The Kinks Newcastle City Hall 1975 The Soap Opera
In 1975 The Kinks toured their concept album “The Soap Opera”. This was one in a series of concept albums which started with Village Green Preservation Society in the late 60s and continued through the mid 70s. The line-up of the Kinks at the time was Ray and Dave Davies on vocals and guitars; John Dalton on bass; John Gosling on keyboards; and Mick Avory on drums. They were also augmented by a brass section, and backing vocalists. This was very much a Ray project, and met with mixed critical reviews. The Soap Opera explores the relationships between stardom and “ordinary life” It (from Wiki) “tells the story of a musician named Starmaker who changes places with an “ordinary man” named Norman in order to better understand life. Starmaker goes to live with Norman’s wife Andrea and then goes to work the next day, getting caught in the rush hour. 
He works 9 to 5, then goes down to the bar for a few drinks before making his way home. He then is greeted by Andrea whom he tells is “making it all worthwhile”. By this point Starmaker has lost his grip on reality, and he doesn’t know who he is anymore. In the end he settles down with Andrea, accepting that he is now just “a face in the crowd”. The album finishes by saying that although rock stars may fade, their music lives on.” It has been suggested that the story of Starmaker and Norman is the story of Ray himself, trying to understand what it means to be “a star”. The tour presented the album in its entirety. I don’t recall whether they played any other Kinks tracks at all. The setlists that I have managed to find suggest not. I went with a group of mates and I do remember that we all enjoyed it and found it quite fun, but also pretty heavy going, quite silly in parts and somewhat confusing. Setlist: Everybody’s a Star (Starmaker); Ordinary People; Rush Hour Blues; Nine to Five; When Work Is Over; Have a Drink; Underneath the Neon Sign; You Make It All Worthwhile; Ducks on the Wall; (A) Face in the Crowd; You Can’t Stop the Music. I’m not sure who the support act was; I saw an advert for another date of the tour which suggested that it may have been Care Society, who were Tom Robinson’s early band, and were on Ray’s Konk label.
Posts Tagged ‘concert’
16 Aug
The Kinks Newcastle City Hall 1975 The Soap Opera
15 Aug
The Kinks Newcastle City Hall 1972 and Sunderland Locarno 1973
The Kinks Newcastle City Hall 1972 and Sunderland Locarno 1973
The first time I saw the Kinks was at a gig at Newcastle City Hall in the early 70s. I think it must have been in 1972, as it was around the time that the single “Supersonic Rocket Ship” was in the charts. I seem to recall that the support act was local band The John Miles Set. The Kinks live at that time were a glorious ramshackle affair. They often arrived a little worse for wear, but it was obvious that they were having great fun on stage. I saw them again shortly after this, at a gig at Sunderland Locarno, where the place was absolutely packed and Ray and Dave were very drunk. The Kinks were playing a selection of their old hits, and some rock n roll classics, at the time. I found a setlist from a BBC in concert show in 1973 . The songs played were: Victoria; Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues; Dedicated Follower Of Fashion; Lola; Holiday; Good Golly Miss Molly; You Really Got Me; All Day And All Of The Night; Waterloo Sunset; Village Green Preservation Society. I would guess that the sets that I witnessed at the City Hall and in Sunderland will have been similar to this. My favourite song was always Waterloo Sunset, and it remains one of my favourites to this day. Sadly I don’t have a ticket stub for either of these gigs as they were both “pay on the door” affairs. I remember that Ray was wearing a silver lame jacket at the City Hall gig, and that he threw it into the crowd at the end of the show. I was sitting upstairs and was so jealous of the people down the front who were fighting over the jacket, which was torn to shreds. Happy days. I didn’t realise at the time just how important and influential a band the KInks were. But then I guess thats often the way. They were certainly a fun band to see; in many ways I would see similarities in their performances to those of the Stones and the Faces during the same time period. I’ll spend the next few days reminiscing about some later Kinks gigs that I attended in the remainder of the 70s and the early 80s, starting with the concept tours “Soap Opera” and “Schoolboys in Disgrace”.
14 Aug
Patti Smith and Philip Glass The Poet Speaks Edinburgh Festival Aug 13th 2013
Patti Smith and Philip Glass Edinburgh Festival Aug 13th 2013
Laura, David, Shona and I spent a day at the Edinburgh festival yesterday. We travelled up primarily to see Patti Smith perform with Philip Glass in “The Poet Speaks”, a tribute to Allen Ginsberg. The main concert was at the Playhouse Theatre last night, however we were lucky enough to attend a small intimate “conversations with….” session with Patti and Philip yesterday lunchtime. We also took in a stand up show, and had a great, but very long day.
From the festival website: “Two of the pillars of contemporary music come together for an intimate evening of poetry, music and song in tribute to their friend, the great Beat Generation poet Allen Ginsberg. Punk poet and provocateur Patti Smith performs both her own and Ginsberg’s poetry, with accompaniment and solo pieces for piano from founding father of minimalism Philip Glass. Renowned as one of the originators of the Beat movement, Ginsberg’s raw, visceral poems, including Howl, Kaddish and Wichita Vortex Sutra, range from forceful fury to profound spirituality.” 
Our day started early, leaving shortly after 8am and driving up the A1 to Edinburgh, arriving shortly after 11am. We drove straight up the Royal Mile, and easily found The Hub, which is the central point for the International Festival and was also the venue for the first session that we were attending. We entered the main hall of The Hub, and took a seat at the front just in front of the stage. The red sofa in front of us was soon occupied by Patti Smith, Philip Glass and the Reverend Richard Coles (ex Communard, musician, broadcaster and priest). Richard was charged with questioning Patti and Philip who talked freely and with affection of their old friend Alan Ginsberg. It was fascinating to hear of the background to their relationship with Ginsberg, and how they came to start to perform his poetry. Patti revealed that it was Ginsberg who persuaded her to return to performing after the loss of her husband, and she also shared how she listens to Philip’s music while she writes. The pair took some questions from the audience before leaving to prepare for the evening’s performance. 
We spent the afternoon exploring some of the Fringe activities around Pleasance, and took in one stand-up act. The evening performance was at the Playhouse theatre at 8.30pm. Playhouse was packed for the event, which mixed Smith reading her own poetry, with that of Alan’s and Glass seated at a grand piano accompanied her. A collage of images, paintings and photographs from Ginsberg’s collection provided a backdrop to the performance. This was very different to the rock performance format which I am used to, but it was a very welcome change for me. I had a sense that I was witnessing a very special event. Patti started off with one of Ginsberg’s poems and then read some of her own writing; each performed with great spirit and passion. The pair then each performed their own short set. Patti read Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Land of Nod”, which she explained was her childhood favourite, and sang, along with her regular guitarist Tony Shanahan, “Dancing Barefoot”, old favourite “Pissing in a River”, and a great version of John Lennon’s “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)”. Glass then held the crowd spellbound with three short piano pieces. The pair then closed the evening with some further readings. The crowd called them back for an encore of “People Have the Power”, which to be honest was ok, but didn’t quite fit with the evening, Glass having some obvious difficulty in making the switch to the boogie oriented bar piano which was required. A truly great and inspirational evening. We left the theatre around 10.10pm and headed back down the A1, arriving home around 1am.
13 Aug
Kaiser Chiefs Leeds Millennium Square 29th April 2006
Kaiser Chiefs Leeds Millennium Square 29th April 2006
I went to this gig with David and Laura. We had listened to the Kaiser’s album a lot, and when they announced a concert in Millennium Square in their home town of Leeds, we decided to buy tickets. The gig sold out straight away, and a second night was added. Support came from ex-Blur guitarist, Graham Coxon and a curious Japanese band, Polysics. The Kaisers burst onto the stage from behind a massive red velvet curtain and kept the energy levels high throughout their performance. 
They started with ‘Everyday I love you less and less’ and the crowd just went crazy. Front man Ricky Wilson, was on top form, working the crowd and generally going crazy. David stayed on in Leeds, met up with some old mates and went to see the Kaisers again at their second night in the Square. I picked up a copy of FanNaNaNaNaa, the official Kaiser Chiefs fanzine (From the House of Kaiser: I Predict a Riot) (see scan to left). Setlist: Everyday I Love You Less and Less; Highroyds; I Predict a Riot; Sink That Ship; Modern Way; Born to Be a Dancer; You Can Have It All; Learnt My Lesson Well; Put Me on the Cover of Your Magazine; Na Na Na Na Naa; Saturday Night; Heat Dies Down; Caroline, Yes. Encore: Take My Temperature; Not Surprised; Oh My God
12 Aug
Kissing the Pink Redcar Coatham Bowl 1983?
Kissing the Pink Redcar Coatham Bowl 1983?
I saw quite a few bands at Redcar Coatham Bowl in the late 70s and early 80s, usually on a Sunday night. I’m afraid I have no recollection at all of attending this gig, but I have a ticket stub, so I must have been there! Kissing the Pink were a new wave band on the early 80s, and I would guess that this gig will have been around 1983, when they released the album “Naked”. From wikipedia: “Kissing the Pink are a British new wave, dance and synthpop group from London. Their first single was “Don’t Hide in the Shadows”, made with Martin Hannett. After a series of near-misses, their single “The Last Film” reached the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart. Their album, Naked, reached No. 54 in the UK Albums Chart.” And the ticket is a nice shade of pink to match the band’s name 🙂
11 Aug
Chase Park Festival Gateshead 10 August 2013
Laura Smith at the Chase Park Festival Gateshead 10 August 2013
The idea behind the Chase Park Festival is “to be inclusive for everyone regardless of ability. Factors such as remote locations, high expense, access and poor facilities can often mean many mainstream outdoor music festivals can often exclude people with disabilities. Chase Park Festival also aims to helping break down cultural barriers and stereotypes often associated with people with disabilities by engaging with the whole community. The festival uses music as the foundation to get people from all walks of life together to enjoy a fun-packed carnival atmosphere.” 
Chase Park is in the centre of Whickham, a village which lies to the west of Gateshead, not too far from the Metro Centre. This year’s festival featured headliners The Futureheads, Big Beat Bronson and a host of local bands, including our own Laura, who appeared during the afternoon. Laura had some technical issues with her loop pedal, which decided not to work properly on the day. However she was not to be defeated and performed a slightly curtailed set of her echo laiden compositions, her own ethereal vocals woven together to provide both the rich textual background and the main melody lines.
10 Aug
The Kane Gang Newcastle Mayfair November 1984
The Kane Gang Newcastle Mayfair November 1984
I saw The Kane Gang at Newcastle Mayfair in late 1984, when they were touring around the time of their “Small Town Creed” and “Closest Thing to Heaven” singles, both of which made the singles chart that year. The Kane Gang come from the North East, and featured two vocalists, Martin Brammer and Paul Woods and Dave Brewis on guitar. This was a home gig for them. My memory is of a soul revue type show, with a large backing band. Support came from Big Sound Authority. I found a setlist from a gig of that period: Loserville; Amusement Park; How Much Longer; Printers Devil; Small Town Creed; Closest thing to heaven; Gun Law; Brother Brother; Respect Yourself; Mighty Day. Just watched “Small Town Creed” on YouTube. Its a pretty fine song, and brought back some memories of seeing the two guys sing it. This band is largely forgotten, other than for “Closest Thing to Heaven” which was their biggest hit. A CD retrospective has recently been released which includes their entire recorded output, and had had pretty good reviews.
8 Aug
Killing Joke Middlesbrough Gaskins Sat 25th April 1981
Killing Joke Middlesbrough Gaskins Sat 25th April 1981
“Killing Joke lurk in rock and roll’s shadow world where they weave with electronic instruments of mystic fire magical incantations and dark grinding musical shapes that linger in the air like Aleister Crowley’s opium-scented nightsweats” (dangerousminds.net).
And so it was when Dave and I experienced “The Joke” at Middlesbrough Gaskins in 1981. Gaskins was a club in Middlesbrough town centre which played host to a number of punk gigs in the early 80s, frequented by the same crowd that assembled at the Rock Garden, the Town Hall Crypyt and Redcar Coatham Bowl. The first thing I recall about this gig was arriving to an empty ballroom with a large pentagram set out on the dance floor in front of the stage. The gig started to fill up, and the aforementioned pentagram was inhabited by a fire eater, known as “Dave The Wizard” who then proceeded to breath fire at us, while performing a primeval war dance. Dark spooky stuff. This was the world of Killing Joke at the time, very influenced by Mr Crowley, black magic and the dark side. The line-up was Jaz Coleman on vocals and organ, Kevin “Geordie” Walker on guitar, Martin “Youth” Glover on bass, and Paul Ferguson on drums. Jaz had his face painted with black make-up, and Youth looked very like Sid Vicious. And the music was loud, dark, doomy, pounding and relentless. There was something sinister and unnerving about the evening; a power and energy that transcended the music being performed. This was music from the dark side and took punk to another epic level.
From a fanzine site: “NC: Can you tell us about the fire-eater? JAZ: Oh yes, that’s a long time ago. The Wizard, he used to blow fire. He was a real nut case, that guy. He used to blow fire and war dance. He has not done it for a long time. He had some interesting ideas. He blows fire, this is about him not us, but he blows fire, he does not blow it in the sort of conventional theatre-come-cabaret sort of act. He blows it in a very ritualistic sort of way. He takes fire as being your will, your desire, and he uses it in that way, and it was really good at that time, and it just seemed to fit, and that was it” (No Class Fanzine No 1).
7 Aug
King Crimson Newcastle Odeon 8th December 1972
King Crimson Newcastle Odeon 8th December 1972
My memory has been playing tricks with me again. I was convinced that I saw King Crimson in 1974, around the time of the “Red” album. But no, when I checked, I found that I was wrong again, as I often am these days. The concert that I saw took place on Friday 8th December 1972, when Robert Fripp and his mighty band played at Newcastle Odeon, not that long before the release of their fifth album “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic”. This was the one and only time that I saw King Crimson in concert, and I went with my friend John. Support came from Lloyd Watson who I have blogged on separately, as John and I went to see him playing in a pub in Peterborough a few years ago. Lloyd won the solo category of the Melody Maker competition in 1972, appeared on “The Old Grey Whistle Test” and did two British tours, one supporting King Crimson and the other Roxy Music.
I went along to the Odeon that night with tunes from Crimson’s glorious first album running through my head, hoping to hear songs like “In the Court of the Crimson King” and “Epitaph”. Of course, the band didn’t play either of those tunes. I should have expected that, as the line-up of King Crimson had changed completely (apart from main man Robert Fripp) just prior to the tour. The line-up for the late 1972 UK tour was: leader Robert Fripp on guitar; John Wetton, fresh from Family and now coming to the fore on vocals and bass; Bill Bruford, who had just left Yes, on drums, David Cross on violin, flute, and keyboards; and Jamie Muir on percussion. Newcastle Odeon was a massive venue which was far from full for this gig, and John and I claimed some empty seats, which were much closer to the front than the cheap (60p! bargain :)) rear stalls tickets we had bought. The show was not what I expected. It was much more improvisation, and jazz, than rock. 
King Crimson started with a long instrumental track featuring Cross on violin and Muir on percussion which, based on setlists from the period, must have been “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (Part 1)”. Fripp remained seated throughout the performance, speaking to the audience only to announce the songs at one point. John Wetton handled the vocals on those songs that had any. But the guy who sticks in my memory from this concert is Jamie Muir. Muir came from a free improvisation background and “contributed an assortment of unusual sounds from a wide variety of percussion instruments, including chimes, bells, thumb piano, mbiras, a musical saw, shakers, rattles, found objects, and miscellaneous drums” (from Wikipedia). His performance that evening was just incredible. The only familiar song was “21st Century Schizoid Man”, which was was the final track and was loud, dark and very heavy. Overall I left the gig unsure as to what I had just witnessed. I found it pretty heavy going at the time. The set consisted of the entire “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic” album (which had not yet been released, so the material was all new and unfamiliar to the audience), closer “Schizoid Man”, and some free improvisation numbers. I’ve just googled and found a live recording on YouTube of a gig at Hull Technical College around the same time. I listened to some of it, and it sounds great! This concert is another one that seems much better on reflection than I probably realised at the time (if that makes any sense :)). And its also another concert which I would love to go back in time to, and experience all over again. Setlist from the Hull Technical College recording: Walk On… No Pussyfooting; Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (Part I); Book of Saturday; Robert Fripp announces the songs to be played; Improvisation: Vista Training College Under Spot Light; Exiles; Easy Money; Improvisation: Fallen Angel Hullabaloo; The Talking Drum; Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (Part II); 21st Century Schizoid Man. I am pretty sure that the Newcastle performance was a similar set. King Crimson are another band on my ever growing list of bands to see again (if, of course, Fripp ever decides to reform the band).
6 Aug
King Kurt Newcastle Dingwalls mid 1980s
King Kurt Newcastle Dingwalls mid 1980s
I only experienced the majestic madness and mayhem of King Kurt in concert once, at a gig at Newcastle Dingwalls, sometime in the mid 80s; it was probably 1983 or 1984. King Kurt were a totally crazy psychobilly band, who formed in 1981 and split up in 1988. The gig I attended was around the time of their best known single “Destination Zululand”, which was released in 1983. I went to the gig with my mate Dave, and a jolly good time was had by all, particularly the crazy followers of King Kurt. Seeing this band live was like nothing I’ve ever seen before or since. Singer Gary “The Smeg” led the band and the totally nuts crowd through a set of crazed rockabilly music, but it was the extra-muiscal antics which were the most fun. By this time King Kurt and their fans had become infamous for “food fights” at their gigs. The band and their fans came heavily armed with eggs and bags of flour, which were then thrown around, both on and off stage. The whole front area of the crowd was a big mess. We lurked at the back avoiding the deluge of debris. One lucky guy was invited on stage for a custom crewcut administered by Smeg and the boys. But the highlight was a stage prop known as “The Wheel of Misfortune”, a piece of torture equipment the like of which I have never seen since. It was a large wheel on which a lucky fan was strapped and fed snakebite through a tube. The lucky recipient must have drunk about 10 pints of the stuff before he vomited it all over the stage. For the music think The Cramps meets the Sex Pistols meets Carl Perkins meets Zulu rhythms. “Destination Zululand; hum diddle dee dum hoo wah he ho; Come on boys jump in the van; People came from foreign lands; on motor cycles and in vans; to see the latest Zulu band! Destination Zululand; hum diddle dee dum hoo wah he ho!!!” They just don’t make bands like this anymore (although I see that a reformed line-up of King Kurt has just played the Rebellion festival in Blackpool). Wahoo Wahoo 🙂
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