Table of Contents
John Helliwell Mallorca Concert: Supertramp's Saxophonist Plays Santa Ponsa This Friday
The John Helliwell Mallorca concert takes place this Friday, 9 October, at Mallorca Country Club in Santa Ponsa. Supertramp's saxophonist performs eight of the band's songs in new arrangements for saxophone, clarinet, Hammond organ and string quartet, alongside music from his album Ever Open Door.
If you grew up with Breakfast in America or The Logical Song, this is a rare chance to hear those melodies played by the man whose saxophone gave them their voice, on an autumn evening a few minutes from home.
An Evening with John Helliwell
The show is billed as An Evening with John Helliwell and takes place outdoors in the tennis stadium at Mallorca Country Club, on Avinguda del Golf in Santa Ponsa. The club is best known for the grass courts that host the Mallorca Championships each June, and for one night the stadium becomes an open-air concert venue.
According to the concert details published by the Majorca Daily Bulletin, a pianist opens the evening from 19:30, with Helliwell and his ensemble starting at around 20:30.
Thinking about buying or selling in Mallorca?
Supertramp, Heard a Different Way
Anyone hoping for a straight recreation of the records is in for a surprise. There are no drums, no bass and no vocals. Instead, Helliwell's saxophone and clarinet carry the melodies, including lines that audiences are used to hearing sung, with a Hammond organ and a Berlin-based string quartet around him.
The programme includes eight Supertramp songs. Six of them are new arrangements prepared for this concert, and Breakfast in America has taken on a funkier feel. They sit alongside pieces from Ever Open Door, his 2020 album of ballads for saxophone and clarinet with string quartet and Hammond organ.
Seven musicians will be on stage. Hammond organist John Ellis travels to Mallorca with Helliwell, and saxophonist and composer Andy Scott, who arranged the music, conducts. Helliwell has described the sound as more intimate than the original records, even in an open-air stadium, and one piece has no written arrangement at all: the musicians know the tune and improvise around it.
The Man Behind the Saxophone
John Helliwell was born in Todmorden, Yorkshire, in 1945. Before music took over, he worked as a computer programmer for a couple of years. He then joined the Alan Bown Set and spent years playing with different groups, including backing soul singers such as Jimmy Ruffin and Arthur Conley.
He joined Supertramp on 19 July 1973, a date he still remembers without hesitation. Their first album together, Crime of the Century, came out in 1974, and the band's success reached its peak with Breakfast in America in 1979. As well as playing saxophone, clarinet and keyboards, Helliwell was famous as the band's on-stage MC, chatting and joking with audiences between songs.
During a break in Supertramp's touring, he went back to study at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester at the age of 47, surrounded by students in their late teens. He has since led the jazz group Crème Anglaise and the Super Big Tramp Band, which plays Supertramp's music with a full jazz big band.
Ticket Options
There are three ways to attend:
- General admission: access to the concert.
- VIP Silver: seating on the first-floor clubhouse terrace, with drinks and a buffet.
- VIP Gold: a table for eight beside the stage, with a four-course dinner and drinks.
Both VIP options include a meet and greet with Helliwell. Tickets and full details are available from Mallorca Country Club.
A Night Out in Santa Ponsa
For those of us who live in the southwest, it is not every week that a musician of this stature plays on the doorstep. Mallorca Country Club sits in the green, residential part of Santa Ponsa, close to the golf courses, and early October evenings are still warm enough to enjoy an open-air concert in comfort.
Helliwell already knows the island. He has visited Puerto Pollensa for cycling trips and ridden in the mountains, and this time he is spending a few days on the island to rehearse and see friends before the show.
Evenings like this are part of what makes living in Santa Ponsa so appealing: international sport, live music and good restaurants within a short drive, and the beach and marina never far away.
Live in Santa Ponsa
Imperial Properties has been based in Santa Ponsa since 1985, and we know every corner of the town. Browse our latest properties for sale in Santa Ponsa and Nova Santa Ponsa.
Call us on +34 971 692 434, message us on WhatsApp, or email help@imperial-properties.com. If you are thinking of selling, you can request a free property valuation.
