As legends go, they don’t get much more legendary than John Cale. The man is an enigma and to be admired. Of Welsh origin, Cale studied art at Goldsmiths College London and then, in 1963, relocated to New York where he became part of the alternative music and art scene, meeting the likes of none other than Andy Warhol. In 1968 he hooked up with Lou Reed and formed the Velvet Underground. Respect!
Since then, Cale has collaborated with many great alternative artists including Iggy and the Stooges, Patti Smith and others. His solo work explores dark themes of alienation, pain, fear and the soul. His work is intriguing, sometimes almost impenetrable, but always worthy of exploration and of taking the time to listen to the messages he is giving us.
I last experienced John Cale live at the Sage, Gateshead some years ago with my son, David. It was a concert that was memorable, intriguing and exciting and David and I both enjoyed it. So, I was looking forward to seeing him live again. The concert was part of the annual Mouth of the Tyne Festival, and had been postponed for some time due to Covid.
The Playhouse website announced the arrival of Cale thus: “Legendary musician John Cale is to play a special, intimate show at Playhouse Whitley Bay as part of this year’s Mouth of the Tyne Festival. One of the founder members of The Velvet Underground alongside Lou Reed, he was instrumental in the band’s early years and enjoyed acclaim stateside under the management of Andy Warhol. Cale brings over 6 decades of avant-garde music with him, having released over 30 albums, with his solo record ‘Paris 1919’ perhaps his best-known work. Cllr Sarah Day, Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport and Leisure said, “It’s a real coup to secure a show from one of rock’s most enduring performers. With a music style that’s hard to pinpoint, artists like this are real one-offs and I can’t wait to see him take to the stage at our Playhouse theatre this summer.””
The Playhouse was packed with a crowd who (judging from the eclectic range of T-shirts and dress sense in evidence) obviously enjoyed a mixture of musical genres ranging from punk, new wave aficionados to general classic rock fans. It was great to catch up with old friends Pauline and Rob from local legendary band Penetration in the bar for a chat prior to the show.
We took our seats, carer Jan and I, close to the front. We had missed the performance by the support act (apologies) but were more than ready to see the main man perform. John Cale was backed by an excellent band and stood stage right behind his keyboard, performing a mixture of songs from throughout his career. Sadly, he did not perform any Velvet Underground tracks. On other nights of the tour the crowd were treated to a version of “Waiting for the Man”. The guy is 80 years old, still looks great and is still uncompromising in his music and performance. He did not speak to the audience but then it was enough just to be in the presence of a true legend. He took us through songs of angst, fear and lost love, finishing with a dark take of Elvis’s “Heartbreak Hotel”. And then he was gone. Leaving us with swirling psychedelic wailing tunes in our heads and the knowledge that we had been in the presence of one of the legends of art rock and new wave. And that, for me, was enough.
Cale has just released a new album which is advertised: “MERCY, Cale’s first full album in a decade, moves through true dark-night-of-the-soul electronic torment toward vulnerable love songs and hopeful considerations for the future with the help of some of music’s most curious young minds. Cale has always searched for new ways to explore old ideas of alienation, hurt, and joy; MERCY is the latest transfixing find of this unsatisfied mind.” (Musicdirect.com site).
Setlist: Jumbo in tha Modernworld; The Endless Plain of Fortune; Chinese Envoy; Dirty Ass Rock ‘n’ Roll; Mercy; Ghost Story; Pretty People; Guts; Villa Albani; Half Past France; Hanky Panky Nohow; Moonstruck; Heartbreak Hotel
This was a special, emotional evening for a number of reasons. First, and most importantly, my friend John came over from the States for a short trip with his wife, Susan, to see family and friends. Now John and I have been friends for many years and one of the first bands we went to see together at Newcastle City Hall in 1971 or 1972 was, none other, than 
Now as it was their 50th anniversary tour, Heep had chosen to do something quite different. The concert was in two parts, the first being an acoustic set, something I have never seen them do before. I arrived with my carer, Jan, in plenty of time to meet up with John before the show, swap stories and generally catch up on things. Then came showtime. The night opened with a video screen showing many other famous classic heavy bands, and artists, congratulating Uriah Heep on their 50th anniversary: Alice Cooper, Francis Rossi, Pete Agnew of Nazareth, Paul Stanley of Kiss, Deep Purple, Blue Oyster Cult, Vanilla Fudge and many others. Now the only original, and surviving member of Uriah Heep is guitarist Mick Box who looks just great, really fit, lovely pure white long hair, and plays guitar just as he always did.
The rest of the band have joined some time along the way, the singer Bernie Shaw has been a member for many years and does a great job of singing those classic, almost operatic, tracks from the 70s and onward. The other members also are great musicians: Phil Lanzon on keyboards, who joined at the same time as Bernie in 1986, Russell Gilbrook on drums and Dave Rimmer on bass, both of whom joined more recently.
The acoustic set comprised several songs which were unfamiliar to me, some which were old favourites and lend themselves to acoustic treatment such as “The Wizard” and closing number “Lady in Black”. A surprise and great track from the first album, which John and I agreed we had never seen them play before, the haunting “Come Away Melinda” (also made famous by the great Tim Rose). A very pleasant change and surprise. Excellent for starters.
After a short break the band were back for the electric set, more in their usual format. To open the second set the video screen displayed images of all the past members, too many to mention. Members I would highlight for various reasons are keyboard player and writer of many of those classic songs, the late Ken Hensley; he of the magnificent operatic voice from the classic line-up, the late, great front man David Byron; surprisingly to me, local Sunderland hero (now a long-term member of Elton John’s band) drummer Nigel Olsson (who played on two tracks of the debut album); John Lawton who became singer after David Byron left and did a great job; former Spider from Mars, and also a member of Wishbone Ash at one point, the late great bass player, Trevor Bolder; another sadly passed bassist from the classic years Gary Thain and long-time more recently passed drummer Lee Kerslake.
In a similar way to the acoustic set, the band played old and new songs, some familiar, some new to me. Some which I absolutely love: the very atmospheric, operatic “Sunrise”, the rocking “Stealin'” and the great rock ‘n’ roll of “Sweet Lorraine”. Closing song “July Morning” is, as it always was, the closest Uriah Heep get to a ballad and just wonderful. Other familiar tracks were “Traveller in Time” and “Free ‘n’ Easy”. For the encore Mick Box took us right back to the start and the very basic, heavy metal riff of “Gypsy”. So simple and yet so great and just pure genius! The final song was another great rocker “Easy Livin'”. Congratulations to the band on 50+ great years. Long may they continue.
I met up with John on the way out. We both agreed that the show was excellent in every way. By the way, thanks to Jan for her photography and she is now a Uriah Heep fan! And thanks to John for a picture of his T-shirt!
Scared to Run; Rainbow Demon; What Kind of God; Sunrise; Sweet Lorraine; Free ‘n’ Easy; July Morning.
The great song “American Pie” is etched in my memory for reasons, which sleep after time I will explain below. 
American Pie was recorded in May 1971 and a month later received its first radio airplay. Thirty years later, it was voted number 5 in a poll of the 365 “Songs of the Century” compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. Issued as a double A-side single in November 1971 and charted within a month. Interest from the media and public sent the single to #1 in the USA and Don to international superstardom. Every line of the song was analysed time and time again to find the real meaning. Don refused to sanction any of the many interpretations, so adding to its mystery” (Sage Gateshead website).
The Lincoln Festival had a magnificent lineup with Rod Stewart and the Faces, the Beach boys, Rory Gallagher, Humble Pie (now Steve Marriot was definitely a boy), Genesis, Strawbs, Status Quo, Joe Cocker, Monty Python!, Stone The Crows with Maggie Bell, Lindisfarne, Nazareth, Atomic Rooster, Slade and many others. Anyway, appearing on the Sunday afternoon, as I recall, was a guy called Don Maclean sandwiched between excellent performances by Status Quo (who were busy transitioning from a pop band to the number one boogie machine) and the magnificent Humble Pie (with Steve Marriot excelling himself as a great soul and blues singer “my skin is white, but my soul is black”). “American Pie” had just been in the UK singles chart and was, by then, a global hit with its very enigmatic lyrics, which we all know now are loosely based around the death of Buddy Holly, a hero of Don McLean. The festival had been plagued by showers of torrential rain but, just at the point Don started singing “American Pie” the rain stopped and the sun came out. It was a truly magical moment and we all stood up (the boys singing and dancing on the top of our hay barn). From that point on I was a fan and I went to see Don McLean several times after that at Newcastle City Hall. He went on to have many other hits including the beautiful “Vincent” about Vincent Van Gough.
So roll forward 50 years and my carer Jan and I are seated at the back of the Sage waiting to see Don McLean. This was Jan’s first Don McLean concert and for me, it was probably around 40 years since I last saw him. I lost touch with him, sadly, along the way. Support act was 
Thanks to Jan for her photographic skills.
It has been some time since I saw in York, on which occasion he played a great selection of early Genesis classics. Now I much prefered Genesis when the great Peter Gabriel fronted the band. I have many happy memories of seeing Genesis. The first time I saw them was at Newcastle City Hall where they were bottom of the bill on a C
harisma package tour featuring Van Der Graaf Generator, Lindisfarne and then Genesis. After that I saw them several times within a year during the period 1971 and 1972 including performances at the Reading Festival, the Lincoln Festival and Sunderland Locarno supporting Mott the Hoople! I foolishly missed the Foxtrot tour because I had seen the band so many times. I remember my friend Ian went along to see them at the City Hall and came back raving about the gig and Gabriel wearing a fox mask! Is it really 50 years since the release of Foxtrot? I then saw them at Newcastle City Hall supporting Lindisfarne, the Reading Festival again at the time “I Know What I like” was hitting the charts, and finally on the Lamb Lies down on Broadway tour. The next time I saw Genesis Phil Collins was front man on the Trick of the Tail tour at Glasgow Apollo. All of those shows were magnificent. Steve Hackett left the band around that time and I saw the And Then There Were Three tour at Knebworth, supported by Jefferson Starship. Happy days.
Steve Hackett was an integral part of the band throughout those days, sitting quietly on a stool, weaving magical music from his Gibson Les Paul. I also saw Steve on a couple of solo tours at Newcastle City Hall and was quite impressed by his own material.
starting with the wonderful “Watcher of the Skies” and finishing with the magnificent, multifaceted “Supper’s Ready”. I had forgotten just how great the album was; particularly the opening track and the closing epic. Great credit must be given to vocalist Nad Sylvan who brings the songs to life without totally recreating Peter Gabriel. The guy has his own style, flowing locks and some wonderful elements of showmanship which hark back to the Gabriel days such as the 
A great night with a great musician to whom prog rock fans (such as me!) and Genesis owe a lot. I bought a programme and a signed copy of Steve’s autobiography! Happy days really are here again!
Set 1: Hackett Highlights: Ace of Wands; The Devil’s Cathedral; Spectral Mornings; Every Day; A Tower Struck Down; Camino Royale; Shadow of the Hierophant.
Lindisfarne have an intriguing and somewhat confusing history. There are, in practice, currently two versions of the band touring at the moment. The first, the 
The second version of 
Their first hit, the Clements-penned “Meet Me on the Corner”, paved the way for their classic Fog on the Tyne to become the UK’s top-selling album of 1972. LINDISFARNE’s unforgettable songs, powerful live performances and unpretentious style led to worldwide success and an enviable reputation as festival favourites, and the annual Christmas concerts they presented in their native Newcastle became the stuff of legend.
We had great seats in the front row and got there just in time to see Lindisfarne (no support act) begin the proceedings with old favourite “No Time to Lose”. The concert was in two sets with a short interval between them. What can I say! The new (-ish) band play all the old favourites and do them 100% justice. Rod Clements is a quiet yet charismatic front man who introduces many of the songs. Dave Hull-Denholm performs his father-in-law’s songs with the reverence they deserve and his vocals sound very much like Alan Hull. Steve Daggett sings quite a few of the songs and again does justice to the Lindisfarne repertoire. So in the first set we get great tunes such as the enigmatic, melodic early classic “Lady Eleanor”. This song always intrigues me. The lyric “in came Roderick Usher with the lady Eleanor” is not quite true to the Edgar Allan Poe tail “The Fall of the House of Usher”. The lady in question is actually Madeline not Eleanor. I wonder why they use that particular poetic licence? Other favourites are “Road to Kingdom Come” and, closing the first set, “January Song”.
The second set begins with another great Lindisfarne classic “Alright on the Night”. Soon we get a wonderful, atmospheric performance of the much underrated “Dingley Dell”. This brings back lovely memories of seeing Lindisfarne at Newcastle City Hall on the Dingley Dell tour. I went both nights as there were different supports each night and I was a fan of each band: Stackridge and Genesis! Happy days. Then, my particular favourite which still makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck: Dave performing “Winter Song”. Soon we are into the hits: “We can Swing Together”, “Fog on the Tyne” and “Meet me on the Corner”, followed by the massive hit Lindisfarne reunion song “Run for Home”. And the closer, yes it had to be “Clear White Light”. I am transported back to the first time I saw Lindisfarne in the City Hall sandwiched between headliner Van der Graaf Generator and new up-and-coming band Genesis. All for 25p as I recall! Happy days
On the way out we are given a flyer for the Newcastle City Hall Lindisfarne Christmas concert, following the tradition of many years. I went to what I think was the 1st Christmas concert at Newcastle City Hall in 1971. Sadly I am unable to attend this year as I will be seeing Rod Stewart at Newcastle Arena on the same night. Such dilemmas always annoy me and sent to try me! This was one of the reasons I made the trip to Yarm to see Lindisfarne. Many thanks to carer Jan for taking the photos. No merchandise to buy this evening.
Well, the last time I was at Darlington Hippodrome, it was called Darlington Civic Theatre and the performance was by none other than the Chuckle Brothers (Laura was a big fan at the time). I remember, I think it was on another occasion we saw the Chuckle Brothers at Newcastle Tyne Theatre, the late great lovely Barry Chuckle sang “Tell Laura I Love Her” to Laura as he signed her programme; which we both found quite funny and also quite touching! But that’s a story for another day.
The Civic Theatre has morphed into the Hippodrome after some refurbishment which has entailed the construction of a new entrance, bar and restaurant which has lots of glass and is lovely. The old theatre remains as it was, still maintaining the lovely vintage red chairs, boxes and balconies as it did back in the day of the musical. Wonderful.
But tonight was a night full of nostalgia in the company of the great 
Opening the show, with a short set of three or four songs was
The set consisted of a mix of Justin’s solo material and Moody Blues songs, some very familiar and some less so. Justin talked quite a lot to the audience, explaining the background to each track. After a couple of songs we were into the beautiful “Tuesday Afternoon”, one of my favourite Moody Blues tunes, from the magnificent Days of Future Passed. This was followed by more lovely melodic songs and then another favourite “The Voice” and “Forever Autumn” from Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds. This was soon followed by the classic “Question” (I still recall the Moody Blues playing this on Top of the Pops) and closing the show was (what else could it be) “Nights in White Satin”. Justin’s voice is as strong and beautiful as it ever was. The encore consisted of three songs including two more of my favourites “The Story in Your Eyes” and “I Know You’re out There Somewhere”. A great night with a great voice and a great man. Excellent. Happy days.
Setlist: The Eastern Sun; Driftwood; Tuesday Afternoon; The Actor; Hope and Pray; The Western Sky; The Voice; Living for Love; Forever Autumn; Never Comes the Day; Your Wildest Dreams; Question; Nights in White Satin; Encore: The Story in Your Eyes; I Know You’re Out There Somewhere; I Just Don’t Care.
This was a special evening to celebrate 
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 
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.
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.
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)
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