More reviews of
Christie's performances
SINGAPORE
(Fanfare
Magazine, May 1971)
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CHRISTIE took Singapore with as much gusto
as they could muster up after a long tour of Australasia,
fanning exhausted embers into a roaring flame.
The shows were enjoyable, although many would
have preferred less of the group's heavy sound and a lot
more of the beaty, commercial stuff.
Certainly, the crowd saw Christie in a new
light. They came for Yellow
River and songs
of that ilk, but got an onslaught of heavy music. Be that
as it may, Jeff Christie's Martian
King was
a standout. Paul Fenton drummed up a storm, and the Elmes/Christie
guitarwork was good. Picture
Painter and My
Baby's Gone had
the toes tapping, but more of the same also had the toes
fidgeting.
Before the group can come to it, scores of
kids from the audience start chorusing the first few lines
of Yellow River.
Christie rush through the big hit, followed by San
Bernadino and Man
of Many Faces, all to great approval from
the crowd. Some were disappointed that
New York City
was not played.
A reprise of Yellow
River closes the show, pleasing the fans
who had obviously come to hear songs like this. But you
got the feeling they didn't seem very patient with what
else Christie had to offer.
CHRISTIE IN THE 90s
(By
Ray Chan, 2001)
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CATCH a show by Jeff's current Christie
line-up, and you know one thing for sure .. you're guaranteed
of a good time, as the band romps through a selection of
listener-friendly, country-rock favourites.
For the Christie purist, the repertoire may
come as a bit of a disappointment, as Jeff laces it with
covers of other artists' hits .. and indeed, the true moments
to savour are when the band delves into Jeff's archive and
plays the old Christie numbers.
The Christie "musts" of any performance
are always given a run: Yellow
River, San Bernadino and Iron
Horse. But depending on Jeff's mood, you're
also likely to hear Down the
Mississippi Line, Country Boy, Fool's Gold,
and others from the glory years.
Jeff has often been asked why he doesn't produce
a show entirely of the old Christie numbers. But he answers
wisely that people come to watch the band to enjoy themselves,
and as such he prefers playing songs that they will recognise,
rather than pieces that only Christie diehard followers
will know. It was a philosophy that the band adopted even
when Christie were at their prime, when they made it a point
to include numbers by artists such as Chuck Berry, Elvis
Presley and Buffalo Springfield.
Be
that as it may, some cover versions have become staple features
of Jeff's shows for the past decade or so. These include
outstanding interpretations of The Byrds' Feel
a Whole Lot Better, Carole King's City
Streets, and a medley of Summertime
Blues/Money.
Jeff also sprinkles his shows with songs by Creedence, The
Traveling Wilburys, The Beatles, The Eagles and other singers
whose songs comfortably fit the Christie pop/rock sound.
Jeff's current line-up is blessed with two
other members who can also handle the lead vocals .. drummer
Simon Kay and guitarist Kevin Moore .. thus affording the
band a luxury the original Christie line-up did not have.
As such, Simon and Kevin are also often featured prominently
on various songs in the current repertoire, enabling Jeff
to rest his vocal chords during the set. Indeed, on the
afore-mentioned City Streets,
all three singers handle the lead vocals on separate parts
of the song, combining in harmony for the final stanza,
an arrangement that works to maximum
effect.
GERMANY
(By Rainer Frank,
2003)
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JEFF Christie and his band performed at
Oldenburg in Germany on February 22, 2003, as part of an
Oldies Night show. Each participating artist performed for
about 40 minutes.
Christie played a very good gig and the crowd
went wild.
The first song was Down
the Mississippi Line, followed by San
Bernadino. Later came Iron
Horse.
After that the other members of the group showed
us their skills.
Adrian Foster showed what a fantastic guitar
player he is, playing the instrumental The
Sabre Dance.
Then came drummer Simon Kay's time with his
version of I Hear You Knocking,
and bass player Kevin Moore did a great job of All
Right Now, the old Free hit.
As always, Yellow River
was the highlight of the show.
The crowd danced during the whole concert.
Christie received enormous applause from the Oldenburg audience.
GERMANY
(By
Rainer Frank, 2009)
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ON June, 6 two friends from Bavaria (Tonie and Franz)
and I visited the Oldienight in Schwarzenberg to watch Christie
in concert.
It was raining cats and dogs and we wore orange
raincoats.
Nearly 11,000 people waited for Oldiestars
like Showwaddywaddy, Middle of the Road, Spencer Davis and
of course Christie.
Then came the moment we waited for and why
we drove seven hours for. Suddenly the rain stopped, and
Christie were on stage.
Bassist Kevin Moore saw us and he and the others
waved to us, while Kev shot a picture from the stage.
Then Christie`s show started with a surprise:
Inside Looking Out, from their
first album.
I have visited several Christie shows in the
past few years, but this was the first time for me to hear
this fantastic song live.
For Franz and Toni, it was the first Christie
show ever for them and they liked it a lot.
After Inside Looking
Out came the next surprise, I
Gotta Be Free, also from the first album.
It was so wonderful to listen to this song ,too.
Then Jeff, Adrian Foster, Kev and Simon Kaye
played their big hits San Bernadino
and of course Yellow River.
The crowd was going mad and Christie got enormous
applause from the Schwarzenberg audience.
Then came Simon`s big time, singing the old
Dave Edmunds hit I Hear You Knocking.
The next songs were Aint
That a Shame and Let`s work
Together.
The audience liked Christie`s show a lot and
several people shouted EnCore, Encore, but the follow-up
artists were already waiting backstage so Christie had to
come off.
Later we met Christie backstage and in their
hotel and we spent a great time with them.
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What it looks like from the band's view:
Kevin takes a photo of Rainer, Tonie and Franze.
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Franze, Tonie and Rainer chat with Jeff
and Simon backstage.
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Kevin, Simon, Rainer, Adrian, Tonie and
Jeff catch up back at the hotel.
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