HANK MARVIN IN CONCERT - PRESTON GUILDHALL 12/5/00
(Words by Les Collinson, Photos by Dave Dixon)

First Set:

1. Shindig, Theme For Young Lovers, Live And Let Die, Find Me A Golden Street, Dance On, The Sound Of Silence, A Hard Day's Night, Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Atlantis, It Doesn't Matter Any More, Mustang, Gonzales, Rock'n'Roll Medley: Lucille/Rip It Up/Blue Suede Shoes (Vocal)
2. Oxygene IV, Pipeline

Second Set:

1. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, Man Of Mystery, Foot Tapper, The James Bond Theme, Goldfinger, At All, At All Dark Stranger, Nivram, Jessica, Guitar Tango, The Theme From "The Deer Hunter" (Cavatina), The Rise And Fall Of Flingel Bunt, Riders In The Sky

Encore:

1. Wonderful Land, We Say Yeah (Vocal), Mystery Train (Vocal), Apache

The Band:

Hank B Marvin: Guitars, Vocals

Ben Marvin: Guitars

Warren Bennett: Guitars, Keyboards, Vocals

Mark Griffiths: Bass, Vocals

Peter May: Drums

17 Shadows numbers - 18 if you count the rock'n'roll medley, which was included on the Live At The Paris Olympia album, plus 1 Cliff Richard number. Nothing from the Shadows 1980s output, all three instrumental hits from the 1970s and the rest from the early to mid 1960s.

In this, the Shadows 40^th anniversary year, if we couldn't have the Shadows themselves, at least we had the "main man", Hank, who, more than anyone else WAS the sound of the Shadows, if we're fair. In addition, Mark Griffiths played on record and on stage during the last few years of the Shadows second incarnation, in the '80s. Add to this Ben, son of Hank and Warren, son of Shadows drummer, Brian Bennett. The latter two are in the band because of their exceptional skill and not because of their famous fathers!

For a total of around two hours, Hank entranced the audience with some stunning sounds, which varied from the expected Shadows-type sound to some pretty heavy playing, to a delightful "unplugged" type session during the second set. Add three vocals for some light relief and the result - one heck of a show!

Don't get me wrong, Hank doesn't prance around much - no Shadow-walk and no high-kicking any more, just a tendency to walk round the stage so everyone gets a good look, plus a few instances of moving people around to highlight the parts they were playing. There was a tasteful and restrained light show and a bit of dry ice and that was it, really, plus Hank's dry humour. The focus was on the music - and WHAT music!

We started in Shadows mode with "Shindig" and then "Theme For Young Lovers", and then it was the high drama of Paul McCartney's Bond theme from the film "Live And Let Die". So far, reasonably predictable.

Then, delight number one: a number from the very first Shadows album ("recorded in '61…1861!"), originally recorded by the Fireballs: "Find Me A Golden Street". Sheer magic. Now I was starting to wish I could have a recording of the proceedings…

We stayed with the Shadows for a lively "Dance On" and then came the first song from Hank's latest album, Marvin At The Movies: Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound Of Silence". Compared with the Ventures version (on the Tenth Anniversary LP), this is a more "arranged" version, with lots of key-changes and it came over well as a live number.

Sticking with the new album, we then had "A Hard Day's Night", with some magnificent low-register growls of which Duane Eddy would have been proud, during what was the instrumental break on the original version. Not the best of the Beatle songs to do as an instrumental, but pleasant overall.

Then it was Shadows time again for "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" and "Atlantis", both very pleasingly played favourites of mine. You were aware that Hank makes it all look so easy.

But we hadn't seen anything yet! The guitar technician (John 'Lionall' Ward) brought onstage a wondrous contraption - an acoustic guitar fixed to a Gracey stand. Hank proceeded to play "It Doesn't Matter Any More", first on his trusty Strat and then on the acoustic (a fantastic bit of picking!) and then back to the Strat. Quite amazing and much better than the recorded version of the song.

Now, if I'd dearly wished for a recording of this show already, the next two items made me positively drool: two tracks from the very dawn of time (well, maybe that's a little bit of journalistic licence)….from the very first Shadows EP, Jerry Lordan's superb "Mustang" and then from the first LP, the Shadows' own composition "Gonzales". For Shadows trainspotters, this last number was credited to a fictional Mc Glynn, but this was actually the boys themselves. Neither number has been heard live by me, and I got the impression that a live Mustang is very a very rare creature indeed. Needless to say, Hank did them both justice…and how!

Then it was vocals time, with what seems to be the only rock'n'roll medley Hank knows…as evidenced by the live recordings from 1975 and 1997! Hank was ably joined on vocals by Warren and Mark for a lively medley of "Lucille", "Rip It Up" and "Blue Suede Shoes".

We then went techno for a superb rendition of Jean Michel Jarre's magnificent "Oxygene Part IV". Drummer Peter May came into his own here with some excellent work on the skins to complement a first-rate ensemble performance.

Part one was brought to a close with a version of "Pipeline" which pays scant attention to the original by the Chantays. Ben Marvin took the lead - a part which was played in the studio on Hank's 1992 solo album "Into The Light" by no lesser luminary than Duane Eddy. Ben doesn't attempt to sound like Duane, incidentally. Hank uses this number to demonstrate that there is a lot more to his playing than endless Shadows sounds. He makes his Strat sing and scream, to great effect.

Mention must be made of the humour for which Hank is well-known. When introducing the band, Hank described drummer Peter May as a wonderful human being…on the grounds that drummers are usually a bit wild and wacky! Then Hank went on to tell us that the way the roadies know they have got the drum riser level is that the drummer dribbles evenly from both sides of his mouth. And what is the difference between a drummer and a supermarket trolley? A supermarket trolley has a mind of its own!

After a short break, during which toilets were visited, bars besieged and the merchandise stall was totally overwhelmed, it was back to some more great sounds.

The familiar strains of "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly" brought the band back on stage, with Ben, Warren and Mark doing the background chant, and Hank twanging away like a good 'un. It's perhaps interesting that Hank only played from the new CD those more substantial tracks…we were not treated to "A Groovy Kind Of Love" or "Love Is All Around". Fortunately!

A mighty "Man Of Mystery" followed, with Hank too busy looking at the audience to be concerned with his fretboard, where his flying fingers did their stuff impeccably - as, no doubt, they have done a few thousand times before. I listened hard and can't say I heard ONE fluffed note all night. Awesome!

We were then given a rousing "Foot Tapper", with Peter May doing his stuff with great aplomb. You don't need me to tell you that Ben, Warren and Mark were also rock solid

.

Then it was time for 007. Hank revealed to us how he had originally been chosen for the part….of Bond's brother: Premium! (For our overseas readers - a type of government savings scheme.) "The James Bond Theme" from "Dr No" was played on its own (rather than as part of a medley, as on the album) and then we had "Goldfinger". For what it's worth, Hank, I think you should have done a full album of Bond themes - you do them so well.

Then it was all change for what amounted to an "unplugged" type of set. Of course, the acoustics played by Hank, Ben and Warren were amplified, but the sound was quite different from the wall-to-wall Fender Stratocaster sound we'd been hearing. Those of you who are old enough or like the Shadows enough, will perhaps remember a track on "Hit's Right Up Your Street" called "Thing-Me-Jig"….well, they didn't play that! What they DID play was an amazing and previously unheard Irish-sounding piece which set the toes a-tapping and conjured up visions of "Riverdance". It featured Hank and Ben trading some superb reels and jigs type of playing, at great speed and totally unlike anything I had heard Hank play before. "What on earth is this?" I wondered. I had prided myself on spotting each tune fairly quickly, but this was a mystery. Eventually, all was revealed. It was a new piece written especially for the tour and entitled "At All, At All Dark Stranger" (!) and was said to be influenced by a certain brand of Irish stout. Please release this, Hank!

The obligatory "Nivram" followed, but I've not heard it done in unplugged style (though Mark was definitely "plugged"!). A fairly lengthy "Jessica" improved on Hank's studio version and then we had "Guitar Tango". In the days of the Shadows concerts, the keyboard player had done the orchestral bits, but now the song is played without these frills, and it sounds fresh and new. Not one of my usual favourites, this was brilliantly executed, with Ben Marvin playing a great second lead, as he did throughout this unplugged section.

Inevitably, we had the big hit of the 70s - "The Theme From 'The Deer Hunter'" alias "Cavatina", which I have to admit leaves me fairly cold. It's impeccably played but somehow the melody has never grabbed me.

The fairly walloping finale arrived all too soon: "The Rise And Fall OF Flingel Bunt". It was here that I missed Brian Bennett. Good as Peter May is, no-one can do "Flingel Bunt" like Brian. But Hank and Ben were in fair fettle as they tore into this, with Ben doing his level best to stamp his wah-wah pedal into little bits!

Needless to say, the crowd howled and stamped for more. "We were coming back anyway!", quipped Hank. We were all thinking, "Where's "Apache", where's "Wonderful Land"? Sure enough, Hank broke into the opening of the second big Jerry Lordan number and for the space of a couple of minutes, it was 1962 all over again and Preston WAS a wonderful land.

Then, Hank told us they were going to do a number from "The Young Ones" and I thought, "Oh, great…"The Savage", like on the live CD." But, no. "I want you to help us," quoth the Hank, "please sing 'Yeah, yeah'" To my surprise, Hank then proceeded to do his best Sir Cliff impersonation by singing "We Say Yeah", once again assisted on vocals by Mark and Warren. This was followed by another vocal, "Mystery Train", given a good bit of "welly" and some great soloing.

And then the throbbing drum-beat told us it was time for "Apache" - the song which started it all for Hank. Sorry, but THIS is THE definitive version and always will be, however many other people record it. Forget Jorge Ingman or Bert Weedon or even the Ventures; forget Davy Allan or whoever, this is Hank's song, and how! He played it a fresh as if he hadn't been playing it for 40 years, nearly wrenching the tremolo arm of his Strat as he finished what was a perfect concert.

I'm sure there were those niggardly souls who went away feeling let-down because he hadn't played this or that song. True, I'd have loved to hear Hank's own composition, "Geronimo", or maybe the amazing medley of "One Night In Bangkok/Variations/" or even the wondrous "Sacha", but there are limits to what can be fitted into one show. One show in which one highlight followed another with amazing frequency. One show in which Hank had demonstrated why he is still a guitar player to be reckoned with. One show which showed clearly why the man is indeed a legend in his own lunchtime!

All I ask is PLEASE can we have this released on CD, Hank? After all, there were 20 songs which weren't on "Hank Plays Live". If the vocals were cut out, I'm sure you could fit most if not all the rest onto a CD. And I promise you…I'll buy one!

Les Collinson
(The Photos were taken at York - 2 days after the concert described by Les)