so yes, then, this post shall do what it says on the box, or if you will the title. more or less, at least, for it is all about the one night of the tour i got to go to, look you see. which was the gig in Newcastle at the city hall (or 02 or what they call it now, but everyone knows this legendary venue by the original name) just one week prior to the date of this being published.
indeed, as something of a warning, there is some video of a poor quality. there is the odd snatch of fury in them where the footage is not bad but the sound isn't great. should you be looking for videos or other such recordings of the gig (or any of the other nights from the tour) i would suggest having a look somewhere else, as undoubtedly people with (much) more better phones will have done a (considerably) better job of it than moi with my rather lacking device.
for a confession, or maybe a declaration of shame, i did hesitate about going to this gig. it was on a sunday, which is both unusual and, at the time for my verk stuff, a bit tricky as i would have needed to take a week off from being sent all over the country. the sense of doubt passed relatively quickly, however, as i remembered more of who i am, and a Holly Johnson gig would and should be more important than anything else either in this world or the next. also, or further, went right ahead and purchased one of the "VIP experience" tickets, which was kind of twice the price of a regular one. yes there was some hesitation with that too, but then i went if not now then when. more on that, in particular what you got for that cost (just somewhere north of £100, from what i remember), as we go.
mostly, though, what you got was a "priority seat" with what they said would be a really good view. i am guessing my hesitation cost me a seat in row A or B, but then as you will see from the pics, my seat in the centre of row C meant i had a full tilt face on right up and close view of Holly. so that, in itself, meant that i got exceptional, worth every penny value off of my ticket. the shame of even doubting going ahead with that will linger for a while.
very strange (indeed) to be seeing Holly Johnson in concert without Uncle Colin being stood (or sat) right there next to me. famously he was there for the two previous ones, all the way back in 1987 (see any post i have gone done on January 10 just about every year i have done this blog) and then a couple of years ago (here). certainly i asked if he wished to go again, but he politely declined, speculating that there was every chance they'd be away on holiday at the time. also, if we are being honest, he isn't quite as big a fan of either Holly or Frankie as i am, and seeing him twice is likely twice more than he had ever anticipated in his life. still, not buying two regular tickets, with my mental gymnastics, kind of meant that one VIP ticket was "same difference".
not that i was "on my own" at the gig as such. but yes, i do (rather) like going to gigs (and the cinema) on my own. people suspect that this is "loneliness" but not really. i am off to see a live act, or watch a film, not chat to a friend. for this one the legendary g-man had arranged a get together before the gig, and as it turned out we all had seats reasonably close to each other. truly a fantastic bunch, with all of us remaining passionate about a band what ceased to exist 38 (or so) years ago. of the gang (so to speak) one had come all the way from America for (mostly) the gig, and one had a VIP ticket for each and every night of the tour. respect, man, respect.
quite some way into this post and i haven't really said much about the actual concert, have i? nothing new there with my usual approach. all i can give is an entirely (purely) subjective review, and that is it was breathtakingly amazing. when he (Holly) came out (so to speak) and i was right slap centre full tilt in front of him as he did Welcome To The Pleasuredome, the tears welled up in my eyes, i am unashamed to say i felt a level of joy, elation, euphoria and a "high" if you will like one seldom ever gets to experience. my wish in this world is that everyone has something in their life that they are just as passionate about and they get to experience what i did that night.
ostensibly the tour was to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Welcome To The Pleasuredome album, despite this year (2025) being the 41st anniversary of it. well, the last tour was kind of presented as a similar form of celebration of Relax and the Blast album but was also a year out. does such matter? not really, just thrilled that he's taken a shine to being out (so to speak) performing again.
got a bit distracted there. well, no, he did not opt (or elect) to play the whole of that album in full. for a start something like, for instance, Ballad Of 32 might not have gone well, and getting a (then) Prince Charles impersonator (unless it was really him on the record) to discuss orgasms might have been a bit excessive. still, we got Black Night White Light from that album, which was ace. further we got Wish which was otherwise a live rarity, and then Happy Hi, introduced as a fan favourite and was the b-side for the Welcome To The Pleasuredome single. alas, no Krisco Kisses or (my personal favourite) Only Star In Heaven, but cannot argue with what we got.
in respect of Holly's solo material, not as much as on the previous gig. hopefully this was purely down to the tour being what it was and no adverse reaction to those numbers, as they were great. we got the four singles off of Blast, plus Penny Arcade. for the latter, Holly has spoken of his disappointment that it never really took off as a single, for he was always proud of it. rightly too, as it really is a brilliant song. from Frankie's second, less ("fewer") well received album, Liverpool, just Rage Hard and then Watching The Wildlife, the latter feeling like being another song Holly seems rather prouder than proud of. some expressed "surprise", if not quite disappointment, that there was no Warriors Of The Wasteland, but you can't do them all. as a frame of reference, when The Stone Roses did their thing way back in 2012, it is not like loads of people got all upset with the sparse selections off of Second Coming.
for talking in between songs, Holly remains his beautiful, unfiltered, honest, direct and unapologetic self. unsurprisingly the most well received comment was when he spoke fondly of the last time he played a gig in Newcastle. this was (he was assured by a friend) in late 84 or early 85, when Frankie delivered a blistering set for The Tube's Europe A Go Go thing (there are good copies online). mostly he shared this as means of an introduction to Born To Run, which they played then, but he did say that his favourite memory from that gig was "going cottaging in the town".
risking the (not entirely unfair) accusation of simply showing off, a gander, then, at my VIP stash bag, plus the other "merch" purchased, and one exceptionally special item.
with regards to what your VIP experience ticket got you, that would be the smart black bag, the lanyard, the enamel badges and (shown below) a signed print of the tour poster. for the "merch", well, an absolute immediate purchase was the scarf. not only do i (appreciating it is summer right now) likely need a proper scarf, it was the BANG! branding stuff my heart craved back in the 80s but never got. sure it's the Holly logo rather than the Frankie one in the equation, but still. since they never go up to my more generous side i didn't immediately purchase the t-shirt featuring the same equation. however, on reflection, i was sure i would regret not getting one. besides, my present health plight means that i seem to be losing weight, by default or design. might be it shall fit one of these days.
extra special shout out to g-man, and indeed his extremely talented son, for the glass coaster you can kind of see at the bottom left of the t-shirt. to commemorate both the gig and the rare get together of so many of us fans he had his lad make some of these, individually numbered, so we would always have a keepsake from it. blown away by the generosity, the sentiment and very much the high grade quality of it.
have no idea if anyone wishes for a closer look (or gander) at the signed print, but here you go. just an initial for the signature, then, but that's cool. after all i do have other signed things off of Holly, with one of them in particular being rather special to me, forever.
here you go, and you have been warned of the quality, with the "best" of the video snippets i took. these are the ones that seem (or appear) not too bad, which speaks a lot of the quality of the ones i discarded. since the gig commenced with Welcome To The Pleasuredome, so does this set of videos.
my good friend Codename : Magic would have got reasonably (if not quite) cross had i not sent him a clip of Americanos, so indeed i forwarded one and here it is for you too.
as i have mentioned before it is, for some reason, that most people consider Americanos to be the best or most memorable one from Holly's solo career. it's not bad, but i have always loved Love Train more, which is indeed the next clip for you.
it was never at number one as long but Relax remains the biggest selling single, and likely the one song that Frankie Goes To Hollywood shall eternally be remembered for. and why not. very pleasing indeed to see if not the same then similar leatherman doing boss dance moves on the backing screen for this, as was the case at the last gig.
over the years Holly has spoken of how this one (The Power Of Love) is his favourite, of how he would wish it were this song that he is remembered for. quite rare for any artist, in any medium or forum, to single out just one work so, and from what i recall of (reasonably) rare live performances by him during the 90s this was (i stand to be corrected) the only song he would perform. i shall forever remember him for every excellent song he shared with us, to be honest.
beyond the ones already given here a couple of special shout outs. first, in a couple of senses, Lee Griffiths. he was the support act (at the personal invitation of Holly) and was remarkable. gifted guitarist, brilliant songwriter and a wonderfully, witty and engaging person. i was delighted to get the chance to meet him after the set, get one of his tapes (discs) and he signed it for me. really hope that i have the opportunity to see him again one day. huge shout out to Holly's support band, each of who(m) was in blistering form, and whichever gifted artist (or artists) was/were responsible for the most impressive visuals on the screen.
and a big shout out to Newcastle. wow. it's always been a fantastic night whenever i have been there for a gig, but just how orientated they are to all having a good time came to the fore. not only was Holly playing the (brilliant) City Hall, there was the matter of Sam Fender playing a (presumably sold out or damned close to it) gig at St James Park. how the city coped is a lesson to all cities for big events, with particular emphasis on that there London (innit). all bars and what have you were heaving, but service was not a problem, and all there in whatever capacity were friendly, co-operative and determined that they would have fun, everyone would have fun.
right, that's probably quite enough for this post, even if i have somehow managed to not write all that much of the gig itself. hey ho.
shall i get the chance to see Holly Johnson again? who knows. i never expected to see him, or any Frankie, ever again after the split in 1987, so will gladly take these two recent opportunities as some of the best bonuses life has thrown my way. not sure the budget shall allow for another VIP experience if he does hit the road again, but you never know what's hanging until it drops.
many thanks for reading, and if you went to this or any other gig on the tour (or all of them), really hope you had the same blast i did!
switch off your shields, switch off and feel.