May 2008

The Searchers News

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This year so far, apart from a handful of concerts, we hardly seem to have set foot on British soil. New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, Germany, Denmark. It`s been a case of jumping on an off aeroplanes and getting to buses and limousines for a bunch of countries that seem to be discovering the Searchers all over again. But it`s been a lot of fun although I apologise to our hardy bunch of homeland followers who have been starved of their regular diet of concerts. Still, if you take a break from our shows it sometimes gives a little bit of extra excitement when you finally get along to one after a long wait.

As I write we have just returned from foreign soil, and it is what has now become our annual trip to North America (Canada and the USA) which has kept us out of the U.K. The three-week tour began in Niagara where we played two sold-out shows, with no support, at the fabulous Fallsview Casino right next to the world famous natural attraction. We were stunned to find out that we could sell out such a large showroom (1500 capacity) on both nights and it was a memorable time. The Fallsview is a wonderful venue and we could not have been happier with either show or the reception.

Of course we strolled down the hill a few hundred yards to see the Falls again. We have been there before of course. The first time was in the eighties when we played the Trafalmador Café in Buffalo just across the border on the American side. On that occasion when we had finished our show we decided to stop by to see the smaller American Falls before heading off overnight towards New York. It was winter and right in the middle of a snow blizzard and we saw nothing although we could hear the pounding of the waters. Some time later we all had the chance to see it under better conditions. John had already been there in 1964 before I joined the band. Later on a bunch of the guys took a private trip along when we were playing Toronto in the late eighties and I went down there with some Canadian friends I was staying with just a few years ago.

Then it was on to Edmonton, which could not have been more of a contrast in both the weather and the venue. Suffering the worst blizzards in decades the whole area was under several feet of snow. Fortunately our hotel had a restaurant adjacent because getting out into the town was virtually impossible. With the wind chill factor we were experiencing minus 17 degrees. It certainly was pretty though. This time we performed in a smallish theatre, the Festival Place, very reminiscent of the kind of places we use in the U.K for our all-evening concerts and in a similar manner we did the concert in two halves here too. It had been sold out for weeks. Lovely audience and a really nice crew and staff to look after us.

Next port of call was Vancouver, a city we have played before (September 20th 1964 actually) but I can`t recall us having visited in recent years although I may be wrong. It is a terrific place and although we were out of town near the airport luxuriating in the Casino`s fabulous suites a bus took us from a few yards round the corner straight into the city. And it really is a city worth seeing with the character-filled and historic Gas Town, the exotic Chinatown and the modern harbour front where the multi million pound yachts are moored. For a bit of adventure our roadie, John Semark, and I took a half-hour seaplane ride along the Rockies and passing over the city. Quite thrilling although I still don`t entirely trust small planes.

The River Rock Casino was a fairly sizeable room which had been set out in cabaret style. That was fine but they had for some inexplicable reason left a large dance area in front of the stage which was odd considering that neither we nor Peter & Gordon, who were sharing the bill, are a dance act except perhaps for specific occasions of which this did not appear to be one. The space made it very difficult to communicate, the first row being about fifteen feet away. All was well in the end but it was not as comfortable as it could have been and I found it hard to settle into an intimate mode which is my preference. Still, it's a great Casino, wonderful and helpful staff and a city I am glad to have had the chance to see.

Then we were over the border to the USA - our second visit to the Cannery Casino in North Las Vegas - and as a replacement for the Manfreds who were supposed to have been on some of the dates with us, our support was the re-vamped Fortunes. Eddie Mooney (ex-Dakotas) now replaces the sadly departed Rod Allen, whose untimely death shocked us all. Following someone with such a stunning voice as Rod`s is a hard task but they seem to be getting it together and the crowd loved them.

This was another night when I felt the atmosphere was slightly underpowered compared to our last visit but the audience gave us a standing ovation so it must have been okay. And it is a great venue to perform in and one which we hope to return to again and again. I emailed our U.S agent to report on the night and commented on my slight disappointment with the mood of the crowd. He said that he thought the audience was a little more lethargic than last year but that we were as polished and professional as always and that it was a great night nonetheless. Nice words but I always think that the audience was slow because I didn`t handle things as well as I could have.

With a couple of free days to kill we moved on down to the Strip itself for a stay at Circus Circus. There were no shows that particularly caught my eye (Cher, Elton and Tina Turner were due later on) and so once again I just took in the spectacle, checked out a few hotel lounges, grabbed some pasta at the Venetian (about as near Italy as you can get) and flew into the Grand Canyon. Once again it was John Semark and I who were hooked at the thought of a helicopter flight over the Hoover Dam and onto the Canyon eighty miles away from the city where we set down on the Canyon floor for a champagne picnic. I still think there is something very disconcerting about hovering a few thousand feet in the air in what is little more than a supercharged lawnmower but it was one of the most spectacular things I have ever done. If you visit Vegas do it. The cost is around £150 per person but cheap at the price.

The Cutting Room in Manhattan was next and this time round I found it so much more satisfying than last year. The composition of our set, with such rarities as Each Time, Farmer John, Bumble Bee and Take It Or Leave It (a shouted request from the audience) was a treat I think and moved along like a real rock set. I would dearly like more of these little gems in the show.

We had to leave pretty much straight after our performance as our rooms that night were two and a half hours away at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut and checked into our accommodation there at 1.30 a.m. We usually play just one night there but this time it was two which was a very welcome change, giving us the chance to relax and enjoy the facilities of a luxury hotel/casino that has grown beyond recognition from our first time around six or seven years ago. Then it was just the casino and we were staying at a hotel in a nearby town. By our second visit the spectacular glass walled hotel had been added and the casino itself had just about doubled in area. And they keep on adding bits. There are sections of the glass towers that I swear were not there last year.

A lot of familiar U.S fans turned up and seemed to revel in the altered set which was similar to the one used for the Cutting Room. I enjoyed every minute of the shows on both of our nights there. Before the Saturday performance we were led through the underground labyrinth to the dressing room of the great Jay Leno who was appearing in the Arena before 10,000 people. Along with David Letterman and Conan O'Brien, Leno is one of the kings of the U.S talk shows, and without doubt one of the most powerful men in American television.

He was chatty and friendly to us and also in the company, along with my old friend Julie Grant, were Chad and Jeremy, perhaps better known in the U.K as Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde who we hadn`t seen since the great British Invasion tour of 1986. Although they only charted in the mid regions here with Yesterday`s Gone their Stateside records fared better and they had huge hits which included not only the aforementioned tune but also Summer Song and Willow Weep For Me. It was nice to catch up with them again.

I suppose the roaring success of the short tour was our appearance, or rather appearances (there were six half hour shows over two evenings) at Disney Epcot in Florida. The outdoor setting and the warmth of the Floridian sun made it a wonderful experience both for us and the tourists who were there to enjoy Mickey Mouse`s Magic Kingdom.

Immediately after the first show on the second evening the 'powers that be' from the Disney organisation came backstage to offer congratulations and to entice us back for a return visit. They were impressed by the shows, the content and the contact we had with the audience. Apparently many acts simply come on and present a roster of songs without acknowledging the people sitting in front of them. They praised the sound (Phil Hayes`s department) and the fact that we actually had someone to 'call the lights', something which apparently very few groups have. John Semark, apart from handling the back line equipment, has taught himself the essentials of lighting control and design during his time with the band and always assesses the possibilities during the afternoon sound check period. And at Epcot he had plenty of toys to play with. They asked if we could return next spring, but although we are juggling with dates it seems unlikely as the Solid Silver Sixties Tour for 2009 is not due to finish until the end of May. But we`ll see.

And so to the new CD - 'The Very Best Of The Searchers' - which was released on Monday 12 May by Universal and is being TV advertised. Big things are being hoped for and expected and promotion began the previous day with an acoustic set on the Radio 2 Johnnie Walker Show. From the immediate feedback both here and abroad (we had emails from the U.S from fans who had obviously logged on for the broadcast) it came over well. The banter was light and cheerful, although it did enter choppy waters when Johnnie asked about the Mike Pender situation. That may not have been a pleasant episode in our lives but if people ask we answer truthfully and we did. The unusual acoustic versions of When You Walk In The Room and Love Potion Number 9 seemed to work very well indeed. We also did the This Morning television show on Tuesday 13 May, and who knows what else to come. Keep your fingers crossed for the success of the disc.

See ya.

Frank Allen.

If you would like to ask Frank a question, which will be answered by e-mail, and might even appear at the end of a future issue of this newsletter, please e-mail it to: wendy.burton@the-searchers.co.uk

Question 1:   We always enjoy you doing Beach Baby (from Spencer's previous group First Class) at the shows.  Have you ever considered going back to your own pre-Searchers days and including a Cliff Bennett number? I realise the instrumental sounds are very different, but I'm sure Spencer could achieve that with his synthesizer guitar.
Answer: No, we haven't. We included Beach Baby in order to introduce Spencer in an interesting way and to give him some validity. Having been here for 43 years there`s no need for that with me. We were thinking at one stage of doing some of Dance Yourself Dizzy (from Liquid Gold) with Eddie but thought it was wandering away from the Searchers a bit too much.

Question 2: Having watched a recent programme about remaking Sergeant Peppers using an original 8-track analogue mixing desk with some of today's bands (e.g. Kaiser Chiefs) - in my opinion, the only person who seemed to cope truly with the situation was Bryan Adams - I was wondering what your memories of 8-track were?
Answer: In fact our singles were made on even more primitive 4-track machines. The first two (Sweets For My Sweet and Sugar And Spice, also the first two albums) were recorded direct with no overdubs. When the group got more adventurous and needed more tracks we had to book the use of another 4-track machine and link them together as Pye didn`t have 8-track machines. Proper 8, 16 and 32 track machines never came until later for us.  

Although restrictive it did tend to focus us more and gave us more discipline about time etc. If you have 64 tracks you will use 64 tracks and the danger is that the spontaneity will be lost which I fear, particularly when using click tracks and synthesisers, is very much the case these days although of course the sound is wonderful. For me you simply cannot beat an old Elvis track like Don`t Be Cruel or a Little Richard record like Good Golly Miss Molly, all done on 2 tracks only and with more power than Concorde.