Average White Band 1976 and 1980
PIck Up The Pieces! The Average White Band were great favourites of some of my mates in the 70s. Their blend of funk and rock would fill the dance floor in discos. I saw them in concert a couple of times, at Newcastle City Hall in 1976 and again in 1980. I remember that as a tight rock/jazz outfit, great at what they did, but to be honest they were never really by cup of tea. I went to see them along with friends who were more into them than me.
The Average White Band split up in 1982 but regrouped after some years and are still playing today. They played recently at the Royal Glasgow Concert Hall as part of the Celtic Connections festival. Looking back through the programmes, which are pictured here, from those gigs did bring back some memories. The support act on one of those tours, I owuld think 1976, was Kokomo. 
Now there was a band, who are all but forgotten now, and much under-rated. Their blend of soul and funk was much more to my liking. Kokomo drew its musicians from a number of UK bands including The Grease Band, Arrival, and King Crimson. I recall seeing Kokomo quite a few times: a great gig in Newcastle Poly and at the Reading Festival, but can’t recall any of their songs. I must try and find one of their lps.
Bands like Average White Band and Kokomo represent a particular time and period to me; in fact I’d almost forgotten them. I’m finding the exercise of working through my programme and ticket collection very interesting. Its bringing back old memories, and reminding me of bands and times that I had forgotten. Its taking longer than I thought, however; I’m working through them, at least in part, alphabetically, and I haven’t yet completed the letter A…..
Posts Tagged ‘blues’
3 Mar
Average White Band in concert 1976 and 1980
1 Mar
The Rolling Stones Shine A Light movie Cineworld Boldon April 17th 2008
The Rolling Stones Shine A Light movie Cineworld Boldon April 17th 2008
I’m writing a chapter for a text on the Rolling Stones, focussing on my recollections of the Stones in concert. As part of that I’m also reflecting on the recent Shine A Light film, which Laura and I went to see in 2008. A strange one this in several ways. The cinema was pretty empty, which surprised me a little. There obviously wasn’t a great appetite for a Stones movie in the North East. Technically the film was outstanding, and the film sported some great guests playing with the band. However the set list was not a normal Stones show, and a little disappointing for me. I enjoyed the film, but wasn’t knocked out by it. Setlist: Jumpin’ Jack Flash; Shattered; She Was Hot; All Down the Line; Loving Cup (with Jack White); As Tears Go By; Just My Imagination; Champagne and Reefer (with Buddy Guy); Tumbling Dice; You Got the Silver; Connection; Sympathy for the Devil; Live with Me (with Christina Aguilera); Start Me Up; Brown Sugar; (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction; Shine a Light
28 Feb
Alkatraz Sunderland Polytechnic Wearmouth Hall Jan 21st 1977
Writing this blog, with a post each day based on my ticket and programme collection is an interesting exercise, particularly when I come across a ticket like this. I must admit that I have absolutely no recollection of seeing Alkatraz or even who the band were. But for completeness I am including them, and I decided to see if I could find anything out about this band. The name would suggest a mid 70s heavy metal outfit, perhaps at the start of the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal). Sure enough some googling uncovered the following album description: “ALCATRAZ – DOING A MIDNIGHT – 1976 (UK) heavy progressive. Meanwhile, after his stint in The Neutrons, Will Youatt joined up with his ex-Quicksand partner James Davies to found Alkatraz, a fabulous and all too short-lived band who we’d hoped would carry the welsh rock flag into the eighties. Their one release, Doing A Moonlight, is a really superb example of intelligent and well-executed guitar based rock.” which I found on the orexisofdeath blogspot. The Neutrons were a spin-off from Welsh rock wizards Man, and were well thought of in the 70s. So the Man connections make Alkatraz look an interesting outfit to me. Interesting also to see that DJ support came from the Dave Wood Road Show. I wonder if that was the same Dave Wood who established the local heavy metal label Neat in the late 70s? I only wish I could recall all these gigs, or go back in time and relive them!
26 Feb
The Rolling Stones O2 Arena London August 21st 2007
The Rolling Stones The O2 Arena London August 21st 2007
I saw the Stones in Sheffield in 2006 on the first leg of the Bigger Bang tour, which was the 9th time I’d seen the band, and convinced me I should take every chance I could to see them so, when they returned to the UK a year later in August 2007 to finish the tour at the O2 Arena London, I decided to go and see them again, and bought myself a ticket. Having already paid top prices for David and I to go to the Sheffield gig, I couldn’t justify paying for a seat down the front, so I bought a cheap(?!) £75 ticket up in the heights of the arena in the top balcony at the side of the stage. I figured it would be interesting seeing them from that part of the arena anyway. On the night of the gig I arrived in time for support The Kooks, who played to a pretty empty arena, and a largely uninterested crowd. I knew their hit “She Moves in Her Own Way”, which is pretty neat. However the crowd was very much there to see the Stones, and everyone was waiting for the main act. During the interval I wandered around the arena, exploring the place, taking in the crowd and sharing in the atmosphere of a Stones gig. 
As I came down an escalator, an official with a pile of tickets asked me if I would like to upgrade my seat. He offered to swap my ticket for a seat “right down the front”. Great I thought. The deal was done, and with around 15 minuutes to show time I walked downstairs to take my new seat. My eyesight is not so good these days and not having my glasses with me I couldn’t read the row and seat number, so asked a steward for help in locating where I was to be sitting. “Oh you are in the middle of the front row of the front block, continue down to the very front” I was told! So, excited as a little kid, I took my place in the middle of the front row, in a prime £150 seat. The band/promoter/arena had clearly kept some fromt row seats back, presumably to give out to surprised fans on the night! 10 minutes later and the band took to the stage, with Keith, Mick and the rest of them only a few feet in front of me. I never thought I’d ever be as close to the Stones again. Jagger was prancing up and down the stage, incredibly lean and fit. They kicked off with Start Me Up, and went through a set of usual favourites. It was great being so close; the sound was loud yet crisp, the band so energetic, particularly Jagger. Awesome. I was buzzing for days after. Setlist: Start Me Up; You Got Me Rocking; Rough Justice; Rocks Off; Let It Bleed; Beast of Burden; Can’t You Hear Me Knocking; I’ll Go Crazy; Tumbling Dice; You Got The Silver; Wanna Hold You. B-Stage: It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It); Respectable; (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction; Honky Tonk Women; Sympathy for the Devil; Paint It Black; Jumpin’ Jack Flash. Encore: Brown Sugar.
25 Feb
The Rolling Stones Don Valley Stadium Sheffield August 27th 2006
The Rolling Stones Don Valley Stadium Sheffield August 27th 2006
A Bigger Bang Tour
This was David’s first Stones experience. We had tickets on the pitch pretty near the stage. It was the second time I’d seen the Stones in Don Valley, and my 9th Stones concert experience. Support came from Paolo Nutini, who put in a respectable performance. He had just released the single New Shoes which I remember him singing. This was The Bigger Bang tout. I’d bought the new Bigger Bang album, and had played it a few times; there are a few OK tracks on the album, but overall nothing startling. The set up was as usual with am impressive stage set up and a B stage in the middle pitch. This time there was the added attraction for some, of being able to have a seat on the stage, looking down over the band. 
Ticket prices for the seats above the stage were exorbitant, as were all seats. We paid the princely sum of £150 a ticket for good seats on the pitch, plus I paid fan club membership for the privelege of being able to buy such good seats in a presale. Still it was worth it to be quite close up to the band. The Stones played great that night; however towars the end of the show it started pouring down with rain, which truly and literally put a damper on the occassion. The set was standard Stones, no big surprises. It was good to hear Lets Spend the Night Together, which was a favourite of mine at the time. Setlist: Jumpin’ Jack Flash; Start Me Up; She’s So Cold; Let’s Spend the Night Together; Sway; Streets Of Love; Bitch; It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It); Tumbling Dice; Slipping Away; Before They Make Me Run. B-Stage: Miss You; Rough Justice; Get Off Of My Cloud; Honky Tonk Women; Sympathy for the Devil; Brown Sugar. Encore: You Can’t Always Get What You Want; (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
23 Feb
The Rolling Stones Twickenham Stadium London September 20th 2003
The Rolling Stones Twickenham Stadium London September 20th 2003
Support Act: Primal Scream
By 2003, and the Licks tour, The Stones tours had become corporate rock, and ticket prices had rocketed. I was really up for seeing them again, and wanted to be sure of tickets for one of the gigs, so I joined the fanclub and bought tickets as soon as they went on sale. I still only managed to get tickets half way back on the pitch. This was also the first time I’d seen them use a seated arrangement on the pitch, and the ticket price had rocketed to £75. The show was originally scheduled for 23 August and was postponed the day before the show, as Mick Jagger had flu. This was frustrating as I had to change train tickets, and hotel arrangements, which cost us. Still Marie and I stuck with it, rebooked the train and our hotel (having to settle for a hotel in Richmond, as we could get in the same hotel near the stadium) and went to the gig a month later in September. 
The support act was Primal Scream, who didn’t impress on the day. The sound was poor for their set, and the crowd didn’t warm to them. I’ve seen them since in Newcastle Academy, and thought they were great. The Stones were superb, the stage set, screens and lights stupendous. Keith had a camera on his guitar neck from which his fingers were projected onto the screens. Angus and Malcolm Young from AC/DC joined them for Rock Me Baby. I was sold again. A review of the time by Nick Bosworth from the IORR site summed it up well: “I was sitting at the back of the stadium for this show in the corner and what a great show. Right from the off the crowd were into it dancing in the aisles, in their seats, singing along and well just going nuts. Well to sum up, this was a great gig and The Stones managed to make me feel I was in my living room but sharing it with 55,000 fellow fans.”
Setlist: Brown Sugar; It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It); Don’t Stop; Miss You; Salt of the Earth; Rock Me Baby (with AC/DC); Midnight Rambler; Tumbling Dice; Slipping Away; Before They Make Me Run; Sympathy for the Devil. B-Stage: Respectable; You Got Me Rocking; Street Fighting Man; Gimme Shelter; Honky Tonk Women; Start Me Up; (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. Encore: Jumpin’ Jack Flash
22 Feb
The Rolling Stones Don Valley Stadium Sheffield June 6th 1999
The Rolling Stones Don Valley Stadium Sheffield June 6th 1999.
This show was originally scheduled to take place a year earlier in 1998, but the entire European tour was postponed for a year for tax reasons! From Time is on My Side, the Rolling Stones Chronicles site: “June 8, 1998: The Rolling Stones’ British concerts are postponed until 1999 because of new tax laws. This means the Bridges to Babylon tour will spread over three calendar years, by far the longest in the Stones’ history up to this point. Because of its financial motives, the postponement causes controversy in the media.” This was a pretty lame reason for postponing the tour in my view, and just showed what values The Stones held at the time. Anyway, Marie and I stuck with it, and hung onto the tickets (actually I think we had to return them and they were reissued, the ticket has a sticker on with the new date, so I guess that must have been the case?). Support came from Cheryl Crow, who also joined the Stones for Honky Tonk Women. We had seats in the stand to the left of the stage. This was the first time I’d seen the Stones with a B stage, and the bridge took them out over the crowd onto a smaller stage in the centre of the stadium. This was pretty novel at the time, although many bands have followed suit with a similar set up (Take That come to mind). 
I’d missed the Voodoo Lounge tour, which in hindsight was a big mistake, and which I truly regret to this day. This show renewed my interest in the Stones. I thought they were great that night, and I vowed to see them every tour from then on, and have stuck to that so far. It was interesting, and a surprise, to see them play Dylan’s Like a Rolling Stone. Setlist: Jumpin’ Jack Flash; You Got Me Rocking; Live With Me; Respectable; Gimme Shelter; Ruby Tuesday; Honky Tonk Women (with Sheryl Crow); Saint Of Me; Out Of Control; Paint It Black; Before They Make Me Run; You Don’t Have To Mean It. B-Stage:
Route 66 (Nat King Cole cover); Like Rolling Stone; Midnight Rambler; Sympathy for the Devil; Tumbling Dice; It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It); Start Me Up; Brown Sugar; Encore: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
21 Feb
The Rolling Stones St James Park Newcastle July 18th 1990
The Rolling Stones St James Park Newcastle July 18th 1990
The Stones returned to St James Park in 1990, 8 years after their last visit to the venue. Support this time came from Dan Reed Network, and local rockers The Quireboys. This was part of their Urban Jungle Tour which took them around the world. The Stones put on a great show, and were on better form than their previous visit to St James. Stand-outs for me were Ruby Tuesday, and 2000 Light Years from Home, which is one of favourite Stones track, from the (in my view) much under-rated Their Satanic Majesties album. 
Setlist: Start Me Up; Sad, Sad, Sad; Harlem Shuffle; Tumbling Dice; Miss You; Almost Hear You Sigh; Ruby Tuesday; Rock and a Hard Place; Mixed Emotions; Honky Tonk Women; Midnight Rambler; You Can’t Always Get What You Want; Can’t Be Seen; Happy; Paint It Black; 2000 Light Years from Home; Sympathy for the Devil; Street Fighting Man; Gimme Shelter; ;It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It); Brown Sugar; Jumpin’ Jack Flash; (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. From the (very large) tour programme: “The success of the band is bound up in the story of Mick and Keith. It’s pretty simple, almost comic book stuff, two schoolboy friends who grew up together first listening to, playing and then writing music. The two have opposites: Keith is shy, Mick is not.”
20 Feb
The Rolling Stones St James Park Newcastle 1982
The Rolling Stones
St James Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, June 23rd 1982
Support Acts: J Geils Band, George Thorogood and the Destroyers. Setlist: Under My Thumb; When the Whip Comes Down; Let’s Spend the Night Together; Shattered Neighbours; Black Limousine; Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me); Twenty Flight Rock; Going to a Go-Go; Chantilly Lace; Let Me Go; Time is on My Side; Beast of Burden; You Can’t Always Get What You Want; Little T&A; Tumbling Dice; She’s So Cold; Hang Fire; Miss You; Honky Tonk Women; Brown Sugar; Start Me Up; Jumpin’ Jack Flash. Encore: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction 
The Rolling Stones were on tour across Europe again in 1982, some 6 years after their last UK appearances, in support of their album, Tattoo You. UK Fans had waited a long time for this tour, and anticipation was high. The tour took in a mix of venues from small concerts halls in Scotland, to stadiums in Newcastle and London. I queued for hours outside St James Park to get tickets for the Newcastle gig. People slept all night outside the ground and the queue weaved its way around all the surrounding streets. After a few hours in the queue I managed to get tickets for the gig. This was the first gig at the Newcastle ground and the local fans were determined to give the band a good reception. Support came from George Thorogood and the J Geils Band, who had recently had a hit with their single Centrefold. The Stones started with Under My Thumb, which was quite unexpected for me. I’d become used to them opening with big hits like Jumpin’ Jack Flash. The show was quite long, although not as long as their Knebworth set. We started off sitting in the stand opposite the stage, and spent some time wandering around the pitch. The gig was general admission, so you could wander around the stadium freely. The Stones played well, but not great, and the sound wasn’t too hot. I missed the intimacy of the City Hall gigs.
Reports from the time suggest that there was friction in the band, particularly between Mick and Keith, and the shows got mixed reviews. This was their first mega tour of Europe, and followed on from a massively successful US tour, which was the biggest grossing tour of 1981. This was the start of a pattern for the Stones, of stadium gigs, based on a massive stage show, every few years.
19 Feb
The Rolling Stones Knebworth 21 August 1976
The Rolling Stones Knebworth 1976
The Rolling Stones, 10cc, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Todd Rundgren’s Utopia , Hot Tuna , Don Harrison Band.
By 1976 The Rolling Stones were reaching the peak of their success. The Knebworth festival of that year was a massive event of celebration. The band had sold out a big UK tour, and this show was added to satisfy the huge demand for tickets. I’d seen their Glasgow Apollo show a few weeks earlier, but couldn’t resist going to see them again at this big show. Lots of my friends were going, it seemed everyone I talked to was going to make the trip south for this gig. I drove down with Marie and my friend John arriving the day before the gig. I’d been to the 1974 (Allman Brothers) and 1975 (Pink Floyd) Knebworth concert, but the crowd for The Stones was much larger; with a capacity crowd of 100,000 attending the festival. The supporting bill was pretty strong: Todd Rundgren put in a good set (I Saw The LIght was one of my favourite tunes at the time), and Lynyrd Skynrd almost stole the show with a mega version of Freebird, and some superb guitar dueling. 10CC were OK, and played all their hits. The stage was a giant tongue, based on the Stones logo, and two large screens projected the stage action to the back of the crowd. There was a long, long, boring wait for the Stones who came on very late. The Stones played a marathon set and delved deep into their back catalogue, playing many songs that hadn’t featured in their set since the 60s. The sound wasn’t too good in some parts of the field, and although they were fantastic it wasn’t the best Stones performance, but it was a great event. 
Setlist: Satisfaction; Ain’t Too Proud to Beg; If You Can’t Rock Me / Get Off of My Cloud; Hand of Fate; Around and Around; Little Red Rooster; Stray Cat Blues; Hey Negrita; Hot Stuff; Fool to Cry; Star Star; Let’s Spend the Night Together; You Gotta Move; You Can’t Always Get What You Want; Dead Flowers; Route 66; Wild Horses; Honky Tonk Women; Country Honk; Tumbling Dice; Happy; Nothing from Nothing; Outta Space; Midnight Rambler; It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll; Brown Sugar; Rip This Joint; Jumpin’ Jack Flash; Street Fighting Man. 
Annoying, and unusually, I don’t have my ticket stub for this event (although I do have my programme); I’m pretty sure the whole ticket was taken from me at the gate. This musn’t have been the case at other gates, as stubs do come up on ebay. I must try and get one sometime. Update on May 12th 2012. I bought a stub on ebay! See scan to right. Thanks to John for sending me the poster scan.
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