The Who play Quadrophenia with Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Alanis Morissette Hyde Park 29th June 1996
This was a great gig, with a very strong line-up. The concert was in support of the Princes Trust and was the first time that The Who had played in the UK for some years. I went with Marie, largely to see The Who; however the presence of Dylan and Clapton on the bill made the event all the more attractive, and the price of £8 seemed a bargain. We spent the weekend in London, staying at a Hotel close to Hyde Park Corner. Around 150,000 people were at this concert, and the weather wasn’t great; it was quite a cold day. I don’t remember much about Alanis Morissette, but do recall seeing Dylan who played a short set. His normal band was augmented by Ron Wood and Al Kooper; we were sitting on the grass somewhere in the middle of the park, and the sound was murky, blowing around in the breeze.
Bob Dylan’s setlist was: Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat; All Along the Watchtower; Positively 4th Street; Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues; Tangled Up in Blue; Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right; Silvio; Seven Days; Highway 61 Revisited 
Quadrophenia has grown on me over the years, and I’ve seen The Who perform it three times; once on the original tour, this show in Hyde Park, and more recently at the Albert Hall Teenage Cancer Trust gig. The Hyde Park show featured a cast of special guests playing the various parts of the rock opera: Phil Daniels (Narration), Trevor McDonald (Newscaster), Ade Edmundson (Bell Boy), Gary Glitter (Rocker), Stephen Fry (Hotel Manager), and Dave Gilmour (Guitar on Dirty Jobs, Love Reign O’er Me). The band was introduced by Jools Holland. It was a fun show, although I was a little disappointed that they didn’t pay any Who classics; I thought we might get one or two as an encore, instead we got a reprise of 5.15. The Who setlist was: I Am the Sea; The Real Me; Quadrophenia; Cut My Hair; The Punk and the Godfather; I’m One; The Dirty Jobs (with David Gilmour); Helpless Dancer; Is It in My Head?; I’ve Had Enough; 5:15; Sea And Sand; Drowned; Bell Boy; Doctor Jimmy; The Rock; Love, Reign O’er Me (with David Gilmour). Encore: 5:15. After The Who, we watched some of Clapton’s set, but left before the end. At the time I’d lost a little faith in Eric and was somewhat tired of seeing him play live. However my interest in him has become renewed in recent years, and I also feel that he has returned to form.
Posts Tagged ‘folk’
15 Oct
The Who play Quadrophenia with Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Alanis Morissette Hyde Park 29th June 1996
14 Oct
Bob Dylan Palais des Sports Toulouse France 30 June 1993
Bob Dylan Palais des Sports Toulouse France 30 June 1993
I came to be at this Dylan gig purely by chance; I was at a conference in Toulouse through work, and spent a few days in the city. I’d been to Toulouse once or twice before and knew my way around the city. On my first day there, I spent a few hours looking around the open air market, rummaging through piles of 60s EPs and picture sleeve singles, and spotted a poster advertising a Dylan concert for the following evening. So I went into a nearby record shop and bought myself a ticket. This meant I would miss one of the conference evening receptions, but I couldn’t pass up the chance of seeing Dylan. The Palais des Sports was an indoor venue of a reasonable size, within walking distance of my hotel. French star Johnny Hallyday was in concert the night before Dylan, but that gig was sold out, unlike the Dylan concert. In hindsight I wish I’d made more of an effort to try to get a ticket for Johnny Hallyday as well. There was a support act for Dylan; I can’t recall who they were, but I think they were a local band. Dylan’s set was a little shorter than the gigs I had seen in the late 70s and early 80s, with a good selection of songs, but no Like a Rolling Stone! I remember enjoying the gig, but that it was spoilt a little because I knew I had to get up at 4am to get to the airport for a 6am flight. I walked back to the hotel after the gig, and had a few hours sleep before I got up to start my journey home. The ticket for this gig is pretty cool, with a nice picture of Dylan. Setlist: Hard Times; Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again; All Along the Watchtower; Just Like a Woman; Tangled Up in Blue; Born in Time; Watching the River Flow; Little Moses; Tomorrow Night; The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll; Gates of Eden; Cat’s in the Well; I and I; What Good Am I?; Maggie’s Farm; Man in the Long Black Coat; It Ain’t Me, Babe
13 Oct
Jefferson Starship Blackburn King Georges Hall Oct 12th 2012
Jefferson Starship Blackburn King Georges Hall Oct 12th 2012
Last night San Franciscan psychedelic rock came to Blackburn in the form of the latest incarnation of Jefferson Starship. I’d promised myself that I would see Jefferson Starship the next time they came to the UK, having missed their last few visits, so last night I took a drive across the moors to King George’s Hall Blackburn for this gig. The concert was held in the Windsor room, and I would estimate that there were a couple of hundred people present. I arrived around 8.15pm, having missed the first support act, but just in time to catch a short set by local band Wagon Wheels. Their music is a mix of rock, folk and country with 5 front men and 4 guitarists. They were very good, and went down well with their home crowd. I saw shades of Mumford and Sons in their music. They had brought along their own local fans, and one of them got a big surprise when she was brought on stage while the keyboard player proposed to her. Luckily, she accepted to a big cheer from the crowd.
Jefferson Starship took to the stage at around 9.15pm, starting with Wooden Ships. This line up features original Starship commander and super-psych guitarist Paul Kantner, long time collaborator and sweet vocalist David Frieberg, and the great, raunchy rock-chick vocalist Cathy Richardson. This was only the second time that I have seen The Starship, the first being at Knebworth in 1978, when they featured on a bill headlined by Genesis. On that occasion the band was going through a difficult period, and arrived late for the gig without singer Grace Slick, who had left the band a few days earlier after a cancelled gig in Germany where all the band’s gear was trashed and burned by the angry crowd. The band played without her at Knewborth, and delivered a powerful set that was one of the highlights of the day. So I was looking forward to seeing them play again after a 34 year gap. For the first few moments last night I felt the sound mix was murky, and I feared that I was going to be disappointed. But this was soon sorted as the band settled into a set of classic psychedelic rock, drawn largely from Jefferson Airplane’s 60s catalogue. Wooden Ships featured spot on harmonies, and was swiftly followed by Crown and Creation and then the absolute classic White Rabbit, which took me back to my youth in a big way. Dated? Yes of course, but so what! These are great great songs, and part of our rock history. It was tremendous to see them played so well in an intimate venue, with a close-up view of the band. Paul Kantner is clearly the leader, although he left the stage on a couple of occasions to hand over to Cathy Richardson while she sang a couple of her solo tracks. David Frieberg also got to take the lead on a couple of songs; I was delighted that one of those was Quicksilver Messenger Service’s Fresh Air; a favourite track of mine. Brought back memories of seeing the late great John Cipollina when he toured the UK with Man in the 70s. David has a beautiful voice, and reminded me of David Crosby, who is of course, a former collaborator of the band. Jude Gold, who is standing in for regular guitarist Slick Aguilar for this UK tour, was exceptional, playing those classic psych guitar solos. Other stand outs were Get Together, Miracles, and Jane. They finished at around 11pm with Somebody to Love, Cathy punching the air and the crowd singing along. It just doesn’t get any better. Got home around 1.15am. Apologies for the blurry photo; I must get more practice with my camera phone.
12 Oct
Bob Dylan St James Park Newcastle 1984
Bob Dylan St James Park Newcastle 1984
Support from Santana and Lindisfarne
Dylan was back in the UK in 1984 for a couple of concerts, one at Wembley Stadium and this time he also visited the North East for a massive gig at St James Park, with support from Santana and local heroes Lindisfarne. I went along with a group of friends. I remember Lindisfarne going down well with the crowd (well they would, wouldn’t they!). I can’t remember a lot about Santana, to be honest. Dylan played a set of classics and got a good reception from the Toon crowd. He was sporting a strong band with Mick Taylor on guitar, and Ian McLagen on keyboards. I think Carlos Santana also joined the band on guitar. 
Looking back on those shows, we didn’t know how lucky we were at the time. Dylan was singing well, and performing long sets which covered his entire back catalogue.
Setlist: Highway 62 Revisited; Jokerman;;All Along The Watchtower; Just Like A Woman; Maggie’s Farm; I And I; License To Kill; A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall; Tangled Up In Blue; It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding); Simple Twist Of Fate; Masters Of War; Ballad Of A Thin Man; Enough Is Enough; Every Grain Of Sand; Like A Rolling Stone; Mr. Tambourine Man; Girl From The North Country; It Ain’t Me, Babe; Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat; Tombstone Blues; Blowin’ In The Wind; Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door; The Times They Are A-Changin’
11 Oct
Bob Dylan Birmingham NEC 1981
Bob Dylan Birmingham NEC 1981
Dylan returned to the UK in 1981, playing two nights at Birmingham NEC, and several at Earls Court which was the venue of his 1978 triumph. I bought two tickets for the Birmingham gig, but none of my mates fancied coming along. So I drove down to Birmingham on my own, and swapped my two not so good seats for one ticket in the front block. I was still around 20 rows from the front, but hey that was a lot better view than at the back of Earls Court or sitting among 250,00 people at Blackbushe. By 1981 Dylan was heavily into religion and some of the new songs reflected this. However, there were still quite a few Dylan classics in the set. 
I enjoyed being relatively close to the great man for the first time. It wasn’t the best time I have seen Bob, but nonetheless was a good gig. After the gig I made the 200 mile drive home. I recall witnessing an awful mutli-car pile up on the M6, which really shook me up. Setlist: Gotta Serve Somebody; I Believe In You; Like a Rolling Stone; Till I Get It Right; Man Gave Names to All the Animals; Maggie’s Farm; Girl From the North Country; Ballad of a Thin Man; Simple Twist of Fate; Watered Down Love; Slow Train; Lenny Bruce; Mr. Tambourine Man; Solid Rock; Just Like a Woman; Heart of Mine; What Can I Do for You?; Masters of War; When You Gonna Wake Up?; In the Garden; City of Gold; It Ain’t Me, Babe; Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
10 Oct
Bob Dylan Blackbushe Aerodrome 1978
Bob Dylan Blackbushe Aerodrome 1978
Support: Eric Clapton and Band, Joan Armatrading, Graham Parker and The Rumour, and Lake
Demand for Dylan’s run of concerts at Earls Court in 1978 was so high that a massive open air show was added. At first I wasn’t sure whether to go and see him again, but in the end I couldn’t resist going along. I travelled down on my own, but ran into a group of friends when I arrived at the gig. They had a spot pretty close to the front, so I joined them there. The attendance at this event was huge. I think it was something like 250,000 people. There were people everywhere. And the line up was very strong indeed. Dylan was supported by Eric Clapton and Band (I think Clapton also played with Dylan for part of the set?), Joan Armatrading, Graham Parker and The Rumour, and Lake. I don’t recall much about the supports, other than Clapton, who went down well with the crowd. It was a hot day, and a great atmosphere. 
Dylan performed a set which was similar to that he performed at Earls Court. I remember him wearing a top hat, and that there was a long wait before he took to the stage. The sound wasn’t too great, and if you were at the back of the arena, I suspect you will have seen very little, particularly as there were no screens. We were quite close to the front, and had a good view, so I really enjoyed the event. After the gig I spent hours in queues to get the train back across London, and start my journey home. I later learnt that my friend John had also gone down to the gig on his own, neither of us realising that the other was going. Setlist: My Back Pages (Instrumental); Love Her With A Feeling; Baby Stop Crying; Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues; Shelter From The Storm; It’s All Over Now Baby Blue; Girl From The North Country; Ballad Of A Thin Man; Maggie’s Farm; Simple Twist Of Fate; Like A Rolling Stone; I Shall Be Released; Is Your Love In Vain?; Where Are You Tonight?; A Change Is Gonna Come (Carolyn Dennis vocal); Mr. Tambourine Man (Helena Springs vocal); The Long And Winding Road (Jo Ann Harris vocal); What Would We Do If No One’s Dreams Came True? (Steven Soles vocal); Gates Of Eden; True Love Tends To Forget; One More Cup Of Coffee; Blowin’ In The Wind; I Want You; Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power); Masters Of War; Just Like A Woman; Ramona; Don’t Think Twice (It’s Alright); All Along The Watchtower; All I Really Want To Do; It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding); Forever Young. Encores: Changing Of The Guards; The Times They Are A-Changin’
9 Oct
Bob Dylan Earls Court London Sat 17 June 1978
Bob Dylan Earls Court London Sat 17 June 1978
This was a big event for me. It had been a long time since Dylan had played in the UK, and I was determined to see him, as I hadn’t done so before. It was clear that there was going to be massive demand for tickets for these gigs, which were a string of concerts at the vast Earls Court Arena in London. Buying tickets in those days was very different than it is today with the use of the internet. It was announced that tickets would be on sale by personal application only, with a limit of four tickets per person. The tickets were to be sold at various box offices around the country and went on sale of a Sunday morning. Sadly, there was no box office in the North East of England, the nearest being Leeds, Glasgow or Sheffield. So I decided to go to Leeds to queue for tickets. I figured that I would need to arrive early so I drove to Leeds on Saturday morning, one day before tickets were due to go on sale, to buy tickets for Marie and I to see the great man. Tickets were on sale from a music shop (think it was called Barkers?) in the Headrow, which is the main street in Leeds. When I arrived at the shop, there was already a queue, as some fans having arrived on Friday night. At some point during the day, the shop decided to give us all numbered tickets to mark our place in the queue, and asked us to move on, to prevent crowding and return later to form the queue when the shop closed. This meant I was more or less guaranteed a ticket! So I had a look around Leeds and returned to join the queue around 6pm. We then got ourselves in order according to our number on the ticket (looking back it seems amazing that this worked!). It was a cold, long night queuing outside the shop, but everyone was friendly and the time passed quite quickly, although I didn’t get much sleep. There was evidence of touts, who were staying the night in hotels, and had some young kids queueing for them. By the morning the queue was massive, and curled round and round the streets. I bumped into a couple of mates from town, and agreed to buy their tickets as I was only buying two. We were soon in the shop and bought the tickets. There was some disappointment because the tickets which were sent to Leeds were for seats way up the back of the arena, but hey hey at least we were in. Also they had only sent a small number of tickets (around 1,000 or so I think) so only the first couple of hundred of people in the queue got tickets, leaving hundreds disappointed. I later talked to some friends who went to Sheffield to buy tickets, and the queue was much smaller, and they got better seats! Some others went to Glasgow and there was hardly any queue, with tickets left some days after they went on sale! 
Come the night of the show Marie and I took our seats up the back of Earls Court. The friend how I had bought tickets for kindly bought me a cassette copy of Street Legal, which was good (I still think it is a great album). Dylan was wonderful, and much better than I had hoped. The sound and the view weren’t great from our seats; sounds systems weren’t so good in those days, and video screens weren’t widely used (I don’t think there were any for this gig, but can’t be certain). Dylan was this tiny figure in a waistcoat singing those great songs. He was playing long sets at this point in his career and covered all of his classic songs, along with a selection from the Street Legal album. His voice was strong, and every time he played his mouth organ there was a great cheer from the crowd. This gig started me as a lifelong Dylan fan, and this was the first time of many I was to see the guy in concert. I will review those other gigs over the next few days.
Setlist: A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall; Love Her With a Feeling; Baby, Stop Crying; Mr. Tambourine Man; Shelter From the Storm; Love Minus Zero/No Limit; Tangled Up in Blue; Ballad of a Thin Man; Maggie’s Farm; I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met); Like a Rolling Stone; I Shall Be Released; Going, Going, Gone; Rainy Day Women #12 & 35; One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later); You’re a Big Girl Now; One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below); Blowin’ in the Wind; I Want You; Señor (Tales of Yankee Power); Masters of War; Just Like a Woman; Simple Twist of Fate; All Along the Watchtower; All I Really Want to Do; It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding); Forever Young; The Times They Are A-Changin’
8 Oct
Lonnie Donegan live in Sunderland late 70s
Lonnie Donegan Seaburn Sunderland sometime in the late 70s?
I remember seeing the late, legendary Lonnie Donegan in concert on one occasion in the late 70s. The gig was in a big marquee somewhere near the seafront it Seaburn, I think, but I can’t be certain. I do remember going along purely out of interest and not being sure what I would make of it; like many of the 50s and 60s acts, Lonnie was seen as pretty uncool around that time, and hadn’t reached the legendary status that he holds today. I was glad I went, as I was totally knocked out by the energy and passion of his performance; he was just great. He sang all the classics that I knew, having played them on old 78s as a kid: Rock Island Line; Cumberland Gap; Puttin’ On the Style; Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?); Battle of New Orleans; and of course: My Old Man’s A Dustman. Lonnie played that banjo like there was no tomorrow and we all joined in and sang along with him. As Jack White said during his acceptance speech at the Brit awards: “Remember, Lonnie Donegan started it for you.” Or as Paul McCartney is quoted as saying: “We all bought guitars to be in a skiffle group. He was the man.” Legend.
3 Oct
Ray Davies Sage Gateshead 2 Oct 2012
Ray Davies Sage Gateshead 2 Oct 2012
Went along to see Ray Davies, who was back at the Sage Gateshead last night. I arrive late, missing the support, and just before Ray took to the stage. The set contained a mix of well know Kinks classics, and some lesser know songs including Misfits, Muswell Hillbilly, Oklahoma USA and Full Moon, which were a change from Ray’s usual form and a nice surprise. The format of the show was similar to last time I saw Ray. He started with himself and a guitarist, bit on acoustic guitars, and then after several songs, his band joined him. All the well known songs were played: Where Have All The Good Times Gone; Dedicated Follower Of Fashion; Sunny Afternoon (which he told us he first performed in Sunderland!); See My Friends (still my favourite Kinks song); I’m Not Like Everybody Else; Autumn Almanac; Waterloo Sunset; Victoria; All Day & All Of The Night; Lola. Seeing Ray is always great. I’ve seen him quite a few times over recently, and still enjoyed it. In fact the change in setlist made last night even more enjoyable. But I still feel a little sadness that there is no sign of a Kinks reunion. Seeing Ray reminds me how great the Kinks were, and how wonderful it would be to see Dave and Mick up there beside him.
Postcript. I have added below scans of earlier gigs where we have seen Ray Davies. These include three shows at the The Tyne Theatre and another show at the Sage. All these shows were great fun, with quite similar setlists.
2 Oct
Dr Hook Newcastle City Hall 1974 and 1977
Dr Hook Newcastle City Hall 1974 and 1977
The first time that I saw Dr Hook, they were very different from the AOR band that they became in their later days. My mate Norm and I went to see them at Newcastle City Hall in 1974. We only knew one track Sylvia’s Mother, which is a great song, and were impressed by these crazy guys, who sang a mixture of southern rock and country, with great funny lyrics, many written by poet Shel Siverstein. Those guys had incredibly long hair at the time, were all stoned, crazy hippies, and front men Ray Sawyer and Dennis Locorriere had a great line in on-stage chat. Songs from that period were: Sylvia’s Mother, Cover of the Rolling Stone, Roland The Roadie And Gertrude The Groupie, and Ballad of Lucy Jordan (later covered by Marianne Faithful). They were great fun, and totally crazy. 
By 1977 when I saw them again at the City Hall, Dr Hook were riding on a wave of major success in the UK, having hit the chart with A Little Bit More and If Not You. Support came from Alfalpha. The show seemed a little toned down to me, with less crazy banter, and more straight songs. At this point the band were changing from a rock band to more a middle of the road rock/country act. They had even had their hair cut (which disappointed me)! 
Dr Hook went on to even greater success in the UK with a string of mega-hits. However, the memories I have are of those crazy long haired guys that I saw at the City Hall in 1974. A DVD exists of the band in those early days, when they were known as Dr Hook and the Medicine Show and shows the set as; Sylvia’s Mother; Marie Lavaux; Yodel; Cops ‘N Robbers; Carry Me, Carrie; Penicillin Penny; Roland The Roadie; Freakin’ At The Freaker’s Ball; The Cover Of The Rolling Stone.
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