Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry at The Town and Country Club Bradford 29th June 2004

What an opportunity to see two legends of Rock'n'Roll on one bill! Fantastic I thought as the seventy quid was sent by cheque for the two tickets at this large and very plush club on Manningham Lane , Bradford, previously known as Penningtons.

The traffic chaos at the side of the club and the huge queue made me realise that we had come to see something special. In the queue were old teddy boys, curious youngsters, members of bands, musical instrument reps, a famous Yorkshire TV Artist with his cowboy boots and Harley Davidson jacket, TV weatherman Bob Rust, and a TV vet, all in separate parties.

When we eventually entered the club we made a bee-line for the front. It was a gamble as we thought we would be moved on. Luckily as the room became full, we realised we had made a good move as our view was superb. Sadly the unbelievably stupid rule of no photography prevented me from capturing some shots of a lifetime. The risk of having the camera confiscated wasn't worth it but I did manage to procure some snatched images. The Jerry Lee ones were a disaster. Thank you for nothing Town and Country Club. It will be my last visit, and last review from there.

As the excitement built, Jerry Lee's  "Killer Band" came on!  They are truly a superb band of musicians and introduced themselves, sang four numbers, taking the vocals in turn for each number. It's a good way to warm up the audience but we wanted to see the Killer himself. I watched the entrance to the stage and I suddenly recognised a face belonging to a musician that I have been in awe of since a very young lad……and that's a long time. It was Jerry Lee Lewis! I got one of those cold shivers down my back, what a thrill to see him after all the years of listening to his music!

Jerry Lee sat, slightly hunched at the piano, and I realised the march of time had begun to show, but a cheeky mischievous look from the older face of our hero had won me over without playing a note. The crowd loved it too.

When he began to play the place simply erupted and the word “rock” is the most well matched word for this present time in my life. Jerry simply rocked out his classic songs like Chantilly Lace and Whole Lotta Shakin' as well as some slower songs like Goodnight Irene and the Hank William's favourite, You Win Again.

With his patent black leather Cuban heeled ankle boots perched over the Yamaha grand piano's pedals, more old favourites were hammered out. Such as High School Confidential where they were boppin' at the high school hop had lost none of its charm over the years. It was fantastic how a man in his seventies could rock with such rhythm. We were knocked out by the man's charm and ability and his great humour too. His accent was a little hard to understand at times but you laughed anyway when you caught the wry smile on his face.

I thought this night would see younger band members support a decrepit legend but I'm really pleased to report that Jerry Lee Lewis was 100% part of the entertainment. Good though his band are, it was Jerry Lee who lifted the evenings fare and when he performed a rousing finale of Great Balls of Fire, we knew we had experienced a very special performance.

As the huge applause died down and Jerry Lee and the” Killer” band retired, the road crew transformed the stage to be ready for another legend in our lifetime. Another band of musicians hit the stage and struck up the beat but no sign of Chuck Berry. We could hear the sound of a Chuck Berry played Gibson 355 however and then I got my first glimpse a sparkling light blue shirt. It was Chuck and his guitar casually sauntering on to the stage to the raucous roars of the audience.

An old favourite, one helped along the way by the Beatles, is Roll Over Beethoven and with a broad smile form this mega famous character and familiar licks from his treasured Gibson the audience were in Nirvana. It wasn't long before a casualty stopped proceedings. Chuck broke a string, he stopped, gave his 355 to his bass player, who rushed off to change it and Chuck recited a poem…a comical one till his guitar was returned to a six stringed instrument. Changing from Rock and Roll to Blues , Chuck played a song made popular by another 335 player, BB King. This one is Every Day I Have The Blues and was played really quite well but not as seriously as BB might have played it. Moving on through Carol…. Oh Carol? Chuck was smiling and playing although not with the same intent as when he recorded the songs as a younger man. There was something slightly amateurish about the performance. The arrangements were loose and at one point he dropped his plectrum….played for a moment with his thumb then thought…blow this, I'm gonna pick it up and the hole in the song was quite noticeable. Nobody cared including me as Chuck Berry has great  reverence to us mere mortals, and how can you criticise an Idol   ! ! !

During another charming performance he duck-walked his way through Little Queenie and then invited ladies of the audience to come on stage to dance while he played his final song, the fantastic standard, Johnnie B.Goode. It was a great sight with the assorted ladies playing up to Chuck, really quite amusing and also endearing. Chuck came over the stage sat near us on the PA speakers and the ladies gyrated their hips off.

This final number was final, no encore, but we went away satisfied having seen two superb originators of this thing we call rock'n'roll. You know what, this concert was so enlightening, the era of the music made no difference to the enjoyment, it was like the theory of evolution being solved, but this was the evolution of Rock. Long Live Rock ‘n' Roll ! ! ! !

Steve Lally ©