Byrds lay old eggs

Press, 13 June 1978, Page 6

Byrds lay old eggs

By

FELICITY PRICE

If Roger McGuinn, Gene • Clark and Chris Hillman had >come to Christchurch about; ; 10 years ago, when the Byrds • I rock group was a household ! name, they would have had! I no trouble filling the Town; Hall two or three times over, j As it was, the legendary I name of the group could generate enough interest to fill only the stalls of the James Hay Theatre—even . after the promoters had switched the concert from the auditorium. Gene Clark. Chris Hillman and Roger McGuinn do not seem to have changed much in the 14-odd years since, they formed the original! band, with David Crosby and• David Clark, to start a musi-1 cal tradition that was to • influence even the Beatles. The Byrds, with a bit of a push from Bob Dylan, were resnonsible for starting folk rock with “Mr Tambourine • Man,” and went on to spark i off other brands of rock pre-1

(viously unheard of: space | rock, country rock, even ; I Jesus rock. ! They finally disbanded in the ’7os, after considerable, changes in the line-up. But! : it seems that Clark, McGuinn land Hillman intend to give it; ’ one more try. Last night they announced their intention to I release another Byrds-like album after this tour, and played some of the songs ' they plan to put on it. The audience liked the new • songs. The audience liked I everything they did, in fact. • But it was the old songs that! they obviously wanted to i hear. From the time Roger Mci Guinn, solo, played “Ballad lof Easy Rider,” and “Wasn’t ; Born to Follow,” the audience! relaxed into nostalgia. Their: memories kept being! fed through the first half,• • into the interval out in the; i foyer—where conversation! was little else but nostalgic; —and on into the second half. 1 Rapturous applause greeted!

the opening chords of “Turn. Turn, Turn.” “He Was a Friend of Mine,” and “Mr Tambourine Man,” and they saved “Eight Miles High” for ! the first of their two encores. The harmonies were a little different, but not sufficiently so to lose the memories.