There’s a feeling of magic on those rare occasions when the words ‘The Hollies’ are directly followed by the words ‘U.S. Tour.’ I’d rather not describe the sound I made when I saw that combination on Instagram yesterday, other than to say it was happy. I must quickly add though that so far, the band’s 2022 visit here (tickets are already on sale) will only include five cities.
Their April 7 Chicago gig at the Athenaeum Theatre falls between New York, NY and Beverly Hills, CA, with the other two stops being in Morristown, NJ and Washington, D.C. A fan who doesn’t live in any of those locations exuded the American pioneer spirit yesterday by posting, “Looks like we’re going on a road trip" on Facebook. To put things in perspective, The Hollies haven’t performed on American soil since a small town tour in 2002.
Back then, my wife Pam drove us to Stillwater, MN to see The Hollies at an outdoor festival called Lumberjack Days. Unfortunately, it was rained out, but since the stage was on a barge on a river, we were able to watch their soundcheck earlier that afternoon, and meet the charismatic Carl Wayne. Wayne was lead vocalist for The Hollies at that time; sadly he passed away a few years later. I did see The Hollies reunion tour in 1983, which included Allan Clarke and Graham Nash, and I saw them in 1972 when Mikael Rickfors was lead vocalist.
Hollies fans in Europe have long enjoyed the privilege of attending Hollies concerts on a regular basis. Although the band has gone through several lineup changes over the years, they’ve never stopped touring since they first developed a loyal following in the early 1960s. These days, guitarist Tony Hicks and drummer Bobby Elliott are the only remaining originals, but the musicians they perform with have been onboard for years and are pros at delivering all those hit singles. Peter Howarth does a fine job as lead vocalist.
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