Steve Marriott Sunderland Kazbah Club 22nd January 1989
Reflecting back on the gigs I have attended over the years gives me the opportunity to think about the performers that I really rate. One of them has to be Steve Marriott. For me, Steve is simply the best performer and the best white soul and R’n’B singer that I have ever seen. Period. I’ve already written about the Humble Pie concerts I attended in the early 70s. I was also lucky enough to see Steve in the reformed Small Faces, who I caught a couple of times in the late 70s; I’ll write about those shows on another day.
Today, I’m thinking about the last time I saw Steve Marriott in concert which was in 1989, a couple of years before his sad and untimely death. The Kazbah club was a small, short-lived, club which operated in Sunderland in the late 80s. I saw a few bands perform there; Chicken Shack, The Groundhogs and Steve Gibbons come to mind. Going to this gig was a last minute decision; I just decided to go along on the night and entered the club late, right before Steve took to the stage. It was great to see him again, after a gap of 10 years or so. To be honest he looked a little weary, and worse for wear, but the passion remained in his performance. The voice was a little raw, and more rusty, but at times he sang with the power of the old days. The set contained quite a few unfamiliar songs, but I remember him performing “All or Nothing” which remains one of my favourites and went down well with the sparse crowd. He also played a few “standards”; I recall “High Heal Sneakers” being performed that night. It was great to watch Steve in such a small and intimate venue, but for me the evening was also tinged with sadness, seeing him play in front of a few people, and not in great shape. The line-up at the time was probably Steve Marriott and The DT’s. The DT’s were an existing band from Birmingham who Steve admired and eventually hooked up with. Their line-up included Steve Walwyn, Greg Rhynd, Simon Hickling and Ches Chaplin. Typical Steve Marriott setlist from early 1989 (from humble-pie.net) : Watch Your Step; Let’s Work Together; Everything’s Gonna Be Alright; Don’t You Lie to Me; My Babe; World in a Jug; Before You Accuse Me; Big Train Stops at Memphis; I Don’t Know Where I’ve Been; Five Long Years; All or Nothing; Promised Land; Just Your Fool; High Heeled Sneakers; This Old Fool. Two years later Steve Marriott sadly died when a fire, thought to have been caused by a cigarette, swept through his home in Essex.
PS. Just noticed that Steve’s surname is spelt incorrectly on the ticket.
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