~ Searchers' USA Performances 2000 ~

If you've seen the guys in the last few years, you have an idea of the material they do; for those of us here in the States, it's all a surprise as the band has not played here regularly in years. I missed the first few songs, but I did catch "Love Potion #9" (the band's highest charting song in the U.S.), "Does It Hurt", "Bumble Bee", and "Twist and Shout" w/ "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" complete with audience participation. One guy was good enough for Frank to drag him up on stage and allow him to sing....and he did, adding lyrics along the way. I could see the look on Spencer's face, as if to say "Who is this guy?". Speaking of audience participation, part of the Searchers set is the old Union Gap hit "Young Girl", and the audience is asked to sing the chorus several times, and Frank does not let up until the volume goes higher. I sang along, as did others near me, but we were so far back that we might not have been heard. And on "Have You Ever Loved Somebody", you are instructed to clap along, quarter notes please, on all the choruses. After each song, Frank would continue "you're a great audience, that was good"; he probably should say " do this and feel your youth, or else you'll grow old and miserable"-that might have gotten some of these tourists in gear. One of my favorites is "Hearts In Her Eyes" and a lot of people recognized that one. Spencer sang "The Rose", one I hadn't heard in awhile, and as usual, "Somebody Told Me You Were Crying" from the Hungry Hearts cd. They also did "Someday We're Gonna Love Again" and "Da Doo Ron Ron" (Shakespeare must be cringing in his grave over that one!), "Needles and Pins" and "When You Walk In The Room". For an encore they did "Rockin' All Over The World" (made famous by Status Quo when they were on tv at Live Aid, but written by John Fogerty, who also wrote "Almost Saturday Night", another song the Searchers covered) and a "hits" medley. Quite a good show, the guys were all in good voice, they looked smart, the sound system and the lights were dead on perfect, and they got a good ovation at the end of the night. Amazingly, copies of Hungry Hearts turned up for sale (as did the live cd), quite a feat for a cd that is supposed to be extinct. Those who didn't have it, bought it. Everyone who had it brought it along to be signed, along with posters and old albums. The guys were their usual receptive selves, meeting and greeting, and you could see the looks of delight on their faces as all the fans introduced themselves; it's as if the band has read all this e-mail and all the correspondence from the newsletter and know just who are their fan base. They were quite busy and I only had enough time to say hello, and God bless Frank, I only saw him 3 weeks ago, and he said "good to see you again". I've never spoken to Ed, so I did this time, and he's certainly the most jovial of people, with that big smile- it's great to have him part of the band, as he is a very busy drummer.