Rock on the Tyne Gateshead Stadium 29th/30th August 1981
In 1981 the north east for its own rock festival in the shape of Rock on the Tyne, a two day event which took place at Gateshead Stadium over the August bank holiday weekend. So we decided to forego our usual annual trek to Reading and sample the delights of this new event. That seemed a big choice, and a bit of a dilemma for me at the time, as I had been going to Reading for 9 consecutive years. As it happened, having made the break from going to Reading I never returned, which in hindsight was a mistake….
The line-up for Rock on the Tyne was (according to my tickets) as below.
Saturday. Huang Chung, Doll by Doll, The Polecats, Pauline Murray, U2, Ian Dury & the Blockheads, Elvis Costello. [note the programme doesn’t list Pauline Murray, and does list Beckett. I can’t remember seeing Pauline play, and suspect the programme may be correct.]
Sunday. Fist, Diamond Head, Trimmer & Jenkins, Dr Feelgood, Ginger Baker’s Nutters, Lindisfarne, Rory Gallagher.
One of my main reasons for attending was to see up and coming new wave Irish band U2; this was their first appearance in the north east. I remember getting to the festival just in time to see their set late on Saturday afternoon. U2 were amazing at this point in their career. Bono was passionate, full of energy and you could just feel how hungry he and the rest of the band were for the massive success which was soon to follow. Stand-out songs were 11 O’Clock Tick Tock; I Will Follow (which they performed twice, once during the main set and again as part of the encore) and Fire. I remember Bono climbing up the lighting rig during (I think) Fire. Or perhaps that was the following year when they supported the Police at the same venue, or maybe it was on both occasions (actually I think it was both times ?) The memories are fading now, but what I do remember is that U2 were the highlight of the festival, and they were the band that everyone was talking about.
My other memory of the weekend was Rory Gallagher. Rory was never less than excellent, and this performance was no exception. He’d put on a little weight and added a brass section, and played the festival out with all those blues rock classics…Well did out ever get up with them bullfrogs on our mind?! Pure class 🙂
Ian Dury was good, Elvis was moving into his country period, Ginger Baker had a massive drum kit (of course). The festival wasn’t that well attended and wasn’t repeated although Gateshead Stadium has been used for concerts since then, including the aforementioned Police and U2 gig which took place the following year.
U2 setlist: With A Shout; 11 O’Clock Tick Tock; I Will Follow; An Cat Dubh; Into The Heart; Another Time, Another Place; The Cry; The Electric Co.; I Threw A Brick Through A Window; Stories For Boys; Out Of Control.
Encores: I Will Follow; Fire.
Rory Gallagher setlist: The Devil Made Me Do It; Bad Penny; Nadine; I Wonder Who; Moonchild; Double Vision; Wayward Child; Bourbon; Brute Force and Ignorance; Ride on Red, Ride On; Western Plain (When I Was a Cowboy); Tattoo’d Lady; Leavin’ Blues; Philby; Shadow Play; Bullfrog Blues
This post takes me up to the letter “U”. I will continue with “U” tomorrow, by writing about U2 in concert.
Archive for the ‘Pauline Murray’ Category
20 Nov
Rock on the Tyne Gateshead Stadium 29th/30th August 1981
27 Nov
Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls Newcastle City Hall 1980
Pauline Murray, John Cooper Clarke and the Invisible Girls Newcastle City Hall 1980
I went to see Penetration play a lot in the North East during the late 70s, and was sad when they split. I always thought they deserved greater recognition and success than they achieved. But not to worry, lead singer Pauline soon bounced back with her own solo career, releasing an album and touring in late 1980. This home-coming gig featured Pauline and punk poet John Cooper Clarke each performing their own set. Both performers were backed by the Invisible Girls who had originally been formed to provide backing music for John Cooper Clarke. The Invisible Girls were Manchester producer Martin Hannett’s house band at the time and featured various members including at one point Wayne Hussey. I can’t be certain who was in the band at the City Hall concert but do remember that it featured the excellent Durutti Column’s Vini Reilly on guitar, Buzzcocks drummer John Maher, and Penetration’s Robert Blamire on bass. 
I think the Invisible Girls may have played their own short instrumental set before John Cooper Clarke came on stage. Vini Reilly had a particular guitar style, very atmospheric, beautiful and melodic. I never quite understood the need to add music to John Cooper Clarke’s poetry, which is strong enough to stand in its own right. I enjoyed seeing him with the Invisible Girls, but his set that night didn’t have the same edge as previous performances I had witnessed; the music somehow almost stifled John’s poems, and didn’t allow him to experiment with phrasing and rhythm in the way that he normally did. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable performance. Pauline’s solo material was much more melodic and poppier than the punk rock of Penetration, and her set that night featured songs from her first album, which is a classic of the time, and quite under-rated. The music is very atmospheric, dark, almost goth in parts. I remember this gig as an enjoyable evening with some uplifting music.
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