Forum Theatre, Malvern – 18th July 2024
Reviewed by Courie Amado Juneau
4.5****
Another star studded night in Malvern, this time in the company of the almost legendary Tony Blackburn and a lorra lorra music from the 60’s (arguably the best decade).
The evening began with the obviously well drilled and musically accomplished Sounds of the 60’s All-Star Band and singers Tor and Ian giving us a taster of what the evening held in store, via a medley including Runaway, Let’s Twist Again and Only The Lonely and the crowd went (gently) wild. And that was all before the great man himself came on!
After a brief introduction and a wonderfully cheesy joke or two – more on that later – we were off again with another medley from the early 60’s which heavily featured Cliff. You can forget how powerful songs like Move It were back in the day – Britain’s first, genuine Rock ‘n’ Roll record still has it.
Apart from more endless cheesy jokes (have I mentioned those?) there’s plenty of anecdotes about Tony’s career including his time on Radio Caroline and Radio 1 and, as you’d expect from someone who is approaching 60 years of professional broadcasting, he knows how to spin an interesting yarn.
Both singers were fabulous and whilst not quite scaling the heights or visceral power of Tom or Tina (then again, who does?) they nevertheless gave it plenty, hit all the right notes and knew how to please, please me (sorry, the crowd).
A flower power section gave the audience members in full Sgt Pepper gear (plus wigs) a moment in the spotlight and for Tony to indulge in some playful ribbing. All good naturedly – he takes the mickey out of himself more than anyone else, especially his own musical achievements (he’s released 29 singles y’know!).
Motown featured heavily and it’s obvious it’s one of Tony’s loves. There were also anecdotes about his shmoozing with pop royalty such as Gene Pitney and Frank (yes Frank) Sinatra! Really, just an excuse to have another medley of hits – and why not? Everyone loved it
It’s strange being feet away from someone who’s been in your living room for decades. Like having a friend over. The love flowed between stage and stalls and back again all evening. He may disparage them but I loved his jokes – my favourites being the ones about buying fruit and undersized jumpers (no punchline spoilers there).
Inevitably, plenty of your favourite songs will be left out. Personally, I’d have liked more Beatles, some Rolling Stones and even Black Sabbath to show the breadth of what the 60’s gave. As it was, there was The Kinks You Really Got Me – a song that is as shockingly visceral now as it was way back then.
So, an evening that was as much a celebration of the man, broadcasting generally and popstar name dropping as it was Tony. A pleasurable couple of hours in the company of some new friends, having fun. Nothing controversial, nothing upsetting, just good clean entertainment. How fitting and how wonderful in this day and age when the news is often so gloomy and TV has forgotten what “light” entertainment means. Well done that man, see you next time around.