I have seen Nick Lowe many times over the years starting back in 1974. For three Saturdays in Summer 1974 a stage appeared in Sunderland’s Backhouse Park and a series of concerts were held. The park was filled with music from a host of local bands and headliners Jack the Lad, Brinsley Schwarz & Chilli Willi & the Red Hot Peppers. Local heroes Saltgrass played at each event and a grand time was had by all.
27th July 1974 Brinsley Schwarz: Brinsley Schwarz were stalwarts of the pub rock scene. This gig came towards the end of their career, and their line-up was Brinsley Schwarz, Ian Gomm, Billy Rankin, Bob Andrews, Nick Lowe, and Carlos Luna. They had just released their sixth and final album “The New Favourites of… Brinsley Schwarz” which featured Nick Lowe’s classic “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding”.
A few years or so later, and I went to see Dave Edmunds in concert, fronting his band Rockpile along with Nick Lowe on bass, Billy Bremner on guitar, and Terry Williams on drums. Dave Edmunds is often called the Welsh Wizard, and he sure is a wizard of rock ‘n roll, and Rockpile were one great rock band. They had some great songs: Here Comes the Weekend, I knew the Bride, Girls Talk, Queen of Hearts, and they all seemed so cool at the time. I recall the Redcar Coatham Bowl gig well. I went with my mate, and we were standing right at the front, a few feet away from Dave and Nick. Dave was fantastic and Nick was, well just Nick, “the Jesus of cool”.
I later saw Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe, again in Rockpile at Newcastle City Hall. I can’t remember much of this concert, but I do have a programme (see image) which shows Nick very clearly, resplendent in a yellow jumper. The next time I saw Nick was on The Stiff Tour in 1977 at Middlesbrough Town Hall and Newcastle Poly.
Now, the Stiff tours were a highlight of the late 70s rock calendar. These amazing events featured a selection of artists from Stiff records, travelling up and down the UK dropping into concert halls, university student unions and your local theatre. The first tour was known as the Live Stiffs Tour or 5 Live Stiffs and took place in late 1977. This first extravaganza boasted a stellar line-up of the new wave aristocracy with a young Elvis Costello with his fine Attractions, Ian Dury, and the magnificent Blockheads, the crazy, wild and 100% authentic Wreckless Eric, The Jesus of Cool Nick Lowe (featuring rocker supremo Dave Edmunds) and ex-Pink Fairies, Motorhead (and great Lewis leather jacket) Larry Wallis. The tour called at Newcastle Polytechnic a couple of weeks later. I enjoyed the show so much, I went along again, this time with Marie.
Next to a very different festival/concert: “Oh God, Not Another Boring Old Knebworth,” said the posters. Line-up: The Tubes, Frank Zappa, Peter Gabriel, Boomtown Rats, Rockpile, Wilko Johnson’s Solid Senders. This was the second Knebworth festival to take place in 1978, following the Genesis / Jefferson Starship / Tom Petty gig earlier in the summer. I remember thinking it was a bit late in the year for an open-air gig and feared the worst from the weather, but actually it was ok on the day; quite fine.
I drove down with a group of mates. We camped and pitched our tents near a big generator (big mistake) which for some reason we didn’t really notice when we set up. However it was loudly humming all night and powering a massive floodlight which shone on our tents, so we didn’t get much sleep. The show was opened by the Boomtown Rats, Wilko Johnson who had recently left Dr Feelgood and was fronting his new band Solid Senders, and Rockpile featuring Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe. Once again, Nick played and stood quietly, cool as ever! These were class acts and a great start to the day.
The Tubes closed the festival with a massive crazy show. They were joined by Todd Rundgren for encores of “Baba O’Reilly” and “The Kids are Alright”, played in honour of Keith Moon who had died just two days before this concert. Zappa was also great, although I didn’t enjoy his performance as much as the concert I saw in Edinburgh the year before. His band had changed, and they played very few songs that I knew. Still, it was a good day with a varied, and very strong line-up, although the lack of a major league headliner resulted in a far from capacity crowd. You can just about see Nick’s name on the programme (pictured above).
So, Nick Lowe and I go back a long way. He, his songs and his base and guitar playing were the foundation for many great bands throughout the years. It is a long time since I last saw Nick in concert. Many years have passed. I didn’t really know what to expect. The Fire Station website advertised the concert thus: “In September, Nick Lowe will release ‘Indoor Safari’ – his first full-length album in eleven years. Consisting of twelve songs, including brand new originals, a couple signature deep-cut covers, and refitted versions of tracks previously released in nascent form as singles, the album represents a culmination of Lowe’s decade-long working relationship with those mysterious masked men – Los Straitjackets (Eddie Angel/guitar; Pete Curry/bass; Chris Sprague/drums; Greg Townson/guitar).” And yes, the band did wear masks and were pretty weird to be honest.
“The news comes amidst a busy summer calendar for Lowe with North American dates ranging from a run of Canadian shows with longtime compatriot Ron Sexsmith, to a top-billed appearance at Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival, a set at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY, and more surprises in store. We’re excited to welcome Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets to Sunderland for a special visit as part of their UK tour!” Support came from Oliver Darling.
During the interval I met lots of old friends who I had not seen for some time in the bar. It was great to catch up after many years in some cases. It seemed like everyone I knew had turned out for this performance. Some of us reminisced about the concert in Backhouse Park 50 years ago! We had great seats, and I even recognised some of the songs: “Cruel To Be Kind”; “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” and the closer “I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock ‘n’ Roll)”. A truly class act.
Halfway through the set, the band, Los Straitjackets, who looked bizarre and almost scary in their masks played a western movie theme tune (imagine bonanza/the big country and the shadows on acid). The encore was again quite bizarre “Venus” (yes, the hit for Shocking Blue, that’s the one), followed by another (less bizarre) well-known song “When I Write the Book” by the legendary Rockpile.
Many thanks to Jackie for the photographs and Chris for manipulating the site.
Setlist:(Something like) So It Goes; I Went to a Party; Without Love; Lately I’ve Let Things Slide; I Live on a Battlefield; Love Starvation; Tokyo Bay; Los Straitjackets Theme from The Magnificent Seven; Kawanga!; Aerostar; Driving Guitars (Ventures Twist); High Wire Act; Trombone; House for Sale; Ragin’ Eyes; Somebody Cares for Me; Blue on Blue; Cruel to Be Kind; Half a Boy and Half a Man; (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding; I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock ‘n’ Roll)
Encore: Venus; When I Write the Book.
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Posted by ciarant1step on October 29, 2024 at 11:32 pm
This was a fun review and I enjoyed hearing about all the times you’ve seen Nick Lowe or one the bands that he played in.
Looking at the setlist reminded me of how many and varied records Nick Lowe has made ir has contributed to. Some real old favourites in that list.
And yes, Los Straitjackets do look pretty scary!
Posted by vintagerock on October 30, 2024 at 12:22 pm
Yes it was a great concert Ciaran Nick Lowe is very underrated Peter
Posted by TerriersFan on October 30, 2024 at 9:30 am
Never seen him, but I do like his stuff. And, like you, Peter, I love Dave Edmunds’ stuff too.
Sounds like another good gig which stirred plenty of great memories.
Roger 🤘👍
Posted by vintagerock on October 30, 2024 at 12:17 pm
Yes it was great Roger. Very underrated Peter