Just over 18 months ago I had the good fortune of seeing the Searchers in Inverness and Aberdeen on consecutive evenings in the Solid Silver 60s Show. I did a review for the fan club magazine and ended by saying I hoped it wouldn't be too long before we saw them back in the North of Scotland.
Well, a year and a half is quite some time for an ardent fan to wait, but 'The Beat Goes On' tour hit Inverness on Saturday 3rd November, and my girlfriend Carol and I were there to see them.
When I first found out the gig was on a Saturday night, I had to check the football fixtures to see where my local team ( which I'm secretary of ) were playing, and as luck would have it, we'd been scheduled to play in Nairn which is only a 15 minute drive from Inverness. So after a resounding 6-1 victory, we got to Inverness in good time to have a bite to eat, settle in to our B&B, (which was conveniently just round the corner from the magnificent Eden Court Theatre), and get freshened up before heading for the Theatre Bar for a couple of beers before the show.
Carol and I arrived midway through the first show, so the bar was rather quiet, except for a table of people who we thought must be road crew for Billie Davis, and PJ Proby. The souvenir stall opened and I couldn't resist buying the new 'Live 2' CD, ever hopeful that I might get it signed after the show, and bought probably the largest souvenir programme I'd ever seen !!!
Before we knew it, the first 'house' were leaving, and we made our way to our seats for the 9p.m. show. ( Inverness always appears to need two shows due to the sheer size of the area, as people come from near and far to attend these concerts, which I can assure you are rare treats in this part of the country ! )….After all, the tour only had two Scottish dates - Inverness and Glasgow !
I would have to say that I found the first half disappointing. When I first heard the line-up, I thought it would be nice to see some fresh faces I'd never seen live before.
The lights went down, and the 'gang' we'd seen in the bar earlier, who we'd thought were 'roadies' were actually the band members for the first half of the show !!
Billie Davis arrived on stage singing 'Angel of the Morning', followed by her big hit 'Tell Him'. She didn't appear particularly comfortable as she tried to get a rappore going with the audience, but she managed to bang out a couple of more numbers before making way for PJ Proby, whose reputation earned him a warm reception. However, he choked and sweated through a gruelling set, giving his all in classics such as 'Hold Me', 'Maria', and 'Somewhere'.At one point he put on sunglasses, and I wasn't sure if he was paying tribute to Elvis Presley or Jack Hargreaves !
The highlight of his set for me was when PJ asked the audience if he'd played Inverness before….I don't think the poor devil had a clue where he was, or what day of the week it was !
To be honest, I didn't feel the quality of performers in the first half were up to the usual high standard you would expect to see on the same bill as The Searchers. But not to worry, we were only there to see the Searchers, and they had the whole second half to themselves due to Billy J Kramer backing out.
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Submitted December 14, 2001
