Hank Marvin & Brian Bennett
1994 UK Tour

Guitar Hank Marvin Drums Brian Bennett Keyboards & Guitar Warren Bennett Guitar Ben Marvin Bass Guitar Mark Griffiths Heartbeat - Jessica - Sacha - Foot tapper - Nivram - Dance on - Oxygene IV - Wonderful land - Pipeline - Theme from "Deer Hunter" - The rise and fall of Flingel Bunt - Money honey/Twenty flight rock/ Mystery train (vocal medley) - Eleanor Rigby - Guitar tango - Mrs Robinson - Travellin' light - Shadoogie - Live and let die - Sylvia - Atlantis - Boogie - Mountains of the Moon - Riders in the sky - Apache - Sleepwalk - Move it.

Much of the media build up to this tour was focused on the absence of Bruce and the presence of Marvin & Bennett juniors. It was obvious that most of the audience at the concert I attended (Manchester Apollo) were unsure as to what they should expect, would this simply be the Shadows without Bruce?

The doubts were soon cleared up, from the opening bars of 'Heartbeat' it became apparent that we were in for a musical treat. Despite Hank's jocular references to 'nepotism' and 'cheap labour', it was obvious that both Ben and Warren were present on merit. Ben proving to be a more than competent guitarist playing Duane Eddy's part in the 'Pipeline' duet although his shortage of stage experience sometimes showed through. Warren proved a revelation to many of the audience who were previously unaware of his great talents on keyboard, guitar and vocals (taking the lead on twenty flight rock). Mark provided solid bass as usual and enhanced the vocals. Hank and Brian were, as expected, as good as ever. The magnificent 'Mountains of the Moon' proving that Brian is still the BEST.

It would be wrong to say that Bruce wasn't missed. There was no "Shadows Walk" and sometimes during the Shadows' numbers, Hank looked a little uncomfortable at the front and seemed to want to go back into the group. During these numbers, he often seemed be about to break into some of the old routines but appeared wrong-footed by the absence of Bruce.

This most certainly WASN'T a Shadows concert, though I, together with the vast majority of the near-full house audience, thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. Although the Shadows tunes are always welcome, it was also good to hear Hank's album tracks such as Heartbeat, Jessica and Pipeline in a concert situation.

Video
I understand that one of the concerts from this tour recorded on video but due to 'problems' was deemed unsuitable for commercial release. A great shame. Even though the 1995 tour has made it to video, its a pity that we have no live record of 'Mountains of the Moon' or Warren's 'Twenty Flight Rock'.

Click on photo for newspaper review
(129K jpeg)

Hank on Pebble Mill
As part of the build-up to the tour, a complete 45 minute edition of the BBC TV programme Pebble Mill was given over to Hank and Brian.

Following some early film clips of The Shadows in action, presenter Ross King introduced Hank, Ben, Brian and Warren who played 'Heartbeat' (with the unannounced Mark on bass guitar). Ross then interviewed 'the Marvins and the Bennetts' before the group reassembled to play 'Jessica'

After short contributions from Neville Marten (editor Guitar Techniques) and Bert Weedon, there was more interviewing. This time with Hank and Ben who then proceeded to play acoustic versions of 'Apache' and 'Dance On' before being joined by Warren to perform 'Guitar Tango'.

Cliff Richard then entered the stage to present Hank with a gold disc for the 'Heartbeat' album. After more chat with Ross, Hank and Cliff played and sang 'Travellin' Light' (interestingly, less than eighteen months later, Ross would be performing this song nightly in the stage musical of 'Summer Holiday').

The finale was provided by Cliff and Hank performing 'Living Doll', backed by Brian on drums and Mark on double bass.

The show was broadcast on November 11th 1994

Cliff Richard's Celebrity Tennis
Hank took time out from the tour to participate in Cliff's annual tennis tournament at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham. After the tennis, Cliff and Hank entertained the crowd with 'Living Doll', 'Travellin' Light', Move it' and Willie and the Hand Jive'. This event was recorded and shown by Sky TV during the Christmas period.

Other TV appearances
Shortly before the first concert of the tour, Hank and Ben made a short promotional appearance on GMTV. They performed an acoustic medley of Apache and Dance On.

Hank also appeared on ITV's 'An Audience with Jimmy Tarbuck' where he was joined by Rick Wakeman, Justin Hayward and John Lodge as the closed the show with a rousing performance of 'Johnny B Goode'.

1995 Tour
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