The Battleship Potemkin, Pet Shop Boys , Swan Hunter’s shipyard, Wallsend, 1st May 2006
In 2003 The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, asked Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe (Pet Shop Boys) to write a new score for the film The Battleship Potemkin, and perform it as a free concert in Trafalgar Square. They did so, and have performed the piece several times since, including this performance in the North East, which David and I attended in May 2006. The Battleship Potemkin is a propaganda film that tells the story of the 1905 mutiny of the Russian ship. The film is recognised as a silent classic, and is often cited as one of the greatest films of the period. I attended a film studies course at college; The Battleship Potemkin was one of the films we were shown, and I had to write an essay about it. “Battleship Potemkin is a 1925 silent film directed by Sergei Eisenstein and produced by Mosfilm. It presents a dramatized version of the mutiny that occurred in 1905 when the crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin rebelled against their officers of the Tsarist regime. Battleship Potemkin has been called one of the most influential propaganda films of all time, and was named the greatest film of all time at the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958.” (Wikipedia). 
On May 1st, 2006, Pet Shop Boys with the Northern Sinfonia performed the music with the film at a special event held at Swan Hunter’s shipyard, Wallsend, and presented by the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative. Tickets were distributed free through a ballot, and 14,000 people attended the event. The music reflected the sombre mood of the film, and used a mixture of electronica and orchestration to provide an appropriate accompaniment to the grainy images shown on the screen. It was a cold evening, and there was quite a wait before Pet Shop Boys and the film started. Then local actor Tim Healy appeared on a raised platform to the left of the stage to introduce the performance. The film’s credits rolled and the music started. This was a very different type of performance for most of the crowd, including me, and fans of Pet Shop Boys who were hoping to hear some of their many hits will have gone home disappointed; indeed we could hardly see the band, as they spent most of the evening hidden behind a screen on the dimly lit stage. 
The music was mostly instrumental, although Pet Shop Boys had composed a few new songs as part of their score. It was very loud in parts, and fitted well with the film and its battle sequences. It was, as it should have been, the film which was the star of the evening. I went with David and we both agreed it was quite a strange, but ultimately fulfilling, experience. The walk down to the shipyard was marked by stickers (showing Pet Shop Boys) on the pavement; I managed to pull one up on the way home, and have pictured it here 🙂 I have also included a picture from the film The Battleship Potemkin, which is now public domain and available thanks to the Wikimedia Commons licence.
NewcastleGateshead Chief Executive Andrew Dixon said when the performance was announced: “This event promises to be an amazing and unforgettable audience experience set against the striking backdrop of one of the region’s most historic and iconic symbols of its industrial roots. To use Swan Hunters as a stage set for one of the most exciting and innovative musical events of 2006 is very fitting.” Sage Gateshead performance director Simon Clugston: “To hear Northern Sinfonia perform the soundtrack to the classic film Battleship Potemkin with the Pet Shop Boys in the apt industrial setting of Swan Hunter’s shipyard will be a night to remember.”
Posts Tagged ‘electronica’
8 Feb
The Battleship Potemkin, Pet Shop Boys , Swan Hunter’s shipyard, Wallsend, 1st May 2006
31 Dec
Gary Numan Newcastle City Hall 1983, Warriors Tour, and 1984, Berserker tour.
Gary Numan Newcastle City Hall 27th September 1983, Warriors Tour, and
4th December 1984, Berserker tour.
Gary Numan’s retirement from live performance didn’t last and in 1983 he was back on tour, playing again at the City Hall to promote the Warriors album. This saw a departure from his previous style, with the involvement of several other notable musicians, including Bill Nelson, and other influences, including jazz. The album was not as successful as his previous releases, and is recognised as the beginning of a decline, including by Numan himself: “I thought that by getting in some of the best players and singers around I could make the albums more ‘musical,’…..What I actually did was progressively bury the very style that my fans had enjoyed….. I swamped my own performances in huge layers of backing vocals. ….with Warriors I was lighting the fires of what came close to being my funeral…”. The show was still good, and included all ofmthe usual favourites (and a long set), but I must admit that I was beginning to lose faith a little. Support came from Tik and Tok.
Setlist 1983: Sister Surprise; Warriors; Remind Me to Smile; Metal; This Prison Moon; Down in the Park; Films; She’s Got Claws; Love Needs No Disguise; I Die: You Die; Love Is Like Clock Law; The Iceman Comes; The Rhythm of the Evening; This Is My House; I Am Render; War Songs; My Centurion; The Tick Tock Man; We Take Mystery (To Bed);Cars; Are ‘Friends’ Electric?; Tracks; We Are Glass
I saw Gary Numan once more, when he returned to the City Hall in 1984 to promote the Berserker album. The Berserker Tour featured a “high-tech Roman temple” stage set to complement Numan’s white leather jacket/white make-up/blue-hair look. A double-album, White Noise, was recorded live at the Hammersmith Odeon show in December 1984. Support was from Hohokam, who were on Numan’s own label.
Setlist 1984:Berserker; Metal; Me! I Disconnect From You; Remind Me to Smile; Sister Surprise; Music for Chameleons; The Iceman Comes; Cold Warning; Down in the Park; This Prison Moon; I Die: You Die; My Dying Machine; Cars; We Take Mystery (To Bed); We Are Glass; This Is New Love; My Shadow in Vain; Are ‘Friends’ Electric?
30 Dec
Gary Numan Farewell concert Wembley Arena 27th April 1981
Gary Numan Farewell concert. Wembley Arena 27th April 1981.
It was 1981, and after a short two year career, and massive success, Gary Numan took us all by surprise by announcing his retirement from live performance. A massive farewell concert was scheduled to take place at Wembley Arena in April. I was due to speak at a conference in London around the same time; in fact Gary’s farewell concert was set to take place the night before the conference was due to begin. So I extended my stay, booked a room in a small B&B in Wembley, and bought a ticket for the show. The concert was initially scheduled for one night, but extended to three to satisfy the demand from fans to see Gary Numan one more time. The show was a big spectacular event, with the lavish sort of stage show that I had come to expect from Gary Numan. The stage set took two months to construct and cost Numan around £150,000. Wembley Arena was full of Numanoid lookalikes who gave him a great send-off. 
Fans were crying and throwing red roses and teddy bears on stage for Gary. The concert featured all the hits and well known songs, and was an emotional event for everyone present. Support came from Nash the Slash and Shock, a music/mime/dance/pop group featuring Tim Dry, Barbie Wilde , Robert Pereno, LA Richards, Sean Crawford and Carole Caplin. Shock were very much part of the new romantic scene, performing at The Haçienda and The Blitz Club. When they broke up Tim and Sean became the double act Tik and Tok and Carole famously went on to become a lifestyle advisor to Cherie Blair.
Setlist: This Wreckage; Remind Me to Smile; Moral; Me! I Disconnect From You; Conversation; The Aircrash Bureau; Airlane; M.E.; Everyday I Die; Films; Remember I Was Vapour; Trois Gymnopédies (First Movement); She’s Got Claws; Cars; I Dream of Wires; I’m an Agent; The Joy Circuit; I Die: You Die; Cry the Clock Said; Tracks; Down in the Park; My Shadow in Vain; Please Push No More; Are ‘Friends’ Electric?; We Are Glass.
At the end of the show Numan said “this has been the greatest two years I’ve ever had, thank you”, and then he was gone. But, like all of the best retirements 🙂 it didn’t last for long, and a couple of years later he was touring again.
29 Dec
Gary Numan Newcastle City Hall 1979 and 1980
Gary Numan. Newcastle City Hall 21st September 1979, and 29th September 1980
It was May 1979 and Gary Numan and his band Tubeway Army seemed to come out of nowhere. I remember seeing this strange, scary guy singing “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” on Top of the Pops, and being fascinated by both his image and his music. Numan had, actually, already released an album and a few 45s, before he hit No 1 in the UK singles chart with “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” and No 1 in the lp chart with “Replicas”. “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?”, was very different from anything else around at the time, and a million miles away from the fast punk music that most bands of the time were producing, and which had influenced Gary Numan to start out in the business. 
Writing for Smash Hits in 1979, Cliff White described the song as “a dark, threatening wall of synthesized sound” which “throbbed ominously behind a gloomy song of paranoia and loneliness”. Come September 1979, Gary Numan released his third album “The Pleasure Principle”, dropped the Tubeway Army moniker, and went out on his first national tour, calling at major concert venues up and down the country. The publicity prior to the tour promised a spectacle to match the scifi imagery we had all seen on TV. I bought tickets for Marie, me, Marie’s younger sister and niece to see the concert, which sold out very quickly. We had seats close to the front and were blown away by the concert. The show lived up to all our expectations with great use of stark white lighting, rising towers, and Gary our robotic hero centre-stage making quirky, jerky movements. My favourite songs were “Electric”, “Cars” and “Me! I Disconnect From You”. Gary had a cute little car (like a small dodgem car) which he drove around the stage as he sang “Cars”. Support came from OMD who had recently formed. This was before “Enola Gay”; I’d heard the single “Electricity” (which was played a lot at Middlesbrough Rock Garden at the time) and remember staying out of the bar and watching them just to hear that song. 
Setlist: Airlane; Me! I Disconnect From You; Cars; M.E.; You Are in My Vision; Something’s in the House; Random; Everyday I Die; Conversation; We Are So Fragile; Bombers; Remember I Was Vapour; On Broadway (The Drifters cover); The Dream Police; Films; Metal; Down in the Park. Encore: My Shadow in Vain; Are ‘Friends’ Electric?; Tracks.
Almost exactly a year later and Gary Numan was back on tour again. We saw him again at Newcastle City Hall, sitting about half way back in the hall. Gary had just released the “Telekon” album and the tour was thus called, of course, the “Teletour”. 
The hit singles “We Are Glass” (another great song) and “I Die: You Die” were released that year. The show was quite similar to the 1979 tour, with another lavish stage set, and Gary wearing his trademark black leather boilersuit with interlocking red belts. Support came from Nash the Slash 🙂 , a crazy punk violinist whose entire face was covered in surgical bandages, and wore sunglasses, a white suit and a white top hat! Setlist: This Wreckage; Remind Me to Smile; Complex; Telekon; Me! I Disconnect From You; Cars; Conversation; Airlane; M.E.; Everyday I Die; Remember I Was Vapour; Stories; Are ‘Friends’ Electric?; The Joy Circuit; I Die: You Die; I Dream of Wires; Down in the Park; Tracks; We Are Glass. The next time I saw Gary Numan was at his farewell (! 🙂 ) concert at Wembley Arena in 1981. I’ll write about that event tomorrow.
28 Dec
New Order Sunderland Mayfair 1984, Newcastle Mayfair 1986 & Newcastle Academy 2006
New Order Sunderland Mayfair 15th August 1984
I have a theory that, during the 80s, you could judge the success of New Order by how low Hookie was carrying his bass. Each time I saw the band that bass seemed to slip further down his leg, reaching a point around his knees, where I guess it couldn’t get any lower. I spent the night at the Sunderland gig staring in wonder at Peter Hook and that bass. I swear he was wrestling and fighting with his guitar, as if it had a life of its own, and was trying to escape his clutches. He was definitely becoming a fully fledged rock star; indeed the entire band seemed to exude a level of confidence way above that which I had witnessed on the previous two occasions I saw them. They were riding on a wave of success; Blue Monday had propelled them to another place, and the Mayfair was packed. The ticket it pretty impressive too :). Setlist: Face Up; Thieves Like Us; Age of Consent; Your Silent Face; Sooner Than You Think; ICB; The Village; 5 8 6; Sunrise; The Perfect Kiss; Blue Monday (cue for major dancing).
New Order Newcastle Mayfair 10th September 1986. 
New Order released two albums before I saw them again; these were Low-Life (1985) and Brotherhood (1986). Their set at Newcastle Mayfair in 1986 drew heavily from their most recent release. I recall being disappointed, largely because they didn’t play Blue Monday, and because there were few songs that I recognised at all. This gig certainly wasn’t one of the best times that I have seen New Order, and to be honest I remember little about the gig. I think Hookie’s bass remained at knee height. It was 20 years until I saw them again. Setlist: State of the Nation; Everything’s Gone Green; Way of Life; Angel Dust; Paradise; Weirdo; Confusion; Subculture; Age of Consent; Bizarre Love Triangle; The Perfect Kiss.
Newcastle Academy 11th Oct 2006. 
Roll on 20 years and David and I were in Newcastle Academy to see New Order. This was their first visit to the North East since the Mayfair concert of 1986. In the interim the band had released 4 albums including the highly successful Waiting for the Sirens’ Call, which came out in 2005, and was generally recognised as a return to form. Gillian Gilbert left the band in 2001, and was replaced by Phil Cunningham. The rest of the line-up (Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris) remained unchanged. Over the 20 year period, there had been long gaps between releases and concerts, with New Order spending a lot of time in America. Their UK shows were mainly restricted to appearances at festivals, a small number of shows in Manchester and some arena concerts elsewhere. As a result, this Newcastle return was hugely anticipated, and tickets sold out immediately they went on sale. The Academy was completely packed; we were on the floor close to the stage and couldn’t move, and the band didn’t let the crowd down. New Order played a long set drawn from across their career, including a handful of Joy Division songs. That night they played with a passion, and seemed to be in a good mood. A great concert. Hookie’s bass still remained at knee height, which was comforting. The ticket price had risen from £5 in 1986 to £32.50 in 2006, which was less comforting. Setlist at Newcastle Academy in 2006: Crystal Regret; Ceremony; Who’s Joe?; These Days (Joy Division); Transmission (Joy Division); Krafty; Waiting for the Sirens’ Call; Your Silent Face; Guilt Is a Useless Emotion; Bizarre Love Triangle; Temptation; The Perfect Kiss; Blue Monday. Encore: Shadowplay (Joy Division); Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division).
Sadly New Order split in 2008, the other members fell out with Peter Hook in a very public manner, and ultimately regrouped without him. Laura and saw their Newcastle Academy concert in 2012, which I blogged about at the time.
27 Dec
New Order Middlesbrough Rock Garden 17th Feb 1981 & Newcastle Mayfair 11th March 1982
New Order Middlesbrough Rock Garden 17th Feb 1981 & Newcastle Mayfair 11th March 1982
On May 17,1980, Ian Curtis committed suicide at his parents home in Macclesfield, leaving the remaining members Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris shocked, and with an uncertain musical future. Ultimately they decided to carry on, initially as a three piece and under a new name: New Order. By late 1980 New Order was playing gigs at small venues in their home town Manchester. Their repertoire consisted of new songs, other than “Ceremony” (an unreleased Joy Division song which was played live before Curtis’ death) and “In a Lonely Place” (demoed in the studio). Guitarist Bernard Sumner took on the role of main vocalist and Gillian Gilbert, Stephen Morris’s girlfriend, joined on keyboards. New Order played a couple of concerts in the USA, and started to venture further afield in the UK. I first saw them at a gig at Middlesbrough Rock Garden in early 1981. The concert was reasonably well attended, although by no means sold out. I remember being struck by how different their music was from Joy Division; much more electronic, less dark, few vocals. There was a sense that we were witnessing something very special, and very different from the direction that other new wave bands were going at the time. This was a universe away from the thrash of Warsaw that I had witnessed only a few years earlier. The songs came from their yet to be released first album “Movement”. A bootleg exists of a concert in Glasgow from the same period, which suggests the set at the Rock Garden was probably something like this: In A Lonely Place; Dreams Never End; Truth; Mesh; Procession; ICB; The Him; Cries & Whispers; Senses; Ceremony. My memory (which sadly, is quite often wrong these days) tells me that they also played an instrumental version of Love Will Tear Us Apart, towards the end of their set, possibly as an encore. However, this also seems unlikely, as the song doesn’t feature in any other published 1981 setlists. Having said that, they would sometimes play the old Joy Division classic during the sound check; so who knows?
A year later local promoters The Soul Kitchen (“The Only Fun In Town” 🙂 ) booked New Order (“Dreams Never End”) for a concert at Newcastle Mayfair. By now they were playing several new songs which would appear on their 1983 second album “Power, Corruption & Lies”. The Mayfair was quite full, and I saw a big difference in New Order, compared to their performance at the Rock Garden. This was a much more confident band, more dance, more electronica. Blue Monday and massive success were yet to come, but you could sense that this was an important band. Bernard Sumner was much more of a front man, and Hookie’s bass was slipping further and further down to his knees; they were both forming their own rock star personas. Support (or “Early Entertainment” as the ticket says) came from Scottish band The Wake, who featured a young Bobby Gillespie.
Setlist from Newcastle Mayfair, 1982: In A Lonely Place, Chosen Time, Denial, Ultraviolence, Senses, Leave Me Alone, Hurt, Procession, Temptation.
New Order line-up: Bernard Sumner – vocals, guitar, Peter Hook – bass, Stephen Morris – drums, Gillian Gilbert – synthesizers.
11 Aug
Chase Park Festival Gateshead 10 August 2013
Laura Smith at the Chase Park Festival Gateshead 10 August 2013
The idea behind the Chase Park Festival is “to be inclusive for everyone regardless of ability. Factors such as remote locations, high expense, access and poor facilities can often mean many mainstream outdoor music festivals can often exclude people with disabilities. Chase Park Festival also aims to helping break down cultural barriers and stereotypes often associated with people with disabilities by engaging with the whole community. The festival uses music as the foundation to get people from all walks of life together to enjoy a fun-packed carnival atmosphere.” 
Chase Park is in the centre of Whickham, a village which lies to the west of Gateshead, not too far from the Metro Centre. This year’s festival featured headliners The Futureheads, Big Beat Bronson and a host of local bands, including our own Laura, who appeared during the afternoon. Laura had some technical issues with her loop pedal, which decided not to work properly on the day. However she was not to be defeated and performed a slightly curtailed set of her echo laiden compositions, her own ethereal vocals woven together to provide both the rich textual background and the main melody lines.
3 Jun
Steven Severin The Cabinet of Dr Caligari Tyneside Cinema 2 June 2013
Steven Severin The Cabinet of Dr Caligari Tyneside Cinema 2 June 2013
On the face of it this seemed a strange sort of event. Certainly not the usual sort of gig I would normally go along to. From the Tyneside Cinema website: “Acclaimed solo artist and founder member of the legendary Siouxsie and the Banshees, Steven Severin returns to give audiences the rare opportunity to hear his electronic score for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Capturing the surreal and enigmatic nature of the original work, Steven Severin’s score provides a synthesised, highly atmospheric soundscape for one of the most important films in the history of cinema.” 
This was my second visit to the Tyneside Cinema this week, and Marie came along with me on this occasion. I have been a fan of the Banshees since the early days; I always thought there was so much more to their music than simple punk. There was a dark, discordant energy to the sound they made which also matched their image; and I would guess some of that was down to Severin as well as Siouxsie. I haven’t seen Siouxsie perform for some years now, and sadly I can’t make her performances in London this month. Anyway, I had been looking forward to this chance to see a Banshee perform in my locality. I am also a fan of horror movies, so coupling a classic film of the genre with a Banshee seemed pretty good for me. In fact, I’ve never seen the Cabinet of Caligari right through, so I was looking forward to the whole experience. The performance started shortly after the advertised time of 6pm, with the lights going down in the small cinema before Severin took his place at an Apple Mac on a table by the side of the stage. The film was shown right through in all its black and white and sepia glory, as Steven delivered his electronic score, which was as haunting and dark as the surreal and disturbing images which enfolded on the screen. The film lasts around 70 minutes, and at the end Severin left the theatre as the lights went up, and the audience applauded. He did, however, hang around to sign copies of CDs which were on sale in the foyer. A different sort of “gig”, which was a nice change, and which Marie and I both enjoyed.
30 Mar
The Human League in concert in Newcastle 1978 – 1987
The Human League in concert in Newcastle 1978 – 1987
I first saw The Human League when they supported Siouxsie and the Banshees at Newcastle City Hall in 1978. This was the Banshees first major UK tour and it gave the Human League a chance to play before sold out concerts halls up and down the country. I was impressed by this new band and their electronic synth-based sound, which stood out from the norm at the time, when everyone else was playing standard guitar-based punk. I’d also heard their first single Being Boiled which was also pretty good, and live they played a pretty strange and fine version of Gary Glitter’s Rock n Roll Part 2. Phil’s long one-sided fringe was pretty strange and outrageous at the time; you couldn’t fail to take notice of this band. The next time I saw the Human League was at Newcastle Mayfair in 1980 (May 15th). I seem to recall that I was with my friend Ian and that we went down to the Mayfair late (probably around 10.30) after going to a 10CC concert at the City Hall. Its always strange going into a packed gig late, when the band is already on stage; I’ve done it several times and I always feel quite out of things. When we arrived at the Mayfair the Human League were already well into their set; I remember some pretty heavy dark electronic stuff being played. This was at the time of their second album Travelogue, and the last tour with founding band members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, who left the band shortly after this gig and went on to form Heaven 17. Many people thought that this might have been the end of the band but remaining members Phil Oakey and Adrian Wright continued, moving The Human League towards a new musical direction with a new line-up. In fact the next stage in the Human League story was pretty strange, and a spot of good luck or genious, depending on how you look at it. Oakey, in a panic to complete the band’s line-up so that he could honour existing tour dates,went out in Sheffield city centre clubs with the intention of recruiting female backing vocalists. In the Crazy Daisy Nightclub he spotted two teenage girls dancing together on the dance floor. Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall were schoolgirls on a night out together. Oakey asked both girls to join the tour as dancers and incidental vocalists, and history was about to be made. The Human League morphed into a pop band, and the Dare album and the massive No 1 single Don’t You Want Me followed. It was a few years later before I got to see the new line up live at the City Hall in 1987. By then they had been in the charts several more times. The 1987 was very much a greatest hits show and good fun. I’ve never seen the band since, although they continue to this day. Typical setlist from 1980: The Black Hit of Space; The Touchables; Dreams of Leaving; The word before the last; Life Kills; Almost Medieval; Circus of Death; Crow and a Baby; Only After Dark; Being Boiled; Blind Youth; WXJL Tonight. Encore: Marianne; Empire State Human. Typical setlist from 1987: Hard Times; Money; The Things That Dreams Are Made Of
The Real Thing; Do or Die; Human; Sound of the Crowd; Love Action; Jam; Love on the Run; Seconds; The Lebanon; (Together in) Electric Dreams; Party; Mirror Man; Don’t You Want Me. Encore: Fascination; Rock n’ Roll
21 Jun
Can Newcastle City Hall 1974 and Redcar 1977
Can Newcastle City Hall 1974 and Redcar 1977
I went along to this gig out of curiosity as much as anything else. I’d read a lot about Can in the music press, and heard a few tracks, although I didn’t own any of their albums. It seemed a cool and trendy sort of gig to go to, so off I went to the City Hall, by myself as I often was. By 1974 Can had released 5 albums, and vocalist Damo Suzuki had just left the band. The set was largely instrumental, heavy on the bass courtesy of Holger Czukay, with lots of free form improvisation, very avant-garde and quite challenging. 
The songs were quite drawn out, some lasting up to 20 minutes. I enjoyed the gig, and am pleased that I went to see them. Support came from Crow, who became the Buster James Band a few years later, and are not to be confused with an American band of the same name. I got to see Can again a few years later, this time with a group of mates, at Redcar Coatham Bowl. That gig was in March 1977, I have a stub from a gig that year, but the name of the band has been torn off (which suggests it was a short name, like Can).
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