Petula Travellers

Several months ago I felt as if I had exhausted my repertoire of ideas for this blog. But I may have been wrong !

Recently I attended a performance of A Beautiful Noise in Toronto. It is a musical biography of Neil Diamond featuring lots of his music and actually two characters playing Diamond. One plays the aging singer reflecting on his life and the other, the younger Neil as he lives through the various stages of his career. A highlight for me was the great catalogue of songs included in the show, but another was that the performer who played the younger Diamond had a voice eerily reminiscent of the real singer. It was a delightful experience for any Neil Diamond fan and the audience responded enthusiastically. Years ago, my husband and I had enjoyed seeing Neil Diamond in concert on two occasions: he was indeed a gifted singer and performer.

You may be wondering what this has to do with Petula Clark and travelling to see her perform. Well, only tangentially — but the play got me thinking. A Beautiful Noise explores the rise of Neil Diamond’s career, but also the personal cost that accompanied his enormous success. In many ways, it stands as a sharp contrast to Petula Clark’s recent autobiography, Is That You, Petula? Petula spent eight decades in the spotlight, yet never lost herself in the fame. I won’t divulge the details of her autobiography — anyone who loves her music should read it for themselves — but the difference is striking.

A reflection I made in an earlier blog post captures my point:

“And so my final image of our Australian concerts is of Petula and her small entourage walking quietly down the street — no security detail, no flashing lights — but, nonetheless, a legend in the truest sense of the word.” (Our Australia Petula Adventure, Part 2)

Our Australia Adventure ended in May 2014, at a time when Petula was already in her eighties — but that certainly wasn’t the end of our Petula travels. We had promised ourselves that as long as Petula kept performing, we would keep travelling to see her. And she kept performing, so we kept travelling.

It wasn’t until October 2016 that we actually saw her onstage again. This was our second UK full tour,and Petula had a wonderfully full schedule during that two‑plus‑week period. We were fortunate enough to see her in many of the venues where she performed.

I’ve already written about several of those stops in two earlier posts — The UK Enchantment and The UK Enchantment, Part 2. But there were other lovely places we visited, and more unforgettable concerts we were able to enjoy.

Travelling as we did — several cities in a short time, wanting to experience as much as possible — required a great deal of planning. And for me, that became part of the joy of the whole adventure: the getting ready part! Without the internet that would have been very difficult I think ,but I found sites like Rome2rio and Trip Advisor great starting points –Once I had the concert list sequence, I began exploring information about the locations where they were taking place, what the essential places to see were, what accomodations were available and importantly for the UK, uncovering the train schedules of the various lines that served the various destinations.

One of the places we visited that I’ve never written about before was Folkestone. We arrived there from Manchester, and Folkestone turned out to be truly lovely — and a place where all my pre‑planning was completely rewarded. With only a short time in this beautiful seaside town on the English Channel, we were fortunate to have chosen the perfect place to stay: The Relish, a charming bed and breakfast housed in a Victorian mansion within walking distance of The Leas, the walkable clifftop promenade that led directly to the venue for Petula’s evening concert.

The day we arrived was a beautiful October Thursday, and the soft sea breeze made it the perfect afternoon for strolling along the promenade. We walked to Leas Cliff Hall ahead of time to pick up our tickets and to wander about. We learned that the hall had hosted many legendary performers over the years. Its terraced façade and expansive windows overlooking the Channel from high on the cliff offered a truly spectacular view.

After our walk along The Leas with beautiful Victorian mansions on one side and the dramatic drop to the Channel on the other — we found an intimate, old‑school Italian bistro, Bella Pizza and Pasta, for an early dinner before heading off to see Petula perform.

This was actually the fourth concert for us on this Petula Adventure, having seen her earlier in Cardiff, Birmingham and Manchester (these are discussed in Enchantment Petula UK , Part 2). But as always , we were still anxious to see another performance. Every venue seemed to have its own ambiance and Leas Cliff Hall had a casuall one quite compatible with its seaside location. I have no way of knowing for sure, but I suspect most of the patrons that evening were from the local area.

Songs from Petula’s From Now ON album were the centrepiece for this tour and her abilty to explore new music and interpret covers was really fascinating to experience. I recall once reading a review of a Petula concert somewhere- its essence was that when Petula sings you are not sure whether you are experiencing a feeling or a song! I thought it was quite accurate.

My favourites from the From Now On setlist were Petula’s interpretation of Steve Winwood’s “If You See a Chance,” followed by her rendition of Peggy Lee’s “Fever,” and her own original composition “Reflections,” set to J.S. Bach’s “Sleepers Awake”. And “A Miracle to Me,” is another beautiful Petula composition. Naturally, many of Petula’s sixties hits were included too. But the more often we saw her perform, the more we relished hearing Petula’s newer material. Over the years I loved seeing her bring songs from Lost in You and From Now On and Vue D’Ici to life in concert. The wonderful blend of old and new seemed the perfect mix—.

From Folkstone we made our way back to London for two nights. London was the central hub of this tour, from where we struck out in all directions. We actually took a day trip to South-end by the Sea to see Petula perform there and returned after the concert to London. Then we were off to Salisbury , a stay which I discussed in a previous blog. (UK Enchantment, Part 2).

The next stop was Bournemouth. Perhaps it’s because I spent my childhood years by the sea and have always loved it, but something about this seaside town remains a particularly special memory for me. Once again, we stayed high on a cliff — this time at the aptly named Marriott Highcliff. It was a stunning location, overlooking a sandy beach and the magnificent Bournemouth Pier.

From the hotel, we were able to easily make our way down from the cliff to the pier — a route that I’m sure is bustling during the height of summer, but was pleasantly quieter in the off‑season. We found some wonderful seafood and enjoyed sitting by the water, watching the late‑season visitors taking in the carnival‑like amusements scattered along the pier.

That evening Petula performed at the gorgeous Bournemouth Pavillon, a large art-deco building overlooking the Lower Gardens and close to the seafront. It has hosted numerous concerts, musicals and orchestras for almost a hundred years and importantly for us a Petula Clark concert on Oct. 17, 2016! The concert was as wonderful as the venue. In a complimentary review of the evening in The Southern Daily Echo Hilary Porter wrote:

“PETULA Clark is a genuine showbiz phenomenon. At the age of 83, she’s still touring, still making quality albums, and still delivering a two-hour concert show, singing flawlessly and entertaining a rapt audience…Opening this stylish concert with You And I from the movie Goodbye Mr Chips and her million-selling pop hit from the 1960s Don’t Sleep In The Subway Darling, Clark established an immediate rapport with her adoring audience…Sprinkled with relevant and fascinating personal anecdotes about Fred Astaire, Charley Chaplin and Peggy Lee, and including numbers from her stage musical Sunset Boulevard and her movie Finian’s Rainbow, Clark also plays piano and writes songs.

The wonderful finale featured … I Couldn’t Live Without Your Love and the lyrically beautifully-crafted world-wide smash Downtown. Following a heartfelt standing ovation, the moving encore was the original audience-connector I’ll Be Here For You.“

We were so grateful to have witnessed similar reactions nine times during the nearly three‑week period of this trip. After Bournemouth, we made our way to Leeds and Glasgow, and finally back to London for Petula’s concert at the Drury Lane Theatre on October 23, 2016.

Seeing Petula at Drury Lane — as we had on previous tours — was always special. Part of it was the theatre’s regal atmosphere, part of it was the Meet and Greet with Petula, and part of it was the knowledge that this was the closing night of the tour. As one reviewer noted, “Petula Clark is the sort of entertainer who receives a standing ovation before she’s even done anything. As her silhouette walked onto the stage the audience became ecstatic in her presence. When the light illuminated her figure, they stood up to profess their adoration and respect…”

The next day, as we boarded our plane at Heathrow to head home, we knew this would not be the end of our Petula Adventures. We would definitely be wanting more.