Experience Smokie live at Castillo Sohail

The legendary English rock band, Smokie, is coming to Fuengirola, to play a concert at the beautiful castle Castillo Sohail. So buy your ticket now to ensure you don’t miss the concert experience of the year, with high energy levels and all of their greatest hits.

Smokie tour the world and are still a leading attraction, even after an impressive 35 years in the business.

Their original sound is so characteristic that it has maintained the band’s position as top pop and rock stars for more than 20 years – and Smokie is still going strong and playing concerts around the world. Smokie’s sound is also the focal point for many fans, as it is not just the songs that they love, but Smokie itself. Smokie themselves say that their sound is like fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken’s recipe: Secret.

Who doesn’t tap their feet in recognition of the classic hit “Living Next Door to Alice”, which was transformed in the mid-1990s to “Who the F… is Alice”, and became a huge hit once again, not to mention “Oh Carol”, “Needles and Pins” and “Lay Back in the Arms of Someone”, just a few of their megahits over the years.

You are always guaranteed a carnival atmosphere of lights, sound and great vibes, as well as feeling the group members’ years of friendship and great passion for their music. You will also experience the contact between, and the pleasure of, the legion of enthusiastic fans, enjoying the unique Smokie sound.

Age does not weary the members of the group, on the contrary, as keyboards player, Martin Bullard, says: “Actually it is more and more fun to play when you get older. For the simple reason that you get better over the years”.

At Fuengirola, you can experience a Smokie concert at the beautiful, atmospheric Moorish Castillo Sohail on Saturday, 8 May 2010. Doors open at 7 pm, and the concert begins 9 pm.

The story behind ‘the sound’.

The first faltering steps in the formation of Smokie were taken in the playground of a school in West Yorkshire, where the current bass player, Terry Uttley shared his passion for music with Alan Silson and Chris Norman in a variety of groups, under many different names. Success took its time, but in 1973 the group, then known as ‘Kindness’ joined forces with Peter Noone, who had been Herman in the successful group Herman’s Hermits, for a year-long tour. Although the tour did not provide the group with immediate success, in 1974 they could finally sign a contract with the British record company RAK Records, whose artists included Herman’s Hermits and Suzie Quatro. The group ’Smokey’, which now consisted of Terry Uttley, Alan Silson, Chris Norman and Pete Spencer, was a reality, and their first single to enter the UK Top 3 was “If You Think You Know How To Love Me”, which sold millions of copies around the world. It didn’t take long before ‘Smokey’ had to be changed to ‘Smokie’, because soul legend Smokey Robinson thought that it was too much like his own name and the fans would be confused.

After five years touring the length and breadth of the country the members of the group decided to go their own ways. This break only lasted four years, however, and in 1986 Smokie reformed at a charity gig, and the success continued. After touring Europe and Australia, lead singer Chris Norman decided to quit Smokie to concentrate on his burgeoning solo career. Smokie was now without a lead singer, but the group soon made up the deficiency by recruiting Alan Barton on lead vocals and guitar, Terry Uttley on vocals and bass, Alan Silson, vocals and guitar, Martin Bullard on keyboards and Steve Pinnell on drums and percussion. In 1989, Smokie had major success with the hit album “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams”, which occupied the top spot in the Norwegian charts for an impressive 10 weeks. Smokie’s unique sound had been created and the group played sold-out venues. Tragedy struck, however, on one of their tours when lead vocalist Alan Barton was killed in a road traffic accident.

The fans would not, however, allow Smokie to fade away, and the group continued with its current lead vocalist, Mike Craft, who in 1995 sang ‘Who the F… is Alice’ to the top of several charts, selling more than 200,000 copies. In 1996, guitarist Alan Silson decided to leave Smokie, and he was replaced by the current guitarist Mick Connell.

There was, however, no end to success for the five British musicians, and in 2003 Smokie issued a CD boxed set, ‘The Hit Box’, containing 10 CDs of songs from the 1970s up to 2003, which was so popular that it sold to gold and platinum records in Scandinavia. Since then, Smokie has gained even more faithful fans in Scandinavia and these are always looked after in Smokie’s concert schedules, as their European tours always play a number of concerts in Denmark, as in 2009, and again this summer.

That Smokie live for their music and their fans also became clear in 2008, when they released their latest album, full of new songs and old classics, which immediately entered the Danish top 10 album charts. Smokie’s albums have gone platinum for more than four decades, their records have sold more than 30 million copies, and they perform 150-200 times per year for around 3 million fans. In 2010, Smokie will release yet another album full of good music.

Castillo Sohail

This magnificent Moorish castle is beautifully lit in the evenings on a hilltop near the river. Because of its location close to the sea, the castle has been attacked and occupied many times over the centuries, by pirates and even Napoleon’s troops. In 1978, following extensive renovation of the ruins, the castle was declared a historical monument. Castillo Sohail is currently owned by the municipality of Fuengirola, which has decided to the use the castle for music events. 2002 saw the initiation of the “Parque del Castillo” project, which has the object of establishing large grassy areas with archaeological excavations and visitors’ car parks.

After Party

There will be a huge After-Party after the concert, featuring the very best music from the 80s and 90s, beautiful dancing girls and fireworks. This is included in the ticket price and will also take place at Castillo Sohail.

Ticket information

The open air concert will take place on Saturday, 8 May at 9 pm, at Castillo Sohail in Fuengirola. Gates open at 7 pm. Tickets for standing areas cost EUR 40, while seats cost EUR 50. If you book your tickets before 1 April, standing area tickets will only cost EUR 30 and seats EUR 40.

VIP tickets

If you would like a little extra luxury right at the front, you should buy a VIP ticket, which includes a light buffet and free champagne, spirits, beer, water and wine during the whole concert. In the VIP lounge you can enjoy white, soft sofas and really appreciate the best places at Castillo Sohail, at stage level, so that as a VIP guest you are guaranteed a free view of the concert. There are only 150 VIP places, to ensure that these guests get good seats and super service.

Tickets can be booked from: +34 670 635 786.