This was a special evening to celebrate Dave Stewart’s 70th birthday. It was also a homecoming gig at a new venue, the recently constructed Sunderland Firestation, which is on the site of the old main fire station, next to Sunderland Empire Theatre. The venue proudly advertised the concert on its website: “We are delighted and excited to welcome Sunderland legend Dave Stewart to The Fire Station for this very special “Evening with” type event where Dave will tell the story of his life in music. Expect conversation, live music, film and much more in this especially curated event where Dave will share his experiences from his earliest musical influences growing up in Sunderland, through his stratospheric success with Annie Lennox and Eurythmics, fascinate us with stories about his many collaborations with among others, U2, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Daryl Hall, Gwen Stefani, Katy Perry, through to the release of his most recent album, the brilliant and epic Ebony McQueen and the subsequent film due to be released about his life growing up in Sunderland.”
The concert sold out almost immediately (the venue is relatively small holding only a few hundred people) and I was lucky enough to get tickets. The show was full of lots of reminiscences for me personally. First up, it was opened by old friend Malcolm Gerrie, who hails from Sunderland (Peterlee actually) and who taught at Ryhope school, where he produced school performances of The Who’s rock opera Tommy and the David Essex film Stardust. I remember many chats with Malcolm in the past. Once he told me how he went to see Led Zeppelin (possibly then called the New Yardbirds) at local venue the Peterlee Argus Butterfly, a concert that was attended by a small number of people. I was so jealous! His early experiences led to him producing the local TV show The Tube and directing many TV shows since then.
Malcolm explained how a young long-haired guy used to come into the local clothes shop, Sergeant Peppers, and sit and sing his songs. The young guy was, of course, none other than Dave Stewart. My late wife, Marie, used to manage her mother’s clothing factory which made all of the clothes for the aforementioned Sergeant Peppers. Malcolm explained how he got a phone call a few days prior to the show from Dave asking him to come over and introduce him. How could he decline such a request from an old friend? Of course, he didn’t, and was proud and pleased to be able to do so.
After Malcolm’s introduction, Dave Stewart came on to further explain how he used to also shop at local fashion shop West One, where he would get custom-made leather jackets! He then reminisced about his folkrock band Longdancer, who went on to get a record deal with Rocket Records, Elton John’s label. He explained how he joined The Tourists with a lady called Annie Lennox and another Sunderland musician Pete Coombs who wrote the songs for the band. Surprisingly, Dave and Annie did not compose together until they formed the Eurythmics.
I have lots of fond memories of seeing Dave Stewart in many incarnations. First, in aforementioned folk rock band Longdancer at Sunderland Locarno in the early 1970s. Then, some years on, with Annie Lennox in the Tourists again at Sunderland Locarno, at Newcastle City Hall and at the Reading Festival. Further on in his career, I was lucky enough to see Eurythmics perform at Newcastle City Hall. I also recall seeing Dave Stewart join Fergal Sharkey on stage for an encore at Newcastle City Hall, on Fergal’s first solo tour after leaving the Undertones. I saw Dave Stewart at Sunderland Empire at another homecoming concert and with Ringo Starr at the opening of the Capital of Culture in Liverpool, which was also the opening concert at the new venue, Liverpool Arena (all reported on my blog).
Dave has done pretty well for a lad from Sunderland. He has sold in excess of 100 million albums worldwide. He has also played with some of the biggest names in the business. It is great that he remembers his roots, and this return home concert was much anticipated by the people of Sunderland.
No photography was allowed at the show, so I have illustrated this entry with a picture of his recent autobiography, which is also the name of this concert, and which I purchased a signed copy at the aforementioned Sunderland Empire concert. The photo of Dave Stewart is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and Eva Rinaldi. Dave took this through his entire career showing video footage of him composing a song over the phone with Bono, singing with Mick Jagger, and other famous collaborations. He is an amazingly accomplished guy, and has collaborated with stars including the late Tom Petty and Bob Dylan. This was intertwined with performances of some of his best-known songs by his magnificent band including a vocalist who sang the Annie Lennox parts of the Eurythmics songs perfectly. At one point a sax player appeared from the back of the audience and she walked directly beside us, then towards and up onto the stage playing the saxophone part of one of the songs. Similarly the drummer walked down from the audience to the stage clicking his drumsticks together before taking up the drum stool. Fantastic. By the end of the concert and “Sweet Dreams” everyone was up and singing and dancing along. A great evening with a local hero. You can read a full review of the show here. Review: Dave Stewart at The Fire Station – Cultured North East
Setlist: Ebony Says; Missionary Man; Ebony Mcqueen; There Must Be an Angel (Playing With My Heart); Lily Was Here; Jack of All Trades; When Tomorrow Comes; I Saved the World Today; Here Comes the Rain Again; Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
Apologies for the break in transmission which I felt appropriate during the time of mourning for our Queen and the transition to King Charles.
Now going to a concert these days takes some organisation. There are quite a lot of logistics involved including booking assistance on the train to make sure that a friendly guy appears with a ramp to get me on and off the train. On this occasion three carers accompanied me, all of us excited at the experience. We travelled direct from Sunderland to London via the lovely Grand Central service. The guy with the ramp appeared like magic both there and back on the journey. Once at King’s Cross we checked in to a Premier Inn which is directly opposite the station. After a quick rest we were off to the ABBA arena via a fast train from St Pancras to Stratford International and then a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) to Pudding Mill Lane station. Again, this all worked well with passenger assistance helping me out with a ramp without any pre-warning on the fast train. The DLR is similar to a tube train and I can easily navigate my wheelchair straight on. All no problem. Excellent! The ABBA arena is then a short walk over the road.
Once we got inside I bought some merchandise including a couple of programmes for my friend John and I, and some badges for my daughter. We picked up our drinks and then took our seats in the arena. What happened next was a revelation. Somehow, using magical technology, the ABBA people have managed, using avatars, to recreate the four members of the group just as they were in 1979. All four are there in front of us singing the hits. You can get a feel for the show from the link contained in this review in 
wonderful again. By now the girls are clapping and dancing, as is the entire arena. Finally we are treated to an encore of “The Winner Takes It All”. Then another piece of magic happens. The avatars become the group as they are now. They come to the front of the stage and thank us for coming along to the show.
Last night I spent an evening in the company of 1960s legendary jazz rock band 
The Crescent is a lovely venue. It was a working men’s club, dating back to the 1920s. There is a great picture of the house band from those days on display in the entrance. We took a nice photograph of the picture. The Crescent has a friendly feel about it and it is great to be able to see a band up close in a small venue. It is a short 10 minutes walk from York station which we negotiated quite well, particularly over some cobbled streets which my wheelchair and I do not take well to! It holds around 250 people and was unreserved seating for the evening. When we arrived around 8 PM the venue was quite full but we managed to find a couple of seats for Elaine and Jan at the end of the second row and I took my place alongside them. We were informed that the band would be taking the stage at 8:30 PM and would play two sets with a short interval.
Now this was the 1969 incarnation of Colosseum (or as close to it as possible) but of course the founder, leader, the late great 
The website continued: “Colosseum came to fame in 1969 when the band led by legendary drummer Jon Hiseman released its debut album Those Who Are About To Die Salute You. The band soon caused a sensation with their powerful blend of rock, jazz and classical music. Their appearances at major rock festivals drew huge crowds and fans flocked to concerts as they performed epic works like the “Valentyne Suite” and “Lost Angeles”. More best selling studio albums followed, notably Valentyne Suite (1969) and The Daughter of Time is Truth (1970). Changes in personnel saw the arrival of the soulful Chris Farlowe, famed for his Sixties chart hit ‘Out Of Time’ and Clem Clempson, the young blues guitar virtuoso and vocalist and bass player Mark Clarke.”
After a short interval, just giving me time for another Guinness (just a half this time making a pint and half in total: very adventurous for me on an evening!), the band returned and treated us to more new and old Colosseum tracks. They began with a surprise. Clem Clempson started playing the introduction to “Out Of Time” and Chris joined in, as did the crowd. Chris told us “this is the first time, and will probably be the last that Colosseum perform that song!” Clem continued to tempt by playing the introduction to “Handbags and Gladrags” but Chris wouldn’t be drawn and they moved on to “proper” Colosseum material. This included the late great Graham Bond’s song “Walking in the Park” and Chris returning to the blues for “Stormy Monday”. In order to catch our train home we had to leave during the latter song. Checking the set list for the London show it looks like we missed the epic instrumental “Lost Angeles” and an encore of Jack Bruce’s” Theme from Imaginary Western”, a particular favourite of mine. Sad but train times had the better of us.
A strange one this, and a bit of a mystery. I saw this advert, which is a cutting from Melody Maker, for sale on eBay. As it was for a concert which I have vague memories of attending I could not resist buying it. The advert is for The First Orgone Tour and featured a date at Sunderland Locarno, a ballroom which I frequented almost every week at the time. Now Kala were a spin-off from the band 
This tour was entitled Who Was I? It was announced as: “A special evening of Who classics, rarities, solo hits and fan Q&A. One of the UK’s greatest singers and legendary frontman of The Who is striking out across the UK this November, a return to performing that cannot come soon enough for The Who legend.
Chieftains. On this tour I want to take the audience on a musical journey through my career as a singer, with a show of songs and sounds that explores and surprises. I look forward to having closer contact with my audience than festivals and arenas allow. Leaving time to chat. The show, which will comprise a unique mix of music and conversation, is built around Roger’s musical journey and encompasses nearly every style imaginable – including blues, rock, country, soul and metal. [Not sure I agree with you about the metal music, Roger].
During the evening he will dig into his incredible back catalogue pulling from his nine solo albums, his album with Wilko Johnson, and even reinterpreting a few Who classics and rarities. This is a show for real music fans and will give a unique insight into how all these great songs came about; what the influences were and where the sounds originated. As with everything Roger does, it will be totally real and authentic and lots of it – a plethora of songs with some questions answered and rock n roll stories along the way – nothing phoned in!”
I wasn’t sure what time 
Roger’s band for the UK tour was: Simon Townshend on guitar and vocals (Simon is of course well-known as a member of The Who’s wider touring band, Pete’s brother and a long-term member of Roger’s band); Doug Boyle on guitar; Geraint Watkins on keyboards; John Hogg on bass; Jody Linscott, who was simply outstanding on percussion; Billy Nicholls providing backing vocals; Steve Weston on harmonica; Ben Townshend (Simon’s son) on drums; and Katie Jacoby on electric violin. So, although this was Roger’s gig, the links to Pete Townshend and The Who were very clear! Excellent. Simon has, for me, become almost a Pete “stand-in” which is probably grossly unfair to his talents and his motives for being out there with Roger playing. Having said that it does seem that when Pete doesn’t want to tour, Roger will go out on his own and Simon will join him for the ride.
Now there was a time when I felt Roger’s voice was going and I feared we might be getting close to the end for The Who. But somehow, almost miraculously, he has rebuilt the strength and power in his voice and at 78 years old he is doing amazingly both vocally and physically. The man is a legend, as is, of course his partner in crime in The Who, Pete Townshend. And as the man says above “Use It or Lose It” which seems to be true, and also seems to work! Good man Roger!
The set consisted of a mixture of Roger solo songs, some taken from the films he has starred in such as Mcvicar (a career criminal who was in Durham jail for a period) and quite a few from his collaboration with Wilco Johnson. Highlights for me are the classic Who songs “Tattoo” (“Welcome to my life, tattoo I’m a man now, thanks to you”), “Who Are You”,” Baba O’Riley” and the great Leo Sayer song “Giving It All Away”. Roger covered a lot of early Leo Sayer songs and was one of the people who helped him make it big. Leo Sayer is now seen as a bit of a joke in some circles but if you look back at his first album Silverbird it is really great with some classic tracks such as “The Dancer”. Listen to it if you get a chance. Very underrated as a songwriter and artist. Roger closes with “Young Man Blues” which takes me back to saying the whole in the 1970s: “Well A Young Man Ain’t Got Nothing in the World Today…… He Got Sweet F**k All!” Pure class. The guy still has it!
Setlist: Let My Love Open the Door (Pete Townshend song); Freedom Ride (Taj Mahal song); Squeeze Box (The Who); Waiting for a Friend; Another Tricky Day (The Who); Who Are You (The Who); Giving It All Away (Leo Sayer song); The Kids Are Alright (The Who); Tattoo (The Who); After the Fire; Days of Light; The Way It Is (Simon Townshend song); Going Back Home (Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey song); Some Kind of Hero (Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey song); As Long as I Have You; I Keep It To Myself (Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey song); Baba O’Riley (The Who); Without Your Love; Young Man Blues (Mose Allison song covered by the Who)
This was a strong 80s double bill. It has been many years since I had seen either of these acts and, to be honest, I had forgotten just how great they both are. 
The Tipping Point which has been several years in the making and has returned them to the top 5 of the American album charts. This band are massive around the world. The hits just kept coming: early on we got “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” and the wonderful “Sowing The Seeds of Love”. We were soon taken right back to the start and “Mad World” along with “Pale Shelter”. The encores included “Change” and the closing song was (of course) “Shout”. Everyone went home happy. A truly great 1980s double bill.
In the three dates where Alison Moyet performed, she got massive praise from the press: “The Express newspaper noted “Pop chanteuse Moyet… put on an incredible last-minute headline performance”. The Blackpool Gazette welcomed “an uplifting evening of electro torch songs” and described Alison’s performance as a “triumph”. And All Music Magazine praised Alison as “a flawless performer”.”
Tears for Fears Setlist: No Small Thing; The Tipping Point; Everybody Wants to Rule the World; Secret World; Sowing the Seeds of Love; Long, Long, Long Time; Break the Man; My Demons; Rivers of Mercy; Mad World; Suffer the Children; Woman in Chains; Badman’s Song; Pale Shelter; Break It Down Again; Head Over Heels / Broken.
Well this was a strange one. Diana Ross is, of course, an icon, a diva and someone I have never been lucky enough to see in the past. So I was greatly looking forward to seeing her perform at Durham County Cricket club ground which is a few miles away from my home, at Chester-le-Street. So a group of us: me, carer Elaine, Jan and Elaine’s daughter Sophie went along to experience Ms Ross. It had been raining during the day but by the time we arrived it was warm and dry, although the plastic seats were soaking wet!
All sung perfectly; Diana’s voice was really strong and she was clearly enjoying herself. For some reason she had decided to miss out all the glitz, strip back the show to its basics and deliver what, for me, was the authentic Diana: just as I remembered her on Top of the Pops when I was a kid. Wonderful! These are treasured “melt down” moments.
Thank You and closing song (of course) “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”. Then she waved to the crowd, walked off stage leaving her excellent band and vocalists to close the show. She was onstage for just over an hour. No encore (which is apparently usually “I Will Survive”), just some great music on a nice evening with everyone singing along.
Well it finally happened. I contracted Covid! Possibly when I went to see the Rolling Stones at Anfield (at least I was in good company as a certain Sir Mick Jagger also went down with the nasty virus). Luckily we are both clear now although it took me a week to get there, that is before I tested negative. In the meantime I missed a few concerts but I was so wiped out I couldn’t possibly have attended. Still I was feeling just about well enough to venture out last night to see one of my favourite all-time bands, Yes.
From that night on I was a lifelong Yes fan and must have seen them many, many times over the years since. The lineup has changed along a winding, meandering road with Steve Howe replacing Peter Banks on guitar in 1970 and Rick Wakeman and Alan White joining on keyboards and drums respectively, shortly afterwards. Then came many lineup changes, lots of classic albums, and mega prog stardom. Along the way Jon Anderson left, as did Rick Wakeman, and Steve Howe left and then rejoined the fold. Chris Squire and Alan White both sadly passed away; local hero Alan White very recently (he hailed from Chester le Street). But the true story of Yes is much much more complicated than that!
The tour had originally been billed as a recreation of the Relayer album; however (and to my delight) something changed their minds and it became a recreation of the Close to the Edge album. A much better choice! The show started with something of a very pleasant surprise. Illustrator Roger Dean, creator of the Yes logo, many of their album covers and several other progressive rock LP covers, walked on stage and took us through a slideshow of his life as an illustrator and with Yes. Fantastic! This was followed by a fitting tribute to Alan White with many nice images of the great drummer appearing on the backdrop.
During the interval I partook in a pint of lager (no Guinness I am afraid) and bought a couple of copies of the programme/book (one for my friend John in the USA) which is a sumptuous product celebrating the 50th anniversary of Close to the Edge and taking the reader through the whole history of the band.
Setlist:
So this was a dream trip for me. Every time I think “This Could Be the Last Time”. But of course it never is. And I hope it never will be. These guys just go on and on for ever. And for me that is just great. The Stones are, without question, my favourite band and worthy of the title “The Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band in the World”. This is my 15th Stones experience since I first saw them in 1971 at Newcastle City Hall for the princely sum of 15 shillings/75p (decimalisation was just coming in and they printed both prices on the ticket. I was 14 and went to the early 6:30 PM show (they played 2 shows a night back in the day) and paid £1 for the ticket outside. From that night on I became a massive Rolling Stones fan.
So we went down: me, Lisa, Elaine and Jan courtesy of Trans Pennine Express on Thursday afternoon and took a short walk to our hotel close to Lime Street station. After a couple of hours rest I was up again and we took a bus to Anfield where we were shown to a nice lounge with food and drink prior to taking our seats for the show, which we did to catch the last couple of songs of Echo and the Bunnymen, the support act. We had nice seats in the disabled area with a good view of the stage and Jan just in front of us.
After a short wait, just before the Stones took to the stage the screens lit up and showed a lovely tribute to Charlie Watts, with video footage from throughout his career showing him, always dapper and cool, back in the 1960s through to his last days with the band. This received a well-deserved cheer from the Anfield crowd. RIP Charlie. Much missed. It was 9 PM and the Rolling Stones took to the stage, starting with “Street Fighting Man”. Jagger was as energetic as ever running up and down the walkway right out in the crowd. Flanked by Keith (as cool as ever and forever my hero) and Ronnie Wood; both looking and playing great. Mick Jagger’s vocals were as powerful as they ever have been. Like a fine wine these guys seem to get better with age. They never cease to astound me and always exceed my expectations. Mick announced “This is our 60th anniversary tour and the first one we have done without our drummer Charlie Watts. So we dedicate the show to Charlie”, followed by a massive cheer from the crowd.
This was a perfect set list for me, drawing heavily from the 1960s: “19th Nervous Breakdown” followed. When I was a young kid I remember buying this single for a shilling or two (or maybe less) from the public house over the road from my home. It would sell ex-jukebox singles and we would go over every now and then to buy classic records from a little box which the barmaid would bring out to the off sales window. Then we were treated to “Get off of My Cloud” and “Tumbling Dice”. Then came the surprise: in tribute to the Beatles Mick introduced their early hit (of course written by the Fab Four) “I Wanna Be Your Man”. This was apparently the first time they had played the song since I saw them perform it at the O2 Arena in London in 2012.
Then another great favourite of mine, which was a charttopping hit for the great Chris Farlowe “Out Of Time”. You can’t beat the old classics. Then another classic “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” followed by the less familiar “Living in a Ghost Town” and then back to the 1960s for “Honky Tonk Women” (I told you this was a perfect set list!) Next, as always, Keith took front of stage for “You Got the Silver” and the less familiar “Connection”. Mick was soon back for a great singalong with “Miss You”, followed by another of my favourites “Midnight Rambler”. He no longer whips the stage with his belt, as he did in the 1970s, but uses his jacket instead. For this song he really turns it up a notch, running up and down the walkway into the crowd singing the chorus again and again. Next another great classic “Start Me Up”.
The next song “Paint It Black” always gets me. For me, the perfect Stones song with Ronnie Wood playing electric sitar bringing back memories of seeing Brian Jones on TV sitting cross-legged with his own sitar. Now I knew we were on the home strait. The stage turns dark red and the familiar chants of “Sympathy for the Devil” start to fill the night air. Another great crowdpleaser. They close with “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”.
Now this is a guilty pleasure. After the wonderful guitar work of Jeff Beck and the excitement of seeing Johnny Depp, two days later I am in Whitley Bay Playhouse to see none other than the great Yorkshire man 
During the second set we were treated to more ballads including Sinatra’s “Come Fly with Me”. This time Tony’s suit was even more impressive, glistening, nice and shiny. I would love to wear one like that! We all sang along to “Avenues and Alleyways”, the theme tune from TV show The Protectors. Of course the closing song had to be “Is This the Way to Amarillo?” and we all sang along again. Tony explained that Neil Sedaka had offered him two songs: “Amarillo”and “Solitaire”. Tony’s manager did not like the latter of those two songs and persuaded Tony not to record it. Of course Andy Williams went on to have a worldwide smash with the song. An opportunity missed. Such is life. A great evening with some great songs. Not your classic rock, but lots of fun delivered by a real professional who has entertained crowds around the world for many years and I’m sure will do for many years to come.
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