Crosby, Stills & Nash Gateshead Sage October 15th 2013
The past 10 years has seen several visits to the UK by Crosby and Nash, and CS&N, after many years of not visiting this country. This is the fourth time that I’ve seen C&N or CS&N in the last ten years, as well as solo shows by Stephen Stills and Neil Young. This year’s tour features Crosby, Stills and Nash who played to a packed Sage concert hall in Gateshead last night. Laura decided to join me this time. She’s not a fan, but is familiar with some of their songs, largely as a result of hearing me play them. The show was almost three hours, with an interval and featured all of the classic CS&N tracks, with some solo material and some new songs. The harmonies were, as always, still beautiful.
From the programme: “Welcome to our world of music. All our lives we’ve been focussed on touching your hearts and hopefully having you think abut the crazy world we still live in….whether it’s a love song or a subject of vital importance, it’s essential for us to communicate with you and make you a part of our lives. Hopefully our music will help you feel less lonely, less crazy and perhaps, inspire you to do something positive about your life and the lives of others. Time, family and friends are our only true currency and we have to recognise that all of us together, can make a difference and help make the world a better place for ourselves and our children. Rock on!” Still old hippies at heart, and still out there playing for us, and doing a pretty damn good job of it too.
The set list included (from memory; I have definitely missed some): Carry On/Questions; Marrakesh Express; Long Time Gone; Southern Cross; Lay Me Down; Bluebird; Love the One You’re With. Interval. Helplessly Hoping; Golden Days; Treetop Flyer; What Are Their Names; Guinnevere; Just a Song Before I Go; Burning for the Buddha; Our House; Teach Your Children; Almost Cut My Hair; Wooden Ships. Encore: Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.
Posts Tagged ‘country’
16 Oct
Crosby, Stills & Nash Gateshead Sage October 15th 2013
8 Sep
Little Feat Newcastle City Hall 1977
Little Feat Newcastle City Hall 1977
Little Feat played two nights at Newcastle City in 1977, as part of a UK tour. I attended the first concert. There was no support act. The line-up of the band at the time was the late great Lowell George on vocals and guitar, Paul Barrere on guitar, Richie Hayward on drums, Bill Payne on keyboards, Sam Clayton on percussion and Kenny Gradney on bass. Feat were also accompanied for the tour by the Tower of Power horn section. The tour was to promote their sixth studio album Time Loves A Hero. I’d seen Little Feat previously when they supported The Who at their 1976 Charlton concert, but can’t pretend that I was a massive fan; although they were undoubtedly a fine band. To my shame I never took the trouble to listen to much of their stuff. This was still the case when I went to see them with my friend Ian in 1977, so most of the set was new to me. I did of course recognise Dixie Chicken, and enjoyed the concert. This was the band at the peak of their powers, and the show certainly showed off their excellent musicianship. 
I saw similarities to the Grateful Dead show that I attended at the same venue a few years earlier; lots of jamming, top class playing, and quite laid back southern rock. I really should have invested the time to get to know their material before I went to see them. From the tour programme: “Little Feat. Six albums strong, turning the fine edge of their music into a resiliency that has been able to withstand countless setbacks. Little Feat, finally at the juncture of in their colourful history where they’re able to have their cake and eat it too. Little Feat on the heels of Time Loves a Hero. It’s been six years of hard rock’n’roll labour but its obviously been worth it, from the beginning”. Lowell George sadly died of a heart attack in 1979. I saw the latest version of Little Feat at the Sage a year or so ago. Setlist: Walkin’ All Night; Fat Man in the Bathtub; Red Streamliner; Oh Atlanta; Day at the Dog Races; All That You Dream; Mercenary Territory; On Your Way Down; Skin It Back; Old Folks Boogie; Rock and Roll Doctor; Cold Cold Cold; Dixie Chicken; Tripe Face Boogie.
24 Aug
Kris Kristofferson Edinburgh Playhouse 2007
Kris Kristofferson Edinburgh Playhouse 2007
Kris Kristofferson is a truly great singer songwriter. Marie and I went to see him in solo acoustic concert at Edinburgh Playhouse around 6 years ago. The guy just stood, a solitary figure, alone on the stage with his acostic guitar and sang those great, simply, country songs. You forget how many classics he has written, and I was surprised how many I recognised. Me and Bobby McGee is of course my favourite. I could listen to him sing it all night. But then there was Help Me Make It Through the Night, and For the Good Times. And you know when he sings Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down, he is singing of his own hard times and his experiences with the demon alcohol. The guy is a legend and sings straight to you, straight from the heart. I can’t help compare him with his contemporaries Dylan and Willie Nelson. Those guys have bands and a big show. Kris is at the other end of the spectrum. Stripped down, just an old guy with his guitar, singing his songs with a level of authenticity and honesty which can captivate an entire concert hall. I once saw Pete Seeger do a similar thing in front of 2000 people with just his songs and a banjo. A different context I know, but there’s something about a man with a bunch of good songs. Untouchable.
Typical setlist: Shipwrecked in the Eighties; Darby’s Castle; Me and Bobby McGee; Here Comes That Rainbow Again; The Best of All Possible Worlds; Help Me Make It Through the Night; Casey’s Last Ride; Nobody Wins;Stranger; Enough for You; Billy Dee; From Here to Forever; Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again); Jesus Was a Capricorn; Come Sundown; The Heart; Just the Other Side of Nowhere; Jody and the Kid;The Pilgrim, Chapter 33; To Beat the Devil; The Promise; Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down; The Silver Tongued Devil and I; For the Good Times. Encore: Thank You for a Life; Moment of Forever; Please Don’t Tell Me How the Story Ends; Why Me
9 Mar
George Hatcher Sunderland Polytechnic Wearmouth Hall 1976
George Hatcher Sunderland Polytechnic Wearmouth Hall 1976
George Hatcher and his band gigged quite a lot in the UK during the late 70s. I remember seeing them at this gig at Sunderland Poly Students Union, and also at the Reading festival in 1977 and supporting Dr Feelgood. My recollections are of a pretty hot southern rock band, who released a clutch of albums: Dr Run, Talking Turkey, and Rich Girl during the years 1976 to 1978. Although George is American he formed the band in the UK in the midst of punk and the NWOBHM, and did surprisingly well touring the UK and Europe, particularly given the musical climate at the time. The George Hatcher Band of that time consisted of George himself on vocals; John Thomas, guitar; Terry Slade, drummer; Steve wrenn, keyboards; Harris Jannou Bass; and Phillip Swan, guitar. They toured a lot; supporting AC/DC, Ted Nugent, The Kinks, Dr. Feelgood, and Supertramp along the way. In 1982 George returned to the USA and has toured there since, with some considerable success. I checked the George Hatcher band out, and they are still going strong, although the line-up has changed over the years, with only George remaining from the 70s. Its about time he returned to the UK for a tour.
14 Feb
David Gates 1980 and 2001
David Gates 1980 and 2001
I’ve already blogged on David Gates alongside Bread, but I found a programme in my collection that I hadn’t scanned at the time, so I decided to include it today for completeness and as an excuse for writing a little more about David and his songs. David has written some great songs including the Bread classics: Make It With You; Baby I’m-A Want You; Guitar Man; Everything I Own; and If. What I didn’t realise was that he also wrote Saturday’s Child for the Monkees. Saturday’s Child appears on the Monkees first lp, and is one of their better album tracks. In the TV series our heroes Monkee around on the beach in a dune buggy, motorbikes, and the Monkeemobile! Happy memories. The last time I saw David Gates in concert was at a gig at Newcastle Tyne Theatre which Marie and I went to ten or more years ago. He was on good form, and sang all the classic Bread songs, as you would expect.
6 Feb
Jake Bugg Newcastle Academy 5 Feb 2013
Newcastle Academy 5 Feb 2013 Jake Bugg
Last night David’s friend Phil and I went to see Jake Bugg, the new much hailed up-and-coming superstar troubadour. Jake is all of 18 years old, and is selling venues out up and down the country. The Academy was jam packed to the walls and had been sold out for weeks in advance. I’d read about Jake and heard some of his stuff. He wears his influences on his sleeve, and his music is very reminiscent of the 60s, Dylan, Donovan, old blues, and country. His songs are all self-penned and its hard to believe that they can come from someone so new to the music business. We arrived just in time for the support act Little Green Cars, who come from the USA and were pretty good, playing a pleasant mix of indie, folk and psych. 
The crowd gave them a warm reception, but everyone was waiting for the main man. Jake Bugg came on stage shortly after 9pm and the place just went crazy. Lots of singing along. Everyone (except me :))seemed to know all of the words to most of the songs. Phil has Jake’s album, and told me that most of the set was drawn from that, with a few new songs. He finished with Lightning Bolt, which resulted in a mass crazy singalong by the Newcastle crowd. The encore was Broken followed by a super cover of Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues. Then we all rolled out into the cold night. Phil and I both agreed that it was a great gig. This guy is amazing and has a great future ahead of him. Watch his progress; it will be rapid. Thanks to Phil for the photo; his phone camera skills are much better than mine.
26 Oct
Eagles Glasgow Apollo Sunday 1 May 1977
This was the Hotel California tour and The Eagles were returning to the UK as a massive sell out act. I’d seen them twice before, once supporting Neil Young at Newcastle City Hall in the early 70s, and secondly on a bill with Elton John and The Beach Boys on a long hot day at Wembley Stadium. They were great on both occasions so I was looking forward to seeing them as a headline act. Their UK tour took in a few dates, and the nearest was in the wonderful, and sadly missed, Glasgow Apollo. They played two nights, Saturday and Sunday and we went to the second of the two gigs. I drove up with my mate Ian, and we were both excited about seeing The Eagles. We had seats reasonably close to the front, but not too close, as the Apollo stage was very high and the view from the first few rows sometimes wasn’t great and you were guaranteed to leave with a stiff neck. According to the ticket support came from Dan Fogelberg, although I believe this was changed and the actual support was Valerie Carter. A published setlist (from the Apollo website) shows them opening with Hotel California, which would now seem a strange choice for a first song, but the album was new at the time and therefore not well known at all. My memories are of a great concert, and of the band returning for an encore wearing kilts and accompanied by a lone Scottish piper. 
We drove home through the night playing a cassette of the Hotel California album, constantly rewinding and replaying the title track. Great memories of a great band in a legendary venue. Setlist: Hotel California; Take it easy; Life in the fast lane; Take it to the limit; New kid in town; Victim of love; James Dean; Witchy woman; Lyin’ eyes; One of these nights; Doolin’ Dalton; Desperado; Best of my love; Already gone; Rocky mountain way; Turn to stone
17 Aug
Crosby & Nash in Gateshead; and Crosby, Stills & Nash in Manchester 2005
Crosby & Nash in Gateshead; and Crosby, Stills & Nash in Manchester 2005
If you had asked me 10 years ago, I would have said that we wouldn’t see Crosby, Stills and Nash back in the UK. It seemed so long since they toured over here. I had my memories of the great CSNY gig at Wembley Stadium in 1974, and figured that would be the one and only time I saw that great band, or CSN, live in concert. However, I would have been wrong. The past 7 years has seen a few visits to the UK by Crosby and Nash, and CSN. The first news of this was that Crosby and Nash were to tour Europe in early 2005. The first concert to be announced was set for the Royal Festival Hall London in February 2005. I bought tickets straight away for Marie and I to go to that show; however within a week or so, a gig was added at The Sage Gateshead, a venue which is local to us. So I bought tickets for the Sage gig and sold our tickets for London (ebay comes in handy a lot these days). We had good seats for the Sage concert, and ran into lots of old friends there. The show started with Military Madness, and took us through all of those great songs, with those exquisite harmonies; as beautiful as ever. A month or so later, further UK dates were announced, this time with Stephen Stills as part of the line up. I couldn’t resist a chance to see CSN so bought tickets for the Manchester Arena concert. David came along with me and we both enjoyed it. These were two great gigs; these guys are responsible for some of the best music of the last 40 years. I’ve loved them since I heard Marrakesh Express on the radio in the late 60s. 
The set list for Crosby and Nash gig was something like this: Military Madness; Marrakesh Express; Long Time Gone; Lay Me Down; In My Dreams; Broken Bird; Pre-Road Downs; Page 43; Jesus of Rio; They Want It All; Orleans / Cathedral; Déjà Vu; Live On (The Wall); Guinnevere; Milky Way Tonight; Puppeteer; Just a Song Before I Go; Delta; Don’t Dig Here; Wasted on the Way; To the Last Whale…A. Critical Mass B. Wind on the Water; Wooden Ships; Our House; Almost Cut My Hair. Encore: Teach Your Children.
The setlist for the CSNY gig was something like this: Part 1: Carry On; Marrakesh Express; Acadienne; Long Time Gone; Jesus of Rio; They Want It All; Guinnevere; Ole Man Trouble; Military Madness; In My Dreams; Feed the People; Déjà Vu. Part 2: Southern Cross; Helplessly Hoping; Lay Me Down; Milky Way Tonight; Spanish Suite; Don’t Dig Here; Love the One You’re With; Almost Cut My Hair; Chicago; Wooden Ships; Woodstock; Teach Your Children
13 Aug
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Wembley Stadium 1974
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Wembley Stadium 1974
Special guests: Joni Mitchell, The Band, Jesse Colin Young
Looking back this was a very strong line-up and a truly historic gig, although I’m not sure I realised it at the time. A group of us went down to London by train, primarily to see CSN&Y. To be honest ( and to my shame) I had little interest in seeing the other acts on the bill. This gig was very much a coming together of the long hairs; everyone there to see a cluster of west coast superstars who rarely appeared in the UK. The weather was good, a hot late summer day, and the vibe friendly and laid back. I remember running into loads of people from the North East. We had tickets for the stands, and couldn’t get down on the pitch which was frustrating. My mates and I spent some time next to the back stage area, star spotting. We saw (I think; from a bad….memory) members of the Moody Blues, The Faces, Led Zeppelin and Marc Bolan. My mate Don and I ran into Robert Plant in the gents, and we chatted to him; Don offered Plant a drink from his bottle of beer, Plant took a swig to Don’s delight (he swore he would keep the bottle for ever!). We arrived early and saw all the bands; I wish I’d taken more notice of their sets than I did. Jesse Colin Young’s “Darkness, Darkness” is now one of my favourite songs, but I remember nothing of what he played that day. I remember that the Band played a solid set including “The Weight”, “Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and “Cripple Creek”. Joni Mitchell’s set was part solo on acoustic guitar or piano, and part accompanied by Tom Scott’s L.A. Express. Her album at the time was Court and Spark, and she played tracks from that lp plus favourites such as “Woodstock”, “Big Yellow Taxi” and “This Flight Tonight”. She is another artist who I really appreciate now; much more so than I did back then in the day. 
CSN&Y played a long set of around four (!) hours. They were just amazing; incredible harmonies, great musicianship. There were times when it dragged a little for me, as the set included a lot of songs which were unfamiliar to me. However, before too long another classic would come along, the harmonies would be spot on, and the guitar duels would spark off again. My enduring memories are of the start and end of their set. They started with an extended version of “Love the one you’re with” and the place went crazy. My last memory is of standing on a wooden bench, such as the seats were in the Wembley stands in those days, singing the chorus of “Ohio”, with 72,000 other people. Days don’t come any better. Where did the years go?
CSNY setlist: Love the One You’re With; Wooden Ships; Immigration Man; Helpless; Military Madness; Johnny’s Garden; Traces; Almost Cut My Hair; Teach Your Children; Only Love Can Break Your Heart; The Lee Shore; Time After Time; It’s All Right; Another Sleep Song; Our House; Hawaiian Sunrise; Star of Bethlehem; Love Art Blues; Old Man; Change Partners; Blackbird; Myth of Sisyphus; Word Game; Suite: Judy Blue Eyes; Déjà Vu; First Things First; Don’t Be Denied; Black Queen; Pushed It Over the End; Pre-Road Downs; Carry On; Ohio
11 Jul
Glen Campbell Sage Gateshead 2007
Glen Campbell Sage Gateshead 2007
I grew up with the music of Glen Campbell playing around me. Wichita Lineman was on the radio all of the time when I was a teenager, and although it didn’t seem cool at the time, it was actually one of my favourite songs at the time, and still is today. A few years ago I bought a Glen Campbell Greatest Hits lp in a charity shop and began to realise what a great artist he is. Dreams of the Everyday Housewife is also a favourite of mine. I’ve only ever seen him once in concert, when Marie and I went to see him at The Sage in Gateshead around five years ago. We both really enjoyed the experience. Support came from his daughter Debby. 
Glen looked great. He was wearing a pretty sharp cowboy shirt, jeans and great cowboy boots. And his voice was as clear and beautiful as I hoped it would be. I hadn’t realised the he is also an excellent guitar player, and he treated us to a faultless rendition of Mason Williams’ Classical Gas. From memory, I am pretty sure the set included all the hits: Gentle on My Mind; Galveston; By the Time I Get to Phoenix; True Grit; Wichita Lineman; Rhinestone Cowboy; Southern Nights. Great stuff from a true artist. I sadly missed him on his recent farewell tour, which also called at the Sage. I’d quite fancied going to see him again, but couldn’t make it, which was a disappointment. In recent years, I’ve come to quite like country music, and have been to see quite a few of the old country artists including Kris Kristofferson (he was just great), Willy Nelson (the guy is a legend), and Dolly Parton (good fun show). Guess I must be getting old.
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