Paul Rodgers Newcastle Metro Arena 18 April 2011
This show had originally been planned for the City Hall, and was moved to the much larger Arena shortly after it was announced, presumably because the promoter realised the demand to see Paul Rodgers would be much greater than the capacity of the City Hall could hold. For me this was a mistake. The atmosphere is always much better in a sold out (2,400) theatre as opposed to sitting with a crowd of (I would guess) 3-4,000 in an arena that can hold up to 10,000.
Paul Rodgers has been out on tour quite a bit over the past few years; playing solo, with Bad Company and with Queen. I’d seen most of his recent tours although I did miss out on his last outing with Bad Company. Not sure why I didn’t go along to that show, I regretted it straight away and decided to go along to make up for it.
I arrived in the interval, having missed the support Joe Elliot’s Down n Outz. Bought myself a programme and then took my seat. Paul started with Walk in my shadow, followed a bunch of old favourites: Wishing Well, Fire and Water. The rest of the set was a mixture of Free and Bad Company tracks, with a few new songs thrown in. At one point Paul brought on stage the guitarist from his very first band, Colin Bradley; “this guy taught me how to play”; and they played a great version of The Temptations Ain’t Too Proud To Beg. The man was in good voice and went down well with the crowd; however I still thin that the venue is too impersonal, and we all would have enjoyed it much more in the City Hall. All in all a good night, good to hear some great songs again.
Paul is joined by drummer Jason Bonham for this tour. Also in the band are guitarist Howard Leese and bassist Lynn Sorenson. The bass player for this Newcastle show was Todd Ronning rather than Lynn Sorenson. Markus Wolfe played additional guitar on some of the songs as well. Todd Ronning and Markus Wolfe are both members of a Canadian band named ‘King Karma’. Both have played again in Rodgers band when he did some shows in Canada recently. Thanks to Sir Bawls for the update.
Setlist:
Walk In My Shadow
Wishing Well
Fire & Water
Feel Like Makin’ Love
Mr Midnight
Be My Friend
Mr Big
Run With The Pack
Bad Company
The Stealer
Seagull
My Brother Jake
Ain’t Too Proud To Beg (Temptations)
Shooting Star
Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy
Can’t Get Enough
Encores:
Ride On A Pony
All Right Now
The Hunter
website: www.paulrodgers.com
Marina Celeste and Shift-Static The Cluny Newcastle 17th April 2011
Shift-Static got a call a few days ago inviting them to support Marina Celeste at the Cluny. I hadn’t heard of Marina but advice from Laura, and some web searching, revealed to me that she is “the voice of Nouvelle Vague”, who made their name playing classics from the New Wave music era, reinterpreting them in a bossa nova style.
Marie and I arrived at the Cluny just in time to catch the end of the first support act, Tamara Schlesinger from 6 Day Riot, who played some nifty ukelele. After a short break Shift-Static took to the stage to a fair size crowd and started with IL1 / IL2. This was followed by Get the Echo, Fathers Footsteps Part 1 and The Furrow; all which went down well with the crowd. They finished with Haystacks which got a great cheer and shouts for more. The set was the same as they played at the Sage a few weeks ago, and the sound was equally clear and sharp.
Marina wasn’t really my cup of tea to be honest. Her songs are bossa nova versions of punk classics. Imagine Orgasm Addict (the Buzzcocks) sung in a breathy French vocals, backed by a Parisian jazz cafe type band. Marie and I beat a retreat back home for a drink in the local Wetherspoons.
Van Der Graaf Generator Manchester Academy March 26th 2011
I always found Van Der Graaf Generator a tricky band to get into. To me, their songs range from classic progrock (Necromancer, Darkness, Refugees, Killer) through to others which are much darker, intense and, in parts, almost inpenetrable. So I approached last night’s concert at Manchester Academy with interest, and some nervousness; would I enjoy them after all this time?
Last night was the first time I’d seen VDGG since the 1970s, so this was a trip back in time for me. VDGG were one of the first bands I saw at Newcastle City Hall, on the Charisma 6/- package tour; the support acts were Lindisfarne and Genesis. I still remember parts of that night well, Genesis were exquisite (The Knife blew me away; Peter Gabriel used the mike stand as a gun and shot us all), Lindisfarne went down a storm with the home crowd (lots of singing along) and stole the show, and Van Der Graaf were quite perplexing for me. I remember thinking Killer was great, but also losing my way in some of the seemingly endless saxophone solos. I saw them a few times after that, at the Reading Festival, Newcastle Polytechnic, Sunderland Locarno and Redcar Coatham Bowl, and got quite well into them by the time they split up for the last (for then) time in the late ’70s. I missed their show at the Sage a few years ago as I away at the time, so I decided to make up for it last night, and drove across to Manchester to relive a little piece of my youth.
Manchester Academy 3 is a small, dark venue situated on the top floor of Manchester University Students Union building. Last night The Stranglers were appearing next door in Academy 1 and Peter Wolf was downstairs in Academy 2 (must be great being a student in Manchester!). Upstairs the venue was crammed full with 50+ (and 60+) year old fans fans who were waiting expectedly for their heroes. Peter Hamill, Guy Evans and Hugh Banton took to the stage to warm cheers at around 8.30pm and launched into Interference Patterns, which is from their 2008 Trisector album. Peter Hammil’s vocals were as unique and challenging as ever. He alternated between electric piano and guitar, and explained to the audience that he finds the arrangements difficult (and hence has to work from sheets of music). Guy Evans drumming was excellent, as was Hugh Banton’s organ playing; quite intricate with lots of 70s Hammond swirling. The set was largely drawn from their recent albums, with none of the favourites which I so wanted to hear. But this is a band reborn, with the same values and ethos, but a new take on the music. The vocals are still strident and dynamic, but the songs are more complex, there is more guitar and the trademark sax has departed with David Jackson. I still found the songs challenging and dark; I guess I would have found them easier if I’d listened to the recent albums. Most of the crowd around me seemed to know the new tracks; indeed each song was greeted with loud applause and almost reverance. But actually last night I sort of started to get it, and enjoyed the set. If a stranger walked into the hall last night, I swear they would wonder what on earth was going on: a strange manic old guy singing some weird songs, with a crowd of (mostly) older people hanging on every word. But it worked; the musicianship was superb, the vocals ranged from touching and beautiful to manic and almost screaming. Peter ignored the cries for Killer, Refugees (one guy was shouting for Mike and Suzie!) and Darkness, but actually, that was OK. I finally appreciated VDGG for what they are: superb musicians, complex, challenging, difficult, but ultimately satisfying.
Setlist:
Interference Patterns
Mr Sands
Your Time Starts Now
Scorched Earth
Bunsho
Lifetime
All That Before
Still Life
All Over The Place
Over the Hill
We are Not Here
Man-Erg
Encore – LaRossa
website: http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk
ticket
poster with timings that I took off the wall as a momento
Primal Scream Newcastle Academy March 16 2011
Great set by Primal Scream at the Academy last Wednesday night. This was Laura’s first experience of the band live. I’d seen them once before supporting the Stones at Twickenham som years ago and hadn’t been particularly impressed. We’d been looking forward to this for some time, particularly as we missed their last gig in Newcastle (I had very bad flu at the time and we couldn’t make the gig).
This time around the band were showcasing their seminal 1991 album Screamadelica. Th main set consisted of the entire album, with a few other songs thrown in as encores.
We arrived at the Academy shortly before the band were due to come on stage and took our seats up in the balcony. It wasn’t long before Primal Scream appeared to a great reception from the Newcastle crowd. “Are you ready to testify” shouted Bobby Gillespie as they launched straight into Movin’ On Up. Great stuff this. I was surprised to find that I recognised a few tunes, as I am not familiar with Screamadelic at all. I had a picture in my mind of Primal Scream as a sortof Stones clone, but Wednesday night made me realise that they are much more than that: a blend of dance, gospel and great rock n roll, clearly influenced by acid house and rave. Some great visuals with lasers scanning across the crowd, and loud, but clear sound made this a great show.
Laura declared it X I (think that means excellent), and I can’t disagree with that.
Set list : Movin’ On Up; Slip Inside This House; Don’t Fight It, Feel It; Damaged; I’m Comin’ Down;
Shine Like Stars; Inner Flight; Higher Than The Sun; Higher Than the Sun (A Dub Symphony in Two Parts); Loaded; Come Together
Encores: Country Girl; Jailbird; Rocks
Solid Silver 60s show The Sage Gateshead 1 March 2011
Hi,this is Will, Peters occasional concert going mate writing this time. Peter couldn’t make this concert ‘The Solid Silver 60’s show’, so I took along my 21 year old son Jack (not exactly a fan of 60’s music excepting The Beatles and Hendrix) who wanted to experience the Sage for the first time.
Vanity Fare were on first and were ok, doing the odd tune I slightly remembered like ‘Hitchin’ A Ride’.They stayed on to support all the solo acts who appeared. Things started to liven up with the appearance of Wayne Fontana who had the audiences in stitches with his banter and stories.He was kitted out in a white stetson and suit and was in fine voice effortlessly belting out his hits such as ‘Pamela Pamela’.Next up was Chris Farlowe. Jack and I both agreed he was the best vocalist in the show, our favourites being ‘Handbags and Gladrags’ and ‘Out of Time’. He made us laugh about the time in the early 60’s how he and his backing band travelled from London up to Newcastle to play a one off gig. They were paid £20 and after they had deducted the petrol and the oil (they were using more oil than petrol) money out, they counted out their wages, which amounted to £1.10p each! Dave Berry was really good, recounting his Northern experiences and performing a version of the ‘Crying Game’ as though it was fresh and new. We didn’t really rate Terry Silvester (Hollies) or the Merseybeats in the same league as the previous acts, but all in all an entertaining night!
ticket
programme
Will got the programme signed by Chris Farlowe and Wayne Fontana. (Good man Will; Thanks). Here is Chris' autograph
Beady Eye Manchester Apollo 6 March 2011
Great gig. Miles Kane was a good support, his material sounding a little like last Shadow Puppets as you might expect. He did a great version of the Beatles’ Hey Bulldog.
Laura and I were upstairs in the circle, where the crowd seem a little more subdued than I had expected. Still there was some singing along to the tracks played over the sound system: Satisfaction, Revolution, Children of the Revolution, God Save the Queen, I can see for miles and I am the resurrection (lots of singing along for this one) were all blasted out to us before the main man took to the stage. Everyone was up for it, but not going mental (expect things were different downstairs). Liam had the usual swagger and was in great voice. The set was all new songs from the album, with no Oasis tracks. The new songs sounded great, and everyone around us knew all the words (we didn’t!). A lot has been said about the songs and many comparisons made with Oasis; to me some sounded great (The Roller, Four Letter Word, The Morning Son, Bring the Light) and the others were OK. The anthems are there, we just haven’t got used to them yet.
Setlist:
Four Letter Word
Beatles And Stones
Millionaire
For Anyone
The Roller
Wind Up Dream
Bring The Light
Standing On The Edge Of The Noise
Kill For A Dream
Three Ring Circus
Man Of Misery
The Beat Goes On
The Morning Son
Encore: Sons Of The Stage http://www.beadyeyemusic.com/
Shift-Static in Sound ’11: Electronica and World Rhythms
Saturday 5 March 8:00 pm Hall Two, The Sage Gateshead
Sound 11 is an annual event which showcases the best in local student music and performance. Shift-Static shared the bill at this event in a three band concert at the end of the evening in Hall 2. The other bands on the bill were Dale Burundanga who (from the programme) “play unique arrangements of Afro-Peruvian tunes”, and Hannabiell and Midnight Blue “with their distinctive African-influenced funk and jazz”. The programme said of Shift-Static: “Shift Static combine warped ambient samples with home-brewed instruments and stunning vocals.”
This was Shift-Static’s highest profile gig to date, and the guys had spent months rehearsing and preparing for it. And it showed.
They came on last around 10.20 and performed a short 30 minute set comprising five of their songs. Each song was performed to perfection with Gordon’s soaring, reverb-ridden lead, Will’s jangling rhythm guitar, Charlie’s samples and beats, Joe’s pounding bass, and Laura’s haunting vocals. The music was accompanied by an excellent light and visual show which had been specially designed for the night by Ed (lights) and Mark and Will (visuals), who are Newcastle students. Laura was dressed in a lovely psychedelic original 60s dress which gave out a nice fluorescent glow under the lights.
You can see them performing Haystacks here:
and Father’s Footsteps here:
Friends and family had assembled to be part of the event and the band didn’t let us down. The performance was stunning, and showed how their songs and approach fits well with a venue of this sort. Can’t wait to see the full video.
Setlist:
IL1 / IL2
Get the Echo
Fathers Footsteps Part 1
The Furrow
Haystacks
One Night of Elvis with Lee Memphis King & P J Proby Sunderland Empire 3 Feb 2011
This was an Elvis tribute show starring a guy called Lee Memphis King. I wouldn’t normally choosie to go along to an Elvis show; however the added attraction of my old hero P J Proby as special guest tempted me. Marie also (somewhat suprisingly) quite fancied coming and went along to the Empire theatre and bought two tickets for the show.
Come the night we took our seats in the circle of the Empire. The theatre was by no means full, but a respectably sized crowd of Elvis (and P J Proby?) fans had turned out on a very wet and windy night to see the show. The show started with a few songs from the main attraction Lee Memphis King who does a pretty mean Elvis impersonation. He soon introduced P J Proby who came on stage to a great reception from the crowd. P J has, of course, been in the press of late because of his legal problems relating to benefit claims, which he mentioned a couple of times, laughing it off as a joke. He performed a series of Elvis songs including Are you Lonesome Tonight, How great though art and Lawdy Miss Claudy. His voice is still good, but didn’t sound as strong as last time I saw him a few years ago. To be honest I don’t think P J was on top form, forgetting his words to one song and having to start it again. Still it was good to see the great man again; you have to admire him for still going out there are treading the boards at his age (he’s 72).
Marie and I beat a retreat to a local hostelry at the interval (sorry Lee Memphis).
Uriah Heep Workington Carnegie Theatre 29 Jan 2011
More and more I realise just how much old rock bands like Uriah Heep mean to me. Its a pity that we don’t seem more of them in the UK, and when they do play here it tends to be in smaller venues, and not in major cities. I saw a few weeks ago, to some surprise, that Uriah Heep were playing at the small (300 seater) Carnegie Theatre in Workington as a warm-up for an appearance at a rock show at Butlins Skegness. I decided that it was worth the 100 mile drive to see them again, particularly in such a small theatre. My only hesitation came from thinking about the possible winter weather, and how that might affect driving over to see them. As it happened; when the day arrived the weather was OK, with some frost and snow flurries, but no real problems on the road.
I set off at around 4.30pm to give myself plenty of time to drive over to Workington. The drive was pretty uneventful (except as usual I got a little lost in the centre of Carlisle) and I arrived in Workington just before 7pm. A visit to the local fish shop was in order, and after scoffing off fishcake and chips (not that nice actually) I wandered into the venue. When I got inside the place was pretty empty; everyone was still in the very packed pub which was just over the road from the theatre.
The Carnegie Theatre is a lovely little theatre with an adjoining bar (Munroes Bar I think) and community centre. Its pretty small with around a dozen rows of seats downstairs in the stalls and about 8 rows up in the balcony. I’d bought my ticket quite late and my seat was in the second from back row of the balcony. The show had apparently been sold out for a few weeks.
I took my seat in the balcony for the support act who were Hammerhead. They are a Cumbrian rock band who started in the 70s, and played a set of great melodic rock. Well worth checking out. During the interval I wandered downstairs to the bar which was now completely packed.
Uriah Heep took to the stage at around 9pm, opening with Wake the Sleeper from their recent album. Wake the Sleeper is a pretty good opening song, with the trademark Heep screaming harmonies. The next songs I recognise are Return to Fantasy (great) and Bird of Prey. Hearing Bird of Prey takes my mind back to an early tour at Newcastle City Hall (Magician’s Birthday tour perhaps?) where I swear they announced Bird of Prey as “an old song, that we won’t be playing again”. After Bird of Prey I decided to wander downstairs to see if I could get a better view. Everyone was standing up in the stalls, and there didn’t seem to be any security at all, so I managed to make my way to the very front of the stage. We were then into all the great old songs: Stealin’, the Wizard and Gypsy. It was nice to hear the full keyboard intro to Gypsy again; the last couple of times I’ve seen the band they’ve missed it out and gone straight to the riff. Mick takes centre stage and is clearly enjoying himself. Bernie Shaw is a great front man and vocalist and has the crowd with him on every word; singing along at the top of their voices. They finish with July Morning and Easy Livin’ (always my favourite). Encores are Sunrise (I’d forgotten how good that one is) and we all sing along to Lady in Black. I don’t usually sing along but couldn’t help myself. On the way out I hear a guy next to me say to his friend “that was awesome” (and it was!).
Easily the best gig I’ve been to in a long long time. You can’t beat a recipe of vast experience, great songs, small venue, enthusiastic crowd.
I leave around 10.45pm and get home just before 1am; ears still ringing. When I get home I tell Marie how great it was but she’s half asleep, and she turns over and goes back to sleep.
website: http://www.uriah-heep.com/
Setlist: Wake the Sleeper; Overload; Return to Fantasy; Only Human; Book of Lies; Bird of Prey; Stealin’; The Wizard; Free an’ Easy; Gyspy; Look at Yourself; Angels walk with you; July Morning; Easy Livin’
Encores: Sunrise; Lady in Black
Richard Thompson Sage Gateshead Jan 26 2011
Will and I went to see Richard Thompson at the Sage last week. Will is now well into Richard, having got the latest CD Dream Attic in preparation for the show. I’m afraid I wasn’t so prepared, so the first half of the show was all new to me. However that didn’t stop me from enjoying the show. Richard’s band was spot on, and his singing and guitar playing was excellent with quite a few extended solos. The second half of the show consisted of a selection of songs from his “greatest hits’, a few of which I actually recognised.
Richard has been getting a lot of good press recently, and it is much deserved. The show at the Sage demonstrated just how versatile he is and how strong his songs are. His guitar playing is superb; he is under-rated as a guitarist and is up there with the greats.
Both Will and I agreed it was a great show from a true master.
Band: Pete Zorn (guitars, flute, saxes, mandolin), Michael Jerome (drums), Taras Prodaniuk (bass) and Joel Zifkin (violin, mandolin).
Setlist:
First half (Dream Attic) :The Money Shuffle; Among the Gorse; Haul Me Up; Here Comes Geordie; Demons in Her Dancing Shoes; Crimescene; Big Sun; Stumble On; Sidney Wells; A Brother Slips Away; If Love Whispers Your Name’
Second half: The Angels Took My Race Horse Away; Can’t Win; One Door Opens; Al Bowlly’s In Heaven; I’ll Never Give it Up; Wall Of Death; Tear Stained Letter
Encores: Take Care The Road You Choose; I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight’.
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