mxdwn.co.uk » Merseybeat https://www.mxdwn.co.uk all that matters in music in the UK Sun, 14 Jun 2026 19:57:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1 The Searchers to Bow Out After Six Decades with Glastonbury Debut https://www.mxdwn.co.uk/news/the-searchers-to-bow-out-after-six-decades-with-glastonbury-debut/ https://www.mxdwn.co.uk/news/the-searchers-to-bow-out-after-six-decades-with-glastonbury-debut/#comments Mon, 24 Mar 2025 21:08:27 +0000 http://www.mxdwn.co.uk/?p=108059 The Searchers, one of the pioneering bands of the British Invasion, have announced a final UK tour, culminating in an appearance at Glastonbury. The performance, on Glastonbury’s recently announced Acoustic Stage, is set to be their first appearance at the music festival, and their last live performance as they cap off a 68-year career.

 John McNally, the only remaining member of the four founders, reflected on the landmark achievement, telling BBC News, “A Glastonbury debut at 83, can anyone top that? I don’t think life gets any better, does it? There will be a few nerves, but in a good way, and we’ll be nicely warmed up from our shows in June. We can’t wait to see our fans again for this incredible final farewell.”  

Bassist and backing singer, Frank Allen, who joined the group at the height of their success in 1964, added: “I have played shows across the world with The Searchers for over 60 years; Glastonbury has always been an ambition that has eluded us – until now. The Searchers are finally performing at the greatest music festival of them all. What a way to round off a tour and a career. I can’t wait to get up on stage and give our fans one final blast.”

 

Described as “so good, they sounded American – the ultimate accolade back then” by fellow Liverpudlian John Lennon, The Searchers would have a lasting effect on artists across the Atlantic, with their influence rippling across the decades. According to Brian Miller of Vivascene, their sound would shape the jangly 12-string of the Byrds’ Roger McGuinn, influencing both Bob Dylan and Tom Petty.  

The band’s long-awaited Glastonbury debut will see them sharing the same stage as acts like Dhani Harrison, Hugh Cornwell (of the Stranglers), Nick Lowe, and a tribute to their contemporaries, the Bootleg Beatles.  

This “final” farewell tour follows a series of previous retirements. They first announced a farewell tour running from January 2018, playing 162 shows before bowing out in March 2019. They came out of that retirement in 2023, performing 43 shows, before embarking on yet another final 28-stop tour in 2024. During the promotion of the 2024 shows, Frank Allen said they would “accept an important one-off show if such an occasion was offered,” and it seems like a chance to play at the Somerset farm is enough to tempt them out of their retirement.

Their setlist will likely be focusing on the band’s greatest hits given that their last studio release came in 1988. Nothing is confirmed though it is likely that festival goers will hear tracks such as ‘Needles and Pins’, ‘Sweets For My Sweet’, and potentially a cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’, based on data available from their previous setlists.

 

After nearly seven decades of performing, and over 3800 shows, Glastonbury is a fitting curtain call for a band who have influenced so much. Whether it truly is their last show or not, they deserve their debut at the world’s most iconic music festival.



]]> https://www.mxdwn.co.uk/news/the-searchers-to-bow-out-after-six-decades-with-glastonbury-debut/feed/ 0 Tributes Pour In To Merseybeat Legend Gerry Marsden https://www.mxdwn.co.uk/news/tributes-pour-in-to-merseybeat-legend-gerry-marsden/ https://www.mxdwn.co.uk/news/tributes-pour-in-to-merseybeat-legend-gerry-marsden/#comments Mon, 04 Jan 2021 14:54:53 +0000 http://www.mxdwn.co.uk/?p=29075 Tributes have poured in for Gerry and the Pacemakers’ frontman Gerry Marsden, who died yesterday at the age of 78. The Liverpudlian singer, who is recognised as one of the pioneers of the influential Merseybeat movement of the late 1950s and early ’60s, had been hospitalised on Boxing Day with a serious blood infection.

Marsden had founded the band under the moniker Gerry and the Mars Bars in 1959, but after a name change prompted by a complaint from the Mars company, the group could really begin to feel that they were chocolate: their first three UK singles (How Do You Do It?, I Like It and You’ll Never Walk Alone) all soared to the top of the UK singles chart, making them the first act to achieve the feat. Later hits followed on both sides of the Atlantic, including the sweet Bacharach-esque ballad Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying – which has since been covered by the likes of José Feliciano, Gloria Estefan and Paul Carrack – and Ferry Cross The Mersey, which became a signature ode to their home city.

The Pacemakers’ rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone, adapted from the 1945 musical Carousel, would also become synonymous with Merseyside. The chart success of Marsden’s take on the Rodgers and Hammerstein standard led to its adoption as a terrace anthem at Liverpool FC, where its lyrics are now emblazoned on the Shankly Gates outside the club’s Anfield home.

Sir Paul McCartney took to social media to send his respects to a ‘rival‘ and ‘mate‘ whose rise to transatlantic prominence with the Pacemakers began on the same gig circuits of Liverpool and Hamburg trodden by the fledgling Fab Four. Speaking to his Twitter followers, McCartney said: “Gerry was a mate from our early days in Liverpool. He and his group were our biggest rivals on the local scene. His unforgettable performances of You’ll Never Walk Alone and Ferry Cross the Mersey remain in many people’s hearts as reminders of a joyful time in British music. My sympathies go to his wife Pauline and family. See ya, Gerry. I’ll always remember you with a smile. ”

Liverpool’s Cavern Club – the subterranean cauldron of sound known across the world for its connection to the heyday of Merseybeat – also remembered Marsden on its official social media channels, tweeting: “Devastated to hear of the passing of Gerry Marsden…the word legend is often overused but Gerry was not only a legend, but also a very good friend of The Cavern. Gerry and the Pacemakers played the Cavern Club nearly 200 times and Gerry returned to perform numerous times over the years. Always a great show, always good fun and a fantastic story teller.”

Oliver’s Army troubadour Elvis Costello was among a host of other musicians paying tribute. The singer, who has roots in Liverpool and nearby Birkenhead, tweeted: “I was saddened by Gerry Marsden’s passing. His voice will always lead the way at Anfield, in times of celebration or lament. YNWA. He (and his brother, Freddie) wrote some great tunes.” Meanwhile one of Merseyside’s latest up-and-coming music stars, folk-rocker Jamie Webster, described Marsden as “a voice of the city of Liverpool“.

Elsewhere, there were warm tributes from leading Scouse lights in the worlds of entertainment and sport. Comedian John Bishop took to Twitter to hail Marsden as a “gentleman” who left behind “a brilliant catalogue of songs“; while footballer John Aldridge was one of a number of former Reds stars to pay tribute to the singer on social media. The ex-Liverpool, Newport County, Real Sociedad and Republic of Ireland star tweeted that Marsden was a “a lovely bloke” whose “voice will live on forever at Anfield“.

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