Marillion Newcastle Mayfair 1983 & Newcastle City Hall 1984
Marillion came along when we least expected it. They sneaked up on us in the early 80s, playing very unfashionable prog rock, which really shouldn’t have been successful given the mood of the time. But Marillion were true to the cause, and the beauty and depth of their music shone through. This ensured their success and popularity, which continues to this day, despite the departure of their charismatic front man Fish. The first time I heard Marillion, at the time of their first album “Script for a Jester’s Tear”, I was struck by the similarity to early Gabriel era Genesis. I heard shades of “Musical Box” and “The Knife” in their music, and of Van Der Graaf (perhaps “Refugees”); and yet they also had their own distinctive sound. Being a devotee of early 70s prog and Genesis, I made sure I saw Marillion when the “Script” tour called at Newcastle. If I remember right Marillion played the Mayfair on that tour, on the same night as my mate Dave and I were due to see Culture Club at the City Hall. 
No problem, the timings were such that we managed to catch both gigs, calling at the City Hall first to see Boy George and co (which was good fun), and then racing round to the Mayfair Ballroom for Marillion’s set. This meant we sadly missed ex Van Der Graaf front man Peter Hamill, who was the support act for Marillion. But hey you can’t have everything. We arrived just as Marillion took to the stage. Marillion were great that night; the Mayfair was packed and their intricate prog sound filled the ballroom. The set consisted of the Script album, and of course their single “Market Square Heroes”. Fish was amazing at the time, the Gabriel and Hammill influences clearly showing; but he had his own stage presence.
Marillion were back in Newcastle a year or so later to promote the “Fugazi” album, and played another great gig at the City Hall. The last time I saw the band was in 1985 at the Donington Monsters of Rock Festivl, where they were second on the bill to Z Z Top. By then the classic “Kayleigh” had been released, and it called for a major sing a long by the crowd. I haven’t seen Marillion or Fish since the 80s; both continue to gig regularly and retain a strong fan base.
Setlist for 1983 Script tour: Script for a Jester’s Tear; Garden Party; Three Boats Down From the Candy; The Web; Charting the Single; Chelsea Monday; He Knows You Know; Forgotten Sons; Market Square Heroes; Margaret. Setlist for 1984 Fugazi tour: Assassing; Punch and Judy; Jigsaw; Script for a Jester’s Tear; Emerald Lies; Chelsea Monday; Incubus; He Knows You Know; Fugazi; Forgotten Sons; Garden Party; Market Square Heroes
“Do you remember, chalk hearts melting on a playground wall? Do you remember, dawn escaped from moonwashed college halls? Do you remember, the cherry blossom in the market square? Do you remember, I thought it was confetti in our hair?” (Kayleigh, Marillion, 1985).
Posts Tagged ‘classic rock’
4 Dec
Marillion Newcastle Mayfair 1983 & Newcastle City Hall 1984
2 Dec
Paul McCartney Sheffield and Birmingham April and May 2003
Paul McCartney Sheffield and Birmingham April and May 2003
Paul McCartney didn’t tour for quite some years after his 1990 outing, so when he announced a concert tour in 2003, I wanted to catch a show. I bought tickets for Marie, Laura, David and me to see Paul’s concert at Sheffield Arena. He was scheduled to play two nights in Sheffield, and the concert were due to take place in April 2003. We were booked to attend the second of the two nights. We booked a couple of rooms in the Travelodge next to the venue, and we were all really looking forward to the gig. On the afternoon of the show we drove down, checked into our rooms, and set off to walk just around the corner to the concert. Imagine our disappointment when we were greeted by fans coming in the opposite direction, everyone telling us that the concert was cancelled as Paul had ‘flu. We checked with the stewards, but sure enough it was true, the gig was cancelled with only an hour to go to show time. We decided not to stay the night, and drove home, very down about the whole thing. We had also been told that the show would be rescheduled but, not wanting to leave anything to chance, I got straight on the phone to Ticketmaster and booked tickets to see McCartney at Birmingham NIA the following week. I quickly booked hotel rooms and trains, and my disappointment started to lift…
So a week after our disappointment at Sheffield we traveled by train to Birmingham to see Paul McCartney in concert. Sometimes booking late for a show can be a good thing, as promoters often release excellent tickets close to the date of the concert. This was certainly the case for us this time, as our seats were in the third row, although a little to the side of the stage. The concert was just great. Paul played a marathon set, although the time seemed to fly over. Its easy to forget just how many classic songs the Beatles had, and on this tour Paul delved right back into that rich catalogue, playing excellent versions of songs that brought back so many memories for everyone there that night. Indeed, many of the songs had never been played live before this tour. For me the classic Beatles songs were highlights: All My Loving; We Can Work It Out; The Fool on the Hill; Eleanor Rigby; Here, There, and Everywhere; Things We Said Today; I’ve Just Seen a Face; Two of Us. All just great. Massive explosive flares burnt high into the roof of the hall during Live and Let Die. We were so close we could feel the heat, although the fire was so strong I suspect you could feel it at the back of the venue. At one point in the show I looked around the hall and saw so many people singing every word, and so many visibly weeping at the emotion of it all. Spine tingling, classic stuff.
The Sheffield concert was rescheduled for the end of May, and we couldn’t resist going to see Paul again. So a few weeks after seeing the show in Birmingham we drove to Sheffield and experienced the whole thing again. And it was just as good….:)
The band (who were, by the way, first class): Rusty Anderson: backing vocals, guitar; Brian Ray: backing vocals, guitar, bass guitar; Paul “Wix” Wickens: backing vocals, keyboards, accordion, acoustic guitar, percussion; and Abe Laboriel Jr: backing vocals, drums, percussion. Rusty and Abe were particularly outstanding.
Setlist from Birmingham: Hello, Goodbye; Jet; All My Loving; Getting Better; Let Me Roll It; Lonely Road; Your Loving Flame; Blackbird; Every Night; We Can Work It Out; You Never Give Me Your Money/Carry That Weight; The Fool on the Hill; Here Today; Something; Eleanor Rigby; Here, There, and Everywhere; Things We Said Today; I’ve Just Seen a Face; Calico Skies; Two of Us; Michelle; Band on the Run; Back in the U.S.S.R.; Let ‘Em In; My Love; She’s Leaving Home; Can’t Buy Me Love; Birthday; Live and Let Die; Let It Be; Hey Jude; The Long and Winding Road; Lady Madonna; I Saw Her Standing There; Yesterday; Sergeant Peppers/The End
Paul has continued to tour since 2003. We have seen him at Live 8 (2005), Liverpool Sound (2008) and at Glasgow Hampden Park (2010). I blogged on the Liverpool and Glasgow concerts at the time, and will write about Live 8 in a separate post one day soon.
1 Dec
Paul McCartney Knebworth 1990
Paul McCartney Knebworth 1990
The next time I saw Paul McCartney was in 1985, at Live Aid in Wembley Stadium. On that occasion he sang “Let It Be”. There was no sound for the first verse of the song, and the crowd started booing. Paul must have wondered what was happening. I next saw McCartney as part of a multi-act bill at a massive show at Knebworth in 1990. This was the Silver Clef Award Winners Concert and had an amazing line-up including Pink Floyd, Cliff Richard & The Shadows, Tears for Fears, Eric Clapton, Dire Straits, Elton John, Genesis, Ray Cooper, Robert Plant (with guest Jimmy Page), and Status Quo. Pretty strong bill! I won a pair of free tickets in a competition; I think is was with KitKat, and Marie and I went down for the weekend. This was a great concert, which deserves a blog post of its own. I’ll save that for another day, and limit my reflections today to McCartney’s part of the day. Paul McCartney World Tour set out on a worldwide concert tour during 1989 and 1990, and the Knebworth show came towards the end of the tour. It was McCartney’s first major tour outing in ten years, and his first tour under his own name (rather than Wings). During this tour Paul finally embraced his Beatles legacy and for the first time, he played a substantial number of Beatles songs, including some written by John Lennon, as a tribute to his friend. 
The band featured Paul and Linda McCartney, Hamish Stuart from the Average White band (backing vocals, guitars), Robbie McIntosh (guitar), Paul “Wix” Wickens (keyboards), and Chris Whitten (drums). The set at Knebworth was a shortened version to that featured on the rest of the tour, but still featured some great Beatles songs. Marie and I were towards the back of the field; I remember looking across the crowd as everyone sung along to Hey Jude and Strawberry Fields. A great moment, which was then followed by a set from Pink Floyd who closed the show. The programme for the tour is a lavish booklet, which was given out free of charge at the concerts. I didn’t see any at Knebworth, but managed to pick up a copy at a car boot sale a few years ago. It contains the tour itinerary, lengthy profiles of each band member, descriptions of the stage and logistics, and many pages of McCartney’s reflections upon his life and career, illustrated with many photographs. Setlist at the Knebworth concert: Coming Up; Back in the U.S.S.R.; I Saw Her Standing There; We Got Married;Birthday; Let It Be; Live and Let Die; If I Were Not Upon the Stage; Hey Jude; John Lennon Tribute Medley: Strawberry Fields Forever; Help!; Give Peace a Chance; Yesterday; Can’t Buy Me Love.
30 Nov
Paul McCartney and Wings Newcastle City Hall 14 December 1979
Paul McCartney and Wings Newcastle City Hall 14 December 1979
Come 1979 Wings were just mega popular. The single “Mull of Kintyre” had been a massive hit in the UK, giving Paul and Co the 1977 Christmas number one, and it was the first single to sell over two million copies in the UK. In 1979, Wings began a 19-date concert tour of the UK to promote their newest album, “Back to the Egg”. The tour called at Newcastle City Hall on 14 December 1979. Demand for the concerts was huge, with fans camping outside venues across the country to secure a ticket. My mate Dave and I were seeing Abba the night before tickets went on sale, and drove straight back from that gig to the City Hall where Dave joined the queue in the middle of the night to score tickets. The UK tour was originally planned to have been the first leg of a world tour, with stops in Japan, Europe, and America. 
However, it was actually Wings’ concert tour after McCartney was arrested for possessing marijuana in Tokyo. Wings’ lineup for the tour was Paul and Linda McCartney, Denny Laine, and new comers Laurence Juber, and Steve Holley. The set list once again comprised a mix of Wings, McCartney and Beatles classics, although there were not quite as many Beatles songs this time. Stand-outs for me were opener “Got to Get You into My Life” and the just beautiful “Fool on the Hill”. It was close to Christmas and they of course played “Wonderful Christmastime” and “Mull of Kintyre”. Happy days. Setlist: Got to Get You into My Life; Getting Closer; Every Night; Again and Again and Again; I’ve Had Enough; No Words; Cook of the House; Old Siam, Sir; Maybe I’m Amazed; The Fool on the Hill; Hot as Sun / Glasses; Spin It On; Twenty Flight Rock; Go Now; Arrow Through Me; Coming Up; Goodnight Tonight; Wonderful Christmastime; Yesterday; Mull of Kintyre; Band on the Run.
29 Nov
Paul McCartney and Wings Newcastle City Hall 16 September 1975
Paul McCartney and Wings Newcastle City Hall 16 September 1975
Two years after their last visit to the City Hall, and Paul McCartney and Wings were back to promote their new album “Venus and Mars”. Wings’ lineup for the tour was Paul and Linda McCartney, Joe English (drums), Denny Laine (vocals and guitar), and Jimmy McCulloch (vocals and guitar). They were joined for the tour by a brass and woodwind section. This time the set was much longer, and for the first time included five Beatles songs: “Lady Madonna”, “The Long and Winding Road”, “I’ve Just Seen a Face”, “Blackbird”, and “Yesterday”. Great! Denny Laine sang the Moody’s “Go Now” and Jimmy McCulloch sang “Medicine Jar”; a song that he contributed to “Venus and Mars”. I’d seen Jimmy previously with John Mayall, Stone the Crows and fronting his own band, but he still looked so unbelievably young. And so lucky to land a job with Paul McCartney. I was totally knocked out by “I’ve Just Seen a Face” which was performed acoustically. It remains one of my favourite songs from “Help” and it was sooo good to see Paul perform it that night. 
The set was a perfect mix of Beatles classics and new Wings songs. Probably one of the best times I’ve seen Paul McCartney, and it was particularly so because it was the first time that I’d seen him perform classic Beatle tunes (and complete with his violin bass). The tour was a massive success, taking Paul, Linda and the guys to Europe, the USA and Australia (and hence dubbed the “Wings around the World” tour). It returned to the UK and closed in London in 1976 (Wings over Wembley).
Just saw my mate Norm and he reminded me that Linda McCartney was giving out flowers (he thinks they were carnations) to fans down at the front of the stage. Norm was lucky and close enough to be given a few by Linda. He pressed them and kept them for some years, but they sadly disintegrated some years ago.
Setlist: Venus and Mars; Rock Show; Jet; Let Me Roll It; Spirits of Ancient Egypt; Little Woman Love; C Moon; Maybe I’m Amazed; Lady Madonna; The Long and Winding Road; Live and Let Die; Picasso’s Last Words (Drink to Me); Richard Cory; Bluebird; I’ve Just Seen a Face; Blackbird; Yesterday; You Gave Me the Answer; Magneto and Titanium Man; Go Now; Call Me Back Again; My Love; Listen to What the Man Said; Letting Go; Junior’s Farm; Medicine Jar; Band on the Run; Hi, Hi, Hi; Soily
28 Nov
Paul McCartney and Wings Newcastle City Hall 10th July 1973
Paul McCartney and Wings Newcastle City Hall 10th July 1973
My one big concert-going regret is never seeing the Beatles. I was just too young to have seen them in concert, being only 9 when they last toured the UK. So when Paul McCartney started to tour again, with his band Wings, I was determined to see him. However; I also missed the first time Wings played in the north east, which was a “secret” last minute gig at Newcastle University, McCartney and co simply turning up in a van and asking to play. A remember a girl at school coming in and telling me that her brother had seen Paul McCartney the night before (he was a student at Newcastle University), and at first not believing her. Anyway my first real opportunity to see McCartney in concert was on Wings 1973 concert tour which called at Newcastle City Hall on 10th July 1973. The tour was to promote the band’s new album “Red Rose Speedway” and the single “Live and Let Die” from the James Bond film of the same name. Wings’ lineup at the time was Paul and Linda McCartney, Denny Laine (ex Moody Blues; guitar and vocal), Henry McCullough (ex Grease Band; guitar), and Denny Seiwell (drums). The support group for the tour was the excellent Brinsley Schwarz who Paul and Linda asked to accompany them after seeing the Brinsleys perform at the London Hard Rock Cafe a few weeks previously. I hadn’t managed to get tickets for the show which had of course sold out immediately, but wasn’t going to let that stop me. So I went along to the City Hall on the night to try and score a ticket outside. After wandering around outside the venue for some time without having any luck and still being ticketless, a shifty looking guy came up to me and asked me if I needed a ticket for the show. I explained that I did, and he offered to get me into the venue if I paid him a few pounds. I don’t remember exactly how much he charged me but it wasn’t too expensive, not much more than face value. 
I gave him the money and he walked to the door of the City Hall with me, placing his hand on my shoulder. The doormen obviously had “an arrangement” with this guy and let me pass through. I’d been told that once inside I was on my own, ticketless, but that if I stood at the back of the hall I would be ok; which, indeed, I was. So I was in 🙂 !. Hence I do not have a ticket stub for this gig, but I do have the programme and a flyer promoting “Red Rose Speedway”, both of which reassure me that my memory is not playing tricks with me on this occasion. Wings set that night was quite short in comparison to later gigs I saw, and just seemed to fly over. I stood at the back of the City Hall almost not believing that I was actually seeing Paul McCartney in concert. The set was a mixture of Wings and McCartney songs and a couple of Denny Laine tracks. Stand-outs for me were Maybe I’m Amazed, Live and Let Die and Hi Hi Hi. I was surprised that they played the Moody’s “Go Now”, which was just great to hear. They also played Denny’s song “Say You Don’t Mind” which had been a hit in 1972 for Colin Blunstone. The closest that we got to a Beatles song was the encore, which was Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally”, which Paul used to play with the fab four. A great concert, and I was buzzing and on a high for days afterwards. Setlist: Soily; Big Barn Bed; When the Night; Seaside Woman; Wild Life; Little Woman Love; C Moon; Maybe I’m Amazed; My Love; Live and Let Die; Go Now; Say You Don’t Mind; The Mess; Hi, Hi, Hi. Encore: Long Tall Sally. Paul quote from the programme” “Performing hasn’t changed any since I last went out. It’s just a different band and different material. It could never change. Performing is performing. It’s still just you singing a song….”
25 Nov
Bob Dylan 24th Nov 2013 Blackpool Opera House
Bob Dylan 24th Nov 2013 Blackpool Opera House
This was my first visit to Blackpool, and it was for a pretty special occasion. Laura and I were going to see the one and only Bob Dylan in concert at the Blackpool Opera House. This was my 16th Bob Dylan concert experience, and Laura’s second. For the first time, I’d struck real lucky and managed to score front row seats. I bought the tickets the minute that they went on sale, and was amazed to find that we were sitting right down front :). We set off for Blackpool around 3pm and arrived just before 6pm, after a nice drive over the A66 and down the M6. I could see the Blackpool tower lit up from miles away as we drove in. The Opera House was quite easy to locate, being part of the Winder Gardens Complex, right in the centre of town. We ran into some old friends, had a chat about Dylan, and there was just time for a quick Italian meal before show time. We also spent a little time hunting for a stick of Blackpool rock to take back for Marie, but everything was closed on a Sunday night, so we sadly failed in that task. Dylan is on a short tour of the UK, calling at Glasgow, Blackpool and the Albert Hall; playing three nights at each venue. This is his first visit to Blackpool, and it seemed a little strange, but very welcome choice. Actually having said that, it does sort of fit. There is a feeling of old grandeur about Blackpool, a mix of greatness, tradition and the past, yet a validity within the present; all of which sits well with the legend that is Dylan. I can imagine him wandering the streets and arcades. I wonder if he did ….?
Last night was the final night of Dylan’s three consecutive shows in the venue. The Opera House is a lovely ornate hall, which holds just short on 3,000 people, and reminded me of the Odeon cinemas I would visit as a kid. Its a small intimate venue, compared to the arenas which Dylan normally plays when he comes to the UK. In recent concerts, Dylan has been playing a lot of tracks from his latest album, Tempest, with a few classics thrown in; so Laura and I knew what to expect.
Dylan and his band came on stage at 7.30pm prompt without any introduction. The opening song was “Things Have Changed”, a song from the film Wonder Boys, which was released as a single in 2000. It was clear from the start that Bob was on good form and in good voice, and the sound was crisp and clear from where we sat (there had been reports of poor sound on the first night in Blackpool). It was great to have such a close and unobstructed view of Bob and his Band. Dylan alternated between standing at the mike centre stage (no guitar this tour), and playing a small grand piano which was to stage right. His band are excellent and feature three guitarists; Stu on acoustic rhythm, Charlie on electric lead, and Donnie on pedal steel, mandolin, banjo and violin. On the last couple of occasions I’ve seen Bob Dylan in concert, his voice has sounded stronger than it has for many years. He seems to have a settled into a deep, snarling raspy groove, not unlike Tom Waits. This gives the songs a dark, bluesy feel. There is more emotion in his voice, you know that he means every phrase. 
The set was, as expected, drawn largely from Tempest. I have the album, and have played it a number of times, but I can’t say that the songs are yet familiar to me. However, last night they sounded good, as did old favourites “She Belongs to Me”, “Tangled up in Blue” and “Simple Twist of Fate”. The encore was a great version of “All Along the Watchtower” with a slower, moodier arrangement than the usual rockier version that Dylan has been playing recently, and a new song “Roll on John”, which is about John Lennon. This was a surprise, as the last song has been “Blowing in the Wind” on other nights of the tour. The crowd cheered loudly when he started “Roll on John”; its a crowd favourite already and the end of each verse was the cue for another cheer. Bob spoke to the crowd only once, to announce the intermission. He seemed in a good mood and quite animated at times, with some staccato leg movements while he was at the mike, and some little twists while at the piano. A great performance, by a legend that just continues to please. The show finished around 9.45pm, and we were home shortly before 1am. 
Setlist: Things Have Changed; She Belongs To Me; Beyond Here Lies Nothin’; What Good Am I?; Duquesne Whistle; Waiting For You; Pay In Blood; Tangled Up In Blue; Love Sick. Intermission. High Water (For Charley Patton); Simple Twist Of Fate; Early Roman Kings; Forgetful Heart; Spirit On The Water; Scarlet Town; Soon After Midnight; Long And Wasted Years. Encore: All Along The Watchtower; Roll on John.
Bob Dylan – vocals, piano, harp. Band: Tony Garnier – bass; George Recile – drums; Stu Kimball- rhythm guitar; Charlie Sexton – lead guitar; Donnie Herron – banjo, electric mandolin, pedal steel, lap steel, violin
“Doctor, doctor, tell me the time of day; Another bottle’s empty; Another penny spent; He turned around and he slowly walked away; They shot him in the back and down he went.
Shine your light, move it on, you burn so bright, roll on John.
From the Liverpool docks to the red light Hamburg streets; Down in the quarry with the Quarrymen.”
(Bob Dylan, Roll On John, 2012)
24 Nov
The Mission Newcastle City Hall 1987 and 1988
The Mission Newcastle City Hall 1987 and 1988
I saw the Mission on four occasions during ’87 and ’88; three times at Newcastle City Hall, and supporting U2 at Edinburgh Murrayfield Stadium (in August 1987). They were a mesmerising live act, whose set included dark, heavy rock, psych, and some great cover versions. The first time I saw them was 20th March 1987 at the City Hall. The support act was All About Eve, who were to go on to achieve success in their own right. They opened with a great heavy-psych version of The Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows”, which set the mood for the rest of the gig. Their own material was all jangling guitars, swirling rhythms, and dark, deep goth vocals from front man Wayne Hussey. He formed the Mission after spells with Pauline Murray’s Invisible Girls, and the Sisters of Mercy.
Hussey was simply a revelation on stage, there was a unique connection between him and the fans; he took control of the entire hall and everyone joined together in a swirling, sprawling mass of music and celebration. Wayne would dance around like a dervish, all in black, lots of jewelry, wearing a wide brimmed hat, sometimes throwing read roses into the audience. The stage set would feature dark, heavy imagery and the song titles themselves conveyed gothic messages from a darker world: “Serpent’s Kiss”, “Sacrilege”, “Blood Brother”: all quite deep, dark, doomy stuff (but great :)). There was a strong feeling of camaraderie at a Mission gig. The band had a group of intensely loyal fans, known as the Eskimos (not sure why ?), who travelled to every gig and were always down the front clambering on top of each other and diving on stage to dance with the band. The classic line-up was singer/ guitarist Hussey, bassist Craig Adams, lead guitarist Simon Hinkler and drummer Mick Brown. Live favourites of mine at the time were: a great cover of Free’s “Wishing Well”, the single “Severina” and “Serpents Kiss”. For the gig on 4th March 1988 the support act was Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, and on 29th November 1988 it was The Mighty Lemon Drops. These were wild, joyous, nights with a strong happy, family feel about them. There was a sense of occasion, of being part of something special and quite stunning; a oneness of band and audience, an intensity and passion; very very different to any other gigs at the time. The Mission were, without a doubt, one of the best live acts around during the late 80s. 
Set list from March 1987: Tomorrow never knows, Stay with me, Garden of delight, Like a hurricane, Let sleeping dogs die, Severina, Serpents kiss, Over the hills and far away, Sacrilege, wake, Blood brother, 1969, Love me to death, Wasteland, Wishing well, Shelter from the storm.
Setlist from March 1988: Beyond the pale, And the dance goes on, Like a hurricane, Child’s play, Serpents kiss, Garden of delight, Tower of strength, The crystal ocean, Dream on, Sacrilege, Wasteland, 1969, Wishing well, Blood brother, Love me to death, Shelter from the storm.
Setlist from November 1988: Wasteland, Serpents kiss, Severina, Belief, Stay with me, Kingdom come, Deliverance, Tower of strength, The crystal ocean, The grip of disease, Dream on, Sacrilege, 1969, Beyond the pale, Like a hurricane, Child’s play, Dancing barefoot, Gone to the devil (Hungry as the hunter), Shelter from the storm /
Rain.
PS I found an explanation of the name “The Eskimos” on a forum. Apparently the group of fans was originally called “the Missionaries”. At one point when travelling through Europe, a customs guy called one of the group an “eskimo” when going throught a checkpoint, and the name stuck. Not sure that makes me any the wiser, however :).
22 Nov
Motorhead 1981 & 1982 Newcastle City Hall and 1984 Newcastle Mayfair
Motorhead 1981 & 1982 Newcastle City Hall and 1984 Newcastle Mayfair
Motorhead continued to be massively popular with rock fans throughout the early 80s, selling out multiple nights at concert halls up and down the country. I saw them live a couple of more times at the City Hall, in 1981 and 1982. Their next album “Iron Fist” was released in 1982 and they toured again to promote it. 
Their shows continued to be a feast of heavy, loud, fast, high energy rock’n’roll, with front man Lemmy always on good form. But things were soon to fall apart. Fast Eddie left the band in 1983, followed shortly by Phil Taylor. 
By the time I saw Motorhead again at Newcastle Mayfair in 1984, the line-up featured Lemmy, Phil “Wizzö” Campbell and Würzel on guitars, and Pete Gill on drums. Campbell remains with the band to this day. 
The new line-up put on a good performance at the Mayfair and I enjoyed the gig. But things were not quite the same. It was 26 years until I saw Motorhead again, at the City Hall in 2010. I blogged about that gig at the time. t was great to see them again, and in many ways nothing had changed. Lemmy came on stage and told us: “We are Motorhead and we play Rock and Roll”. Lemmy: “Is it loud enough?” Crowd: “No!!!”. Lemmy: “Then we’ll turn it up. I don’t f***ing care if you go deaf. I’m f***ing deaf already”. Lemmy hasn’t been too well of late, and their 2013 tour has been postponed until 2014. Hope he’s soon better. It’s characters like him that brighten up rock’n’roll. That concludes my memories of Motorhead; tomorrow I’ll move on to other concert memories.
21 Nov
Motorhead Live Newcastle Mayfair October 30th 1980 The Ace of Spades !
Motorhead Live Newcastle Mayfair The Ace of Spades !
By 1980 Motorhead had become a massive live attraction, selling out everywhere they played. During the Summer the band headlined “The Over The Top Heavy Metal Brain Damage Party” (great title for a rock concert) at Bingley Hall, Staffordshire. A comic programme, which featured “The Overwhelming Motorhead” in “Rock Commando” was produced especially for (reportedly exclusive) distribution at their Bingley Hall concert. I didn’t attend the gig (at least I don’t think I did, unless perhaps the Heavy Metal Brain Damage really has got to me 🙂 ) but I have a copy of the comic which I must have brought at a later gig, probably at the Mayfair later that year. The comic was written by Klaus Blum with a section from Alan Burridge of Motorheadbangers, and features a great comic strip adventure with our heroes in a futuristic England and France. 
During the Summer of 1980, Motorhead went into the studio again to record the ‘Ace Of Spades’ album, and took it out on tour throughout the UK in the Autumn. This time they called at Newcastle Mayfair, rather than the City Hall. The Mayfair was in fact a much more natural choice of venue for Motorhead. It was a home for heavy rock in the 70s and 80s and their music was much better suited to a packed ballroom. Motorhead filled the Mayfair for two nights that year; 
I attended the gig on Thursday 30th October, which was the second of the two nights. Support came from NWOBHM band Weapon. I remember being right down the front for this gig. It was absolutely deafening and my ears were ringing for days, which seemed to me to be a badge of honour at the time. The tour was entitled “Ace Up Your Sleeve”. The front cover of the tour programme features a similar image of the band to the “Ace of Spades” lp cover, with Lemmy and the gang looking very sharp and cool, dressed as cowboys. The ‘Arizona desert-style’ pictures were apparently actually taken during a photo session at a sandpit in Barnet! “Ace of Spades” is seen as the definitive Motorhead album, and was their biggest album chart success. These guys were at the height of their powers in the late 70s and early 80s, and were an excellent live act who bridged classic heavy rock, punk and the NWOBHM.
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