Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Dundee set to swing back to the 60s with Dave at Silver show
The “Crying Game” singer and teen idol spoke to the Tele ahead of the Solid Silver 60s Show at the Caird Hall.
In the show, the 32nd since the its inception, Dave will j oin The Merseybeats, Wayne Fontana, Vanity Fare and US Tex Mex guitarist Chris Montez for a spectacular performance of original hits.
However, despite the show’s penchant for nostalgia, the singer, 76, says he isn’t done yet — and does what he can to keep things fresh.
He said: “I’ve been involved with the Solid Silver 60s Show since it has been operating and I’ve played about half of them. I know people who don’t want to do these sorts of shows whereas I’m very proud of my roots.
“Music is a tough profession, so to be in it when I am now I’m very proud and I can appreciate what people get out of them. But at the same time I can mix in some different things, like blues and that, and I can change up what I do. I could be up on stage like some other acts crooning out the 60s classics of other things — but you need to be more adventurous than that.”
Dave (pictured) — who first rose to fame with singles such as “Little Things” and “Memphis, Tennessee” — has established a career as a “touring, playing” musician since his chart days. During a career spanning more than five decades, he has played on stage with the likes of the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison and the Human League playing, by his own reckoning, well over 5,000 concerts. He even made a singular appearance at the famous Cavern Club in 1963, performing with his backing band The Cruisers for the imaginatively titled At The Cavern LP. More recently, he has performed alongside the likes of Paloma Faith and the Libertines. He said: “It might surprise some people when I say that the last 10 years or so have been some of the most exciting in my career. “I’ve worked very hard to stay where I am and when I’m invited to do things alongside Paloma Faith and the like, I’m really happy and grateful for it. When I played with Van Morrison, it wasn’t like I was on for just the first 15 minutes. We played the whole first half of the show with him in front of 3,000 people at the Opera House i n Blackpool — the reaction to that was wonderful.”
Dave visits Dundee every few years to perform, adding: “I remember there was a Chinese restaurant at the top of the town that used to book a lot of artists — but I’ve forgotten it’s name now. But the Caird Hall has always been part of my career.”
Next week, fans of Dave and his contemporaries are in for a treat at Caird Hall’s Friday show.
And even with innumerable shows under his belt, he’s not up for stopping just yet. He added: “I want to just collapse somewhere and that’s that — as long as it’s not in somewhere like a pound shop.”
SIXTIES singing sensation Dave Berry admits he enjoys revisiting the decade that gave him fame — but that doesn’t make him a stick in the mud.