Gig reviews

Concert Review:
line

Playhouse Theatre (Supporting Bill Haley)
(1979 ?)

Rattle and Roll but no great shakes

Stage: Bill Hayley and the comets - Playhouse Theatre

It was a nostalgia trip back to the swinging 50s and the kids from the Rock'n'Roll era came swaggering in dressed in their tight hipster jeans and leather jackets, all set to shake, rattle and roll to the rhythm of the Father of Rock.
But Bill Hayley just didn't have the energy to get them twisting. The only infected jivers were a bunch of punk rockers who must have been too young to have been part of the rock'n'roll days. And it's a pity that although people were invited to 'get up and boogie in the aisles and do your thing', the few who did were hustled away by a zealous official.
Fumble, the supporting act, dressed in pink suits and tight leathers, got more of a response from their audience than Hayley himself.
Hayley opened up with his Shake, Rattle and Roll number, which should have got the crowd tapping at least. But after an initial spontaneous bout of clapping most people resigned themselves to memories of music that had once got their blood racing and feet moving.
The Comets played two and sometimes three songs to every one of Hayley's and there were excellent solo performances by the saxophonist and drummer but by and large the Comets did not warrant so much time on their own.
Just as the evening was hotting up and even Hayley himself seemed to be enjoying the show, he surprised the audience with his farewell song, then came back to sing his greatest hit, Rock Around The Clock.
If only Hayley could have started and sustained the show with the same energy he showed at the end of it, everyone would have had a good evening.
-S H-