Once in a Lifetime Tour featuring David Cassidy; David Essex; The Osmonds and Les McKeown’s Bay City Rollers
I have come to the end of coverage of the letter C in my blogging on past concert experiences, (unless I have forgotten any, which is always possible) and will finish things with another guilty pleasure concert. This was, I think, the first “Once in a Lifetime” tour, which has now become an annual event (is there some bizarre logic there?). This show featured four legends from the seventies in concert together. I must admit, it was the presence of David Cassidy that drew Marie and I along to this gig. We’d both enjoyed seeing him at the City Hall a few years earlier, and quite fancied seeing him again. I bought tickets as soon as they went on sale and we ended up with front row seats in the first block. 
The rest of the bill was David Essex, The Osmonds (minus Donnie and Marie) and Les McKeown fronting his version of the Bay City Rollers. The gig was good fun, with the two Davids putting on the best show in my view, and getting the best crowd reactions. Its interesting that the concept continues with this year’s show featuring David Cassidy again, with support from Leo Sayer, Smokie, and Hot Chocolate, all bands that I saw and enjoyed in the 70s. Maybe I should go along again…….
Posts Tagged ‘gig’
21 Aug
David Cassidy Once in a Lifetime tour Newcastle 2005
20 Aug
Joe Cocker and many others Great Western Festival Lincoln 1972
Joe Cocker and many others Great Western Express Festival Lincoln May Bank holiday weekend 1972
I was 15 at the time and so excited about going to a real pop festival. My dad drove me and a couple of mates down on the Friday night, after we’d been to the local Mecca ballroom. We arrived in the early hours of Saturday morning, having missed the Friday night bands, and slept in a big crash tent for a few hours. We soon ran into a group of other lads who had also come down from Sunderland, and between us we built a cabin out of bails of hay and planks of wood which were lying around in the fields. I swear there were around 20 of us sleeping in there. We were quite close to the stage, and I pretty much stayed in that cabin all weekend. We could also stand on the roof and watch the bands. There was a massive (and very empty) press enclosure which divided the crowd from the stage, so no-one could get that close, which was bad planning. The weather was wet, with rain for most of the weekend. But I didn’t care; this was a real pop festival, and I was determined to enjoy every minute. The line-up for the remaining three days of the event was really strong. I’ll try and recall as much as I can.
Saturday. Nazareth opened the day around noon. I remember them playing Morning Dew, and thinking that they were ok. They were followed by Locomotive GT, Roxy Music who were playing their first major gig and Heads, Hands and Feet, featuring the great Albert Lee, who I remember playing “Warming up the band”. The first band I have strong memories of was Wishbone Ash. They hd just released “Argus” and their set consisted of all the classic Ash songs: Time Was, Blowin’ Free, Jailbait, The King Will Come, Phoenix etc. They were just wonderful at that time. Helen Reddy did not perform, and was replaced by Rory Gallagher, who had stayed on from the Friday to play again, as I understand his Friday set was cut short because of the weather. The Strawbs featured the classic Cousins/Hudson/Ford line-up at the time. This was before any of the hits. Pretty sure they played “The Hangman and the Papist” and “The Man who called himself Jesus”. Stone The Crows were next up. This was their first performance after Les Harvey’s death, and Steve Howe from Yes stood in on guitar. Maggie Bell’s performance was highly emotional and the crowd gave her the strongest reception of the day, sensing how real the blues was to her that night, coming only a few weeks after she had lost her boyfriend. Rod Stewart and The Faces closed Saturday night. I remember Rod wearing a silver lame jacket and that they were pretty ramshackle, but good.
Sunday. The Natural Acoustic Band started the day, followed by Focus who warmed the crowd up with Sylvia, and Brewers Droop who were a raunchy boogie band who popped up at a few festivals in those days. Spencer Davis played with his new band, which was heavy on steel guitar and country oriented, followed by The Incredible String Band. Lindisfarne were the first band to get the crowd going and were a big hit of the weekend. We were all on the roof of our cabin, singing along to Fog on the Tyne. Average White Band were followed by The Persuasions who were an a cappella soul band, and were impressive. The next big hit of the day were Slade, who just tore the place apart. They started this performance with a lot to prove to a “Hippy” crowd, who viewed slade as a pop act. By the end of the performance everyone was singing along and converted. They were just great. Monty Python’s Flying Circus, with the entire cast, did all their great sketches: Dead Parrot, Lumberjack Song, Argument; great fun. The Beach Boys closed the evening and were wonderful singing all the hits. Great end to a great day.
Monday. The morning featured some folk acts, who had been moved to the main stage because the folk tent had been damaged by the weather. I remember Jonathan Kelly performing and singing “Ballad of Cursed Anna” which is a favourite of mine to this day. Jackson Heights, featuring Lee Jackson from the Nice started the main part of the day off, followed by Atomic Rooster, Vincent Crane collapsing (as he normally did) during Gershatzer. Vinegar Joe with Elkie Brooks and Robert Palmer were next up, followed by the Sutherland Brothers. The next two bands were both up and coming at the time: Genesis and Status Quo. They were both festival favourites, Peter Gabriel with his shaved forehead, telling those great stories to introduce beautiful songs such as Musical Box, and Quo were still trying to establish themselves as a proper rock band and shake off the pop image, which they were doing very well with tracks such as Someones Learning and Is It Really Me? Don McLean sang American Pie and the rain stopped for him. Humble Pie were something else. Steve Marriott was at the top of his game and was fully into his “My skin is white but my soul is black” routine. I Don’t Need No Doctor!! Just great. Sha Na Na, still featuring in all our minds from the Woodstock movie, had us all singing along. Joe Cocker closed the festival. He came on very late as I recall. There was a long wait and he took to the stage in the early hours of the morning. I remember him singing The Letter and Cry Me a River. He was good, but I was tired and cold by that time. All my mates had gone to sleep.
Other memories of the weekend. A large black and white screen above the stage, which worked some of the time. They showed movies on it throughout the night. I watched Marlon Brando in The Wild One, which was banned in the UK (!) at the time. Lots of chants of Wally. People openly selling dope with price lists on their tents. Hari Krishna’s giving out free food. A straw fight during (I think) Lindisfarne’s set. Everyone around me had also been to the Bickershaw festival a couple of weeks before, and were taking about how great The Grateful Dead and Captain Beefheart were. I was dead jealous.
I caught the train back on Tuesday. My mates variously hitched and scored lifts. I arrived home tired, unwashed, and determined to go to as many festivals as I could in the future, which I sort of stuck to for the remainder of the 70s.
19 Aug
Death Cult Redcar 1983 and The Cult Newcastle 1985
Death Cult Redcar 1983 and The Cult Newcastle 1985
Ian Astbury is an interesting and impressive guy. He was born in Liverpool, lived for some time in Canada, and discovered music through The Doors, punk and Crass. I first became aware of him in Southern Death Cult, first saw him live in Death Cult, and then in the later incarnation of the band, The Cult. The last time I saw Ian was fronting The 21st Century Doors in the vast Manchester Arena, featuring original Doors members Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek. He is now back fronting The Cult. This is a guy who is clearly living his dream. My first encounter with Ian Astbuty was in the Death Cult, at Redcar Coatham Bowl in 1983. Ian was sporting a painted face and bandanna, strutting his stuff to the goth / new wave music of this post-punk supergroup, which he had formed with Billy Duffy from Theatre of Hate. Pretty impressive stuff, but just a taste of the rock splendour that was to follow a couple of years later. Support for the Redcar gig came from Goth band Look Back in Anger. 
The next time I saw The Cult in concert, they had transformed into a fully fledged rock band, and were touring to support the “Love” album. “She sells Sanctuary” had been high in the charts for a number of weeks, and their new single “Rain” had just been released. Ian was now very much the heavy rock god. I remember being particularly impressed by Ian’s performance and by Billy Duffy’s guitar playing that night. I had a seat pretty close to the front and recall that the gig was very LOUD; my ears were ringing for some time after. 
“Love” and the follow-up “Electric” are both great albums, the former more psychedelic rock, and the latter much more hard-rock oriented. The City Hall concert was pretty electric, and the band went on to tour the USA to phenomenal success. Not certain who the support act was for the City Hall show; it may have been Balaam and the Angel. Setlist: Love; Nirvana; Big Neon Glitter; Revolution; Brother Wolf, Sister Moon; Rain; Resurrection Joe; Dreamtime; She Sells Sanctuary; Go West; Spiritwalker; Horse Nation; The Phoenix; Hollow Man; Wild Thing / Louie Louie
18 Aug
Nick Cave The Sage Gateshead 2005
Nick Cave Sage Gateshead 2005
Tickets for this gig sold quickly; Nick Cave has a very committed hard core following. This is the only time I’ve seen him in concert. I have vague memories of The Birthday Party supporting Bauhaus at Newcastle University in the early 80s, but can’t be certain I attended that gig. David and I went to the Sage gig, David being more familiar with Cave’s material than I was. This was a solo concert, with Nick on piano, and Bad Seeds Warren Ellis (violin), Martyn Casey (bass) and Jim Sclavunos (drums). It was one of the first gigs I attended at the Sage Gateshead, which had only been open for a couple of months. Nick’s songs are dark and intense, and the set drew songs from throughout his career, and a selection from the Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus album, which had been released around that time. Nick is a pretty cool guy (great moustache) and had some interesting banter with the crowd between songs. An excellent gig by a unique guy. Laura is pretty jealous and has Nick Cave high on her lists of concert must-sees. I bought her a signed copy of his book “The Death of Bunny Munro” which takes pride of place in her flat, and I have promised to take her to see him next time he comes to the North of England. Setlist: West Country Girl; Abattoir Blues; Red Right Hand; Hallelujah; Cannibals Hymn; God Is In the House; The Ship Song; Babe You Turn Me On; Christina The Astonishing; Henry Lee; The Mercy Seat; Hiding All Away; Messiah Ward; Rock Of Gibralter; Jack The Ripper. Encore 1: The Lyre Of Orpheus; Lucy; Stagger Lee. Encore 2: The Singer
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
16 Aug
Alice Cooper Newcastle Arena 2005
Alice Cooper Newcastle Arena 2005
Dirty Diamonds tour
Support from Twisted Sister
It was 17 years until I saw Alice Cooper again, some 7 years ago at Newcastle Arena. Support came from mad glam rockers Twisted Sister, led by crazy maniac Dee Snider. I’d seen Twisted Sister in the early 80s at Newcastle Mayfair; they are always good for a laugh, and play some nifty metal. This gig used around a third of the arena, which allows for a (slightly) larger crowd than the City Hall, but also guarantees a much more stale and cold atmosphere. Alice’s set included all the favourites and a few tracks from his new album ‘Dirty Diamonds’. The usual stage theatrics featured large, with our hero pulling the usual tricks out of the bag, wriggling his way out of a straitjacket, losing his head at the guillotine and then emerging alive again from a coffin. The show now features his beautiful daughter Cailco Cooper, who kills her dad as part of the fun. Setlist: Department of Youth; No More Mr. Nice Guy; Dirty Diamonds; Billion Dollar Babies; Be My Lover; Lost in America; I Never Cry; Woman of Mass Distraction; I’m Eighteen; Between High School & Old School; Sunset Babies (All Got Rabies); Is It My Body; Go to Hell; Black Widow; Gimme; Feed My Frankenstein; Welcome to My Nightmare; The Awakening; Steven; Only Women Bleed; Ballad of Dwight Fry; Killer; I Love the Dead; School’s Out. Encore: Poison; Wish I Were Born in Beverly Hills; Under My Wheels
15 Aug
Alice Cooper Newcastle 1986 and 1988
Alice Cooper Newcastle 1986 and 1988
It was around ten years till I saw Alice Cooper again. He visited the UK in 1982, but for some reason I didn’t make a show on that tour. However he was back again in 1986, and paid his fist visit to Newcastle. After experiencing the splendour of the “Welcome to my Nightmare” tour, I was looking forward to this gig. Support came from Alien Sex Fiend, a deathrock band formed at the Batcave club in London. Alice was promoting the Constrictor lp, which was his 16th(!) album, and the tour was named “The Nightmare Returns”. 
It was seen as a return to form, if perhaps a little more heavy metal than previous outings. The show was as theatrical as ever, with Frankenstein making an appearance for the song “Teenage Frankenstein”. The set contained a selection of all the classic Alice tracks. Setlist: Welcome to My Nightmare; Billion Dollar Babies; No More Mr. Nice Guy; Be My Lover; I’m Eighteen; The World Needs Guts; Give It Up; Cold Ethyl; Only Women Bleed; Go to Hell; Ballad of Dwight Fry; Teenage Frankenstein; Sick Things; I Love the Dead; School’s Out. Encore: Elected; Under My Wheels. Seem to recall that I went to the gig with my mate Norm and that we went down to Tiffanies (it may have been another club) afterwards and saw We’ve Got A Fuzzbox and We’re Gonna Use It!! 
Alice was back in Newcastle two years later; this time for a two night stay at the City Hall. Support this time came from heavy metal act Chrome Molly, and Alice’s new album was Raise Your Fist and Yell. I found the following interesting snippet on the sickthingsuk site: “During the first night at Newcastle City Hall 8th April, 1988, Alice accidentally threw one of the dancers whips [during Go To Hell] up into the balcony and was caught, much to the delight of a female member of the audience (Steve Olley, January 2009).” The set was quite similar to Alice’s previous visit, and this time the show featured Freddie Kreuger appeared in the show!
14 Aug
Alice Cooper Liverpool Empire 1975
Alice Cooper Liverpool Empire 1975
Welcome to my Nightmare tour
Support Heavy Metal Kids
This was the first time that I saw Alice Cooper. A group of us went to the gig in a couple of cars, all of us exciting at the prospect of seeing the king of shock rock. We’ll heard the singles, seen him perform “School’s Out” on Top of the Pops and read about the outlandish stage shows in the NME and Sounds. This was our chance to see Alice in the flesh in his ghoulish horror show which featured snakes, an execution and babies being sliced up. It was Alice’s first concert in the north of England; he had previously only played in London and Glasgow. Support came from Heavy Metal Kids, with Gary Holton on top form, giving his usual super cocky cockney act. We had seats right down at the front and all thought the gig was tremendous. There had been some luke warm reviews of the “Welcome to my Nightmare” album, largely because Alice had lost all of the original band members, and was now, in effect, a solo artist, rather than Alice Cooper the band. However, we needn’t have worried, as this was Alice Cooper at his theatrical best, fronting a stage show that was at times just astounding, and, for its time, unbelievable in places. The show started with the taped voice of Vincent Price booming over the PA system, followed by wonderfully choreographed dancers, who seemed to appear out of nowhere from a giant projection screen, which was the size of the stage. Next Alice suddenly appeared singing the opening lines of the title track. 
Alice had a giant toy box, and from that jumped devils, bats, and a bunch of skeletons who delivered a nifty dance routine complete with top hats and canes. There was a massive graveyard scene with Alice creeping through the gravestones, dancing demons, giant spiders for “Black Widow” and a cyclops during “Department Of Youth”. And he played School’s Out! Just Wonderful! Setlist: Welcome To My Nightmare, Years Ago, No More Mr Nice Guy, Years Ago, Billion Dollar Babies, Years Ago, I’m Eighteen, Some Folks, Cold Ethyl, Only Women Bleed, Devil’s Food, The Black Widow, Steven, Welcome To My Nightmare (reprise), The Awakening, Escape, School’s Out, Department of Youth
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
12 Aug
Penetration Stockton Georgian Theatre 11 August 2012
Penetration Stockton Georgian Theatre 11 August 2012
Middlesbrough Rock Garden Revisited
“Nostalgia for an age yet to come”
This gig was one of a series of concerts organised under the Rock Garden Revisited banner, which is booking veteran punk acts to play at the Stockton Georgian Theatre and, in doing so, allowing ageing punks to relive their youth. Although I can’t claim to have been a true, and out and out, punk in the late 70s, I did go to gigs at the Rock Garden quite a lot in those glorious days which seem so long ago now, and Penetration were a band that Marie and I saw loads of times at various North East venues. 
So I decided to join in, and try and relive some of my younger days. This was my first visit to the Georgian Theatre, which is hidden away in the redeveloped Riverside quarter of Stockton. Actually, I was a bit unsure about going to this gig. Penetration are a band that we were really into in the day, to the extent that I still know the lyrics to most of the songs. Sometimes its better to leave memories intact; revisiting them runs a risk of tarnishing precious memories. However, I decided I would go and played their first album “Moving Targets” to remind myself of those great songs. The place was full; tickets had sold out in February. Penetration took to the stage around 10pm, and played a set of all their classic tunes. Great stuff, Pauline was on good form and in good voice, and the crowd loved it. The sound was a bit ropey at times, with feedback and distortion creeping in here and there, and they were really LOUD. My ears are still ringing this morning. 
Penetration started with Future Daze and the set included (although not necessarily in this order): Life’s a Gamble; Feeling; Lovers of Outrage; Movement; Free Money; Silent Community; Don’t Dictate; Danger Signs; Nostalgia; Come Into the Open; She is the Slave. The encore included Shout Above the Noise and Firing Squad.
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