Posing with the boys after their sound check

Benidorm Palace shook last night as it hosted 2 great names from yesteryear - Comic Stan Boardman and the 60´s Merseybeat group "The Swinging Blue Jeans".
They all flew in yesterday lunchtime and headed to the Palace for a sound check before the evenings performance.

The band had been performing down in Bognor on the Saturday night - in fact, they have had a very hectic touring schedule of late and were on a 7am flight heading to Alicante. It´s just a shame that they were back off again today and couldn´t stay to enjoy some Benidorm sun - a real whistle stop trip.

Tony on stage with the group during run through

Unbeknown to those attending that evening, there would be a special guest appearance by Tony Crane - lead singer of "The Merseybeats" who came along with the group. They all very good friends of Christine Climent, owner of the Benidorm Palace - hailing from the same region of the UK.

Stan opened the evening and was on top form - though he didn´t mention the "F" word, which I think many were hoping and waiting for!
However,  he was certainly on form and kept the entire venue giggling with his gags throughout the performance - quite a feat.

Discussing "golf" with Stan!

Stan is a very keen golfer - he often flies to Portugal and Marbella to play. I spoke to him about the possibility of him returning later this year for a charity golf match on the spectacular Villaitana course here in Benidorm with some other celebrity chums...
He was very keen, so watch this space for details!

There were a few moments of panic when The Swinging Blue Jeans came on stage and the sound system decided to stop working - but thankfully the engineers soon sorted it out... or maybe it was Alan fiddling and poking with the leads!

Stan with Danny, Tim, Perry and Derren

As well as being packed with many ex-pat residents and holiday makers, several cast members from the Benidorm series turned up - Tim Healy is a chum of Stan´s back home. During the interval they headed to the bar area to have a chat with him and caused near pandemonium - with everyone wanting a picture taken with them all!

A great night - well done to Christine for hooking them.
Don´t forget, the new show starts at the Palace at the end of next month - this year called "EF-EX"..... I´ll be bringing you some behind the scene tasters soon.