Another trip down memory lane. This was Roger Chapman, supported by a band comprising of ex Family members and others, playing a selection of Family songs and other Chappo favourites. Add into the mix, my old hero Edgar Broughton as support act, and I was guaranteed a great night.
The venue was half full, comprising mostly old fans of Family. Now Family were always great favourites in the North-East, from the days when they played the Bay Hotel in Sunderland, Sunderland Locarno and Newcastle Mayfair in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I was lucky enough to see them once or twice in those days and pretty formidable they were too. Their music was a mix of rock, jazz and psychedelia; quite unpredictable and topped by Chappos tremendous searing, throaty vocals. I ran into a few old friends and had a good chat with them, which started the night off well.
First up was the legend that is Edgar Broughton. I used to look up to Edgar as a role model; a fearless guy who stood up for, and fought for, what he believed in and what he was passionate about, which was freedom, socialist values and doing the right thing. I have seen Edgar many times over the years, and his spirit remains undiminished. The format has changed, the old Edgar Broughton Band is no more after a sad falling out with his brother Steve, which he sings about in a song that has the lines “We Were Warriors Together”; and how true that was! Now he sings solo with a batch of new songs; his passionate, emotional voice supported only by his acoustic guitar. “Out Demons out” is no more, the only Edgar Broughton Band songs being “Green Lights” and “Hotel Room”, if my memory serves me right. Sadly, several of the crowd talk over him while he sings, the unfamiliar songs raising polite clapping. But to me, who now recognises all the songs, this was a great performance by a great man.
Top of the bill was, of course, Roger Chapman and his band playing songs by Family; all well known by the crowd.We were treated to old Family favourites such as “Top of the Hill”, “Drowned in Wine” and the hit song “Burlesque”, closing with the wonderful “The Weavers Answer“. The encore started with my personal favourite “My Friend the Sun“; I am back in the field at the rainy Buxton Festival when Chapman and his Streetwalkers sang that song and the sun came out. A treasured moment; we all cheered the sun and all was well in the world for a few wonderful moments when the time stood still for me. The closer was “In My Own Time”. Chapman remains in good voice, as emotional as ever and his power undiminished. Everyone went home content. Happy days for ageing rockers. It don’t get much better than this.
Update on November 8, 2021. We found a copy of the set list upstairs in my “vault” of memorabilia (see image). I have no recollection of how I got this! Jackie thinks we picked it up from the floor on the way out. I wonder if we asked the guy on the mixing desk (who was directly in front of us) to give it to us? Anyway it remains a mystery. The abbreviated song titles had me wondering for a while but I eventually worked out that “sun” referred to “My Friend the Sun” and the others then fell into place. Anyway, it is nice to have and I thought I would add it to the post here. The encores don’t quite match the set list below, which I found on the Internet. Goodness knows which one is correct. They may well have deviated from the planned, printed, set list on the evening.
Setlist: Prisoner; Who Pulled the Night Down; Hey Mr Policeman; Drowned in Wine; Habits of a Lifetime; Kiss My Soul; Top of the Hill; Run for Cover; Processions; Hung Up Down; Burlesque; The Weaver’s Answer. Encore: My Friend the Sun; Shadow on the Wall / Shortlist / Toenail Dragging; In My Own Time
Many thanks to Frank Schwichtenberg for allowing his picture of Roger Chapman in 2018 to be used courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Line-up: Chuck Berry; Canned Heat; Nazareth; Edgar Broughton Band; Sensational Alex Harvey Band; Medicine Head; Brewers Droop
Out Demons Out! Norm and I went to see Edgar Broughton at the Adelphi Hull last night. Edgar is performing solo these days, just him singing his new songs with an acoustic guitar; the set consists largely of material that he has written over the past few years. We set off for Hull around 5.30pm and arrived around 7.45pm, after an uneventful drive via the York ring road, and found the Adelphi surprisingly easily. We popped into Wetherspoons for a bite to eat, and then went along to the venue around 8.45pm. The Adelphi is a great little venue which sits in De Grey street, just off one of the main routes through Hull. It has been running for many years, and has hosted gigs by some famous names such as Oasis, Pulp and Radiohead. It was the first time we had visited the venue and we were both pleasantly surprised. Support came from local, Scarborough-based, one man band Joe Solo, who gave us a set of folk protest songs, passionately delivered. For his last song he gave everyone in the audience a small percussion instrument and the whole room played along with him. Joe told us that it was 20 years since he first played The Adelphi. 
Edgar took to the stage around 10pm, starting with Soldiers of the Light, which is a recent song about his relationship with his brother. He has a unique voice; dark and mournful. The rest of the set was drawn mainly from his latest album. I recognised several, having seen him perform in York last year, and it was good to hear them again. The set consisted of something like (although not in this order, and I will have missed some): This England; Ice on Fire; My Salvation; Christmas Song; Red Star; There’s a Hole in It and Evening Over Rooftops (from the Edgar Broughton band days). He finished with Arabesque / All Fall Down / Speak Down the Wires, which is an Indian-based chant. The encore was two songs, the first of which was The Poppy (“an early eco song we wrote in 1971”). No Out Demons Out to Norm’s disappointment. The crowd seemed to enjoy the set; Edgar is as passionate as ever, and the songs still have strong elements of protest and social conscience. We left around 11.15pm and were back home by 1.15am.
Edgar Broughton is one of my all time heroes. He is the man; period. During the early 70s he was uncomprising, fearless, and a composer and singer of some great rock music. My early memories of Edgar were gigs at Sunderland Locarno and at festivals such as Reading’72 and Buxton’72. Edgar was usually sporting a snazzy karate suit, and singing tracks from the early EBB lps such as Freedom, Evil, American Soldier, Apache Drop Out and, of course, Out Demons Out. Edgar always had a lot to say and wasn’t frightened of speaking out against the police, the government and anything he didn’t feel was right. He was (and still is) a big man with a deep booming voice, often compared to Beefheart. But there was much more to Edgar. His guitar work was pretty tasty and his songs crossed genres, and defied categorisation.
Onstage I felt as if he was speaking directly to me, and he had quite a powerful, almost frightening personality. I saw him in The Locarno a few days before the (in)famous Redcar gig (which I regret not attending) where Edgar and the band turned up and played from the back of a lorry after being banned from playing on the seafront. He encouraged us all to come along to Redcar, to bring our friends and our cars and to screw up the town and the local police force. Edgar ended up spending the night in Redcar jail, and wrote the song “(Judge) called me a liar” about the experience. One night I recall him telling us not to buy the Out Demons Out single, as that would only give money to the record company. Instead he encouraged us to buy a spray can and spray “Out Demons Out” on walls around the time. As we moved into the mid 70s Edgar and the guys had graduated to playing the City Hall circuit. Although the music was still strong, I felt they lost some of the immediacy and passion that I had experienced in a club and festival setting.
The EBB had some great songs. Favourites of mine were The Poppy, Green Lights, Hotel Room and Evening over the rooftops. Listen to their albums if you get a chance. They are much under-rated. As we came to the end of the 70s, The EBB had all but disappeared from the scene. The last time I saw them they were called The Broughtons, and were supporting (Ian) Gillan at the City Hall around 1979. This was at the time of the Parlez Vous English? lp, which is one of the few Broughton albums which I don’t have in my collection. However, this week I’ve just bought a copy on ebay for 99p; I’m looking forward to playing it after all this time!
The band seemed to disappear from view in the 90s. I missed one show locally in the late 80s or early 90s which was while I was on holiday, and still regret it. However in 2006 they were back, and Will and I caught their gig at Sheffield Boardwalk. I went backstage before the band came on stage, said hello to Edgar (Rob) and the guys and got them to sign my gig flyer. The set that night included all of the well know tracks, starting with Evening Over Rooftops and continuing with Speak Down The Wires; the strange story of The Moth; Why Can’t Somebody Love Me; the great boogie of Momma’s Reward; American Boy Soldier with lyrics updated to comment upon modern war; the proto punk metal of Love In The Rain; Hotel Room; and Out Demons Out as an encore. In introducing the latter song Edgar told the crowd that the demons are still out there and explained that we needed to chant; just as we did in the old day! The EBB has sadly split since, but Edgar plays on, as passionate as ever. I saw him last year in York (see my post from August 2011). 
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