Paul Carrack sings when you walk in the room at Drury Lane
Along with my long time friend ex-footy manager Dave Bassett and his wife Chris I caught the final concert of Paul Carrack’s 2026 tour at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on May 10th. ‘The man with the golden voice’, as he has been dubbed, performed magnificently and needless to say he included the successes he had with songs such as Tempted (as a member of Squeeze), How Long (with his early band Ace), The Living Years and Over My shoulder (as one of Mike & The Mechanics).
There were other gems too such as Into The Mystic (one of my very favourite Van Morrison recordings) and the Eagles’ classic Love Will Keep Us Alive on which Paul was a co-writer. And a lengthy acoustic segment was such a pleasing contrast to the more ‘in your face’ offerings where the whole band of superb musicians showed their immense skills. There were too many great songs for me to insert into this short piece. But believe me he certainly thrilled and satisfied the audience.
As the show came to its finishing point, naturally with his biggest hits The Living Years and Over My Shoulder, a choir of around forty members were gathered behind the band embellishing the already wonderful sound, a fitting climax to a terrific concert.
But that wasn’t all. I suddenly heard him announce “Here’s a song for Frank” and went on to say that “young” Frank Allen of The Searchers was somewhere in the audience so we’re going to do When You Walk In The Room. I was absolutely stunned to say the least. I have been to his shows before and each time he has added “Room” to his set but this was the first time I had received a name check and to think that’s show ended on my favourite Searchers track was an unexpected honour. It was quite emotional I can tell you.
While I was there memories came flooding back. The Theatre Royal, better known simply as Drury Lane, looms large in our history. It was the setting for The Royal Variety Performance of 1981 which included The Searchers among an incredible roster of national and international entertainers. That was one of the highlights of our career and in fact an event which for us almost never happened.
Tim Rice, a huge Searchers fan, had contacted Mike Pender requesting us to be a part of a segment which traced British rock and pop through the years. So many stars were to be taking part. Lonnie Donegan, Adam & The Ants, Marty Wilde, Cliff & The Shadows, Lulu, Acker Bilk, Donovan and Alvin Stardust, plus a vast roster of entertainers across an incredible spectrum of the entertainment industry.
Mike had to tell Tim that alas the date fell in the middle of a Searchers Scandinavian tour and we wouldn’t be able to take part. At our next concert Mike explained to us what had happened but he had not banked on John McNally who would never accept that something could not happen if it was important enough and that there was always a solution for something this special. Simple, he stated. We would cancel two days of the tour and fly home to the show. And that’s what we did.
At the end of the concert we lined up to be presented to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. What an honour and something we could never envisage happening to us. It’s a rather strange procedure in which there are certain rules to be applied. You must wait for her to speak to for her to offer a hand to shake. As she stood in front of me she smiled but stayed silent. I was not sure what was going to happen but it occurred to me that in a second or two she would move on and my chance would be gone. I`m afraid protocol went out the window. I was not going to let this chance pass me by even if it meant being sent to The Tower. I put my hand forward, an indication that I wished it to be shaken, and with a graciousness that she has always been endowed with she accepted the gesture. My life was complete. What an amazing night.