Simply Red Gateshead Stadium 25th July 1992
In January 1992 Simply Red set off on a massive world tour. They had just released their 4th album “Stars.” The tour lasted 14 months, taking in 131 shows to 1.5 million people. In the UK Simply Red played concerts in arenas and massive stadiums, including Wembley Stadium. I caught the tour when it called at Gateshead Stadium in 1992. Support came from Des’ree. This is the only time I saw Simply Red.
The programme contains a welcome from Mick Hucknall: “Firstly let me welcome you to this “event”. I can’t call it just a show because the scale of these concerts defies that description. This is a special day for me because these “events” are a celebration of your enjoyment of the music that I and other musicians have made since the debut in 1985″, and discusses the band’s recent success, making it very clear this it had become very much Mick’s show: “Mick Hucknall’s latest album, Stars, has out-sold all the competition, including Michael Jackson’s Dangerous. His current British tour is such a hot ticket that even the touts are said to be out of stock. Simply Red – the band which for seven years has been mainly him plus helpers – is now the most popular group in the land.” 
The programme goes on: “Democracy is not a word that crops up when the talk turns to that seven-member organisation known as Simply Red. A fairly benign dictatorship is what it really is…Hucknall “I’m not a control freak..I’m like an old bandleader, providing a springboard for musicians who can come and go…””
This was a very classy show, with Mick performing the hits faultlessly to a crowd of adoring fans.
Setlist (something like): Sad Old Red; More; Jericho; A New Flame; It’s Only Love; Band Introductions; Your Mirror; Holding Back The Years; Enough; Model; I Wish; Let Me Have It All; Freedom; Thrill Me; Come To My Aid; I Won’t Feel Bad; Money’s Too Tight (To Mention); If You Don’t Know Me By Now; Stars; The Right Thing; For Your Babies; Something Got Me Started
Posts Tagged ‘classic rock’
20 Sep
Simply Red Gateshead Stadium 25th July 1992
19 Sep
Sutherland Brothers & Quiver 1975 and 1976
Sutherland Brothers & Quiver 1975 and 1976
I was aware of The Sutherland Brothers and Quiver as two separate bands, and saw them both live a few times. I saw The Sutherland Brothers at the Lincoln and Reading festivals in 1972, and Quiver as support for T Rex, and at Sunderland Poly Wearmouth Hall. They were two very different bands. The Sutherland Brothers an acoustic fold duo, who had a great 1972 single “The Pie” and the song “Sailing” which was to become a massive hit when covered by Rod Stewart. Quiver were a folky rock band, led by excellent guitarist Tim Renwick, and did a great version of The Beatles “Saw Her Standing There”.
In late 1972 the two acts joined forces and became Sutherland Brothers and Quiver. This seemed to me to be a strange move at the time, but proved to be very sensible. They released an album “Dream Kid”, and the excellent title track was released as a single, which should have been a hit but sadly didn’t chart. The new band toured constantly; I saw them at the Reading Festival in 1974 and 1976, and at Sunderland Poly Wearmouth Hall on 5th December 1975. 
In 1976 they released “Arms of Mary”, their biggest hit, which reached No. 5 in the UK singles chart. They headlined a major tour at the time, calling at Newcastle City Hall on 26th September 1976. Support came from Moon, a successful pub rock band. The success was to be short lived. Tim Renwick left the group in 1977 and by 1979 the Sutherland Brothers had parted company with Quiver, and returned to recording as a duo. Sutherland Brothers & Quiver were a very under-rated band. The combination of the Sutherland Brothers’ great songs, and the guitar-based rock music of Quiver was a powerful mixture. Their live performances were always excellent, and their music crossed and combined genres including pop, country, rock, reggae and folk. There was so much more to them than their rather middle of the road (MOR) hit “Arms of Mary” might suggest. Perhaps that was the problem; a fine band who were difficult to pigeon hole, and landed a MOR hit, which gave them an audience who didn’t fully appreciate the breadth and depth of their music. That, and the advent of punk, probably sealed their fate. Listen to “The Pie” or “Dream Kid”.
18 Sep
Nick Cave 20,000 Days On Earth Live Link Up Tyneside Cinema 17th Sep 2014
Nick Cave 20,000 Days On Earth Live Link Up Tyneside Cinema 17th Sep 2014
Last night Laura and I went to the Tyneside Cinema to take part in a live link up to London’s Barbican for “20,000 Days On Earth”. Artists Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard have created this film which follows 24 hours of the (approx) 20,000th day of Nick Cave’s life. The film takes an imaginative and in-depth look at the mysterious and charismatic figure of Cave, exploring his life, his art and his creative process. This authentic and compelling movie gives us a glimpse of how Nick Cave approaches writing, work, and music. What you begin to understand is that there is no real distinction between Cave and his art. During the movie, he talks quite a bit about transforming himself by creating his own mythology and narrative, based on characters, thoughts and memories from his life. His life has become a project, which he lives 24/7, and the film gave us a glimpse of a single day in that life. It is set partly in his adopted home town of Brighton, and includes clips of rehearsals with the Bad Seeds in France, Cave’s manic live performance, and visiting his personal archive. Guests including Kylie and Ray Winston pop up briefly to give their own perspectives of Nick. Cave talks about how he lives for the performance and how he believes that, when it works, a live concert can become a truly transformative experience for him, the band and the audience. 
The screening of the film was followed by a live performance by Nick Cave, Warren Ellis and Barry Adamson, plus a Q&A with with those three and directors Forsyth & Pollard, all broadcast live from London’s Barbican centre, and linked to 150 cinemas across the UK. The Tyneside was sold out for this special event, and rightly so. We all left understanding a little more about the enigma that is Nick Cave; you couldn’t fail to be impressed by the passion, intensity and belief with which he approaches his art, and the uncompromising and relentless work ethic of the man.
17 Sep
Sweet Newcastle City Hall 6th March 1981
Sweet Newcastle City Hall 6th March 1981
In 1979 Brian Connolly left Sweet. His alcoholism had become a problem and had started to affect the band’s music and performances. Sweet continued as a trio with Steve Priest and Andy Scott handling lead vocals, and Mick Tucker continuing on drums. Keyboard player Gary Moberley joined the group for live concerts. I saw the three piece Sweet at Newcastle City Hall in March 1981. Sadly the venue was far from full, which was a shame because this was a great show, very loud and rocky. The set was a mis of a few of the hits, and soke of the rockier album tracks. Based on a live recording of the tour rehearsals, it is likely to have been something like this: Ballroom Blitz; Burn On The Flame/Restless; Burning/Some Else Will; Two wont go; It makes me wonder; Hey mama; Love is like oxygen; Fox on the run; Done me wrong alright; Guitar solo; Action; Set Me Free; Drum Solo; Sweet FA
Sweet split at the end of the tour, playing their last gig in Glasgow on 20th March 1981.
In 1983 I saw Brian Connolly supporting Pat Benatar at Newcastle City Hall. At the time Brian was fronting his new band called Connolly’s Encore, which consisted of ex-Argent guitarist John Verity and Terry Uttley, bass player from Smokie. The next time I saw a version of Sweet, was when Brain Connolly’s Sweet played Sunderland Wearmouth Hall in the early 1990s. The line-up was Brian Connolly (lead vocals), Dave Farmer (ex Blackfoot Sue on drums), Gary Farmer (Dave’s younger brother on bass) and Steve Turner (guitar). The hall was packed and Brian and his band played pretty good versions of all the hits to the delight of a very drunk Saturday night student crowd.
In 1985 Andy Scott and Mick Tucker re-formed their own version of Sweet.
Brian Connolly and Mick Tucker both sadly passed away; Connolly in 1997 and Tucker in 2002. Andy Scott continues to front Sweet today; I saw them a couple of years ago at the Sage on a Xmas tour with Slade. Steve Priest fronts his own version of the band, which performs in the USA.
15 Sep
Mungo Jerry @ Darlington Rhythm ‘n’ Blues Festival 14th Sep 2014
Darlington Rhythm ‘n’ Blues Festival, Mungo Jerry 14th Sep 2014
Ray Dorset is Mr Boogie; a one man rhythm machine who has been rockin’ and rollin’ for over 40 years. Yesterday he brought his brand of rhythm ‘n’ blues to Darlington, where his band Mungo Jerry headlined the Darlington Rhythm ‘n’ Blues Festival.
The annual Darlo event takes place in venues across the town, with a main stage in the market square. Previous headliners have included The Pretty Things and Andy Fairweather-Low. The music runs from 1pm until 11pm and is organised in by Darlington Borough Council, Darlington Rhythm n Blues Club and Gasto Promotions.
I arrived in time to catch the Marcus Malone band who were playing some fine blues rock, and warmed the crowd up for the main event. The square was packed; everyone was in good spirits and enjoying the music on a chilly, but dry Sunday afternoon.
Just after 5 o’clock Ray Dorset walked on stage, strapped on his guitar, stamped his foot, and showed us all how he can still command a big crowd at an open air show, 44 years after he stole the show at the Hollywood music festival.
It’s 42 years since I saw Mungo Jerry rock the Friday night of the Reading festival, and I was looking forward to reliving some of the memories of that event and of Mungo gigs in the mid 70s at Sunderland Locarno. Today Mungo Jerry is Ray Dorset (of course, and as it always has been) on guitar, mouth harp and vocals, Jon Playle (bass), Mark David (drums) and Toby Hounsham (keyboards).
The set was a mix of blues, Mungo Jerry hits, and “Feels like I’m in love”, which was written by Ray Dorset and a big hit for Kelly Marie in 1980 (I’d forgotten that he’d written that one).They went down well with the audience in the market square; Ray was as energetic and funny as ever, getting the crowd to join in and sing along, which everyone did, particularly during “In the Summertime”. Great stuff. A good show from a real trouper, and it was great to see that him still rocking.
Setlist: Rock Me Baby, Rolling and Tumbling, Long Legged Woman Dressed in Black, You Don’t Have to be in the Army to Fight in the War, Lady Rose, The blues has got you?, Open up, Feels like I’m in love, In the Summertime.
14 Sep
The Style Council Newcastle City Hall 19th March 1984
The Style Council Newcastle City Hall 19th March 1984
Paul Weller formed the Style Council in 1983, along with his friend and keyboardist Mick Talbot, who was formerly of Dexys Midnight Runners and The Merton Parkas. I saw them perform three times; at this headline concert in Newcastle City Hall in 1984, as part of the Red Wedge tour at the same venue, and at Live Aid in Wembley Stadium in 1985. For me, the Style Council were musically the least successful of Paul Weller’s incarnations, sandwiched between the wonderful Jam, and his later, excellent solo work. By March 1984, and the time of this concert, the Style Council had been in the UK singles charts on four occasions with “Speak Like a Child”, “Money Go Round (Part 1)”, “Long Hot Summer” and “A Solid Bond in Your Heart”. Their single “My Ever Changing Moods” was in the chart at the time, giving them their fifth UK chart success.
The ethic of The Style Council was sound and honourable, aiming to produce perfect blue-eyed soul, tinged with right-on politics and sharp, (sometimes too, and embarrassingly) cool style. “They were socialists, vegetarian, didn’t drink, wore cool rain macs, colourful knitwear, expensive footwear and made some of the most brilliant modernist music ever. They also spoke out against the corrosive issues of the day, even if it meant the threat of commercial suicide” (from the Paul Weller website). For me, musically, well I felt it just didn’t quite work. That was perhaps because I’d enjoyed seeing the Jam so much on several crazy occasions. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this 1984 concert at the City Hall, but I also missed the power and passion of Weller’s previous mod combo. Support came from post punk new mod Scottish hipsters The Questions.
13 Sep
The Slits : Simply Whats Happening; Newcastle City Hall 23rd September 1979
The Slits, Don Cherry & Happy House, Prince Hammer & Creation Rebel: Simply Whats Happening; Newcastle City Hall 23rd September 1979
This was a very adventurous and quite ground breaking tour, which united female punk thrash icons The Slits with legendary innovative jazz trumpeter Don Cherry and Jamaican reggae masters Prince Hammer and Creation Rebel. An early example of punk acting as a platform for world music fusion, this collection of artists toured the major concert halls in the UK, calling at Newcastle City Hall. I’d seen the Slits perform twice before as support for the Clash, and also supporting the Buzzcocks. They had just released their first album “Cut”. Viv Albertine “We knew we were a first, which could be uncomfortable, and we were much more revolutionary than the Pistols and the Clash. They were rock bands, whereas we were using world music and reggae, filtered through our own musicality. We were like a female Spinal Tap, really: we argued, toured and wanted to make a classic album that never dated.” (Interview by Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian, Monday 24 June 2013)
The Slits line-up was the late Ari Up on vocals, guitarist Viv Albertine, Tessa Pollitt on bass and (soon to be Banshee) Budgie on drums. I think Neneh Cherry, Don’s daughter joined them for the tour. Ari Up was a crazy wild front lady, complete with dreads, outlandish outfits and nifty dancing.
From the programme: “This is simply what’s happening…..what’s happening here is real music played by people from three different cultures. Three different musics united by one expression – freedom.
Enjoy yourself, keep room in your head and heart for music from all different cultures and places – we all live under the same sun…” Disc O’Dell
Sadly, with no massive audience draw on the tour, attendance was not great. The Newcastle show was very poorly attended with only a couple of hundred people in a hall which holds 2,400. Pity, because this was an interesting evening with some different and challenging music. The programme (pictured here) is also very different and contains some scribbly doodling artwork and slogans, presumably drawn by one or more of the band.
12 Sep
Sham 69 Sunderland Polytechnic Wearmouth Hall November ? 1978
Sham 69 Sunderland Polytechnic Wearmouth Hall November ? 1978
This was one awesome gig, for many reasons. It was the first time that Sham 69 had played in the North East, and musically, and in terms of popularity, they were riding high. They had hit the UK singles charts three times in 1978 with their brilliant terrace punk anthems “Angels With Dirty Faces”, “If the Kids Are United” and “Hurry Up Harry”. Sham 69 were the only band to rival the Pistols and The Clash in terms of raw punk power, and you didn’t get any more authentic than Jimmy Pursey who wore his punk credentials and his political views well and truly on his sleeve. Unfortunately, Sham had also gained a reputation for violence at their gigs, which often descended into fighting and riots. They attracted a group of right wing skins, although Jimmy’s politics were very much towards the left. And their followers were fanatical, the Sham Army followed them everywhere, up and down the country. Add to this the fact that this was a students only gig, and you just knew that there was going to be trouble.
When we arrived we ran the gauntlet of a group of punks and skins who couldn’t get in, were pretty unhappy and ready for a fight. Inside; the hall was far from full, the audience consisting of a mix of students, local rock fans, a few punks and skins who had somehow managed to blag their way in, and a heavy travelling contingent from the Sham Army.
Jimmy and Sham were brilliant, but there were fights throughout the night both inside and outside the hall. Lots of singalongs with skins jumping on stage and Jimmy sharing the mike with them. Great songs like “What Have We Got” (F**k All!) and “Borstal Breakout”. Everyone belted out “If Kids Are United”. Loads of beer flying about. Jimmy pleading with people to stop fighting, almost in tears. Electricity in the air; generated by the raw power of the punk music, and the danger and tension of the event. Amazing, happy days.
“What have we got? (Jimmy)
F**k All (Audience)
What have we got? (Jimmy)
F**k All (Audience)
They’ve taken everything
There’ll soon be nothing left
Soon we’ll be walking the street
With nothing on our feet
What have we got
What have we got
I’d like to buy a shotgun
Shooting MPs conservatives, communists
They’re all the bleeding same”
(What have we got, Sham 69, 1978)
11 Sep
Stealers Wheel Sunderland Polytechnic Wearmouth Hall 1973?
Stealers Wheel Sunderland Polytechnic Wearmouth Hall 1973?
Stealers Wheel are, of course, best remembered as the short lived folk rock act who featured the late, great and sadly missed, Gerry Rafferty and for the song “Stuck in the Middle with You” which hit the charts in 1973, and was featured as part of the soundtrack of the film “Reservoir Dogs”. The film brought the band back into the public eye, and introduced a new set of fans to their music. But there was much more to Stealers Wheel. They released three fine albums, and Rafferty’s fellow front man and old school friend Joe Egan was also an excellent song writer, with a deep soulful voice. Former Spooky Tooth-er, and soon to be Mott the Hoople-er, Luther Grosvenor (aka Ariel Bender) was also a member of the band for a short period during 1972 to 1973.
I saw Stealers Wheel live once when they played at Sunderland Poly Wearmouth Hall. It was around the time that “Stuck in the Middle with You” was in the charts, and the place was completely full, ram packed to the walls. I can’t be sure of the line-up at the time; I think it may have been during the period when Gerry Rafferty had left the band, and Joe Egan took over the role of front man and lead vocalist. I also think that Luther Grosvenor was in the band at the time. Stealers Wheel were nothing like I expected. They were much more a rock band, with very soulful, raucous vocals from Joe Egan, quite funky, and very LOUD. I remember having to leave the hall on a couple of occasions just to talk to mates, and because it was so loud, so packed and so hot. A great, under rated band, who deserve more recognition than they often receive.
10 Sep
Steeleye Span Middlesbrough Town Hall 22nd August 1977
Steeleye Span Middlesbrough Town Hall 22nd August 1977
Steeleye Span brought in producer Mike Batt (best known for his work with the Wombles) to work on their eighth album “All Around My Hat”. The single release of the title track reached number 5 in the UK Charts in late 1975, giving them their biggest chart success.
The next time I saw Steeleye Span was at Middlesbrough Town Hall on 22nd August 1977. The Town Hall was packed, and my mate and I had seats right down the front, in the second row. My enduring memories of the gig are of two things. The first is just how rocky the band had become. Of course they played “All Around My Hat”, which is actually a rock’n’roll song, but I was surprised how many of the other songs had an electric boogie rhythm. They even did a great version of Buddy Holly’s “Rave On”. And the second memory is of Maddy dancing. She was wearing a long, pure white skirt which swirled around as she danced and twirled. She danced across the stage, and down into the audience, up one aisle, across the back of the hall and back down the other aisle. That night Maddy was our English maid, with the voice of our green and pleasant land, and dancing the morris dance for us all. A great concert, and the best time I saw Steeleye Span.
The line-up of the band at the time was: Tim Hart (guitars, vocals), Maddy Prior (vocals and dance), Rick Kemp (bass, vocals), Nigel Pegrum (drums, percussion), the return of Martin Carthy (guitars, vocals) and John Kirkpatrick (accordion, vocals)
“Doesn’t it move you just a little bit?
And if you watch I think the chance is
That it will lift your heart a little bit
Ooh, well I mean, when Maddy dances
Ooh, well I mean, when Maddy dances”
(When Maddy Dances, by Ralph McTell)
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