The evening started with a massive and welcome surprise. Jackie, my carer for the evening, enquired of the steward “what time does the concert finish and is there a support act?” I was so pleased and surprised when she returned and said “there is a support act and they are called Son of Man”. Well, the reason I was so pleased was this. Many moons ago I was a massive fan of the band Man who were a Welsh band often compared to the Grateful Dead. I saw Man many times over the years including concert appearances at the City Hall in the early to mid 1970s. Indeed they were one of the first bands I saw at the City Hall in early 1971, supporting the Flaming Groovies. I also saw them perform at several festivals.
Man continued through various line – up changes, the one constant being the excellent guitarist Micky Jones. When Micky sadly passed away, his son George took on the mantle of lead guitarist and the band continued with original bass player Martin Ace and long-time keyboard player Phil Ryan. I saw this version of the band at the New Roscoe pub in Leeds and they were excellent.
Somewhere along the road, there was a split in the band. Bass player Martin Ace continued his version of the band, inheriting the name Man while Micky Jones’ son George Jones formed his own version of the band Son of Man. Confusing or what! And it was this band, the one and only Son of Man, who were supporting Hawkwind. Fantastic! Particularly as they normally play around Wales and this was my first chance to experience them. A blast from the past.
George has assembled a great band around his fantastic guitar playing, including an excellent vocalist. They played music from their latest album and also some Man favourites including “Spunk Rock” and “Bananas” which has the amazing lyric: “I like bananas, because they’ve got no bones; I like marijuana, because it gets me stoned”. He even mentioned that the last time one of the songs was played in the City Hall was when Man performed there alongside John Cipollina from the legendary Quicksilver Messenger Service. I remember that particular concert well! And you can probably find a review on my blog somewhere. A great start to the evening.
Could things get better? Yes of course they could. Hawkwind were also one of my favourite bands in the early 70s. I have seen them many times over the years from the days, before they hit the charts with “Silver Machine”, and Stacia danced naked with them on stage. The current tour publicity material guides us through the complex history of Hawkwind: “One of England’s most enduring hard rock bands, Hawkwind were formed in London during the late ’60s, just as art rock was coming into its own. Though lesser known than contemporaries like Pink Floyd, the band is widely hailed as one of space rock’s early pioneers, thanks to seminal albums like 1973’s live opus Space Ritual, and its 1974 studio follow-up In the Hall of the Mountain Grill.
Their potent mix of psychedelia, prog, straight-ahead hard rock, and lyrics steeped in science fiction — particularly the themes and imagery of author Michael Moorcock, who also became a member at various points — and drug effects helped define Hawkwind and separate them from the competition. The group’s history has been marked by a series of confusing lineup changes, as members began an almost revolving-door relationship with the band virtually from the outset. Throughout their many decades and incarnations, founding guitarist Dave Brock has remained Hawkwind’s chief steward, while notable players like Lemmy and Ginger Baker have also enjoyed stints with the band.”
As you will have gathered from the above, the line-up has changed many, many times over the years, the one constant being bandleader Dave Brock. Well, Captain Brock led his family through a selection of Hawkwind tracks old and new including favourites: “The Psychedelic Warlords Disappear in Smoke”, “Spirit of the Age” and “Brainstorm”. No “silver machine” and Dave Brock took a backseat in some of the songs and was not present for the encore (I believe it was said that he was backstage having a cup of tea) but, hey, who cares, this was still Hawkwind at their best.
A marvellous evening spent with two fantastic hippie/psychedelic bands. It doesn’t get much better than this. Many thanks to Jackie for the photographs and to Chris for manipulating the site.
Setlist: Brainbox Pollution; Arrival in Utopia; Till I Found You; The Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear in Smoke); Lost Chances; Underwater City; Assault and Battery; Golden Void; Psi Power; The Beginning; Spirit of the Age; Frozen in Time; Brainstorm. Encore: You’d Better Believe It
Back in the City Hall with carers Jackie & Jan, along with my daughter Laura who is a fan of the Smiths, Morrisey and 
The crowd, by the way, was absolutely massive: it looked like you could hardly move down there. It was the biggest crowd I have ever seen standing in the City Hall. We were all set for a fantastic evening with tremendous atmosphere.
Gaz Coombes got the proceedings off to a great start. He has a new band and played a clutch of solo material. As far as I am aware, no Supergrass material at all (as for I am aware). Very entertaining. But everyone was there to see the main man Johnny Marr. He came on stage to a massive roar from the crowd.
The publicity for the tour described him thus: “Founding member and songwriting genius of The Smiths, superstar collaborator and sensational solo artist, Johnny Marr is rightly regarded as a bona fide British music icon. He has just released Spirit Power: The Best of Johnny Marr, a collection of songs curated from the last 10 years of his sublime solo output, together with a pair of new tracks, Somewhere and The Answer. The album, which debuted in the UK Top 10, came hot on the heels of Marr’s last studio album, Fever Dreams Pts 1-4and 2023 photography book Marr’s Guitars.”
Johnny took to the stage and truly commanded it. He waved his guitar about and played a selection of songs from his back catalogue including several Smiths songs (Laura counted seven, more than we have ever seen him play before) including “Panic”, “This Charming Man”, “Bigmouth Strikes Again” and “How Soon Is Now?” Great stuff! He closes with the Electronic song “getting away with it”. I am even getting quite familiar with his solo material. An excellent selection of songs drawn from throughout his career.
The encore included an excellent stomping version of Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger”. For the very last song we were once again taken back to the Smiths and “There Is a Light That Never Goes out”. We all agreed that the entire concert was very enjoyable indeed. A great night with a modern icon who is a true hero to Laura and me.
Johnny Marr Setlist: Sensory Street; Generate! Generate!; Panic; New Town Velocity; Spirit Power and Soul; This Charming Man; Somewhere; Walk Into the Sea; The Answer; Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want; Get the Message; Bigmouth Strikes Again; Hi Hello; How Soon Is Now?; Easy Money; Getting Away With It.
The Glasshouse website announced this concert thus:
“And so the stick man poet came to the north-east
Far from Beasley Street
In the cheap seats in the Odeon
Where the action is
From the Fire Station
Setlist (something like this): Questions I Can’t Answer; Hire Car; Get Back on Drugs You Fat F**k; Lydia, Girl With an Itch; Necrophilia; Beasley Street; Beasley Boulevard; Diez Macarenas; Sir Tom Jones; She’s Got a Metal Plate in Her Head; The Marital Miseries of the Modern Misogynist or The Rime of the Ancient Marrier; I’ve Fallen in Love With My Wife; Evidently Chickentown
My friend John was over from the USA. It was great to meet up with him again and to share memories of concerts that we enjoyed together at Newcastle City Hall in the 1970s. This was the second time I have seen 
So, we were both looking forward to the concert. Elaine was my carer for the evening and John, Elaine and I all went off together in the taxi to the City Hall.
First up as support act was an American band called 
It was standing downstairs, as is often the case in the City Hall these days. As usual, I was perched from a great vantage point on the wheelchair platform. Elaine insisted that John sat next to me on the platform and she also managed to find an empty seat up there also. So, we were all sorted for our hero taking the stage.
Slash is accompanied by a singer, 
The encore was something of a surprise to me. Slash sat down at a pedal steel guitar for a beautiful rendition of Elton John’s “Rocket Man”. Fabulous.
Setlist: The River Is Rising; Driving Rain; Halo; Too Far Gone; Back From Cali; Whatever Gets You By; C’est la vie; Actions Speak Louder Than Words; Always on the Run; Bent to Fly; Avalon; Spirit Love; Don’t Damn Me; Starlight; Wicked Stone; April Fool; Fill My World; Doctor Alibi; You’re a Lie; World on Fire.
Another great concert at the Fire Station which is proving to be an excellent hometown venue. And with two of my favourite 1980s bands.
Support came from the semi psychedelic music of the
So, the lineup I saw was this duo of McNabb and Layhe and it was great to see them together again. My favourite song is “Love Is a Wonderful Colour” which closed the set. A great support act, worthy of headline status in their own right.
Bought myself a lovely lyric sheet for “Love Is a Wonderful Colour” which Ian and Chris kindly signed for me. Setlist: Hollow Horse; Little Girl Lost; Evangeline; Out of Season; Starry Blue Eyed Wonder; Understanding (Country) Jane; Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream); Love Is a Wonderful Colour
Following Adamson’s death in 2001, Big Country reformed in 2007, with the surviving members. Between 2010 and 2013, they also reformed with Mike Peters of The Alarm on lead vocals. Since then Big Country has continued with two of the original members (Watson and Brzezicki) and Simon Hough on vocals.
Steeltown was the second studio album by Big Country, recorded at ABBA’s Polar Studios in Stockholm. Released in 1984 Bruce Watson remembers: “We started work on Steeltown back in June 1984 at Abba’s studio. My Dad was a miner, so what we did was knuckle down to hard work for six weeks”. The album was based around the steel industry in Corby, Northamptonshire which was mainly populated by Scottish workers. The album went straight to number 1 in the UK album charts.
They have recruited an excellent new guitarist whose playing gives homage to the late, great Stuart Adamson. To my shame I am not familiar with Steeltown (although I probably saw them on the tour to promote the album). It was great to hear their music again. Particularly as they also performed great personal favourites such as: “Look Away” And “In a Big Country”. They concluded their set with “Fields of Fire” incorporating another great Celtic song “Whiskey in the Jar”. An excellent end to an excellent evening.
Setlist: Flame Of The West; East Of Eden; Steeltown; Where The Rose Is Sown; Come Back To Me; Tall Ships Go; Winter Sky; Rain Dance; The Great Divide; Just A Shadow; Look Away; Chance; In A Big Country; Wonderland; Fields Of Fire / Whiskey In The Jar
I am entering this report for completeness really. I went to see Barbara Dickson recently and she played quite a few Beatles songs, mentioning that the Beatles have been an important part of her career, starting with her rendition of Beatles tracks for the musical John Paul George Ringo & Bert which I saw at Sunderland Empire sometime around 1974. So I searched on my blog for the musical and to my shame discovered that I had not done an entry for this. So here I am today rectifying this error.
From the 
It has been many years since I last saw 
So, it was about time I saw Kiki again. Especially as she was playing in a local venue 1719, named so because of the date it opened : “Holy Trinity Church (sometimes Church of the Holy Trinity or Sunderland Parish Church) is an Anglican church building in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear formerly the area’s parish church. It was opened in 1719 as the church for the newly created Parish of Sunderland, and served the local community until dwindling numbers forced its closure in 1988. It has since been in the ownership of the Churches Conservation Trust who have preserved the space and converted it into a community cultural hub.” (Wikipedia). It is now a lovely venue for many events including concerts such as this.
Kiki Dee is now performing with Carmelo Luggeri and has been doing so for several years. She has performed quite a few times in the region and I have been meaning to go and see her. Well tonight I finally did and I am glad I did so.
“A large and influential TV audience was delighted to see Kiki not only looking superbly fit, but her unique voice even better than they remembered. Both performers enjoy a heritage which stretches back through decades of fine musicianship, yet in all that time Kiki Carmelo concerts never became a museum piece, a go through-the-motions tribute act.”
1719 is a lovely venue with a great view of the stage. I would estimate that it holds around 100 or so people. Everyone was looking forward to seeing Kiki and Carmelo perform a wonderful set of Kiki hits and covers. They started off with a song that I was not familiar with, followed swiftly by a slowed down version of Kiki singing “Don’t Go Breaking my Heart”. This took me back to when I saw Kiki supporting Queen at the legendary band’s free concert in Hyde Park. Aha so Middlesbrough Town Hall was not actually the last time I saw her. My memory plays tricks on me again. There were lots of rumours flying around Hyde Park that day that Elton would join her on stage to duet with Kiki. However it was not to be. We had to remain satisfied with a cardboard cutout of Elton John (I kid you not).
A few songs on and the duo performed an excellent cover of Kate Bush’s “Running up that Hill”,” Every Kinda People” and a beautiful version of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon”. A short interval followed before the duo returned to perform a lovely rendition of my favourite Kiki Dee song “Amoureuse”. But this is very much a duo. Carmelo is a very accomplished acoustic and electric guitarist and also adds a second vocal to the songs. Next a little surprise. Kiki performs a poignant version of Leonard Cohen’s “Dance Me To the End of Love” during which she comes down into the audience and waltzes with a lucky guy from the front of the audience. A few songs further on and the audience singalong to “Forward Motion” a tune which is less familiar to me. They conclude the evening with “I’ve Got the Music in Me”. No “Star”. A great performance by two great artists.
I bought a lovely print of the venue. I have also been listening a lot to Kiki Dee’s early material on Fontana records, particularly “Why Don’t I Run Away from You”. There is a wonderful video on YouTube of her performing it in 1965. Please do have a look at it. The lady has been performing since the 1960s and is now 77 years old. She still looks and sounds wonderful. I treated myself to a copy of her early album courtesy of eBay.
Setlist: What You Wish For; Don’t Go Breaking My Heart; Small Mercies; Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God); Every Kinda People; Harvest Moon; The Long Ride Home; interval (30 minutes); Amoureuse; Dance Me to the End of Love; Amen and Goodbye / She’s Smiling Now (A Mother’s Song) ; Until We Meet Again; Forward Motion; I’ve Got the Music in Me
I go back a long way with 
“Australian beatnik poet Daevid Allen (ex-Soft Machine) began making music with his partner Gilli Smyth in the late 1960s, along with a constantly evolving community of creative musicians. Albums from this period include Magick Brother, Mystic Sister (1969) and the influential Bananamoon (1971) – one of David Bowie’s favourite 20 albums.” (From Gong website).
The current members of Gong are: Fabio Golfetti – lead guitar, vocals (2007, 2012–present), Dave Sturt – bass (2009–present); Ian East – saxophone, flute (2010–present); Kavus Torabi – vocals, guitar (2014–present) and Cheb Nettles – drums (2014–present).
The venue holds a lot of memories for me having seen many bands there over the years going back to the Clash White Riot tour and early concerts by the Cure, Magazine and others. I think the last time I was here was to see Gong. The current band contains relatively new members, but such is the lineage of Gong. Like Hawkwind it is a family collective within which members come and go. However the spirit and ethos of Gong carries through the band members and this was very evident for this concert. We made our way around the back of the crowd towards the left of the stage. Everyone was very kind and allowed us through, right to the front.
The current front man has a look of Marc Bolan about him with curly hair and heavy eye make-up. He was also joined by a lady singer who transformed from an angel like persona into an Indian/Persian look. Fantastic. The music was, as always, heavily psychedelic, trancelike and absolutely mesmerising. One song seemed to blend into another.
During the interval I managed to catch a pint of Guinness and the band kindly signed my ticket (see image). Next up was Ozric Tentacles whose music is less familiar to me. However, as always they provided us with an excellent set of psychedelic music. We left just as they were finishing.
“A campfire at the Stonehenge free festival in 1983 witnessed the birth of Ozric Tentacles. It was there that composer and band leader Ed Wynne (guitar & keyboards), and brother Roly Wynne (bass), who were performing in a group known at the time as ‘Bolshem People’, along with drummer Nick ‘Tig’ Van Gelder (Jamiroquai), stumbled upon keyboardist Joie Hinton. After a session of warming their bones and discussing imaginary breakfast cereals, the group went to perform an impromptu late jam session. Over the course of what became an epic six hour performance, an audience member inquired as to the name of the band. Randomly thinking back to the group’s former conversation, visions of ridiculous mythical mueslis entered Ed’s mind, and consequently he replied; “Ozric Tentacles”. (…Good job too, since some of the previous alternatives had been “Desmond Whisps”, “Gilbert Chunks” and “Malcolm Segments”).” (From Ozric Tentacles website).
Two fantastic bands who are still quite “out there” flying the hippie flag high. The lady next to me had great dreadlocks and was dressed as an angel complete with wings. That sort of sums up the atmosphere of the evening.
The Dubliners are, of course, a legendary band whose back catalogue is extensive and they have recorded many albums throughout their career. I saw them once at Newcastle City Hall with my daughter Laura and her friend and we all had a great singalong evening, along with the rest of the audience! Lots of fun, Irish humour and tremendous Irish tunes.
Unlike many other bands, when the last remaining original member sadly passed, the Dubliners felt it appropriate to rename themselves the 
“Paul Watchorn, one of the best 5 string banjo players in Ireland, toured the world as a member of Derek Warfield’s Sons Of Erin for many years. During the bands 2017 tour of Holland Eamonn took ill and died a short while after the tour. Shay Kavanagh who had been filling in for Eamonn during previous tours came in to help out. Shay has worked with Mary Black, The Dublin City Ramblers & The Furey Brothers”
“In 2012 the Legendary Irish Folk group THE DUBLINERS celebrated 50 glorious years in the music business by receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and rapidly followed it up with a sell-out concert tour of the UK, the highlight of which was a magical night at The Royal Albert Hall in London. Sadly, however, they subsequently suffered a body blow with the sudden tragic death of founding member “Banjo” Barney McKenna.”
“Quite naturally this meant that the remaining members chose to sit down and decide upon the bands future. John Sheahan, after 48 years of touring, decided it was time to step off the tour bus and it was agreed that The Dubliners, as a touring band, would come to an end. THE DUBLIN LEGENDS were born. THE DUBLIN LEGENDS will continue the legacy started by Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly, Ciaran Bourke, Barney McKenna & John Sheahan back in Dublin 1962. As Barney himself said “It’s Too Late To Stop Now”.”
The Darlington Hippodrome is a lovely venue and we were seated, as usual, in a box towards the right and with an excellent view of the proceedings. The “lads”, as they call themselves on their website treated us to a couple of sets and a short interval during which I treated myself to a lovely cold pint of draught Guinness (well what else could I drink).
Many years ago I was a Visiting Professor at Dublin Institute of Technology which is now the New Technological University of Dublin. I must have visited Dublin around 50 times over the years. I would take my little short flight from Newcastle airport to Dublin airport, courtesy of British Airways and latterly of Ryanair, arrive at my hotel, check in and then treat myself to a pint of Guinness. The bar tender would always let the Guinness stand and then when deemed ready to do so, they would top up the pint with a lovely white head and a shamrock placed on the top. Exquisite. This would be followed by an Irish whiskey and off to bed. Then in the morning a full Irish breakfast with egg, bacon, sausage, beans, black pudding and white pudding. I can even taste it now.
Then off to the college and meet the staff I was supervising for their PhD studies, another nice lunch with another pint of the black stuff, back to work and later in the day back on my flight home. Happy days. The graduation ceremony took place in the auspicious surroundings of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. I had the honour of seeing my students graduate in the lovely surroundings of the cathedral (image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).
Changing the name of the band was a brave move, but does not detract in any way from the authenticity of this group of true Dublin legends. Lots of banjos, fiddles, acoustic guitars and lovely Irish voices all brought together in a highly enjoyable evening of Irish tradition. “As I went home on a Monday night, as drunk, as drunk can be…”, And so it went on….Time for another Guinness (picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).
This concert sold out pretty quickly. 
But before the proceedings proper began, 
After a short interval the main act took to the stage. It is some years since I have seen Liam perform. I saw Oasis many times: at Bolton football ground, Sunderland Stadium of Light, Sheffield Arena and. Newcastle Arena. I also saw Liam perform with his first post – Oasis band Beady Eye at Manchester Apollo. Anyone going along expecting to see Liam perform Oasis songs would have been disappointed. This was very much a Liam Gallagher concert with the added extra, and excellent, guitar of John Squire. Liam was dressed in his usual parka style top, all swagger with his arms round his back.
Liam played much of his new album which has been recorded with Squire and the songs sounded pretty good on first hearing. Squire was wearing a lovely Paisley shirt looking as if it came straight from Liam’s Pretty Green range (and maybe it did?) The encore was an excellent version of the Rolling Stones’ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”. Fabulous. Liam through his maracas up to the left hand balcony and his tambourine to the right-hand balcony. A couple of lucky punters got some great memorabilia to show their friends and family.
Liam Gallagher Setlist: Just Another Rainbow; One Day at a Time; I’m a Wheel; Love You Forever; Make It Up as You Go Along; You’re Not the Only One; I’m So Bored; Mars to Liverpool; Mother Nature’s Song; Raise Your Hands.
Jake Bugg Setlist: Strange Creatures; There’s a Beast and We All Feed It; Trouble Town; Me and You ; Seen It All; I Wrote the Book; Taste It; Slumville Sunrise; Simple as This; All Kinds of People; Two Fingers; Lightning Bolt.
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