HLN Impresses English Fans
By Jamie Capildeo
HLN Today Reporter
The Shepherds Bush Empire was rocked June 14th thanks to an immense performance from Huey Lewis and the News. From the first beats of "Heart of Rock and Roll" to the final encore song "Working for a Living", the band gave it their all, driving the crowd wild and leaving them, as usual, begging for more.
Huey was in top form in his stylish blue lounge suit, belting the songs out, both new and old. It was announced by the band that a new CD featuring 10 brand new tracks will soon be released - they played several tracks last night and, on first hearing, the songs sound as good as anything they have written for many years. Backing these up, the boys belted out the greats, such as "Power of Love", "Do You Believe in Love" (for the die-hard, career fans!) and "New Drug". The band even did the old Thin Lizzy classic, "The Boys are Back in Town", a song they often perform on stage as they know it drives the fans wild.
Stef Burns, the new lead guitarist for the Tour, really had a chance to shine with "New Drug", giving the famous guitar solo everything he had. It was initially a disappointment to learn that Chris Hayes was not touring, but having seen Stef he proved to be a perfect replacement. He had obviously been listening intently to Chris's style as he sounded just like the real thing - if you shut your eyes it could have been Chris playing! He also lent his own style as and when necessary, and showed his blues skill on "He Don't Know" to great effect and even greater applause.
Sean, Billy, Johnny and John - well, what can you say? These boys ROCK. They are as tight as ever, and the twenty years of playing has not dented their enthusiasm and love for playing live one little bit. They must rate amongst the finest touring musicians currently playing anywhere on the planet and the crowd showed their appreciation after every song, relishing the high standard of musicianship that it had taken to reproduce that huge, stadium-sized sound the boys managed on every song.
The horn section, on their first outing outside the USA, really made some new friends with their undoubted talents - these skills were showcased in particular on belters such as "Plan B" and "Doing It All for my Baby".
The evening was a stormer - it flew past in what seemed like five minutes. The crowd bayed for more, and the band responded with a long encore stint. But even this wasn't enough for those of us that have waited for the band to come back to London for almost 5 years. Once you have witnessed the finest band on Earth you cannot get enough of them - they could have played all night as far as the crowd was concerned!
London yearns to hear more. The world yearns to hear more. Last night the band delivered. London rocked.
