The evergreen Gerry Marsden will not be walking alone when he returns to Croydon as part of an impressive line-up of stars in the Sixties Gold Tour, writes Adriaan Berfelo.

Joining the legendary Liverpudlian will be the Searchers, PJ Proby, the Fortunes and Brian Poole & Chip Hawkes in a line-up worthy of its title.

Marsden, lead vocalist as well as guitarist, has seen the Pacemakers transform many times since 1963.

The current Pacemakers consist of Tony Young on keyboards, Steve Thompson as lead guitar, Nick Woolgar on the drums and Joe Mitchell on bass.

Mitchell is the newest addition, having joined in 2012, while Young and Thompson have been part of the Pacemakers for more than 10 years.

Marsden is now something of a Fairfield regular and said the great reception in Croydon is what brings him back year after year.

He says: “We play as many as 100 gigs every year, but Croydon is one of those top places, which is always a pleasure to play.”

Having known worldwide success in the 1960s, Gerry and the Pacemakers tour not only in the UK, but also regularly in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Marsden thoroughly enjoys his time on the road, because making music is what he enjoys most in life, and he just can’t get enough of it.

Even after 50 years of being part of the music industry, Marsden is not tired of performing and he is really looking forward to the Sixties Gold Tour starting this September.

Gerry and the Pacemakers promise to play all the songs that you know, including big hits You’ll Never Walk Alone, How Do You Do It and I Like It.

 

Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, Croydon; October 2; prices tbc; 020 8688 9291, www.fairfield.co.uk.