David Moncur is back home in Scotland, having seen Petula Clark perform live in London on 5 June. Thanks for the report and photos, Dave!
Not long back from London, having spent longer there than I anticipated.
The concert was fantastic. Petula was better than I have ever seen her. There are some new songs in the programme…..
From the new album….. “It’s Ok” and “Heaven’s Door” recorded by my friend David Hadzis in Geneva. There is also a beautiful version of “These were the days of our lives”, (Queen). “Memphis”, is amazing, and “Come along with me” is fantastic……
It was also nice to hear “People get Ready” from 1970 back in the concert. I swear it sounded just like the record.
She just keeps on getting better.
I wouldn’t worry about calling her Pet by the way. I’m sure she doesn’t mind it at all from fans…. after all, if you listen to the song “My name is Petula” she does sing…
“Well I been round and round this great big world
And I haven’t heard it said right yet,
So if you’re gonna call me,
And I’d really would like you to call me,
But if you’re gonna call me
Why don’t you call me Pet,
Just Pet!”
Well… she asked for it.
You can hear excerpts from “It’s ok”, and “Heaven’s Door”, on this page.
Hope you’re well
Dave
Thank you for a great post and great pix, Dave! Petula is a great singer and she always came across as a nice, down-to-earth person! I’m glad she’s still performing and having a great time doing it!
Lots of people think they will be tongue tied around her Jeanie, but as Doug will agree, she makes you feel like a buddy within minutes.
On the day of the concert, we arrived quite early and popped in to the hall, where Kenny Clayton, Petula’s Musical Director welcomed us and chatted, and we sat through the band’s warm up.
Petula came in, waved and gave us a smile and got on with the afternoon’s work, which was getting the sound levels right for that hall. (It’s apparently a very bad hall for acoustics.)
Then there were a couple of alterations made to chords in “Heaven’s Door”, and while, and they ran over it Pet was busy listening to the chords and kinda lost her place with the words… so she blew a raspberry into the mic. Then she sang “To Memphis, at the piano, to make sure that the mic was at the right level. It’s only the piano, which she is playing, for the first verse, and she sang a couple of lines and then said…”for God’s sake get the tempo right….” to herself. The band all laughed, as did we. She’s as funny off stage as she is with an audience.
After a bit more work, she saw the two children of the bass player, sitting down in the audience with us, and she started to talk to them, and make a fuss of them. She got them up on stage and let them sing into the mic. Busy woman, and international superstar, but not to busy for a couple of her bands’ kids. It’s always wonderful to see a real professional at work and it’s even more lovely when that person remains a real human being.
Afterwards, we went out into the town for a walk and to find somewhere to eat, and…. guess who was coming towards us….. Yes! A pretty woman with long blonde hair. I would never have stopped her to talk… this is her down time, and she doesn’t need groupies running after her, but she stopped and asked how we were…. Petula being Petula again.
What a truly lovely woman she is, not to mention a fantastic performer.
Her new album charted this week in the UK at #17, giving her a chart life of 54 years from “Little Shoemaker”, to “Now and Then”.
Can’t help it. I just love Petula.
You heard it from Dave! Still, I’d probably be too overwhelmed to call her anything but “Ms. Clark.” Dammit! Why is it that no matter WHEN the shutter goes off, this woman take a good picture? I think of all the candid shots of me at Christmas, even when I am thin, and I look like **** half the time!
THANK YOU DAVE, for a very welcome change of pace with your PET POST! Believe me, we all need a break from the saccharine bubblegum world of K3! 😉