The Searchers at the Liverpool Empire Theatre. November 2014. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

You are never too young to be spoken of highly, you are never too old to perform as if the world has always loved you and as long as there is an audience who responds to your music then never mind the detractors, forget those that decry the period as something that is no longer relevant, for the four men who make up The Searchers, every cheer, every moment of the long lasting applause between songs and every well played note was more than worth rolling back the years to headline a night of pure wonderful 60s music at the Liverpool Empire Theatre.

The steady build up of music had slowly been gathering pace, there was an air of frenzy building throughout the auditorium of the Empire Theatre as the expectant crowd themselves found their thoughts being taken back to a time when Liverpool ruled the pop charts for the first time. Mersey beat may have departed physically but its spirit and legacy can be found in a venue in the city where a young musician, bought up on tales of the first great explosion of The Beatles, The Searchers and Gerry and the Pacemakers and following on with bands such as The Icicle Works, The Christians and Pele paved the path more evenly, can readily be excepted more than in any other city or town in the U.K.

The Searchers are owed a debt as big as the tremendous Gerry Marsden and The Beatles and whilst the mystic will always be with the four lads who made Penny Lane famous and gave Sgt. Pepper his big moment, The Searchers are just as equally viable a conversation piece when it comes to great bands of the time.

Time has moved on, however for the final part of what was a tremendous rummage through some of the finest music of the period being delivered with class and substance, the audience gladly took John McNally, Frank Allen, Spencer James and Scott Ottaway on another tour of the hearts and allowed them further access to the memory vaults with a sense of pride and passion.

With tracks such as Sweets For My Sweet, the unbelievably good Hey Mr. Tambourine Man, Seven Nights To Rock, Love Potion No.9, Sugar and Spice, one of the finest songs written in Needles and Pins and When You Walk In The Room being performed with such grace, tenderness and respect for the audience, The Searchers reminded those who needed a deserved dig in the ribs and the gentle thanks for those who didn’t, that the 60s was much more than what is always written about.

Liverpool was the epicentre of the birth of a new era, it remoulded and refashioned itself in the 80s to great effect and the last decade has seen that music spirit seeing off all corners of the country when it comes to harnessing and nurturing great talent once again, The Searchers were a huge template on that and they more than deserved their night in the limelight once again.

Ian D. Hall