Fans of 1960s music had a great opportunity to reel back the years when Gerry and The Pacemakers gave a fantastic concert at Newport Riverfront on Saturday evening.
Supported by a new incarnation of The Pacemakers who opened with Smokey Robinson’s Get Ready, Gerry Marsden then took to the stage and proceeded to belt out his 1964 hit It’s Gonna Be Alright.
Gerry, ever the consummate performer, still retained his cheeky grin and regularly joked with the audience between songs, much to everybody’s delight.
When asking the audience to guess the composer of the next song he was to perform with the description of "he was short and played the piano", your Argus reviewer had to blurt out “Fat’s Domino!”. Gerry then asked me to make myself known by standing up and rewarded me with a nod of approval and a “Well Done, Son!” – Then launching into a rendition of Blueberry Hill – what an honour!
Tributes to Elvis, Little Richard, The Beatles and Roy Orbison were interspersed with Gerry revisiting his many of his own hits including How Do You Do It and Ferry Cross the Mersey.
The Pacemakers also gave a fabulous rendition of Heard It Through The Grapevine with a brilliant vocal provided by Garth Watt-Roy.
The concert concluded with Gerry performing his 1963 Number One, You’ll Never Walk Alone which had the audience out of their seats and joining in, proving that Gerry Marsden is still pick of the pops with his many fans – long may that continue!
- A version of this review by Andy Howells was published in The South Wales Argus during March, 2011
- Read Andy Howells' review for Gerry Cross The Mersey @Newport Riverfront, 2007
- For more information on Gerry and The Pacemakers visit their official website.
