“We’ll kick off with some rock n roll and then have some fun!” promised Barron Knights founder Pete Langford at Newport Riverfront on Friday evening and it has to be said the band known by their peers as “The guvnors” certainly delivered.
The Barron Knights now in their 50th year are one of the few acts to have toured with both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones during the 1960s. Initially a serious pop act, they made their name internationally in the 1960s and 70s as a pop act that parodied the popular hits of the day through medleys such as Call Up the Groups and A Taste of Aggro.
Visitors to the Riverfront on Friday evening sampled these delights once again from the alternative to The Searchers Needles and Pins (Saucepans and Tins) via Brotherhood Of Man’s Angelo (Greasy Joe) to Boney M’s River’s Of Babylon (There’s A Dentist In Birmingham).
Pete Langford along with Len Crawley on Keyboards, Mickey Groome on Bass and Lloyd Courtenay on drums kept the audience smiling for over two hours with parodies and perfect tributes to the likes of The Beach Boys, The Everly Brothers and The Four Seasons.
The group also delighted in delivering cheeky parodies of David Bowie’s Space Oddity (Birth Control To Ginger Tom) and The Windmills of Your Mind (Poem for The Aged) while delivering pitch perfect covers of Eddie Cochran’s C’mon Everybody and The Coasters’ Yakety Yak.
A roar of excitement went up from the audience when it was announced The Barron Knights may return to Newport next year and with the smiles the band raised on Friday night that certainly isn't a bad thing!
- A version of this review by Andy Howells was published in The South Wales Argus during October, 2011.
- Review of The Barron Knights at Newport Riverfront in January, 2008.
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