THIS latest tour by Sir Cliff Richard OBE came packaged as the Time Machine tour, although perhaps Time Warp might have been more appropriate.
At the age of 68, Richard is celebrating 50 years in showbiz since his first hit Move It, and his tally
of having No 1 singles in five consecutive decades is hard to disrespect. Then again, critics might ask how many of those years have been spent as an even half-way relevant pop artist rather than simply a crowd-pleaser for his (huge) army of older fans.
These days, those under the age of 50 might prefer to stuff tissue paper into their ears to the point of medical emergency rather than listen to Richard sing for three hours, but this was still a consummate exercise in giving the fans what they wanted.
Somehow, the stage set managed to retain an air of old-fashioned Hi-De-Hi campery, even with hydraulic lifts raising pneumatic (but modestly clothed) dancers up into the air and a huge spinning wheel in the background "selecting" which of the past 50 years he would sing a song from.
The format offered a comprehensive greatest hits set, ranging from fun early songs including The Young Ones, Summer Holiday and Bachelor Boy to some of the many and various mid-period works such as Congratulations, Devil Woman and Miss You Nights (which was a bit limp, although poignantly dedicated to "My Mum and Dad").
The increasingly heavy-handed references to Richard's faith towards the end, however, must surely have alienated at least a few.
