in
Milton Keynes, UK - 13 December 2008

Event: SAILOR In Concert
Location: The Stables Theatre

Photos by: Malcolm Knowles, Mike from www.aylesburyfriars.co.uk


Henry, Grant, Phil and Oliver


SAILOR receive award from Aylesbury Friars Club


Henry, Phil, Oliver and Grant during "La Cumbia"


SAILOR during "La Cumbia"


Oliver


The "Full Monty"...


The "Full Monty"...


Henry, Grant and Phil - announcement for "Con Te Partiṛ"

The songs that SAILOR played in Milton Keynes:

Act 1:
A Glass Of Champagne
Blame It On The Soft Spot
One Drink Too Many
Give Me Shakespeare
The Old Nickelodeon Sound
Harbour
Stay The Night
Just One Of Those Days (Oliver solo)
Traffic Jam (Oliver solo)
Vera From Veracruz

Act 2:
Girls Girls Girls
Panama
Wooly Bully
Mack The Knife
Karma Chameleon
The Secretary
La Cumbia

encores:
Grant's Moment
The Full Monty
Con Te Partiṛ - Time To Say Goodbye
Champagne Reprise

Before and after the show:


Carol, Eileen, Malcolm and Sarah


Eileen together with Henry


Sarah together with Phil


Eileen and Malcolm together with Oliver

A concert review by Mike from www.aylesburyfriars.co.uk:

I’d waited over 30 years to see SAILOR since I first heard Trouble and after a few near misses, finally got to see the band and in my present home town. It was everything I hoped for and proved memorable for me personally.
The band did two 45 minute sets with a well balanced retrospective of their career. It was sad to realise this was Oliver’s last gig and from what I saw, he will be sorely missed. Firstly, I must pay tribute to Henry who had been unwell in the days and weeks up to the concert and was determined to play the gig. By the performance, you would never had known. Songs from my past came flooding back with Blame it on the Soft Spot, One Drink Too Many, Panama, That Old Nickelodeon Sound and so much more. One interesting highlight from the first set was the band leaving Oliver to do a solo acoustic version of Traffic Jam right from the early days. This is something I am not likely to forget as just after Traffic Jam finished, I went on stage to present SAILOR with an award. I had met the band before the gig and Phil and Henry persuaded me to go on stage, something I haven’t done since school days! They finished the first set with Vera from Veracruz and I went straight to the bar to calm my nerves!
I am the webmaster of www.aylesburyfriars.co.uk which documents the legendary Friars Club in Aylesbury, England. Many bands in the 1970s found the Aylesbury audience very special in the early days and went on to be very successful. SAILOR is one such band having played five very successful concerts in 1975-1976.  Although the club closed in 1984, 2009 sees the 40th anniversary of the club’s founding and to commemorate that, the website is looking to honour Friars Heroes and I am delighted to say that SAILOR were the inaugural recipients of this award which led to me making a little speech and the band gracefully accepting.
The second half of the show was just as much fun and the band looked like they were really enjoying themselves as much as the audience were. Henry’s red suit was something to behold. They played Wooly Bully as they said that a German fan is not keen on it so they would get away with it in England! The band were mocking themselves making introductions in German every now and then as they play so many concerts there. Karma Chameleon was brilliant, gently ribbing about a certain singer’s current predicament and Oliver’s operatic "Il Conte Partiro" near the end of main set was something you had to hear and see to appreciate what a talent the man is.
Time for the Full Monty routine and the Champagne reprise and it was sadly all over.
Phil and Grant gave me time for an interview afterwards which will be on the website in the next few weeks. All I can say was that it was a great gig and they were great people to meet.
The venue has a very strict no photography policy so I have no pictures of them on stage or them receiving their award unfortunately, but I enclose a picture of the band afterwards with the award.
Very best
Mike

"Time to say goodbye" - A concert review by Malcolm Knowles:

Eileen and I attracted plenty of looks as we arrived at The Stables in Milton Keynes but for us a SAILOR gig isn’t a SAILOR gig unless you dress up. Thankfully, Sarah arrived a short while later ensuring we were not the only fans in our SAILOR gear.
The news had reached us earlier in the week, that this was to be Ollie’s last gig, so we knew it would be a special evening. And so it proved to be. SAILOR took to the stage for the first part of the show and launched into "Glass of Champagne" with all the enthusiasm we have become so used to. "Blame it on the Soft Spot" followed and the crowd were already singing along. After the usual cultural experience that is "Shakespeare" we arrive at my personal favourite, "The Old Nickelodeon Sound". Despite the absence of many of the European fans who can normally be relied upon to lead the audience participation, Grant had no problem in getting this entire room waving their arms throughout the song. This was an audience containing many friends and family members of the band and they were all clearly there to enjoy themselves.
Henry was in a chatty mood and, having thanked the audience for coming, most of them by name, we moved onto "Harbour" (thanks for the gold doubloons Henry). Again, the audience did their bit by trying to shout "Harbour" in all the right places (not easy!). After a beautiful version of "Stay The Night" we were then treated to the highlight of the evening – two acoustic numbers performed by Ollie. The first, "One Of Those Days", was lovely and the acoustic version of "Traffic Jam" that followed was an absolute gem. Had Ollie not been leaving this would surely have become a regular feature of the set. "Vera" drew the first half to a close – Phew!!
"Girls Girls Girls" started the equally lively second half. The band rattled through their three non-SAILOR numbers before getting back to basics with "Secretary". Despite one or two struggles getting the ties off, "The Full Monty" was a lot of fun and we all applauded Dee Dee Wilde (ex-Pan’s People) who originally choreographed the piece and was in the audience. Apparently it is 10 years old now – amazing how quickly time passes.
Another nice touch to the evening came when a gentlemen from The Friars at Aylesbury (a long established UK venue) presented the band with an award to acknowledge their association with the venue. In fact there is a nice quote about the place from Phil on their website at www.aylesburyfriars.co.uk.
And so, we reached Ollie’s final moment. He walked to the front of the stage and sung "Time To Say Goodbye" with more meaning than ever before. It was a stunning moment. Ollie has an extraordinary voice and SAILOR fans' loss will hopefully be the world of opera's gain. Good luck Ollie. You’ve done a fantastic job and we’ll miss you. I guess we couldn’t expect you to have stayed in your dad’s old band forever!
After the show, the guys mingled with the audience and were happy to chat and pose for some pictures. As always, Eileen and I had a fantastic night and were still singing SAILOR songs as we made the short journey back to our hotel. As you would expect the band were not saying much about their plans to replace Ollie. The only thing I did establish is that the show will go on and that’s good enough for me.
Happy Christmas everyone!!!!!!!
Malcolm

Concert Photos    

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