Wham! The Final Wembley Stadium 28th June 1986
Support from Gary Glitter and Nick Heyward.
Im May 1986 Wham! announced that they were to split and that they would play one final concert at Wembley Stadium. My mate Dave and I decided to go and see Wham! for one last time. I remember the journey to London well, as we decided that, instead of using the train as we often did when going to concerts in the capital, this time we would try out the North East’s new(ish) Non-stop Clipper bus service. The service was advertised quite heavily on TV at the time with a cheesy tune: “From Newcastle to London, from London back home….Non-stop Clipper, here it comes!” The Non-stop Clipper was a double decker bus, converted for longer journeys with a toilet and somewhere to sell stotties 🙂 but it was basically still a standard double decker bus. We decided to sit right up front on the top deck, to get the most out of our Non-stop Clipper experience. Now, I can tell you, it’s quite a strange, disconcerting experience, sitting up there on the top deck, overlooking the motorway, cruising for a few hours. Nonetheless it got us to London safe and on time and also at a fraction of the price of the train. I think we took a bus very early in the morning, which got us down to London early afternoon. Then we made our way across London to join 72,000 eager Wham! fans.
The show was a big celebration of Wham! and featured a career-spanning set of hits, and special guest appearances from Elton John who sang Candle in the Wind with George, and Simon le Bon who joined the duo for the encore. There was also a screening of the new Wham! film, Foreign Skies, which was shot during their tour of China. Support came from now disgraced star Gary Glitter and ex Haircut 100 front man Nick Heyward. There were big video screens and two giant walkways for George and Andrew to get close to the adoring crowd who screamed and screamed. There were also many tears, particularly during the last songs, as the reality hit home that this was the last time we would all see Wham! And then it was over. And this was one final that really was final. No reunion tour (not yet anyway). We made our way out of the packed stadium, wandered down Wembley Way with the crowds, and across to Victoria where we boarded our trusty midnight Non-stop Clipper which took us back up North and home. We arrived back early Sunday morning.
Setlist: Everything She Wants; Club Tropicana; Heartbeat; Battlestations; Bad Boys; If You Were There; The Edge of Heaven; Candle in the Wind (with Elton John); Credit Card Baby; Like a Baby; Love Machine; Where Did Your Heart Go?; Why (Carly Simon cover); Last Christmas; Wham! Rap; A Different Corner; Freedom; Careless Whisper; Young Guns (Go for It!); Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
Encore: I’m Your Man (with Simon Le Bon)
That concludes my coverage of Wham! Back to some rock tomorrow 🙂
Posts Tagged ‘concerts’
16 Jan
Wham! The Final Wembley Stadium 28th June 1986
15 Jan
Wham! Whitley Bay Ice Rink 11th Dec 1984 The Big Tour
Wham! Whitley Bay Ice Rink 11th Dec 1984 The Big Tour
Support act: Pepsi and Shirley; DJ Gary Crowley.
A year later and Wham! were back. This time, for their visit to the North East, they played three sold out shows at the massive cold, and cavernous, Whitley Bay Ice Rink. I attended the second show. The tour was entitled “The Big Tour” in support of their second album “Make it Big”. By now Wham! weren’t just big; they were a massively successful chart act and a hot concert attraction. They had reached the No. 1 spot in the UK singles charts on three occasions (three No. 1s in a row, in fact) with “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”, “Careless Whisper” (George Michael solo) and “Freedom”, and they had just released the Christmas single “Last Christmas” which reached No. 2.
Whitley Bay Ice Rink is situated near Newcastle and is the home of the Whitley Warriors ice hockey team. In the 1980s it was the North East’s main rock concert venue, and remained so until Newcastle Arena opened in 1995. By the 1980s each city wanted its own arena, so venues which were not ideal were used for large concerts as acts outgrew theatres and civic halls. Whitley Bay Ice Rink started hosting concerts with a show by the Jam in 1982 followed by AC/DC, The Cure, Kylie Minogue, Oasis, Take That and others. Standing on top of an ice rink covered in wooden boards was not the best setting for a gig, and it was always very cold, and the sound wasn’t great.
However the kids who poured into the Ice Rink to see Wham! didn’t care how cold it was; they were getting to see their heroes. The gig was a wild affair with lots of screaming girls, and George and Andrew performing all their hits. By now it was very much about George, and the loudest screams were reserved for him, particularly when he sang “Careless Whisper”. The concert was an all standing affair; and I spent the evening wandering around the hall, surrounded by 8,000 screaming girls. The show was great fun, and it was an experience to witness Wham! at the peak of their sucess.
The next time I saw the duo was at Live Aid at Wembley Stadium on 13th July 1985. George Michael sang “Dont let the sun go down on me” with Elton John while Andrew Ridgeley joined Kiki Dee in the row of backing singers. I saw them one further time, at their Final concert, again at Wembley, a year later in 1986. I’ll write about that concert tomorrow to conclude my Wham! series.
14 Jan
Wham! Newcastle City Hall 15th Oct 1983 The Club Fantastic Tour
Wham! Newcastle City Hall 15th Oct 1983
Real guilty pleasure time; this is. I have to admit to secretly liking Wham! in the ’80s, and going to see them not once, not twice, but three times. So, for my sins, over the next three days I am going to reflect on those three experiences, at least two of which were actually pretty great fun. I’ll start today with my Wham! live initiation, which was the “Club Fantastic Tour” when it called at Newcastle City Hall in 1983.
I’d seen George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley on Top of the Pops performing “Young Guns (Go for It!)” and thought they were good fun. They seemed to burst onto the scene as a pure pop alternative to some of the more serious bands of the time. By the end of 1983, Wham! were competing against the Durannies and Boy George and Culture Club as Britain’s biggest new pop act, and their début LP “Fantastic” spent two weeks at No. 1 in the UK album charts in 1983. I’d been to see most of the other top pop acts of the period, so when Wham! announced a tour I decided to go along to the City Hall concert, which quickly sold out. The tour was sponsored by Fila Sportswear, and George and Andrew modelled Fila clothes on stage. They were both dressed all in white, their t-shirts emblazoned with “Wham!” and wearing white shorts, down which they famously placed shuttlecocks (or at least the press claimed so).
They were augmented by a full band (with a rhythm and brass section), and backing vocalists including the two legendary dancers/singers Pepsi and Shirlie (one of their earlier backing singers, Dee (D C Lee) had defected to the Style Council by the time of the tour, and later married Paul Weller). The keyboard player in the band was Tommy Eyre from Joe Cocker’s Grease Band who provided the swirling Hammond sound on the UK chart-topper “With A Little Help From My Friends”.
The concert started with an hour or so of dance records played by the tour resident DJ and compere, Gary Crowley. Wham! played two sets (featuring several costume changes), and between the two spots they showed us home videos of our two heroes. George had a solo spot to sing “Careless Whisper” over a taped backing track, and the show featured all the hits. It was actually great fun (honest 🙂 ) and there was lots of dancing going on, while I stood quietly observing, and yet secretly enjoying the whole thing. Don’t they both look so young on the cover of the programme. And remember at this time, Wham! were truly a duo, with George and Andrew sharing equal billing. The programme presents the band as fun, but serious, white soul / dance act; which to give them credit, I guess they were. I found a flyer in the programme for a concert by K C and the Sunshine band which took place at the City Hall the following week. Now I bet that was a fun night too.
Setlist: Young Guns (Go for It!); Club Tropicana; Blue; Wham! Rap; A Ray of Sunshine; Careless Whisper; Bad Boys; Love Machine; Nothing Looks the Same in the Light; Come On!; Wham! Rap; Good Times.
More guilty pleasures tomorrow, I’m afraid.
13 Jan
Steve Winwood York Barbican Centre 3rd March 2004
Steve Winwood York Barbican Centre 3rd March 2004
The next time I saw Steve Winwood was more than 20 years later at a concert at York Barbican Centre. David was a student at Leeds at the time, and I drove down to York and met him at York station. This was my second visit to the Barbican, having been there once before to see Jethro Tull. The concert was all standing with a modest crowd gathered to see Winwood. Although the ticket lists “Special Guests”, I am pretty sure that this wasn’t the case and that there was no support act, with Steve playing two sets. The concert was very much a run through his career from the ’60s onward, with selections from his time in The Spencer Davis Group, Blind Faith, Traffic and his solo work. The concert came at the time of his eight solo album “About Time” and he was accompanied by an excellent band with heavy use of percussion, which reminded me of the Rebop era Traffic. A great show and a chance to get very close to a legend.
Based on a setlist from the London show on the same tour it is likely that the set was something like this:
Set 1. Pearly Queen (Traffic); Different Light; Cigano (for the Gypsies); Empty Pages (Traffic); Can’t Find My Way Home (Blind Faith); Crossroads; I’m a Man (Spencer Davis); Glad (Traffic); Freedom Rider (Traffic).
Set 2: Talking Back to the Night; Bully; Higher Love; Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring (Traffic); Keep On Running (Spencer Davis Group); Back in the High Life Again; Dear Mr. Fantasy (Traffic); Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (Traffic).
Encore: Why Can’t We Live Together?; Gimme Some Lovin’ (Spencer Davis Group)
Band: Steve Winwood (vocals, Hammond), José Piresde de Almeida Neto (guitar), Walfredo Reyes, Jr. (drums, percussion), Karl Vanden Bossche (congas), Richard Bailey (timbales), Karl Denson (sax, flute).
I’ve seen Steve Winwood a couple of times since then, once at the Sage and once at Wembley Arena when he toured with Eric Clapton, and I’ve already blogged about those concerts.
12 Jan
Steve Winwood Newcastle City Hall 6th July 1983
Steve Winwood Newcastle City Hall 6th July 1983
This was Steve Winwood’s first full solo tour, and was in support of his third solo album “Talking Back to the Night”. Winwood was on a high at the time; having had considerable success with his first two albums “Winwood” and “Arc of a Diver’ and chart hits with “While You See a Chance” and “Valerie”. He had recorded the albums at his home in Gloucestershire playing all instruments himself, and this was the first time that he had gone out and played the songs live in concert with a band. I went along with my mate Ian and we were secretly hoping that he might play a clutch of Traffic and Spencer Davis Group songs. We had seats close to the stage and a great view of Winwood, and his excellent band and he did indeed play some of those songs we were hoping for later in the concert. I wasn’t familiar with a lot of Steve’s solo material apart from the singles, but was pleasantly surprised by how quickly I got into the new songs. Winwood is one of our top artists from the 60s, with an incredibly soulful voice, a very under-rated guitar and Hammond organ player and he always looks incredibly fit and so young, to this day. 
My favourite has always been “No Face, No Name, No Number” but I don’t think he played that particular song at this concert. However we were treated to a clutch of classics from the ’60s which included “Somebody Help Me”, “I’m a Man”, “Keep On Running” and “Gimme Some Lovin'”, along with Traffic’s “Dear Mr Fantasy”. Great stuff.
Setlist will probably have been something like this: Roadrunner; Help Me Angel; Arc of a Diver; Valerie; It Was Happiness; Second-Hand Woman; Vacant Chair; Talking Back to the Night; Slowdown Sundown; Dust; Night Train; Somebody Help Me (Spencer Davis Group); Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (Traffic); Dear Mr. Fantasy (Traffic); I’m a Man (Spencer Davis Group); Big Girls Walk Away; And I Go; Your Silence Is Your Song; While You See a Chance.
Encore: Keep On Running (Spencer Davis Group); Still in the Game; Gimme Some Lovin’ (Spencer Davis Group).
Steve Winwood band: James Hooker (piano), Bobby Messano (guitar), Eric Parker (drums), Carole Steele (percussion), Fernando Sanders (bass/vocals), Godfrey Wang (keyboards).
11 Jan
W.A.S.P. Newcastle Mayfair Rock Night 21st Sep 1984
W.A.S.P. Newcastle Mayfair Rock Night 21st Sep 1984
It was Friday Rock night at Newcastle Mayfair and the headline band was a new act, called W.A.S.P. Now W.A.S.P. are an American heavy metal band, whi formed in 1982, and emerged from the same L.A. scene as Van Halen, Mötley Crüe, and Ratt (and later Guns N’ Roses). There has been a lot of speculation about what the band’s name means, and whether it actually stands for anything. One interpretation is “White Anglo-Saxon Protestants”, particularly as the early W.A.S.P. song “Show No Mercy” contains the repeated line “White Anglo-Saxon / A violent reaction”. However, the original U.S. release of their debut album had the words “We Are Sexual Perverts” inscribed on both sides around the label in the center. When asked about the band’s name leader Blackie Lawless avoided giving a straight answer: “We Ain’t Sure, Pal.” In a later interview, Lawless stated the main reason for the name was the full stops (periods), and that they created a “question mark of uncertainty” to make W.A.S.P. stand out more.
These guys were crazy, wild heavy rock theatre. From the fold-out poster programme that I bought at the gig”: “W.A.S.P. is extreme heavy metal. They don’t stop with leather and studs, chains and spikes – they wield circular sawblades onto metal codpieces and armbands. Bare-assed on stage, they throw raw meat at the audience and drink blood from a skull – and this is only the beginning. Blackie Lawless (leader, lead singer, bass, songwriter) hung out with Ace Frehley (Kiss) in a tough street gang until being seriously stabbed at the age of 13. He went on to a two-year sentence at a military school in Florida. After 18 months Blackie was expelled for beating up a sergeant major, but he broke his knuckles in the process….Blackie took up guitar and did a stretch with the notorious New York Dolls. Randy Piper (guitar) quit school at 15 and slowly worked his way to L.A. He worked 10 days in Disneyland sweeping up, before getting fired for drunkenness. Tony Richards (drums) got himself thrown out of a dozen different schools for various kinds of anti-social behavior by the time he was 15. Included with the more common fighting, drinking and drug charges were getting caught in the closet with a young female teacher and burning the school’s football team’s equipment. Chris Holmes (guitar), the madman whose mother was a Hells Angel (and still beats the shit out of people who argue too much). Chris was kicked out of school at the tender age of 7 – for savagery. These four guys were obviously meant for each other.”
Is this for real ? 🙂
The programme went on: “By May of 1983, W.A.S.P. could sell out the 3000 seat Santa Monica Civic and put on a show that was truly over the top and very controversial. Blackie arranged for a Red Cross Blood Drive during a three-day sod-out run at the Troubadour: fans who gave blood would get in free. But when the Red Cross found out that Blackie drinks animal blood on stage, they didn’t want the band’s blood, or most of the fan’s blood, either. A greater controversy exists over the ‘rack’ [W.A.S.P. would torture a girl on a rack on stage] and feminist groups condemn the onstage treatment of women by W.A.S.P. …YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.”
W.A.S.P. had just released their latest single “Animal (**** Like a Beast)” and their eponymous debut album, and delighted the Geordie rock crowd with a typically OTT performance of slabs of heavy metal, and very un-PC rock theatre. Good unclean fun. Support came from UK NWOBHM glamsters Wrathchild. I saw W.A.S.P. again at Donington a few years later, and they were equally crazy. Now a Born Again Christian, Blackie Lawless continues to lead W.A.S.P to this day.
Setlist: On Your Knees; The Flame; Hellion; L.O.V.E. Machine; Sleeping (in the Fire); Tormentor; School Daze; The Torture Never Stops; I Wanna Be Somebody; Animal (*** Like a Beast)
10 Jan
Mari Wilson & The Wilsations! live 1982 and 1983
Mari Wilson & The Wilsations! live 1982 and 1983
13th May 1982 and my mate Dave and I are a student dance at New College Durham, in the old buildings up at Nevilles Cross. The headliner was none other than Mari Wilson (aka The Neasden Queen of Soul) and her group the sensational Wilsations!. We’d read a little about this lady and her band in the music press, but didn’t really know what to expect. There was a fun-packed programme for the evening which started with a screening of the movie “Animal House”, followed by a disco (of course) and support band the Sinatras. So by the time Mari took to the stage it was late and the young student crowd had partaken in more than a few drinks and were ready to dance, generally go crazy and be entertained. Nothing could have prepared us for the spectacular that we were about to witness. This was one of those gigs that I try to relive in my mind; to say Mari and the Wilsations! were sensational is an understatement. This was a totally full-on, expertly choreographed and colour co-ordinated rock’n’roll cum doo-wop 1950s review.
Imagine seeing a combination of Darts, The Ronettes, and ShaNaNa, fronted by Julie London. And imagine you are at the local hop in an episode of “Happy Days”, or you are a cast member of “Dreamboats and Petticoats”. Got it? Now make it even more colourful, funny, fast, and crazy than you imagined.
From the moment she stepped out on that school-hall style stage (it even “felt” like we were at the hop) we all knew that we were in the presence of a true “star”; 110%. Yes; Mari was centre-stage, wearing a Taffeta dress, and sporting her famous skyscraper beehive hairdo, but the show wasn’t just about her. The fully choreographed 12 piece band (or it may have been 18 piece, there were certainly lots and lots of them) The Wilsations! were a crucial part of the experience. 
This was an event – pure entertainment. Our compere for the evening was none other than Hank, a larger than life character straight from the high school hop: “Hi I’m Hank and this is the Hank Beehive show. Say “Hi Hank” [we all said “Hi Hank”] and say “Hi” to the band. Tonight we have the two Marines on backing vocals: Kurt L’Amour and Wilbur G Force [Kurt has a penchant for choc dips; throw those dips girls; if you want to win his heart, and Wilbur is a jujitsu expert of some renown and has just completed a karate ballet, drives a Marina and has mated his dogs with the Queen’s corgis]. And providing tonight’s musical accompaniment we have the Wilsations!; all handpicked because their names rhymed with Mari: Harry and Barry (sax and trumpet) [known as the brass monkeys; Harry drives a bottle-green Morris van and Barry has a reputation for anti-rust work on it, and on his trumpet], Larry (pianoforte) [Larry has a tough greaser look], Gary (big drums) [“I got where I am today because my name’s Gary and I know it”], Cary (guitar) [Cary is the resident health freak and has escorted a former Miss World], and Jim (big bass) [Jim always wanted to be in a band but nearly didn’t make it as his name didn’t rhyme with Mari]. And on backing vocals we have the two beautiful Marionettes: Barbarella and Candide [Barbie describes herself as a “professional debutante” and Candide was actually aka Michelle Collins aka Cindy Beale].” [Note: most of the elements in square brackets come from a later programme, by which the names of some of band members may have changed].
The interplay between Hank, the rest of the band, and Mari was hilarious, the dancing was sensational and the costumes perfectly co-ordinated. Mari was simple perfection. The set was a mix of 50s classics, and songs which would soon feature on Mari’s debut album “Showpeople”. This was before she hit the charts with ‘Just What I’ve Always Wanted’. I remember being totally captivated by her performance of ‘Cry Me A River’, the Julie London song which has been a big favourite of mine since I first saw Julie perform it in the film “The Girl Can’t Help It”. A crazy night, where it really felt like we were back in the 50s at the high school hop. I expected to turn around and see the Fonz and Potsie Weber standing next to me 🙂
A few months later and our hero appeared in our own front room, on TV, singing “Just What I’ve Always Wanted” on Top of the Pops. The girl with the big hairdo had done good and had “made it”, just like she always wanted, just like Hank told us she would, and just like we knew show would.
We saw Mari and her Wilsations! a couple of more times, once at Redcar Coatham Bowl on 10th October 1982, and then at Newcastle City Hall on 18th March 1983. The Redcar gig was an equally crazy, fun night. But things changed, somewhere along the way our hero Hank left the band and the membership of the Wilsations! changed (although some of the band members had the same names as their predecessors; isn’t that strange and rather convenient ? 🙂 ). Local north east guitarist, and old mate, Keith Airey joined as guitarist and Julia Fordham joined as one of the two girl vocalists. The City Hall show was good, but the authenticity of “the high school hop” was lost in a larger hall, and things were never the same without Hank. And soon it came to an end and Mari returned to Neasden to knit cardigans or raise a family (actually that’s not true, she continued to sing and does so to this day, moving towards a soul and jazz direction).
For me Mari Wilson and the Wilsations! were at their best that night in 1982 when, at a dance in the old New College hall, we were transported back to the 50s high school hop and Mari simply sang her heart out for us.
9 Jan
The Waterboys Newcastle Tiffany’s 30th April 1986
The Waterboys Newcastle Tiffany’s 30th April 1986
Mike Scott and his Waterboys were on a rock’n’roll journey from “The Big Music” to the raggle taggle gypsy Celtic folk band that they became in the late 80s. This was Mike and the band at the top of their game, not long after the success of “Whole of the Moon”, yet choosing not to play that song and instead sweeping a ram-packed Tiffany’s along with joyous big swirling sounds, and a few carefully chosen covers. “The Big Music” filled the ballroom; I was standing on the balcony looking down onto the stage and the packed sweaty dance floor below, and it felt like any minute the roof would come off. Mike was one minute the rock star, the next a folk troubadour, and then he became a seer taking us all on a spiritual journey through the kaleidoscope of his music. He was Dylan when he sang “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” for us, and then Tex Ritter leading a country band into “The Wayward Wind”. And then we were transported to the Streets of Dublin, dancing to a Celtic fiddle band. This was one of those gigs where we all walked out into the cold night knowing we had experienced something pretty special.
Setlist: Medicine Bow; Be My Enemy; Medicine Jack; Fisherman’s Blues; The Thrill Is Gone / And The Healing Has Begun; Meet Me At The Station; A Girl Called Johnny; The Pan Within; I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight; We Will Not Be Lovers; Spirit / The 4 Ages Of Man; Savage Earth Heart; This Is The Sea
Encore: The Wayward Wind; A Pagan Place; Can’t Help Falling In Love; Red Army Blues
Encore 2: Death Is Not the End
8 Jan
War Newcastle City Hall 14th June 1976
War Newcastle City Hall 14th June 1976
Support from Moon
I was aware of War through their association with the great Eric Burdon. They are an American funk rock band from California, known for their hit songs “Low Rider” and “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”. War’s music fuses elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin, rhythm and blues, and reggae. The band are also known for breaking down racial and cultural barriers with their multi-ethnic line-up. As their name suggests, there was a serious political and cultural context to the band concept and War’s lyrics were often socio-political in nature.
“The year was 1969, and these ‘kids’ had the nerve to carry the name WAR at a time when peace was the slogan in an anti-Vietnam America. “Our mission was to spread a message of brotherhood and harmony”.
“Our instruments and voices became our weapons of choice and the songs our ammunition. We spoke out against racism, hunger, gangs, crimes, and turf wars, as we embraced all people with hope and the spirit of brotherhood. It’s just as apropos today” “Eric was ready to throw in the towel on the music scene and return to Newcastle. He was tired of the ‘rock’ thing and desperate for a fresh authentic sound….Eric was so blown away by what he had heard that he jumped on stage to jam with them.” WAR from the beginning was a concept & musical laboratory.” (from the official War site).
The City Hall was far from full for this concert, which was a shame because it was a great performance from a band who are now legends. I don’t pretend to be a massive fan of jazz funk, but I really enjoyed the concert. I remember them playing ‘Lone Rider’, ‘Why Can’t We Be Friends’ and ‘Me And Baby Brother’, which was a single at the time.
The line up of War at the time was Howard E. Scott (guitar and vocals); Lee Oskar (harmonica and vocals); Thomas “Papa Dee” Allen (percussion and vocals; Charles Miller (saxophone and vocals); B.B. Dickerson (bass and vocals); Leroy “Lonnie” Jordan (keyboards, vocals); Harold Ray Brown (drums and vocals).
Lennie Jordan continues to front War and a few years ago he reunited with Eric Burdon for a concert at the Albert Hall.
7 Jan
Rick Wakeman Newcastle City Hall 18th Sep 1980
Rick Wakeman Newcastle City Hall 18th Sep 1980
Rick Wakeman rejoined Yes in 1977, but left a few years later and in 1980 he was again on tour as a solo act, accompanied by his band.
I recall going to see the film “White Rock” in 1977. It was a documentary film about the 1976 Winter Olympics held in Innsbruck, Austria, and the soundtrack was by Rick Wakeman. It wasn’t the most enjoyable film…all I can remember is lots of footage of bobsleds speeding through ice and snow…..
Rick was back at the City Hall again in 1980. This time the tour programme featured a spoof newspaper which proclaims: “Yes The Rick Wakeman Show is on the road. Months of government pressure both in England and abroad, high level summit meetings with the President in the White House and even a telephone call from Her Majesty the Queen, failed to stop Rick Wakeman taking his bunch of suicidal perverts around the world to seriously upset music lovers”. 🙂
Headlines in the programme included “Police Called to riot in Rick Wakeman show” and “Road Manager in Sex Scandal”. The band was Tony Fernanez (previous job ice cream salesman, drums), Ashley Holt (nickname Fatty, vocals), Tim Stone (previous job tester in a nose stretching factory, guitar) and Steve Barnacle (nickname Bog head, bass). As you might have gathered, as well as being a progrock giant, Rick also had a sense of humour and his concerts reflected this being celebrations of prog pomposity alongside some very silly stories and jokes from the band leader himself. A Rick Wakeman concert was thus a mix of fun and great music, which was also sometimes just a little too long and thus often frustrating.
Setlist (something like): Arthur; Katherine Howard; No Earthly Connection; Anne Boleyn; Sea Horses; Geraldine O’Brien; Catherine Parr; The Spider; Merlin the Magician; Journey to the Centre of the Earth; Swan Lager
Encore: White Rock
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