  The Shadows' long and influential career has spanned 6 decades, with hit singles or albums in every one of them. Hank Marvin's guitar playing has been an inspiration to hordes of "wannabes" down the years, including the likes of Brian May, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend. George Harrison, Mark Knofler, Neil Young, Randy Bachman.
Over a decade since their last tour, Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch and Brian Bennett reunited as The Shadows for The Final Tour, which kicked off in spring 2004. A sell out everywhere, the band played to over 90,000 people in the UK. This concert was recorded at Cardiff's International Arena on June 5.
The tracklisting includes an astonishing 23 top ten hits, of which no less than 8 were No.1's, together with other favourite Shadows tracks.
Fans around the world reacted with mixed feelings to the news that The Shadows would unite one more time in the spring of 2004. There was rejoicing at the opportunity to see the legendary band together again, but sadness that it was intended as a final tour. The demand for tickets was overwhelming and extra dates were added.
The Final Tour isn't really over yet - the European dates extend into 2005, and offers from Australasia are being considered.
Thousands of young budding guitarists around the world, some who went on to great success, were inspired by The Shadows to stand in front of the bedroom mirror, playing their air guitars. Hank, in particular, has been credited by several top guitarists as the most important factor in their wanting to play guitar. The list is huge, and includes the following: Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Brian May, Neil Young, Mark Knopfler, Roger Taylor, Ritchie Blackmore, Randy Bachman, Peter Frampton, Keith Urban, Bela Fleck, Steve Stevens, and Andy Summers.
Eagle Rock Entertainment filmed the Cardiff concert for video and DVD, in keeping with the popularity of such events for home entertainment. Fan requests to the band, the management, and Eagle Rock led to the simultaneous release of an audio CD of the full concert.
We know there are a large number of Shadows fans in Canada and the USA, despite the fact that they only toured here once, with Cliff, as part of the "Biggest Show of Stars" in early 1960. They were billed as an "Extra Added Attraction" from England, and stole the show every night of the 33 night tour. They played Montreal, Toronto, and Kitchener north of the border, and in the US they played cities in New York, Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, Kansas, Oklahoma, Michigan, Kentucky, and Texas. Despite the exposure and appreciative audiences, the tour did nothing to boost their success in North America. Although there are likely some people who became fans because of this tour, it seems that Cliff and The Shadows fan base grew here because of Canadian and American families spending time on the military bases in Europe. Literally thousands of Cliff and The Shadows records made their way to North America in trunks with all the other household goods when dad's tour of duty overseas was completed. Those albums were heard by a wide audience of friends who had never heard Cliff or The Shadows on the radio. It is a testament to their unique and enduring talents that from those early days they have maintained an almost "cult like" following here, having made only one tour, and released very few records.
"The Shadows - The Final Tour" presents a chronology of the amazing career of this legendary band - the likes of which will never be seen again. Having this DVD, identical to the UK release, available in Region 1, NTSC format is a real coup. Don't miss the opportunity to add this gem to your collection.
Eagle Rock Records 2 CD set / Eagle Rock Vision DVD Track Listing... |
1. Intro - Apache Medley
2. Riders In The Sky
3. The Frightened City
4. Theme For Young Lovers
5. Peace Pipe
6. The Savage
7. Let Me Be The One
8. The Stranger
9. Kon Tiki
10. Going Home (Theme from Local Hero)
11. Dance On
12. Nivram
13. Lady Of The Morning
14. My Home Town
15. Guitar Tango
16. Geronimo
17. Sleepwalk
18. 36-24-36
19. Shazam
20. Don't Cry For Me Argentina
21. Equinox V
| 22. Mountains Of The Moon
23. Shadoogie
24. Gonzales
25. Don't Make My Baby Blue
26. The Rise And Fall Of Flingle Bunt
27. Atlantis
28. Shindig
29. Man Of Mystery
30. Foot Tapper
31. Please Don't Tease
32. In The Country
33. I Could Easily Fall
34. The Day I Met Marie
35. Gee Whiz It's You
36. Summer Holiday
37. Bachelor Boy
38. Little B
39. Theme From The Deerhunter
40. Wonderful Land
41. FBI
42. Apache |
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Click on the Fender for a sample
of the Shadow's Music
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