Little Feat Newcastle City Hall 1977
Little Feat played two nights at Newcastle City in 1977, as part of a UK tour. I attended the first concert. There was no support act. The line-up of the band at the time was the late great Lowell George on vocals and guitar, Paul Barrere on guitar, Richie Hayward on drums, Bill Payne on keyboards, Sam Clayton on percussion and Kenny Gradney on bass. Feat were also accompanied for the tour by the Tower of Power horn section. The tour was to promote their sixth studio album Time Loves A Hero. I’d seen Little Feat previously when they supported The Who at their 1976 Charlton concert, but can’t pretend that I was a massive fan; although they were undoubtedly a fine band. To my shame I never took the trouble to listen to much of their stuff. This was still the case when I went to see them with my friend Ian in 1977, so most of the set was new to me. I did of course recognise Dixie Chicken, and enjoyed the concert. This was the band at the peak of their powers, and the show certainly showed off their excellent musicianship. 
I saw similarities to the Grateful Dead show that I attended at the same venue a few years earlier; lots of jamming, top class playing, and quite laid back southern rock. I really should have invested the time to get to know their material before I went to see them. From the tour programme: “Little Feat. Six albums strong, turning the fine edge of their music into a resiliency that has been able to withstand countless setbacks. Little Feat, finally at the juncture of in their colourful history where they’re able to have their cake and eat it too. Little Feat on the heels of Time Loves a Hero. It’s been six years of hard rock’n’roll labour but its obviously been worth it, from the beginning”. Lowell George sadly died of a heart attack in 1979. I saw the latest version of Little Feat at the Sage a year or so ago. Setlist: Walkin’ All Night; Fat Man in the Bathtub; Red Streamliner; Oh Atlanta; Day at the Dog Races; All That You Dream; Mercenary Territory; On Your Way Down; Skin It Back; Old Folks Boogie; Rock and Roll Doctor; Cold Cold Cold; Dixie Chicken; Tripe Face Boogie.
Posts Tagged ‘classic rock’
8 Sep
Little Feat Newcastle City Hall 1977
7 Sep
Jerry Lee Lewis Newcastle Mayfair 1980 and Newcastle City Hall 2004
The Jerry Lee Lewis Show Newcastle Mayfair 1980
Jerry Lee came to town, and the Newcastle Mayfair ballroom, normally a heavy rock stronghold, transformed into a cabaret venue especially for the occasion. The tickets for this concert were relatively expensive, probably around a fiver a pop, or a little more if you elected for the chicken in a basket option. Marie and I opted to pass on the supper, but couldn’t resist the opportunity to see The Killer in action. The Mayfair was pretty full, with a very different crowd to the normal Friday night rock crew. The set was quite short, probably around an hour or less, which is I guess was the norm for a Jerry Lee concert at the time. Jerry was backed by a full band dressed in their very best concert suits. He sat at a grand piano, wearing a pair of shades and cool country and western gear. His set was a mix of country, gospel and the classic early rock’n’roll hits, including Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On, Great Balls of Fire and Chantilly Lace. The guy knew how to perform and hold a crowd, and his boogie woogie piano was pretty fine, very fluid. Ever the showman, Jerry Lee played the piano with his foot, kicked aside the stool and played standing up, and then climbed on top to sing to us. I sat in awe, feeling privileged to witness a true rock legend close up. Support for the 1980 Jerry Lee Lewis tour was J D Sumner and the Stamps, a US gospel singing group who had been backing singers for Elvis.
Jerry Lee Lewis The Generations Tour Newcastle City Hall 2004
Roll forward 24 years and Jerry Lee was back in Newcastle, this time at the City Hall. We’d had heavy snow, and it was on a cold winter night that I turned out for my second experience of The Killer live. This City Hall was packed, with several members of the audience proudly wearing their best teddy boy drapes. By 2004, Jerry Lee was in his late 60s, but he was in fine form, singing and playing a set of classic rock’n’roll. The set was short, probably around 30 minutes, but that was fine by me. What I got was another glimpse of a legend, with the same twinkle in his eye, and the same power in his voice. And his piano playing was as rocking and rolling as ever. 
The setlist for the London show of the tour is (from the setlist.fm site) as: My Babe; Lonely Weekends; Sick and Tired; Matchbox; Proud Mary; Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee; She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye; Lucille; Don’t Put No Headstone on My Grave; Chantilly Lace; High School Confidential; Rockin’ My Life Away; Mean Woman Blues; Kansas City; What’d I Say; Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On; Great Balls of Fire. I would guess that the Newcastle show featured a similar set. I certainly remember that he played Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On; Great Balls of Fire, and the song Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee (great title :)) sticks in my mind. Support came from Blondell, an Elvis tribute act, and Jerry was accompanied by The Memphis Horns and the “All Star Killer Band”.
Jerry Lee continues to tour and play to this day, and reviews suggest that the fire remains. Long Live The Killer!
6 Sep
Lone Star Newcastle City Hall 1977
Lone Star Newcastle City Hall 1977
Lone Star (not to be confused with the more recent band Lonestar) were a mid to late 70s Welsh rock band formed in Cardiff. Their line-up featured ace guitarist Paul “Tonka” Chapman, who had impressed me when I saw him in the early 70s playing in Skid Row (he replaced Gary Moore), and UFO, where he played alongside Michael Schenker. I saw Lone Star a few times; as support act on the Mahogany Rush and Mott (post Hoople) tours, at the 1977 Reading Festival, and on this (I think it was their only) major headline tour. They were a pretty classy heavy rock band. Their music was much more than straight heavy metal; they were quite melodic with shades of UFO and Zeppelin, and hints of jazz, blues and prog. This UK tour was in support of their second, and final, studio album “Firing on All Six”. It was a pretty epic rock gig, Lone Star displaying a level of confidence and a stage show that you would normally associate with a much more established band. However, the City Hall was by no means full; the band were still not that well known. Lone Star performed an awesome extended rock version of the Beatles’ “She Said She Said’, which features on the album. “Bells of Berlin’ was another live favourite. I must dig out my copy of “Firing on All Six”. Young new-comer John Sloman had just joined on vocals, replacing original singer Kenny Driscoll. This was Lone Star at their peak, and 20 year old John was (quite rightly) being compared with Robert Plant. The word on the street at the time was that Lone Star were going to be the next massive rock band. Sadly this was not to be. The band split shortly after this tour, John Sloman went on to join Uriah Heep, and Tonka Chapman rejoined UFO. Support came from Stranger (thanks to Mitch).
5 Sep
Little Bob Story The Rex Hotel Whitley Bay 1977?
Little Bob Story The Rex Hotel Whitley Bay 1977?
Its funny the things that stick in your mind. My mate Norm and I went to this gig around 35 years ago, and yet it is one of the gigs that we still talk about today. I can’t remember exactly when we saw Little Bob, but it was probably some time in 1977. Little Bob Story were a French rock’n’roll band who came over to the UK at the time of the pub rock boom, and then got caught up in the punk scene. They signed to Chiswick records and released an album, Off the Rails, and a few singles over here. Little Bob Story music was a blend of R&B, rock’n’roll and blues, and was quite Stones-influenced. They were often referred to as “The French Dr Feelgood”. Little Bob Story were fronted by singer Rogomme Roberto Piazza, who was a big guy, and the band name was often taken as his name. Their albums, and their live set, contained a mix of originals and classics such as “Lucille” (Chuck Berry), “I’m Crying” (Animals), and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” (Bob Dylan). Live they were a pretty hot rock’n’roll act, and Roberto (or Little Bob) was a pretty great front guy. Norm and I certainly enjoyed the gig and, as I say, we still talk about it today. The Rex was host to many gigs throughout the 60s and 70s, and is a majestic hotel which sits on the sea front at Whitley Bay, in the North East of England. I don’t have a ticket stub for the gig as it must have been a pay at the door affair, but Norm did buy a badge which he snapped for me. Norm says “Long Live Leetle Bob!”.
3 Sep
Lords of the New Church Barbary Coast Sunderland 1983
Lords of the New Church Barbary Coast Sunderland 1983
The Lords of the New Church were a punk supergroup formed in 1982, by the late great (and totally crazy) Stiv Bators (The Dead Boys), Brian James (The Damned), Dave Tregunna (Sham 69) and Nick Turner (The Barracudas). Having seen The Dead Boys once or twice, and the Damned lots of times, this band seemed an attractive live attraction. The Barbary Coast was the latest incarnation of the old Boilermakers club, which is now North Shore, and part of the Sunderland University Students union. The Lords played in a small side room, not in the main hall, and the place was pretty empty. Their music was melodic punk / rock n roll, with a dark gothic psych tinge to it. Live they were a cross between The Damned and the New York Dolls, with Stiv a manic front man showing shades of Iggy, and no fear. Support came from Agent Orange, an American punk band.The Live lp has the following track list: New Church; Livin On Livin; Eat Your Heart Out; Russian Roulette; Fortune Teller; Open Your Eyes; Girls Girls Girls; Holy War; Apocolypso; New Church. I would guess that the set I witnessed that night will have been similar to this. From the rhapsody.com site: “Lords Of The New Church quickly established themselves as a must-see live act due to the wild, death-defying (literally!) stage antics of Bators.” From Wiki: “Bators had developed a fearless reputation in his Dead Boys days and continued such antics with The Lords, the most famous being the time he reportedly hanged himself during a show. Bator’s stunt went awry and he was pronounced clinically dead for several minutes.” Stiv died in Paris in 1990, after being knocked down by a taxi.
2 Sep
Liverpool Express Newcastle City Hall 1977
Liverpool Express Newcastle City Hall 1977
Support from local band Arbre
Liverpool Express were formed in 1975, by members of the legendary Liverpool 60s beat band The Merseybeats. They are best known for their two hits “You Are My Love” (which Paul McCartney once famously declared to be one of his favourite songs), and “Every Man Must Have A Dream”. I won tickets for this gig in a competition in a local newspaper. “You Are My Love” is a great pure pop song with beautiful harmonies, and was quite a favourite of mine at the time. 
The City Hall was reasonably full for this gig, which was part of the 1977 Newcastle Festival festivities. Guitarist Billy Kinsley was playing his trademark Gibson Firebird, which the Merseys were well known for; in fact all three front men played similar guitars, and still do to this day. Kinsley rejoined the Merseybeats after Liverpool Express folded, and remains in the band today, alongside fellow founder member Tony Crane. Liverpool Express were quite well known for a short time, appearing on British television quite frequently; particularly Top of the Pops. As well as playing their own hit singles, I think they also played a couple of Merseybeat hits.
Support for the gig were Arbre, a local band fronted by brothers Phil, Peter and Paul Caffrey who have been singing together for most of their lives, and still do today as the Caffreys. Arbre were signed to DJM records, which was home to Elton John at the time. They were promoted as Britain’s answer to the Eagles, but split after a few years and a couple of albums.
1 Sep
Linda Lewis Sunderland Empire 1975
Linda Lewis Sunderland Empire 1975
Support from Labi Siffre
Linda Lewis worked incredibly hard in the first half of the 70s. It seemed that everywhere I went, I would saw her perform. One of the first occasions I became aware of her was when this chirpy, cheeky but obviously nervous young lady took to the stage to sing and strum her songs early one day at the 1972 Reading Festival. She then popped up as the opening act on a number of concert tours of major artists of the time. I recall seeing her open for Cat Stevens, and Elton John, and there were certainly others. And she also took to the stage of the 1975 Knebworth Festival, sharing the bill with Pink Floyd, Captain Beefheart, Roy Harper and Steve Miller (and of course DJ John Peel).
Linda always came over as a genuine person. She would chat with the audience, and had an engaging, chirpy and bubbly personality. Her songs were a mix of folk, pop and R&B; as a result she was quite difficult to categorise. As the 1975 tour programme explains: “Tonight, ladies and gentlemen you have the pleasure of viewing one of the great contradictions of our time; Linda Lewis. Sounds like a bit of a cheek? When Linda greets you on stage or in person there is an immediate air of warmth, good will and earthy sensitivity. Between those occaional high pitched giggles, there is an outspoken artist who is very much her own woman.The contradiction lies with us her audience. Look around you tonight and you’ll see the kind of melting pot that Linda attracts as her fans. 
There are those who welcome sweet singing Linda, wrapped in delicate shawls, long skins and singing the misty lyrics of her early days. To the younger ones, Linda is the chirpy voice on the Spangles ad and the crooner of ‘Rock A Doodle Doo’. Late nighters have been swayed by her sensuous jazz influenced sets down at Ronnie Scott’s Club twice this year. And across the ocean, her old tim€e soul singing on ‘It’s In His Kiss’ probably has them envisioning her as the British Gloria Gaynor. Giving credit where it is due for diversity, it’s not everyone who has shared the stage with Elton John and The Staple Singers, Ritchie Havens, Jim Webb, Family plus tackled the Knebworth festival.”
By 1975, Linda was out on her own headline tour. My friends and I caught the tour when it called at Sunderland Empire in October 1975. She was promoting her fourth album “Not a Little Girl Anymore” which featured quite a racy photo of Linda on the cover. She had already hit the UK singles chart in 1973 with “Rock-a-Doodle-Doo” which reached No 15; produced by her husband Jim Cregan, of Family and Cockney Rebel. Linda hit the chart again in 1975 with her cover of “It’s in His Kiss”, which reached No 6 and was later covered by Cher. Her set consisted of some of her own songs, and a few covers, including a great version of John Martyn’s “May You Never”. Support act Labi Siffre had seen chart success himself with “It Must Be Love” (No. 14, 1971, and later covered by Madness) and “Crying Laughing Loving Lying” (No. 11, 1972). This was a pleasant evening with two great, and often under-rated, British singer-songwriters.
I lost touch with Linda Lewis as the 70s came to close. I remember seeing Labi one more time, at a Friday night gig at Newcastle Poly Students Union. Its time for me to look for copies of Linda Lewis’ early lps and catch up with her work again.
31 Aug
Krokus Newcastle City Hall 1980 and 1981
Krokus Newcastle City Hall 1980 and 1981
I saw Krokus al least three times in the early 80s; twice at Newcastle City Hall, and at the Reading festival in 1980. There many be other times that I don’t recall. Krokus were a hard rock/heavy metal band who hailed from Switzerland, and got caught up in the excitement around the resurgence of heavy rock and metal known as the NWOBHM. Their line-up (from the 1981 programme) was Marc Storace on vocals, Fernando Von Arb on lead guitar, Mandy Meyer on second guitar, Chris Von Rohr on bass, and Freddy Steady (great name :)) on drums. Support for the 1981 tour was NWOBHM band More, who were at the time fronted by vocalist Paul Mario Day. Paul had sung in an early incarnation of Iron Maiden, although he was soon to leave More, who then went through several line-up changes.
The 1980 Krokus tour was in support of their Metal Rendez Vous album, while the 1981 tour came at the time of their Hardware album. Typical set list from the day: Come On; No Way; Burning Bones; Rock City; Winning Man; Bedside Radio; Easy Rocker; Heatstrokes; Bye Bye Baby; Mad Racket. Encore: Mr. 69.
The programme tells me:” Krokus – Harder than the Swiss Franc! More than 100,000 copies of Metal Rendezvous were sold as a result of the US tour- How many bands can say that on their first time out?” I recall that Krokus were a pretty loud and solid rock band, but I can’t say that I could hum any of their songs. I also remember that they wore lots of leather gear, but then which band didn’t at the time.
Well thats me finished with the letter K. Tomorrow I’ll make a start on covering bands and artists beginning with the letter L. I guess I’m around the half way mark of my task.
30 Aug
Kiss Newcastle City Hall 1983 and 1984
Kiss Newcastle City Hall 1983 and 1984
The next time I saw Kiss they had abandoned their trademark make-up and had plucked up the courage to appear before us all unmasked! (shock horror). What would these guys look like without the scary face paint? Well actually, they looked ok, and in some ways not too different from their onstage personas. Their new look was displayed to the world on the cover of the Lick It Up album, which was released in 1983. Their 1983 UK tour brought them to Newcastle City Hall and I went along with my mate Dave. Although the guys had gone (semi) straight in terms of their facial appearance, the show was almost as outrageous as ever. See the tank that appears on the front cover of the programme? 
Well that tank appeared on stage with KISS on the tour. From the KissFans site: “The stage was still a tank, and the “turret” moved… but there were hardly any pyrotechnics at all! KISS played in some very small venues and the gun had to be shortened for some shows… otherwise it would cut the stage in two!! Not every effect had been kicked out of the show however! The band would still end up on the “gun turret” and the turret would still turn from side to side, puffing smoke. Support for the 1983 concert were Heavy Pettin’, a metal band from Glasgow. KISS were soon back at the City Hall, playing two nights at the venue in 1984. This time the support was exciting in that it was Bon Jovi, who were up and coming and were touring in support of their debut album. 
This time we had seats right down the front, and came away almost deaf! 🙂 KISS were a shit hot rock band in the early 80s, with or without the make-up and the pyrotechnics. For this show, the UK dates had a scaled down version of the US stage show. Two ramps, allowed the band to walk from the top of the amplifiers to the stage. The drum riser was covered with black “fur”, while the ramps were painted like zebra fur. 
I remember feeling the poor cousins because we never seemed to get the full US KISS experience, I guess because of the logistics of taking their massive show around the world, and also because of the relatively small size of the venues which KISS were playing in this country, and in the rest of Europe. But, hey, it was still a great show and lots of fun. Setlist 1984: Creatures of the Night; Detroit Rock City; Cold Gin; Fits Like a Glove; Firehouse; Exciter; Gimme More; War Machine; I Love It Loud; I Still Love You; Young and Wasted; Love Gun; Black Diamond; Lick It Up; Rock and Roll All Nite
29 Aug
Kiss Alive! Birmingham Odeon May 1976
Kiss Alive! Birmingham Odeon May 1976
We’d read all about the weird world of KISS and their outrageous US stage show in the music papers, so when we saw that they were touring the UK we just had to go along. This was their first UK visit and it was a pretty short one too, consisting of four shows in three theatre venues (one night at Manchester Free Trade Hall, one at Birmingham Odeon and two at Hammersmith Odeon). I drove down with a group of mates to the Birmingham Odeon show. Support came from my old favourites Stray, with Del Bromham wearing his silver mirror suit. Stray were touring to promote the Houdini album. I remember not recognising many of the songs, as most were from their new album, although I think they finished with the old stage favourite All In Your Mind. 
Kiss were touring off the back of their Alive! double album and their set was built around that. They came over as a hot rock n roll band, complete with the crazy over the top make-up. I remember us staring in awe of their massive stacks, although I suspect the show we saw wasn’t anywhere near the scale of their massive US stage show, because of the limitations of the venue. And they had rocket firing guitars, Gene Simmons spitting blood and breathing fire; Ace Frehley’s guitar bursting into flames; Peter Criss’ elevating drum riser; Paul Stanley’s heavy posing, and various other pyrotechnics throughout the show. We were all very impressed, although we also thought that they didn’t quite live up to the hype we had read. The programme declares: “The KISS experience. KISS is total sensuality. Thundering rock, intense vibration, and soaring freedom. Penetrating energy and exploding emotion stimulate every nerve to unequalled heights”. Pretty impressive stuff, eh? The volume wasn’t LOUD enough and the sound mix wasn’t perfect, but it was great to see this seminal live act at such an important point in their career. 
We ran into an old friend who was studying at Nottingham at the time, and gave him a lift home on our way back, which meant that we final got home in the early hours of the morning, as dawn was breaking. The things you do for rock n roll. Setlist: Deuce; Strutter; Flaming Youth; Hotter Than Hell; Firehouse (Gene spitting fire); She(Ace guitar solo); Nothin’ to Lose; Shout It Out Loud; 100,000 Years (Peter Criss drum solo); Black Diamond. Encore: Detroit Rock City; Rock and Roll All Nite; Let Me Go, Rock ‘N’ Roll. Wish I’d joined the KISS army! 🙂 (see page from programme to right)
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