Lindisfarne and Newcastle City Hall. An iconic Geordie band in an iconic venue. So many memories for me. Please accept my apologies for reminiscing about this band and the venue, but they are both so important to my musical meanderings through life. I first saw Lindisfarne supporting Van Der Graf Generator, with Genesis lower down on the bill at Newcastle City Hall in early 1971. I then attended the Lindisfarne first Christmas concert at the City Hall in, I think, also 1971.
Along the way I saw Lindisfarne many times. The Lincoln Festival where they triumphed with the whole crowd singing along to songs from Nicely Out Of Tune and the Fog On The Tyne albums. The Grangemouth festival 1972 in Scotland where they again got the crowd singing along. Seeing them at Sunderland Top Rank around 1972 and headlining the City Hall two nights in a row, one with Genesis support and the other with Stackridge support on the Dingley Dell tour (a much underrated album). Then the split and witnessing Lindisfarne 2 and the other offshoot Jack The Lad at festivals. The reforming of the band with a magical comeback concert at the City Hall and then back at the top with “Run for Home” and attending a sold-out concert at Redcar Coatham bowl during which we all danced on the tables and the aforementioned single was high in the charts.
The Alan Hull solo concert at the City Hall. Then all the Christmas concerts which I attended during the 1980s at the Newcastle City Hall. Travelling to Carlisle Sands Centre to see their farewell concert. I even took a copy of that evening’s Newcastle evening Chronicle trusted Carlisle; they were fully pictured on the cover and I got them to sign the newspaper. They were surprised as they did not know that they featured in it! Attending a ceremony outside the City Hall when a blue plaque was placed there to celebrate the life of Alan Hull. Ray Jackson’s Lindisfarne played outside at the ceremony.
And then starting to see the newly reformed band a few times, firstly with Ray Jackson fronting the band and more recently with Rod Clements as front man. I don’t know how many times I must have seen Lindisfarne but it is on many, many occasions. And of course, the Newcastle City Hall was, and remains, my spiritual music home. So, you can see how this was such a memorable event for me.
The City Hall was completely sold out and when Jan, my carer for the evening, and I entered the building we were greeted by a brass band on stage playing Christmas carols. Soon a Geordie Santa arrived to tell us a series of rather rude, but also quite funny, Christmas jokes, in the same way that Mike Elliott would do so at the original Christmas concerts. Then the band took to the stage to a very loud Geordie welcome. The set for the evening was very similar to that I have witnessed a couple of times this year already: once in the Princess Pavilion Yarm and also in the Sunderland Fire Station. But this time things were very different. The atmosphere was very different. This was Lindisfarne, fronted by Rod Clements, returning home to their home crowd in their spiritual home, Newcastle City Hall.
The evening was in two parts with a short interval during which a double Jack Daniels went down well and set me up for the proceedings. Santa returned with more Christmas cracker jokes before the band resumed the concert to another massive cheer. The Newcastle crowd who had travelled from near and far to this special event were really up for a great night. We were treated to all the classic songs: “No Time to Lose”, “We Can Swing Together” and my personal favourite “Winter Song” performed perfectly by David Hull– Denholm, Alan Hull’s son in law.
Soon, we were on the home front and the closing songs were: “Fog on the Tyne”, “Meet Me on the Corner” and “Run for Home”. All massive singalongs with the entire City Hall on its feet. The closer was, as it was in 1971 and has been ever since: “Clear White Light”. There truly was magic in the air last night. We all walked out into the rather mild Christmas evening, Jan and I into our taxi and away home.
Many thanks to Jan for the photographs and Chris for manipulating the site as usual.So, that brings me to the end of my 2023 concert adventures. A little rest before I start again in 2024. A Merry Christmas to all of you who read my blogging, and all the best and see you in 2024. Peter
Setlist: Set 1: Alright on the Night; Squire; Scarecrow Song; Statues & Liberties; Lady Eleanor; Can’t Do Right for Doing Wrong; All Fall Down; Anyway the Wind Blows; Road to Kingdom Come; Walk a Crooked Mile; January Song.
Set 2: No Time to Lose; Passing Ghosts; Sundown Station; Dingley Dell; When The War Is Over; Winter Song; We Can Swing Together; Fog on the Tyne; Meet Me on the Corner; Run for Home; Clear White Light, Part 2.
Every year Ian Anderson (who is now to all effects 
After a short taxi ride to Durham station, Elaine, Jan and I joined a train to York. We then had a short walk over the cobbled streets of this lovely city to arrive at The Minster where an extremely long queue of attendees weaved its way around the historic cathedral. We soon found our way to the accessible entrance and, beating the massive queue, made our way into the building. Jan and I had seats close to the front, while Elaine should have been seated quite a few rows behind us. However, and quite fortuitously, her seat had been removed to allow space for the sound desk. The extremely helpful staff at the Minster quickly located her right next to ourselves. I purchased a Jethro Tull Christmas concerts T-shirt on our way into the venue.
I have seen Jethro Tull many times over the years since 1971 at Sunderland Empire, and they are always fantastic in performance, however these Christmas concerts are very special indeed. The lineup of the band has changed many times and is now essentially Ian Anderson with a group of ever-changing musicians, some of whom have accompanied him for several years, some joining more recently. The current line-up is: Ian Anderson – vocals, flute, acoustic and electric guitar, other instruments (the only original member); bass player David Goodier and keyboard player John O’Hara who have both been with Ian since 2007; drummer Scott Hammond who joined the band in 2017 and recent recruit guitarist Joe Parrish who joined in 2020.
Master of ceremonies for the evening was a clergyman named George who was parading around the building resplendent in top hat, frockcoat, cod – please complete with flashing lights, twirling a lovely silver headed cane. He was happy to pose for a picture. Throughout the performance he was dancing and tripping around the Minster across the stage and into the audience. The concert started with a blessing from the Minster cleric and a very fitting performance of “God bless ye merry gentlemen” performed by Jethro Tull, largely instrumental, with Ian taking the lead on flute.
The first guest was a very welcome surprise, none other than 
The final set concluded with more Christmas songs, Loyd rejoining for a 1977 punk classic (which to my shame I did not recognise) and “I believe in Father Christmas” in memory of the sadly missed Greg Lake who had been a guest at a previous Ian Anderson Christmas concert. A very fitting lovely tribute. Marc rejoined to sing the Soft Cell classic “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye” which brought back memories of seeing them in Kirklevington country club (the Kirk) and which was apparently a favourite haunt of his in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Marc was also a secret progressive rock fan when at school so he led Jethro Tull in a rocking rendition of their hit single “The Witch’s Promise”. Fantastic
The end was, as expected, “Aqualung”, followed by “Locomotive Breath” with Marc back to assist with the vocals on a great rendition of the latter Jethro Tull song. And then we made our way out of the Minster into the cold York evening, down to the Tap public house in the station. After a swift drink and a sandwich purchased from the Sainsbury’s Direct in the station, we were back on the train to Durham and then in our taxi home. I was in my bed for 1 AM tired but in the knowledge I had experienced something very special.
Many thanks to Jan for the photographs, Elaine for joining us for the evening and Chris for assisting with the post. A good time was had by all. Apologies for any errors which are entirely my own!
It is quite a few years since I last saw the human dynamo that is 
The Glasshouse website proclaimed Suzi thus: “Influential. Unstoppable. Timeless rock legend. A Suzi Quatro concert is a high-octane rock extravaganza; commanding the stage with her signature leather jumpsuit and rockstar attitude. Backed by her band, she rips through beloved retro hits as well as new material with her raspy vocals and searing bass lines. Quatro’s lively performance and rapport with fans create an electrifying experience celebrating one of music’s pioneering female rebels.” Well, I can’t argue with that.
I arrived in little late after a hospital visit to see my mam who is not so well at the moment. This meant I missed some of the first set. Suzi had no support act and performed two sets with a short interval. Sadly, I missed her singing “Stumblin’ In” which is one of my favourite songs. Never mind I saw her close the first set with a lovely quiet song on which she accompanied herself on piano and a great cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World”. During the interval a double Jack Daniels went down just nice and relaxed me ready for the second half of the show.
Suzi returned complete with leather catsuit and performed a rocky set of her own hits and some great covers. She explained that she has recently released an EP on which she has covered some of her favourite songs. Up on the screen behind her was a picture of Suzi in the early 1970s just as I remember. Fantastic. So we got “Can the Can”, “Devil Gate Drive”, “If You Can’t Give Me Love” and returning to covers, a great version of Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising” and the final encore was a beautiful rendition of Eagles “Desperado”. Suzi can still rock out with the best of them. Everyone was up on their feet and enjoying one of the best female rock stars I have ever seen.
Many thanks to Joanne for the photos and Chris for navigating the site for me.
Set Two: Motor City Riders; I Sold My Soul Today; Bad Moon Rising; She’s in Love With You; Overload; Too Big; Glycerine Queen; Can the Can; Devil Gate Drive.
The Fire Station website proudly proclaims: “A National Treasure and Glam Rock Royalty who have taken the world by storm for six decades, Sweet are at their best, performing all their iconic hits to audiences from every continent, all over the world. From the beginning to the end … Full Circle! Guitarist/vocalist Andy Scott, the sole surviving original member at the heart of the band and the golden thread linking Sweet’s proud past to the present, is still fiercely protective of that legacy today as ever. Understandably he knows better than anyone that the long tours can’t carry on indefinitely, with the band now looking to ‘wind down’ some of their live commitments.” The latter statement is surprising news to me. I’ve never imagined that Andy would wish to wind down at all. This means that every chance to see the band is precious.
Sweet had 15 top-40 hits in the 70s, including their classic 1973 UK No.1 “Blockbuster”. Andy current bandmates are Paul Manzi (lead vocals), Bruce Bisland (drums, vocals), Lee Small (bass guitar, vocals) and Tom Cory (guitar, keyboards). Sweet always blended pop with heavy rock and this line-up is no different. Andy has assembled a class band which is as heavy as ever. I mentioned a surprise earlier on in my entry. The surprise was that the set included, at around the halfway point, a medley of the very early hits “Co – Co”, “Funny Funny” and “Poppa Joe”. I don’t think I have seen them play these songs before. Andy stood back and let his bandmates play these songs.
The rest of the set was as always. Opening with the classic glam metal hit “Action”, moving into newer tracks interspersed with “Hellraiser”, my favourite “The Six Teens”, “Teenage Rampage”, “Wig Wam Bam”, “Little Willy”, “Love is Like Oxygen” and closing with “Fox on the Run”. The Fire Station was packed and everyone was singing and dancing along. Jan and Elaine accompanied me and they both thought Sweet were great.
The encores were “Blockbuster” (I used to always sing the line “you better watch out if you have long black hair” with my friends at Sunderland Mecca because I had exactly that, long black hair, at the time). Another excellent performance by a classic pop rock band. I was back in the 70s and it was wonderful to be there again. Thanks to Jan for the photos and to Joanne for helping me create this post.
Setlist: Action; New York Groove; Empire State Of Mind; Hell Raiser; Burn on the Flame; The Six Teens; Don’t Bring Me Water; Changes; Co-Co / Funny Funny / Poppa Joe; Everything; Circus; Set Me Free; Teenage Rampage; Wig-Wam Bam; Little Willy; Love Is Like Oxygen; Fox on the Run. Encores: Blockbuster; The Ballroom Blitz.
After a pleasant journey on the train to London and a lovely glass of red along with a bacon butty, I arrived at my hotel with my friendly assistants Jan and Elaine. This was followed by a short stay in the hotel, we were up and out again on our way to the O2 by taxi across London. We arrived at the O2 and took advantage of my O2 priority to spend a little time in the O2 blue room.
Time for a couple of drinks and then pizza and chips for me, and hamburger and chips for Jan and Elaine, and we were off to our seats on the wheelchair platform of the O2 with a perfect view of the proceedings. We were all looking forward to seeing 
This truly was a celebration of Madonna’s music and career with multiple costume changes and some fantastic stage settings including Madonna coming down from the ceiling in a cage. There was also a heavy element of what you might call sensationalism and potentially shocking material involving Madonna gyrating with male, female and gender fluid dancers and at one point, dressed as a nun during “Like a Virgin” with images of Jesus on the cross behind her.
This all added to a fantastic performance by a veteran artist. It is many years since I have seen Madonna in concert: once in London’s Earls Court arena with my late wife Marie, once in Manchester Arena with my son, David and more recently (if you can call 2025 recently) for a short set during Live 8 in London’s Hyde Park. All of these performances were tremendous. Madonna is 1 of a small group of ultimate show people who always deliver sensational, challenging performances. When you go to a Madonna concert you know that you will be treated to a party atmosphere and lots of fun! And this concert was no exception.
Bob the Drag Queen opened the concert as a master/mistress of ceremony dressed as Marie Antoinette (resembling Madonna’s “Vogue” 1990 MTV Video Music Awards performance). Throughout the show, dancers appear wearing recreations of a myriad of outfits originally wore by Madonna, representing many of her reinventions. Bob the Drag Queen returned at the end to close the show alongside Madonna herself. Two of Madonna’s six children also joined her on stage, including one who played magnificent piano and another who sang with her, representing her as a mother and celebrating her family.
From Wikipedia: “The Celebration Tour is a two-hour-plus set with multiple-costume-change and more than 30 songs. The show was separated into five different sections: Uptown, Downtown, Midtown, East and West “grids”. According to tour creative director Lewis James, the stage and show also serves as an archive of her life, celebrating her fans, and is a “continuation of her legacy” more than just a biography.”
After the show we had a good discussion about how fantastic this performance was and how career spanning it had been. We also discussed some of the sensationalism which we agreed to differ on! It is fair to say that we all had our own individual views on this aspect of the concert. Nonetheless we all greatly enjoyed it and thought it was absolutely wonderful and well worth the trip to London.
It seemed no time at all before I was back in my hotel, off to sleep, back up again and we were on the train on our way home. A sausage baguette was lovely this time and before I knew it I was back in my own house ready for a rest and further shows in a few days which I will report on soon.
Setlist: Act I: It’s a Celebration; Nothing Really Matters; Everybody; Into the Groove; Causing a Commotion; Burning Up; Open Your Heart; Holiday.
Act IV: Ballroom; Vogue; Human Nature; Crazy for You.
It has taken me a few days to recover and reflect upon my 4th experience with Madonna. This was stunning, sensational in many ways, challenging and thought-provoking, resulting in much discussion with Jan and Elaine for days to come after the concert. Many thanks to Elaine for taking the photos, Jan for accompanying me, and Chris for manipulating the site as usual.
These Boyz Make Big Noize! 
Then a concert at Newcastle City Hall around 1974 when they were at the height of their fame, lots of Noddy Holder top hats and screaming girls, followed by a Whatever Happened to Slade concert at the City Hall where shock horror Dave Hill appeared with a bald head and massive earrings. Next an appearance at Middlesbrough Rock Garden, filled with skinhead fans who went crazy and the band were somewhat down on their luck, followed by an iconic appearance at the Reading Festival where they replaced Ozzy Osbourne at short notice and once again triumphed with the rock crowd, resulting in them becoming heavy rock heroes for several years.
And finally some concerts again at the City Hall and Sunderland Polytechnic. Happy days. Throughout these years they were always a fantastic live act, very loud and much more of a rock band than you would expect. You had to see them to believe it. They were literally one of the best live acts I ever had the pleasure of witnessing.
The concert was opened with support act 
After a short interval during which I purchased a lovely red Slade Alive T-shirt which features the logo from the album of the same name which I bought when it was released in 1972 and played it again and again. It contains the live stage show of Slade in 1971/72 which included a lot of covers like opening song Ten Years After’s “I Hear You Calling”, the Loving Spoonful’s “Darling Be Home Soon” and the closer for which they turned the volume up to 11 Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild”. Magic. If you haven’t yet heard the album I fully recommend it to you.
The current line – up of Slade is quite different to the last time I saw them. As well as the concerts I have mentioned above, I have also seen the new line – up of Slade a few times, including a show for the fan club at London’s KOKO nightclub. Each time they have been great but tonight was a revelation. This time the frontline consists of Dave Hill centrestage, standing aloft on a speaker cabinet, flanked on either side by bass guitarist/violinist to his left and keyboard player to his right.
All three of them sing together and along with Dave’s guitar cranked right up to as LOUD as possible they recreate the sound of the original band. They were absolutely deafening and delivered many of the hits from throughout the band’s career. They finished of course with “Merry Christmas Everybody” complete with Santa hats. Fantastic. Elaine, Jan and I all really enjoyed it. This was the best time I have seen them for many years. Of course it is not the original line – up, but Dave Hill and the boys do a great job.
One Step Beyond! The nutty boys returned with a triumphant performance at Newcastle Arena. The arena was absolutely crammed, fully sold out and everyone was in the early Christmas spirit and ready to party with 
First up were support 
But the warmup was not finished. Between bands an excellent DJ appeared spinning some cool sounds including the original “Tainted Love” by Gloria Jones, a big northern soul favourite from a lady who went on to become Marc Bolan’s girlfriend and was driving the car during the tragic accident which led to the star’s untimely passing; Desmond Decker’s classic “the Israelites” and closing with David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel”. The crowd were singing along and dancing to every tune. Well done Mr DJ.
Next up Madness. I swear that at least half of the crowd were wearing Fez hats as featured in their song “night Boat to Cairo”. From the word go, everyone was dancing around going completely nuts! I have never seen the floor of the arena so crammed. The set was a mixture of hits and songs from their new album Cest La Vie, which focuses on petty crime as was illustrated by the fantastic visuals on the screens above and behind the band. The visuals, actually, were amazing adding much to the experience.
We were treated to all the hits: “Our House”, “Embarrassment”, “The Prince”, “One Step Beyond”, “My Girl” and many, many more. One particular song brought back embarrassing memories. The song in question is “It Must Be Love” which was, of course, written by the great Labi Siffre. Many years ago I was out with Marie, my late wife who was at the time my girlfriend. It was a Friday night and there was no particularly exciting band appearing at Sunderland Mecca or Newcastle Mayfair so we decided to, on the off chance, drive through to Newcastle Polytechnic to see who was appearing at that venue.
When we arrived I asked at the door “Who is on tonight?” Labi Siffre they replied. “Oh no I said I have just seen him at Sunderland Empire (supporting Linda Lewis I believe) and he is so boring!” Well I turned round and facing me was none other than Labi Siffre himself. It was one of those moments when you hope the ground will open up and swallow you. I didn’t know what to say so just paid my money and we went in to the concert, which was actually very good and he was not boring at all! Looking back he was an excellent singer/songwriter and I still feel awful about my comment that evening.
People were dancing up and down the wheelchair ramp in front of us. The encores completed with the aforementioned “Night Boat to Cairo”. Elaine, Jackie and I all agreed that it was a tremendous performance by a band of consummate professionals. Magic.
Many thanks to Jackie for the images, Elaine for joining in the fun and Chris for assisting me in completing this entry.
Update 26 March 2024. Just bought myself a copy of Ian Broudie’s book which is entitled “Tomorrow’s Here Today”. A nice signed copy courtesy of Waterstones. I thought I would add it to this blog entry (see images).
Two bands that I have never seen before. However, on checking (on this blog) I discovered that I saw 
From the tour proportion material: “With the force of a Boston wrecking ball, EXTREME swing between unapologetic fits of fret-burning hard rock and intimately introspective balladry. This dynamic affirms the iconic multiplatinum Beantown quartet—Gary Cherone (vocals), Nuno Bettencourt (guitar), Pat Badger (bass), and Kevin Figueiredo (drums) – as one of rock’s most unpredictable, undeniable, and unbreakable groups whose songs course through the very fabric of popular culture.“
“They’re the rare band whose music has appeared in an actual cult series a la Bill & Ted as well as the Netflix juggernaut “Stranger Things.” They’ve sold 10 million records, topped the Billboard Hot 100 at #1, packed major venues on multiple continents, memorably performed at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in London, and regularly average over 5 million monthly listeners on Spotify. However, their dynamic approach hits harder than ever on their 2023 full-length offering, Six.”
Notwithstanding that excellent buildup of Extreme this was very much a double headliner concert. It is one of the very few occasions where I have seen the venue absolutely heaving for the “support act”. 
Extreme. This is exactly the most appropriate name for this band. Everything about them was extreme! Very loud. Hard rock. Amazing vocals. Excellent screaming screeching guitar solos. Again, like Living Colour, Extreme mash up a selection of styles: heavy rock, ballads, rap and funk. Anyone who went along expecting all their music to be in a similar vein to their best known track “More Than Words” would have got a great big shock. For that particular song the singer Gary Cherone and guitarist Nuno Bettencourt sat on small stools centre stage and had all the crowd singing along.
Much crowd cheering, first finger and little finger salutes, singing along and general craziness. This band were much, much better than I expected. I recognised a few songs particularly the aforementioned “More Than Words” and their other well-known track “Get the Funk Out”. This band wear their influences on their sleeve, playing segments of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and “Fat Bottomed Girls”. “Cupid’s Dead” was preceded by a short segment of Johnny Nash’s “Cupid”. At the end Gary Cherone clambered up onto the balcony to shake hands with fans upstairs. Marvellous. Great fun.
Elaine really enjoyed it. I think I may be converting her to heavy metal. Jan also enjoyed the show. Many thanks to Elaine for the photographs, to Jan for accompanying us and Chris for manoeuvring the blog site.
Setlist: It (‘s a Monster); Decadence Dance; #REBEL; Rest in Peace; Hip Today; Teacher’s Pet / Flesh ‘n’ Blood / Wind Me Up / Kid Ego; We Will Rock You; Play With Me; Other Side of the Rainbow; Tragic Comic; Hole Hearted; Cupid’s Dead; Thicker than Blood; Hurricane; Midnight Express; Am I Ever Gonna Change; More Than Words; Fat Bottomed Girls / Banshee; Take Us Alive / That’s All Right; Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee; Get the Funk Out.
Down to the Doctors again! It has been a long time since I have witnessed 
I saw them several times after that at the City Hall, and the Reading Festival which they headlined on the Friday night one year. Wilko would soon depart, to be replaced by a succession of guitarists including Gypie Mayo. The last time I saw Dr. Feelgood was probably in the 1980s at Newcastle Mayfair with Lee as the only original member. Following the sad passing of Lee Brilleaux, the band continued with new singer Pete Gage and more recently Rob Kane, who hails from my own hometown, Sunderland.
From the current tour publicity: “Dr. Feelgood formed on Canvey Island in Essex in the early 1970’s and have enjoyed a string of hit singles in many countries including ‘Milk & Alcohol’, ‘Down at the Doctors’, ‘Roxette’, ‘She’s a Wind Up’ and ‘See You Later Alligator’.” “Some places are particularly important and highlights on the tour roster. Newcastle’s Cluny is one of those highlights. We have played the Cluny regularly for well over a decade, fantastic crowd, fantastic beer! The audience are right there in front of you, always up for it and so are we! Importantly it will be a fabulous gig and we can all sample some excellent real ales once again.” (Dr. Feelgood Facebook)
The current membership of Dr. Feelgood is: Phil H. Mitchell – bass, acoustic guitar, backing vocals, Kevin Morris – drums, percussion, backing vocals, Gordon Russell – lead and slide guitars, backing vocals (all of whom have been with the band, on and off, since 1983) and Robert Kane – lead vocals, harmonica (who joined the band in 1999).
The Cluny was packed and as Jackie, Norm and I made our way into the venue. First led up was a cool blues singer and guitarist, who played a natty cigar box guitar and warmed the audience up for the main act. I warmed myself up with a cool pint of Guinness which set me well into the mood for the great rhythm and blues which was to follow on from the excellent support (pictured right).
Now I mentioned that singer Robert Kane comes from Sunderland and I have seen him in many local bands and venues over the years including an early performance upstairs in the Londonderry, as a member of the Showbiz Kids in Sunderland Locarno, Newcastle Mayfair and various workingmen’s clubs, and more latterly as front man of a later lineup of local heroes The Animals. He was always super energetic, charismatic and would take charge of the stage and captivate the audience with his presence and strong vocals.
The legacy and soul of the Feelgoods remains safe in the hands of the current line – up. They did justice to all the classics including their biggest hit “Milk and Alcohol”, “Roxette”, “Down at the Doctors” and my particular favourite “She Does It Right”. The Cluny crowd lapped it up. They played everything that I expected them to and more. Their set was over in the blink of a choppy guitar riff. Excellent. I had held reservations about going to see this lineup and whether they could live up to the legend that was, and is, Dr. Feelgood. I need not have worried. The original R&B merchants continue.
Setlist: (something like this) Drives Me Wild; No Mo Do Yakamo; I Can Tell; Mary Ann; All Through the City; She Does It Right; You Don’t Love Me; Damn Right I Do; Milk and Alcohol; Shotgun Blues; Baby Jane; Riot in Cell Block #9; Keep it Undercover; Back in the Night; Roxette; If My Baby Quits Me; See You Later Alligator; Going Back Home; Down at the Doctors; Give Me One More Shot.
The rock legend, rock god, who is Robert Plant continues to follow his muse and play intimate venues such as The Glasshouse when he could be filling arenas or stadiums if he were to sing more Led Zeppelin songs. He has now established himself as part of the band Saving Grace and retains a strong faithful fan base. His fans continue to go to see Robert Plant sing with a relatively unknown female vocalist, Suzi Dian (who has an exquisite voice), and perform a set of quite obscure folk/world/country songs which the majority are not familiar with. I am glad that he does so and I once again came away from the concert feeling so fulfilled, elated and exhilarated.
From The Glasshouse website: “Transcendent. Brooding. May cause swaggering. Robert Plant’s Saving Grace, the co-operative features Suzi Dian (vocals), Oli Jefferson (percussion), Tony Kelsey (mandolin, baritone, acoustic guitar), and Matt Worley (banjo, acoustic, baritone guitars, cuatro). Since forming in 2019, Saving Grace have received numerous acclaims for their live shows with Bob Harris describing it as ‘One of the best gigs I’ve seen in years’ .”
I was due to meet my old friend, John, at the concert. However, a road closure on the A1 resulted in a series of diversions which prevented him from making the journey from North Yorkshire. To my shame, I missed the support act and chose to have a pint of Caffrey’s in the bar prior to Robert Plant and Saving Grace taking the stage at 8:45 PM.
Saving Grace is very much a band. Of course, people had turned out to see the main man, Robert Plant. But Robert is simply a singer in the band along with Suzi. The set comprised songs which Robert, unashamedly, has chosen because they have influenced him and touched him over the years. The set has changed since I last saw this band. There were several more unfamiliar songs, but some have been retained from last time I witnessed them in concert at Middlesbrough Town Hall including the traditional ballad “The Cuckoo” and classic progressive/psychedelic tracks which have influenced Robert including “It’s a Beautiful Day Today” by Moby Grape. This time some Led Zeppelin classics have crept back into the set including “Friends” and “The Rain Song”. And wonderful renditions they were. Lovely.
The stage setup was quite basic with a simple curtain backdrop naming the band and unobtrusive lighting. But the music remains exquisite, challenging, soulful and beautiful. Robert shares the vocals with Suzi and, in many cases, took us through the story of the song and what it meant to him. He recalled old times in Newcastle at the legendary Club a Go Go and an encounter with Graham Bond. It was soon 10:15 PM and the lights went up to signify the end of the show. But the crowd weren’t ready to leave just yet. Everyone stood up and cheered until the band returned.
For the encore we were treated to the Richard Thompson song “House of Cards”, a return to Led Zeppelin and a wonderful rendition of “Gallows Pole”. The final song was performed a cappella with the band all coming together at the front, arms entwined, singing the beautiful “And We Bid You Good Night”. We wandered out into the cool dark Gateshead night, everyone chatting and looking at each other, each of us knowing we had just had the privilege of experiencing something very special and unique. The taxi ride flew over and I was soon safely back home.
During the set Robert made reference to some of his musical influences from the West Coast of the USA including the aforementioned Moby Grape, the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. I will use the latter reference to squeeze in a couple of images of items which I have recently acquired, courtesy of my aforementioned good friend John, who now lives in the USA. He was visiting a charity shop over there and came across a collection of items which had been donated by the estate of Marty Balin, original member of Jefferson Airplane.
John very kindly picked up a few items from the collection including, to my delight and fascination, a recent magazine/comic featuring Alice in Wonderland, on which of course the classic “White Rabbit” was based. A beautiful addition to my hoarders collection.
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