British Rock 'N' Roll legends don’t come much bigger than Marty Wilde and that was clearly evident when he stepped onto the stage of St David’s Hall last Friday evening for the latest date of his Rock 'N' Roll Party Tour.
Looking fabulous in a Rock 'N' Roll stylised yellow jacket, Marty backed by The Wildcats launched into the Elvis classic Lets Have a Party before treating fans to further hits Bad Boy, The Everly Brothers The Price of Love (which featured Marty on harmonica) and John Leyton’s hit Johnny Remember Me, of which Marty performed as a tribute to his friend who couldn’t make the Rock N Roll Party tour due to ill health.
Two slots in the evening were also given over to fellow performers Eden Kane and Mike Berry. Fifty years on from his greatest hits Well I Ask You and Boys Cry, Eden clearly hadn’t lost the ability to hold the audience, even encouraging participation on some numbers. Mike Berry who was Britain ’s own answer to Buddy Holly back in the early 60s also pleased fans with his own hits Tribute to Buddy Holly and The Sunshine of Your Smile which Mike joked is now very popular at funerals.
Marty made several returns to the stage during the evening delivering his own classics Jezebel and Teenager in Love while The Wildcats paid a warm tribute to bass guitarist and former Shadow Jet Harris who died last year by performing a memorable rendition of Jet’s 1963 chart topper Diamonds.
The evening rounded off with all Marty, Eden and Mike uniting to perform some classic Rock 'N' Roll tributes and Marty commenting “When you tell you’re friends where you were tomorrow tell them we weren’t a tribute act – we were the real thing!” After half a century of performing that’s quite a testament!
- A version of this review appeared in The South Wales Argus during November, 2012
- Visit the official website for Marty Wilde
