Playing the early hits live

[manofmystery]

In the 1960's did The Shadows ever play the following "live" during one of their tours: -

Man of mystery
The frightened city
Kon Tiki
The savage
Wonderful land
Guitar tango
Dance on

If they did play any of them live (on tour only, not for any of the radio sessions), when did they play the song and where? (The period I am looking at is 1960 to 1968)

Regards

Paul

[JimN]

I saw the Shadows live for the first time in April 1962, but then not again until the autumn of 1964.

Not exactly on tour (it was a week in variety), but I can certainly recall The Shadows playing Wonderful Land live in April 1962 - it was still their latest record. Not long before that, I remember hearing them play a live version of The Savage on an edition of Sunday Night At The London Palladium, so they clearly had it available as a rehearsed item. It's missing from the ABC Kingston show though.

Guitar Tango was released at a time when The Shadows weren't touring (it was more or less while "Summer Holiday" was being made), but it was played live on electric guitars on an ATV programme that summer and was used in the Cliff/Shads 1963 Blackpool summer season (with Licorice playing a double bass). After that, it was dropped and not revived until the John Farrar era. Dance On! was always a popular choice for the group's live performances and has been a staple of the act ever since it was released, along with Foot Tapper. During the mid-sixties, the only retro singles the Shads would have played in a live concert would have been Apache, FBI, Wonderful Land (though not every time), Dance On!, Foot Tapper and then whatever their latest record was. These would be interspersed with album tracks (not many from the early days) from the mid-sixties: Chattanooga Choo-Choo, In The Mood, Brazil... that sort of thing...

JN

[StuartD]

Hi

I first saw them in 1961. It was at Leeds and it was the night Tony was late. They were playing Frightened City when he walked on and joined in!!

I too, like Jim, saw them in April 62 just after Jet had left and Wonderful Land was their latest single. I remember Bruce thanking every one for 'where it went; wherever it went!!'

I remember speaking to Hank at the Lakeside when they did the shows with John Farrar and he said he had had to learn Frightened City, Guitar Tango and Man of Mystery etc by getting out the records and listening to them!! He said he hadn't played them since they were out as single releases. I saw them loads of times, particularly when they started to do 'The Cabaret Set' and they never strayed from Dance On, Apache, Foot Tapper, Flingel Bunt and FBI as far as their hits were concerned. I never saw them do Shadoogie, Frightened City, Man of Mystery, Kon Tiki, Savage, Guitar Tango, Atlantis, Geronimo etc during that period for 65 till they broke up in 68. The only time I saw them do Wonderful Land with John Rostill was on the Cliff Richard Show with Alan Hawkshaw. I know they performed it on some tours with Cliff but once they got into the Cabaret peiod, they never did it.

Regards

Stuart

[George Geddes]

I wrote an article on the Shads setlists up to 1989 for SCOFA. If you can be patient, I'll scan the 60s bit and post it on this thread.

George

[manofmystery]

Thanks to everyone for their very informative replies. Very interesting that they never played most of their early hits whilst on tour to promote them. I would have thought that Man of mystery; The Frightened City; Kon Tiki would have been a staple of their live sets (not TV or radio shows).

Thanks again.

Regards

Paul

[aardvarkd]

I jotted down the set list when I saw The Shadows at Birmingham Town Hall on Tuesday, 13 December 1960, although I can't be entirely certain of the running order. Shazam/Shotgun/Apache/Man of Mystery/Walk, Don't Run/I Love You (vocal)/ The Ying Tong Song (The Goons hit with Hank's 'Bluebottle' voice)/ Sleepwalk. The Hunters opened the show and they were great but The Shadows just exuded such confidence and sheer ability even at that early stage that they were in a class of their own.
PD

[JimN]

I would have thought that Man of mystery; The Frightened City; Kon Tiki would have been a staple of their live sets (not TV or radio shows).

Well, they probably did play TFC and K-T at the time, but they weren't on tour all the time, so some singles would not have been promoted in concerts. For instance, I don't think The Shadows ever performed Rhythm 'N' Greens or Geronimo even when they were current or recent. Similarly Theme For Young Lovers. Not even sure about Shindig.

Of course, they did many of those hits on the 2004/2005 tours, but for some of them, it was their first live performance, even forty years on...

JN

[Didier]

I saw the Shadows at the Paris Olympia in 1961, but if I remember well the kind of sound they had, I can't remember the set list (apart for Apache and FBI). Of course they didn't play some of the tunes on your list which were not part of their repertoire yet.
BTW, "Wonderful Land" is on the Kingston live CD recorded in 1962, so they played this tune live at this time.

Didier

[RuneMoe]

I think PO Alm told me they played Frightened City and Man of Mystery in Stockholm 1961 - and they probably played it on all the shows in Norway, Sweden and Europe that tour.

[Rjanuarsa]

They played

-Man of Mystery
-The Frightened City
-Kon Tiki
among other things even faster tempo "Apache" when the played live in Paris in 1962 with Licorice on Bass.

Regards,

Robby