Express & Star

Slade back in Black Country for 50th anniversary gig - PICTURES and REVIEW of show at Robin 2 Club, Bilston

[gallery]It was a evening drenched in nostalgia and crackling with good will as an audience of frolicsome 50-somethings lost themselves in a 1970s timewarp.

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And as glam rock god Dave Hill told Slade's adoring fans at last night's 50th anniversary Robin 2 gig: "It's all about memories."

Rumours were rife that Noddy Holder, the band's former frontman, might turn up to do a guest turn, given the milestone gig was being staged on home turf, writes Marion Brennan.

It would have been magic, of course, in fact it would have been a miracle given the current state of relations between them, but it didn't happen and it really didn't matter.

Ex-Mud bass guitarist John Berry, who takes on Jimmy Lea's role, and lead vocalist Mal McNulty, in Noddy's place, are now firm favourites with Slade devotees. And under the leadership of founder members Hill and drummer Don Powell, Slade are, without doubt, still an exciting and fun band to watch.

Mother-of-four Gwen Dale, who claims to be their No. 1 fan, ran away from home in Dundee, Scotland, when she was 15 to come to Walsall in the hope of meeting her idol Noddy.

"His mum came to the door and said 'Sorry love, they're in America' so I had to go back home. But I came back to Walsall two years later and got married and had a family here.

"I live in London now but I still love the guys and I support everything that Noddy does - talks, charities, openings. I go all over the place."

A trio of German fans are regular visitors to the annual Bilston gig.

Bernard Huebl, a 55-year-old banker, said: "I'm a diehard fan since I first saw them on December 8, 1974. It's like time travel back to my juvenile days. We love them in Germany because they don't just play for the audience, they play with them."

Rudi Schubert, 56, who was seeing the band for the 90th time, said: "There's a family feeling about Slade. They're just normal guys like us."

Ray Grimshaw, 57, and his wife Jackie, 55, from Great Barr, Birmingham, were sporting mirrored top hats, as worn by Noddy Holder in the band's heyday, fashioned by Jackie using cut-outs from tin foil oven trays.

They were with friends Clem Weate, 61, also from Great Barr, and Teresa Long, 58, of Halesowen, who follow Slade on Seventies weekends around the UK circuit.

Teresa, who once shared a bag of chips with Dave Hill at Pontins, in Brean, said: "Their music just brings back wonderful memories."

Software developer Ilpo Bister, 57, who flew from Finland for the gig, has been a fan since 1972. "I saw them on television and loved the music, and the driving beat behind the melodies."

Many local fans had personal memories of band members. Carol Barnsby, 56, from Darlaston, used to sit in Don Powell's old desk at Etheridge Secondary Modern, now Moseley Park School, Bilston.

"He'd carved 'Don Powell Woz Ere' around the inkwell. He was a bit of a heartthrob even in those days because he was doing gigs around Bilston."

Husband Rob's claim to fame was meeting Dave Hill in a sauna at the Connaught Hotel, Wolverhampton, at the height of their fame.

"I saw this wire clothes tray in the changing room with silver platforms and a fur coat in it, and then there he was in the suana chatting to the boxer Tony Wilson about religion," said Rob, 55.

"We come to these gigs every Christmas because it's all about nostalgia. Slade were Black Country lads, solid geezers, and here they are in they are in Bilston where it all began."

Fan Graham Sedgley recalled holding up Dave Hill's white Rolls Royce in the mornings outside Warstones School at the age of 10.

"A group of us would wait for Dave's Rolls then stop him at the zebra crossing, walking across to and fro until he used to rev his engine. He knew what we were doing," he laughed.

"I now live in Market Drayton and I've brought a car load with me. We wouldn't miss this."

Dave Hill referenced Slade's 'amazing' 50th anniversary, and spoke about how special it was performing in the band's home town. They clearly loved every minute on stage.

The evening ended in a happy chaos of balloons, streamers and a fake snowstorm to the sound of Merry Xmas Everybody. The boyz slayed it.

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