Britain’s favourite Bachelor Boy reunited with The Shadows for the first time in 20 years at the weekend.
And Sir Cliff could still carry off wearing a jacket similar to the one he first wore 47 years ago. This time when he sang with Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch and Brian Bennett, he matched it with an even brighter sequined pink tie.
Sir Cliff, who will be 69 next month, dazzled a packed audience with some energetic dances in Killarney, Ireland.
The Golden Anniversary tour of UK and Ireland marks Cliff and the band’s 50 years in the music industry with old favourites such as Summer Holiday, The Young Ones, Living Doll and Bachelor Boy.
They played for nearly three hours, backed by an eagerly-awaited new album.
Sir Cliff said: “The album sounds like the old Cliff and The Shadows – only better! It consists mainly of new versions of our original material with three tracks we’ve not recorded before.”
Cliff Richard still going strong. Photo: Getty Images
SAY what you like about Cliff's sense of style, but 14 number one singles across five consecutive decades probably earns you the right to wear whatever garish pink jacket you like. Even the matching sequinned tie is forgivable with a record like that.
Whatever the man had before, he's still got it. His voice remains smooth and accurate, if not the most emotive, while each smile from his young-looking face (he is almost 69) sends parts of the audience (not a whole lot younger) into an adolescent tizzy.
Yes, the dancing is awkward and clunky -- when was it ever anything else? -- and the songs vary from standard early rock 'n' roll fare to sub-average schlock. But it's completely inoffensive stuff, and only the awkward and cheap-looking graphics in the background provide any cause for upset.
'Living Doll', 'Put On Your Dancing Shoes' and 'I'm the Lonely One' all form part of the early set, with strong vocal harmonies from The Shadows giving the material the edge it so desperately needs. It quickly becomes apparent that the real star may not be Cliff after all.
And when he walks off the stage and leaves the band to its own instrumental devices, for one segment on each side of the interval, this notion is confirmed. 'Wonderful Land' in the first half, and 'Apache' in the second, receive the biggest cheers of the night until the show's end -- and show how lucky Cliff Richard was to be blessed with these musicians 50 years ago.
Lead guitarist Hank Marvin is a particular wonder to behold, as his distinctive, reverberating and trembling strains cast the audience under a spell; one which is broken only when the grinning frontman returns to throw out a few more hits. 'Summer Holiday', for one, seems too much to bear after the moody and tinged sounds of The Shadows.
If Cliff Richard helped to shape light pop music, then his backing band helped to shape rock'n'roll. And on the evidence of this show, it's quite obvious to whom the real legendary status belongs.
Sir Cliff Richard and The Shadows said goodbye to Northern Ireland last night.
The legendary outfit performed what promises to be their last concert as a group in the Province, and gave a final outing to the classic songs that marked the beginning of their career.
The Peter Pan of pop was joined by Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch and Brian Bennett of The Shadows for the show in the Odyssey Arena, which is part of their 50th anniversary tour.
There are veterans performers for whom merely taking to the stage after 50 years is a remarkable feat.
To their credit, Sir Cliff and The Shadows put on a show for Ulster.
No longer the wide-eyed teenagers who burst onto the then-emerging rock and roll scene in 1959, the surprisingly well-preserved collective can, nevertheless, still bring a tune.
And what tunes they are.
They played the likes of Summer Holiday, Put On Your Dancing Shoes, I'm the Lonely One and Living Doll – the song which signalled the start of a phenomenon half a century ago.
And they showed the kind of stamina which puts many of today's performers to shame with a two-hour show, complete with two costume changes.
At 69, Sir Cliff still has the moves and guitarist Hank Marvin made it look effortless as he casually plucked classic riffs from his trademark Fender guitar.
In the audience, faithful fans of all ages joined with music aficionados who appreciated the fact that this is the last chance to see rock and roll pioneers.
The quartet on stage showed they are able to bow out on their own terms, and draw a line under a musical partnership that now belongs to the ages.
This was a celebration from a band with a legacy few can match
Review Times Online
September 26, 2009
Cliff Richard & The Shadows at the 02 arena
No one goes to a Cliff Richard show expecting to be confronted by intimations of mortality. And yet there was no mistaking the subtext of the posters dotted around the 02 arena that announced the 68-year-old singer’s reunion tour with The Shadows. “Reunited for the very last time!” they trumpeted.
Speaking in a recent interview, Sir Cliff ventured that “all we have to do now is try and stay alive”. He was referring to the possibility of future reunions with his old backing band – although at times during this three-hour show, you felt it would be no mean feat if they made it to the intermission.
But the audience gave more cause for concern. “Please sit down – you’ll only get tired,” implored Sir Cliff, as the opening chords of We Say Yeah prompted several hundred fans to their feet.
Exciting? Well, this being a concert by Cliff Richard and not, say, Metallica, you adjusted your definitions of such words accordingly.
The “violent hip-swinging exhibitionism” against which the New Musical Express once fulminated has been replaced by a gaudy fuschia jacket and, on Do You Want To Dance?, outbreaks of random leg-wobbling. For all of that, however, there were brief moments – Dynamite, the nocturnal tomcat rattle of Move It – where the God-fearing, abstemious star momentarily took leave of himself and succumbed to the earthier impulses that, presumably, made him want to be a pop idol in the first place.
On High Class Baby he was almost believable rejecting the advances of the song’s posh protagonist in favour of rock’n’roll. Almost, but not quite.
However much he enjoyed the chance to prove that he could cut it as a rock’n’roll singer, Sir Cliff’s soft vanilla tones seemed more suited to bucolic postwar pop postcards such as Summer Holiday and Living Doll.
Judging from the gusto with which the throng sang along, it was this Cliff Richard that most of his fans had come to see, blithely synching with Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch on their trademark triangular dance.
While singer and band were on stage together, the bonhomie was unmistakable. However, for the brief period which saw The Shadows fire off a mixture of their own hits and a brace of lesser-known album tracks, they sounded like a band with a point to prove.
FBI and Wonderful Land, in particular, evinced a space-age modernity that defied the passing of the years. At a stroke, you understood why they inspired guitarists such as Jimmy Page and Brian May to learn their instruments in the first place.
For most of those present, scholarly admiration of The Shadows’ collective chops couldn’t have been further from the point. This was an altogether more celebratory occasion. Indeed, the ease with which these old chums occupied the same stage made you wonder why they had allowed 24 years to pass since their last tour together.
Without a hint of irony, an encore of The Young Ones saw Sir Cliff trilling, “the best time is to sing while we’re young”. Should they leave it this long again, he’ll be 92. This may indeed be the last time, then — but in a month that has just seen 92-year-old Dame Vera Lynn scale the charts, who would bet against us reconvening here in 2022?
Tour continues tonight, 02 arena
CLIFF AND THE SHADOWS "REUNITED" 2009 TOUR
Friday, September 25th, 2009.
The 02 Arena, London.
Outside the Arena, there are large, no huge, circular drums which show Cliff and the Shadows on them. The weather is sunny and gorgeous. Inside the arena, it strikes you how HUGE is really is. The raised seating is extremely high and goes straight up - very steeply! The arena seems to take a long time filling up, but fill up it does. The show is late starting, 7.40pm. The lights go down and then, they are on stage. Cliff in his pink jacket and the Shads in black suits. WE SAY YEAH gets the show off to a flying start. Into IN THE COUNTRY and a very lively GEE WHIZ IT'S YOU - great. Cliff is in good voice tonight. A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS slows things down. LIVING DOLL sees everyone singing and swaying along. This is follwed by DANCING SHOES. Cliff is dancing and twirling on stage - great stuff. Cliff says that not their songs went to No.1 but this is one they did like, I'M THE LONELY ONE. A GIRL LIKE YOU is next. Cliff leaves the stage and the Shadows, now with Mark Griffiths doing at the front with Hank and Bruce, doing the steps to a lively SHADOOGIE. Hank introduces WONDERFUL LAND. THE SAVAGE brings back memories of 'The young ones' film and the youth club. This is followed by the quieter SLEEPWALK. Cliff returns, now in black, for an early rocker HIGH CLASS BABY. Then it's I COULD EASILY FALL. WILLIE AND THE HAND JIVE sees Hank and Bruce up front with Cliff. The Frankie Ford classic SEA CRUISE closes the first half.
Second half starts with C'MON EVERYBODY, that Eddie Cochran masterpiece. Good to see Cliff perform the punchy DYNAMITE - terrific. LUCKY LIPS and TRAVELLIN' LIGHT. Stools are brought on as they go into TIME DRAGS BY (from "Finders keepers"). The Elvis tribute is ALL SHOOK UP with the same arrangement as the 1984 concerts. PLEASE DON'T TEASE "Written by him!" Cliff points to Bruce. Cliff leaves and the Shadows perform APACHE. FOOT TAPPER. Next is ATLANTIS, which is excellent. Hank's guitar playing is superb. A rousing FBI closes their segment. Cliff back on, now in whit suit for I LOVE YOU, with the slightly unusual start. THE NEXT TIME hasn't quite got the sound it has on the album. The same applies to DON'T TALK TO HIM. ON THE BEACH, as always, sounds brill. SUMMER HOLIDAY and BACHELOR BOY sees everyone singing along again. Cliff mentions that before the films they really were a rock'n'roll band and to prove it...NINE TIMES OUT OF TEN rocks and IT'LL BE ME is simply stonking!! Things slow down for VISIONS. They all go off as the audience shouts for MORE. They return. Cliff fluffs the next intro, starting to talk about the new single, then goes to talking about the song that he has never left out of ANY concert, MOVE IT. Now, it's SINGING THE BLUES. The evergreen favourite THE YOUNG ONES sees fans standing and singing. At the end the impressive crowd are on their feet and clapping. Seeing them all back together on stage and performing these songs that we have known and loved for all our lives is truly a piece of magic that has touched our hearts and minds forever. The old team show that they have not lost it. They never did. It was there all the time ... and we are priviledged to witness Britain's first, and still the best, rock'n'roll group. Cliff and the Shadows. PURE MAGIC.
Review by William.
(Credits to Cliffchartsite).
Birmingham Mail.net
Review: Cliff Richard and The Shadows at NIA
Oct 2 2009 Review by Roger Clarke
THE Peter Pan of pop had new pretenders to his crown as Hank Marvin and The Shadows joined him to roll back the years in this 50th Anniversary Reunion tour.
Cliff dispensed with the dancers, backing singers, orchestra and glitz of his recent concerts to return to his rock and roll roots and the golden age of the group.
The Shadows, born out of skiffle, were the pioneers of the classic four man line up and in Marvin and his Stratocaster on lead, the ever reliable Bruce Welch on rhythm and Brian Bennett still showing a fine touch on drums they had three of the four originals.
Marvin is the guitarist’s guitarist, with the cleanest sound in the business and even at 68 this month, still proved he is one of the best around with a style all of his own.
It is the first time Cliff has appeared with The Shadows in more than 30 years but it was almost as if they had never been away as the 50s and 60s lived again.
Each Cliff concert the fans seem to have more sticks and zimmer frames, less hair, more grey – and even longer queues for the toilets - but from the moment Cliff and The Shadows appeared they were up to bop. A standing ovation to start.
To a glow of mobile phones We Say Yeah launched the show and five songs in came the first No 1, Living Doll, and, for the first time of the night - the steps.
The simple routine practised in a million bedrooms by wannabe Hank Marvins with Brylcreem quiffs and acne and unrequited love at the school dance. Nostalgia on a stick.
Cliff, who must have a whole Dorian Grey collection of paintings the way he keeps looking younger, was the star but the The Shadows were close behind with two sets of their own with hits such as Apache,
Wonderful
Land
, FBI and Foot Tapper, showcasing Marvin’s extraordinary talent.
They started the encores with Move It, sung by Cliff at every concert since he recorded it in 1958 and the song which brought him and The Shadows together – he needed a backing group quickly and they were available.
“We have done all the old stuff . . . because we are,” said Cliff to introduce the old group’s new single Singing The Blues - a hit for Guy Mitchell in 1956 and Tommy Steele in 1957 and a fitting tribute to a bunch of pensioners – Cliff is 69 this year – who still seem to be The Young Ones.
Most of the audience will have their fuel allowance for Christmas but until then the evening provided enough memories to keep anyone warm. Well worth a star for each decade.
Cliff and The Shadows return tomorrow and on Sunday.
