Pete Seeger Newcastle City Hall 8th March 1978
Support from Louis Killen and The High Level Ranters
The passing earlier this week of the legendary Pete Seeger makes me cast my mind back to the one occasion I saw the great man in concert; which was at Newcastle City Hall in 1978. It is one of the simplest, yet most powerful performances I have had the pleasure of attending. I went along with a friend, neither of us massive folk fans, but the legend of the man transcends musical boundaries and drew us to the City Hall that night.
Seeger performed alone; seated centre stage on a simple wooden chair for much of the performance, accompanied only by his banjo, and sang all those great songs. He told us stories, sang his own tunes, and covered traditional and contemporary folk songs. There was a purity, authenticity and truth about his performance; Seeger was completely in tune with the audience; we all sang all with him to classics such as “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”; “If I Had a Hammer”; “Turn! Turn! Turn!”; “Little Boxes”; and “We Shall Overcome”. The title “legend” is often applied to many different artists and musicians, but few actually deserve it; Pete Seeger is one who undoubtedly and absolutely does.
Posts Tagged ‘concerts’
1 Feb
Pete Seeger Newcastle City Hall 8th March 1978
31 Jan
Alan Price, “Kelly”, South Shields Marine & Technical College, 17th July 1977
Alan Price, “Kelly”, South Shields Marine & Technical College, 17th July 1977
This was the first performance of “Kelly”, a musical play co-written by Alan Price and Tom Kelly in 1977. Kelly was based on the story of the Second World War warship HMS Kelly, which was sunk off the coast of Crete in 1941 while captained by The Queen’s cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten. HMS Kelly was a destroyer of the British Royal Navy. She was built by Hawthorn Leslie and Company at Hebburn on the River Tyne in 1937, launched in 1938 and commissioned in 1939, just before the commencement of the war. She was named after Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Kelly.
The musical Kelly was staged at South Shields Marine & Technical College (now South Tyneside College) and the rehearsals for the show were also filmed for a documentary, which was later shown on BBC TV. The performance featured a group of young local actors, some of whom were to go on to gain fame locally, including Ray Spencer, who is now director of the Customs House in South Shields, and Peter McIntyre, who is one half of the Maxie and Mitch comedy duo.
Tom Kelly also directed the stage show. Tom now writes full-time and works on creative writing projects, most recently ‘Men of the Tyne,’ for the Customs House commemorating those who worked on the river through monologues, songs and film. The Kelly show was part of the local celebrations for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee.
The show was in two parts. The first part was the performance of Kelly, and the second a performance by Alan Price and his band, during which he performed hits such as Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear, The House that Jack Built and The Jarrow Song. I went with a few mates, and it was an interesting and quite different performance to the rock concerts that we were used to attending at the time, and a very welcome change.
Cast: Narrator: Alan Price; Elsie: Iris Johnson; Bill: Jim Greaves; Jack: Bob Stott; Jimmy: Ray Spencer; Recruiting Officer: Ron Ainley; Kathleen: Elizabeth Ayre.
Music: The Alan Price Band; the South Shields Male Voice Choir; The Vintage Trad Jazz Band; Malcolm and Maxie.
The programme says of Alan Price: 1977; And he’s still working and moving on and moving back to the North East. “Will you do a concert for the Jubilee? No – we’ll do something more; and the “Kelly” is launched”.
30 Jan
James Arthur Newcastle City Hall 29th January 2014
James Arthur Newcastle City Hall 29th January 2014
Support from Titch
This is definitely a guilty pleasure. Laura quite fancied seeing James Arthur; in fact we were all impressed by him, and followed his progress on X Factor. In fact we feel so guilty admitting that we went to see James that Laura didn’t tell her friends that she was going (hope they don’t read this 🙂 ). But James isn’t your stereotypical X Factor contestant; his music, image and attitude draw from indie, grunge, soul, R&B and hip-hop. James is now on the cusp of becoming a regular pop star, selling out concerts up and down the country. He has, of course, had a few blips, said some inappropriate things, is a bit controversial and has been in the press along the way. This was a sort of home-coming show; bringing James back to the North East, although the real home town gigs take place in a couple of days time when he headlines two nights at Middlesbrough Town Hall. The City Hall was packed with James’ fans who are, in the main, young girls, but there were also a sprinkling of older ladies, some mums and dads who had brought their daughters, a few couples and a few male fans too. A young girl in the front row had “I love you James” written across her face in makeup. It was that sort of night. 
The set comprised his debut album in its entirety, and the closing encore was his hit Impossible. James is backed by an impressive band with guitar, bass, keyboards, drums and two excellent lady singers. The songs are very much r’n’b/soul/pop; the only cover was Marvin Gaye’s Lets Get it on. His set was powerful, and relatively short (an hour and a quarter), and the crowd was on its feet and screaming throughout. Lots of ladies underwear was thrown on stage and James must have touched hands with everyone down at the front (the girl with “I love you James” on her face cried). We had seats in the middle of the third row, right in the throng of it. Pretty good fun, musically and as an event. I bet the Middlesbrough gigs are good.
Setlist: You’re Nobody ’til Somebody Loves You; Flying; Emergency; Roses; Smoke Clouds; Suicide; Get Down; Recovery; Let’s Get It On; New Tattoo; Certain Things; Supposed. Encore: Is This Love?; Impossible
29 Jan
Procol Harum live Newcastle 1973, Reading 1974 and Middlesbrough 1976
Procol Harum live Newcastle 1973, Reading 1974 and Middlesbrough 1976
I am a big fan of Procol Harum, although I have only seen them three times in concert. White Shade of Pale, Homburg and Conquistador remain favourite songs of mine to this day. Their appearances in the UK are few and far between these days; although they do continue to play a small number of shows in mainland Europe. I first saw Procol Harum at a concert in Newcastle City Hall on 16th March 1973. The 1973 line up was Gary Brooker (keyboards, vocals), Alan Cartwright (bass), Chris Copping (keyboards), Mick Grabham (guitar), B J Wilson (drums), Keith Reid (lyrics). Support for the concert at the City Hall came from Hemlock, who were a new blues rock band fronted by Miller Anderson (ex Keef Hartley band). My memories of the performance are of a great, powerful set, which started with Conquistador, but I was also disappointed that they didn’t play White Shade of Pale that night. The setlist will have been something like this (based on published setlists of the time): Conquistador; Bringing Home the Bacon; Toujours L’Amour; The Devil Came from Kansas; Homburg; Fires (Which Burnt Brightly); For Liquorice John; Whaling Stories; Grand Hotel; Kaleidoscope; Robert’s Box; Power Failure; Simple Sister; Repent Walpurgis; A Salty Dog.
I next saw Procol Harum at the Reading Festival in 1974. They played, I think, on the Saturday afternoon, and were equally as good; and this time they did play Whiter Shade of Pale 🙂 . 
The next time I saw Procol was at a concert at Middlesbrough Town Hall on 7th January 1976. This time there were supported by the very brilliant and much-lamented Vivian Stanshall, who entertained us with a crazy set featuring Bonzo classics and his solo material. Procol were magnificent that night, the swirling chords of their majestic pieces reverberating around the beautiful main hall of Middlesbrough town hall. They were joined by Viv Stanshall for the encores which included a crazy song called the Browns, which Viv had written with Keith Reid; it was based on a story Viv had read in the newspaper about a family called the Browns. The setlist will have been something like this (based on published setlists of the time): Toujours l’Amour; Bringing Home the Bacon; Shine on Brightly; Fresh Fruit; As Strong as Samson; The Unquiet Zone; Grand Hotel; Conquistador; Pandora’s Box; Cerdes (Outside the Gates of); Souvenir of London; Power Failure; A Salty Dog; The Blue Danube. Encores: I keep Forgetting; The Browns (with Viv Stanshall); A Whiter Shade of Pale.
The Middlesbrough gig was the last time I saw Procol in concert, although I had a ticket for a gig at the Tyne Theatre in Newcastle in 2002, which was sadly cancelled. I still have my ticket which is pictured here. I hope I can get to see them one more time, and await their next performance in the UK. Thanks to John for his scan of the poster from the 1973 Newcastle City Hall concert with Hemlock support.
28 Jan
Paice Ashton Lord Newcastle City Hall 28th March 1977
Paice Ashton Lord 28th March 1977
Paice Ashton Lord were formed in 1977, after the break-up of Deep Purple. Ian Paice (Purple’s drummer) and Jon Lord (Purple’s keyboardist), joined Tony Ashton (keyboards and vocals; ex Ashton, Gardner and Dyke and Family) for the project. The band was completed with Bernie Marsden on guitar and Paul Martinez on bass. Paice Ashton Lord (PAL) released their first album, Malice in Wonderland, in 1977, and undertook their only UK which I saw at the City Hall. I think some of the dates on the tour were cancelled because of poor ticket sales. I saw the show at Necastle City Hall, which was not well attended. The group didn’t last for long, and broke up shortly after the tour: I think Tony Ashton broke his leg falling off a stage. The set consisted on tracks from the new alsbum, and as far as I can remember, they didn’t play any Purple classics. 
Support came from a band called Bandit who were fronted by Jim Diamond. Lord, Marsden and Paice went on to join David Coverdale in his band Whitesnake. Martinez joined Stan Webb’s Chicken Shack, before going on to play with Robert Plant. Both Tony Ashton and Jon Lord died of cancer; Ashton in 2001; Lord in 2012. From the tour programme: “This is the first tour of a band, already making a big impression on the music scene…this new band are certain of a brilliant future on their own merits which will in no way be reflected glory from the now past Purple band”. A CD of PAL in concert has the track listing: Ghost Story; On The Road Again, Again; Silas And Jerome; Arabella (Oh Tell Me); The Ballad Of Mr. Giver; I’m Gonna Stop Drinking; Steam Roller Blues; Remember The Good Times; Malice In Wonderland; and Sneaky Private Lee. I would imagine this was the set that I saw at Newcastle.
27 Jan
Del Amitri Newcastle City Hall 26 January 2014
Del Amitri Newcastle City Hall 26 January 2014
Support from The Os
I’ve never seen Del Amitri, and quite like some of their songs, so last night I was making up for lost time, and went to see them at Newcastle City Hall on the fourth night of their reunion tour. And good there were too. I’d forgotten just how many great songs this band have. They started with Always the Last to Know and Kiss This Thing Goodbye. The set featured an acoustic section which closed with a rousing version of Nothing Ever Happens. Other highlights were Roll to Me, and the final encore, the simply beautiful Move Away Jimmy Blue, which is my favourite and actually was the main reason I went along last night. 
Setlist (something like): Always the Last to Know; Kiss This Thing Goodbye; The Ones That You Love Lead You Nowhere; Just Like a Man; What I Think She Sees; Not Where It’s At; Hammering Heart; This Side of the Morning; Sleep Instead of Teardrops; Be My Downfall; Food for Songs; Tell Her This; In the Frame; Nothing Ever Happens; Roll to Me; Driving With the Brakes On; Spit in the Rain; Being Somebody Else; Drunk in a Band. Encore: In the Meantime; Here and Now; Just Before You Leave; Move Away Jimmy Blue.
Justin Currie speaking of the current tour in the Scotsman newspaper: “We started talking quite honestly about it….You know, will it be any good or will it be rubbish? We wanted to only enter into it if it was going to be decent, although only the audience can tell us that, of course.”
26 Jan
Pink Floyd reunion Live 8 Hyde Park 2nd July 2005
On 2nd July 2005 the impossible happened and the 1970s members of Pink Floyd reunited to perform at the London Live 8 concert in Hyde Park. I thought my chances of Roger Waters rejoining David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright were very slim, and I was delighted to be able to be see them together once more. This was the band’s first performance together in over 24 years, since The Wall concerts in 1981. Marie, David, Laura and I all went to Live 8, and greatly enjoyed the day, which I will blog about on another occasion. Today I’ll limit by writings to Pink Floyd’s appearance. Gilmour announced the reunion less than a month before the gig, on 12 June 2005: “ Like most people I want to do everything I can to persuade the G8 leaders to make huge commitments to the relief of poverty and increased aid to the third world. It’s crazy that America gives such a paltry percentage of its GNP to the starving nations. Any squabbles Roger and the band have had in the past are so petty in this context, and if re-forming for this concert will help focus attention then it’s got to be worthwhile.” Pink Floyd appeared later in the day, sandwiched between great sets by The Who and Paul McCartney; who closed the show. Floyd’s set consisted of Speak to Me; Breathe; Money; Wish You Were Here; and Comfortably Numb; a good choice of songs for their short appearance. Waters said on stage: “It’s actually quite emotional standing up here with these three guys after all these years. Standing to be counted with the rest of you. Anyway, we’re doing this for everyone who’s not here, but particularly, of course, for Syd.” The band who played with Pink Floyd in Hyde Park were Tim Renwick (guitar); Jon Carin (keyboards); saxophonist Dick Parry Money (played on the original recording); and backing singer Carol Kenyon. The screens showed video from their past shows, and a film of the pig from the Animals flying over Battersea Power Station. This was simply mind-blowing stuff; for me it was the highlight of the day, and a very emotional experience. We were close to the front (I’d managed to score tickets in the enclosed area near the stage) and had a great view of the band. I found Wish You Were Here particularly powerful; you felt they were singing the song for Syd; which of course they were. Syd sadly passed away the following year. With Wright’s subsequent passing in 2008, this was to be the final concert to feature all four playing together.
25 Jan
Pink Floyd Knebworth 30th June 1990
Pink Floyd Knebworth 30th June 1990
The next time I saw Pink Floyd was as part of a multi-act bill at a massive show at Knebworth in 1990. This was the Silver Clef Award Winners Concert and had an amazing line-up including Paul McCartney, Cliff Richard & The Shadows, Tears for Fears, Eric Clapton, Dire Straits, Elton John, Genesis, Ray Cooper, Robert Plant (with guest Jimmy Page), and Status Quo. Pretty strong bill! I won a pair of free tickets in a competition; I think is was with KitKat, and Marie and I went down for the weekend. This was a great concert, which deserves a blog post of its own. I’ll save that for another day, and limit my reflections today to Floyd’s part of the day. Because of the number of acts appearing, everyone played a short set. Floyd appeared last, after Paul McCartney (although he was officially the “headliner”). Their set was limited to 7 songs: Shine On You Crazy Diamond 1 – 5; The Great Gig in the Sky; Wish You Were Here; Sorrow (the only track they performed from their most recent album A Momentary Lapse of Reason); Money & Comfortably Numb; with Run Like Hell as an encore. We’d had a little wind and rain during the day, and by the time Floyd took to the stage is was raining again, and they weren’t able to use their circular screen because of the wind. This was the Waters-less line-up of Pink Floyd which featured Gilmour, Mason and Wright and for the Knewborth show the following additional musicians: Guy Pratt (bass); Jon Carin (keyboards); Tim Renwick (guitar); Gary Wallis (percussion); Candy Dulfer (saxophone); and Durga McBroom, Sam Brown (who had recently been in the charts with Stop!), Vicki Brown (Sam’s mum and Joe’s first wife; ex Vernon girl, who sadly passed away a year after this gig) & Clare Torry (who sang the original vocal on Great Gig in the Sky on DSOTM) all on backing vocals. A fitting end to a great concert; it was good to see Pink Floyd again, and I particularly enjoyed Shine On You Crazy Diamond. We left during the encore; it took ages to find our car as there were no markings or lights in the car park.
24 Jan
Pink Floyd Wembley Empire Pool 17th March 1977
Pink Floyd Wembley Empire Pool 17th March 1977
The next time I saw Pink Floyd was during the “In the Flesh” tour, also known as “Animals” tour, in support of their new album “Animals”. The UK leg of the tour took in 5 nights at Wembley Empire Pool, and 4 nights at Stafford Bingley Hall. I went to the 3rd night at Wembley. I went down by train, leaving Newcastle around 3pm, straight on the tube across to Wembley, arriving at the Empire Pool around 7pm. The show followed the format that had become the norm for Floyd in the 70s; two parts, the first set featuring the new album “Animals”, and the second showcasing their last release “Wish You Were Here”. The encore was “Us and Them” from DSOTM the night I attended; some nights it would be “Money”, and one lucky audience in the States got the last ever performance of “Careful with that axe Eugene”. 
The tour featured large inflatable puppets, including the famous inflatable pig which flew over us and around the Empire Pool during “Pigs on the Wing”. I enjoyed the gig but found the band somewhat distant, and distant in a literal sense from my seat way up in the tiers. I’d seen the Sex Pistols live a few months before, and was starting to get interested in punk, and as part of that I was losing faith in bands like the Floyd. After the show I got the tube straight back to Kings Cross and caught the midnight mail train north, which got me back home around 7am. This was the last time I saw Pink Floyd for some 13 years; I missed the Wall shows at Earls Court, which in hindsight was a mistake that I now regret.
First set: Sheep; Pigs on the Wing 1; Dogs; Pigs on the Wing 2; Pigs (Three Different Ones)
Second set: Shine On You Crazy Diamond 1 – 5; Welcome to the Machine; Have a Cigar; Wish You Were Here; Shine On You Crazy Diamond 6 – 9. Encore: Us and Them
23 Jan
Mogwai Newcastle Tyne Theatre 22nd January 2014
Mogwai Newcastle Tyne Theatre 22nd January 2014
Support from Aidan Moffat
Its a long time since I’ve been to see a band who I’m not familiar with at all. Thanks to David’s friend Dan, for giving Laura the chance to see Mogwai last night. I really didn’t know what to expect from this band; I’d heard of them, but to my shame I can’t pretend to know any of their material. The Tyne Theatre was packed, and I can see why. Mogwai’s music is powerful, intense, a little dark, very loud at times and just fascinating. They are a five piece from Glasgow who play largely instrumental pieces; I think I counted two songs with vocals. They are celebrating the launch of their new album, ‘Rave Tapes’ and last night was a special warm up gig for a tour, which includes two sold-out concerts at the Royal Festival Hall later this week. Their songs are lengthy and guitar-based pieces; on several of them there were four of them all playing guitar at the same time. Lots of strong, simple, repetitive, mathematical, patterned rhythms. Loads of distortion, dynamics, fuzz and reverb; quite difficult to categorise. I thought I heard shades of Pink Floyd, Joy Division, Kraftwerk, and even Hawkwind. Laura was reminded of Nirvana. Great stuff.
Setlist: Heard About You Last Night; Rano Pano; Master Card; I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead; Travel Is Dangerous; The Lord Is Out of Control; Friend of the Night; Ithica 27ø9; Ex-Cowboy; Blues Hour; How to Be a Werewolf; Remurdered. Encore: Deesh; Mexican Grand Prix; Batcat
Mogwai are Dominic Aitchison (bass), Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Martin Bulloch (drums), Barry Burns (keyboard, computer, guitar) and John Cummings (guitar, computer).
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