Blog » Bill’s blog – January 20-23, 2009
Wednesday 4th February 2009
With Bill and the Rhythm Kings now in Holland for the first stage of their recent European tour, Bill kicked off the series of dates with a gig in Hengelo, Holland – and a newspaper interview.
On Tuesday, January 20, Bill headed over to the Rabotheater Hengelo in the afternoon to perform the soundcheck, and bumped into his old friend cricketer Jack Richards – the former England wicket keeper – who was backstage. As well as a chance to catch up, Jack also gave the band numerous bottles of red and white South African wine (gratefully received) for the bus.
With a few hours before the show, Bill did a quick 20-minute interview with Peter Van De Berg for the Dagblat de Limburger regional newspaper, then dashed back to the hotel to change into his stage clothes.
With the show starting at 8pm, the band line-up assembled, including Graham Broad (drums), Bill Wyman (bass/vocals), Albert Lee (guitar/vocals), Terry Taylor (guitar/vocals), Georgie Fame (organ/vocals), Geraint Watkins (piano/vocals), Beverley Skeete (vocals), Frank Mead and Nick Payn (horns).
The first set was I Got A Woman (Georgie), Jump Jive & Wail (Albert), Show Me (Beverley), Too Later (Terry), Cakewalk Into Town (Geraint), All Night Long (Bill), Melody (Georgie/Beverley), Three Cool Cats (Georgie), Race With The Devil (Terry), Green River (Bill/Beverley), Till I Gain Control Again (Albert), and She's Lookin' Good (Beverley).
A quick 20 minute respite, then straight onto I'm Ready (Albert), Crazy Arms (Georgie), Chicken Shack Boogie (Geraint), Honky Tonk Woman (Bill), Sweet Soul Music (Beverley), Words (Georgie/Beverley), That's Better For Me Baby (Terry), You Never Can Tell (Bill), How Strong Is A Woman (Beverley), Louisiana (Geraint), That Is Rock & Roll (Albert), and I Put A Spell On You (Beverley).
The crowd loved it, and Bill met up with a number of fans afterwards to chat music, gigging and the tour.
With the first gig in the bag, it was off to Hamburg by coach on Wednesday, January 21, arriving at the NH City Hotel in the afternoon. Bill and the band were quickly spotted, and Bill took some timeout to sign autographs both inside and outside the hotel. After settling in, Bill headed over to the venue – a large marquee and caravans!
Bill also clocked up some serious media work – doing a TV interview with Bettina Lehnert for EuroMaxx, an interview with Jorg Sonntag for Radio Bremen TV, and with Markus Lucas for Bunte Magazine (Music). He did several more, but lost count before heading back and getting ready for the show.
The concert in Hellgengeistfeld in Hamburg was part of a show based around variations of Sgt Pepper (the Beatles) and Rock & Roll Circus (the Rolling Stones).
The set – which was a swift 40 minutes – included I Got A Woman (Georgie), Jump Jive & Wail (Albert), Show Me (Beverley), Chicken Shack Boogie (Geraint), Melody (Georgie/ Beverley), I'm Ready (Albert), You Never Can Tell (Bill), I Put A Spell On You (Beverley), and finished up with Tear It Up (Albert).
The band left the stage to standing ovations.
The next day, Bill took some time to update his diary and work on some photos from the Battersea show from Lana Topham, before preparing for a repeat gig at the Hellgengeistfeld with the same set – again, to a standing ovation.
Two nights in Hamburg down, Bill and the rest of the band boarded the bus on Friday, January 23 and headed to Zwolle in Holland, travelling through bad weather. Arriving at the Theatre De Spiegel in Zwolle to do a sound check, Bill and the band were onstage just after 8pm to play the first set.
The first set ran with I Got A Woman (Georgie), Jump Jive & Wail (Albert), Show Me (Beverley), Too Later (Terry), Cakewalk Into Town (Geraint), All Night Long (Bill), Melody (Georgie/Beverley) which the band dedicated to Melody in the audience, Race With The Devil (Terry), Green River (Bill/Beverley), Till I Gain Control Again (Albert), and She's Lookin' Good (Beverley).
A short break, then onto the second set with I'm Ready (Albert), Crazy Arms (Georgie), Chicken Shack Boogie (Geraint), Honky Tonk Woman (Bill), Sweet Soul Music (Beverley), Three Cool Cats (Georgie), That's Better For Me Baby (Terry), You Never Can Tell (Bill), How Strong Is A Woman (Beverley), Johnny B. Goode (Geraint), That Is Rock & Roll (Albert), and I Put A Spell On You (Beverley). An encore of Crying In The Rain and Tear It Up resulted in thundering applause and a standing ovation.
But no rest for the band – after the show, it was straight onto the bus of off to the Eden Amsterdam American Hotel in Amsterdam, arriving at 1am.
On Tuesday, January 20, Bill headed over to the Rabotheater Hengelo in the afternoon to perform the soundcheck, and bumped into his old friend cricketer Jack Richards – the former England wicket keeper – who was backstage. As well as a chance to catch up, Jack also gave the band numerous bottles of red and white South African wine (gratefully received) for the bus.
With a few hours before the show, Bill did a quick 20-minute interview with Peter Van De Berg for the Dagblat de Limburger regional newspaper, then dashed back to the hotel to change into his stage clothes.
With the show starting at 8pm, the band line-up assembled, including Graham Broad (drums), Bill Wyman (bass/vocals), Albert Lee (guitar/vocals), Terry Taylor (guitar/vocals), Georgie Fame (organ/vocals), Geraint Watkins (piano/vocals), Beverley Skeete (vocals), Frank Mead and Nick Payn (horns).
The first set was I Got A Woman (Georgie), Jump Jive & Wail (Albert), Show Me (Beverley), Too Later (Terry), Cakewalk Into Town (Geraint), All Night Long (Bill), Melody (Georgie/Beverley), Three Cool Cats (Georgie), Race With The Devil (Terry), Green River (Bill/Beverley), Till I Gain Control Again (Albert), and She's Lookin' Good (Beverley).
A quick 20 minute respite, then straight onto I'm Ready (Albert), Crazy Arms (Georgie), Chicken Shack Boogie (Geraint), Honky Tonk Woman (Bill), Sweet Soul Music (Beverley), Words (Georgie/Beverley), That's Better For Me Baby (Terry), You Never Can Tell (Bill), How Strong Is A Woman (Beverley), Louisiana (Geraint), That Is Rock & Roll (Albert), and I Put A Spell On You (Beverley).
The crowd loved it, and Bill met up with a number of fans afterwards to chat music, gigging and the tour.
With the first gig in the bag, it was off to Hamburg by coach on Wednesday, January 21, arriving at the NH City Hotel in the afternoon. Bill and the band were quickly spotted, and Bill took some timeout to sign autographs both inside and outside the hotel. After settling in, Bill headed over to the venue – a large marquee and caravans!
Bill also clocked up some serious media work – doing a TV interview with Bettina Lehnert for EuroMaxx, an interview with Jorg Sonntag for Radio Bremen TV, and with Markus Lucas for Bunte Magazine (Music). He did several more, but lost count before heading back and getting ready for the show.
The concert in Hellgengeistfeld in Hamburg was part of a show based around variations of Sgt Pepper (the Beatles) and Rock & Roll Circus (the Rolling Stones).
The set – which was a swift 40 minutes – included I Got A Woman (Georgie), Jump Jive & Wail (Albert), Show Me (Beverley), Chicken Shack Boogie (Geraint), Melody (Georgie/ Beverley), I'm Ready (Albert), You Never Can Tell (Bill), I Put A Spell On You (Beverley), and finished up with Tear It Up (Albert).
The band left the stage to standing ovations.
The next day, Bill took some time to update his diary and work on some photos from the Battersea show from Lana Topham, before preparing for a repeat gig at the Hellgengeistfeld with the same set – again, to a standing ovation.
Two nights in Hamburg down, Bill and the rest of the band boarded the bus on Friday, January 23 and headed to Zwolle in Holland, travelling through bad weather. Arriving at the Theatre De Spiegel in Zwolle to do a sound check, Bill and the band were onstage just after 8pm to play the first set.
The first set ran with I Got A Woman (Georgie), Jump Jive & Wail (Albert), Show Me (Beverley), Too Later (Terry), Cakewalk Into Town (Geraint), All Night Long (Bill), Melody (Georgie/Beverley) which the band dedicated to Melody in the audience, Race With The Devil (Terry), Green River (Bill/Beverley), Till I Gain Control Again (Albert), and She's Lookin' Good (Beverley).
A short break, then onto the second set with I'm Ready (Albert), Crazy Arms (Georgie), Chicken Shack Boogie (Geraint), Honky Tonk Woman (Bill), Sweet Soul Music (Beverley), Three Cool Cats (Georgie), That's Better For Me Baby (Terry), You Never Can Tell (Bill), How Strong Is A Woman (Beverley), Johnny B. Goode (Geraint), That Is Rock & Roll (Albert), and I Put A Spell On You (Beverley). An encore of Crying In The Rain and Tear It Up resulted in thundering applause and a standing ovation.
But no rest for the band – after the show, it was straight onto the bus of off to the Eden Amsterdam American Hotel in Amsterdam, arriving at 1am.
