David Essex in concert 1976 and 1977
I guess its not cool to admit a liking for David Essex on a blog named vintagerock, so this should probably rate as a guilty pleasure.
I first went to see David Essex at Newcastle City Hall in 1976 along with one of my mates. But before I write about David Essex I will set out my memories of the rest of that day, which relates to another teen idol of the 70s. I spent most of that day queueing outside the City Hall for Rod Stewart tickets, The queue was massive and Marie and I stood for hours, only to be turned away when the shows sold out. That was some feat, as Rod was booked for four nights at the venue, which shows just how popular he was at that time. This was his first solo tour, around the time that Sailing was a massive hit. My mate also fancied seeing Rod and he had also queued unsuccessfully. 
So we both arrived at the City Hall somewhat disappointed that we hadn’t scored tickets. Still we were looking forward to seeing David Essex. I don’t give up easily where tickets are concerned, so as soon as I arrived at the City Hall I went straight to the box office, just on the off chance, and enquired about Rod Stewart tickets. To our surprise and delight, the lady in the box office told me that a couple of single tickets had been left unsold by mistake. They were for different nights, and not particularly good seats, but we took them anyway. This cheered us up a lot for the David Essex show.
I recall us feeling a bit awkward at the David Essex gig, as the place was packed with screaming girls, and we were definitely in the minority. We went to the early 6pm show, and had seats up in the balcony. David had hit the charts several times by this time, including two number ones: Hold Me Close, and I’m Going to Make You a Star. I had also seen him in the movies That’ll Be The Day and Stardust, in which he gave two great performances. The concert was a fun experience, with lots of hits, a great atmosphere and some great pop songs. 
The following year David Essex toured again, and called at Sunderland Empire. This time I went along to the concert by myself, largely to see the support act the Alessi Brothers (or simply “Alessi”), a duo of American identical twins, who had a UK hit at the time with the single Oh Lori, and which I was quite taken with. I bought a cheap seat up in the gallery, at the top of the theatre, and made sure that I got in early to see Alessi. And pretty good they were too. I will probably have the ticket stub for that concert somewhere, but the Empire didn’t print the name of the act on the tickets in those days, so unless you know the date of the concert, working out which ticket is for which gig is tricky. David Essex was once again fun, and ran through all his hits. 
It was 28 years until I saw David Essex in concert again, on a Once in a Lifetime bill with David Cassidy at Newcastle Arena; a gig which I have already blogged about.
Postcript: I managed to find the ticket for the Empire gig. By process of elimination it has to be this one, which I have just scanned and added to this post.
28 Oct
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Posted by Mike Morton on September 11, 2013 at 9:30 pm
I have great memories of two David Essex concerts. I’ve been trying to date them for years so I’m very happy to find your report which was a great nostalgic read. I saw David Essex twice in the 1970’s, the first time in 1975 at Earls Court with Real Thing & Sweet Sensation supporting, we got tickets through the Daily Mirror Pop Club. The second time was a year later at Newcastle City Hall when ‘Coming Home’ had just been released. I also recall the Real Thing supported again, do you know if that is correct? I would dearly love it if you could please let me have a higher quality scan of the Newcastle concert ticket please, many thanks. Mike
Posted by Terry Hackett on March 22, 2014 at 8:53 am
I didn’t attend this gig, but remember driving past the City Hall that night as people were queuing to get in. It was a very long queue and included several people who were wearing white suits as favoured by David Essex. I remember thinking ‘How sad’. I recall seeing The Real Thing at Ashington Leisure Centre, an awful venue for any band.
Posted by vintagerock on March 22, 2014 at 8:54 am
Thanks Terry PS I wasn’t wearing a white suit 🙂 Peter