“Clapton is God” was an oft quoted saying in the 1970s. Painted on doors across London and around the country, it proclaimed Eric Clapton as the supremo guitarist of his generation. And I believed it. Until I saw Clapton live I could not believe just how good he was. But the man is also an enigma. Over the years he has continued to amaze and surprise me. I first saw Clapton live in 1974 at Hammersmith Odeon.
I went down on the train to London by myself, a fresh 16 year old who was desperate to see this guitar hero who had only recently returned to the stage earlier in the 1970s, following a terrible bout of addiction. I bought a ticket at Hammersmith Odeon, paying a tout £10 for a £1 ticket outside the venue. I was seated halfway back in the stalls waiting for my hero to take the stage and knock me out with his guitar prowess.
Surprise number one. A guy wandered out up front and said “Well here it is, the last night of the world tour; will you please welcome onto the stage Mr Eric Clapton and his band”. Eric sauntered on to the stage complete with band and current singer (and, I believe, girlfriend of the time) Yvonne Elliman. He walked up to the mike, acoustic guitar in hand, and started to strum a song quietly. He opened “Smile, though your heart is aching, smile, even though it’s breaking, when there are clouds in the sky, you’ll get by” (Charlie Chaplin). It was soothing, melodic, haunting and not what I was expecting. The night continued with classic Clapton including “Layla”, “Sunshine of Your Love” and many other great tunes that rattled round my head. I ran up to Hammersmith Tube station to get across to King’s Cross and catch the last train home which I believe was, in those days, 12:10 a.m. The show was fantastic and those songs continued to rattle around my head all night on the train back home.
I have seen Clapton many times over the years witnessing often fantastic sets of blistering classics and sometimes more surprises. Always a world-class performance. At Newcastle City Hall many times. London Crystal Palace Bowl. The Cream reunion concert at the Albert Hall. Manchester Arena, Newcastle Arena and Sheffield Arena. The Royal Albert Hall 70th birthday concert and the Jeff Beck Tribute concert at the same venue. Other highlights included him playing alongside Bob Dylan at Blackbushe Aerodrome, with The Who, Bob Dylan and others in Hyde Park, with Steve Winwood in Wembley Arena and with Jeff Beck at the O2 London. Another couple of surprises at that concert: “Moon River” with Beck delivering his usual fantastic, unique guitar sounds and Clapton singing the lyrics followed by the only time I saw Jeff Beck play “Hi Ho Silver Lining” (“Eric made me play it” Jeff told us all). I sang my heart out that night along with a packed O2 Arena, tears running down my face. Others I may well have forgotten. Yes, Eric has given me so many great memories over the years. To me he remains “God”. Yes, in these later years he has become quieter – more blues, less rock, more acoustic – yet still he commands any stage in the world.
“Eric Clapton launched his 2024 concerts on May 9 at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England. It was his first show in the city in 20 years.” proclaimed Clapton’s own website.
Eric is now 79 years old. Yet he still looks and sounds great. And no one can play a bluesy guitar like him. He is surrounded by his usual excellent band including Doyle Bramhall II, who plays absolutely perfect second lead guitar, Chris Stainton on keyboards (who famously was a member of Joe Cocker’s Grease Band and played on “With a Little Help From My Friends”; I first saw Chris with Joe Cocker in 1972 headlining the Lincoln pop festival) and female singers including Katie Kissoon (of Mac and Katie Kissoon and “Sugar Candy Kisses” fame).
The support act was Andy Fairweather Low and the Low Riders. Norm and I arrived late halfway through Andy’s set, as a result of chatting with friends in the bar. It was also great to run into an old friend from my blog. However, it was a shame that we arrived a little late as Andy apparently started with “(If paradise Is) Half As Nice” one of my favourite songs from the Saturday morning Disco at Sunderland Top Rank in 1968.
I was 12 then, a young mod and my heroes were Barry Ryan, Steve Marriott and Steve Ellis. But that is a reminiscence I have written about many times before. Anyway we did catch Andy playing “Wide-Eyed and Legless”. Magic.
My friend, Gilly, was a young singer at the time. He would often grace the stage of the aforementioned Top Rank (or The Rink as we knew it) and sing “(If Paradise Was) Half As Nice” accompanied by the local house band. Happy memories of happy days.
Then after a short break Clapton appeared. The set is in the usual format. A clutch of songs with full band and Clapton on electric guitar. A shorter acoustic set with Clapton and one or two other fellow musicians, and then back to full band and electric guitar to close the proceedings. The choice of songs was a somewhat eclectic mix. Some were rather unexpected: Cream’s “White Room” which was pure nostalgic magic and delivered well; and “Presence of the Lord” the Blind Faith classic which I last saw Clapton perform with Steve Winwood at Wembley Arena. Some were expected classics: “Crossroads” which is always a welcome addition to any Clapton concert and the closer “Cocaine”. The remainder was a mix of blues standards and other lesser-known tunes.
Standout was the touching “Tears in Heaven” which closed the acoustic set. Some obvious songs were strangely missing; no “Layla” or “Wonderful Tonight”. Some members of the audience were clearly disappointed judging by comments I heard whilst coming out of the venue. For me, I will take what I can get. Eric Clapton, not very far away from me, in a local venue, playing great blues guitar. The closer was “Sunshine of Your Love”. It doesn’t get much better.
A shame that he never plays “Stepping Out”. I can wish. Maybe one day. There is still time, Eric, to return to those Blues Breaker days and make an old man happy. Many thanks to Jan for the photos and manipulating the site for me.
Setlist: Electric set: Blue Dust; Key to the Highway; I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man; Presence of the Lord; White Room; Prayer of a Child.
Acoustic set: Kind Hearted Woman Blues; Back Home; Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out; Tears in Heaven.
Back to Electric: Got to Get Better in a Little While; You Were There; Crossroads; Little Queen of Spades; Cocaine.
Encore: Sunshine of Your Love.
This concert by 
The conversation somehow moved on to Brian Downey, original drummer in Thin Lizzy and went something like this: Eric “Have you seen Brian’s new band?”; Me “No, but they are playing at Middlesbrough Town Hall soon and I was considering going along”; Eric “You should go”; Me “Have you seen them”; Eric “No, but he has put together a great band and they play all Lizzy songs”; Me “then I must go and see them”; Eric “Please do and if you get the chance to meet Brian, tell I am asking after him. We remain great friends. Me, Phil, and Brian remained friends even after I left Lizzy.”
Well, I just had to go along after that recommendation from Eric himself. I bought tickets the next day. It was also a chance to review my long-time acquaintance with Middlesbrough Town Hall which is a lovely venue. It comprises two halls, a large hall upstairs with a lovely organ at the back of the stage (see image from my ticket).
I recall seeing Gary Brooker play that organ when I saw Procol Harum at the venue in the mid 70s. I have seen many bands there over the years including AC/DC, Kiki Dee, the Hollies, Van Morrison, and Ian Gillan. The second hall, named the Crypt as it is downstairs below the main hall, also hosted many bands. I recall witnessing great shows by Stretch, Crass, Steel Pulse, the Groundhogs, Wishbone Ash, the Exploited and several others down in the Crypt. Happy days. So, it was great to be visiting the Crypt again to see Brian’s version of Thin Lizzy.
Now, I don’t usually go to see tribute bands, but this group had the authenticity of original Thin Lizzy member Brian Downey sitting in the drum stool. Elaine, Jackie, and I arrived early and had a good look around the venue which remains, as it always was, a lovely, period church – like hall, in the centre of Middlesbrough. The stage was set with a massive drum kit standing proud centre – stage, ready for Brian to lead his new band through a set of Thin Lizzy classics.
The publicity from Brian’s website states: “Brian is delighted to announce the new line-up of Alive and Dangerous and is looking forward to taking the band on the road in the UK, Ireland, Germany, and the rest of Europe. The new line-up features Brian Downey on drums, Matt Wilson on bass and lead vocals and introducing Michal Kulbaka on lead guitar and Joe Merriman also on lead guitar.” So, this was back to the classic twin guitar line – up of Thin Lizzy. Fantastic.
The band all hail from Dublin and look quite young and fresh. They are all excellent musicians and did justice to the Lizzy repertoire. The singer/bass guitarist has curly hair and a look of Phil about him. Classic after classic followed: “Jailbreak”, “Emerald” (a favourite of mine), “Rosalie”, “Dancing in the Moonlight”, “Don’t Believe a Word”, the wonderful “Parisienne Walkways” which was Phil solo with Gary Moore on lovely guitar (performed amazingly well by 1 of the lead guitarists).
Next up soon was “Cowboy Song” (another favourite which always went down well when Phil performed it at Newcastle City Hall and which I was lucky enough to witness several times including an amazing performance at the Reading Festival in the 70s), “The Boys Are Back in Town” (and it seemed like they really were for 90 minutes) and closing with back to the beginning and “Whiskey in the Jar”. An encore followed of less familiar material and then it was all over.
Sure, it wasn’t Thin Lizzy, but it was pretty close. Eric, you were right to tell me to go along and see this band. Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to meet Brian and pass your regards to him. Brian, you are to be commended for assembling a great band who live up to their name Live and Dangerous which is, of course, the name of the classic Thin Lizzy live album which is often quoted as being the best live album ever. Happy days were here again.
Many thanks to Elaine for the photographs and to Chris for manipulating the site (and for saving the file for me along the way as I wrote it; last time I failed to do so and my Dragon speech software misheard something I said which resulted in my losing everything I had typed; very frustrating).
Setlist: Are You Ready; Jailbreak; Emerald; Wild One; Rosalie; Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in Its Spotlight); Massacre; Still in Love With You; Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed; Warriors; Don’t Believe a Word; Parisienne Walkways; Cold Sweat; Cowboy Song; The Boys Are Back in Town; Róisín Dubh (Black Rose): A Rock Legend; Whiskey in the Jar.
And so, the 
Jethro Tull and I have a long history together and a long-standing friendship. I recall my school days when I was in my early teens. The sixth formers would carry LPs under their arms to school. They played them in a little room upstairs in the dining hall at lunchtime. Sometimes, if I was lucky, they allowed me upstairs to their elite “Record Club” to listen to their new, magical, psychedelic sounds. The records they carried were badges of honour and included Frank Zappa’s Hot Rats, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown album, Cream’s Wheels of Fire, Tyrannosaurus Rex’s My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair, But Now They’re Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows, and Jethro Tull’s This Was. This Was included a mix of blues, rock and strange flute playing. A year or two later, I remember sitting in my mate’s house and playing Jethro Tull’s second album Stand Up, with its great sleeve which opened out to a set of pop-ups of the band. How cool we felt. Then, in 1971, we all went to see Jethro Tull at Sunderland Empire. Happy days and magical memories. The die was cast. We were all Jethro Tull fans for life.
Roll-on 50+ years. The Seven Decades Tour. Wonderful. What is not to like. Why not go along and reminisce with old friends, listen to some old sounds, because let us face it, we all like “Living in the Past”. And plenty of old friends were there. It was great to meet up and say hello to fellow Tull aficionados.
With Ian Anderson as ever central to the performance, this tour will encapsulate the seven decades in which Jethro Tull have written and performed music. Through their 23 studio albums, they have continued to push the boundaries of their music. With Ian’s unique and iconic flute playing paired with his distinct vocal, they are one of the most important and distinctive bands the UK have ever produced and Ian’s desire to continually innovate has ensured they remain as relevant around the world today as they did in the seventies.
And so, to the performance. Sure, Ian’s voice is not what it was, and the old coat is gone, but the flute playing remains great and the songs are as soulful, passionate, poignant, and intriguing as they ever were. We start at the very beginning (a very good place to start) with “My Sunday Feeling”; Track 1 Side 1 of This Was. This is followed by a selection of songs from throughout the band’s seven decade spanning career. Pure magic. The years disappear and the old songs flow over us all. These include other classics from the first couple of albums. My favourites are “We Used to Know” and the magical flute solo which is “Bouree”.
We were informed at the very start of the performance by Ian himself that we were not allowed any photography until the encore. Hence lots of pictures of trains on the track as the encore was, of course, as always “Locomotive Breath”. It was a shame that we could not take pictures throughout as the images shown on the backdrop were pretty fantastic.
After a short interval Ian and the band return and play a strange mix of old and new. Intriguing, enjoyable yet missing some vintage tracks which are usually performed. No “Living in the Past”. No “The Witches Promise”. Nonetheless an enjoyable selection of songs from some lesser-well known albums. The band continues to surprise the audience.
Set 2 closes with a tale of that seedy tramp “Aqualung”. The encore is, as usual these days, “Locomotive Breath”. And then it is over. I quickly chat with old friends again and then go our separate ways. Our collective verdict is a great show, but a strange collection of songs and missing some classics. I am off home in my taxi. Ian Anderson did the Tull legacy proud and gave us all another night to remember. Happy days. Many thanks to Elaine for the photographs and Chris for manipulating the site as usual.
A bit of an adventure to see an old friend and hero. So, Jackie, my taxi driver and I set off early in the evening for a 50+ miles ride up into the wilds of Northumberland to see none other than 
The staff on the door were very helpful “We’ve been expecting you” and made sure I safely entered the building. They directed me to a space right down the front of the small Hall, sitting close to Edgar himself. Edgar is a great hero of mine since the early 1970s. He was, and is, the original rebel as the T-shirt, which he kindly gave me, proclaims (see image). This guy had no fear in the 70s. He was left-wing, antiestablishment and wore his out–there credentials on his white karate suit (which he always seemed to wear at the time).
As I say I sat next to Edgar, my hero and role model (except I did not have the nerve that he did). So, what could I do but talk to the guy. I had a good chat with Edgar about old times and the first time I saw him perform which was with the Edgar Broughton Band back in 1971 at Sunderland Locarno. I recall being part of a conga trail which weaved its way around the ballroom, up the stairs and across the balcony chanting “Out Demons Out” along with Edgar, Steve Broughton (his brother) on drums and Arthur Grant on bass. Edgar was about to embark on a tour of seaside venues playing on the beach, or close by. The next date was at Redcar beach. However, the local council had banned Edgar and the band from playing there. Edgar told us all that night: “The police are trying to stop us playing at Redcar this weekend. We are going anyway and we will play off the back of a lorry. Please come along to see us. Bring your cars and let’s gridlock all of the roads in Redcar”.
And indeed, he did. I was too young to make my way to Redcar at 14 and had no way to get there. I was there in spirit with you Edgar I told him. The police arrested Edgar and he spent the night in a police cell in the local jail. He wrote a song “Judge Called me a Liar” to commemorate the event. I related the whole story to Edgar. “Yes I remember that day well” and he smiled to me. I also told him how I had seen him many times over the years at Newcastle Mayfair, Sunderland Locarno several times, Newcastle City Hall, the Buxton Festival “It was very wet” Edgar said, and in later years at the City Hall as the Broughtons supporting (Ian) Gillan, in a club at Sheffield, Hull Adelphi club, York Duchess and more recently supporting Roger Chapman at Newcastle Academy. All great memories. Edgar nodded. We chatted on about old times. He kindly signed a CD for me. I moved over to let others talk to Edgar and soon it was time for him to take to the stage.
The hall was small; I would estimate that there was not more than 50 people there and the place was full. The guy who organised the concert came up to see me. “Sorry I was not there when you arrived, I was busy lambing”. Such is rural Northumberland. Edgar sat on a stool not far away from Jackie and me in the centre front of the hall. He sang in his unique soulful voice a clutch of new songs, a few I recognised from recent performances and many from his new CD. His first song was about his brother Steve “We were soldiers together”. Steve sadly recently passed away. You could feel the pain in Edgar’s voice. Other songs were more beautiful. Another I recognise recounted a tale of two people falling in love “Can I dance with you?” (or something like that). Before each song Edgar recounted a story on which the song was based. Each song was challenging, beautiful and soulful. Edgar sang to us directly from his heart.
One particular song was a prequel to the Edgar Broughton Band track “Evening over the Rooftops”. Fascinating. After one song he blew me a kiss. Thank you Edgar. And soon it was over. Edgar Broughton took to the stage around 7:40 PM and concluded his set around 9 PM. After the show I said my goodbyes to my hero, Edgar, and Jackie and I entered our taxi. Our taxi driver informed us that he had been watching lambs, rabbits and deer frisking around in the fields. Wonderful.
We travelled back, this time through the centre of Hexham, and onward into the centre of Newcastle (there was a diversion and the A1 was closed southbound) down Westgate Road and across to Sunderland. I was back in my bed shortly after 11 PM. A wonderful evening. Oh, something I forgot. We asked for a drink and were informed that it was a “Bring your own” bar. One guy kindly said “Don’t worry, here’s a can of Red Stripe you can have”. How kind. But that was the sort of evening, the sort of place, the sort of people it had been. A magical night, with my hero Edgar, who was so friendly and kind to me, in a welcoming venue with such welcoming people. Thank you Edgar. Until next time my friend.
The evening started with a massive and welcome surprise. Jackie, my carer for the evening, enquired of the steward “what time does the concert finish and is there a support act?” I was so pleased and surprised when she returned and said “there is a support act and they are called 
Man continued through various line – up changes, the one constant being the excellent guitarist Micky Jones. When Micky sadly passed away, his son George took on the mantle of lead guitarist and the band continued with original bass player Martin Ace and long-time keyboard player Phil Ryan. I saw this version of the band at the New Roscoe pub in Leeds and they were excellent.
Somewhere along the road, there was a split in the band. Bass player Martin Ace continued his version of the band, inheriting the name Man while Micky Jones’ son George Jones formed his own version of the band Son of Man. Confusing or what! And it was this band, the one and only Son of Man, who were supporting 
George has assembled a great band around his fantastic guitar playing, including an excellent vocalist. They played music from their latest album and also some Man favourites including “Spunk Rock” and “Bananas” which has the amazing lyric: “I like bananas, because they’ve got no bones; I like marijuana, because it gets me stoned”. He even mentioned that the last time one of the songs was played in the City Hall was when Man performed there alongside John Cipollina from the legendary Quicksilver Messenger Service. I remember that particular concert well! And you can probably find a review on my blog somewhere. A great start to the evening.
Could things get better? Yes of course they could. Hawkwind were also one of my favourite bands in the early 70s. I have seen them many times over the years from the days, before they hit the charts with “Silver Machine”, and Stacia danced naked with them on stage. The current tour publicity material guides us through the complex history of Hawkwind: “One of England’s most enduring hard rock bands, Hawkwind were formed in London during the late ’60s, just as art rock was coming into its own. Though lesser known than contemporaries like Pink Floyd, the band is widely hailed as one of space rock’s early pioneers, thanks to seminal albums like 1973’s live opus Space Ritual, and its 1974 studio follow-up In the Hall of the Mountain Grill.
Their potent mix of psychedelia, prog, straight-ahead hard rock, and lyrics steeped in science fiction — particularly the themes and imagery of author Michael Moorcock, who also became a member at various points — and drug effects helped define Hawkwind and separate them from the competition. The group’s history has been marked by a series of confusing lineup changes, as members began an almost revolving-door relationship with the band virtually from the outset. Throughout their many decades and incarnations, founding guitarist Dave Brock has remained Hawkwind’s chief steward, while notable players like Lemmy and Ginger Baker have also enjoyed stints with the band.”
As you will have gathered from the above, the line-up has changed many, many times over the years, the one constant being bandleader Dave Brock. Well, Captain Brock led his family through a selection of Hawkwind tracks old and new including favourites: “The Psychedelic Warlords Disappear in Smoke”, “Spirit of the Age” and “Brainstorm”. No “silver machine” and Dave Brock took a backseat in some of the songs and was not present for the encore (I believe it was said that he was backstage having a cup of tea) but, hey, who cares, this was still Hawkwind at their best.
A marvellous evening spent with two fantastic hippie/psychedelic bands. It doesn’t get much better than this. Many thanks to Jackie for the photographs and to Chris for manipulating the site.
Back in the City Hall with carers Jackie & Jan, along with my daughter Laura who is a fan of the Smiths, Morrisey and 
The crowd, by the way, was absolutely massive: it looked like you could hardly move down there. It was the biggest crowd I have ever seen standing in the City Hall. We were all set for a fantastic evening with tremendous atmosphere.
Gaz Coombes got the proceedings off to a great start. He has a new band and played a clutch of solo material. As far as I am aware, no Supergrass material at all (as for I am aware). Very entertaining. But everyone was there to see the main man Johnny Marr. He came on stage to a massive roar from the crowd.
The publicity for the tour described him thus: “Founding member and songwriting genius of The Smiths, superstar collaborator and sensational solo artist, Johnny Marr is rightly regarded as a bona fide British music icon. He has just released Spirit Power: The Best of Johnny Marr, a collection of songs curated from the last 10 years of his sublime solo output, together with a pair of new tracks, Somewhere and The Answer. The album, which debuted in the UK Top 10, came hot on the heels of Marr’s last studio album, Fever Dreams Pts 1-4and 2023 photography book Marr’s Guitars.”
Johnny took to the stage and truly commanded it. He waved his guitar about and played a selection of songs from his back catalogue including several Smiths songs (Laura counted seven, more than we have ever seen him play before) including “Panic”, “This Charming Man”, “Bigmouth Strikes Again” and “How Soon Is Now?” Great stuff! He closes with the Electronic song “getting away with it”. I am even getting quite familiar with his solo material. An excellent selection of songs drawn from throughout his career.
The encore included an excellent stomping version of Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger”. For the very last song we were once again taken back to the Smiths and “There Is a Light That Never Goes out”. We all agreed that the entire concert was very enjoyable indeed. A great night with a modern icon who is a true hero to Laura and me.
Johnny Marr Setlist: Sensory Street; Generate! Generate!; Panic; New Town Velocity; Spirit Power and Soul; This Charming Man; Somewhere; Walk Into the Sea; The Answer; Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want; Get the Message; Bigmouth Strikes Again; Hi Hello; How Soon Is Now?; Easy Money; Getting Away With It.
My friend John was over from the USA. It was great to meet up with him again and to share memories of concerts that we enjoyed together at Newcastle City Hall in the 1970s. This was the second time I have seen 
So, we were both looking forward to the concert. Elaine was my carer for the evening and John, Elaine and I all went off together in the taxi to the City Hall.
First up as support act was an American band called 
It was standing downstairs, as is often the case in the City Hall these days. As usual, I was perched from a great vantage point on the wheelchair platform. Elaine insisted that John sat next to me on the platform and she also managed to find an empty seat up there also. So, we were all sorted for our hero taking the stage.
Slash is accompanied by a singer, 
The encore was something of a surprise to me. Slash sat down at a pedal steel guitar for a beautiful rendition of Elton John’s “Rocket Man”. Fabulous.
Setlist: The River Is Rising; Driving Rain; Halo; Too Far Gone; Back From Cali; Whatever Gets You By; C’est la vie; Actions Speak Louder Than Words; Always on the Run; Bent to Fly; Avalon; Spirit Love; Don’t Damn Me; Starlight; Wicked Stone; April Fool; Fill My World; Doctor Alibi; You’re a Lie; World on Fire.
Another great concert at the Fire Station which is proving to be an excellent hometown venue. And with two of my favourite 1980s bands.
Support came from the semi psychedelic music of the
So, the lineup I saw was this duo of McNabb and Layhe and it was great to see them together again. My favourite song is “Love Is a Wonderful Colour” which closed the set. A great support act, worthy of headline status in their own right.
Bought myself a lovely lyric sheet for “Love Is a Wonderful Colour” which Ian and Chris kindly signed for me. Setlist: Hollow Horse; Little Girl Lost; Evangeline; Out of Season; Starry Blue Eyed Wonder; Understanding (Country) Jane; Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream); Love Is a Wonderful Colour
Following Adamson’s death in 2001, Big Country reformed in 2007, with the surviving members. Between 2010 and 2013, they also reformed with Mike Peters of The Alarm on lead vocals. Since then Big Country has continued with two of the original members (Watson and Brzezicki) and Simon Hough on vocals.
Steeltown was the second studio album by Big Country, recorded at ABBA’s Polar Studios in Stockholm. Released in 1984 Bruce Watson remembers: “We started work on Steeltown back in June 1984 at Abba’s studio. My Dad was a miner, so what we did was knuckle down to hard work for six weeks”. The album was based around the steel industry in Corby, Northamptonshire which was mainly populated by Scottish workers. The album went straight to number 1 in the UK album charts.
They have recruited an excellent new guitarist whose playing gives homage to the late, great Stuart Adamson. To my shame I am not familiar with Steeltown (although I probably saw them on the tour to promote the album). It was great to hear their music again. Particularly as they also performed great personal favourites such as: “Look Away” And “In a Big Country”. They concluded their set with “Fields of Fire” incorporating another great Celtic song “Whiskey in the Jar”. An excellent end to an excellent evening.
Setlist: Flame Of The West; East Of Eden; Steeltown; Where The Rose Is Sown; Come Back To Me; Tall Ships Go; Winter Sky; Rain Dance; The Great Divide; Just A Shadow; Look Away; Chance; In A Big Country; Wonderland; Fields Of Fire / Whiskey In The Jar
I go back a long way with 
“Australian beatnik poet Daevid Allen (ex-Soft Machine) began making music with his partner Gilli Smyth in the late 1960s, along with a constantly evolving community of creative musicians. Albums from this period include Magick Brother, Mystic Sister (1969) and the influential Bananamoon (1971) – one of David Bowie’s favourite 20 albums.” (From Gong website).
The current members of Gong are: Fabio Golfetti – lead guitar, vocals (2007, 2012–present), Dave Sturt – bass (2009–present); Ian East – saxophone, flute (2010–present); Kavus Torabi – vocals, guitar (2014–present) and Cheb Nettles – drums (2014–present).
The venue holds a lot of memories for me having seen many bands there over the years going back to the Clash White Riot tour and early concerts by the Cure, Magazine and others. I think the last time I was here was to see Gong. The current band contains relatively new members, but such is the lineage of Gong. Like Hawkwind it is a family collective within which members come and go. However the spirit and ethos of Gong carries through the band members and this was very evident for this concert. We made our way around the back of the crowd towards the left of the stage. Everyone was very kind and allowed us through, right to the front.
The current front man has a look of Marc Bolan about him with curly hair and heavy eye make-up. He was also joined by a lady singer who transformed from an angel like persona into an Indian/Persian look. Fantastic. The music was, as always, heavily psychedelic, trancelike and absolutely mesmerising. One song seemed to blend into another.
During the interval I managed to catch a pint of Guinness and the band kindly signed my ticket (see image). Next up was Ozric Tentacles whose music is less familiar to me. However, as always they provided us with an excellent set of psychedelic music. We left just as they were finishing.
“A campfire at the Stonehenge free festival in 1983 witnessed the birth of Ozric Tentacles. It was there that composer and band leader Ed Wynne (guitar & keyboards), and brother Roly Wynne (bass), who were performing in a group known at the time as ‘Bolshem People’, along with drummer Nick ‘Tig’ Van Gelder (Jamiroquai), stumbled upon keyboardist Joie Hinton. After a session of warming their bones and discussing imaginary breakfast cereals, the group went to perform an impromptu late jam session. Over the course of what became an epic six hour performance, an audience member inquired as to the name of the band. Randomly thinking back to the group’s former conversation, visions of ridiculous mythical mueslis entered Ed’s mind, and consequently he replied; “Ozric Tentacles”. (…Good job too, since some of the previous alternatives had been “Desmond Whisps”, “Gilbert Chunks” and “Malcolm Segments”).” (From Ozric Tentacles website).
Two fantastic bands who are still quite “out there” flying the hippie flag high. The lady next to me had great dreadlocks and was dressed as an angel complete with wings. That sort of sums up the atmosphere of the evening.
This concert sold out pretty quickly. 
But before the proceedings proper began, 
After a short interval the main act took to the stage. It is some years since I have seen Liam perform. I saw Oasis many times: at Bolton football ground, Sunderland Stadium of Light, Sheffield Arena and. Newcastle Arena. I also saw Liam perform with his first post – Oasis band Beady Eye at Manchester Apollo. Anyone going along expecting to see Liam perform Oasis songs would have been disappointed. This was very much a Liam Gallagher concert with the added extra, and excellent, guitar of John Squire. Liam was dressed in his usual parka style top, all swagger with his arms round his back.
Liam played much of his new album which has been recorded with Squire and the songs sounded pretty good on first hearing. Squire was wearing a lovely Paisley shirt looking as if it came straight from Liam’s Pretty Green range (and maybe it did?) The encore was an excellent version of the Rolling Stones’ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”. Fabulous. Liam through his maracas up to the left hand balcony and his tambourine to the right-hand balcony. A couple of lucky punters got some great memorabilia to show their friends and family.
Liam Gallagher Setlist: Just Another Rainbow; One Day at a Time; I’m a Wheel; Love You Forever; Make It Up as You Go Along; You’re Not the Only One; I’m So Bored; Mars to Liverpool; Mother Nature’s Song; Raise Your Hands.
Jake Bugg Setlist: Strange Creatures; There’s a Beast and We All Feed It; Trouble Town; Me and You ; Seen It All; I Wrote the Book; Taste It; Slumville Sunrise; Simple as This; All Kinds of People; Two Fingers; Lightning Bolt.
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