REVIEW: Gerry and the Pacemakers, New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth

Opening the show with a largely original lineup, the Merseybeats covered a selection of classics of the era and many of their own hits, including the biggest, I Think Of You.

They warmed the audience up nicely for Gerry Marsden and his current Pacemakers.

Having been the first (and for twenty years, only) band to have their first three releases hit the top of the charts, the show opened with debut single How Do You Do It.

Not surprisingly we had to wait for the other two but the intervening songs included I’m The One, their fourth single which ‘only’ made number two and their biggest US hit Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying.

Finally, much to the delight of an audience that was largely old enough to recall them the first time around, we were treated to those other two classics, I Like It and then the classic sing-along anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Predictable perhaps, and Gerry must have sung it many thousands of times but he put his heart into it and he still hits the notes that made it a rousing close to a night of nostalgia.

– MARTIN COX