Review Of Hollies' Concert

Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL Club in Canterbury, NSW, Australia, 7th February 2001

By John Campbell

It was with some doubts as to the standard of show I would see last night at Canterbury RSL Club.  The last time I saw the Hollies was in 1998 when I was back in the UK on holiday.  Then Allan Clarke was up front and gave his usual brilliant performance.  I was reluctant to go last night and have my memories ruined as I was of the opinion Carl Wayne could not fill Allan's shoes.  

I have to admit the performance was above my expectations.   Bobby played his heart out, Tony gave his usual brilliant display of his trade and Alan, Ray and Ian backed them up to give an all round top show.  To Carl. Tony said he had a bit of a sore throat. If this was so, I was well and truly fooled.  His harmonies were first class, and he gave his own stamp to the standards. All in all a great night and one I was glad to be present at. However, and there is always an however, Carl is no Allan Clarke and no one should expect him to be or perform like Allan.  In the harmonies it was hard to pick the differences but when he did "Soldiers Song", "Air" and "He Ain't" the differences showed.  Not to say he didn't do them well, he did. I would go as far to say he performed them as good as Allan, but the sound was different. 

There was four in our group and we were split down the middle as to our preferences. My wife preferred Carl to Allan and thought Carl communicated better with the audience.  I disagreed and divorce proceedings commence tomorrow. 

I hope I'm explaining myself well and not rambling on. The big disappointment for me, was the lack of mention of Allan. Tony referred to Graham and drew some booing from a section of the audience. Tony immediately stopped them and made comments of support of Graham but no mention of Allan all night.  That I found sad.

Carl is not Allan and never will be but I think is a good replacement.  He appeared nervous when he first came on, which is understandable, and seeking approval from the audience.  He soon won us over with his enthusiastic performance.  I have waited a long time to hear "Blowing In The Wind" live and I wasn't disappointed.  Perhaps the band should do more of their album tracks which us fans know to be gems. I do have a few complaints as to the organisation of the concert.  First the venue did not do them justice.  Canterbury is located approximately 14k west of Sydney.  There are better venues in Sydney. Secondly there was little publicity, the local Canterbury paper carried an ad two weeks ago.

 Tony and Bobby did a radio interview on the Sydney radio station 2GB.  This is a talk back station and not a particularly good one.  When Eric Haydock was last here he did a half hour show on a rock station, introducing the records and doing a good job promoting his band.  I didn't see them so don't know if their performance matched their promos.  So come on Hollies management the fans and especially the band deserve better.  Regarding the concert it was a professional classic performance by a first class Hollies.  I last saw them in 1998 when Allan was in the middle.  Carl while an excellent performer is not Allan and anyone going to see them should not expect the same sound as if Allan was fronting them.  The sound is different, not better but not worse, just slightly different in the big ballad numbers.

We got an edited show with at least "Blackberry Way" and" The Baby" missing. But no complaints on what was left out only what was included.  They did "Blackbird", not one of the "must hear "songs on my list. Why oh why, there must be other songs they could use to demonstrate their harmonies. Finally a word to the band, if they ever read this, if you are going to acknowledge Graham, give Allan the same courtesy.  All in all a great night.  Thank you for the songs, the performance and the memories.

 To finish, by all means go and see them if you have a chance.  You will not be disappointed and perhaps like me be pleasantly surprised.  I only hope I don't have to wait another 14 years before they come back to Sydney.

Many Thanks To John Campbell