Traffic Newcastle City Hall 24th April 1974
Concert going was a much less expensive hobby in the 70s. I saw lots of great bands, and it didn’t cost me the fortune it does these days. For £2 I had my train fare, a good seat, a pint or two and a programme. John and I went to see Traffic at Newcastle City Hall on 24th April 1974, and the tickets cost £1 each, and well worth it too 🙂 Traffic were just about to release their ninth, and final (for then, anyway) album “When the Eagle Flies”, and the line-up of the band was Steve Winwood (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Chris Wood (flute, sax), Jim Capaldi (drums, percussion), Rosko Gee (bass) and Rebop (percussion and crazy bongos). Support came from husband and wife duo Richard and Linda Thompson. My enduring memory is of a long-haired Stevie Winwood singing “John Barleycorn”, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. It remains one of my favourite songs. My other memory is of an incredible performance by Rebop, as he hopped from bongo to bongo, beating out crazy rhythms, dazzling us with lightning-fast percussion work. John’s comments on the gig: “I only saw Traffic once and it was towards the end of the bands career when the band when they were struggling to keep it all together and perhaps were not at there very best. That said, I have great and very happy memories of the show. The tour was to promote the album “When the Eagle Flies” and I believe the support was Richard and Linda Thompson (who closed their set with I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, which was the title track of their current, and best, album). 
The City Hall was not full and we had great seats pretty near the front and to one side of the stage. A set list is shown from the Rainbow show and I can recall a number of the songs – John Barleycorn was just great, followed by 40,000 Headman, Empty Pages, Pearly Queen and the outstanding Dear Mr Fantasy, which is one of the best extended jams of the period and a favorite of mine to this day. They played a number of tracks from the new album, as was the standard practice for the time, but I can only recall the title track. While the setlist from the Rainbow differs, I thought they closed with Low Spark of High Heeled Boys but I may be getting this mixed up. [My memory is of an encore of Feelin’ Alright?, but that could be my imagination]. A great band whose contribution to 70’s music is often overlooked and I am grateful to have caught them (almost) at their prime.”
Traffic setlist from London Rainbow May 1974: Heaven Is in Your Mind; John Barleycorn; Forty Thousand Headmen; Graveyard People; Empty Pages; Pearly Queen; Vulcan ?; Dear Mr. Fantasy; When the Eagle Flies; Walking in the Wind; Dream Gerrard; Memories of a Rock ‘n’ Rolla.
I saw Traffic once more, when they headlined the Reading festival a few months later in August 1974. It was another great set with some lengthy but nver boring jams (thanks in great part to Rebop’s antics), and exactly the right sort of music for a dark summer evening at a rock festival, the music drifting across the riverside fields, as the cool breeze made us all shiver a little.
Reading setlist: Empty Pages; Graveyard People; Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring; John Barleycorn; Forty Thousand Headmen; Love
When the Eagle Flies; Walking in the Wind; Dream Gerrard
Thanks to John for the image of his poster.
Archive for the ‘Traffic’ Category
18 Oct
Traffic Newcastle City Hall 24th April 1974
2 Feb
The Reading Festival 23rd – 25th August 1974
The Reading Festival 23rd – 25th August 1974
This was my third visit to the Reading Festival; I felt I was a seasoned festival goer 🙂 . By now a large crew of local people were going to the festival, so there were lots of mates there, and we spent much of the weekend in the pubs in town, and down near the Caversham Bridge; particularly The Griffin. We would nip back to the festival site to catch the bands we wanted to see. The line-up in 1974 wasn’t particularly strong in comparison to the previous couple of years, and quite a few bands who had been advertised didn’t show (notably Eric Burdon, Ronnie Lane and Blodwyn Pig, all of whom I was looking forward to seeing). The Friday line-up was : Nutz, Johnny Mars, Hustler, Beckett, Camel, 10c, Fumble, Sensational Alex Harvey Band.
The first night of the festival saw the triumphant headlining return of the Alex Harvey band, who lived up to their name and were truly sensational. SAHB had appeared low down on the bill the previous year; there will have been many in the crowd who saw that performance, and knew how good they were. Johnny Mars and his Sunflower Blues Band gigged a lot in the early 70s; they played traditional blues; I remember seeing them at Sunderland Poly a few times; pretty good too. Fumble were a rock’roll revival band who also gigged a lot. Beckett were local North East heroes, featuring singer Terry Slesser. The SAHB setlist was something like this: Faith Healer; Midnight Moses; Can’t Get Enough; Give My Regards To Sergeant Fury; The Return of Vambo; The Man in the Jar; Money Honey; The Impossible Dream; Schools Out; Framed.
Saturday line-up: Jack the Lad, G T Moore and the Reggae Guitars, Trapeze, Sutherland Brothers, JSD Band, Procol Harum, Thin Lizzy, Long John Baldry, Heavy Metal Kids, Greenslade, Georgie Fame, Traffic.
Two bands stick in my mind from Saturday: Thin Lizzy who were excellent, and about to break through a year or so later, and Traffic. This was the classic Lizzy line-up featuring front-man Phil Lynott, the twin guitars of Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson, and Brian Downey on drums; at the time of the Nightlife album; they were at the top of their game. Traffic were excellent. They had just released their album When the Eagle Flies, and their set at Reading featured a few songs from that album, plus some old classics. The line-up at the time was Steve Winwood (guitar, vocals, keyboards); Chris Wood (flute, sax); Jim Capaldi (drums, vocals); Rosko Gee (bass); Rebop (percussion). Stand-outs were Steve singing John Barleycorn, simple and beautiful with acoustic guitar, and Rebop’s congas and percussion throughout. I found a published setlist for Traffic, which shows they played: Empty Pages; Graveyard People; Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring; John Barleycorn; 40,000 Headmen; Love; When the Eagle Flies; Walking in the Wind; Dream Gerrard. I also have it in my mind that they performed Feelin’ Alright, but maybe that’s my memory playing tricks again. Also worthy of mention are Procol Harum (great version of Whiter Shade of Pale and a big success during the late afternoon), the late great Long John Baldry (excellent voice and a hero of mine), Heavy Metal Kids (the late Gary Holton as crazy and manic as ever), and Georgie Fame who seemed a bit out of place as part of the Saturday night line-up, but carried on the jazz and R’n’B tradition of the festival and went down pretty well.
Sunday Line-up: Gary Farr, Chilli Willi and the Red Hod Peppers, Esparanto, Strider, Barclay James Harvest, Chapman & Whitney Streetwalkers, Kevin Coyne, George Melly, Winkies, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, Harvey Andrews, Focus.
My main memories of the final day are of Steve Harley. Cockney Rebel had split a few months before the festival, and this one of Steve’s first appearances with his new band. They stole the show; appearing just as it was getting dark; the audience was with Steve from the start, and the performance was a triumph. Tumbling Down closed the set with a mass crowd singalong of “Oh dear, look what they’ve done to the blues, blues, blues”. It was clear that Steve was back, as cocky as ever; 1975 would bring him massive success with Make Me Smile.
I also remember watching Kevin Coyne (Marjory Razorblade), George Melly (a return after his success the previous year) and Focus who closed the show, and were also great, but seemed a little of anti-climax after Steve Harley’s performance.
DJs for the weekend were John Peel and Jerry Floyd. Oh and there were lots of cheers of “Wally”, “John Peels a c**t” (not sure how that one started), and a revolt at the prices of food in the arena, which resulted in a fish and chip van being trashed. Crazy, happy days.
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