Pete Seeger Newcastle City Hall 8th March 1978
Support from Louis Killen and The High Level Ranters
The passing earlier this week of the legendary Pete Seeger makes me cast my mind back to the one occasion I saw the great man in concert; which was at Newcastle City Hall in 1978. It is one of the simplest, yet most powerful performances I have had the pleasure of attending. I went along with a friend, neither of us massive folk fans, but the legend of the man transcends musical boundaries and drew us to the City Hall that night.
Seeger performed alone; seated centre stage on a simple wooden chair for much of the performance, accompanied only by his banjo, and sang all those great songs. He told us stories, sang his own tunes, and covered traditional and contemporary folk songs. There was a purity, authenticity and truth about his performance; Seeger was completely in tune with the audience; we all sang all with him to classics such as “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”; “If I Had a Hammer”; “Turn! Turn! Turn!”; “Little Boxes”; and “We Shall Overcome”. The title “legend” is often applied to many different artists and musicians, but few actually deserve it; Pete Seeger is one who undoubtedly and absolutely does.
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