Posts Tagged ‘classic rock’
28
Apr
Posted by vintagerock in Madness, The Specials. Tagged: classic rock, concert, concerts, gig, gigs, music, new wave, punk, reggae, rock, rock n roll, ska. 1 comment
The Specials Newcastle Mayfair 9th November 1979 18th September 1980
In Autumn 1979 The Specials released their debut album, entitled simply ‘Specials’ and a 40 date ‘2 Tone Tour’ of the country began featuring The Specials, Madness and The Selecter. The tour ended at Newcastle Mayfair on 9th November 1979 and played to a packed house. The music was great, marred by some fighting in the crowd. From a review of the time: “Madness and The Selecter join The Specials for an all band finale of Skinhead Moonstomp which had become a tradition of the tour. A horde of fans invaded the stage and cause chaos. Which has by now become a tradition of the tour.” All three bands played excellent sets that night and bootleg recordings exist of the Specials and Madness from the concert.
Specials setlist: (Dawning of a) New Era; Do the Dog; It’s Up to You; Monkey Man; Rat Race; Blank Expression; Rude Boys Outa Jail; Concrete Jungle; Too Hot; Doesn’t Make It Alright; Stupid Marriage; Too Much Too Young; The Guns of Navarone; Little Bitch; A Message to You, Rudy; Nite Klub; Gangsters; Longshot Kick De Bucket; Skinhead Moonstomp; You’re Wondering Now
The Specials were back at the Mayfair for an equally crazy show in 1980. Support came from The Swinging Cats. Jerry Dammers talking about crowd stage invasions at the time: “At first it was a great laugh – we’re all in this together, there’s no stars here. Then people were getting on-stage two numbers into the set. It became tedious and dangerous, but you couldn’t stop it. One gig we told the audience it was too dangerous and they wouldn’t have it and it ended up in a massive ruck with the bouncers.”
Update 27 December 2021. Many thanks to Jimmy Burns (a.k.a. Punk Hoarder) who kindly provided me with an image of the poster for the second gig. Another crazy, crazy night. People were trying to climb on stage and sing and dance with the band. This caused lots of fun, but also numerous interruptions in the show. The Specials were really on top form in those days and a great live band who went on to have some very special (no pun intended) chart hits. I wish I could relive the punk era and go to some of those concerts again. I also wish I had taken a camera. But at least I was there to experience it and still hold (some of) my memories. Happy days!
27
Apr
Posted by vintagerock in The Shadows. Tagged: classic rock, concert, concerts, gig, gigs, music, pop, rock, rock n roll. 4 comments
The Shadows 20 Golden Dates tour Newcastle City Hall 10th May 1977
The Shadows reformed in 1977 and went out on the road to promote their 20 Golden Great album. The album was a massive success, staying in the UK charts for 43 weeks, and holding the number 1 position for 6 weeks. The tour fared similarly, with all date sold-out. The Shadows line-up for the tour was originals Hank Marvin (lead guitar), Bruce Welch (rhythm guitar), Brian Bennett (drums), accompanied by Alan Jones (bass), and Francis Monkman (of Curved Ait, and later of Kay, keyboards). Hank Marvin was one of my guitar heroes when I was a kid. I spent hours trying to learn to play “Apache”, “Dance On” and “Foot Tapper”. There really isn’t another player like him. The concert was a celebration of an amazing body of music, and stuck pretty faithfully to the tracks on the 20 Golden Greats album. The Shadows were just as you would expect, clean-cut and 100% professional with the same choreographed moves and guitar swings that we all saw and loved on TV in the ’60s. 
Hank’s playing was excellent, note perfect, with every twang and vibrato of the tremelo arm of his Strat exactly as it was on those old singles. Simple perfection, amazing to see and just great fun. Happy days.
Setlist: Shazam, Kon-Tiki, Marmaduke, Atlantis, Don’t Throw It All Away, Please Don’t Tease, Summer Holiday, The Day I Met Marie, Bachelor Boy, I Could Easily Fall In Love With You, In The Country, Apache, Foot Tapper.
INTERVAL
The Rise And Fall Of Flingel Bunt, Dance On, Nivram, Walk Don’t Run, Don’t Make My Baby Blue, Theme For Young Lovers, The Frightened City, Peace Pipe, The Savage, Little B, Sleepwalk, Let Me Be The One, Wonderful Land.
Encore: FBI.
26
Apr
Posted by vintagerock in Randy California, Spirit. Tagged: classic rock, concert, concerts, gig, gigs, heavy rock, music, psych, R&B, rock, rock n roll. 2 comments
Spirit Reading Festival August 1978 and Newcastle Mayfair 31st July 1981
My first memories of Spirit are of hearing the track “Fresh Garbage” on the excellent 1968 CBS sample lp “The Rock Machine Turns You On”. The song is quite strange with a psychedelic feel to inn, and some disconcerting changes of tempo. The next time I ran into the band was when I saw them live at Reading Festival in 1978. By this time Spirit were a three-piece featuring front man Randy California on (amazing) guitar, vocals and Moog, Ed Cassidy on drums and Larry “Fuzzy” Knight on bass. California was an awesome guitarist and a big Hendrix fan, and the set comprised a few Hendrix covers (“Hey Joe”, “All Along the Watchtower” and “Wild Thing”) along with some Spirit classics (“Mr Skin”, “Nature’s Way”). Ed Cassidy was a power house drummer, and was also Randy’s step-father. He was much older than the other two guys, and will have been 55 at the time of the Reading gig. Spirit played between Lindisfarne and The Motors, on the early Saturday evening. Status Quo headlined the Saturday night, playing after The Motors. Spirit played a storming set, and got a good reaction from the crowd.
Setlist from Reading: Hey Joe; Looking Down; Animal Zoo; Mr Skin; All Along The Watchtower; Wild Thing; Nature’s Way; Like A Rolling Stone; My imagination.
I saw Spirit once more, at a gig at Newcastle Mayfair in 1981. I think I also saw Randy California supporting Ian Gillan at the Mayfair in 1979. The 1981 tour was to promote the Potato Land album. The album, whose full title is “The Adventures of Kaptain Kopter & Commander Cassidy in Potato Land” (I assume Randy California ia Kaptain Kopter), was originally recorded by Randy California and Ed Cassidy during 1973/74. A concept album, interspersed with dialogue, it was not released until 1981 through Line Records. The line-up of the band at the Mayfair was California, Cassidy, Liberty on bass and George Valuck on keyboards. 
The ballroom was half-full, and the set was similar to the Reading set, mixing Hendrix material, with old Spirit songs, and a few from the Potato land story. The programme contains a comic featuring the Adventures of Kaptain Kopter and Commander Cassidy in Potato Land complete with great graphics and a blank page on which you were invited to “Draw your own Potato Man”. I also seem to remember buying a badge which had a picture of a potato man on it, but I’m not sure what happened to it.
25
Apr
Posted by vintagerock in Rick Wakeman. Tagged: classic rock, concert, concerts, gig, gigs, music, prog rock, rock, rock n roll. Leave a comment
Rick Wakeman ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ Newcastle City Hall 24th April 2014
This was the 40th Anniversary Tour for Rick Wakeman’s ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’. Rick is taking his famous story telling piece on the road again. A very brave move, as it involves putting together, and touring with a band, full orchestra and choir. The show featured the Irion Symphony Orchestra accompanied by The English Chamber Choir and a rock band giving a live presentation of this classical-rock work. Last night at Newcastle City Hall was the first night of the UK tour, and Laura and I went along. The concert was in two parts, the first with Rick alone on stage telling some stories about his career; and the people who influenced him. He talked about Cat Stevens, and played a piano instrumental of “Morning Has Broken”, which he played on a session musician. He then treated us to a rendition of “Life on Mars” with Hayley Sanderson on vocals (Hayley was one of the two vocalists in the second half of the show), and talked about the time he spent with David Bowie working on “Hunky Dory”, and how David’s advice of being true to yourself has stuck with him throughout his career, and was one of the reasons he persisted with the “Journey” concept when many were against it. 
He then introduced his old friend Ashley Holt, the second vocalist in the concert. Rick explained that he played with Ashley in the ’60s at Watford Top Rank and they performed one of the songs that they used to sing “Summertime”. Rick closed the first half paying tribute to his father, who took him to see “Peter and the Wolf” when he was 8 years old. It was that performance, and seeing a story in music, which planted the seed of the idea of doing a musical version of Rick’s childhood favourite book “Journey to the Centre of the Earth”. He finished by playing “Eleanor Rigby” in the style of Prokofiev, explaining that the composer was a big influence on his music, coming from his classical training at the Royal College of Music. There was then a short interval.
The second half of the concert relived the original album and tour, with the Orion orchestra (who I saw three weeks ago at the Albert Hall performing in the Jon Lord memorial concert), the English Chamber Choir and a rock band featuring Dave Colquhoun on guitar, Matt Pegg (Dave’s son) on bass, and Tony Ferdandez on drums. Philip Franks narrated the performance from the back of the stage, and Guy Protheroe conducted. Guy has been instrumental in putting together the show, helping recreate the score from an old and damaged copy of the original that was found some time ago. Vocal duties were shared between Hayley Sanderson and Ashley Holt, who were both excellent. I must admit that I am not familiar with the album, and didn’t realise how powerful a piece it is. Both Laura and I really enjoyed the concert, and came away both converts to Rick and his music. The audience loved it and gave the performers several standing ovations. An encore of a small piece from the album’s 1999 follow-up “Return to the Centre of the Earth” closed the evening; the audience were on their feet again, and Rick seemed genuinely moved by the reception that his work received.
‘This is the start of a new journey’, says Rick Wakeman about the show, ‘the original score for the album had been lost for so many years, making any new performances impossible. But after it turned up without warning, we managed to restore it and add previously missing music that was not included in the original performances. It has taken another half decade to develop, but I can’t wait to take Jules Verne’s magnificent story on tour again’.
A great concert and much better than I had anticipated.
24
Apr
Posted by vintagerock in Screaming Lord Sutch. Tagged: classic rock, concert, concerts, gig, gigs, music, pop, rock, rock n roll. Leave a comment
Picture the scene. It was sometime in the early ’70s, probably 1973. I was in my mid-teens and had started to take concert-going pretty seriously. It was a Saturday night student dance in Wearmouth Hall, which was the student union building of Sunderland Polytechnic. The great thing about those dances at that time, was you never knew who you were going to see. There was no internet to check gig listings in those days. I would turn up on a Saturday night with a couple of mates, and the name of the act for the night would be written in chalk on a blackboard at the door. So you could go along and it would say “Arthur Brown” or “Home” or some other act who was touring at the time. One night we turned up and the board displayed the name “Screaming Lord Sutch”. We weren’t sure what to expect, and in fact nothing could have prepared us for what we were about to experience. So we paid our entrance fee, which was probably 30p or so, and got ourselves a spot at the front of the stage. After some tight a band came of stage playing some basic rock’n’roll. Soon a few guys carried a coffin on stage and set it down right in front of us. We could hear a voice singing, and soon realised that it was coming from the coffin. The lid suddenly flung open revealing a crazy guy, face covered in make-up, wearing a cape and a top hat. This was my introduction to the mad Sreaming Lord Sutch. Sutch started to prowl the front of the stage. He picked up a large axe, and pretended to try and chop our heads off. Girls down the front were screaming. The music was pretty basic rock’n’roll, but the stage show was awesome. The highlight was a song called “Jack the Ripper” during which Sutch paced around the stage threatening to kill any female students that were close by. He was looking for “Mary”….At one point he pulled Mary’s bloodied head out of his doctor’s bag…to much screaming from the crowd. It was pure music hall, tacky, yet powerful and great fun. One of the best shows I had ever seen at the time.
I saw Screaming Lord Sutch once more, in 1984. This time the gig was billed as a Wild Rock & Roll Night, and was held at the Barbary Coast Club, Sunderland. The Barbary Coast used to be the Boilermakers Club, which played host to local bands in the ’70s; Son of a Bitch (who became Saxon) played there a lot, along with strippers before the match on a Saturday. by 1984 it had become a nightclub, and had a reputation for fights, and earned the nickname “The Barbaric”. There was no trouble that night; the place was full of teds, and we had a long wait before our hero Sutch came on stage. The show was very similar to the gig I had attended 10 years earlier. Good fun, perhaps not as powerful the second time.
From Wikipedia: “David Edward Sutch (10 November 1940 – 16 June 1999) also known as 3rd Earl of Harrow, or simply Screaming Lord Sutch, was an English musician. He was the founder of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party and served as its leader from 1983 to 1999, during which time he stood in numerous parliamentary elections. He holds the record for losing all 40 elections in which he stood. As a singer he variously worked with Keith Moon, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Charlie Watts and Nicky Hopkins.
RIP the original monster raving loony Screaming Lord Sutch. We will never see his like again.
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
There’s a man who walks the streets of London late at night
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
With a little black bag that’s oh-so tight
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
He’s got a big black cloak hangin’ down his back
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
Well, that’s a one big cat I just a hate to fight
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
When he walks down the streets
To every girl he meets, he says, is your name Mary Blood?
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
(Jack the Ripper, Screaming Lord Sutch)
PS I looked up Black Cat who are mentioned on the ticket for the 1984 gig. There were a rockabilly band, and often backed Sutch at the time.
23
Apr
Posted by vintagerock in Paul Rodgers, Steve Rodgers. Tagged: blues, classic rock, concert, concerts, gig, gigs, heavy rock, music, R&B, rock, rock n roll. Leave a comment
Paul Rodgers Newcastle City Hall 12th October 2006
I have already written about Paul Rodgers as a solo artist, as a member of Free, as a member of Bad Company and as a member of Queen. He remains, without a doubt, one of our finest blues and soul voices. He has stayed true to the blues and his roots; and he looks as fit, and sings as well, today as he did in the early ’70s when I first saw him perform live with Free. Rather than write about Paul again, I have reproduced the words of a letter which Rodgers had written to Paul Kossoff, a copy of which is included as a handwritten note in the 2006 tour programme. I found it today when I opened the programme.
“Dear Koss. When we were kicking around London together back in ’68 talking about the group we were going to form, who would have thought it would turn out this way. DVDs, digital even videos were a thing of the future. We loved the blues. Driving round town in your mini listening to B B King’s “Live at the Regal”, Albert King’s “Born Under a Bad Sign”, Hendrix and Cream. I remember us laughing when they turned us away from restaurants because our hair was too long.
The first time we jammed together when you showed up with drummer Andy Borenius at my gig with Brown Sugar; you came right up to the stage and said ” I want to get up and jam” and I said “Do you have a guitar?” and you said “Yes I have a Les Paul out in the car”. And I said “Woa this is Finsbury Park man, you need to bring it straight in here or it’ll be gone”. We played B B King’s “Four in the Morning”, “Every Day I have the Blues” and “Stormy Monday Blues”. People came up after and said “You know, time stood still”.
For me in many ways time has stood still since because we made such timeless music.
Thanks for the heart wrenching solo in “Come Together in the Morning”. Thanks for the laughs. Thanks for doing all the driving – you were an excellent driver. Thanks for being a great friend and apologies if we somehow let you down.
See you again one day. Always your friend. Paul”
This was yet another great concert by Paul Rodgers. The set drew from his entire career, and included songs from Free, The Firm, and Bad Company along with a few blues standards. Support came from Paul’s son, Steve Rodgers.
Typical setlist from the 2006 tour: I’ll Be Creepin’; The Stealer; Ride on a Pony; Radioactive; Be My Friend; Warboys (A Prayer For Peace); Feel Like Makin’ Love; Bad Company; I Just Want To See You Smile; Louisiana Blues; Fire and Water; Wishing Well; All Right Now. Encore: I’m a Mover; The Hunter; Can’t Get Enough. Encore 2: Seagull
22
Apr
Posted by vintagerock in Ramones, Snips, The Boys. Tagged: classic rock, concert, concerts, gig, gigs, music, new wave, pop, punk, rock, rock n roll. 2 comments
Ramones Newcastle City Hall 28th September 1978 and 29th January 1980
I have already written about the first time I saw the Ramones, which was at Newcastle City Hall in 1977. For completeness, and as I come towards the end of acts whose names begin with the letter “R”, I am including an entry on a couple of other times that I saw the band. The Ramones returned to the City Hall in 1978 and 1980. By 1978 Tommy Ramone had left the band, his drum stool being filled by Marky Ramone. Their music had also developed a little further. Although most of their songs remained the very fast short crash bam bop slabs of pure rock ‘n’ roll, they were starting to venture further into pure pop, and their albums also includes, shock horror, some slower songs and even some, dare I say it?, ballads. However, their live shows remained largely unchanged. A night with the Ramones was guaranteed to be a night of fun with Da Brudders playing a set of lots of short hectic songs all in quick succession, and Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee up front singing and playing like there was no tomorrow. 
Both of these concerts were great fun. Support for the 1978 tour was the excellent vocalist Snips, who had previously fronted Sharks with Andy Fraser. The 1980 show was opened by The Boys, who were one of the first and legendary punk bands; a three piece featuring Casino Steel, Matt Dangerfield and Honest John Plain.
Setlist from the 1980 show: Blitzkrieg Bop; Teenage Lobotomy; Rockaway Beach; I Don’t Want You; Go Mental; Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment; Rock ‘N’ Roll High School; I Wanna Be Sedated; Do You Remember Rock ‘N’ Roll Radio?; She’s the One; I’m Against It; Sheena Is a Punk Rocker; This Ain’t Havana; Commando Baby, I Love You; I’m Affected; Surfin’ Bird; Cretin Hop; All the Way; Judy Is a Punk; California Sun; I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With You; Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World; Pinhead; Do You Wanna Dance?; Suzy Is a Headbanger; Let’s Dance; Chinese Rock; Beat on the Brat
21
Apr
Posted by vintagerock in Stiff Little Fingers, Third World, Tom Robinson. Tagged: classic rock, concert, concerts, gig, gigs, music, new wave, pop, R&B, rock, rock n roll. 4 comments
Tom Robinson Band Newcastle City Hall 27th September 1978
The Tom Robinson Band are often overlooked when the history of punk and new wave is written. That’s a shame, because they were one of the best live acts of the period, and their songs contained all of the necessary political messages of the time. I first saw them live in the early days, probably 1977, at Middlesbrough Rock Garden. It was probably only about half full, and the punks were very unsure as to how to take an openly gay singer, but managed some quite nervous singing along to “Glad to be Gay”. Tom Robinson must have had some nerve, it was quite a brave thing to do, to go out and sing that anthem in clubs packed with punk and skins, many of whom had strong right wing views. I was impressed by TRB that night, although it was the first time that I was seeing the band, and I hadn’t heard any of the songs before, it was obvious that they were strong pop songs, with political messages and great hooks. The first, and classic, Line-up of the band was Tom Robinson (vocals, bass), Danny Kustow (guitar), Mark Ambler (keyboards) and Dolphin Taylor (drums). 
The other band members were all an important part of the mix, particularly Danny Kustow; his guitar playing was excellent and his passion, energy and presence matched Tom’s. And they had a clutch of great tunes, many of which ended up on the first Tom Robinson album, which is one of the strongest debuts of the time. Most people remember the big hit single “2-4-6-8 Motorway”, but there were better tracks on the album including the call to arms: “Up Against the Wall” and “The Winter of ’79”, the simply excellent catchy “Long Hot Summer” and title track “Power in the Darkness”. The big live favourites were the sing-along chirpy ode to a big brother “Martin” (just listened to it on YouTube and it sounds as good as it ever did) and “Glad to be Gay” which seemed to be playing everywhere I went in 1977 and 1978. I saw the Tom Robinson band at a triumphant concert at Newcastle City Hall on 27th September 1978 and also at Reading festival 1978 and at Sunderland Mayfair on 28th March 1979. By the time of the Sunderland gig both Ambler and Dolphin had left the band, and things were never going to be the same. The Tom Robinson band split in 1979, shortly after the 1979 tour and the release of their second, and much less successful, album.
Support at the City Hall gig was the excellent Stiff Little Fingers, not as the the ticket says reggae band Third World, and at Sunderland it was The Straits, an all-girl new wave band from Leeds.
“The British Police are the best in the world
I don’t believe one of these stories I’ve heard
‘Bout them raiding our pubs for no reason at all
Lining the customers up by the wall
Picking out people and knocking them down
Resisting arrest as they’re kicked on the ground
Searching their houses and calling them queer
I don’t believe that sort of thing happens here
Sing if you’re glad to be gay
Sing if you’re happy that way”
(Tom Robinson, 1976)
17
Apr
Posted by vintagerock in Roxy Music, Sadistic Mika Band. Tagged: artrock, classic rock, concert, concerts, gig, gigs, pop, rock, rock n roll. 1 comment
Roxy Music Newcastle City Hall 13th October 1975
“….Boy meets girl where the beat goes on
Stitched up tight, can’t shake free
Love is the drug, got a hook on me
Oh oh catch that buzz
Love is the drug I’m thinking of
Oh oh can’t you see
Love is the drug for me…” (Love is the Drug, Roxy Music, 1975)
Everyone I knew was either going along to this gig, or wanted to go and was trying to score a ticket. This was largely as a result of the massive singalong power of “Love is the Drug” which was played everywhere I went, and always resulted in a massive scrum of dancing on the ballroom floor. Roxy were on tour again, and stopped off for two sold out nights at Newcastle City Hall. I attended the second night.
Support came from the Sadistic Mika Band, a Japanese rock group who received quite a bit of publicity at the time and appeared on the Old Grey Whistle Test. 
This was another great performance by Roxy Music. The band were augmented by a couple of female backing singers who danced along with Bryan Ferry just as we had all seen in the video for “Love is the Drug”. Bryan, Andy Mackay and Phil Manzanera were all recording solo material at the time and some of this was featured in the concert.
Setlist: Sentimental Fool; The Thrill of It All; Love Is the Drug; Mother of Pearl; Bitter-Sweet; Nightingale; She Sells; Street Life; Out of the Blue; Whirlwind; Sea Breezes; Both Ends Burning; For Your Pleasure; Diamond Head (Phil Manzanera solo song); Wild Weekend (Andy Mackay solo song); The ‘In’ Crowd; Virginia Plain; Re-Make/Re-Model; Do the Strand; Editions of You; A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (Bryan Ferry solo cover of the Dylan classic).
Roxy line-up: Bryan Ferry, Andy Mackay (oboe and sax), Phil Manzanera (guitar), Paul Thompson (drums), Eddie Jobson (keyboards, synth and violin), John Gustafson (bass).
16
Apr
Posted by vintagerock in Jess Roden, Roxy Music. Tagged: artrock, classic rock, concert, concerts, gig, gigs, music, pop, rock, rock n roll. 13 comments
Roxy Music Newcastle City Hall 27th & 28th October 1974
It was 1974 and Roxy Music were on a roll. Things were very different from the last time I saw the fledgling band perform at the Lincoln pop festival jamboree in 1972. In the two years that had passed Brian Eno had left the band, they had hit the singles charts with “Virginia Plain”, “Pyjamarama” (wonderful and one of my favourites) and “Street Life”, and were just about to release their fourth album. Eno had been replaced by local hero Eddie Jobson, whose violin virtuosity I had marvelled at when Fat Grapple stormed out local Locarno ballroom, and John Wetton was the new guy on bass, fresh from prog super maestros King Crimson. So all was good in the Roxy camp, and the band were truly at the height of their powers. There is a view that Roxy were never really Roxy again after the genius that is Eno left the fold, but it doesn’t hold water in my book. Yes Eno was a vital part of the early band, but the 1974 line-up was strong enough to stand on its own, and although Eddie Jobson may not have seemed as enigmatic as his predecessor, his musical skills are without question. I’d missed a couple of Roxy tours, and realised how foolish I had been, so made sure that I went along this time. They played two sold out nights at Newcastle City Hall. 
I went along with a group of mates to the first night, and we were so knocked out by Roxy’s performance that a couple of us decided to go along the following night and try and buy tickets outside. We succeeded, and this is one of the few occasions where I went to see a band two nights in a row (and enjoyed both concerts). Amazingly, I was in the same row of the stalls both nights. Bryan Ferry was at his best, stylish and cool, although sometimes looking a little nervous and uncomfortable on stage. And Eddie Jobson was simply brilliant. Oh and the songs: “Mother of Pearl” a beautiful classic, the dark brooding menace of “In Every Dream Home” which we thought to be curious, funny and shocking all at the same time, and the hits “Street Life” and “Virginia Plain”; the crowd went completely bonkers. By the last encore of “Do the Strand” the entire City Hall was going absolutely nuts, singing and dancing along. Great memories. Can I go back and relive this one please? 🙂
Setlist: Prairie Rose; Beauty Queen; Mother of Pearl; Out of the Blue; A Song for Europe; Three and Nine; If It Takes All Night; In Every Dream Home a Heartache; If There Is Something; All I Want Is You; The Bogus Man; Street Life; Virginia Plain; Editions of You. Encore: Re-Make/Re-Model; Do the Strand.
Roxy line-up: Bryan Ferry (vocals and ultra cool suaveness) Andy Mackay (oboe and sax), Phil Manzanera (guitar), Paul Thompson (drums), Eddie Jobson (keyboards, synth and violin), John Wetton (bass).
Support came from the excellent, under-rated and almost never mentioned these days Jess Roden, who was a great soul / R&B singer.
In Autumn 1979 The Specials released their debut album, entitled simply ‘Specials’ and a 40 date ‘2 Tone Tour’ of the country began featuring The Specials, Madness and The Selecter. The tour ended at Newcastle Mayfair on 9th November 1979 and played to a packed house. The music was great, marred by some fighting in the crowd. From a review of the time: “Madness and The Selecter join The Specials for an all band finale of Skinhead Moonstomp which had become a tradition of the tour. A horde of fans invaded the stage and cause chaos. Which has by now become a tradition of the tour.” All three bands played excellent sets that night and bootleg recordings exist of the Specials and Madness from the concert.
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