Bad Company Newcastle City Hall March 9th 1974
This gig was a big deal at the time. It was the first gig by the new supergroup who had recently been formed by members of Free, Mott the Hoople and King Crimson. Free in particular were great favourites in the north east, and local fans had memories of top Free gigs at Sunderland Locarno, the Mayfair, the Bay Hotel, the Empire, the Rink and the City Hall. I was lucky enough to catch Free live three times at some of the venues I have just mentioned, and had fond memories of that great band. And I guess the decision to play their debut gig at the city hall was, to some extent a measure of the fondness which Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke had for the reason, and also I would think a result of the persistence of local promoter Geoff Docherty. 
If I remember right Bad Company originally announced a single concert at the City Hall, which sold out immediately and a second gig was swiftly added. I went along with a couple of mates and we had high expectations. We were not disappointed. The gig was breath taking, and the crowd were really up for it. Although for me, and many others I suspect, Bad Company never quite reached the same bluesy feel and groove that Free had, on that night they were tremendous. My friend John is a big Free fan, and he too feels that they had the edge over Bad Company. He was also at the gig, and he and I have been having some email debates as to the setlist that night. 
A recording exists of the gig, and it suggests that the set was Little Miss Fortune; Rock Steady; Ready For Love; Don’t Let Me Down; Easy on My soul; Bad Company; Deal With the Preacher; Movin’ On; Can’t Get Enough; The Stealer; Rock Me Baby. However, John is convinced that they played more Free songs including Travelling Man, and that they played Seagull. Me, my memory has big gaps, and all I recall is that it was a great experience and a highlight of my concerts at the time. Bad company were back at the City Hall a few months later. I’ll blog on that gig tomorrrow. 
Thanks to John for the scan of the unofficial show souvenir programme, and the poster which comes from a gig in Birmingham a month later. I always bought an official programme, but hardly ever bought the unofficial ones which were sold outside venues at the time. I wish I had, as they are pretty hard to find and mighty collectable now. Some of them were pretty good, while others covered the concerts of several bands so that they could be sold at gigs over a period of a few months. Thanks also to John for the great photograph of the concert (added 29th of August 2020) which he got from his friend Ken in New York, who used to live in Seaton Sluice and took the picture at the concert himself. Great memories of happy days, which seem so long ago, but which still bring me so much pleasure.
Posts Tagged ‘blues’
25 Apr
Black Sabbath Newcastle City Hall January 1982
Black Sabbath Newcastle City Hall January 1982
The last time I saw Black Sabbath was in 1982 on the Mob Rules tour. From this point on, the Sabbath line up went into a period of constant change, and I lost track, and to some extent lost faith in them. I went to see Ozzy several times and switched my allegiance to him, catching shows at The City Hall, The Mayfair and Donington. But it is some years since I saw Ozzy as well. The Mob Rules show was OK as far as I can recall, but to honest I remember little about it. 
By this time, the line up consisted of Ronnie James Dio on vocal and Vinny Appice on drums, with only Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler from the original band. Black Sabbath remained incredibly popular, however, and the tour sold out three nights at the City Hall and called at large venues across the UK. Typical set list from the Mob Rules tour: E5150; Neon Knights; NIB; Children of the Sea; Turn up the Night; Black Sabbath; War Pigs; Slipping Away; Iron Man; Mob Rules; Heaven and Hell; Paranoid; Children of the Grave. I am very tempted to go to Download at Donington this year to see Black Sabbath again. It would be good to see them once more. I must admit I’m not big on festivals these days, so I’ll ponder on that and will, of course, blog on it if I do go.
24 Apr
Black Sabbath Newcastle City Hall May 1980
Black Sabbath Newcastle City Hall Heaven and Hell tour 1980
And so it came to pass that the unthinkable happened and Ozzy left his Black Sabbath mates, to be replaced by one Ronnie James Dio. This seemed a strange pairing at first, but one which became more believable as time went on. Ronnie was of course known to me. I had seen him in Elf, when they supported Deep Purple on the Burn tour and Johnny Winter (thanks to John for reminding me of this), and a numbers of times in Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow. The change in line up didn’t seem to affect. Sabbath’s popularity. Indeed they were a popular as ever, with the tour selling out and featuring multiple nights at several venues, including Newcastle. So I went along with a group of mates to see this new Sabbath. Often when a band changes line up in this way, they come back stronger than ever. There are several reasons for this in my view. They have something to prove, the new member brings new energy, and the need for rehearsals also strengthens the band. I had seen this before. Deep Purple came back stronger than ever with David Coverdale on the Burn tour, and Genesis did the same, but in a different way, on the Trick of the Tale tour. 
And so it was with Sabbath. The Newcastle show was just great. We were right down the front, in the middle in front of the band, and Ronnie fitted in very well, much much better that I guessed. His small elf like frame added a new dimension t the stage show, and his devil horns two finger salute, was annoying, but it worked! I even did it back to him! The set was a mixture of tracks from the new Heaven and Hell album and old Sabbath classics. So far so good, we still had Sabbath to go and see, and also the promise of Ozzy and Blizzard of Oz shows (which were also great). Typical set list from the 1980 tour: War Pigs; Neon Knights; N.I.B.; Lonely Is The Word; Sweet Leaf ; Children Of The Sea; Black Sabbath; Heaven And Hell; Iron Man; Sabbath Bloody Sabbath; Orchid; Die Young; Paranoid; Children Of The Grave; Lonely Is The Word
23 Apr
Black Sabbath and Van Halen Newcastle City Hall 1978
Black Sabbath and Van Halen Newcastle City Hall 1978
The Black Sabbath 1978 UK tour was memorable for one reason in particular. The support act on the tour was none other than (relatively) new American band Van Halen. Van Halen has just released their first album and were hot. Their debut album sold over ten million copies in the US alone and is still one of the most successful debuts by a rock band. It features such classic track as Runnin’ with the Devil; Eruption, and their tremendous version of the Kinks’ You Really Got Me. Sabbath, on the other hand, had just released Never Say Die, which was to the last studio album featuring Ozzy. 
On the night Van Halen were simply stunning. Don’t get me wrong, I went with a group of mates and we all still enjoyed seeing Sabbath, but Van Halen were new, hungry and totally on the money. Sabbath, on the other hand, seemed to be in a routine, and Ozzy wasn’t the same strong, wild front man that he had been a few years earlier. I guess the excesses were starting to take their toll. I was chatting with my mate Norm about the gig the other night, and he agreed that Van Halen blew Sabbath off stage that night, and felt that they were much better than when they returned a year or so later to headline their own tour. This was the last time I was to see Sabbath with Ozzy, and at the time couldn’t imagine how they could possibly continue without their front man. However, a couple of years later they did return with a new singer, and actually they were pretty good. Typical setlist from the 1978 tour: Symptom of the Universe; War Pigs; Never Say Die; Dirty Women; Rock & Roll Doctor; Electric Funeral; Embryo / Children of the Grave; Paranoid; Snowblind; Black Sabbath; Sabbath Bloody Sabbath; Iron Man; Fairies Wear Boots; Hand of Doom; N.I.B.; Gypsy
22 Apr
Edgar Broughton The Adelphi Hull 21 April 2012
Edgar Broughton The Adelphi Hull 21 April 2012
Out Demons Out! Norm and I went to see Edgar Broughton at the Adelphi Hull last night. Edgar is performing solo these days, just him singing his new songs with an acoustic guitar; the set consists largely of material that he has written over the past few years. We set off for Hull around 5.30pm and arrived around 7.45pm, after an uneventful drive via the York ring road, and found the Adelphi surprisingly easily. We popped into Wetherspoons for a bite to eat, and then went along to the venue around 8.45pm. The Adelphi is a great little venue which sits in De Grey street, just off one of the main routes through Hull. It has been running for many years, and has hosted gigs by some famous names such as Oasis, Pulp and Radiohead. It was the first time we had visited the venue and we were both pleasantly surprised. Support came from local, Scarborough-based, one man band Joe Solo, who gave us a set of folk protest songs, passionately delivered. For his last song he gave everyone in the audience a small percussion instrument and the whole room played along with him. Joe told us that it was 20 years since he first played The Adelphi. 
Edgar took to the stage around 10pm, starting with Soldiers of the Light, which is a recent song about his relationship with his brother. He has a unique voice; dark and mournful. The rest of the set was drawn mainly from his latest album. I recognised several, having seen him perform in York last year, and it was good to hear them again. The set consisted of something like (although not in this order, and I will have missed some): This England; Ice on Fire; My Salvation; Christmas Song; Red Star; There’s a Hole in It and Evening Over Rooftops (from the Edgar Broughton band days). He finished with Arabesque / All Fall Down / Speak Down the Wires, which is an Indian-based chant. The encore was two songs, the first of which was The Poppy (“an early eco song we wrote in 1971”). No Out Demons Out to Norm’s disappointment. The crowd seemed to enjoy the set; Edgar is as passionate as ever, and the songs still have strong elements of protest and social conscience. We left around 11.15pm and were back home by 1.15am.
20 Apr
Black Sabbath Newcastle City Hall March 1977
Black Sabbath Newcastle City Hall March 1977
The 1977 Black Sabbath tour was to promote their new album Technical Ecstasy. This album took them further away from the darkness and simplicity of their earlier work, incorporated more keyboards and some more straight forward rock n roll. There are no real Sabbath classics on the album, however their concert set consisted of many of the old favourites. As a result this was still a great Sabbath gig. Support came from Nutz. 
However if some ways Sabbath were slowly becoming a more straight rock band, and had lost a little of the darkness and rawness that I saw a few years earlier. Don’t get me wrong these gigs were still great, but things were clearly not 100% in the Sabbath camp as Ozzy left for a brief period around this time, and was to leave for a much longer period soon. A typical set list from this period was: Symptom of the Universe; Snowblind; All Moving Parts (Stand Still); War Pigs; Gypsy; Black Sabbath; Dirty Women; Rock & Roll Doctor; Electric Funeral; Iron Man; Embryo / Children of the Grave; Paranoid; N.I.B.
19 Apr
Black Sabbath Newcastle City Hall October 1975
Black Sabbath Newcastle City Hall October 1975
Its easy to underestimate, or even forget, the influence of Black Sabbath and how important they are in the history of rock. Seeing Sabbath in the 70s was something special. There’s was a brand of rock which was truly dark, heavy and compelling. They are without doubt in my mind THE pioneers of heavy metal. On one level their imagery, lyrics and stance are simple, and yet on another level what they did at the time was innovative and pretty revolutionary. I certainly approached a Sabbath concert with a lot more excitement than I do most concerts these days. Maybe that was something about my age and the times we were living in, but much of it was also about the energy, vision and purity of the Sabbath music, brand and image. 
Black Sabbath were back in Newcastle at the City Hall in 1975, promoting the Sabotage album, and I was there ot see them with a group of mates. All of the Black Sabbath shows I attended in those days were great. I was much more a Tony Iommi man than an Ozzy fan and would carefully study his playing to see if I could pick up any tips. New favourites coming into the set in 1975 were Hole in the Sky and Symptom of the Universe, and old favourites such as Paranoid, Iron Man, Children of the Grave and Black Sabbath remained from earlier albums. Support on this our came from Brum band Bandy Legs who were to morph into Quartz when the New Wave of British Heavy Metal dawned a few years later. Typical set list from 1975: Hole in the Sky; Snowblind; Symptom of the Universe; War Pigs; Megalomania; Supernaut; Iron Man; Rock & Roll Doctor; Black Sabbath; Spiral Architect; Embryo / Children of the Grave; Paranoid; Killing Yourself to Live; Sabbra Cadabra
18 Apr
Ian Anderson plays Thick as a Brick Newcastle April 17th 2012
Ian Anderson Plays Thick as a Brick Newcastle City April 17th 2012
Went along with Will and Norm to see Ian Anderson and his merry band play Thick As A Brick 1 and 2. Thick As A Brick 1 is, of course, the original Jethro Tull album which was released in 1972, and Thick As A Brick 2 is a new album which has just been released by Ian. I was late getting away from work, so I had arranged to meet my friends through at the City Hall. I managed to arrive just 10 minutes after the 7.30 start time, so only missed a very small part of the show. The show was in two parts, with the first set being the old album. There was a short interval, followed by the new album played in its entirity. 
Ian has assembled an excellent band and the show is very theatrical with one guy playing the part of Gerald Bostock, and singing quite a lot of the vocals. The additional singer is a good move, giving Ian a break from singing at times. The show was supported by video and the use of props, and came over very well indeed. The situation around Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull is somewhat confusing to say the least. While it appears the Jethro Tull have not formally split, Ian Anderson is doing more and more things as solo projects, and Martin Barre has also started his own band, New Day, which will also feature Tull songs in their set. It also seems strange that Ian has chosen to revisit Thick as a Brick at this point, and that he is treating it as a solo project, when Martin Barre has been so intrinsic to the Tull sound for so long. 
Not with standing this, we all agreed that this was the best time that we have see Ian Anderson or Jethro Tull for some time. We also ran into a few old friends, which was nice.
17 Apr
Black Sabbath Newcastle Odeon December 1973
The second time I saw Black Sabbath was at Newcastle Odeon in December 1973. This was the Sabbath Bloody Sabbath tour and Newcastle was the first night of the tour. Newcastle Odeon is a bigger venue than the City Hall. I went along with a friend and we obviously bought tickets late as our seats were at the back of the (very large circle). I can remember looking down on some quite small dots, and the sound not being so great. Sabbath put on a great show that night, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as my first Sabbath experience, largely because of where we were sitting. 
I remember being quite excited at seeing the band this time, and my mate and I dressed specially for the gig, bit of us all in black. I also bought a large black cross to wear around my neck for this special occasion! Typical set list from the tour: Tomorrow’s Dream; Sweet Leaf; Killing Yourself to Live; Snowblind; War Pigs; A National Acrobat; Cornucopia; Sabbra Cadabra; Supernaut; Iron Man; Black Sabbath; Embryo / Children of the Grave; Paranoid; Megalomania. Many thanks to John for the poster scan.
16 Apr
Black Sabbath Newcastle City Hall February 1972
Black Sabbath Newcastle City Hall 5th February 1972
Support Act: Glen Cornick’s Wild Turkey
I remember the first time I saw Black Sabbath very well. Sabbath had just released Master of Reality and were touring to support their new album. I was sitting quite close to the back of the City Hall and remember being totally knocked out by the volume, and Geezer Butler’s bass in particular. It was almost as if the bass notes were hitting me in the chest. Ozzy was wearing a top hat and was just amazing. The band were still at a relatively early stage in their career and looked very young, Ozzy in particular. Their sound was raw, dark and very very heavy and loud. And they were just great. 
A typical set list from this period was: N.I.B.; War Pigs; Sweet Leaf; Black Sabbath; Iron Man; Embryo; Children of the Grave; Wicked World; Paranoid; Fairies Wear Boots. I remember War Pigs and Ozzy giving us all peace signs with both hands above his head. I also recall Sweet Leaf (I think they may have started with it) and I Am Iron Man booming out of the speakers. They finished with Paranoid and Fairies Wear Boots was the encore. My friend John was also at the gig, sitting down the front with a couple of school friends. 
I was to see Black Sabbath several more times over the next ten years, but my memories of this concert are the strongest. As I recall, the band were yet to become really popular, and I don’t think the City Hall was sold out that night. I’m pretty sure I just went along and paid at the door on the night. Support came from Wild Turkey, featuring Glenn Cornick who had recently left Jethro Tull. I recall Glenn displaying some pretty frantic bass playing with his long hair waving about. He was wearing a tassled waistcoat and his trademark headband. Many thanks to John for the scan of the flyer and the Wild Turkey album.
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