Brian Poole and The Tremeloes - Bedworth Civic Hall

23rd October 2006

As you may have seen on my reviews page, I have seen several 60's bands and shows and on Monday 23rd October 2006 I added another to my list! This time it was Brian Poole and The Tremeloes on their 40th anniversary/reunion tour! This was the fourth time I'd seen Brian Poole. He's been part of the fantastic Reelin' and a Rockin' tour and I saw him play with The Electrix at last year's North Newington Music Festival. This was the first time I'd seen The Tremeloes though.
First on stage was The Tremeloes - Rick Westwood, Dave Munden, Joe Gillingham and Chip Hawkes (Yes, Chesney's Dad!). Chip re-joined the band for the re-union tour - This meant that many of the original members were playing together again for the first time in years. Joining the guys later on in the set was Jeff Brown who became the band's bassist in 2005. As Chip Hawkes had returned for this tour, they shared the bass playing throughout the night. They had a brilliant and very funny introduction. For some reason their recorded intro wasn't working, so Brian Poole shouted each of their names from the wings as they bounded onto the stage. If I remember rightly, they kicked off with 'Suddenly You Love Me' and continued with hits including 'Here Comes My Baby' and 'Call Me Number One'. Soon they called on their original front man, Mr Brian Poole. This took everyone back to the early to mid 60's as they performed songs they recorded together as 'Brian Poole and The Tremeloes'. These included 'Do You Love Me', the Roy Orbison penned, 'Candy Man' and the song, 'Someone Someone', which was originally a b-side for The Crickets. As Brian Poole put it, he had sung those songs over the years with many different backing bands and singers, but now he is back for the first time in 40 years performing them with the 'people who recorded them', which is how it should be. Their vocals are still really strong and their powerful harmonies form a solid backing to every song.
After a short break, Brian returned to the stage and explained that he would be back later to perform some more of their shared hits, but first The Tremeloes continued with songs such as 'My Little Lady' - Written by Chip Hawkes about his wife - And the classic, 'Silence Is Golden'. It was amazing to hear this song live as it must be nearly 40 years since they recorded it, but the sound was timeless and the falsetto high notes as pure and clear as ever! They even got everyone joining in with the last line! Towards the end of the night, as promised, Brian returned for 'Twist and Shout' - This time sounding more like The Beatles' version as it had a slower pace than the original. They carried on with some rock and roll and closed the show with the brilliant, 'Even The Bad Times Are Good'.
Afterwards, they met everyone out in the lobby and did some signings - They were selling a selection on CDs and a DVD. I bought the Tremeloes CD and managed to get it signed by the band. Unfortunately, Brian was worrying about getting himself a poster advertising the tour and by the time I had got a few autographs and went to find him, he had disappeared! I didn't mind though because it was an absolutely brilliant night and definitely one of my favourite 60's shows I've seen.

Cick here to see a few photos from the night (Link opens in a new window)