David Cassidy in the News
Years roll away
June 23, 2005
By Jennifer Bradbury,
The Evening Chronicle
The Once in a Lifetime tour starring Les McKeown's Bay City Rollers, The Osmonds, David Essex and David Cassidy hit the Toon last night. Jennifer Bradbury joined the tartan army for a celebration of music from the 70s.
For some punters this wasn't just a concert that brought back a few sweet memories, this was an event, as evidenced by the number of stretch limos lined up outside the Arena.
They weren't going to let a line-up boasting some of the 70s' biggest stars pass without a celebration.
And what a line-up. Les McKeown's Bay City Rollers (the name's a clue - the only original member of BCR there last night was Les), the Osmonds (minus Donny, but little Jimmy was there), David Essex and David Cassidy.
It was a line-up that these women (no surprise there, although we did spot the odd man) could only have dreamed of 30 years ago. Some of the world's biggest heartthrobs and best-selling acts on the same bill.
And hey, it might be more than three decades since many of these women had swooned at the feet of these icons, but those 30 years were swept away on a wave of nostalgia as women (who really should know better) donned their skinners (for those not in the know, half mast pants with tartan stripes), their tartan scarves, and whooped it up to anthems like Shang-a-Lang.
It was like witnessing a mass regression as women, many mums, some no doubt grans, relived those heady days of their youth. Wonderful. You could almost smell the HRT.
Bay City Rollers (well, Les McKeown) opened the show at 7.30pm on the dot. Acts had manners in those days, no coming on stage late. Which explained why the hall at this point wasn't as full as it became later. Nowadays, 7.30pm means 8pm, and many fans were still making their way to the Arena as Les (slightly disappointingly he chose not to wear the tartan uniform of his BCR days) belted out a string of hits including Shang-a-Lang, Give a Little Love and Bye Bye Baby, as women of a certain age waved scarves and sang along.
Next up was the Osmonds, including little Jimmy. I still think he's about eight, so to find that he's now big Jimmy came as something of a shock to the system.
The particular highlight of their set was an energetic performance of Crazy Horses.
David Essex proved that age has not withered his voice with a fantastic performance which included hits like Hold Me Close, Rock On, and Gonna Make U a Star.
The night simply couldn't get better. Could it? And then David Cassidy, who with his I Think I Love You, enjoyed one of the biggest selling singles of all time, came on.
He was one of the blasts from the past who had aged slightly better than most - still good looking after all those years.
For those women who were around the first time these acts hit the headlines this was indeed a once in a lifetime event. And one which I bet many of them thought they'd never witness again. Brilliant
