White Rock Concert Report

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Gary made a triumphant return to the stage at the White Rock Hotel, Hastings accompanied by Chris Black & Blackcat on Saturday 3 December 2005. 

Many fans had travelled from various parts of the UK in abysmal weather conditions, having decided to make a full weekend of the occasion.  Consequently things kicked off on the Friday night when Gary joined us all at the White Rock Theatre to see Chris Black & Blackcat perform their excellent 'C’Mon Everybody' show.  Chris and his band put on a fantastic performance full of classic rock ‘n’ roll, which had the audience singing, tapping their feet and even dancing in the aisles!  The theatre show was followed by a midnight buffet at the hotel where Gary, all band members and the fans partied into the early hours.  The night proved to be the perfect appetiser for what was to come the following evening. 

Chris Black & Blackcat opened up on Saturday night with more of their brilliant rock ‘n’ roll then, following a short interval, came the moment everyone had been waiting for.  After an introduction by Mike Williams, who was an original member of Gary's group The Rain and friend of all three Walker Brothers, Gary finally appeared onstage.  Dressed casually in denim jeans and a maroon shirt, it was obvious from the start that he was more comfortable and relaxed than during his previous appearance in July.  Full of confidence, he launched into an amazing string of funny stories, which had the audience in fits of laughter before breaking into his first number, “Twinkie Lee” followed by a rocking version of “Dizzy Miss Lizzie”. 

More funny stories were told between songs, the next one being the New Radicals' song “You Get What You Give", a personal favourite of Gary's … superb!  One of the highlights of the evening was Gary performing live the first of two tracks that were featured on the final Walker Brothers’ album Nite Flights.  His self-penned song “Den Haague” was just amazing, and was excellently performed by Gary and the band.  This was followed by “Spooky” and although Gary started off singing, he proceeded to individually invite many of his female fans onto the dance floor for a slow dance with him.  His final, somewhat reluctant dancing partner was his wife Barbara, who had come along with friends and family to enjoy Gary's return to the stage. 

The next highlight of the show was Gary's version of “Slow Down”, which many fans will recall John and Scott performing on the US TV show 'Shindig' way back in 1964.  Gary was really rocking by this time!!  This was then followed by the second of his Nite Flights’ songs, “Death Of Romance”, which apparently he and Scott jokingly used to call “Death Of Ramirass”! 

A new song by Gary followed (a taste of things to come?) called “Revolution”, which was enthusiastically received by all, before going into his final number.  He could not have picked a better finale, having chosen to end his performance with the old Walker Brothers’ introductory song “Land Of 1000 Dances”.  It was obvious to all that Gary was really enjoying himself, and the audience members could not resist hitting the dance floor once more.  

A standing ovation followed before Gary finally exited the stage, whereupon he was delighted to sign autographs, pose for photos and mingle with everybody for the rest of the evening.  It was way into the early hours before he reluctantly retired, having made a lot of people very happy! 

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