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By Eddie Stewart

Artist: Bay City Rollers

Date / Venue: Saturday August 4th, 2018 - The Powerstation, Auckland

The Powerstation has been in the news in the last couple of days for all the wrong reasons.  So it was great to see it filled with an enthusiastic crowd of mostly over fifties dancing along to all the hits they remembered from the 1970s.

Les McKeown kept the banter going and the crowd laughing with references to his age and the need for the backstage doctor to make sure he took regular breaks. However, the energy certainly wasn’t lacking in the band's performance or the crowd's enjoyment of all the songs they remembered.  Les retains all the charisma of a teenage heartthrob, which was evident in the adulation witnessed in a far from teenage audience as they screamed and reached up to touch their idol.

Tartan was the fashion de jour with the occasional shirt even ending up on the stage. The crowd was filled with hard-core fans holding their memorabilia and wearing their Bay City Roller wigs as they held their tartan scarves above their heads and sang along. The first set included; Summer Love Sensation, I Only Want to Be With You, Keep on Dancing, Love Me Like I Love You, Rock n Roll Love Letter, Please Stay and Saturday Night, along with a medley playing tribute to some of the fallen stars from the 70s, including Mercury and Bowie.

The second set started with the classic Bay City Rollers chant and then they were back into all the songs the crowd was eager to hear.  They may look a little older (well a lot older) but the sound was great and Les’ voice has stood the test of time.  The music is still great fun and the performance was flawless.  At the end of the second set, which included; Remember, All Of Me, Magic/January, Be My Baby, Give a Little Love, Rock N Roller and Yesterday’s Hero, the crowd was whipped into a frenzy with Shang a Lang and demanded a return.  They were not disappointed and the night finished with the Roller’s classic cover of Bye Bye Baby. It was a great end to a fabulous night of 70s glam rock, humour and teenage dreams re-lived.