The unending travels of The Searchers will take them to Weymouth this weekend.

After 55 years of non stop touring, the legendary band will play Weymouth Pavilion on Saturday night.

The last months of 2017 saw The Searchers closing the show as a headline act on all star bill that also boasted Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Tremeloes, Love Affair vocalist Steve Ellis and Vanity Fare and which sold out almost every one of the performances.

Far from losing any of their following it proved to be the most successful sixties package of the last two decades with the vast Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow not only having to sell the orchestra seats set high up behind the performers but also obtaining special permission to make standing room only spaces available, a first for this kind of show at that very prestigious venue.

Original Searcher John McNally (he formed the Liverpool based band in the fifties) having been laid low by a stroke was forced to rest for that Sixties Gold Tour but is back on stage and pounding out the hits again.

The Searchers were formed in the late 50s as a skiffle group by John McNally, who was quickly joined by guitarist Mike Pender, drummer Chris Curtis and bassist Tony Jackson. With the addition of lead vocalist Johnny Sandon they soon grew into a solid five piece unit who commanded an impressive following in their home town of Liverpool and rated high in the local rankings.

When The Beatles started the storm that became tagged Merseybeat, The Searchers took their chance in the middle of 1963 and shot to number one in the charts with their debut disc Sweets For My Sweet, quickly followed by a sound-a-like tune penned by Hatch, Sugar & Spice and a third though slightly less successful Someday We`re Gonna Love Again.

The lead vocal had been taken by Tony Jackson but for the third single the style changed to a softer and more harmonic sound for Needles & Pins and then Don`t throw Your Love away. A disillusioned Jackson was unhappy at what he saw as a demotion and in the middle of 1964 departed for a solo career.

His place was quickly filled by Frank Allen, a London based musician they had made firm friends with in Hamburg where he was a member of Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers. The new lineup went straight into the studios and emerged with the classic When You Walk In The Room, a release that was to prove one of the band`s most enduring records and which has proved to be unbeatable in a live situation. The run of hits continued with much loved songs like Goodbye My Love, What Have They done To The Rain? Take Me For What I`m Worth, Bumble Bee (a U.S and Australian hit), Love Potion Number Nine (their biggest American success)and others.

*The Searchers, Weymouth Pavilion, Saturday, June 16, 7.30pm. Call the box office for tickets.