Girlschool Newcastle City Hall 1980
Girlschool came together in 1978, evolving out of a band called painted lady, and drawing from punk, classic rock, and NWOBHM. Girlschool’s original line-up was Kim McAuliffe, Enid Williams, Kelly Johnson, and Denise Dufort, and they released their first single Take it all away in late 1978. Lemmy of Motorhead took an interest in the band and in 1979 I saw them as support act on the Overkill tour. A year later they were headlining their own tour and I went to see them at Newcastle City Hall. Girlschool live were a raw hard rock band with the energy of punk and some of the speed and volume of Motorhead. 
I saw them quite a few times in the late 70s and early 80s; supporting Motorhead, and possibly Uriah Heep, then headlining at the Mayfair and three gigs at the City Hall. Girlschool released their debut album, Demolition, in 1980. The album also produced the singles Emergency, Nothing to Lose and a great version of the Gun song Race with the Devil. I think support act for this gig might have been Angel Witch, who were a great NWOBHM band fronted by a guy with long blonde hair who looked a little like Francis Rossi. They had a great song Angel Witch, and are still gigging today, as are Girlshool. The current Girlschool line-up features Kim, Enid and Denise from the original band. Kelly sadly died from cancer a few years ago. Another band who I should make the effort to see again!
27 Jan
Girlschool Newcastle City Hall 1980
Posted January 27, 2013 by vintagerock in Angel Witch, Girlschool. Tagged: classic rock, concert, concerts, gig, gigs, heavy metal, heavy rock, music, new wave, NWOBHM, pop, R&B, rock, rock n roll. Leave a Comment
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