Wembley Arena 23rd October 2009

[Steve Parish]

Outstanding!!!! Simply outstanding! I'll write more when I've come down!

[Steve Parish]

ok... this is what I've put on the Official Cliff forum...
'As a drummer, I thought Brian was superb! He played certain things that left me and my bass playing mate open mouthed (we loved especially the groove on Willie And The Handjive, Mark Griffiths was playing a Fender Precision bass he observed)... the vocals sounded outstanding (I positively marvel at the higher vocal range that Bruce sings in!)... my mate, not a previously massive Shads fan, was stunned at how fast Bruce plays on The Savage! Hank, of course, was his usual brilliant self. Cliff? OUTSTANDING! The first time I've seen him live... I could type a host of superlatives and they wouldn't begin to depict how awesome his performance was! All Shook Up really impressed us both, fantastic harmonies! All in all, a fantastic show!
You've made a Shadows fan very happy (and gained a new one! He wants to incorporate some 'clever' bits into our songs now after hearing the Shads... muso's will know what I mean!)...
Great!
Please, please.... I'm begging you! Cliff and the Shads, keep it going!'
As you can see, I thoroughly enjoyed it! My band's bass player is 22 years old by the way (I'm 27)... he was brought up on punk music by his parents but got into bands like the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Coldplay, Pink Floyd and the Beatles... he has seen many bands live, but rates the Shads as the tightest band he has ever seen... a new fan! Must do him a copy of Rockin' With Curley Leads, Specs Appeal and Marvin, Welch and Farrar just to surprise him!

[RayL]

Yes, a great show. Wonderful performances all round and flawless musicianship from The Shadows - not only the 'big three', but Warren, Mark and Keith as well. Noticeable how extra warm was the appreciation for The Shadows two sets.

The two frame (or is it three frame?) delay on the video screens was a bit disconcerting at times, particularly on Brian's count-ins (and will they fix that faulty winking blue pixel in the centre of the display that particularly shows up against the amber 'curtains'?). While we're taliking about the video side, the locked-off camera on Brian seemed noticeably softer than the others and I could have done without the monochrome and 'old scratchy film' filters that were used for the start of The Shadows' sets (Sorry, video is what I do so I notice these things!)

Can someone confirm that Cliff's acoustic is tuned to a chord (presumably E major)? He seemed to be fretting it with a single finger while Bruce was playing an A Major at nut position.

The Burns looked particularly georgeous - and it sounded good, too.

Amongst the people in the sell-out audience were George and Margaret Geddes, Colin and Janet Pryce-Jones and fellow member of The Secrets, Peter Walter.

' The people who stand up' were a real pain last night - very selfish.We were in the centre seats and for many numbers all we could see was a few glimpses of the top of the screens. The stewards only seemed concerned with keeping the gangways clear.

The crowd handling (or the lack of it) after the show was a disgrace. A solid mass of people were jammed in Engineers Way, trying to move towards the car park, Olympic Way and Wembley Park station, while cars and taxis attempted to move in both directions through this packed crowd. An absolute recipe for disaster. It's as if the Wembley authorities wash their hands of any responsibility for people's safety once they leave the Arena, and the signage is pathetic.

But nothing can take away from the achievment of Cliff and The Shadows - and they were talking last night about 'possibilities for the future' so don't despair - the reaction to this tour means I'm sure we'll be seeing them again on stage!

Ray L

[Tim]

Ray
I think Cliff's guitar was tuned to an open G: DGDGBD with the capo on the second fret - hence an A major on open strings. Means he can play major chord (e.g D major at fifth fret) with first finger barre. Begs the question 'why'! It's the classic blues slide tuning - known as 'Keef' tuning these days because Keith Richards uses it a lot (but apparently only 5 strings - doesn't use the bottom D string.) I didn't notice Cliff was using a slide or playing blues. But I may have missed that! Open E tuning is unusual as it apparently puts a strain on the guitar neck. Most people use an open D tuning: DADF#AD with capo on second fret to get open E. I don't think Cliff was using D tuning but again I may be wrong!
Tim

[RayL]

Oh, and by the way, was it Cliff himself who decided to bowdlerise 'Sea Cruise' and replace that marvellously evocative line about "I got a boogie-woogie like a knife in the back" with something innocuous about a railroad track?

Ray L

[Martin Page]

Ray
I think Cliff's guitar was tuned to an open G: DGDGBD with the capo on the second fret - hence an A major on open strings. Means he can play major chord (e.g D major at fifth fret) with first finger barre. Begs the question 'why'! It's the classic blues slide tuning - known as 'Keef' tuning these days because Keith Richards uses it a lot (but apparently only 5 strings - doesn't use the bottom D string.) I didn't notice Cliff was using a slide or playing blues. But I may have missed that! Open E tuning is unusual as it apparently puts a strain on the guitar neck. Most people use an open D tuning: DADF#AD with capo on second fret to get open E. I don't think Cliff was using D tuning but again I may be wrong!
Tim

Yes, I noticed the open tuning on Cliff's guitar at the O2. We all know that Cliff can play chords absolutely fine - perhaps he was just trying simplify things for the concert.

Martin.

[AlanMcKillop]

........... or add another dimension to the acoustic sound as there were 3 guitars.

[Sleepwalker63]

Yes, I noticed the open tuning on Cliff's guitar at the O2. We all know that Cliff can play chords absolutely fine - perhaps he was just trying simplify things for the concert.

Martin.

He used the same capo / open tuning 31 years ago when they did All Shook Up on the Thank you Very Much video.

Richard.

[Didier]

Please, please.... I'm begging you! Cliff and the Shads, keep it going!'

Well, the first part of the 50th anniversary tour is over. After this "warm up" in Ireland and UK, and two weeks rest, Cliff and the Shads will be in top condition for the second part of the tour, starting in Paris on november 7th.
I'll be there...

Didier
P.S. As far as I know, due to a total lack of promo and media coverage here, there might be a few tickets left...

[emielvisser48]

Hi,

Lack of publicity in Holland also, but the two nights in Rotterdam are sold out!
Waiting for the 11th november.....

Regards
Emiel