If life really is a rollercoaster, then, for The
Shadows, 2005 had plenty of ups and downs.
The year began extremely well,
with ‘The Final Tour’ DVD, which had been released the previous November,
reaching a peak of number 3 in the official UK Music DVD charts.
At about the same time, on January 21st, Hank Marvin took part
in a Tsunami benefit gig at the Supreme Court Gardens in Perth, Western
Australia. Backed by a group of
local musicians, Hank entertained the 5,000 strong crowd with a selection of
Shadows classics and rock ‘n’ roll standards.
As well as helping to raise money for the victims of the Boxing Day
disaster, the unexpected gig served as something of a warm-up for The Shadows’
forthcoming European tour.
Brian
Bennett, meanwhile, took the equally unexpected – but extremely generous –
step of parting with a significant amount of his past, as, with the help of
long-time fan Phil Jarvis, he put a variety of drums and associated
accessories up for auction. Amongst
the items that ended up in the hands of lucky and grateful fans were; practice
pads, drum sticks, keyboards and the single-headed Ludwig concert toms that had
been used so distinctively on many Shads albums in the 1970s. Most surprisingly of all, perhaps, Brian parted company with
the Pollard Quad 478 Syndrums (as used on Love De Luxe and Riders in the Sky)
and a complete Yamaha 9000, 6-piece drum kit (as used on the 1994 Hank Marvin
and Brian Bennett Tour). Whether or
not Brian’s generosity was really down to wanting more garage space, it meant
that dozens of fans were able to acquire some truly unique pieces of Shadows
history which they would otherwise never had a chance to own.
Towards the end of March, Hank
and Brian, together with Bruce Welch, Mark Griffiths and new keyboard player
Warren Bennett, reconvened in London for five days of rehearsals, prior to
hitting the road once more. Although
the set-list would remain the same, there would be several changes in
instrumentation. For starters,
Brian decided to use a new drum kit for the tour – a 5-piece, Pearl Masters
Custom MRX, finished in silver sparkle. The
kit looked just as distinctive as the Ludwig kit he’d used the previous year
and, as audiences all around Europe were to discover, it had a tremendous sound
that was every bit as good as any of its predecessors!
Not to be outdone, both Hank and Bruce took delivery of their new Shadows
Custom Signature Series guitars from Burns of London.
Like the new Marvins that they had featured on tour in 2004, these latest
guitars were part of a limited edition (of only 500) but, unlike the Marvins,
which had been in traditional white and black, they were finished in trademark
Fiesta Red with Mint Green 3-piece scratch plates.
With gold-plated hardware and engraved silhouettes and signatures on
their base plates, the guitars looked stunning and both Hank and Bruce would
endorse them in company advertising and by playing them on the forthcoming tour.
Warren, meanwhile, had spent a great deal of time listening to old
recordings in order get his orchestral and synth sounds exactly right.
As his main instrument, Warren chose the powerful and versatile Roland
Fantom X8. This impressive
128-voice, 88-note keyboard would allow him, when necessary, to play sequenced
synth parts live, meaning that tunes such as Riders in the Sky and Equinox Part
V would sound better live than they had ever done before.
And so, on April 13th, The Shadows took to the stage in Ringsted, Denmark, for the first of 28 concerts that would see them taking their Final Tour to no less than 20 towns and cities in ten countries around Scandinavia and Europe.
As the old adage goes, “If
it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” so The Shadows stuck very closely to the
winning formula that had gone down so well the previous year.
With his trademark smile, Hank delivered clean, distinctive lead guitar
night after night, with only the solos in such pieces as Don’t Make My Baby
Blue having undergone any noticeable alteration since the last outing.
Similarly, Bruce kept a reliable, steady rhythm from the opposite side of
the stage, his playing only noticeably different at certain points in Kon-Tiki.
Likewise, the bass playing, courtesy of Mark Griffiths, was as solid and
unwavering as ever, the solo in Nivram showing the only real signs of recent
improvisation. It would be in the
performances of Bennetts senior and junior that the biggest differences would be
evident. And what differences they
were!
From the outset, Brian tore
into every number in a way that suggested a man who was literally firing on all
cylinders! Although never
overwhelming, Brian’s powerhouse drumming gave the proceedings an extra level
of energy that, if this was possible, they hadn’t had the previous year.
The highlight, of course, was his now legendary drum solo, Little B –
which had undergone a complete overhaul since the previous tour.
Brian had commented on a number of occasions that he always liked to
‘raise the bar’, so to speak, and take his playing to new heights with each
tour. And boy did he excel himself this time! Lasting anywhere between ten and fifteen minutes, Little B
2005 was a masterclass in power, originality, technique and stamina.
With its pounding, high-speed tom-tom work, this supercharged version was
a close relative of the scorching 1975 version that can be heard on ‘The
Shadows Live at the Paris Olympia’. And,
in a departure from the more subdued version from 2004, this Little B was truly
‘interactive’, as Brian encouraged the audience to clap out increasingly
intricate drum patterns, having played them first on his snare.
Warren, meanwhile, proved to be an admirable successor to piano maestro
Cliff Hall. With his slightly
understated style of playing, Warren ensured that many of the Shads classics
sounded much closer to their original 1960s counterparts than they ever had
before. Having said that, he threw
in a few very nice jazz figures of his own, including a completely new ending to
Nivram. Although seated for most of
the time behind a wall of keyboards and music stands, Mr Bennett junior did,
never the less, take to his feet and play a pair of mounted bongos during
Gonzales. Proving, without a doubt,
that he had inherited his father’s sense of rhythm and affinity with an
altogether more basic kind of instrument.
As with any tour, there were the inevitable trials and
tribulations along the way. Coaches
with locked toilets and no keys, lost suitcases and unfamiliar road systems were
all problems that the band could have done without.
Having said that, a problem with his guitar during a gig in Stockholm,
led to Hank crossing over to the other side of the stage and playing the outro
to Apache on Bruce’s Stratocaster whilst it was still slung around his neck!
Bearing in mind that the guitar had been Hank’s in the first place and
was almost certainly the one on which he’d originally recorded Apache, the
moment was priceless and its significance was not lost on the delighted
audience! A problem of an
altogether more serious nature occurred in Reykjavik, just a week before the end
of the tour. When a splinter from
one of his sticks embedded itself into a fingernail on his right hand, Brian
used an old pair of pliers to remove it. A
big mistake! The wound went sceptic
and, with the situation growing steadily worse, Brian had to have an operation
in Paris to remove the poison. Despite
doctors’ orders to completely rest the hand, Brian soldiered on, although he
did reluctantly have to drop his drum solo from the three gigs in Amsterdam.
Although this must have come as a disappointment to many (not least of
all to Brian himself), to finish the tour prematurely was not an option and,
despite having to alter his technique and lead with his left hand, Brian
completed all of the remaining dates.
And then, after two ‘encore’ concerts at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, it was over. More than a month on the road and 28 concerts in which The Shadows had said goodbye to all the loyal European fans who had supported the band through thick and thin, good times and bad for over forty-five years. Unsurprisingly, the final show was an emotional one as the band left the stage, with no certainty that they would ever play together again. For most of the people involved, the European leg of The Final Tour really was the end of an era.
 |
As last year, Brian kept a diary during the tour. Click the logo on
the left to read his story and view his photos from the tour. Also don't forget to visit www.briansdrums.com for more great photos |
But, like every great story, it didn’t quite end
there. A few days after the tour
ended, Hank and Brian travelled to Mark Knopfler’s studios in London to record
a tune that they had written together for a forthcoming album from guitar
maestro Peter Frampton. Frampton,
like so many others, was a long-time admirer of The Shadows and had recorded his
own version of The Frightened City for a tribute album in the mid 1990s.
Apart from the obvious pleasure of recording the piece, Brian was in for
a little surprise as he was reunited with his old chrome Premier drum kit (circa
1977), which had been bought by Dire Straits at a charity auction twenty or so
years earlier! Although it had been
polished and set up for the occasion, Brian opted to use his new Pearl kit for
the session.
Whilst
Hank and Brian returned briefly to the studio environment, Bruce undertook some
radio work in August to promote the release of ‘The Platinum Collection’; a
2-CD/1-DVD set that had been released in the Netherlands (under the title of
‘The Final Collection’) in the spring. With its mixture of classic recordings and the 1984 Shadows
NEC live set, the compilation sold well enough to reach number 30 in the UK
album charts.
And then, in September, Bruce hosted the 7th ‘Shadowmania’
convention (the first since 2003) at Camberley in Surrey.
As with previous events, it was a huge success, reuniting Bruce with Alan
Jones, Cliff Hall and various ex-Shadows such as ‘Liquorice’ Locking and Jet
Harris.
But then, on November 28th, tragedy struck. Tony Meehan, the
Shadows’ original drummer, died suddenly following an accident at home.
To say that Tony’s death was greeted with disbelief and sorrow by
everyone within the Shadows community, would be an understatement.
Tributes poured in from fans, professional musicians and ex-colleagues
alike as the music world mourned the premature loss of the man who had, without
a doubt, been one of the most influential and talented drummers ever to come out
of the UK. After an emotional
funeral service in London, which was attended by a many ex-Shadows and music
industry luminaries, Tony was flown back to his native Ireland where he was laid
to rest.
As
the year drew to a close, The Shadows ‘other drummer’ would become the
centre of attention in a far more positive way, as photographer John H. Humphrey
launched his 2006 Brian Bennett calendar. Produced
on the highest quality glossy paper, the calendar featured 12 stunning photos of
Brian, taken at his home studio in Radlett during the summer.
With initial quantities being personally signed by Brian, the A3-sized
calendar was a beautiful (and long overdue) tribute and proved to be a huge hit
with fans from all around the world. (copies may be purchased via www.leosden.co.uk)
For The Shadows, overall, it has to be said that 2005
was a triumph. Whether or not they
will ever play together again remains to be seen, but, as one or two of them
have commented, 2008 represents a very special anniversary (their 50th!)
and it seems unlikely that such an occasion will be allowed to pass without some
kind of celebration.
The End. (Or is it...?)
CHRIS DRAKE
February 11th 2006
page last modified 09 March 2006
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