Sham 69 Sunderland Polytechnic Wearmouth Hall November ? 1978
This was one awesome gig, for many reasons. It was the first time that Sham 69 had played in the North East, and musically, and in terms of popularity, they were riding high. They had hit the UK singles charts three times in 1978 with their brilliant terrace punk anthems “Angels With Dirty Faces”, “If the Kids Are United” and “Hurry Up Harry”. Sham 69 were the only band to rival the Pistols and The Clash in terms of raw punk power, and you didn’t get any more authentic than Jimmy Pursey who wore his punk credentials and his political views well and truly on his sleeve. Unfortunately, Sham had also gained a reputation for violence at their gigs, which often descended into fighting and riots. They attracted a group of right wing skins, although Jimmy’s politics were very much towards the left. And their followers were fanatical, the Sham Army followed them everywhere, up and down the country. Add to this the fact that this was a students only gig, and you just knew that there was going to be trouble.
When we arrived we ran the gauntlet of a group of punks and skins who couldn’t get in, were pretty unhappy and ready for a fight. Inside; the hall was far from full, the audience consisting of a mix of students, local rock fans, a few punks and skins who had somehow managed to blag their way in, and a heavy travelling contingent from the Sham Army.
Jimmy and Sham were brilliant, but there were fights throughout the night both inside and outside the hall. Lots of singalongs with skins jumping on stage and Jimmy sharing the mike with them. Great songs like “What Have We Got” (F**k All!) and “Borstal Breakout”. Everyone belted out “If Kids Are United”. Loads of beer flying about. Jimmy pleading with people to stop fighting, almost in tears. Electricity in the air; generated by the raw power of the punk music, and the danger and tension of the event. Amazing, happy days.
“What have we got? (Jimmy)
F**k All (Audience)
What have we got? (Jimmy)
F**k All (Audience)
They’ve taken everything
There’ll soon be nothing left
Soon we’ll be walking the street
With nothing on our feet
What have we got
What have we got
I’d like to buy a shotgun
Shooting MPs conservatives, communists
They’re all the bleeding same”
(What have we got, Sham 69, 1978)
Posts Tagged ‘gig’
12 Sep
Sham 69 Sunderland Polytechnic Wearmouth Hall November ? 1978
11 Sep
Stealers Wheel Sunderland Polytechnic Wearmouth Hall 1973?
Stealers Wheel Sunderland Polytechnic Wearmouth Hall 1973?
Stealers Wheel are, of course, best remembered as the short lived folk rock act who featured the late, great and sadly missed, Gerry Rafferty and for the song “Stuck in the Middle with You” which hit the charts in 1973, and was featured as part of the soundtrack of the film “Reservoir Dogs”. The film brought the band back into the public eye, and introduced a new set of fans to their music. But there was much more to Stealers Wheel. They released three fine albums, and Rafferty’s fellow front man and old school friend Joe Egan was also an excellent song writer, with a deep soulful voice. Former Spooky Tooth-er, and soon to be Mott the Hoople-er, Luther Grosvenor (aka Ariel Bender) was also a member of the band for a short period during 1972 to 1973.
I saw Stealers Wheel live once when they played at Sunderland Poly Wearmouth Hall. It was around the time that “Stuck in the Middle with You” was in the charts, and the place was completely full, ram packed to the walls. I can’t be sure of the line-up at the time; I think it may have been during the period when Gerry Rafferty had left the band, and Joe Egan took over the role of front man and lead vocalist. I also think that Luther Grosvenor was in the band at the time. Stealers Wheel were nothing like I expected. They were much more a rock band, with very soulful, raucous vocals from Joe Egan, quite funky, and very LOUD. I remember having to leave the hall on a couple of occasions just to talk to mates, and because it was so loud, so packed and so hot. A great, under rated band, who deserve more recognition than they often receive.
10 Sep
Steeleye Span Middlesbrough Town Hall 22nd August 1977
Steeleye Span Middlesbrough Town Hall 22nd August 1977
Steeleye Span brought in producer Mike Batt (best known for his work with the Wombles) to work on their eighth album “All Around My Hat”. The single release of the title track reached number 5 in the UK Charts in late 1975, giving them their biggest chart success.
The next time I saw Steeleye Span was at Middlesbrough Town Hall on 22nd August 1977. The Town Hall was packed, and my mate and I had seats right down the front, in the second row. My enduring memories of the gig are of two things. The first is just how rocky the band had become. Of course they played “All Around My Hat”, which is actually a rock’n’roll song, but I was surprised how many of the other songs had an electric boogie rhythm. They even did a great version of Buddy Holly’s “Rave On”. And the second memory is of Maddy dancing. She was wearing a long, pure white skirt which swirled around as she danced and twirled. She danced across the stage, and down into the audience, up one aisle, across the back of the hall and back down the other aisle. That night Maddy was our English maid, with the voice of our green and pleasant land, and dancing the morris dance for us all. A great concert, and the best time I saw Steeleye Span.
The line-up of the band at the time was: Tim Hart (guitars, vocals), Maddy Prior (vocals and dance), Rick Kemp (bass, vocals), Nigel Pegrum (drums, percussion), the return of Martin Carthy (guitars, vocals) and John Kirkpatrick (accordion, vocals)
“Doesn’t it move you just a little bit?
And if you watch I think the chance is
That it will lift your heart a little bit
Ooh, well I mean, when Maddy dances
Ooh, well I mean, when Maddy dances”
(When Maddy Dances, by Ralph McTell)
9 Sep
Steeleye Span & Amazing Blondel Newcastle City Hall 26th October 1972
Steeleye Span & Amazing Blondel Newcastle City Hall 26th October 1972
Steeleye Span, along with Fairport Convention, are pioneers of British folk rock. Their music successfully marries traditional English folk music with a harder, electric sound. In their early days, Steeleye Span played almost exclusively traditional folk songs. I first saw them as the support act for the mighty Jethro Tull on their spring 1971 tour when it called at Sunderland Empire. Steeleye Span’s line-up was, at that time, Tim Hart (guitars, vocals), Maddy Prior (vocals and twirling skirt dancing), Ashley Hutchings (bass), Martin Carthy (guitars, vocals) and Peter Knight (strings, keyboards, guitars, vocals). Note, the band had no drummer, which made the line-up seem somewhat different.
By the time of this 1972 headlining concert at Newcastle City Hall, Ashley Hutchings and Martin Carthy had both departed and had been replaced by Bob Johnson (guitars, vocals) and Rick Kemp (bass, drums, vocals).
This was a strong double bill, and I remember that my reason for going along to the concert was partly to see support act Amazing Blondel. Some of my friends had seen Amazing Blondel supporting Free, and came back gushing with glowing reports of these three crazy guys with amazingly long hair who played strange quaint medieval instruments. Amazing Blondel were indeed “amazing”. They were reportedly influenced by their childhood memories of the Robin Hood TV series, and its mediaeval soundtrack. Indeed, they named their band after Blondel de Nesle, a musician in the court of Richard the First. Their Medieval brand of folk rock was, in fact, an authentic attempt to recreate Renaissance music, using genuine period instruments such as lutes and recorders, and interlacing their songs with old English banter and bawdy jokes. Great stuff!
Steeleye Span were starting to gain their own following, and their version of the 16th Century Christmas carol “Gaudete” was becoming a big live concert favourite. The City Hall was full and both bands went down well. Steeleye Span’s set also featured some quite dark folk songs which told stories of medieval goings on, murders, affairs, etc. and a great version of “John Barleycorn”.
I had a double dose of Steeleye Span, having seen them just a month or so before when they featured on the bill at the Grangemouth pop festival. Happy days.
“Gaudete, gaudete
Christus est natus
Ex Maria Virgine
Gaudete”
8 Sep
Simple Minds Newcastle City Hall 3rd March 1984
Simple Minds Newcastle City Hall 3rd March 1984
By 1984 Simple Minds had reached mega status. They released their sixth album “Sparkle in the Rain”, which was a big major breakthrough commercial success for the band, reaching No 1 in the UK album chart, selling well around the world and becoming certified double platinum. I remember this City Hall gig sold out very quickly, and the concert was excellent; it felt like we were witnessing a band at their peak, and on the verge of major world wide success, the audience knew it, the band knew it, and it came through in the power, passion and perfection of their performance. This was easily the best Simple Minds concert I attended. Within the space of five years they had grown from a quirky engaging new wave band experimenting with electronica and rhythm, to a full blown professional pop pomp band, riding high alongside new romantic contemporaries like Duran Duran, and new classic rock outfits like U2.
Support for the City Hall concert came from Silent Running, a Northern Irish rock band, who emerged from the Belfast punk scene. 
However, all was not well in the Simple Minds camp. Jim Kerr: “We were knackered. We were desensitized. The band started to fracture. We were lads who had grown up together, we were meant to grow together, politically, spiritually and artistically. But we were getting tired with each other. There was an element of the chore creeping in. We were coasting and this whole other thing was a challenge.”
Setlist: Waterfront; Up On The Catwalk; Book Of Brilliant Things; Glittering Prize; The American; King Is White And In The Crowd; Speed Your Love To Me; Someone Somewhere (In Summertime); Promised You A Miracle; Big Sleep; New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84); Love Song
7 Sep
Simple Minds Live in Newcastle 1979 – 1982
Simple Minds Live in Newcastle 1979 – 1982
I first saw Simple Minds when they supported Magazine at Newcastle City Hall on April 25th, 1979. There was already a buzz about the band; I’d seen them perform on the Whistle Test, and was looking forward to seeing them live: “”Having appeared on the Old Grey Whistle Test quite recently, Simple Minds show style and panache. Their perception is discerning, composed stealthfully of a balanced power and access ability. Musically they don’t have limits set by social statements, but rather produce songs to last any test of time whatever the current vogue. Jim Kerr, the articulate lyricist shines on Chelsea Girl one of the strongest compositions.” (Peter Escrett, NME). So this was one of those gigs where we got to our seats early to watch the support act, and they were just great. Their set on the tour consisted of early songs: Hell; Take Me To The Angels; Life In A Day; Destiny; Chelsea Girl; Special View; Garden Of Hate; Pleasantly Disturbed; Murder Story. “Chelsea Girl” and “Life in Day” were my early live favourites.
Jim Kerr: “And then we went straight into the Magazine tour, and we were already getting the Magazine soundalike tags, even though we’d got our sound before we’d even heard ‘Real Life’. And we went on this tour with no LP and no single… and we got out there and really there seemed to be no pressure on us and we just went out to enjoy ourselves.”
The next time I saw Simple Minds was at a gig at Newcastle University on November 24th, 1979. There was trouble at the gig and the band left the stage at one point. “The gig was unique in as much as that half way through Wasteland (about the 4th track) the band have a fight with a few members of the audience and walk off for about 15 minutes. They do return but only to play another five or so songs.” (from http://www.simpleminds.org/sm/tours/t1979-2/index.htm ).
Simple Minds next returned to Newcastle to headline at the City Hall on September 21st, 1981. Support was provided by Australian band Icehouse. I am pretty sure I was at this gig, but can’t find my ticket stub, so maybe my memory is playing tricks again.
I was, however, definitely at the City Hall to see Simple Minds when they played on November 20th, 1982, and I have my ticket and programme from the gig (pictured here). Support this time was the excellent China Crisis. By this point Simple Minds had found their own style, having moved from a sparse, rhythmic, electronica band to a much more pop sound, and they were starting to hit the charts with their singles “Promised You a Miracle” and “Glittering Prize”. One of my favourites from this early period was “The American”. This was the band at their peak, and a powerful live act.
Setlist: In Trance As Mission; Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel; Hunter And The Hunted; Glittering Prize; Someone Somewhere (In Summertime); Sweat In Bullet; Promised You A Miracle; King Is White And In The Crowd; I Travel; Celebrate; The American; Big Sleep
Encore: New Gold Dream; Love Song; Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)
I saw Simple Minds once more, in 1984 as they began to achieve mega status. I’ll reflect on that gig tomorrow.
6 Sep
Sad Café Newcastle City Hall 1978 & 1980
Sad Café Newcastle City Hall 1978 & 1980
“For a few years in the late 70s and early 80s, Sad Café may just have been the best live band on the planet. Their charismatic and under-rated front man, Paul Young, was a mix of every great rock band leader you’ve ever seen but he had an energy and personality that was all his own and which put him ahead of the pack. The solid-as-a-rock rhythm section of Dave Irving and Des Tong, the guitar pyrotechnics of Ashley Mulford, and those virtuoso keyboards from Vic Emerson were pulled into shape by Paul’s right-hand man, Ian Wilson who added rhythm guitar and exquisite harmonies to the mix. At their commercial peak, their single “Everyday Hurts” sold 600,000 copies……” (From the official Sad Café website). High praise indeed. But it is true that Sad Café were a great live act.
I saw them a few times in concert in the late 70s and early 80s. The first couple of times I saw them was at Newcastle University and/or Newcastle Poly, not sure which. At the time, it must have been 1976 or 1977″ Sad Café had just formed and were slogging away, playing the university and ballroom circuit. They were fighting against the tidal wave of punk and to their credit, they kept at it, playing up and down the country, with their brand of rock’n’soul and a great front man in the late Paul Young. By 1978 they had gained sufficient following to headline concert halls and theatres, and I saw them play at Newcastle City Hall on 1st May 1978.
They hit the big time in 1979 with their third album “Façades” and the No 3 hit single “Everyday Hurts” which was massively popular. The Façades tour called at Newcastle City Hall on 21st March 1980 and this time the venue was full. Support came from a band called “The Out”.
Sad Café were a good solid live act, but didn’t quite make it into the big league of rock acts. They continued until 1990 with a changing line-up, and then went their separate ways. Vocalist and front man Paul Young sadly passed away, aged 53, in 2000. In 2012, the band was reformed by original member Ian Wilson, along with other former members.
“I saw the lamp light from your window
I didn’t think you were home, sitting there all alone
So I came up to your room to ask you why
Why did you hurt me so?
Why did you have to go, away?
…..
There’s one thing I can say, everyday, how I miss you, oh oh
Every day that I’m without you hurts just a little bit more than
Than I’ve ever been hurt before
Every day that I’m without you hurts just a little bit more”
(Everyday Hurts, Sad Café, 1979)
5 Sep
The Selecter live 1979, 1980 & 1981
I first saw The Selecter on the legendary Two Tone tour which called at Newcastle Mayfair on November 9th 1979. This tour brought Ska to the masses, coming off the back of the punk revolution, and featured the combined talents of headliners The Specials, Madness and The Selecter. The tour sold out everywhere, and was a complete success, but sadly the main reason it made the press was because of some violent outbreaks caused by a minority of troublemakers in some venues. The National Front and the British National Party were out recruiting at the shows, even though the bands who were performing on the tour openly distanced themselves from racism. It was a strange paradox, here we had fans dancing to multi-racial bands and singing along with songs whose lyrics preached racial unity, and yet the far-right was trying to sell politics which came from the complete opposite end of the spectrum. As I recall, there was quite a bit of trouble at the Mayfair gig, with fights breaking out throughout the night; and being one of a small number of people in the crowd with long hair, I did feel quite unsafe at times. None the less I survived 🙂 and it was a great night, featuring three excellent bands. The Selecter, fronted by Pauline Black, got the crowd warmed up that night. 
The next time I saw The Selecter was when their own headline tour called back at the Mayfair on 20th February 1980, with support from The Bodysnatchers. By then they had been in the charts with the excellent catchy single “On My Radio” which reached No 8, and had just released “Three Minute Hero” which got to No 16.
The final time I saw The Selecter was at the City Hall on 15th March 1981. I think the Belle Stars (who formed out of the Bodysnatchers) may have supported. The Selecter were always fun to see, but they have often been overshadowed by their contemporaries Madness and the Specials, which is a bit of a shame. The band still plays today.
4 Sep
Kate Bush Hammersmith Apollo London 3rd September 2014
Kate Bush Hammersmith Apollo London 3rd September 2014
I never believed in my wildest dreams that I would ever see Kate Bush live in concert again. I felt lucky to have seen her during her one and only tour when it called at Sunderland Empire, and I was totally amazed when she announced her return, which seemed to come completely out of the blue a few months ago. Marie (like me an old trooper from the Empire concert) came along with Laura, David, Shauna and me to last nights concert.
From the moment Kate walked barefoot onto the stage last night, the crowd showed how much she has been missed. Fans have travelled from every corner of the globe to witness and be part of this second coming, “Before the Dawn”, and they made sure that Kate knew how much they love her, giving her standing ovations at the end of each of the first few songs. The first thing you notice is how strong her voice is, how well she looks, how confident, and how much she smiles. She seemed genuinely pleased to be there performing, and to see everyone.
The first set of six songs was the closest that the concert got to a “gig” with Kate performing a selection of songs from her career, including “Hounds of Love”; “Running Up That Hill”; and her more recent single “King of the Mountain”. Before the next segment we we given an unexpected interval, while a technical fault was sorted out, which added to the drama of the evening. 
By 9pm, fault rectified, we were all back in our seats to witness “The Ninth Wave”, which tells the story of a lady (Kate) lost at sea after her ship crashes. She fades in and out of life, fighting with the waves and evil skeleton fish, who fight to drag her under. She has an out of body experience as, ghost-like, she returns home to observe her husband and son (played by Kate’s real son Bertie) in their living room watching TV and having supper (toad in the hol, good choice 🙂 ). The coast guard drag her from the sea, only to lose her to the fish skeletons again. A helicopter hovers above us all, lights shining and swirling around the venue. The evil fish hold Kate aloft and carry her through the aisle and out a side entrance.
Ultimately she is dragged out alive, and the evil fish lose her, back to the earth and her life. All of this was staged in the most professional, artist and engaging way that you could imagine. Simply breathtaking.
After another interval we were treated to a performance of “A Sky of Honey”, from Aerial. This sequence also has strong links to earth and the environment. Kate plays the part of a bird-like woman who observes the actions of a 19th-century painter (played by Bertie) who is painting a scene of the sky and a strange quirky mannequin who follows her around throughout the piece (the mannequin also features on the cover of the programme; which you can see above). The performance features several birds; a white dove, a rooster, a seagull, and an evil black raven who attacks Kate, transforming her arm into a black wing. The story climaxes with Kate duelling with her guitarists who wear evil beak masks. Dark, moody, scary. The place went crazy, everyone on their feet. Kate was beaming.
For the encore she returned to sit alone at her grand piano and sing Among Angels. The band then returned for a joyous “Cloudbusting” with everyone singing along.
We left the Apollo at 11.20pm. The girl sitting to my right looked at me and simply said “Wow!”. Laura says it is the best concert she has ever seen. A very emotional experience in so many ways, lots of tears in the eyes moments.
Kate Bush might just be the greatest creative rock artist that we have.
Apologies for any typos, I have been typing this on the train home.
Setlist
Lily; Hounds of Love; Joanni; Top of the City; Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God); King of the Mountain
The Ninth Wave: And Dream of Sheep; Under Ice; Waking the Witch; Watching You Without Me; Jig of Life; Hello Earth; The Morning Fog
A Sky of Honey: Prelude; Prologue; An Architect’s Dream; The Painter’s Link; Sunset; Aerial Tal; Somewhere in Between; Tawny Moon; Nocturn; Aerial
Encore: Among Angels; Cloudbusting
The yellow slip of flimsy tissue paper is a piece of confetti; these were thrown over the audience early in the show. The confetti features an extract from “The Coming of Arthur” by Lord Alfred Tennyson, which is said to have inspired Kate Bush to write the Ninth Wave.
“Wave after wave, each mightier than the last,
Till last, a ninth one, gathering half the deep
And full of voices, slowly rose and plunged
Roaring, and all the wave was in a flame”
3 Sep
Feargal Sharkey Newcastle City Hall 9th February 1986
Feargal Sharkey Newcastle City Hall 9th February 1986
In 1982 Feargal was becoming tired of fronting Irish new wave post-punk posters The Undertones. So it was no more boy next door image, off with the pullover and jeans, and on with a trendy Armani suit, a Swatch watch (see later) and styled quiffed hair. Ad hey presto young Feargal was a fledgling pop star. And pop star indeed he was. Feargal’s debut single was “Listen to Your Father” which reached No. 23 in the UK chart in 1984. The track was a collaboration with members of Madness and he performed it on Top of the Pops with members of the nutty boy band. But his biggest hit came the following year when “A Good Heart” went to No. 1 in several countries including the UK. He also had a UK Top 5 hit in 1986 with “You Little Thief”, which was out at the time I saw him on tour. His debut album reached No. 12 in the UK Albums Chart.
I saw Feargal Sharkey at Newcastle City Hall in 1986. This was his Swatch tour, and an early example of tour branding and marketing tie-ins. The back cover of the programme declares “Feargal Sharkey Swatch tour. Music by Feargal. Time by Swatch”, alongside a picture of our cool hero sporting trendy shades and, of course, a neat black Swatch.
From the programme: “At first I didn’t feel it. I just sang. The difference later on was that I learned more about life. I now plough past experiences for songs, especially on my album where the songs are all bitter sweet. I’m now more of a manic singer than ever before. ……Feargal belongs on stage in front of an audience…..Ladies and gentlemen, Feargal Sharkey. The waiting is over”
The concert was good fun and focused on Feargal’s hits and debut solo album, along with some great covers including “When a Man Loves a Woman” and “It’s all Over Now”. He had quite a large band with a couple of backing singers and a small brass section. His mate and local north east hero Dave Stewart came on for the encore, very much the swaggering rock star. Support came from Fruits of Passion, a Scottish indie band.
The next time I saw Feargal Sharkey he walked past me, as he was wandering around the area in front of the stage at Live 8 in Hyde Park. By then he was very much the suited business man, and chair of the UK Government task force the ‘Live Music Forum’. In 2009 he was placed No. 56 in The Guardian’s MediaGuardian 100, which is an annual guide to the “most powerful people in television, radio, newspapers, magazines, digital media, media business, advertising, marketing and PR”. The boy from Derry has travelled a long way.
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