Dexy’s Midnight Runners Newcastle Mayfair 1980
We are going to see Dexy’s latest incarnation at Whitley Bay Playhouse tonight, and I am really looking forward to it. Kevin Rowland may be an enigma, but he is also a hero of mine. He is undoubtedly extremely talented, and puts his entire heart and soul into everything he does. I first saw Dexy’s Midnight Runners in 1980 at Newcastle Mayfair on the Intense Emotion Review. The title of the tour said it all. Kevin was determined to create a band which was a vehicle for his passion and his vision; a band with a strong image, and built on the concept of soul and emotion. Geno was a hit at the time and the band came on stage dressed in donkey jackets and woolly hats, and delivered a set of great soul and r&b. Rowland said at the time: “we didn’t want to become part of anyone else’s movement. We’d rather be our own movement” and “We wanted to be a group that looked like something…a formed group, a project, not just random”. Master of Ceremonies and resident comedian for the evening was Keith Allen (see picture; doesn’t he look young!). Support came from The Upset featuring local guy Archie Brown, and The Black Arabs. Kevin Rowland lists his listening as Astral Weeks by Van Morrison in the programme (good choice). 
This was around the time of their first lp Searching for the Young Soul Rebels. I remember them playing Geno, and a great version of Breaking Down The Walls Of Heartache, which is one of my favourite songs. The Mayfair was packed to the walls, and the place went mad when they played Geno; lots of singing along. At the time the band seemed to fit somewhere between The Specials, and new mod in the form of Secret Affair etc. In fact they were much more that. As Kevin said at the time: “I’m going to do what I really want to do: form a great group. We’ll wear great clothes and make soulful music.” And they did just that for a short period. The next time I saw Dexy’s was at a Radio One In Concert programme which was recorded in a marquee on Exhibition Park in Newcastle. By that time Kevin’s vision had changed into the gypsy folk which was Too-Rye-Ay, and that gig was just astonishing; one of the best gigs I have ever been to; I’ll post about that night in a couple of days. Can’t wait for tonight’s show. Will post on it tomorrow morning.
Posts Tagged ‘folk’
7 May
Dexy’s Midnight Runners Newcastle Mayfair June 1980 : Intense Emotion Review
6 May
Blue Oyster Cult Newcastle City Hall 1984 and 1985
Blue Oyster Cult Newcastle City Hall 1984 and 1985
Blue Oyster Cult underwent a series of line-up changes during the 1980s, and by the late 80s only Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma remained from the early days. I saw the band twice in the mid 80s, in 1984 and again in 1985. The 1984 show was BOC at their best. The City Hall was packed and the band delivered a great show, much better than the very poor performance my mates and I had seen at Donington a few years earlier. Support came from Aldo Nova. Setlist for 1984 gig: Me262; ETI; Hot Rails To Hell; 
Born 2 Rock; Cities On Flame; Burnin’ For You; Take Me Away; Joan Crawford; Shooting Shark; (Don’t Fear) The Reaper; Godzilla; Born to be Wild; Let Go; Gotta get outta this Place; Roadhouse Blues. Blue Oyster Cult were back in Newcastle the following year, and this time the place was only about half full. At this point the line-up featured three long time members: Eric Bloom, Buck Dharma, and Joe Bouchard. Support came from Girlshool. 
My memories of the evening are of a half-hearted performance, and little crowd reaction. Setlist: Dominance & Submission; ETI; Buck’s Boogie; White Flags; Take Me Away; Last Days Of May; Dancin’ in the Ruins; Joan Crawford; Shadow Warrior; Burnin’ For You; Godzilla; (Don’t Fear) The Reaper; Cities On Flame; Hot Rails To Hell. I lost touch with Blue Oyster Cult after the 1985 show, and didn’t get to see them for some 17 years. I’ll blog on that gig tomorrow. Looking back and reflecting on these gigs makes me realise just how good BOC were. There legacy is pretty impressive. They are still performing to this day and have released 20 albums; not bad going!
5 May
Blue Oyster Cult Newcastle City Hall 1975 and 1978
Blue Oyster Cult Newcastle City Hall 1975 and 1978
I first went to see Blue Oyster Cult at Newcastle in 1975. This was their first UK tour and at the time, they were not very well known at all in this country. I went along, with my friend John, largely out of curiosity. I’d read a little about them in NME or Sounds, and had heard a few tracks somewhere. By 1975, BOC had released three albums, and their live set featured such classics as Harvester of Eyes and my all time favourite Last Days of May, which I still love and play to this day. Set list: Stairway to the Stars; OD’d On Life Itself; Harvester Of Eyes; Flaming Telepaths; Last Days Of May; Before The Kiss; Candy Store (Fill-in Jam); Cities On Flame; Maserati GT; Buck’s Boogie; Me262 (5 guitars); Hot Rails To Hell; Dominance & Submission. 
I remember much being made of a five guitar line up, and the show as being pretty good, with a half full hall being seriously impressed by this new band. Note the miss-spelling on the ticket! By 1978, when The Cult returned to the City Hall, they were much bigger news. They had released Agents of Fortune, and Spectres both of which were massive lp successes here in the UK. 
The single Don’t Fear the Reaper was played everywhere, and has since become their trademark. So this time the City Hall was sold out, and the concert was much anticipated. Nick Kent wrote in the NME: “See, the facts as I recognize ’em are clean-cut to a fine-boned T – the two kings of heavy metal rock in the world right now are Britain’s own Thin Lizzy and the U.S. Blue Öyster Cult.” I went along with a group of mates, all of us now being big BOC fans and they were just amazing. 
BOC were at the top of their game at this time, and the Newcastle crowd witnessed a great gig, and gave them a great reception. The show was much bigger than in 1975, with lazers, smoke and other pyrotechnics. In fact BOC were one of the first rock bands to make use of lazers, which seemed pretty exciting and dangerous for the times. Support came from Japan, in their pre-Ghost arty-rock era. They were hyped up quite a lot at the time, but were pretty disappointing on the night. The set list will have been something like: R.U. Ready 2 Rock; ETI; Harvester Of Eyes; We Gotta Get Out of This Place; Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll; Then Came The Last Days Of May; ME 262; Kick Out the Jams; Godzilla; This Ain’t the Summer of Love; 5 Guitars; Born To Be Wild. Encore: Hot Rails To Hell; (Don’t Fear) The Reaper. I’ve just found a flyer for the 1975 gig, with support act Birth Control. The flyer entitles me to 70p off On Your Feet or on Your Knees! from Virgin records. I wonder if its too late to cash it in? (Actually it is, the flyer says “offer closes 30 Nov 1975”. Shame).
3 May
Joan Baez Sage Gateshead 2007
Joan Baez Sage Gateshead 2007
I’ve only ever seen Joan Baez once in concert. This was quite recently at The Sage in 2007. The place was sold out, and full of 50 and 60 something ageing folkies and rockers who had all come to see the legendary protest singer. Joan was on stage very early, shorty after the published time of 7.30pm, and sang for over an hour. The performance finished around 9pm. Her voice was clear, and beautiful and she performed a set of classics such as The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down and Diamonds and Rust. 
Joan seemed to enjoy the evening and commented upon the beauty of the Sage as a concert venue. Between the songs she told little humorous anecdotes of her experiences and the many great people she has worked with over the years. Her songs remain as powerful as her voice, and she received a rapturous response from the North East crowd. The programme comes from a much earlier period, and was sent to me by my friend John.
1 May
Blackmore’s Night Newcastle Tyne Theatre 2005
Blackmore’s Night Newcastle Tyne Theatre 2005
I saw the classic Deep Purple Mark 2 lineup several times in the 70s, and if you’d have told me that 30 years later I would be going to see Richie Blackmore dressed in medieval gear, and playing elizabethan folk music on a lute, I would have thought you were crazy. But so it is; its curious how things change and develop over time. I first saw Blackmore’s night at the Newcastle Tyne Opera House in 2005, with my son David. We went largely out of curiosity, but came away having really enjoyed the experience. If you go with an open mind you will enjoy the show, I’m sure. If you go expecting to see the old Deep Purple Ritchie, you are likely to be disappointed. Blackmore’s Night is a completely different experience to seeing Deep Purple. Heavy rock it is not, but great music it is.
Think medieval folk, lutes, Greensleeves, knights and damsels, and you are getting there. I guess there were hints of this in Blackmore’s Rainbow in the form of Sixteenth Century Greensleeves. Blackmore’s wife Candice Night is the exquisitely beautiful singer, and the rest of the band are minstrels of the highest order. If you wear medieval dress you can get cheap tickets for the front couple of rows, and people do! The set was largely new material, but did feature a copy Purple tracks in medieval style, and a few covers. The encore was the Bee Gees First of Mat which was just beautiful and has to be heard and seen to be believed. David and I both enjoyed it. If you go along and see them you will too; trust me! Setlist: Morning Star; Queen for a Day; Under a Violet Moon; Soldier of Fortune; Past Time With Good Company; Mond Tanz / Child in Time; Streets of London; Durch den Wald zum Bach Haus; (incl. Blaydon Races for the Newcastle crowd); Avalon; The Times They Are A-Changin’; Home Again (incl. Rule Britannia); Drink Drink Drink; I Still Remember; Renaissance Faire; The Clock Ticks On; Ghost of a Rose. Encore: Fires at Midnight; Wind in the Willows; First of May
30 Apr
Van der Graaf Generator, Lindisfarne and Genesis Newcastle City Hall 1971
Van Der Graaf Generator, Lindisfarne and Genesis Newcastle City Hall 1971
I’d just started going along to gigs at Newcastle City Hall. The first gig I went to was Iron Butterfly with Yes and DaDa support, followed by this Charisma package tour which featured Van der Graaf Generator, Lindisfarne and Genesis. I went along with my mate Gillie, and remember that we paid at the door. The tickets were all of 30p, but we had some vouchers which Northern Arts were giving out at through schools at the time to encourage young people to go to live concerts, and they entitled us to half price entry, which meant that we paid 15p each! We hadn’t seen any of the three bands before and were really excited about it. We got the train through to Newcastle and when we arrived at the City Hall there was a massive queue to get in to the venue. The place was packed and we only just managed to get in. In those days, when the hall was full, they sometimes used to let you sit on the stage on tiered choir seats which are behind the performers. Thats where we ended up that night. The atmosphere was great up there, but the view wasn’t too good. I seem to recall that during the evening we wandered into the main hall and managed to find a couple of seats in the circle.
First up were Genesis. They had released their second lp Trespass a few months earlier, and were also playing tracks from Nursery Cryme which was released later in 1971. I remember being really impressed by them, and by singer Peter Gabriel in particular. At that time Peter would introduce the songs with quite intricate stories. Musical Box, Return of the Giant Hogweed, and Twilight Alehouse were all preceded by such stories and were great concert favourites at the time. Musical Box was my favourite; Cynthia kills Henry, by knocking off his head with a croquet mallet, and then finds his musical box in the attic. I found the story dark and fascinating and hung onto Peter’s every word. It was obvious in those early days that Gabriel was a tremendous front man. Genesis finished their short set with the Knife, which was always my favourite, and often the encore in those days. Gabriel held the mikestand as a machine gun, shooting us all, as a heavy strobe light featured him centre stage. Great memories. The set at that time will probably have consisted of: Happy the Man (to become a single in 1972); Stagnation (from Trespass); The Fountain of Salmacis (from Nursery Crime); Twilight Alehouse (not recorded until 1973 as B side of I Know What I Like, but a great favourite in concert); Musical Box (from Nursery Crime); Return of the Giant Hogweed (from Nursery Crime); closing with The Knife (from Trespass). This was the first of many times that I saw Genesis in the early 70s.
Next up that night was Lindisfarne who were local heroes and had us all singing along with Fog on the Tyne, Meet me on the Corner, Lady Eleanor, and Clear White Light (my favourite along with Winter Song). The band was yet to break through big, and I was to spend many memorable nights with them over the coming years; including the regular City Hall Christmas concerts.
The headline band for the evening was Van de Graaf Generator, who Gillie and I found quite strange and difficult to get into. I remember long sax solos, and the fabulous prog classic Killer (about a lonely Killer Whale): “So you live in the bottom of the sea, and you kill all that come near you ….but you are very lonely, because all the other fish, fear you …..”.
This was a great evening, and a bargain at 15p! Gillie and I both came away raving about Genesis and Lindisfarne, and a little confused by Van de Graaf….
29 Apr
Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band Reunion Newcastle City Hall 2006
Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band Reunion Newcastle City Hall 2006
I won two tickets for this in a competition form the Bonzos website. I had to locate a poster for the concert, which was outside Newcastle Central Station, and email a message which was displayed on the poster to the Bonzos website. I decided to take Laura with me as she’d heard some Bonzos songs as was quite intrigued by the humour of them. The concert featured much of the original line up, including Neil Innes, Legs Larry Smith, Roger Ruskin Spear, Rodney Slater, Bob Kerr, Sam Spoons and Vernon Dudley Bohay-Nowell. Sadly the great frontman Viv Stanshall, and bass player Dennis Cowan, have passed away. Viv’s place was taken by Ade Edmondson and Phill Jupitus. 
The band played all of the classics, and the show was great fun and brought back great memories. A DVD of the London show was released; the tracks are: Rule Britannia; Hunting Tigers; My Brother Makes The Noises; Doorstep; Little Sir Echo; Ali Baba’s Camel; Falling In Love Again; Watermelon; Lookout There’s A Monster Coming; Whispering; By a Waterfall; The Sheik of Araby; Hello Mabel; Jollity Farm; The Equestrian Statue; Cool Britannia; We Are Normal; The Strain; The Sound of Music; Exodus; The Trouser Press; My Pink Half of the Drainpipe; I’m Bored; Sport (The Odd Boy); Mr Apollo; Humanoid Boogie; Tent; Can Blue Men Sing The Whites; Look At Me I’m Wonderful; San Francisco; Rhinocratic Oaths; Mr Slater’s Parrot; Monster Mash; Urban Spaceman; Canyons of Your Mind. All of the old prop came out; and great fun was had by all. Laura particularly enjoyed Lookout There’s A Monster Coming, Jollity Farm, and The Equestrian Statue.
28 Apr
Bad Company Newcastle City Hall 1979 and 2002
Bad Company Newcastle City Hall 1979 and 2002
The next time I saw Bad Company was on the Desolation Angels on 1979. By this time, the band had morphed into a AOR band, playing much more straight rock. Few traces of the bluesy looseness of Free existed by this stage in the band’s evolution. I think the band played two or three nights at the city hall on the 1979 outing, and I remember thinking the tickets were pretty expensive. I also remember thinking they were dressed much more like your typical stadium rock stars!. It was still a great gig, and several of the old classics were played. 
The set list will have been something like this: Bad Company; Good Lovin’ Gone Bad; Gone, Gone, Gone; Burnin’ Sky; Shooting Star; Rhythm Machine; Ready For Love; Simple Man; Oh, Atlanta; She Brings Me Love; Run With The Pack; Evil Wind; Honey Child; Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy; Movin’ On; Live for the Music; Encore: Feel Like Makin’ Love; Can’t Get Enough. I lost touch with the band from then on. They went through a series of changes, which started with Paul Rodgers leaving Bad Company in 1982. There were then a couple of line ups of the band without Paul which played largely in the States during the 80s and 90s. 
I next saw Bad Company in 2002, when they returned to the City Hall. In the interim, I’d seen Paul Rodgers as a solo act a few times, and he was singing as well as ever, his concerts featuring songs from Free, Bad Company and his solo career. The 2002 line up featured Rodgers, Kirke, Dave “Bucket” Colwell on guitar and Jaz Lochrie on bass. Marie and I went to this gig, and we had great seats in the front row. We are amazed how good the band still were. The set was a mix of Bad Co classics, with a few Free songs thrown in, which were big crowd pleasers. I missed the last reunion tour, which I regret. Hope I get the chance to see them again some day.
27 Apr
Bad Company Newcastle City Hall November 1974
Bad Company Newcastle City Hall November 1974
Bad Company returned to Newcastle City Hall 8 months after their triumphant debut. In the months between, my mate John and I had seen them at the Who’s Charlton concert where they performed a strong set. In between the two gigs Bad Company had released their first album, and had a hit with the single Can’t Get Enough. That first lp features classics such as Ready for Love; Bad Company; and
Movin’ On, all which featured in the set at the time. Surprisingly later concert favourite, the beautiful Seagull does not seem to feature in setlists of the time. Ready For Love was a favourite of mine. I first heard in on the John Peel show as a Mott The Hoople track, and it stuck in my mind from that time. 
Support for the tour was Duster Bennet who was a one man band who played a bass drum with his foot, a harmonica on a rack around his neck and a 1952 Les Paul Goldtop guitar which had apparently been given to him by Peter Green. He is best known for his first album Smiling Like I’m Happy. A recording of the Newcastle concert exists which suggests that the setlist was: Little Miss Fortune; Rock Steady; Ready For Love; Don’t Let Me Down; Easy On My Soul; Bad Company; Deal with the Preacher; Movin On; Can’t Get Enough; The Stealer; Rock Me Baby. My memories are of another great gig by a band who were at the top of their game. Thanks to John for the poster which depicts the band at the time of their next album Straight Shooter, and was released in 1975, the year after this concert. They were already playing Deal with the Preacher which was to appear on Straight Shooter.
26 Apr
Bad Company First gigs Newcastle March 1974
Bad Company Newcastle City Hall March 9th 1974
This gig was a big deal at the time. It was the first gig by the new supergroup who had recently been formed by members of Free, Mott the Hoople and King Crimson. Free in particular were great favourites in the north east, and local fans had memories of top Free gigs at Sunderland Locarno, the Mayfair, the Bay Hotel, the Empire, the Rink and the City Hall. I was lucky enough to catch Free live three times at some of the venues I have just mentioned, and had fond memories of that great band. And I guess the decision to play their debut gig at the city hall was, to some extent a measure of the fondness which Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke had for the reason, and also I would think a result of the persistence of local promoter Geoff Docherty. 
If I remember right Bad Company originally announced a single concert at the City Hall, which sold out immediately and a second gig was swiftly added. I went along with a couple of mates and we had high expectations. We were not disappointed. The gig was breath taking, and the crowd were really up for it. Although for me, and many others I suspect, Bad Company never quite reached the same bluesy feel and groove that Free had, on that night they were tremendous. My friend John is a big Free fan, and he too feels that they had the edge over Bad Company. He was also at the gig, and he and I have been having some email debates as to the setlist that night. 
A recording exists of the gig, and it suggests that the set was Little Miss Fortune; Rock Steady; Ready For Love; Don’t Let Me Down; Easy on My soul; Bad Company; Deal With the Preacher; Movin’ On; Can’t Get Enough; The Stealer; Rock Me Baby. However, John is convinced that they played more Free songs including Travelling Man, and that they played Seagull. Me, my memory has big gaps, and all I recall is that it was a great experience and a highlight of my concerts at the time. Bad company were back at the City Hall a few months later. I’ll blog on that gig tomorrrow. 
Thanks to John for the scan of the unofficial show souvenir programme, and the poster which comes from a gig in Birmingham a month later. I always bought an official programme, but hardly ever bought the unofficial ones which were sold outside venues at the time. I wish I had, as they are pretty hard to find and mighty collectable now. Some of them were pretty good, while others covered the concerts of several bands so that they could be sold at gigs over a period of a few months. Thanks also to John for the great photograph of the concert (added 29th of August 2020) which he got from his friend Ken in New York, who used to live in Seaton Sluice and took the picture at the concert himself. Great memories of happy days, which seem so long ago, but which still bring me so much pleasure.
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