Lindisfarne and Newcastle City Hall. An iconic Geordie band in an iconic venue. So many memories for me. Please accept my apologies for reminiscing about this band and the venue, but they are both so important to my musical meanderings through life. I first saw Lindisfarne supporting Van Der Graf Generator, with Genesis lower down on the bill at Newcastle City Hall in early 1971. I then attended the Lindisfarne first Christmas concert at the City Hall in, I think, also 1971.
Along the way I saw Lindisfarne many times. The Lincoln Festival where they triumphed with the whole crowd singing along to songs from Nicely Out Of Tune and the Fog On The Tyne albums. The Grangemouth festival 1972 in Scotland where they again got the crowd singing along. Seeing them at Sunderland Top Rank around 1972 and headlining the City Hall two nights in a row, one with Genesis support and the other with Stackridge support on the Dingley Dell tour (a much underrated album). Then the split and witnessing Lindisfarne 2 and the other offshoot Jack The Lad at festivals. The reforming of the band with a magical comeback concert at the City Hall and then back at the top with “Run for Home” and attending a sold-out concert at Redcar Coatham bowl during which we all danced on the tables and the aforementioned single was high in the charts.
The Alan Hull solo concert at the City Hall. Then all the Christmas concerts which I attended during the 1980s at the Newcastle City Hall. Travelling to Carlisle Sands Centre to see their farewell concert. I even took a copy of that evening’s Newcastle evening Chronicle trusted Carlisle; they were fully pictured on the cover and I got them to sign the newspaper. They were surprised as they did not know that they featured in it! Attending a ceremony outside the City Hall when a blue plaque was placed there to celebrate the life of Alan Hull. Ray Jackson’s Lindisfarne played outside at the ceremony.
And then starting to see the newly reformed band a few times, firstly with Ray Jackson fronting the band and more recently with Rod Clements as front man. I don’t know how many times I must have seen Lindisfarne but it is on many, many occasions. And of course, the Newcastle City Hall was, and remains, my spiritual music home. So, you can see how this was such a memorable event for me.
The City Hall was completely sold out and when Jan, my carer for the evening, and I entered the building we were greeted by a brass band on stage playing Christmas carols. Soon a Geordie Santa arrived to tell us a series of rather rude, but also quite funny, Christmas jokes, in the same way that Mike Elliott would do so at the original Christmas concerts. Then the band took to the stage to a very loud Geordie welcome. The set for the evening was very similar to that I have witnessed a couple of times this year already: once in the Princess Pavilion Yarm and also in the Sunderland Fire Station. But this time things were very different. The atmosphere was very different. This was Lindisfarne, fronted by Rod Clements, returning home to their home crowd in their spiritual home, Newcastle City Hall.
The evening was in two parts with a short interval during which a double Jack Daniels went down well and set me up for the proceedings. Santa returned with more Christmas cracker jokes before the band resumed the concert to another massive cheer. The Newcastle crowd who had travelled from near and far to this special event were really up for a great night. We were treated to all the classic songs: “No Time to Lose”, “We Can Swing Together” and my personal favourite “Winter Song” performed perfectly by David Hull– Denholm, Alan Hull’s son in law.
Soon, we were on the home front and the closing songs were: “Fog on the Tyne”, “Meet Me on the Corner” and “Run for Home”. All massive singalongs with the entire City Hall on its feet. The closer was, as it was in 1971 and has been ever since: “Clear White Light”. There truly was magic in the air last night. We all walked out into the rather mild Christmas evening, Jan and I into our taxi and away home.
Many thanks to Jan for the photographs and Chris for manipulating the site as usual.So, that brings me to the end of my 2023 concert adventures. A little rest before I start again in 2024. A Merry Christmas to all of you who read my blogging, and all the best and see you in 2024. Peter
Setlist: Set 1: Alright on the Night; Squire; Scarecrow Song; Statues & Liberties; Lady Eleanor; Can’t Do Right for Doing Wrong; All Fall Down; Anyway the Wind Blows; Road to Kingdom Come; Walk a Crooked Mile; January Song.
Set 2: No Time to Lose; Passing Ghosts; Sundown Station; Dingley Dell; When The War Is Over; Winter Song; We Can Swing Together; Fog on the Tyne; Meet Me on the Corner; Run for Home; Clear White Light, Part 2.
Another night spent with another great band. Tonight it is local heroes 
And apologies for any repetition from a previous blog entry about Lindisfarne. My only excuse is that I have a run of concerts and many blog entries to write this week! “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.”
The concert was in two sets with a short interval between them. Lindisfarne 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”. Other favourites are “Road to Kingdom Come” and “January Song”.
This year’s tour focuses on the album Magic in the Air. This is a live album (see image of my copy) which contains all of the band’s well known songs. So the second set contains many more tunes that I recognise including 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
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 
The second version of 
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.
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
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.
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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