Sixtieth Anniversary in Music

On a Hi

Sixtieth Anniversary in Music

Donovan at Richmond Theatre, 12^th October

Review by Vince Francis

Its good to see a job through, isn’t it? On the 12^th September, I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Donovan, an influential musician who embarked on his career in the 1960s. The objective or our meeting was to promote the short European tour Donovan was embarking on, celebrating his sixty years of work in the business, and which was to culminate in in a week of activities in London, including film screenings, book and album signings and the concert at Richmond Theatre on the 12^th October, where I found myself in the front row, in possession of a back-stage pass for the after show reception. All of which has a certain pleasing roundness to it, I feel.

A pleasingly wider range of ages than I expected formed the enthusiastic and vocal sell-out audience to this celebration, some of whom had travelled considerable distance for the sole purpose. One chap I spoke to, originally from Arkansas, interrupted his own tour of European cities, on vacation in this instance, and had flown in from Prague that morning having secured a ticket.

The stage was set for a solo artist, simply a stool to sit on, a mic and two monitors and, in the humble opinion of yours truly, any additions would have been superfluous. This material is intended to be delivered in as straightforward a manner as is practical for the venue and circumstances, and that was achieved. The lighting, however, was a little, well, puzzling. Simple colours, changing through a cycle with each song, and the use of a more natural hue for the stories all seemed like a valid concept, but the length of blackout between the numbers was concerning, sometimes leaving Donovan talking to the audience in the dark and us wondering if there might be an issue. Sound, on the other hand, had the measure of it. Good balance between the vocals, harmonica playing and the guitar, which sounded majestic.

All the hits were there to sing along to, a practice which Donovan encouraged and appreciated, and which was enjoined with considerable gusto in places. However, it is always good to hear the original artist perform their material and the likes of Colours, Jennifer Juniper, Catch the Wind and, of course, Hurdy Gurdy Man itself, naturally went down a storm, as they say. The set broadly followed the track listing of the Hurdy Gurdy Man album, which is being re-released to mark the occasion, but included some welcome additions, including a personal favourite, Sunny Goodge Street, which we had discussed in the interview, and the bluesy Hey, Gyp (Dig the Slowness). It is probably fair to observe, with genuine respect, that the voice occasionally reflected the effect of being at the end of the tour, particularly having the level of activity in the week leading up to the concert, but that didn’t matter in terms of the overall delivery. Donovan’s playing, both on guitar and harmonica, was as fluent and natural as ever and these songs are clearly meaningful to both him and his audience, and that came across in spades.

As in our meeting, and ever the raconteur, the musical content was interlaced with tales of adventures, mishaps and near misses over the years, including experiences of gigging in Blackpool with the Who and the Hollies, being rescued by Peter Noone (of Hermans Hermits) and a bizarre story involving banana pie in Mexico. All delivered with a sense of innocent wonderment and sometimes amazement at being associated with the stars of the day but occasionally punctuated with an arch observation of “Yeah, I surprised myself when I remembered that!”

All in all, this was an excellent way to spend an autumnal Sunday afternoon, a wonderfully nostalgic peep back into my own youthful memories, stimulated as they were by these familiar strains. I was sorry we were unable to stay very long at the post-show reception, which was packed with Donovan’s many friends, family and sundry well-wishers such as us. I hope the tour achieved what he wanted from it and will keep an eye out for future developments and, of course, will keep you posted.

Vince Francis, October 2025

Photography by Jaume Caldentey and Donovan Private Archive