Ten Years After Newcastle City Hall 16th September 1971 
Back in the late ’60s we carried our lp sleeves almost as badges of honour. I looked up to the sixth formers who would come to school wearing their great coats or afghans, proudly clutching their latest albums under their arm for all to see. It was a way of showing everyone exactly what sort of music you were into. The coolest of the sixth formers would walk around carrying Cream’s Wheels of Fire, Tyrannosaurus Rex’s Beard of Stars, Led Zeppelin 1 or 2, The Mothers’ We’re Only in it for the Money or Lumpy Gravy (very cool), or Beefheart’s Trout Mask Replica (even more cool). Two other albums which featured were Ten Year’s Afters’ Stonedhenge and Ssssh (which had a great red fuzzy blurred semi-psychedelic picture of Alvin Lee on its front cover). The sixth former’ had a record club where they played these lps on an old Dansette player. As a younger student, I wasn’t allowed to bring my own lps, but they did let me sit in once or twice. They all sat cross-legged, listening intently, nodding their heads, looking knowingly at each other. I was totally in awe of them and of the magic sounds which came out of their old record machine. Some of that music was the sound of Alvin Lee’s guitar, and it just blew me away. 
One of the first times that I heard Ten Years After was the track Speed Kills which appears on a sampler album The World of Blues Power Volume 2. The track, as the title suggests, features some amazingly fast fretwork from Lee. I was trying desperately to master the guitar at the time, and Alvin Lee was one of my idols. I tried, usually without success, to learn those licks. I would play the lp at slow speed and try to work out what Alvin was playing and how he did it. I then had to transpose the key because of the difference in speed; it hardly every worked, much to my frustration. I guess it was never really meant to be. I ended up going to see my guitar heroes, always secretly wishing I could have been one of them. My other early experience of Ten Years After was the hit single Love Like a Man, which was a big favourite of all my friends. The other event which sticks in my mind when thinking of Ten Years After, and which I have to mention, is of course the Woodstock film. We all trooped down to Studio 1 cinema to see Woodstock on the first day that it was shown in town, wearing our best weekend hippy gear. Now the film has many great moments, but the one that had the greatest impact on me was Alvin Lee performing I’m Going Home, which was simply breath taking. The performance, the speed, the energy, the crowd reaction, the way the images cleverly flashed from one view of Alvin to another; to a young teenager sitting in the third row of the cinema it was mind blowing. That was the moment that confirmed me as a big fan of Ten Years After, and in particular, of Alvin Lee. 
The first time I got to see Ten Years After in concert was in September 1971. Support came from (pre massive fame) Supertramp (the cover of their album seemed very rude to a young guy) and folk singer Keith Christmas. Both supports were excellent. Those were the days before I discovered the temptations of the bar, and watched ever minute of the support acts. But I was there to see the man who had amazed me in Woodstock; Alvin Lee. And he, and Ten Years After, rose to the occasion and gave us a blistering performance. TYA had just released their sixth album (they had been busy guys) A Space In Time. I think they started with One of These Days, which was also the opening track of the album, and a very powerful song. One Of These Days starts with the sound of Alvin’s guitar gradually increasing in volume, he then cuts the chord, and his lone voice launches straight into the first line “One of these Days Boy!”, Leo Lyon’s bass thunders in and away we go, Ric Lee gently touching his cymbals, and the song takes off, Chick Churchill’s swirling Hammond provides a backdrop for Lee’s guitar, which is quite restrained compared to some other songs. Great! And on stage in front of me was Alvin Lee, playing his famous red Gibson 335; yes it was the same one he played at Woodstock. 
I don’t remember exactly what they played; I think it included the moody, lurching and doomy I Can’t Keep From Crying, Sometimes, their great cover of Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, and of course they played Going Home; I watched Alvin’s fingers intently, trying to pick up some tips. But there was more to Alvin Lee than speed and technical guitar flash, the guy understood the blues, was a master of light and shade, used dynamics of sound and speed to great effect, and could play rock’n’roll just like Chuck. And he had a perfect rock voice. One song, I don’t know which, featured Alvin scat singing along with his guitar, showing his jazz influences. And Ten Years After weren’t just Alvin Lee. Lee Lyons pounded away at his bass, head hung over his instrument, speeding along with Lee. Chick Chruchill provided that classic ’60s swirling Hammond sound, and drummer Ric Lee understood the light and shade of blues drumming. I next saw Ten Years After when they headlined the Sunday night of the 1972 Reading Festival. I stood in that field, as close to the stage as I could get. They played Going Home and I thought I was at Woodstock 🙂 Happy days. We will never ever see the like again. I saw Ten Years After a few more times and I’ll spend the next few days reflecting on just how great they were, and how sadly missed the great Alvin Lee is. Many thanks to John and Mitch for their images of posters from the City Hall gig.
Posts Tagged ‘concerts’
15 Oct
Ten Years After Newcastle City Hall 16th September 1971
14 Oct
The Tourists Newcastle City Hall 19th September 1980
The Tourists Newcastle City Hall 19th September 1980
The Tourists Luminous tour of Great Britain called at Newcastle City Hall on 19th September 1980. The tour was to promote their third and final album “Luminous Basement”, which wasn’t as successful as the previous two releases, making No. 75 in the chart. The single from the album “Don’t Say I Told You So” made No. 40 in the singles chart. Support came from the Barracudas a surf/garage/psych/pop band who had a summer 1980 hit single “Summer Fun” and were great fun. The Tourists star was starting to wane, and although this was a fun show, the City Hall was far from full, and things weren’t going so well in the Tourists camp. The band split later in 1980, with Anne Lenox and Dave Stewart forming a liaison which would soon yield much greater success as the duo Eurythmics. The end of the Tourists came in Bangkok, when an airline strike stranded the band. The rift came with Stewart and Lennox disagreeing with the band’s main singer-songwriter Peet Coombes. 
Annie said in NME at the time: “Now Peet can be his own spokesperson…It was always part of Dave’s and my dilemma that we were acting as spokespersons for someone else’s work within a pop context, yet we weren’t able to put across how removed he was from that whole scene….We were on a funny boat, The Tourists….A strange craft… When we did that song [I Only Want to be With You] it was purely for fun. But after that it became bizarre. The things that happened to us were so wild, yet everyone got the impression of nice, clean poppy people. Dave Stewart: “The publicity thing just became like a bigger and bigger black cloud, until the only way we probably could have continued to exist with any dignity as people was to step aside and say, ‘Look this just doesn’t exist anymore. Let’s do something else’.” And that’s exactly what they did.
13 Oct
The Tourists Newcastle City Hall 23rd February 1980
The Tourists Newcastle City Hall 23rd February 1980 
The Tourists were, of course, the pre-Eurythmics band of Annie Lenox and Dave Stewart. I’d seen Stewart perform with local Sunderland folk-rock band Longdancer a number of times, and was a little surprised to see him pop up in a post-punk pop band. However this particular post-punk band had its roots in folk and 60s pop. Harry Doherty, writing in Melody Maker, drew comparisons with Fairport Convention (not sure that I quite see that) and the Mamas and the Papas (I don’t quite see Annie or Dave as Mama Cass either 🙂 ). The first time I saw the Tourists live was on 10th May 1979 when they supported Roxy Music at Newcastle City Hall. They put in a good performance, warmed the crowd up well, and won a few friends that night. I saw them again a few months later on 24th August 1979 at the Reading Festival, sandwiched between performances by Motorhead and Friday night headliners the Police. I remember the Reading performance well; the Tourists had some great songs, particularly the Peet Combes compositions “Blind Among The Flowers” and “The Loneliest Man In The World”, which both featured in their performance that night and came over well on a cool summer evening. Both songs were released as singles. The Tourists went down quite well with the Reading crowd, particularly considering that most people who were there had come to see Motorhead; hardly the sort of crowd to appreciate a new punky pop band. They had some problems with the sound that night: “The only thing that freaks me about touring, is the equipment…It’s right out of your hands if it goes wrong. That’s what happened when we did the Reading Festival. It was mayhem onstage, really frightening.” (Annie Lenox, Record Mirror, 1980). Peet was the main songwriter in the band at the time, and wrote all of the songs on their first album. I saw them again on 19th October 1979 at Newcastle Polytechnic, by which time they had made No. 4 in the UK singles chart with their cover of Dusty Springfield’s “I Only Want to Be with You”. A drunken Friday night student crowd danced and sang along with Annie. I thought at the time that “I Only Want to Be with You” was a strange, and for me somewhat disappointing, choice for a single; given the strength of their original material. However, it worked for them, and gave them their first big chart success, helped by Annie’s great performance on Top of the Pops. 
By the time the Tourists went out on their first headline “Last Laugh” tour they had released a new single “So Good to Be Back Home Again”. I saw them at Newcastle City Hall on 23rd February 1980. A great performance; good fun straight-on pop. Support came form Edinburgh band the Solos. From the programme: “A short story from a short person. I can’t understand what I’m doing in this group when I’m such a brilliant footballer, but life takes strange twists and I twisted my knee, which ruined my chances of captaining England back in ’69” (Dave Stewart); “Pigtailed and precocious, the envy of all the potential Shirley Temples of Abderdeen, I started to learn the flute and went to play in military bands, symphony orchestras, chamber ensembles, etc….” (Annie Lennnox); “I was setting up my kit at 10 in the morning in a studio in London when in walked in Dave Stewart. Now, Dave and I had met in a hotel in Amsterdam when he was playing in Longdancer and I was with Colin Blunstone. We had hit it off really well together and as I remember I got very drunk.” (drummer Jim Toomey); “No great history – the only bands I ever played in were Peculiar Star (in Sunderland an experimental toy instrument idea…) and the Tourists.” (Peet Combes); “Q. Edward, do you really come from outer space? A. YES! I’m from the Orion!” (bassist Eddie Chin).
12 Oct
The Teardrop Explodes Newcastle Mayfair 25th June 1981 & Newcastle City Hall 2nd February 1982
The Teardrop Explodes Newcastle Mayfair 25th June 1981 & Newcastle City Hall 2nd February 1982
The Teardrop Explodes were a great pop group. Although they emerged as part of the post-punk / new wave scene of the late 1970s, their music was very clearly influenced by ’60s psychedelia, and was labelled “bubblegum psych” or “bubblegum trance” by the music press. Led by charismatic, and fascinating, front man Julian Cope they exploded out of the Liverpool scene; friends of Wah! and the Bunnymen. I loved the singles “Treason” and “Reward” which remain classics of the genre and continue to influence bands today. I saw The Teardrop Explodes on three occasions, at Newcastle Mayfair on 25th June 1981, at Newcastle City Hall on 2nd February 1982, and supporting Queen at Elland Road on 29th May 1982. I have strongest memories of the Mayfair gig. The Teardrop Explodes had been high in the charts with “Reward” and the band, and Julian Cope in particular, were on top form. Julian was on the brink of becoming a major pop star. He was his usual exuberant, fearless, unashamed, “little boy lost” blonde bob self. And why wouldn’t he be; after all he was on the verge of becoming his hero Scott Walker. “The whole idea of the Teardrops to me is nice, nice melodies and lyrics that, while they’re always sung hopefully, have dark secrets in them when you start listening to them.” (Julian in Record Mirror, 1981). 
A packed Mayfair crowd gave the band a crazy reception; it was a great night; swirling, whirling waves of sound and colour lifted us all and taking us along for the ride. The 1981 programme proclaims the tour “Out of the Culture Bunker”. Julian explained what this was about in Record Mirror (1981): “I have a new song called ‘Culture Bunker’ that’s about the way we all reacted to other people trying to make it in Liverpool. We’d say we really want you to make it but we don’t, the whole thing is so smiley, smiley, stab you in the back. David Balfe is always slagging me off for smiling at people, and saying hello when I’m not interested in them but it’s just the way I’ve been brought up. I’m not one of, those people who declare ‘I’m honest, I’m frank, I tell people that they’re shits’.”
By the time I saw the band again at the City Hall things didn’t seem quite the same. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a great, enjoyable gig, but it lacked the edge and power, and joy, of the Mayfair concert the previous year. This was due, in part, to the lack of craziness which results when moving from a ballroom to a concert hall, but also I suspect because things weren’t too good in the band; there had been several line-up changes, and there was ill-feeling between Julian and some of the other members. The music was changing as well, and according to reports Julian was experimenting heavily with LSD. Julian’s mood felt darker; he was no longer Scott Walker, and was becoming a moody Jim Morrison. The evening before in Edinburgh the gig had ended on a dark note: “What I do recall very clearly is the interminable nonsense of the final encore: Sleeping Gas. Never a tune I have ever had much time for, the piece degenerated into an embarrassing ten minute Cope rant. The singer ended up on the floor towards the end burbling on about savaging the audience, and I am sure I was not the only one in the place thinking “Julian! For F**’s Sake. Behave yourself” (from http://therockandrollknife.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/teardrop-explodes-edinburgh-1982.html ). Such was Julian Cope at the time. 
The last time I saw The Teardrop Explodes they supported Queen at Elland Road. It wasn’t a great day for them. The crowd started hurling bottles and cans at Julian and he spent a lot of time arguing with everyone. “Not sure who was first on, probably Teardrop Explodes, Julian Cope, I remember while they were throwing bottles at him, picked one up and started hitting himself with it and stretching his arms out saying he was an Argentinian bomber or something. It was during the Falklands war, remember.” (from a Queen fan forum). It was like watching a band self destruct in front of your eyes.
I like to remember The Teardrop Explodes as they were that night at the Mayfair; joyous, uplifting; a celebration of a young guy from Liverpool who was living out his dreams, and let us come along for the ride.
Julian Cope continues to perform and remains a unique, highly creative, individual.
11 Oct
Tangerine Dream Newcastle City Hall 23rd March 1978 and 2nd November 1980
Tangerine Dream Newcastle City Hall 23rd March 1978 and 2nd November 1980
I saw Tangerine Dream on two more occasions. It is difficult to describe the concerts, as each time the band performed it was so different. In 1978 the line-up was Edgar Froese (keyboards), Christopher Franke (keyboards), Steve Jolliffe (saxophone, flute) and Klaus Krüger (drums, percussion). By the time I saw them in 1980 the line-up had changed again and had reverted back to a three piece, keyboard based, ensemble featuring Froese, Franke and Johannes Schmoelling. Their concerts continued to feature unique improvised soundscapes, loud and swirling music; psychedelic, spacey, rhythmic, sometimes dark and moody. They sometimes performed in cathedrals, I can imagine that the space and surroundings fitted the music well. One of those performances was in York Minster; I recall considering going and didn’t, which I regret to this day; I would imagine that it will have been an unforgettable experience.
The 1978 tour featured the Laserium light show which were produced live by a “laserist”. The Laserium projector (from the tour programme) “uses a one-watt Krypton gas laser as its light source, and refracts the tiny beam into four primary colors which travel through a series of optics to emerge as laser snowflakes or cloud formations suspended in space. This Laserium projector was especially designed for Tangerine Dream, and the custom made rear projection screen enables the live laser images to appear three-dimensional.” I was, and remain, intrigued by the band. 
I found their concerts fascinating, challenging, interesting at times uplifting, and yet at other times tedious and tiring. Looking back they were, and remain, a unique and hugely important and influential band. Edgar Froese drew his influences from the Rolling Stones: ”The first time I heard The Rolling Stones was in the middle of a rehearsal with a rock ‘n’ roll group. I was first of all attracted by their looks. Their faces were absolutely damaged. They were the absolute opposite of The Beatles… ” and the surrealist painter Salvador Dali, who he met also played in his villa: ”This was the biggest change I ever had in music…..By seeing the way he was working, talking and thinking, I found that everything was possible. I thought that I would do the same as he did in painting in music.” He explained his approach to Paul Morley in the NME (1978): “We never do anything just for success….We could do all the Donna Summer things, and make a lot of money. But what do you do in the end? If you’re interested in being rich, the record industry is very much part of the world’s commercial activity, and it’s very easy to be successful by doing your own thing, without compromise.”
I remember for one of the performances I attended the band played the entire concert from behind a new curtain. There was never any set numbers, no “act”, no props other than the light shows. Everything was improvised directly on stage, in the moment. The performance was fed by the musicians, how they were feeling that day, but also by the venue, the acoustics, and the audience and their reaction. The musicians would walk on stage, tune, explore and calibrate their synths and then sit behind their futuristic consoles in the dark and create sounds and music. They would be no interaction with the audience. Each piece would last an hour or so, and a concert would feature a couple of such pieces, followed by, if it felt right to do so, an encore of 20 minutes or so. Then they would leave the astounded, bewildered, fascinated, perplexed audience until next time. Because of the uniqueness of the events many were bootlegged. I’ve just listened to a recording on YouTube which was made from a 1978 live show in Berlin. Fascinating stuff, and it reminded me of what the experience was like. The music from that show includes some scary screaming vocals., which isn’t something I can remember from the gigs I attended. Tangerine Dream continue to perform to this day.
Thanks to Mitch for his picture of Edgar Froese taken at Newcastle City Hall on 23rd March 1978.
9 Oct
Tangerine Dream Newcastle City Hall 4th December 1974
Tangerine Dream Newcastle City Hall 4th December 1974
Or “Is This The End Of Rock As We Know It?” (Max Bell, NME, 1974)
Or “Is This The End Of Rock As We Know It?” (Max Bell, NME, 1974)
Tangerine Dream were formed in Berlin in 1965 by Edgar Froese. Fascinated by technology, and influenced by rock, pop and classical music, he formed a psychedelia band which would prove to be hugely important in the development of Krautrock, electronica, and trance music. Tangerine Dream’s haunting and transcendental soundscapes paved the way for many other bands to follow. By 1974 Tangerine Dream consisted of Edgar Froese (keyboards, guitars), Christopher Franke (keyboards, drums) and Peter Baumann (keyboards). They had signed to the new Virgin label, and released the highly acclaimed album “Phaedra” which was “an amazing record, the most effective mating of the mellotron and synthesizer to date, and its lush employment of rich sonic textures makes it an immensely enjoyable experience.” (Gordon Fletcher, Rolling Stone).
Tangerine Dream set out on their first UK tour in autumn 1974. The 20 date tour started in London at the Rainbow Theatre on 26th October, and closed at Newcastle City Hall on 4th December. The music was visually supported by a “Video Synthesizer” which controlled the visuals in synch to the music, so that the sounds made by the band determined the images and patterns which were displayed on the screen at the back of the stage. 
The concerts were hailed unique and “fascinating experiences” (Melody Maker). Tangerine Dream gigs (were they “gigs”?) were unlike any other rock (and were they “rock”?) concerts I had seen, and consisted mainly of lengthy improvisations with zero interaction between the band and the audience. The band set themselves a challenge of never playing the same piece twice, and the concerts were often performed in complete darkness.
From the tour programme: “Tangerine Dream do not play conventional instruments. Their mass of synthesisers and electronic keyboards are probably the most sophisticated in the world…..their commitment to total improvisation moulds their concerts into an unusual form: at the beginning there has to be a period of attunement – musicians to each other, and then musicians to the audience. Finally the band tries to sensitize itself to the particular acoustics of the auditorium.” The tour also featured a quadrophonic sound system, all of which promised a very different and interesting experience.
“Don’t categorise us. We’re influenced by everything; sound, pictures, a walk in the woods, looking at clouds from a plane even. Without Debussy, Presley, Beatles, Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream would be impossible. Our music is the end result of these things in that we become a filter, our instruments, the keyboards, moogs and VCS3’s are just the ones with which we can best express our sensations” (Pete Baumann) “Because we never repeat a concert it’s hard to define whether we get excitement or satisfaction from it. After a good presentation, we may not do an encore – there’s nothing left to give.” (Edgar Froese).
I found the City Hall concert interesting, very different and, to be honest, simply strange. The stage was set with banks of synthesisers, and there was, as described in the programme, a period at the start of the evening where the three band members seemed to be setting up their instruments. I think the analogue equipment that they used at the time needed to warm up. Once the music got started it filled the City Hall with swirling rhythmic soundscapes, and the visuals, although quite basic compared to today’s effects, flashed and swirled in sequence with the music. I found the lack of audience interaction and the length of the pieces challenging, to say the least.
An experience like no other, at least until I saw them again, back at the City Hall four years later.
PS I found a voucher (above) which entitles me to 50p off the price of “Phaedra” at my local friendly Virgin store. Is it still valid ? 🙂
8 Oct
Pat Travers Newcastle City Hall 30th March 1980
Pat Travers Newcastle City Hall 30th March 1980
Canadian guitarist Pat Travers was one of the hardest working guys in the music business during the late 70s and early 80s. He took the power trio concept of Cream and Hendrix and developed it further, playing in his own unique style which mixed technical flash with hard rock, blues and jazz. And this guy just gigged and gigged. He seemed to pop up everywhere at the time, always full of energy, and guaranteed to grab an audience by the scruff of the neck. I remember seeing him at Reading Festival in 1976 and 1980, supporting Journey at the Mayfair, at Redcar Coatham Bowl, and I’m sure I saw him support one or two people at the City Hall too. By 1980, Pat Travers was touring in support of his seventh album “Crash and Burn” and the three piece format had been expanded by the addition of a second guitarist. Support for this gig at Newcastle City Hall was Diamond Head. The concert was poorly attended, which was a shame, because Pat and his band delivered a blistering and loud set, which showed what a great guitarist and showman he was. Pat Travers live was fast, loud and rocking. Very under-rated, he often seemed on the brink of massive success, but it never quite materialised. He was, of course, gigging away at the time of punk, which won’t have helped, and his brand of bluesy jazzy rock’n’roll didn’t quite jell with NWOBHM fans. He continues to play to this day and has been over to the UK in the last year or so. Writing this reminds me how great his music is. Another guy I really should catch up with again.
Just watched him playing “Snortin’ Whiskey” from “Crash and Burn” on Youtube. Awesome. Reminded just how electric rock can be. Have a look if you get the chance.
Setlist from Reading August 1980: Rock ‘n’ Roll Suzie; Your Love Can’t Be Right; Life in London; Born Under a Bad Sign; Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights); Snortin’ Whiskey; Hooked On Music; Hammerhead; It Makes No Difference
“Snortin’ whiskey, drinkin’ cocaine
Got this feelin’ I’m gonna drive that girl insane
Insanity!”
(Snortin’ Whiskey, Pat Travers, 1980)
7 Oct
Robin Trower South Shields Customs House 17th April 2005
Robin Trower South Shields Customs House 17th April 2005
Roll forward 25 years, and I was seeing Robin Trower again. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, and had all but forgotten many of the songs because, although I have a few of his albums on vinyl, the only one I played was “Bridge of Sighs” and to be truthful, I hadn’t played that for a long time. I needed have worried. Trower walked on stage, waved at the audience, and launched straight into “Too Rolling Stoned”. I immediately recognised the riff, and the years melted away. The guitar playing was as excellent as ever, with the familiar heavy use of wah-wah, and the usual twisting of the face, as Robin squeezed the notes out of his strat.
The singer was Davey Pattison, who I’d seen before many years ago in Ronnie Montrose’s band Gamma, and he did a great job, sticking closely to the original vocal. He has a soulful voice, which matched somewhat the original vocals of the late and very under-rated James Dewar. The mix was a little murky at the start of the set, with the vocals lost in the mix, but things improved as the set progressed. Trower and his band were great, playing a mix of tracks from throughout his career. It was great to see him again.
The gig was reviewed Rahul Shrivastava for the BBC website: “There are no gimmicks, no light show, just four men playing great, bluesy rock ‘n’ roll….there was no denying the passion with which he played his instrument.” The review sparked a few comments from others who attended the gig: “It’s over 25 yrs since I saw Robin at Hammersmith Odeon; always wanted to do so again. So good was this gig that both me and my wife were lost for words… Awesome” (SteV1Da).
“To experience Robin Trower is to be a witness to the mastery of true artistry created on the electric guitar. How rich in talent Robin, and a great few are part of an incredible music history…” (Michael Gibbs). “They used to say that this guy was a ‘Hendrix clone’ Well all I can say is that if Hendrix could play like that he must have been some guitarist! The control and pure artistry were a delight and I hope that this is the first of many returns to the North East.” (Chas Thomason).
Setlist: Too Rolling Stoned; Sweet Angel; What’s Your Name; Rise Up Like The Sun; Daydream; Living Out Of Time; Breathless; Day Of The Eagle; Bridge Of Sighs; Close Every Door; I Want You To Love Me; Please Tell Me; Another Time, Another Place; Little Bit of Sympathy
Encore: Come To Me; Secret Place
Thanks to John for the poster image and for the photo which he got signed for me at a Trower gig in the States.
I’ve seen Trower once more since, and have already written about that gig.
6 Oct
Robin Trower Newcastle City Hall 12th February 1980
Robin Trower Newcastle City Hall 12th February 1980
In 1980 Robin Trower released his seventh studio album “Victims of the Fury”, and went out on tour to promote it. Support for the tour was NWOBHM band Samson. I saw the tour was it called at Newcastle City Hall. It was a few years since I’d seen Robin Trower in concert and I was really looking forward to seeing him again. It was the last night of the tour and the band were on their usual amazing form.
It is unfair to draw too many comparisons between Trower and Hendrix. Although Trower has undoubtedly been influenced by the master, and has said so himself on several occasions, he has his own unique guitar style, and is himself a true master of the guitar. Sadly whenever conversation turns to classic guitar greats the names of Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Richie Blackmore, Alvin Lee and Peter Green will be mentioned, but it isn’t that often that Trower gets a mention. That’s a shame because his playing stands up their with those greats.
Robert Fripp, another guitar great, recognises this and says so in the liner notes on the reissues of one of Robin’s solo albums (1996): “Robin Trower is one of the very few English guitarists that have mastered bends and wobbles. Not only has he got inside them, with an instinctive knowing of their affective power, but they went to live inside his hands. It is the rare English guitarist who has been able to stand alongside American guitarists and play with an equal authority to someone grounded in a fundamentally American tradition. Trower has been widely criticised for his influences. This has never bothered me. I toured America in 1974 with Ten Years After top of the bill, King Crimson second, and Robin Trower bottom. The chart positions were the opposite….. Nearly every night I went out to listen to him. This was a man who hung himself on the details: the quality of sound, nuances of each inflection and tearing bend, and abandonment to the feel of the moment. He saved my life. Later, in England, he gave me guitar lessons.”
Back to the City Hall concert. It was classic Trower drawing for throughout his solo career and starting with the beautiful “Lady Love”. They also played my favourites “Bridge Of Sighs” and “Too Rolling Stoned”. Great stuff.
I found a review of the concert on Robin Trower’s official site, by Alan Howard, who drove with his friend from London especially to see the last night of the tour, having already seen the show at Hammersmith a few days before: “The good people of Toon town just went absolutely mental, so delighted they were to see the band. What a great start! So it continued. For some reason, this audience were much more appreciative and vocal than their southern counterparts….It was a great show featuring once again the ‘Victims’ lightshow visuals with their distinctive neon barbed wire icon, as featured on the album cover.”
Set List: Lady Love; The Ring; Day Of The Eagle; Bridge Of Sighs; Jack And Jill; Too Rolling Stoned; The Shout/Hannah; Daydream; Victims Of The Fury; Only Time; Madhouse; Little Bit Of Sympathy.
Encores: Messin The Blues; Rock Me Baby.
Thanks to John for the image of his Trower “flash”.
Tomorrow I’ll roll forward and write about a more recent Trower gig.
5 Oct
Robin Trower Newcastle City Hall 22nd Feb 1976
Robin Trower Newcastle City Hall 22nd Feb 1976
Come 1976 and Robin Trower was one of the most popular acts in the country. He toured the UK in February and March calling at the City Hall for two nights this time, and closing the tour by playing to 8,000 fans at Wembley Empire Pool. Support for the tour was local north east pop rock act John Miles. I remember driving through to the City Hall to buy tickets the day they went on sale. It had been snowing heavily and the roads were quite treacherous. My mate and I watched in horror as the car in front of us slid off the road and into the trees at the side of the carriageway. We made our way safely to the box office and bought tickets for the first night.
The concert was excellent, with Trower on top form, his feet surrounded by an array of effects pedals which enabled him to create some unbelievable sounds with his trusty Fender Strat. 
The Trower band had changed slightly with a new drummer Bill Lordan playing alongside Trower and Dewar. They were tight and loud, and delighted the City Hall crowd with classics like “Bridge of Sighs”, “Lady Love” and my fave “Too Rolling Stoned”, tracks from their current, third, album “For Earth Below” and a couple of new songs which would feature on the fourth album “Long Misty Days”. Brian Harrigan reviewed the Wembley gig for Melody Maker: “There ain’t nothing like Robin Trower at full blast……in the 
cavernous Wembley Empire Pool, they thundered like a three-man blitzkrieg.”
Typical 1976 setlist: Day of the Eagle; Bridge of Sighs; Sailing; Lady Love; Long Misty Days; The Fool and Me; Too Rolling Stoned; Daydream; Same Rain Falls; I Can’t Wait Much Longer; Alethea; Little Bit of Sympathy; Rock Me Baby; S.M.O.
Many thanks to Mitch for his photo of Trower which was taken at this concert and to John for his image of the poster for the concert the following night.
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