The Everly Brothers in concert
You can hear the Everly Brothers everywhere; through their own music and through the way they have influenced the music of others. There are, without question, one of the most important acts in rock music. Without the Everlys, Simon and Garfunkel wouldn’t have sounded the same, The Beatles harmonies may not have developed in the way they did, and The Hollies, and CSNY would not have existed in the way they did. Their influence was that substantial. I was lucky enough to see The Everly Brothers in concert on four occasions. The first was low down on the bill at the Grangemouth festival in 1972. At that point, they certainly weren’t cool, and their importance was largely unrecognised or worse, forgotten, by most. They were just another band low down on the bill, singing some great pop songs. I remember wondering why they were on a bill alongside Jeff Beck and Status Quo, but being pleasantly surprised by their performance. I think at that point they were playing few of their hits and were playing their latest (country I think) album. 
The brothers then drifted apart, and didn’t perform together again for some years. I saw them twice on reunion tours, once at Newcastle City Hall, and again at Sunderland Empire. Those concerts were very much about the hits. By then we all knew just how important they were; its funny how it often takes some time to realise how good some acts were. The last time I saw them was as special guests to Simon and Garfunkel on their reunion tour some years ago, Paul Simon introducing them as the reason he started singing. The Everlys in concert were just superb. How could they not be with all those great songs to choose from? Don would lift up that big black acoustic guitar and strum the chords to Wake Up Little Suzie or another of those classics, and then Phil would come in and those perfect harmonies would just flow. There was simply nothing better. And as well as the songs, the show was a story of two brothers, who have had their differences and personal difficulties, and yet came together and made such beautiful music that everyone could enjoy. It just doesn’t get any better. A typical set would include all of these great songs and more: Cryin’ in the Rain; When Will I Be Loved; All I have to do is Dream; Bye Bye Love; Till I kissed you; Cathys Clown; Wake Up Little Susie; Let It Be Me; Walk Right Back; Bird Dog; the list just goes on and on. I have some of their old records on 78 upstairs; its time to dig them out and play them again on my trusty old Dansette.
2 Nov
The Everly Brothers in concert
1 Nov
60s Gold Show The Sage Gateshead 31 Oct 2012
60s Gold Show The Sage Gateshead 31 Oct 2012
Steve Ellis, The Animals, P J Proby, Gerry and the Pacemakers
I’m not a big fan of 60s shows. They tend to be a bit too cabaret for me, but this line up was so strong I just couldn’t miss it. This time the 60s Gold tour featured two of my favourite artists: Steve Ellis and P J Proby. I’ve blogged about P J before and have the greatest respect for the man; his voice is astounding and he is one of the best performers I have ever seen. But tonight I was particularly looking forward to seeing Steve Ellis who I haven’t see since the 70s when he fronted Widowmaker, along with Ariel Bender. To me Steve is still the cheeky young cocky cockney mod who exploded on my TV screen on Top of the Pops and blew me away with his performance of Everlasting Love in Love Affair all those years ago.
The show was introduced by compere Ally Bally (told you these shows are cabaret) and Steve Ellis was first up, backed by The Pacemakers. Steve looks great; from where I was sitting I swear he looked no different to how he did in the 60s. He still sports some pretty sharp gear, very much the mod, and his vocals were really strong. His performance was great, but I felt he could deliver so much more. He has one of the best soul voices, and commands respect for keeping the mod flag flying. I’d love to see him do a full set, as I know he performs soul classics as well as the Love Affair hits. For me, Steve Ellis is up there with Steve Marriott, and other 60s mod legends. Setlist: Day without love; Bringing on back the good times; All or nothing (dedicated to Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane); a version of The Beatles’ Please please me which was performed as a slow ballad; Rainbow valley; Everlasting love.
Ally Bally returned to tell us some facts about 1963, such as our favourite TV show at the time was Steptoe and Son. He then introduced The Animals. I’ve seen this version of the band a few times now and they do a very respectable job of playing the old hits. The band features original drummer John Steel and keyboard player Micky Gallagher who replaced Alan Price in 1965. Singer and frontman Peter Barton has a deep voice which sounds a lot like Eric Burdon and does justice to the songs. Setlist: Baby let me take you home; It’s my life; I put a spell on you; Bring it on home to me; Don’t bring me down; Don’t let me be misunderstood; We’ve gotta get out of this place; House of the rising sun.
After the interval it was P J Proby’s turn to take the stage. P J always puts on a strong show, and tonight was no exception. He was backed by the Pacemakers, along with a sax player. Setlist: Price of love; My love; Hold me; Three steps to heaven; If I can dream; The night has a thousand eyes; Somewhere. Ally Pally then returned with more facts from 1963. Did you know that Dr Who first appeared on our TV screens during that year? Or that a new Ford Cortina would cost you £670? As I said earlier, I’d come along largely to see Steve and P J, but was pleasantly surprised by Gerry Marsden. I’ve seem him once before on a 60s show, around 20 years ago, and also enjoyed him on that occasion. He really is a total pro, and his old hits still sound good. Setlist: How do you do; I’m the one; The way you look tonight; It’s gonna be alright; The rose (the Bette Midler song); Midnight hour (sung by the bass player); I like it; Don’t let the sun catch you crying (just beautiful; a classic and one of my all time favourite songs); Shot of Rhythm and blues; Ferry cross the mersey; You’ll never walk alone (lots of crowd singing along, and arm swaying). All in all this was a good evening with some top class performers, who still know how to entertain. And Steve the mod is still a cool guy. On my way out I bought a great psych/mod repro poster from a 60s Love Affair gig, and signed by Steve for £7. Bargain!
31 Oct
Sheena Easton Newcastle City Hall 1981
Sheena Easton Newcastle City Hall 1981
Another guilty pleasure, I’m afraid.
I have always been a sucker for a good song, and if you link it with a TV show, then I’m sold. I’d seen Sheena Easton on the Esther Rantzen produced BBC programme The Big Time. This documentary film chronicled the unknown Sheena’s rise to stardom, and featured the single Modern Girl. The show was followed by the hit single 9 to 5, which got to No 3 in the UK charts and No 1 in the US charts. Both of these are great pop songs. By 1981 Sheena was a Bond girl, in that she sang the theme to For Your Eyes Only and featured in the film’s opening sequence. 
All of this tempted me and my mate to go along to see her in concert at Newcastle City Hall. The concert was, as you would expect, unashamed pure pop. We had great seats close to the front, and I recall the show as being very slick, classy and professional. Its easy to forget how successful Sheena Eason is, particularly in the USA. From Wiki: “Easton is a two-time Grammy Award winner and achieved 6 Gold albums and 1 Platinum and has sold over 4 million albums in the US alone, and 20 million records worldwide. She has recorded 16 studio albums, released 45 singles, and has 15 Top 40 hits on the US Billboard Hot 100. Sheena Easton is the only artist in the history of the US Billboard charts to have a top 3 hit on each of the Billboards key charts: Adult Contemporary, Dance, Pop, Country, and R&B.” Pretty impressive stuff for a girl from the outskirts of Glasgow.
30 Oct
The Exploited Middlesbrough Town Hall 1981
The Exploited Middlesbrough Town Hall 1981
This gig was in Middlesbrough Town Hall Crypt, which is a small hall underneath the main hall. The Exploited came out of Scotland, enthused by the music of the Sex Pistols and The Clash, and developed their own style of hardcore, fast punk rock, with highly political lyrics. This gig was in their early days, at the time of their Punks Not Dead album. It was a strange gig, as singer Watty was not well so guitarist Big John asked if any of us could sing and knew the lyrics. A member of the crowd got up on stage, and he and Big John shared vocals for the show. The Exploited released a live album around this time, I’ve included the track list here to show their setlist of the period: Cop Cars; Crashed Out; Dole Q; Dogs Of War; Army Life; Out Of Control; Ripper; F*** The Mods; Exploited Barmy Army; Royalty; S.P.G.; Sex And Violence; Punks Not Dead; I Believe In Anarchy.
29 Oct
Echo and the Bunnymen in concert 1981 – 1984
Echo and the Bunnymen in concert 1981 – 1984
The Bunnymen crept up on me in the late 70s and early 80s. There seemed a refreshing change from punk, providing a more melodic alternative to the fast trash of many other bands of the period. I saw them a few times in concert in the early 80s, each time at Newcastle City Hall. All of those gigs were enjoyable experiences, and by 1984 they had some really great songs. I especially liked The Cutter in concert, and The Killing Moon and Seven Seas (Kissing the tortoise!) are also favourites. Ian McCulloch was super cool on stage; I’ve just been looking at some early videos on youtube which remind me just how great this band were. 
The Bunnymen blended punk and new wave with shades of psychedelia; they were very clearly fans of The Doors and would sometimes play Light My Fire or People Are Strange in concert. The last time I saw Echo and the Bunnymen was when they played a few songs at the opening concert for the Capital of Culture event at Liverpool Arena a few years ago. I really must make a point of going to see them again soon. 
Looking at the ticket stub for the 1982 gig, it seems that the show must have been postponed until 1983, although I don’t recall why. I can’t be sure which tour the programme pictured below comes from; it consists of a series of quite arty black and white photographs of the band, with no text at all; very cool! 
Setlist from 1983: Going Up; With a Hip; Gods Will be Gods; All That Jazz; The Cutter; Porcupine; In Bluer Skies; All My Colours (Zimbo); Rescue; Heaven up Here; Heads Will Roll; Crocodiles; Over the Wall; Do It Clean
28 Oct
David Essex in concert 1976 and 1977
David Essex in concert 1976 and 1977
I guess its not cool to admit a liking for David Essex on a blog named vintagerock, so this should probably rate as a guilty pleasure.
I first went to see David Essex at Newcastle City Hall in 1976 along with one of my mates. But before I write about David Essex I will set out my memories of the rest of that day, which relates to another teen idol of the 70s. I spent most of that day queueing outside the City Hall for Rod Stewart tickets, The queue was massive and Marie and I stood for hours, only to be turned away when the shows sold out. That was some feat, as Rod was booked for four nights at the venue, which shows just how popular he was at that time. This was his first solo tour, around the time that Sailing was a massive hit. My mate also fancied seeing Rod and he had also queued unsuccessfully. 
So we both arrived at the City Hall somewhat disappointed that we hadn’t scored tickets. Still we were looking forward to seeing David Essex. I don’t give up easily where tickets are concerned, so as soon as I arrived at the City Hall I went straight to the box office, just on the off chance, and enquired about Rod Stewart tickets. To our surprise and delight, the lady in the box office told me that a couple of single tickets had been left unsold by mistake. They were for different nights, and not particularly good seats, but we took them anyway. This cheered us up a lot for the David Essex show.
I recall us feeling a bit awkward at the David Essex gig, as the place was packed with screaming girls, and we were definitely in the minority. We went to the early 6pm show, and had seats up in the balcony. David had hit the charts several times by this time, including two number ones: Hold Me Close, and I’m Going to Make You a Star. I had also seen him in the movies That’ll Be The Day and Stardust, in which he gave two great performances. The concert was a fun experience, with lots of hits, a great atmosphere and some great pop songs. 
The following year David Essex toured again, and called at Sunderland Empire. This time I went along to the concert by myself, largely to see the support act the Alessi Brothers (or simply “Alessi”), a duo of American identical twins, who had a UK hit at the time with the single Oh Lori, and which I was quite taken with. I bought a cheap seat up in the gallery, at the top of the theatre, and made sure that I got in early to see Alessi. And pretty good they were too. I will probably have the ticket stub for that concert somewhere, but the Empire didn’t print the name of the act on the tickets in those days, so unless you know the date of the concert, working out which ticket is for which gig is tricky. David Essex was once again fun, and ran through all his hits. 
It was 28 years until I saw David Essex in concert again, on a Once in a Lifetime bill with David Cassidy at Newcastle Arena; a gig which I have already blogged about.
Postcript: I managed to find the ticket for the Empire gig. By process of elimination it has to be this one, which I have just scanned and added to this post.
27 Oct
Electric Light Orchestra gigs 1972 – 1976
Electric Light Orchestra gigs in the 70s
I first saw ELO at the Reading Festival in 1972. This was their first gig after the departure on Roy Wood. Roy was also on the bill with his new band Wizzard. At the time ELO were an intriguing mix of prog/psychedlia, orchestral/classical music and rock n roll. The only song I really knew was 10358 overture, which I loved at the time. I then saw them a few times at gigs in the North East. I remember one gig as part of the Harvestmobile tour, where they shared the bill with Babe Ruth and Spontaneous Combustion at Sunderland Top Rank. I also have a vague memory of seeing them play on the same bill as Status Quo in the same venue, but can’t be certain of that. ELO gigged a lot in the early 70s and started to build up a strong following. 
The set was drawn from their first album with a cover of two included. I recall them playing a great version of The Beatles Day Tripper, Jeff Lynne showing his obvious Beatles influences. I also remember Hall of the Mountain King as a stage favourite at the time. The encore would always be Roll Over Beethoven. I first was ELO at Newcastle City Hall in 1972. The gig was not particularly well attended as I recall, but the band impressed the crowd. By the time I saw them again at the City Hall in 1976, ELO had hit the charts on a few more occasions and were on the verge of greater success. By this time they also had a few albums under their belt, the programme of the time promotes the Face The Music album. 
Support came from fellow Brummies, The Steve Gibbons, who I have blogged on separately. I recall this as being a great gig, by then ELO had built up a strong set. A favourite of mine at the time was Do Ya, partly because I remembered it as the B side of The Move’s California Man. This was the last time I saw ELO; I didn’t go to any of their mega concerts with the spaceship, although one of mates did, and was hugely impressed. Whether we will ever see Jeff Lynne take ELO out on the road again, who knows. I for one would be in the queue to see them, if he ever does. Setlist from 1976: Fire on High; Poker; Nightrider; Ocean Breakup / King of the Universe; Oh No Not Susan; Bluebird Is Dead; New World Rising / Ocean Breakup Reprise; Showdown; Eldorado Overture; Can’t Get It Out of My Head; Poor Boy (The Greenwood); Illusions in G Major; Eldorado; Eldorado Finale; Violin Solo; Strange Magic; 10538 Overture / Do Ya; Evil Woman; Ma-Ma-Ma Belle. Encore: Roll Over Beethoven
26 Oct
Eagles Glasgow Apollo Sunday 1 May 1977
This was the Hotel California tour and The Eagles were returning to the UK as a massive sell out act. I’d seen them twice before, once supporting Neil Young at Newcastle City Hall in the early 70s, and secondly on a bill with Elton John and The Beach Boys on a long hot day at Wembley Stadium. They were great on both occasions so I was looking forward to seeing them as a headline act. Their UK tour took in a few dates, and the nearest was in the wonderful, and sadly missed, Glasgow Apollo. They played two nights, Saturday and Sunday and we went to the second of the two gigs. I drove up with my mate Ian, and we were both excited about seeing The Eagles. We had seats reasonably close to the front, but not too close, as the Apollo stage was very high and the view from the first few rows sometimes wasn’t great and you were guaranteed to leave with a stiff neck. According to the ticket support came from Dan Fogelberg, although I believe this was changed and the actual support was Valerie Carter. A published setlist (from the Apollo website) shows them opening with Hotel California, which would now seem a strange choice for a first song, but the album was new at the time and therefore not well known at all. My memories are of a great concert, and of the band returning for an encore wearing kilts and accompanied by a lone Scottish piper. 
We drove home through the night playing a cassette of the Hotel California album, constantly rewinding and replaying the title track. Great memories of a great band in a legendary venue. Setlist: Hotel California; Take it easy; Life in the fast lane; Take it to the limit; New kid in town; Victim of love; James Dean; Witchy woman; Lyin’ eyes; One of these nights; Doolin’ Dalton; Desperado; Best of my love; Already gone; Rocky mountain way; Turn to stone
25 Oct
Dave Edmunds Redcar Bowl 1977 and Newcastle City Hall 1979
Dave Edmunds Redcar Bowl 1977 and Newcastle City Hall 1979
When I was a young kid, I was just amazed by a version of “Sabre Dance” by a band called Love Sculpture. I tried and tried (and failed) to learn the guitar part, which was super fast and very difficult to copy. I watched the guitarist on Top of the Pops, me eyes glued to his fingers running up and down the fretboard. At the time I didn’t realise that the guitarist was Dave Edmunds. The next time I heard of Dave Edmunds was when I Hear you Knocking was a massive hits and was played at all of the school dances at the time. 
Roll on 7 years or so, and I finally got to see Dave Edmunds in concert, fronting his band Rockpile along with Nick Lowe on bass, Billy Bremner on guitar, and Terry Williams on drums. Dave Edmunds is often called the Welsh Wizard, and he sure is a wizard of rocn ‘n roll, and Rockpile were one great rock band. They had some great songs: Here Comes the Weekend, I knew the Bride, Girls Talk, Queen of Hearts, and they all seemed so cool at the time. I recall the Redcar Coatham Bowl gig well. 
I went with my mate Will and we were standing right at the front, a few feet away from Dave and Nick. I can’t remember much about the City Hall gig, but I’m sure that it was also good fun. I found a weblink which suggests that Lew Lewis was support for that 1979 tour. But my favourite is still I Hear You Knocking, which takes me back to those school dances…..Postcript. I just found a programmme from the City Hall gig, which I’d forgotten I had. It confirms that Lew Lewis was the support act. Lew was a friend of the Feelgoods and a member of Eddie and the Hot Rods in their early days. The programme advertises the latest albums by both Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe.
24 Oct
Bob Dylan Newcastle Arena 12 April 2007
Bob Dylan Newcastle Arena 12 April 2007
This was the the most recent gig by Bob Dylan at Newcastle Arena, and my last posting on Bob for now. Although I have seen him since 2007 (two gigs; both in Scotland; one in Edinburgh and one in Glasgow) I have already blogged on those concert experiences. David and I went to this gig and had good seats in the fourth row. The big suprise of the evening was an excellent version of House of the Rising Sun, which of course features on Dylan’s first album. He presumably did so in tribute to The Animals, and because he was plaing in their home town. Great stuff, and worth the entrance price for that song alone. 
From The Journal: “Rock legend Bob Dylan is thought to have acknowledged a 40-year-old debt to Tyneside band The Animals when he played in Newcastle this week. The singer-songwriter thrilled thousands of North-East fans when he played a version of House of the Rising Sun at the Metro Radio Arena on Thursday night. Dylan had recorded a version of the traditional folk song for his debut album in 1962, only to see The Animals score a massive hit both in Britain and America when they released a rock ‘n’ roll version of it two years later.” Setlist: Cat´s in the well; House of the rising sun; Watching the river flow; It´s alright, ma (I´m only bleeding); The levee´s gonna break; When deal goes down; I don´t believe you (She acts like we never have met); Masters of war; Rollin´n and tumblin´; Desolation row; Spirit on the water; Highway 61 revisited; Nettie Moore; Summer days; Like a rolling stone. Encore: Thunder on the mountain; All along the watchtower
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