Last night’s show was The Hollies 4th Adelaide concert in 6 years. It is remarkable that they manage to consistently sell out 2,000 seater (top quality) theatres in Australia after all these years. I look forward to hearing about their other Aussie concerts from our members.
|
|
|
Post by dirtyfaz on Feb 18, 2019 2:51:10 GMT
Will see them tomorrow night in Sydney.
|
|
|
Post by eric on Feb 18, 2019 3:18:02 GMT
dirtyfaz, enjoy your show. I'm sure you will! I was fortunate enough to see them at your beautiful State Theatre in 2017.
|
|
|
Post by dirtyfaz on Feb 18, 2019 3:30:42 GMT
Missed the in 2017. First time I ever missed them here. Was on a cruise at the time and unfortunately I had booked that way before the gig was announced.
|
|
|
Post by anthony on Feb 18, 2019 21:24:38 GMT
Looking forward to the show here in Melbourne tomorrow night.
|
|
|
Post by eric on Feb 19, 2019 7:00:48 GMT
Anthony, enjoy your show. Their harmonies were great in Adelaide; some of the best I have heard from them in recent years.
|
|
|
Post by dirtyfaz on Feb 19, 2019 13:18:11 GMT
Just home from tonights show in Sydney and in general I did enjoy the show. Missed some of the soaring harmonies but there were still a lot of nice harmonies throughout the show. Tony played some killer leads during several songs. There were several highlights and I have to say even though I am not super keen on Peter's voice and stage persona, he did an excellent job and was much better than the last time I saw them. My favourite of the night was Magic Woman Touch. There actual playing time was about 1 hr 45 with a break. They are busy lads over the next couple of weeks what with 3 more shows in the next 3 nights. A day off and 8 shows in NZ with one day off there. Thank goodness I am not part of their road crew.
|
|
|
Post by anthony on Feb 19, 2019 22:00:10 GMT
Just home from tonights show in Sydney and in general I did enjoy the show. Missed some of the soaring harmonies but there were still a lot of nice harmonies throughout the show. Tony played some killer leads during several songs. There were several highlights and I have to say even though I am not super keen on Peter's voice and stage persona, he did an excellent job and was much better than the last time I saw them. My favourite of the night was Magic Woman Touch. There actual playing time was about 1 hr 45 with a break. They are busy lads over the next couple of weeks what with 3 more shows in the next 3 nights. A day off and 8 shows in NZ with one day off there. Thank goodness I am not part of their road crew. thank you for your thoughts, I'm off to the Melbourne show tonight.
|
|
|
Post by dirtyfaz on Feb 20, 2019 0:31:18 GMT
Enjoy
|
|
|
Post by eric on Feb 21, 2019 3:37:38 GMT
The following songs were performed by The Hollies in their Adelaide 2019 concert. I have tried my best to get the songs in the correct order!
King Midas In Reverse (shortened version) (opener) I Can’t Let Go Sorry Suzanne Jennifer Eccles On A Carousel We’re Through Magic Woman Touch Priceless I Can’t Tell The Bottom From The Top Weakness Just One Look Stay Look Through Any Window INTERVAL Here I Go Again Yes I Will Bus Stop Too Young To Be Married I'm Alive The Baby Sandy Carrie Anne Stop Stop Stop He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother The Air That I Breathe Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress) (closer)
A friend of mine attended their Melbourne concert last night and thought they put on a great show, with Tony Hicks shining on guitar. Both he and I are long time Hollies fans (going back to 1965) and we were disappointed that the band did not make any reference to the passing of Eric Haydock and his contribution to their initial success.
With regard to their performances of “Too Young To Be Married”, The Hollies have always played the LP version with Tony’s acoustic guitar solo, notwithstanding the fact that their No. 1 single of this song in Australia edited out the guitar solo.
During the show Tony had plenty of opportunities to display his artistry on the guitar, but I believe they spoilt “Carrie Anne” be inserting a guitar solo that just didn’t need to be there. To me the solo ruins the momentum of the song. Where is a Ron Richards type when you need them?
IMHO, their shortened version of “King Midas in Reverse” is not the best show opener. This song could be played in its entirety later in the set. “I Can’t Let Go” is the ideal show opener (at least they thought so back in 1975).
Although I very much enjoyed their performance, the start of the show to me was a bit flat with the shortened “Midas”, “Sorry Suzanne” and “Jennifer Eccles” in the first 4 songs. Also, I’m not sure why they play “Stay”, “We’re Through” and “Yes I will”, which were not hits in Aussie, and omit songs that were hits (as noted previously). Alas, there was neither “What’s Wrong With The Way I Live” to be heard nor “Lucille”, which was a top 40 hit in 1964. The latter would have made a good substitute for “Stay”. I’m sure the Aussie fans would have loved these two songs. Having said all of this, The Hollies are playing sold out concerts Down Under so who am I to criticise their song choices?
|
|
|
Post by JamesT on Feb 21, 2019 6:58:46 GMT
Agree with your comments about the start of such gigs. Over here, I almost get the feeling that it's a "get through these quickly" situation in relation to SS and JE - both being very light, insipid tunes.
I thought Curly Billy was a great starter when used a few years back.
|
|
|
Post by eric on Feb 21, 2019 8:56:53 GMT
James, I agree that Curly Billy was a great starter. I think they may have opened with that on their 2013 tour here, however, I can't be sure of the year.
|
|
|
Post by dirtyfaz on Feb 21, 2019 12:03:14 GMT
Just a bit more to my earlier post. Sydney show started a little slow as well. They also had a couple of technical issues during the show as well. Like I said earlier my fav was Magic Woman Touch. I actually enjoyed Stay. I didn't mind the solo in Carrie Anne but sure it was a little out of place. They are always going to play Tony's solo in TYTBM. It is always a highlight.I am sure almost all the punters at the gig wouldn't even be away that the solo was edited out of the 45 here. I mentioned playing time as I thought we maybe got a bit short compared to what they give in the UK.
|
|
|
Post by Gralto on Feb 22, 2019 7:32:42 GMT
Anthony and I both attended the Melbourne show. Captain Strelley, did you want to add some thoughts before I write a lengthy diatribe?
|
|
|
Post by anthony on Feb 22, 2019 8:17:26 GMT
Anthony and I both attended the Melbourne show. Captain Strelley, did you want to add some thoughts before I write a lengthy diatribe? I thought the Hollies gave a really good professional show, the sound quality at times was a bit off, you couldn't hear the full vocals on weakness, one of my favourite newer songs. I went with a group of 6 and they all enjoyed the show. As you can imagine the big hits were there. I enjoy the banter between the songs even tho I've heard it many times. For who they are and this stage of their career its an excellent show. I know some say why don't they sing this and that, but its the hits the general public are there for. Really enjoyed their version of Magic woman touch, saw them perform that in Birmingham, this was so much better, Birmingham was only their second time doing it so that's understandable. Funny I did think they have seemed to slow down, at their ages that's only expected. Thought Tony's guitar work was still amazing. In Melbourne they didn't play the extended intro to Stop stop stop, would have loved to see that. Thought the second half was better as that's when the big hits emerged. My mate who sat next to me with his wife was singing along to a few of the songs, they had never been to a Hollies show before. He was amazed that he knew so many of their song. As you can imagine the audience was an older group me included. I saw the legend Bruce Woodley was that the concert too in the audience. As I said for their stage of the Hollies career, it was a very enjoyable night, walked away feeling good, that's what its all about. It was great to catch up with Simon also, looking forward to his review.
|
|
|
Post by moorlock2003 on Feb 24, 2019 5:08:01 GMT
I think it is absolutely shameful that Tony didn't acknowledge Eric's passing. Another example of former members being thought of as dispensible.
|
|
|
Post by dirtyfaz on Feb 24, 2019 5:24:15 GMT
Yeah, I guess he could have. Actually never thought about it until mentioned here.
|
|
|
Post by Gralto on Feb 24, 2019 12:22:03 GMT
I think it is absolutely shameful that Tony didn't acknowledge Eric's passing. Another example of former members being thought of as dispensible. Fair call Moorlock - it certainly wouldn't have hurt to maybe make a brief mention though I suspect The Hollies of the present would adhere to the maxim that "if you can't say something nice about somebody, best not to say anything at all". Excellent review of the Adelaide show Eric. As Anthony also mentioned, Melbourne was a solid show but certainly not their best. I'm off to Canberra to do research at the National Library of Australia for a friend for a couple of days so will post my review by week's end. In terms of Australian tours, can someone please save me the trouble and fill in the blanks. All visits to Australia are: 1967 - cancelled due to Bobby's peritonitis - Hollies replaced by DDDBMT headlining with The Animals 1970 - only a couple of cities - mostly Sydney (Chequers night spot for a residency) plus Adelaide and one other city 1971 - full national tour 1973 - full national tour (w Rickfors) 1975 - all FNT from here 1976 1983 1987 2000 (w Carl Wayne) can't precisely remember the rest since 2000 - 4?5? times since? - Anthony/Eric/DF/others - can you please remind me? I think I went to every Melb gig (bar one?) since 2000. 2019 cheers S
|
|
|
Post by anthony on Feb 24, 2019 21:05:52 GMT
Thanks Simon, Hollies were here in 2001 with Carl Wayne, played Crown on Feb 5th in Melbourne. 2013 Feb 9th 2014 Feb 19th 2017 Feb 11th 2019 Feb 20th
These are all the Melbourne dates.
|
|
|
Post by anthony on Feb 24, 2019 21:20:02 GMT
I think it is absolutely shameful that Tony didn't acknowledge Eric's passing. Another example of former members being thought of as dispensible. you are right Moorlock, the Hollies have never been good at doing this, very seldom do they acknowledge any past members in anyway. Well picked up. The positive is they sang two Rickforce songs, they were both presented very well too, a great tribute to that era of the bands history. Thought they did a great version of Magic woman touch, Steve Lauri did a wonderful jobs on vocals.
|
|
|
Post by eric on Feb 25, 2019 4:25:47 GMT
Simon, I have detailed the Adelaide concerts and the 1976 Melbourne concert to the best of my knowledge. I believe Adelaide was omitted from the national tours for 1976, 1987, 2000 and 2013, as I have no concert programmes/newspaper cuttings/internet writings from those years.
Adelaide
1970 Feb 1 Memorial Drive Park Tennis Courts (open air concert – fine weather) 1971 Feb 5 Memorial Drive Park Tennis Courts (open air concert – fine weather) 1973 May 9 Apollo Stadium, Kingston Avenue, Richmond (stadium since demolished) 1975 Jan 23 Memorial Drive Park Tennis Courts (open air concert – fine weather) 1976 No concert (possibly due to a poor crowd for the previous year’s show) 1983 I have no recollection of an Adelaide concert as I was living in England that year. 1987 No concert 2000 No concert 2013 No concert 2014 Feb 09 - Festival Theatre 2017 Feb 10 - Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre 2019 Feb 17 - Festival Theatre
Melbourne
1976 Feb 18 Festival Hall
I hope this helps.
|
|
malco
New Member
Posts: 8
|
Post by malco on Feb 25, 2019 8:05:58 GMT
I too attended the Sydney concert and I throughly enjoyed it. With regard to the repertoire, I really enjoyed Magic Woman Touch as it was the first time after five concerts that I have attended that I have seen this song live as it is a favourite. And I would not be too troubled if 'The Baby' was retired as I have seen it played a number of times. The big hits will never be not played though I think 'What's Wrong With The Way I Live' has a history in Australia and if played would have been truly appreciated. Some sound problems were dealt with in a humorous way which went over well.
|
|
|
Post by stuball on Feb 25, 2019 15:36:15 GMT
I think it is absolutely shameful that Tony didn't acknowledge Eric's passing. Another example of former members being thought of as dispensible. I think the last thing the current group wants to do is draw attention to previous members, and to that end, inviting comparisons to previous far more illustrious versions of the group. They are on tour to promote today's Hollies. Sure, they have to play the old hits, but they don't want people dwelling on the band from their salad days. So this way, they keep the focus on the current group on stage, and keep well away from reminding their audience of former members. That's a bit cold-hearted for sure, but I can see the reasoning behind it. What is ironic though, is that the group who always battled their 'faceless' reputation, now actively promote it.
|
|
|
Post by knut on Feb 25, 2019 17:07:51 GMT
They did salute Rickfors at the Dalhalla Sweden show some years ago and he was backstage with them in Gothenburg Sweden last year.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2019 19:18:17 GMT
I think it is absolutely shameful that Tony didn't acknowledge Eric's passing. Another example of former members being thought of as dispensible. I think the last thing the current group wants to do is draw attention to previous members, and to that end, inviting comparisons to previous far more illustrious versions of the group. They are on tour to promote today's Hollies. Sure, they have to play the old hits, but they don't want people dwelling on the band from their salad days. So this way, they keep the focus on the current group on stage, and keep well away from reminding their audience of former members. That's a bit cold-hearted for sure, but I can see the reasoning behind it. What is ironic though, is that the group who always battled their 'faceless' reputation, now actively promote it.
It wouldn't hurt to (say) dedicate 'Just One Look' to Eric Haydock every night.
|
|