Jethro Tull Newcastle City Hall 1982
The Broadsword and the Beast tour
The next time I saw Jethro Tull was in 1982 at Newcastle City Hall. They had just released The Broadsword and the Beast which was their 14th studio album. The line-up of Tull at the time was: Ian Anderson on vocals, flute, acoustic guitar, crazy dance and cocked leg; Martin Barre on wondrous electric guitars; Dave Pegg (ex-Fairport and friendly folkie) on bass guitar; Peter Vettese on keyboards; and Gerry Conway on drums. There was no support act, and the ticket made sure that we knew: “Please note. No support Jethro Tull on Stage 8pm prompt”. This was quite a theatrical show with lots of props and the band wearing medieval clothing. The set was a mix of old and new, with quite a few acoustic songs. I was still concerned about the folk influence at this stage, but enjoyed the show, as always. 
Setlist: Clasp, Hunting Girl, Fallen On Hard Times, Pussy Willow, Broadsword, Jack-In-The-Green, Seal Driver, Heavy Horses, Weathercock/Fire At Midnight/Flute Solo (including God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Bourée)/Sweet Dream, Flying Colours, Songs From The Wood, Watching Me Watching You, The Swirling Pit, Pibroch, Beastie, Too Old To Rock’N’Roll…, Aqualung, Minstrel In The Gallery, Locomotive Breath/Black Sunday, Cheerio
Thanks to Doug for the picture, which he took at this gig, showing Martin Barre in his best gear.
A bootleg recording of the Newcastle gig exists, often entitled “The Beastie of Newcastle”.
“Bring me my broadsword and clear understanding. Bring me my cross of gold as a talisman.
Bless with a hard heart those who surround me. Bless the women and children who firm our hands.
Put our backs to the north wind. Hold fast by the river.
Sweet memories to drive us on for the motherland”
(The Broadsword and the Best, Ian Anderson, 1982)
Posts Tagged ‘folk’
24 Jul
Jethro Tull Newcastle City Hall 1982
22 Jul
Jethro Tull Newcastle City Hall 1977
Jethro Tull Newcastle City Hall 1977
In 1977 Jethro Tull released Songs from the Wood, which was their tenth studio album, and the first of a trio of folk rock albums, the others being Heavy Horses. Of course, folk influences had always been apparent in Jethro Tull’s music, but on Songs from the Wood, they came to the fore. At the time I couldn’t quite get away with this change of style. I much preferred the rockier, blues-oriented side of Tull. Looking back this album and Heavy Horses were two of their best, and the 1977 tour was also excellent. There were also some line-up changes in the Tull fold. David Palmer, who had worked with the band from the early days as their orchestral arranger, joined as a full-time member of keyboards, and John Glascock joined on bass. Glascock was familiar to me, as I had seen him play alongside Stan Webb in Chicken Shack at some great gigs in the early 70s. 
The programme tells me that the support act for the 1977 tour was Leo Kottke, but I have no recollection of seeing him play that night. However, I do remember seeing Leo play at the Cambridge folk festival a couple of years earlier. He is a great acoustic guitarist who plays some amazing slide guitar on tracks like Vaseline Machine Gun. As you would expect, Tull’s set included a few songs from Songs from the Wood, along with old favourites. At the time I was very unsure about the new acoustic tracks, but songs like Jack-in-the-Green and Songs from the Wood stand up against some of Tull’s best. Setlist: Wond’ring Aloud; Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day; Jack-in-the-Green; Thick as a Brick; Songs from the Wood; Conundrum; To Cry You a Song; A New Day Yesterday (with flute solo including Bouree); Velvet Green; Hunting Girl; Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll, Too Young to Die; Beethoven’s 9th; Minstrel in the Gallery; Aqualung; Wind Up; Back-Door Angels. Encore: Locomotive Breath
21 Jul
Jethro Tull War Child tour Newcastle Odeon November 1974
Jethro Tull War Child tour Newcastle Odeon November 1974
Jethro Tull returned to Newcastle in November 1974, during the tour to promote the War Child album. Support for the tour was all-girl band Fanny. This time Tull had graduated to playing the massive Odeon theatre, which hosted a number of gigs in the early 70s and had a slightly larger capacity to that of the City Hall. Ian Anderson and co were at their pomp best at the time, and this album and tour saw them returning to straight songs after the concept albums Thick as a Brick and Passion Play. 
The single from the album was Bungle in the Jungle, which was quirky but also pretty catchy. If I remember correctly, Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond did a nifty version of (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window? during the concert, and the band was accompanied by a string quartet. This was classic Tull at their best. Setlist: Minstrel in the Gallery; Wind Up; A Passion Play (excerpt); Thick as a Brick; My God (including Flute Solo with Bouree); Cross-Eyed Mary; (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?; Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day; Wond’ring Aloud; Ladies; War Child; Sealion; Bungle in the Jungle; Aqualung; Back-Door Angels; Locomotive Breath; Hard-Headed English General; Back-Door Angels (reprise)
20 Jul
Jethro Tull Sunderland Top Rank 1972
Jethro Tull Sunderland Top Rank 1972
There is a story surrounding this gig. You won’t find it listed in any of the Tull gig histories on the internet, but it definitely took place, and I remember it well. I first heard of this gig directly from the local promoter Geoff Docherty. I was in the Rink (or Sunderland Top Rank to give it is formal name) buying tickets for another event, and Geoff was in there ay the same time. “I’ve got Jethro Tull coming in a few weeks time” he said. Now I already had a ticket to see Tull play at the City Hall in early 1972, as part of the tour that they were doing to promote their new lp Thick as a Brick (TAAB). The tour was already advertised, and the only North East date was the City Hall concert, so an extra Sunderland date prior to the tour didn’t seem very likely. But sure enough, posters advertising the gig with support Tir Na Nog soon appeared outside the Rink, and I bought tickets with a group of mates. Gigs at the Rink at that time tended to be on a Sunday night, and I think that was the case for this concert. The gig was obviously a warm-up for the TAAB tour. I returned my ticket for the City Hall (they would let you do that in those days, as long as they could sell it on), as I didn’t fancy seeing the band twice within a few days (big mistake, as it turned out). 
The night of the Sunderland gig came, and it was excellent. It was great to see Tull play in a relatively small ballroom venue, and I was right down the front, straight in front of Ian Anderson. The place was full, but not too packed. But the gig wasn’t quite what I had expected. First Tir Na Nog didn’t play. They were support for the main TAAB tour, but weren’t at this gig. And the other surprise was the set itself. I was expected an early run through of the Thick as a Brick album, but what we got that night was a Jethro Tull favourites set, which was great, but it also meant that I never got to see TAAB played live in its entirity until recently. The strange thing was the band had the stage set up ready for the TAAB show, with the telephone there ready to ring, but they didn’t perform any of the album. Anyway it was a great gig. Looking back I should have made the effort to go along to the City Hall as well. Not sure why I didn’t. Maybe it was sold out by that point, not that that usually stopped me. Oh well, writing this blog sometimes unearths regrets that I have about gigs that I missed, but hey ho such is life :). The line up of the band had changed since the last time I saw them with Barriemore Barlow replacing Clive Bunker on drums. Thanks to John for the scan of his poster and to Doug for the photograph of Ian Anderson, which he took at Newcastle City Hall some years after this gig.
19 Jul
Jethro Tull Sunderland Empire March 1971
Jethro Tull Sunderland Empire March 1971
Jethro Tull are a special band to me. They are one of those bands I grew up with. I was heavily into them in the early 70s, as were many of my mates, and Stand Up was an album that we listened to again and again. I remember marvelling at Ian Anderson on Top of the Pops, his mad crazy eyes staring at me through the TV, and his eccentric garb shocking my parents. Their early singles were classics. My favourites were The Witches Promise, Teacher and Sweet Dream. I first saw Jethro Tull in concert at Sunderland Empire on 20 March 1971, the day after their classic album Aqualung was released.I was 14 years old at the time. Early gigs are very important in shaping musical tastes for the rest of your life, and this one certainly did that for me. Tull played two shows at the Empire that evening, and I decided to go along to the late show with a few mates. We felt very grown up, being allowed to go to the “late” show, and felt sure that the band would play better at the second concert. We had good seats in the “slipper” to the left of the stage. Support for the gig was Steeleye Span, a newly formed folk-rock band, who delivered a pretty good set. But we were there to see our heroes Jethro Tull. By this relatively early point in their career, their line-up had already changed several times, and was Ian Anderson on flute and vocals, Martin Barre on guitar, Clive Bunker on drums, John Evan on keyboards and Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond on bass. I think they started with Nothing is Easy, and the set featured a number of Tull favourites, and some tracks from the Aqualung album. We were just blown away by Jethro Tull that night, and by Ian Anderson in particular, who is one of the most charismatic performers, and was at the height of his craziness in those days. And so started a lifelong obsession with this band. I have seen them quite a few times since that gig, and watched their line-up and their musical style change over the years. But in those days in the early 70s so many years ago for me and a group of mates, Jethro Tull were legends and were one of the bands that we returned to again and again. Published setlist from a gig in 1971: Nothing Is Easy; Aqualung; With You There to Help Me; By Kind Permission Of; Sossity: You’re a Woman; Reasons for Waiting; My God; Cross-Eyed Mary; Wind Up; Locomotive Breath; Hard-Headed English General; Wind Up (reprise)
21 Jun
The Who Quadrophenia and More Newcastle Arena 20 June 2013
The Who play Quadrophenia and More Newcastle Arena 20 June 2013
Support from Vintage Trouble
This is the fourth time I’ve seen The Who perform Quadrophenia, including the original 1973, in Hyde Park with a cast of thousands in the 90s, and at the Albert Hall three years ago. I was never a massive fan of the album, but I’ve grown to like and respect it as a piece of work over the years. This time I’d been lucky enough to score a front row seat, towards the left side of the stage in front of Simon Townshend. Pete and Roger were towards the opposite end of the stage, but overall my view of the proceedings was great. The Who came on stage promptly at the advertised start time of 8.30pm and ran through the entire album. The arena was packed; it was pleasing to see the respect The Who carry, and that they can still draw big crowds, probably more so than last time they played Newcastle Arena.
The Who band line-up (Roger, Pete, Pino on bass, Simon on second guitar) is augmented by drums, keyboards, a string section, and a brass section for this tour. The production has changed since I last saw the show at the Albert Hall. Rather than showing the story of Jimmy and using clips from the Quadropehnia film, the screens above the stage displayed images of the band, including some great shots of Kieth Moon and John Entwistle. 
So we had a tremendous bass solo by John during 5.15, and Keith sang his own parts during Bell Boy. These segments were handled very well, and drew loud cheers from the crowd and a bow and a wink from Roger to his old mates. Quadrophenia was followed by a few Who “hits”, it was great to see the guys play Pinball Wizard and Won’t Get Fooled Again. This was a classic Who performance. Townshend was on fire, and in a pretty good mood (but no guitar smashing, which was a shame as I was hoping to catch it from my vantage point in the front ronw 🙂 ) and Roger’s voice was strong and solid, showing no signs of cracking as it sometimes has in recent years. The old guys are still the best for me.
Set list: I Am the Sea; The Real Me; Quadrophenia; Cut My Hair; The Punk and the Godfather; I’m One; The Dirty Jobs; 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. Who Are You?; You Better You Bet; Pinball Wizard; Baba O’Riley; Won’t Get Fooled Again; Tea & Theatre.
18 Jun
Judas Priest Newcastle Arena 2005
Judas Priest Newcastle Arena 2005
The Angel Of Retribution tour
After a (too long) gap of over 20 years since I last saw Judas Priest in concert, I decided it was about time to see them again. In between that time Rob Halford has left and rejoined the band, so this 2005 outing was a sort of reunion tour. I went along with a group of mates, all of whom were seriously into Priest, and David came along for the ride. The Arena was by no means full, but the crowd size was respectable; Newcastle was always a metal stronghold and many people still had a soft spot for this band. The stage set was quite spectacular, and the show started with Rob Halford being hoisted down onto the stage to join the rest of the band. The show featured lots of Halford costume changes, and (of course) towards the end of the set Rob rode on stage wearing a huge leather coat, riding his Harley Davidson. This was pure heavy metal (and very tongue in cheek) theatre, and although the sound and atmosphere at the arena can never touch that of the City Hall, the spectacle and scale of the show certainly made up for it. 
Special guest for the tour were The Scorpions, another band who I hadn’t seen for a long time. My favourite Scorpions song has always been Loving You Sunday Morning, which they played that night. Judas Priest setlist: Electric Eye; Metal Gods; Riding on the Wind; The Ripper; A Touch of Evil; Judas Rising; Revolution; Hot Rockin’; Breaking the Law; I’m a Rocker; Diamonds & Rust; Deal With the Devil; Beyond the Realms of Death; Turbo Lover; Hellrider; Victim of Changes; The Green Manalishi; Painkiller; Hell Bent for Leather; Living After Midnight; You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’. It was great to hear old favourites like The Ripper and Victim of Changes again, and the Priest remained as impressive as ever live. David isn’t into heavy metal at all, and found it all a little too over the top.
17 Jun
Judas Priest Newcastle City Hall 1983
Judas Priest Newcastle City Hall 1983
Judas Priest returned to Newcastle City Hall in December 1983, two years after their last appearance at the venue. Support this time came from Quiet Riot, an American heavy metal band, who had just released a great cover of Slade’s “Cum On Feel the Noize.” Priest were by now mega successful in the USA. Earlier in the year they had played for over 300,000 heavy rock fans at the “US Festival”, alongside Mötley Crüe, Ozzy Osbourne, The Scorpions and Van Halen. Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe said of the event: “It was the day new wave died and rock n’ roll took over” [from Wiki]. The event set the single-day concert attendance record for the US. 
Setlist from the 1983 tour: Electric Eye; Riding on the Wind; Grinder; Metal Gods; Bloodstone; Breaking the Law; Sinner; Desert Plains; The Ripper; Freewheel Burning; Screaming for Vengeance; You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’; Victim of Changes; Living After Midnight; The Green Manalishi; Hell Bent for Leather.
This was once again a great performance by Judas Priest, and was in fact the last time that I saw them in concert for over 20 years. As their success in the USA grew, their visits to the UK were less frequent. They did play at the City Hall a couple of more times in the late 80s and early 90s, but I foolishly missed those gigs. I’ll write on the next time I saw Priest, which was in 2005, tomorrow.
16 Jun
Judas Priest Newcastle City Hall 1981
Judas Priest Newcastle City Hall 1981
The Priest continued to spread metal mayhem across the globe, but also remained true to the home crowd, and returned for another full UK tour in 1981. The “World Wide Blitz” Tour, which was in support of their Point of Entry album, called at Newcastle City Hall on 18th November 1981, and I went along with a group of mates to marvel at our leather-clad heroes. By now tracks from British Steel were part of the set, so we were treated to classics such as Breaking the Law, and Living After Midnight, as well as old favourites Sinner, Beyond the Realms of Death and their excellent, and very dark, cover of Green Manalishi. This was classic Priest at their very best; they were now a massively successful heavy rock act, and were building up a big following in the USA and Japan.
From this tour on, Priest’s visits to the UK would become less frequent, as they started to concentrate on touring the US and other parts of the world. But for now, these guys were our metal heroes, and never failed to blow us away in concert. I can picture Rob now, commanding the stage, screaming out the vocals, flanked by KK Downing and Glen Tipton with their guitars flashing and swinging about. Great stuff! A typical setlist from the 1981 tour: Solar Angels; Heading out to the Highway; Diamonds & Rust; Hell Bent for Leather; Breaking the Law; Sinner; Beyond the Realms of Death; Grinder; Desert Plains; Hot Rockin’; You Don’t Have to Be Old to Be Wise; Victim of Changes; The Green Manalishi (With the Two Pronged Crown). Encores: Living After Midnight; Tyrant. Support in 1981 came from Accept, a German heavy metal band who played an important role in the development of speed metal.
15 Jun
Judas Priest Newcastle City Hall 1979 and 1980 British Steel!
Judas Priest Newcastle City Hall 1979 and 1980 British Steel!
Judas Priest continued to tour throughout 1979 to 1980, moving from the Hellbent on Leather tour to the British Steel tour. Support acts were local band White Heat in 1979, and the mighty Iron Maiden in 1980. I also have a memory of attending a show at Newcastle Mayfair around this period; I think Priest may have played two nights at the City Hall and one at the Mayfair ballroom during the British Steel tour. British Steel was the sixth lp release by Judas Priest, and moved their music from dark, operatic metal, to shorter, more accessible and commercial rock songs. 
The album reached No 4 in the UK lp charts, their highest chart entry to date, and two singles from it reached the UK singles chart. These were Living After Midnight and the great Breaking the Law. The video for Breaking the Law is still shown on TV, and is a wonderful example of an early, very tongue in cheek, heavy metal promo. Their gigs continued to be crazy metal events, and Priest were a great favourite with the Newcastle metal crowds. The set around this time also included excellent covers of Fleetwood Mac’s Green Manalishi (1979) and Spooky Tooth’s Better By You, Better Than Me (in 1978). 
A typical setlist from 1980: Hell Bent for Leather; The Ripper; Running Wild; Living After Midnight; Sinner; Beyond the Realms of Death; You Don’t Have to Be Old to Be Wise; Grinder; Victim of Changes; Steeler; Genocide; Tyrant; The Green Manalishi. The programme for the 1980 Judas Priest tour is a true heavy metal work of art in itself. The cover shows a zipped leather suited guy wearing (of course) a studded belt complete with Judas Priest buckle. 
But the real treat lies inside. The centre fold of the programme contains a pop up of the band in all their onstage metal glory.
My copy has become a tad creased over the years, but I’ve done my best to photograph and present it here. Rob is on his motorbike in his usual leather gear, and the guitarists all have their axes held aloft. You couldn’t beat it!
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