Sex Gang Children Dingwalls Newcastle 1983?
Sex Gang Children were an early goth, post-punk band that formed in the early 80s, and were one of the more well-known bands of the “Batcave” scene. The “Batcave” was a night club in London at the time, which is often credited with being one of the places out of which “goth” grew. Sex Gang Children were fronted by Andi Sex Gang on vocals. I remember them as a very dark (of course) band, with dramatic songs, heavy bass and tribal drumming. This gig was probably in 1983, around the time that Sex Gang Children released their only studio album “Song and Legend” which made the top of the UK Indie Chart and contained the single “Sebastiane”.
Their setlist of the time was something like this: Cannibal Queen; German Nun; State of Mind; Draconian Dream; Beasts; Kill Machine; Killer ‘K’; Dieche; Oh Funny Man; Sebastiane; Song and Legend. Encore: The Crack Up
Posts Tagged ‘classic rock’
16 Jun
Sex Gang Children Dingwalls Newcastle 1983?
15 Jun
Magna Carta Burnsall Village Hall 14th June 2014
Magna Carta Burnsall Village Hall 14th June 2014 The Grassington Festival 
Magna Carta one of a few bands that I’d promised myself I would try and see again if I ever gotthe chance. I think (but I can never be certain these days) that I saw Magna Carta somewhere sometime in the early 70s. One thing I am certain of was that I first saw them on TV in 1970 or 1971, playing on the Old Grey Whistle Test, or it may have been its predecessor Disco 2. They played a simply stunning version of “Airport Song” with spellbinding vocals from Glen Stuart. I remember talking about it with mates at school the next day, and we were all impressed by them. Three things stuck out which marked that performance for me. The first was the amazing bush of hair which circled Glen’s face. The second was the purity, clarity and high pitch of his vocals (he apparently had a five octave range). And the third was the perfect harmonies between Glen and Chris. Actually, thinking about it, there was a fourth aspect of the performance that I must mention; the exquisite guitar work of Davey Johnstone (he would shortly leave to join Elton John’s band). Today Magna Carta are (as they always were) led by founder and main songwriter, and great dalesman, Chris Simpson. From Chris’ bio on the Magna Carta site: “Chris grew up in the Yorkshire Dales, in a 16th century stone house lit by candles where, in the words of his song Wild Horses: “No T.V. or electric light And the darkness fell like a Winter’s night Silence was a friend you did not question…” He is a true Dalesman. His influences are an eclectic mix of Steinbeck, Dickens, Buchan and Hemingway together with Elvis, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee and Chuck Berry.” The current Magna Carta band also features Laurens Joensen (an excellent guitarist, mandolinist and multi-instrumentalist from Amsterdam), John Shepard (drums), Wendy Ross (classically trained award-winning violinist), Will Stockbridge, the 17 year old son of Chris’ friend Nigel the guitar technician from Richmond on bass (Nigel restored an old bass for me some years ago), and Chris’ old friend and great joker Doug Morter (who was originally in Magna Carta in the ’80s). This concert was both a reunion and (another) farewell, and was part of the annual Grassington festival. Magna Carta and Chris Simpson have a long standing connection with the Grassington festival. Chris used to live in Grassington and he has played the festival on a number of occasions, and Magna Carta recorded an album there. Burnsall is a tiny village in the Dales. To get there I had a pleasant drive across North Yorshire, passing through Ripon and Pately Bridge on the way, and then negotiating some single track roads as I got closer to the village.
The Village Hall was easy to find; I saw a string of cars parked and figured that I was getting close. The place was already full when I arrived, the concert had been sold out for weeks. Chris told us that people had travelled from Hull, Canada and Borneo (!) for the concert. A big picture of their bass player Lee Abbott, who sadly passed away in 2012, was displayed on the wall down at the front of the small hall. The concert started at 8pm and Magna Carat played until after 11pm with a short 30 minute break. The set consisted of songs from throughout their career, including a number from “Lord of the Ages”. One of the highlights was the first UK (and home coming) performance of new song “Fields of Eden” which tells the story of the dales and features a great narrative from Andrew Jackson who has a deep rich voice, and came up onto the stage to joined the band for that song. The closing song was, of course, “Airport Song”. A pleasant evening spent with some fine musicians, great songs, deep in the heartland of the place where Chris and the songs grew. It was a privilege to see him play them back where they belong. Bought a great book, “The Complete Works of Magna Carta” at the concert; a bargain at £5 🙂
14 Jun
Split Enz Redcar Coatham Bowl September 1976
Split Enz Redcar Coatham Bowl September 1976
Split Enz were one of the most successful New Zealand musical acts of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the forerunner of Crowded House, in that the band featured Tim Finn and later Neil Finn, along with Phil Judd. I saw them only the once, at a gig at Redcar Coatham Bowl which took place in September or October 1976. Split Enz were on tour in the UK as support act for Lindisfarne spin-off Jack The Lad, however for some reason Jack The Lad couldn’t make this gig (I think one of the band was ill) so the gig went ahead with Split Enz headlining. A group of us went down to Redcar for the gig, as e often did on Sunday nights in the mid to late 70s. When we got there we were told that Jack The Lad wouldn’t be appearing but we chose to go into the gig anyway, as we were interested to see what Split Enz were link, having read about them in the music press.
These guys were quite weird with a very theatrical show, and heavy use of make-up. Their music was also quite unique; quite arty with lots of jerky melodies with hints of prog and pop. You could see influences from vaudeville, new wave in their music and the show.
“Split Enz is a strange band. They walk out on stage like a collection of clockwork scarecrows and their music is like a beserk mechanism. There are six musicians, a spoon player cum dancer and a sound effects guy. And everyone of ’em follows their own line of idiosyncratic action. Rhythms and melodies bounce off each other, collide, join hands, change partners – the show just about always teeters on the edge of total anarchy – and sometimes it falls off altogether.” (Anthony O’Grady, Rock Australia, 1975).
Split Enz had just released their second album “Second Thoughts” which was recorded in London with Roxy Music’s guitarist Phil Manzanera as producer. This was a follow up to the album “Mental Notes”, and four of the songs were reworked versions of songs from that debut album. Their set in 1976 will have been drawn from those two early albums. Split Enz hit the UK singles chart a few years later when “I Got You” made No. 12 in 1980.
13 Jun
The Stranglers Sunderland Manor Quay 27th August 2005
The Stranglers Sunderland Manor Quay 27th August 2005
The next time I saw The Stranglers was in 2005 at a gig at Sunderland Manor Quay, which at the time, belonged to the Students’ Union of University of Sunderland, although this was not a student gig. It was 20 years since I had last seen The Stranglers in concert, and 25 years since the band last played in Sunderland. This was quite an event for the city, and a home-coming for local guitarist Baz Warne who joined The Stranglers in 2000, so come the night the venue was packed with punks and rock fans, young and old. The Manor Quay has a long history of music. I first started going to see bands there in the 70s when it was the Boilermakers Workingmen’s Club, and recall seeing Son Of A Bitch there, who became Saxon. The club then became the Barbary Coast nightclub, and in the 80s I saw Screaming Lord Sutch, Bo Diddley and Lords of the New Church play there. Anyway; back to The Stranglers. It was great to see them live again, and the concert brought back loads of memories of happy days. Their set included many of the old classics, lots of which had been dropped from their live show when I last saw them perform back in the 80s. There was, of course, much beer bring thrown around, and lots of pushing and shoving on the dance floor, but all in good spirit. I took David, who also enjoyed it. Support came from local band The Golden Virgins.
The line-up of the band at the time was Jean-Jacques Burnel, Jet Black, Dave Greenfield, “new” singer Paul Roberts (who had actually been in the band 15 years by this time) and local lad Baz Warne on guitar. The Stranglers released their 15th studio album, Norfolk Coast, the year before and the set included quite a few songs from that album. Singer Paul Roberts left the band shortly afterwards, and Baz Warne took up vocal duties.
I’ve seen The Stranglers once since then, at Glastonbury a few years ago.
12 Jun
The Stranglers Newcastle City Hall 12th Feb 1983 and 18th Feb 1985
The Stranglers Newcastle City Hall 1983 and 1985
The Stranglers were back at the City Hall again in 1983 for the “Feline” tour and in 1985 for the “Aural Sculpture” tour.
“Feline” was the Sranglers’ seventh album and was released in January 1983. It did better than their previous album, “La Folie”, reaching No. 4 in the UK Albums Chart. “Feline” produced three singles, the best known of which is “European Female” which reached No. 9 in the UK singles chart in January 1983.
“Aural Sculpture” was the Stranglers eighth album and reached No. 14 in the UK album chart in November 1984. Three singles were released from the album: “Skin Deep” (No. 15 in the UK Singles Chart), “No Mercy” (No. 37) and “Let Me Down Easy” (No. 48).
Although I still enjoyed both of these gigs, the material that they played live was becoming less and less familiar, and I must admit to finding some of the newer songs quite hard going at times. I particularly remember wondering whether to go to the 1985 concert at all, and deciding to do so at the last minute for “old times sake” and partly out of curiosity. I went along late and paid at the door, and found the City Hall far from full; a very different scenario to Stranglers gigs in the late 70s and early 80s. I remember being quite surprised to find the band accompanied by a brass section (now come on, what’s all about? Punk and brass?!). I was also intrigued by the large ear backdrop hanging behind the band.
Here is one guy’s memory which I found as part of a review of the “Aural Sculpture” album: “I remember going to the “Aural Sculpture” tour at the Preston Guild Hall… What was different was the addition of a brass section in the top left hand corner of the stage. When I bought the “Aural Sculpture” LP it came with a free single it was a long poem which ended with Hugh declaring “now i give you aural sculpture” [the single actually came free with the “Feline” lp. 
It is called the “Aural Sculpture Manifesto” and it was played before The Stranglers appeared on stage during concerts on both the 1983 “Feline” Tour and the 1985 “Aural Sculpture” Tour]…….I remember Hugh was wearing a long black leather coat and shades; all black of course.”
I must admit that I was beginning to lose faith in the band at this time, as I I did with many other bands of the period. Looking back I regret giving up on going to see many of those bands. At the time I was just getting tired of hearing a band play “the new album”; I wanted to hear the old songs…I know, perhaps I should have invested more time in listening to new material from those bands, but the truth was in many cases the new stuff just didn’t cut he mustard compared to the songs which made the band famous in the first place. 
Many of the bands from those days are now back, reformed (or in some cases, including the Stranglers, they never went away), playing again, usually with a slightly different line-up. In all cases they are now returning to their back catalogue and playing the old classic songs again.
For me the Stranglers were at their peak in those early days of punk, playing those classic singles and tracks from their first couple of albums. There was a craziness, an air of danger, and an excitement about those gigs, which can never be recreated. The Stranglers were never the coolest of bands, and they were never fully accepted by the punk community, or the much press, in the same way the Pistols or the Clash were, but they had great tunes, throbbing bass, swirling organ, and an attitude about them that you just couldn’t ignore. And their legacy is an amazing number of excellent songs and many, many hit singles and albums over a long career which is still going continuing.
Happy days.
A few years after the 1985 tour Hugh Cornwell left the band, and it was around 20 years until I went to see them again in concert. I’ll write about that gig tomorrow.
11 Jun
The Stranglers Newcastle Mayfair 26th Feb 1981 & Newcastle City Hall 24th Nov 1981
The Stranglers Newcastle Mayfair 26th Feb 1981 & Newcastle City Hall 24th Nov 1981
Before I start today’s post; I just remembered that I also saw The Stranglers as one of the support acts for The Who at Wembley Stadium in 1979. Now, looking back, that was some line-up: The Who, The Stranglers, AC/DC and Nils Lofgren. I must write a full account of that gig when I come to covering The Who. Today I’m reflecting on The Stranglers in 1981.
1981 was another busy year for the band, releasing two studio albums, and touring in support of each. Their popularity was, however, starting to wane a little in the UK, and their three single releases of 1981 (“Thrown Away”, “Just Like Nothing on Earth”, “Let Me Introduce You to the Family”) only made the lower regions of the chart. Indeed, I can’t remember any of those singles at all. But as a live concert attraction The Stranglers remained a big draw, attracting punks and rock fans alike to their gigs.
The Stranglers first album release of the year was “The Gospel According to The Meninblack”, a concept album which explores the conspiracy theories around alien visitations to Earth and the sinister Men in Black, who appear in many biblical stories. This was a very different sort of album from their early punkier releases, and quite a brave move. Hugh Cornwell said of the album in a recent interview (SmellsLikePop, 2011) “I was sitting around Jet Black’s house and he was obsessed with UFOs……I thought that we could do a whole album about stuff they were writing in those books [referring to UFO books]…we all started getting into it. Jet didn’t realize that anyone would be interested in this weird stuff.” “The Gospel According to The Meninblack” made No 8 in the UK album chart, and the Stranglers went out on tour to promote the album. I saw their concert at Newcastle Mayfair on 26th February 1981. Phil Coxon attended every night of the early 1981 UK tour and says of the Mayfair gig: “The venue is in the nightclub style, have a look round and decide to treat myself to a Kentucky. Go back to the venue to see Modern Eon. [Aha so thats who the support was]. There’s a bit of hostility towards them tonight, the first time I’ve witnessed any so far. Their roadie quickly makes his way to the culprits and, even though he was outnumbered, he soon shut them up. Another good night from both bands with another lively crowd. The band coming on to Waltzinblack works a treat. Even though they have totally omitted anything from Rattus or Heroes, it’s still a great set and all the crowds seem to approve.” (From lair.thestranglers.net).
But one album wasn’t enough for the men in black in 1981. In November of that year they released “La Folie”, which was yet another change in style. This time the band consciously set out to make a much more accessible, commercial pop album, and worked with producer Tony Visconti, who helped them to achieve it. “La Folie” is French for “Madness”, and the theme of each song was “The Madness of Love”. The album contained the song “Golden Brown” which was released as a single in January 1982, reaching No. 2 in the UK chart. “Golden Brown” took the bands career in a different direction, and returned them to commercial success.
The Stranglers toured again in late 1981 and early 1982 in support of “La Folie”. The tour saw them returning to the City hall for the first time in four years to play a concert on 24th November 1981, which I attended. Live the Stranglers continued to put on great concerts, although I must admit I wasn’t familiar with the new songs, and missed some of the early classics like “London Lady”, “Grip” and “Hanging Around”.
Setlist from Newcastle City Hall 24th November 1981: Non Stop; Threatened; Just Like Nothing on Earth; Second Coming; The Man They Love to Hate; MeninBlack; Who Wants the World?; Baroque Bordello; Golden Brown; Tramp;Thrown Away; Tank; I Feel Like a Wog; Let Me Introduce You to the Family; Nuclear Device (The Wizard of Aus); Genetix. Encore: Bring on the Nubiles; Duchess; The Raven
10 Jun
The Stranglers Sunderland Mayfair 17 July 1980
The Stranglers Sunderland Mayfair 17 July 1980
The Stranglers were persona non grata in Newcastle after a riotous gig at the City Hall in 1977. It was almost three years before they appeared in the North East again, this time at Sunderland Mayfair (aka The Mecca or, previously, the Locarno). A lot had changed in the intervening years. By 1980 The Stranglers had released four albums, the latest being “The Raven”, and had 10 singles in the UK singles charts, including top twenty hits with “Something Better Change”, “No More Heroes”, “5 Minutes”, “Nice ‘n’ Sleazy”, and “Duchess”. Disaster also struck for the band in 1980 when Cornwell was arrested and convicted for drug use and sent to prison for three months in Pentonville.
This tour was to promote “The Raven”. I remember the Sunderland show as a good gig, but also being a little disappointed that many of the early songs had been dropped in favour of more recent tunes. A young Baz Warne was apparently in the audience that night. He would, of course, join the band some 20 years later. The programme from the show folds out to make a large poster of the band.
Based on setlists from that period the concert is likely to have gone something like this: Shah Shah A Go Go, Ice, Four Horsemen, Toiler On The Sea, Duchess, Thrown Away, Hanging Around, Hallow To Our Men, Waiting For The Meninblack, Down In The Sewer, Who Wants The World, Princess Of The Street, Just Like Nothing on Earth, Tank, Nuclear Device, Genetix, Baroque Bordello, The Raven
“Duch of the terrace never grew up
I hope she never will
Says she’s an heiress sits in her terrace
Says she’s got time to kill
Time to kill
And the Rodneys are queuing up
God forbid
And they all want to win the cup
God forbid” (Duchess, The Stranglers, 1979)
9 Jun
The Stranglers Newcastle City Hall 12th October 1977
The Stranglers Newcastle City Hall 12th October 1977
I have already written about the first couple of times I saw the Stranglers in concert which was at gigs in early 1977 at Newcastle Poly and the City Hall. Well it wasn’t long before they were again, once more headlining at Newcastle City Hall. I think that support on this occasion came from local punk heroes Penetration (or maybe that was the City Hall gig earlier in the year); it is all, I am afraid, a bit of a blur…. I saw the Stranglers quite a few times over the next 7 or 8 years and I’ll blog a little about those gigs over the next few days. The Stranglers live was always guaranteed to be wild, with the crowd going absolutely mental, goaded on by Hugh Cornwell and Jean-Jacques Burnel. By late ![_DSC3097 [LR]](https://myvintagerock.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/dsc3097-lr.jpg?w=159&h=241)
1977 the Stranglers had just released their second album “No More Heroes” and were massively successful with punks and rock fans. These were one band which seemed to be able to bridge the two camps, and thus drew massive crowds to their concerts. They were in the UK singles charts 4 times in 1977, first with “Grip”/”London Lady”, which was a minor hit early in the year reaching No 44, then with “Peaches”/”Go Buddy Go”, which made No 8, “Something Better Change”/”Straighten Out” which reached No 9, and their final hit of 1977 “No More Heroes” which got to No 8.
The October 1977 concert was a pretty wild gig with some trouble as I recall, Hugh and Jean-Jacques arguing with the bouncers (I think Jean-Jacques may have tried to kick one of them at one point), and Hugh encouraging the crowd to push their way past the bouncers and climb up on stage. By the end of the gig the stage was completely full of pogoing fans surrounding the band. All of this resulted in the Stranglers not being welcome in the City Hall for some time. Indeed the next few Stranglers tours missed out the North East completely, and it was 1980 before they returned to the region for a gig at Sunderland Mayfair, which I will write about tomorrow. I believe one of the band (either Jet Black or Jean-Jacques Burnel, depending upon which report you read) was arrested after the 1977 Newcastle gig. But then the band were used to ![_DSC3130b [CROP][LR]](https://myvintagerock.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/dsc3130b-croplr.jpg?w=220&h=297)
controversy at the time, not least because of their very non-PC songs and lyrics and their attitude towards the press. I would always buy a copy of “Strangled” magazine at each gig, as these were often on sale in place of a programme. This was a regular fanzine type mag; one of my early copies is pictured here. Based on setlists at the time the Stranglers set will have been something like this: No More Heroes; Ugly; Bring on the Nubiles; Dead Ringer; Sometimes; Dagenham Dave; Goodbye Toulouse; Hanging Around; Five Minutes; Bitching; Burning Up Time; I Feel Like a Wog; Straighten Out; Something Better Change. Encore: London Lady; Peaches; (Get A) Grip (On Yourself); Go Buddy Go
Updated 13th of June 2020. Pictures of Hugh Cornwall of the Stranglers and Pauline and Rob of Penetration added. Many thanks to Mark for providing the pictures of the gig!
8 Jun
Pulp: Life, Death and Supermarkets (with live Q and A from Sheffield City Hall) Tyneside Cinema 6th June 2014
Pulp: Life, Death and Supermarkets (with live Q and A from Sheffield City Hall) Tyneside Cinema 6th June 2014
Things weren’t looking too good for Pulp back in 1988. After a disastrous farewell show, they packed their bags and relocated to London from Sheffield. Some 25 years and 10 million album sales later, the band returned home for an emotional farewell show. Rather than making a conventional concert movie, award-winning film-maker Florian Habicht uses this momentous occasion as his backdrop for a more intimate documentary. Setting up a series of artfully arranged tableaux, he presents a fascinating exploration of the close and enduring relationship between Pulp and the “common people” of Sheffield. At this charming and insightful film’s centre is the band’s charismatic, endlessly quotable lyricist and frontman Jarvis Cocker. (From the publicity for the film).
Starring Jarvis Cocker, Mark Webber, Candida Doyle, Nick Banks, Steve Mackey and the people of Sheffield. Directed by Florian Habicht.
‘Florian Habicht’s concert movie follows Jarvis Cocker and his bandmates as they prepare to mark their 25th anniversary as Britpop royalty with a concert in their native Sheffield. Songs will be sung, stories will be told, and pies will be eaten, because the only way to fully understand Pulp is to hang out in the town that birthed the band. “Sing along with the common people” isn’t just a lyric – it’s a mission statement.’ (NowToronto.com). “Fittingly, Florian Habicht’s affectionate documentary tells the story of the band from the streets of Sheffield with the help of friends, family and fans, aged and youthful alike (one wears a T-shirt proclaiming: “I am a common person so **** you”), all of whom have their own stories to tell.” (The Guardian)
The UK release was last night, 6th June 2014, and the Sheffield premiere, with the band, local stars and filmmakers in attendance was broadcast live to 90 cinemas across the UK from Sheffield City Hall. Laura and I went to the screening at the Tyneside Cinema.
The event started with a live feed from outside Sheffield City Hall, a choir of Yorkshire ladies singing “Common People” on the steps of the Hall, and the audience mingling and making their way to their seats. Soon we see Jarvis and the rest of Pulp arrive. The screen at Sheffield lists the towns and cities to which the film is being beamed out, each one followed by a little Jarvis joke, some rhyming…”Doncaster….Clap faster….Tyneside….You shall have a fishy….” (lots of cheers from our home crowd). The film is introduced by Director Florian who brings Liberty, a young Sheffield girl who features in the movie as one of the “stars” from the people of Sheffield, up on stage to say a few words.
The film itself centres around the farewell 2012 Pulp gig at Sheffield Arena, the day of the gig and, most of all, the people of Sheffield. There are clips from the concert, but not many in comparison with other concert films. Most of the time we are taken around Sheffield, meeting the people and talking about their personal connections with Pulp. A group of older people sing a lovely rendition of “Help The Aged”. Jarvis, and each band member, talk a little about themselves, their connection with Sheffield and the importance of holding their last gig there for the people they grew up with. A paperseller outside the market tells us why he likes Pulp. Liberty listens to “Disco 2000″in her garden.
This works well, and paints a picture of a band returning to, reflecting on, and respecting their roots.
After the film, Paul Morley hosted a live Q & A session with the band, and Florian, talking largely about the movie, the concept behind it, and how it came about. At one point, Javis asks everyone in the audience who features in the movie, to stand up. Almost half the crowd in the City Hall do so.
4 Jun
The Skids Middlesbrough Rock Garden and Newcastle City Hall 1979
The Skids Middlesbrough Rock Garden and Newcastle City Hall 1979
The Skids were an amazing live act, much better in my view, than the late Stuart Adamson’s later and much more successful band, Big Country. The Skids had all the uplifting guitar anthems of Adamson, with some tinges of Scottish folk, coupled with the power of punk and the charismatic front man and vocalist Richard Jobson. The rest of the line-up of the original Skids was William Simpson on bass and Thomas Kellichan on drums. I first saw them on 24th March 1979 at a crazy, wild gig at Middlesbrough Rock Garden.
The Skids were high in the charts at the time with the anthemic “Into the Valley” and were incredibly popular, much too popular for the tiny Rock Garden. I figured I needed to buy tickets for this gig, something I didn’t usually do, so drove down to Middlesbrough and got a couple for me and my mate Dave. We drove down for the gig, stopping off for a drink in a pub near Billingham, where we ran into some mates. The conversation went something like this: Me: “Funny seeing you down here. Where you going?” Friends: “We were going to see the Skids at the Rock Garden in Middlesbrough, but its sold out and we were turned away, so we are on our way back home”. Me: “Yes we are going, but we have tickets”. Friends: ” I doubt you will get in, even with tickets. It is rammed packed and they physically can’t get any more people in there. There are fights at the door and the police have arrived and are turning everyone away”. Me: “Wow. Lets drink up and get down there”. Which we did. Our mates were correct. There was pandemonium at the door, and the bouncers first reaction was to say “No chance, not even with tickets”. However after a bit of persuasion they allowed us to push our way in. We could hardly get into the venue, it was completely crammed so that no-one could move. 
They kept the doors at the front, and the fire doors at the back, open to let some air in; it was so hot in there. The open doors were also useful so that the bouncers could throw people out, when fights broke out, and there were lots of those. This was one of those nights where I feared for my life; it was so full, so edgy, pretty dangerous. I think the support was local Borough punk band No Way. Anyway, the Skids came on and the place went totally wild, crazy, punks pogoing, beer everywhere, glasses being thrown about, fights down front. A room full of punks singing along to “Into the Valley” and “The Saints are Coming”. Incredible. I wish I could have bottled nights like that. From then on, we were Skids fans and saw them a couple of more times in the brief career.
The next time was, according to my ticket, at a concert on 12 June 1979 at Newcastle City Hall. However, the Skids gigography lists no such gig, but does list a Skids gig at the City Hall on 29 October 1979. And my programme also lists the gig as being on 29 October 1979. Another mystery for my fading memory. Was the gig perhaps rescheduled? Did they play in both June and October? And if so, where is my ticket for the October gig? Who knows. I have stopped thinking too much about such puzzles; it drives me crazy if I do. My ticket shows local art-rock band Punishment of Luxury as support along with a band called The Edge. I don’t know who The Edge were, but looking at the Skids gig list they supported them a lot of times. By the time of this gig Alistair Moore was on keyboards and Rusty Egan (ex-Rich Kids) had joined on drums. What I do remember was another packed wild, uplifting gig.
I saw the Skids once more and will blog on that gig tomorrow.
Update. Thanks to Mitch for solving my puzzle. The Skids did indeed play Newcastle in June and October 1979. I must have been at both gigs. Mitch has provided the set lists below:
The Skids set list at Newcastle June 1979: The Saints Are Coming, Six Times, Out Of Town, Scale, Scared To Dance, Charles, Melancholy Soldiers, Integral Plot, All The Young Dudes, Of One Skin, Sweet Suburbia, Masquerade, Night And Day, Into The Valley. Encores: Reasons, Masquerade, TV Stars, Of One Skin, Into The Valley.
October 1979 set: Animation, Out Of Town, Melancholy Soldiers, Working For The Yankee Dollar, Dulce Et Decorum Est, Masquerade, The Olympian, Pros And Cons, Scared To Dance, The Saints Are Coming, Thanatos, Home Of The Saved, Charade, Into The Valley. Encores: Charles, Of One Skin, All The Young Dudes, Masquerade.
And how could I forget TV Stars which was the B side of Into the Valley and one of the highlights of their shows at the time, and often the start of great singalongs in the Rock Garden.
“Ena Sharples
David Hunter
Meg Mortimer
Stanley Ogden
ALBERT TATLOCK
ALBERT TATLOCK” (TV Stars, The Skids, 1979)
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