Robin Trower Newcastle City Hall 22nd Feb 1976
Come 1976 and Robin Trower was one of the most popular acts in the country. He toured the UK in February and March calling at the City Hall for two nights this time, and closing the tour by playing to 8,000 fans at Wembley Empire Pool. Support for the tour was local north east pop rock act John Miles. I remember driving through to the City Hall to buy tickets the day they went on sale. It had been snowing heavily and the roads were quite treacherous. My mate and I watched in horror as the car in front of us slid off the road and into the trees at the side of the carriageway. We made our way safely to the box office and bought tickets for the first night.
The concert was excellent, with Trower on top form, his feet surrounded by an array of effects pedals which enabled him to create some unbelievable sounds with his trusty Fender Strat. 
The Trower band had changed slightly with a new drummer Bill Lordan playing alongside Trower and Dewar. They were tight and loud, and delighted the City Hall crowd with classics like “Bridge of Sighs”, “Lady Love” and my fave “Too Rolling Stoned”, tracks from their current, third, album “For Earth Below” and a couple of new songs which would feature on the fourth album “Long Misty Days”. Brian Harrigan reviewed the Wembley gig for Melody Maker: “There ain’t nothing like Robin Trower at full blast……in the 
cavernous Wembley Empire Pool, they thundered like a three-man blitzkrieg.”
Typical 1976 setlist: Day of the Eagle; Bridge of Sighs; Sailing; Lady Love; Long Misty Days; The Fool and Me; Too Rolling Stoned; Daydream; Same Rain Falls; I Can’t Wait Much Longer; Alethea; Little Bit of Sympathy; Rock Me Baby; S.M.O.
Many thanks to Mitch for his photo of Trower which was taken at this concert and to John for his image of the poster for the concert the following night.
5 Oct
Vintagerock's Weblog. 
Posted by Hockey on October 5, 2014 at 11:46 am
Great review Peter. My friends and I went to the Manchester Free Trade Hall show on Feb 20th ’76. We enjoyed John Miles support slot, especially hit big chart song ‘Music’. Robin blew us away of course, it was only my fourth ever gig and we already had all his albums after seeing him on the Old Grey Whistle Test while we were still at school. Towards the end of the gig Robin announced that they were going to play again the following night, so went again on the 21st, our first ‘double header’. He played a similar setlist, but we didn’t mind as we loved every minute. Glad he’s returned to the UK a few times over recent years, and we we’ve seen all those tours too, and looking forward to seeing him next April in both York and Holmfirth. happy days. best regards, Mike
Posted by vintagerock on October 5, 2014 at 11:54 am
Hi Mike Many thanks. Yes I’ve seen Trower a couple of times recently and aim to go again to Gateshead next year. He’s still great Best wishes Peter
Posted by Mitch on October 6, 2014 at 2:23 pm
I was there and this was a truly great concert. I agree with all of the superlatives on Trower but John Miles was excellent too as support.
I don’t think that John Miles’ Music single had been released at the time and the only hit that he had had up to this point was the very poppy Highfly. I remember being unsure what to expect from him but his set opener rocker went down extremely well with the crowd and he received a great reception after that. I even bought his Rebel LP shortly after the concert.
John Miles’ set list at this show was:
Rock And Roll Hoochie Koo, Rebel, Music, Highfly, Pull The Damn Thing Down, Stranger In The City, You Have It All, Sweet Lorraine.
Posted by vintagerock on October 6, 2014 at 2:26 pm
Hi Mitch Many thanks. I was actually quite a fan of John Miles too. I saw him many times, including quite a few gigs in the early days, when it was “The John Miles Set” and they were performing at local workingmen’s clubs. He always put on a good show and it was great when he started to be successful. I also used to see him every morning of the week at one point, as my eldest daughter was in the same school as one of his children. Cheers Peter