Lindisfarne have an intriguing and somewhat confusing history. There are, in practice, currently two versions of the band touring at the moment. The first, the Lindisfarne Story, comprises founding drummer Ray Laidlaw along with later vocalist and long-term friend of the band, Billy Mitchell who tour as a duo telling stories and singing acoustic versions of the Lindisfarne repertoire. I was lucky enough to see them quite recently at Durham Gala Theatre and have reported separately on that concert.
The second version of Lindisfarne is a fully electric band which tours the country playing all of the well-known songs that Lindisfarne are so famous for. Until a few years ago this band was fronted by Ray Jackson, former front man, singer and harmonica player who has now retired to focus upon his other passion, drawing and painting. I recently purchased a signed print of his “Fog on the Tyne” work, which is excellent! This version of the band is now fronted by original member Rod Clements and features past members of Lindisfarne. It was this, electric version, of Lindisfarne that I was seeing in Yarm.
The following extract from the Pavilion Theatre‘s website summarises the bands history thus:
“LINDISFARNE emerged from Tyneside in the 1970s and quickly carved out a unique place for themselves as one of British rock’s most original bands. Their pioneering sound, combining acoustic instruments like mandolin and fiddle with their electric blues roots, proved the perfect medium to deliver the catchy, memorable songs provided by the band’s resident writers Alan Hull and Rod Clements.
Their first hit, the Clements-penned “Meet Me on the Corner”, paved the way for their classic Fog on the Tyne to become the UK’s top-selling album of 1972. LINDISFARNE’s unforgettable songs, powerful live performances and unpretentious style led to worldwide success and an enviable reputation as festival favourites, and the annual Christmas concerts they presented in their native Newcastle became the stuff of legend.
The original band finally called it a day in 2003, but now LINDISFARNE are back with a classic five-piece line up of long-time members fronted by original founder-member Rod Clements (vocals, mandolin, fiddle, slide guitar) and Alan Hull’s son-in-law Dave Hull-Denholm (vocals, guitars). “ Other members are: Steve Daggett (vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar and harmonica) who has been in the band since 1986; Ian Thomson (electric and double bass) a member since 1995 and Paul Smith (drums) who joined more recently in 2021.”
“With a repertoire of much-loved songs like “Meet Me on the Corner”, “Fog on the Tyne”, “Lady Eleanor” and “Run for Home. “…
The Princess Alexandra Auditorium is a stunning venue on the Yarm School site. “A visit to the Auditorium is memorable, with beautiful views of the River Tees”. And memorable, indeed, it is. This beautiful venue is hidden behind Yarm school and has been open for 10 years. It really is a stunning venue and I am surprised that I have never heard of it before.
We had great seats in the front row and got there just in time to see Lindisfarne (no support act) begin the proceedings with old favourite “No Time to Lose”. The concert was in two sets with a short interval between them. What can I say! The new (-ish) band play all the old favourites and do them 100% justice. Rod Clements is a quiet yet charismatic front man who introduces many of the songs. Dave Hull-Denholm performs his father-in-law’s songs with the reverence they deserve and his vocals sound very much like Alan Hull. Steve Daggett sings quite a few of the songs and again does justice to the Lindisfarne repertoire. So in the first set we get great tunes such as the enigmatic, melodic early classic “Lady Eleanor”. This song always intrigues me. The lyric “in came Roderick Usher with the lady Eleanor” is not quite true to the Edgar Allan Poe tail “The Fall of the House of Usher”. The lady in question is actually Madeline not Eleanor. I wonder why they use that particular poetic licence? Other favourites are “Road to Kingdom Come” and, closing the first set, “January Song”.
The second set begins with another great Lindisfarne classic “Alright on the Night”. Soon we get a wonderful, atmospheric performance of the much underrated “Dingley Dell”. This brings back lovely memories of seeing Lindisfarne at Newcastle City Hall on the Dingley Dell tour. I went both nights as there were different supports each night and I was a fan of each band: Stackridge and Genesis! Happy days. Then, my particular favourite which still makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck: Dave performing “Winter Song”. Soon we are into the hits: “We can Swing Together”, “Fog on the Tyne” and “Meet me on the Corner”, followed by the massive hit Lindisfarne reunion song “Run for Home”. And the closer, yes it had to be “Clear White Light”. I am transported back to the first time I saw Lindisfarne in the City Hall sandwiched between headliner Van der Graaf Generator and new up-and-coming band Genesis. All for 25p as I recall! Happy days
A great night spent with a great local band. Wonderful. The taxi takes around one hour to get me back home and soon I am in my bed thinking how wonderful Lindisfarne remain.
On the way out we are given a flyer for the Newcastle City Hall Lindisfarne Christmas concert, following the tradition of many years. I went to what I think was the 1st Christmas concert at Newcastle City Hall in 1971. Sadly I am unable to attend this year as I will be seeing Rod Stewart at Newcastle Arena on the same night. Such dilemmas always annoy me and sent to try me! This was one of the reasons I made the trip to Yarm to see Lindisfarne. Many thanks to carer Jan for taking the photos. No merchandise to buy this evening.
So I am left with the question: who provides the better evening; the Lindisfarne Story or Lindisfarne? A question which is of course impossible to answer. They are both excellent bands who both hold a rightful place in the history and legacy of Tyneside’s greatest band. We should celebrate that we have two opportunities to hear and sing along with, those great classic songs that are such an important part of my youth.
Setlist: Set 1: No Time to Lose; Turn a Deaf Ear; Scarecrow Song; Song for a Windmill; Lady Eleanor; All Fall Down; Anyway the Wind Blows; Marshall Riley’s Army; Road to Kingdom Come; 100 Miles to Liverpool; January Song.
Set 2: Alright on the Night; Together Forever; Dingly Dell; Songbook; Winter Song; Numbers (Travelling Band); We Can Swing Together; Fog on the Tyne; Meet Me on the Corner; Run for Home; Clear White Light.
It is almost a month since my last concert and I was feeling quite ready for another evening out. I decided a couple of months ago it was about time I caught up on the legendary 
The Lindisfarne Story, as the name suggests, features Ray and Billy telling the story of the band and singing acoustic versions of some of their better-known songs with Billy on vocals and guitar and Ray on bongos, drum box, and a small drum kit. On their current tour Ray and Billy are focusing on the 50th anniversary of the Fog on the Tyne album, telling the story of the band, that particular album and discussing, and playing, each track in consecutive order. The concert started at 7:30 PM prompt, the first half featuring side 1 of the album, followed by a short interval and a second-half taking us through side 2 of the album. The show is well presented using old video of the band to great effect and also clips of friends old and new such as local heroes Bruce Welch, Sting, Billy Nail and Sam Fender. The history behind each track, who wrote it and the lyrics is explained in some detail followed by a great rendition of each song. So they start with track 1 which is “Meet Me on the Corner” and carry on track by track. Many of the songs are well-known to me, others less so but I certainly learned a lot about the history of each track on this massively successful album. I had also forgotten just how successful the album was! Along the way they treat us to other Lindisfarne favourites such as “Lady Eleanor” and old blues songs, and 60s hits, which Billy Mitchell used to sing in a local band and in working men’s clubs such as “Needles and Pins” and “Hi Ho Silver Lining” (both of which got the crowd singing along; excellent!)
Some facts I found about the album, on Wikipedia:”Fog on the Tyne is a 1971 album by English rock band Lindisfarne. Bob Johnston produced the album, which was recorded at Trident Studios in Soho, London, in the mid-1971 and released in October that year on Charisma Records in the United Kingdom and Elektra Records in the U.S..
During the interval carer Jan and I treated ourselves to a drink from the bar and purchased 2 CDs, of 50 years of Fog on the Tyne, one for me and one for my friend John in the USA. We were soon back in our seats and into side 2 of the album, which features the wonderful Alan Hull classic “January Song”. I forgotten that they had covered one of Scottish folk singer Rab Noakes songs on the album. I saw Rab Noakes many times supporting Lindisfarne “back in the day”, and really enjoyed him (mental note to myself: check Rab Noakes website to see if I can go and see him any where, any time!) And so it continued, track by track, concluding with a great singalong of, of course, “Fog on the Tyne”. A great show, well executed, by 2 guys who have been there since the early days. We both really enjoyed it and learned a lot about the band, the songs and their history. On the way out Ray and Billy kindly signed my CDs. A great end to a perfect evening. Roll-on my next Lindisfarne outing.
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