Start date 19 September 2009 Legs 3 Leg 3 | End date 14 March 2010 Period 2009 – 14 March 2010 | |
No. of shows 22 in UK / Ireland
14 in Europe
15 in Australia / New Zealand
5 in South Africa Associated album Reunited – Cliff Richard and The Shadows | ||
The Final Reunion Tour was Cliff Richard and The Shadows' last worldwide tour together. The 2009-10 arena tour included shows in UK, Ireland, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tour marked 50 years since they first played together and was the first time they had played together in over 20 years. The tour grossed more than $60m.
Contents
Background
To celebrate Cliff Richard and The Shadows 50th Anniversary since they first started. Both acts reunited for the very last time to perform 55 concerts in the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tour was split into 3 legs. The first was the UK then they moved on to Europe and went on to Australia and New Zealand for the 3rd leg finishing in South Africa on 14 March 2010.
During the UK leg of the tour there were a number of Television and Radio Broadcasts across the UK promoting the tour and the new album (Reunited). Some of the television broadcasts included the One Show and GMTV. At the end of the UK leg Cliff and The Shadows travelled to Germany to appear on Germany's Willkommen bei Carmen Nebel Show on 31 October to promote their new album. They performed I Could Easily (Fall In Love With You), Lucky Lips and their new single Singing The Blues. Also during the UK leg Cliff and The Shadows took part in various charity events up and down the country.
Throughout the UK concerts numerous celebrities were spotted watching the concerts. These celebrities included; Olivia Newton-John, Daniel O'Donnell, Tom Jones, Phil Collins, Marty Wilde, Dennis Waterman, Amanda Redman, Suzi Quatro, Brian May, Justin Hayward, Anneka Rice, SirTim Rice, Anthony Andrews and Gloria Hunniford & Ecca (Eric Thacker).
On 14 October 2009 Cliff celebrated his 69th birthday on stage at Sheffield Arena, where a sell-out crowd of 11,000 fans all sang Happy Birthday to him.
All proceeds from the final concert in the UK performed at Wembley Arena on 23 October 2009 went to charity. This concert was also recorded to be broadcast on BBC Radio 2.
After the UK leg Cliff and The Shadows took a break for 2 weeks before starting the European Leg of the tour. The European Tour went down well as they played to sell out crowds at every venue visited.
After the European Leg of the tour Cliff and The Shadows came back to the UK to make television appearances on The Paul O'Grady Show where they played Singing The Blues (Audience of 2.82 million, most watched episode all week and second most watched on channel 4 all week) and The One Show where they played their last ever performance together in the UK (audience of 5.32 million, most watched episode all week and 11th most watched on BBC 1). They played their first single together, "Move It". Both of these appearances were made on 30 November 2009. Also on this day Cliff and The Shadows took part in a DVD and Album signing at the Oxford Street branch of HMV where they signed for more than 600 fans.
Notes
The band
Album
An album of Cliff and the Shadows songs from the 1960s was recorded for release in September 2009, using modern technology. The album also included three new songs, "Sea Cruise", "C'mon Everybody" and "Singin' the Blues". In the United Kingdom it was a Number #4 in the (Official Charts Company), list and was certified Gold status for sales of over 100,000, and it has since gone on to sell over 215,000 copies in the UK alone.
Single
The only single release from the album was "Singin' the Blues" and it was released one week before the album in early September. It reached #40 (6,000 sales) in the UK singles chart and it reached #178 in the European top 200 singles.