April Wine came on to my radar in the late 1970s and early 80s. They appeared alongside the (re)emergence of heavy rock with the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal). The only song I can remember by them is Before the Dawn, which I’ve just watched on YouTube. Check it out, its a great piece of heavy melodic rock. I went along to see all of the upcoming NWOBHM bands, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Saxon, Samson. 
It was a good time for rock; you could see some great rock bands in small sweaty clubs, and concert halls up and down the country before some of them they moved into arenas. Looking at the programme for one of the April Wine tours, I see that the support acts were Angel Witch and Sledgehammer, with heavy metal DJ Neil Kay. Those were the days!
April Wine came over as support for Sammy Hagar, and then quickly headlined their own tour. They were also on the bill at the first Monsters of Rock festival at Donington, so they were very much part of the early 80s heavy rock scene. They are still performing in their home of Canada, and come to Europe now and then. 
April Wine started in the late 60s so are very much a veteran rock band. Its good to see that bands like this are still performing.
Posts Tagged ‘blues’
17 Feb
Joan Armatrading
Joan Armatrading worked very hard at her craft in the early to mid 70s, supporting national tours by artists such as Supertramp, and gigging up and down the UK. She was one of those artists who popped up a lot as a support act, and at festivals, and her music grew on me over the years. I saw her at Newcastle City Hall once or twice in support slots, and also remember seeing her perform low down on the bill at the 1975 Reading Festival. 
In 1976 she had her fist hit with Love and Affection, and started to come more into the public eye. I first saw her headlining at the City Hall in 1977. By then her set featured some great songs, which were becoming well known to me, including the beautiful Willow and Down To Zero. Support for her 1977 tour came from the late Kim Beacon, a Scottish singer with a great blues/soul voice, who was once a member of String Driven thing.
I next saw Joan on her 1980 UK tour. By this time she had moved from a jazz oriented style to a rockier pop sound, and had a hit with the single Me Myself I. Support for the 1980 tour was Richard Digance. Joan’s music continued to grew on me over the years, and each time I saw her she put on a strong, passionate performance, with some lovely ballads. 
I haven’t seen her in concert since those days, which is something I need to put right. Joan has released 17 studio albums, and received many awards and accolades over the years since she emerged in the 70s. I’ve read some reviews of recent concerts and they suggest that she is certainly still worth seeing. She’s coming to the Sage in Gateshead later this year. I really must take the time to go and see her.
16 Feb
Mick Abrahams Sunderland 1977
Quite a nice looking ticket for this gig, and an intriguing event. This was a guitar demonstration by Mick Abrahams ex-Jethro Tull; billed as “Top London Session Man”. The event was organised by White Sound equipment who were a local guitar shop run by a guy called Bill White. Entry was free, and the idea was that it would promote the shop and Yamaha guitars. The gig was held upstairs in the Barnes hotel, and Mick played a number of guitars, trading some pretty neat licks. I recall a few gigs of this nature in the 70s, one at Newcastle Guildhall with the great Big Jim Sullivan playing guitar, and another at Middlesbrough Town Hall with Rod Argent demonstrating electric pianos and keyboards. They don’t seem to have such events these days. Mick Abrahams hasn’t been too well lately and is having a rest from gigging. Hope he’s well and able to gig again soon.
15 Feb
Aerosmith Glasgow Apollo 1976
Aerosmith Glasgow Apollo 1976
I’d read a lot about Aerosmith. They were being hailed as the new major rock band from the USA, and being compared to The Stones. So when they announced their first UK tour I was tempted to go along and see them. As was the case with many US bands at the time, the tour covered a few UK cities, Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham and London, missing out the North East completely. I decided at the last minute to go and see them in Glasgow and drove up to the gig without a ticket. When I arrived in Renfield Street and joined the queue outside the Apollo, I found myself surrounded by a bunch of kids from a local reform institution, accompanied by a couple of social workers. Listening to them talking, they had all been brought along on an outing to see the band. I bought my ticket in the stalls, and took my seat in the half full hall. Clearly Aerosmith were not that well known in Scotland.
Support came from Phoenix, a band formed by John Verity who had just left Argent. I don’t recall anything about their set I’m afraid. Aerosmith were good, and Steve Tyler did look, and perform, like Jagger. The Rocks lp had just been released, and the set will have consisted of tracks from that album, Toys in the Attic and their earlier albums. I’d heard Dream On, but not much else, but was pleasantly surprised by the songs they played that night. Steve Tyler had many scarves tied around his mike stand as has become his trademark, and guitarist Joe Perry was impressive, the two of them working together very closely. I’m pretty sure that the encore was Train Kept a Rollin’. I saw quite a few gigs at the Apollo around that period: The Moody Blues, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, Genesis, The Stones. It was a great venue with one of the best crowds in the UK. And they sold lovely scotch (mutton) pies. Its sad that its gone. Happy days.
14 Feb
The Animals reunion Newcastle 1983
The Animals reunion Newcastle 1983
The Animals reformed in the early 80s for a tour, and to record a new album. This was the original line up of Eric Burdon, Alan Price, Hilton Valentine, Chas Chandler and John Steele, augmented by a few other musicians including Zoot Money. The tour took in two North East dates at Newcastle City Hall and Middlesbrough Town Hall. I went along to the City Hall date.
The set was a mix of classic hits, such as Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood; House Of The Rising Sun; It’s My Life; Don’t Bring Me Down and We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place, plus R&B standards and tracks from the new lp. I remember I was somewhat disappointed that there weren’t more older tracks in the set. Perhaps not surprisingly they didn’t play any of the later Eric Burdon tracks which were hits for later versions of the Animals, such as Good Times, When I was Young etc. It was great to see the original line up playing back in their home town.
12 Feb
Van Morrison The Sage Gateshead 11 Feb 2012
Van Morrison The Sage Gateshead 11 Feb 2012
“No cameras. If anyone takes a photograph he says he will walk straight off stage” the lady at the door told me as I entered the concert last night. Welcome to a gig by the enigma that is Van Morrison. I was seated in a box to the left of the stage, just a few feet away from where the great man would stand. The gig had been sold out for weeks; Van’s legend is as strong as ever, and he is filling halls out again, as it should be. Spot on at 8pm as advertised the band took the stage, followed by Van who walked on from stage left playing a saxophone. They were straight into Brown Eyed Girl; a version with a jazzier feel than the original. Morrison was singing well and you don’t get much tighter than this band. So far so good, I thought. I’ve enjoyed the last couple of Van gigs that I’ve seen, and expected this to be similar. But it was so much better. Last night, I could sense that Van was getting more into the performance as the night went on. Maybe it was because I was close to the stage and could clearly see the expression on Van’s face, but I think it was more than that. I swear I saw him smile a few times, and by the last few songs he was singing with a commitment and passion that I haven’t seen for many years. Between songs he was having some little chats with members of band, particularly the bass player; obviously giving them some instructions as to the next song and the arrangement. I’d love to be able to hear what he was saying. Van himself played sax and harp on several numbers and on Haunts Of Ancient Peace he sat and played at a keyboard, something I can’t recall seeing recently. He even introduced one of the songs and asked us to thank the band several times. The band, by the way, are excellent; switching from jazz to blues to soul, with some great solos, whether it be by the sax player, guitarist or the pianist. By the last song, the old Them classic, Gloria, they were really rocking, and Van was belting out the lyrics. He just gets better. Setlist: Brown Eyed Girl; Higher Than The World; Not Feeling It Anymore/Hurting Game; These Dreams Of You; Enlightenment; All In The Game/No Plan B/No Safety Net; Real Real Gone/You Send Me; Crazy love; Moondance; Into The Mystic; Precious Time; Haunts Of Ancient Peace; In The Garden/Holy Guardian Angel; Fair Play; Ballerina; Help Me; Gloria. I told a guy at work, who used to go and see Van a lot, that I was going to the gig. He told me that he had been disappointed by Van’s performances in the past, and wouldn’t go again. He missed a treat. Wish I had tickets for York tonight, but I checked and its sold out, which is as it should be. Come back soon Van.
11 Feb
The Rolling Stones Glasgow Apollo May 10th 1976
The Rolling Stones Glasgow Apollo May 10th 1976
I saw the Stones for the third time in Glasgow in 1976. My friend John was at University in Edinburgh and bought the tickets. There was a big sramble for tickets for this tour. I seem to recall that I applied for tickets for Stafford I think, and wasn’t successful; and was delighted to hear that John had managed to get a couple for the Glasgow show. This was my first visit to the legendary, and sadly missed, Apollo; I went to see a few bands there in the 70s. I drove up to Edinburgh to pick John up, and then we drove across to Glasgow. Support came from the American funk band The Meters, who were ok but didn’t stand out to me. We had good seats up in the circle with a great view of the stage. 
The Stones came on and started with Honky Tonk Women. The crowd in the circle were quite reserved, staying in their seats throughout. This was the Stones at the height of their popularity and the start of the mega tour. It was also their first outing with new guitarist Ronnie Wood. Setlist: Honky Tonk Women; If You Can’t Rock Me / Get Off of My Cloud; Hand of Fate; Hey Negrita; Ain’t Too Proud to Beg; Fool to Cry; Hot Stuff; Star Star; You Gotta Move; You Can’t Always Get What You Want; Happy; Tumbling Dice; Nothing from Nothing; Outta Space; 
Midnight Rambler; It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It); Brown Sugar; Jumpin’ Jack Flash; Street Fighting Man. The Stones were great that night, and a Stones concert was becoming an event as much as a concert. After the gig, John and I drove back to Edinburgh and then I drive home to Sunderland. I had a busy week of concerts that week. I’d driven to London and back at the weekend to see David Bowie at Wembley, saw the Stones in Glasgow on Monday and then drove to Birmingham later the same week to see Kiss on their first UK tour. John, Marie and I saw the Stones a few months later at their massive Knebworth show. I’ll write a review of that gig soon.
8 Feb
Van Morrison in concert 1973 – 2007
Van Morrison in concert 1973 – 2007
I’m going to see Van Morrison at The Sage Gateshead on Saturday, so I thought I would spend a little time reflecting on my previous concert experiences of the great man.
I first saw Van Morrison at Newcastle City Hall in 1973. He was performing with the Caledonia Soul Orchestra, and it was without doubt one of the greatest gigs I have seen. The passion and soul that Van showed that night was astounding. I’ve seen him several times since, but nothing has matched how he was that night. 
I’ve written separately on that great concert. I next saw Van at one or two festivals, including Knebworth, but didn’t catch up with him again at the City Hall until 1979. By then Morrison was moving in a more pop oriented direction, and although I still enjoyed the gig, the power and passion of that early 70s show was lacking.
I was back at the City Hall for a Van gig in 1983, and to be honest, I wasn’t impressed. It was as if he was going through the motions, and didn’t really want to be there. I talked to other fans who saw him around the same time, and they felt the same. He was back in Newcastle at the Arena as special guest for Bob Dylan in the 1990s once, maybe twice, I don’t remember. I’d lost faith in him by then, and shamefully admit I stayed in the bar during his set. I thought I’d seen the last of the Van I’d seen at that gig in 1973. However, in recent years I’ve been playing Moondance, Astral Weeks and the live album now and then, and have realised just how great his music is. 
So it was in that frame of mind that I went to see Van again at Middlesbrough Town Hall in 2005. I saw glimpses of the old Van again at that gig. The set was short, and Van didn’t acknowledge the audience at all, but he sang well, and it looked like he cared again. The set included some of his well known songs such as Moondance and Brown Eyed Girl, and a bunch of stuff that I didn’t recognise, and I am pleased to say that I enjoyed it. I was sold out again. 
So it was in that frame of mind that I took Laura to see Van at the Sage in 2007. We had cheap seats looking down on the stage from above and once again, he delivered. The set included more classics than in 2005. I think we got Here Comes the Night and Gloria, certainly one of them if not both. Even Laura enjoyed it, and she has become quite hard to please. Those last couple of gigs have convinced me to catch Van each time he comes to the North East.
So I’ll be at The Sage on Saturday to see Van again, and I’m really looking forward to it. I know what to expect, and it should be good. I’ll report back on Sunday and write a review of the gig. I’ll dream a little of that gig in 1973, and be thankful I have the chance to hear some of those songs again, performed by the master who wrote them, and who spellbound me in the City Hall all those years ago.
7 Feb
The Edgar Broughton Band in concert 1971 – 2005
Edgar Broughton Band in concert 1971 – 2005
Out Demons Out!!!! Rebel rock at its best.
Edgar Broughton is one of my all time heroes. He is the man; period. During the early 70s he was uncomprising, fearless, and a composer and singer of some great rock music. My early memories of Edgar were gigs at Sunderland Locarno and at festivals such as Reading’72 and Buxton’72. Edgar was usually sporting a snazzy karate suit, and singing tracks from the early EBB lps such as Freedom, Evil, American Soldier, Apache Drop Out and, of course, Out Demons Out. Edgar always had a lot to say and wasn’t frightened of speaking out against the police, the government and anything he didn’t feel was right. He was (and still is) a big man with a deep booming voice, often compared to Beefheart. But there was much more to Edgar. His guitar work was pretty tasty and his songs crossed genres, and defied categorisation.
Onstage I felt as if he was speaking directly to me, and he had quite a powerful, almost frightening personality. I saw him in The Locarno a few days before the (in)famous Redcar gig (which I regret not attending) where Edgar and the band turned up and played from the back of a lorry after being banned from playing on the seafront. He encouraged us all to come along to Redcar, to bring our friends and our cars and to screw up the town and the local police force. Edgar ended up spending the night in Redcar jail, and wrote the song “(Judge) called me a liar” about the experience. One night I recall him telling us not to buy the Out Demons Out single, as that would only give money to the record company. Instead he encouraged us to buy a spray can and spray “Out Demons Out” on walls around the time. As we moved into the mid 70s Edgar and the guys had graduated to playing the City Hall circuit. Although the music was still strong, I felt they lost some of the immediacy and passion that I had experienced in a club and festival setting.
The EBB had some great songs. Favourites of mine were The Poppy, Green Lights, Hotel Room and Evening over the rooftops. Listen to their albums if you get a chance. They are much under-rated. As we came to the end of the 70s, The EBB had all but disappeared from the scene. The last time I saw them they were called The Broughtons, and were supporting (Ian) Gillan at the City Hall around 1979. This was at the time of the Parlez Vous English? lp, which is one of the few Broughton albums which I don’t have in my collection. However, this week I’ve just bought a copy on ebay for 99p; I’m looking forward to playing it after all this time!
The band seemed to disappear from view in the 90s. I missed one show locally in the late 80s or early 90s which was while I was on holiday, and still regret it. However in 2006 they were back, and Will and I caught their gig at Sheffield Boardwalk. I went backstage before the band came on stage, said hello to Edgar (Rob) and the guys and got them to sign my gig flyer. The set that night included all of the well know tracks, starting with Evening Over Rooftops and continuing with Speak Down The Wires; the strange story of The Moth; Why Can’t Somebody Love Me; the great boogie of Momma’s Reward; American Boy Soldier with lyrics updated to comment upon modern war; the proto punk metal of Love In The Rain; Hotel Room; and Out Demons Out as an encore. In introducing the latter song Edgar told the crowd that the demons are still out there and explained that we needed to chant; just as we did in the old day! The EBB has sadly split since, but Edgar plays on, as passionate as ever. I saw him last year in York (see my post from August 2011).
5 Feb
Maggie Bell and Stone the Crows in concert 1971 – 1974
Maggie Bell and Stone the Crows in concert 1971 – 1974
I saw Stone the Crows in concert three times in 1971 and 1972. The first time was in late 1971 at Sunderland Locarno. This was the original band with Maggie Bell on vocals, and her partner Les Harvey (Alex’s younger brother) on guitar, before he was sadly electrocuted and killed on stage at Swansea Top Rank, by touching a live mike. They also had James Dewar on bass, who went on to have great success with Robin Trower. Maggie was often, and not unfairly, compared to Janis Joplin at the time, and the band were a great blues rock act. Although they were a great live act, they still weren’t that well known, and I recall standing near the front in a pretty small crowd watching Maggie, dressed in a denim jacket and jeans, tearing her way through the set. There was a hard edge about Maggie and her singing, and you felt that her blues matched the tough street image that Glasgow had at the time. I next saw Stone The Crows at the Lincoln Festival, which was their first performance after Les’ death, and Steve Howe from Yes stood in on guitar. 
The Lincoln performance was highly emotional and the crowd gave Maggie the strongest reception of the day, sensing how real the blues was to her that night, coming only a few weeks after she had lost her boyfriend. By September 1972, the band had a permanent new member in ex-Thunderclap Newman young guitar prodigy Jimmy McCulloch, a new album Ontinuous Performance, and a UK tour which called at the City Hall. Support at the City Hall came from Tennent and Morrison (mis-splet on the ticket), although I don’t pretend to remember much about them. Stand out gig tracks throughout those days were Penicillin Blues (I can picture Maggie now singing “You got the needle in me baby”) and a 20 minute version of Dylan’s Hollis Brown, and Niagara. They were a pretty incredible live act, and played some great blues at the time. 
By 1973, Stone The Crows had split, and Maggie had gone solo. I saw her twice in 1974. The first time was on the bill of The Who’s excellent Charlton gig, and the second was at The City Hall, with the wonderful Pretty Things as support. The Petty Things were now label mates, both appearing on Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song label. Her set featured largely new material from her Queen of the Night and Suicide Sal lps. She put on a great rock show, but some of the raw power, and blues, of Stone The Crows had been lost. She’d moved to a more traditional heavy rock format (as had label-mates The Pretty Things), and in my mind, it didn’t suit her as well as the blues that she had grown up with. Maggie went on to have a hit with “Hold Me” which she sang with B A Robertson, and she also sang the theme tunes to the TV shows Hazell and Taggart. She moved to Holland and all but disappeared from the music scene, returning to the UK a few years ago. She is now playing solo, sometimes with blues singer Dave Kelly and sometimes in the British Blues Quartet, in the UK, Germany and mainland Europe. I haven’t caught up with her yet, and really must do so; it would be great to attend a Maggie Bell gig again.
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