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.
Archive for the ‘David Essex’ Category
28 Oct
David Essex in concert 1976 and 1977
21 Aug
David Cassidy Once in a Lifetime tour Newcastle 2005
Once in a Lifetime Tour featuring David Cassidy; David Essex; The Osmonds and Les McKeown’s Bay City Rollers
I have come to the end of coverage of the letter C in my blogging on past concert experiences, (unless I have forgotten any, which is always possible) and will finish things with another guilty pleasure concert. This was, I think, the first “Once in a Lifetime” tour, which has now become an annual event (is there some bizarre logic there?). This show featured four legends from the seventies in concert together. I must admit, it was the presence of David Cassidy that drew Marie and I along to this gig. We’d both enjoyed seeing him at the City Hall a few years earlier, and quite fancied seeing him again. I bought tickets as soon as they went on sale and we ended up with front row seats in the first block. 
The rest of the bill was David Essex, The Osmonds (minus Donnie and Marie) and Les McKeown fronting his version of the Bay City Rollers. The gig was good fun, with the two Davids putting on the best show in my view, and getting the best crowd reactions. Its interesting that the concept continues with this year’s show featuring David Cassidy again, with support from Leo Sayer, Smokie, and Hot Chocolate, all bands that I saw and enjoyed in the 70s. Maybe I should go along again…….
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