Stiff Little Fingers 23rd January 1982 (and/or October 1982?) and farewell on 5th February 1983
The fourth (also to be the final) album of Stiff Little Fingers’ first incarnation, Now Then… was not as successful as their earlier albums. The album took the band towards a more pop/new wave-oriented sound than their previous releases and wasn’t received that well by fans and critics. Having sad that, it did reach No 24 in the UK album charts. In 1981, drummer Jim Reilly left, and was replaced by Dolphin Taylor (from the Tom Robinson band).
“Looking back, for me, that was the end of the REAL SLF. After touring and recording for four years, Jake decided that 1982 would see the end of SLF. He wanted to pursue a solo career and walked away. I went back to a life in Belfast.” (Henry Cluney, from his website).
Live, however, they continued to be a major attraction and toured again in 1982, in support of Now Then…
Frustratingly, my tickets and programmes for SLF in 1982 leave me confused once again. I have a ticket stub from a concert at the City Hall on 23rd January 1982, yet the programme from the same year shows that they played twice at Newcastle City Hall on 11th and 12th October 1982. So….was the January gig postponed until October? Or did I see them in January and October? And if I did, where is my ticket stub from the October gig? Who knows….I’ve giving up beating myself up about such things, and just accepted that my memory is not good these days. Perhaps if you read this you can help solve my dilemma. Support for some of the dates on the October tour came from Midnight Oil, an Australian rock band who hit the UK charts “Beds Are Burning” later in the ’80s.
By 1983 it was all over. Stiff Little Fingers announced that they were to split, and played a few farewell gigs, one of which was at Newcastle City Hall. Support came from the mighty Alarm (68 Guns). 
Now I do remember this gig well. It was a storming concert, much better than their concert at the same venue previous year, and a fitting send off for a great band. There was a sense that this was the last time we were going to be seeing them, and we wanted to make sure that we made the most of it, and we also wanted to let the band know how much they meant to us.
But of course it wasn’t the end after all. Five years later Jake Burns reformed SLF and they continue to tour to this day. I’ve never seen the band live since those early days, which is something I should really put right. I’ve just read a couple of reviews of recent SLF gigs, and it seems that they are just as high energy and passionate as ever. I must try and get to see them again one day. Until then, I’ll remember that young, raw band I saw at that crazy gig at Newcastle Guildhall 35 years ago…
Posts Tagged ‘gig’
1 May
Stiff Little Fingers Newcastle City Hall 23rd January 1982 (and/or October 1982?) and farewell on 5th February 1983
30 Apr
Stiff Little Fingers Newcastle City Hall 18th May 1981
Stiff Little Fingers Newcastle City Hall 18th May 1981
It was almost two years between Stiff Little Fingers gig at Newcastle Mayfair on 9th June 1979 during their Gotta Getaway Tour and their next appearance in the city which saw them playing Newcastle City Hall on 18th May 1981. There was a reason for this.
SLF front man Jake Burns explained (Record Mirror, 1981): “We tried on ‘Go For It’ to be as straightforward as possible while remaining as clear about the world as we could. We ran into problems before for being too subtle because people don’t always see the humour in our songs. ‘White Noise’ on Inflammable Material got us banned from Newcastle for two years or so. A councillor read the lyrics and ordered that they couldn’t have bands spreading such racist ideas in Newcastle. There was a headline, ‘PUNK ALBUM COULD START NORTH EAST RACE RIOT.'” This misunderstanding stopped SLF from coming to Newcastle during 1980.
However by the time they came to tour with “Go For It” things had relaxed and the band were able to book a concert at the City Hall, which quickly sold out. “Go For It” was SLF’s third album and saw the band’s style change a little, covering new subjects such as domestic abuse in the song “Hits and Misses” but also still retaining their stories of being a teenager growing up, with the song “Kicking Up a Racket”.
Live, however, little had changed. Stiff Little Fingers remained a hot, passionate live act who really meant it, and had a massively loyal following in the north east. Support act for the tour was punk band The Wall, who originated from Sunderland.
Another great gig by a great live act.
29 Apr
Stiff Little Fingers and The Angelic Upstarts Newcastle Guildhall 28th February 1979
Stiff Little Fingers and The Angelic Upstarts Newcastle Guildhall 1979
My memories of this gig are sketchy, but what I do remember is that it was one of the wildest, craziest and most amazing concerts I have been to. It was around the time that Stiff Little Fingers were just starting to break through and make a name for themselves. They’d had some success with the singles “Suspect Device” and “Alternative Ulster”, and had just released their first album “Inflammable Material”. I’d already seen them play as support for Tom Robinson at the City Hall in late 1978. What I do remember well was that the place was jam packed; dangerously so. They had somehow crammed so many people in there that you couldn’t move at all. And there were lots of fights. The Upstarts manager, Keith Bell, aka The Sheriff, kept jumping into the crowd and sorting out the trouble. Both bands put in awesome, high energy performances; Stiff Little Fingers were unbelievably good: raw, full of energy and passion. The place went completely crazy when they played those classic songs: “Suspect Device”, “Wasted Life”, “Barbed Wire Love” their great version of Bob Marley’s “Johnny Was”; and when they played “Alternative Ulster” the crowd was going entirely nuts. I didn’t think I was going to get out of the place alive. That night SLF were, without question, simply the best new rock’n’roll band on the planet. The atmosphere was a mix of danger and pure rock energy. My mate and I lurked near the back of the crowd, being two of the few people in the hall with long hair. Where did those days go? Was it really more than 35 years ago? I saw Stiff Little Fingers again at Newcastle Mayfair in June 1979 (with support from the Starjets) and then at the City Hall a few times in the early 80s. They were always great but none of those gigs were as raw, energetic or exciting as that night at the Guildhall.
I’ve just watched SLF playing Suspect Device live in 1978 on YouTube and it brings it all back:
I’ll write more about SLF tomorrow.
SLF were (in those days):
Jake Burns – Vocals, guitar
Henry Cluney – guitar, Vocals
Ali McMordie – bass guitar, Vocals
Brian Faloon – drums.
“What we need is
An Alternative Ulster
Grab it change it’s yours
Get an Alternative Ulster
Ignore the bores, their laws
Get an Alternative Ulster
Be an anti-security force
Alter your native Ulster
Alter your native land” (Jake Burns and Gordon Ogilvie, 1978)
28 Apr
The Specials Newcastle Mayfair 9th November 1979 19th September 1980
The Specials Newcastle Mayfair 9th November 1979 18th September 1980
In Autumn 1979 The Specials released their debut album, entitled simply ‘Specials’ and a 40 date ‘2 Tone Tour’ of the country began featuring The Specials, Madness and The Selecter. The tour ended at Newcastle Mayfair on 9th November 1979 and played to a packed house. The music was great, marred by some fighting in the crowd. From a review of the time: “Madness and The Selecter join The Specials for an all band finale of Skinhead Moonstomp which had become a tradition of the tour. A horde of fans invaded the stage and cause chaos. Which has by now become a tradition of the tour.” All three bands played excellent sets that night and bootleg recordings exist of the Specials and Madness from the concert.
Specials setlist: (Dawning of a) New Era; Do the Dog; It’s Up to You; Monkey Man; Rat Race; Blank Expression; Rude Boys Outa Jail; Concrete Jungle; Too Hot; Doesn’t Make It Alright; Stupid Marriage; Too Much Too Young; The Guns of Navarone; Little Bitch; A Message to You, Rudy; Nite Klub; Gangsters; Longshot Kick De Bucket; Skinhead Moonstomp; You’re Wondering Now
The Specials were back at the Mayfair for an equally crazy show in 1980. Support came from The Swinging Cats. Jerry Dammers talking about crowd stage invasions at the time: “At first it was a great laugh – we’re all in this together, there’s no stars here. Then people were getting on-stage two numbers into the set. It became tedious and dangerous, but you couldn’t stop it. One gig we told the audience it was too dangerous and they wouldn’t have it and it ended up in a massive ruck with the bouncers.”
Update 27 December 2021. Many thanks to Jimmy Burns (a.k.a. Punk Hoarder) who kindly provided me with an image of the poster for the second gig. Another crazy, crazy night. People were trying to climb on stage and sing and dance with the band. This caused lots of fun, but also numerous interruptions in the show. The Specials were really on top form in those days and a great live band who went on to have some very special (no pun intended) chart hits. I wish I could relive the punk era and go to some of those concerts again. I also wish I had taken a camera. But at least I was there to experience it and still hold (some of) my memories. Happy days!
27 Apr
The Shadows 20 Golden Dates tour Newcastle City Hall 10th May 1977
The Shadows 20 Golden Dates tour Newcastle City Hall 10th May 1977
The Shadows reformed in 1977 and went out on the road to promote their 20 Golden Great album. The album was a massive success, staying in the UK charts for 43 weeks, and holding the number 1 position for 6 weeks. The tour fared similarly, with all date sold-out. The Shadows line-up for the tour was originals Hank Marvin (lead guitar), Bruce Welch (rhythm guitar), Brian Bennett (drums), accompanied by Alan Jones (bass), and Francis Monkman (of Curved Ait, and later of Kay, keyboards). Hank Marvin was one of my guitar heroes when I was a kid. I spent hours trying to learn to play “Apache”, “Dance On” and “Foot Tapper”. There really isn’t another player like him. The concert was a celebration of an amazing body of music, and stuck pretty faithfully to the tracks on the 20 Golden Greats album. The Shadows were just as you would expect, clean-cut and 100% professional with the same choreographed moves and guitar swings that we all saw and loved on TV in the ’60s. 
Hank’s playing was excellent, note perfect, with every twang and vibrato of the tremelo arm of his Strat exactly as it was on those old singles. Simple perfection, amazing to see and just great fun. Happy days.
Setlist: Shazam, Kon-Tiki, Marmaduke, Atlantis, Don’t Throw It All Away, Please Don’t Tease, Summer Holiday, The Day I Met Marie, Bachelor Boy, I Could Easily Fall In Love With You, In The Country, Apache, Foot Tapper.
INTERVAL
The Rise And Fall Of Flingel Bunt, Dance On, Nivram, Walk Don’t Run, Don’t Make My Baby Blue, Theme For Young Lovers, The Frightened City, Peace Pipe, The Savage, Little B, Sleepwalk, Let Me Be The One, Wonderful Land.
Encore: FBI.
26 Apr
Spirit Reading Festival August 1978 and Newcastle Mayfair 31st July 1981
Spirit Reading Festival August 1978 and Newcastle Mayfair 31st July 1981
My first memories of Spirit are of hearing the track “Fresh Garbage” on the excellent 1968 CBS sample lp “The Rock Machine Turns You On”. The song is quite strange with a psychedelic feel to inn, and some disconcerting changes of tempo. The next time I ran into the band was when I saw them live at Reading Festival in 1978. By this time Spirit were a three-piece featuring front man Randy California on (amazing) guitar, vocals and Moog, Ed Cassidy on drums and Larry “Fuzzy” Knight on bass. California was an awesome guitarist and a big Hendrix fan, and the set comprised a few Hendrix covers (“Hey Joe”, “All Along the Watchtower” and “Wild Thing”) along with some Spirit classics (“Mr Skin”, “Nature’s Way”). Ed Cassidy was a power house drummer, and was also Randy’s step-father. He was much older than the other two guys, and will have been 55 at the time of the Reading gig. Spirit played between Lindisfarne and The Motors, on the early Saturday evening. Status Quo headlined the Saturday night, playing after The Motors. Spirit played a storming set, and got a good reaction from the crowd.
Setlist from Reading: Hey Joe; Looking Down; Animal Zoo; Mr Skin; All Along The Watchtower; Wild Thing; Nature’s Way; Like A Rolling Stone; My imagination.
I saw Spirit once more, at a gig at Newcastle Mayfair in 1981. I think I also saw Randy California supporting Ian Gillan at the Mayfair in 1979. The 1981 tour was to promote the Potato Land album. The album, whose full title is “The Adventures of Kaptain Kopter & Commander Cassidy in Potato Land” (I assume Randy California ia Kaptain Kopter), was originally recorded by Randy California and Ed Cassidy during 1973/74. A concept album, interspersed with dialogue, it was not released until 1981 through Line Records. The line-up of the band at the Mayfair was California, Cassidy, Liberty on bass and George Valuck on keyboards. 
The ballroom was half-full, and the set was similar to the Reading set, mixing Hendrix material, with old Spirit songs, and a few from the Potato land story. The programme contains a comic featuring the Adventures of Kaptain Kopter and Commander Cassidy in Potato Land complete with great graphics and a blank page on which you were invited to “Draw your own Potato Man”. I also seem to remember buying a badge which had a picture of a potato man on it, but I’m not sure what happened to it.
25 Apr
Rick Wakeman ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ Newcastle City Hall 24th April 2014
Rick Wakeman ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ Newcastle City Hall 24th April 2014
This was the 40th Anniversary Tour for Rick Wakeman’s ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’. Rick is taking his famous story telling piece on the road again. A very brave move, as it involves putting together, and touring with a band, full orchestra and choir. The show featured the Irion Symphony Orchestra accompanied by The English Chamber Choir and a rock band giving a live presentation of this classical-rock work. Last night at Newcastle City Hall was the first night of the UK tour, and Laura and I went along. The concert was in two parts, the first with Rick alone on stage telling some stories about his career; and the people who influenced him. He talked about Cat Stevens, and played a piano instrumental of “Morning Has Broken”, which he played on a session musician. He then treated us to a rendition of “Life on Mars” with Hayley Sanderson on vocals (Hayley was one of the two vocalists in the second half of the show), and talked about the time he spent with David Bowie working on “Hunky Dory”, and how David’s advice of being true to yourself has stuck with him throughout his career, and was one of the reasons he persisted with the “Journey” concept when many were against it. 
He then introduced his old friend Ashley Holt, the second vocalist in the concert. Rick explained that he played with Ashley in the ’60s at Watford Top Rank and they performed one of the songs that they used to sing “Summertime”. Rick closed the first half paying tribute to his father, who took him to see “Peter and the Wolf” when he was 8 years old. It was that performance, and seeing a story in music, which planted the seed of the idea of doing a musical version of Rick’s childhood favourite book “Journey to the Centre of the Earth”. He finished by playing “Eleanor Rigby” in the style of Prokofiev, explaining that the composer was a big influence on his music, coming from his classical training at the Royal College of Music. There was then a short interval.
The second half of the concert relived the original album and tour, with the Orion orchestra (who I saw three weeks ago at the Albert Hall performing in the Jon Lord memorial concert), the English Chamber Choir and a rock band featuring Dave Colquhoun on guitar, Matt Pegg (Dave’s son) on bass, and Tony Ferdandez on drums. Philip Franks narrated the performance from the back of the stage, and Guy Protheroe conducted. Guy has been instrumental in putting together the show, helping recreate the score from an old and damaged copy of the original that was found some time ago. Vocal duties were shared between Hayley Sanderson and Ashley Holt, who were both excellent. I must admit that I am not familiar with the album, and didn’t realise how powerful a piece it is. Both Laura and I really enjoyed the concert, and came away both converts to Rick and his music. The audience loved it and gave the performers several standing ovations. An encore of a small piece from the album’s 1999 follow-up “Return to the Centre of the Earth” closed the evening; the audience were on their feet again, and Rick seemed genuinely moved by the reception that his work received.
‘This is the start of a new journey’, says Rick Wakeman about the show, ‘the original score for the album had been lost for so many years, making any new performances impossible. But after it turned up without warning, we managed to restore it and add previously missing music that was not included in the original performances. It has taken another half decade to develop, but I can’t wait to take Jules Verne’s magnificent story on tour again’.
A great concert and much better than I had anticipated.
24 Apr
Screaming Lord Sutch Sunderland Polytechnic Wearmouth Hall sometime in the early ’70s (probably 1973) and at the Barbary Coast Sunderland 9th February 1984
Picture the scene. It was sometime in the early ’70s, probably 1973. I was in my mid-teens and had started to take concert-going pretty seriously. It was a Saturday night student dance in Wearmouth Hall, which was the student union building of Sunderland Polytechnic. The great thing about those dances at that time, was you never knew who you were going to see. There was no internet to check gig listings in those days. I would turn up on a Saturday night with a couple of mates, and the name of the act for the night would be written in chalk on a blackboard at the door. So you could go along and it would say “Arthur Brown” or “Home” or some other act who was touring at the time. One night we turned up and the board displayed the name “Screaming Lord Sutch”. We weren’t sure what to expect, and in fact nothing could have prepared us for what we were about to experience. So we paid our entrance fee, which was probably 30p or so, and got ourselves a spot at the front of the stage. After some tight a band came of stage playing some basic rock’n’roll. Soon a few guys carried a coffin on stage and set it down right in front of us. We could hear a voice singing, and soon realised that it was coming from the coffin. The lid suddenly flung open revealing a crazy guy, face covered in make-up, wearing a cape and a top hat. This was my introduction to the mad Sreaming Lord Sutch. Sutch started to prowl the front of the stage. He picked up a large axe, and pretended to try and chop our heads off. Girls down the front were screaming. The music was pretty basic rock’n’roll, but the stage show was awesome. The highlight was a song called “Jack the Ripper” during which Sutch paced around the stage threatening to kill any female students that were close by. He was looking for “Mary”….At one point he pulled Mary’s bloodied head out of his doctor’s bag…to much screaming from the crowd. It was pure music hall, tacky, yet powerful and great fun. One of the best shows I had ever seen at the time.
I saw Screaming Lord Sutch once more, in 1984. This time the gig was billed as a Wild Rock & Roll Night, and was held at the Barbary Coast Club, Sunderland. The Barbary Coast used to be the Boilermakers Club, which played host to local bands in the ’70s; Son of a Bitch (who became Saxon) played there a lot, along with strippers before the match on a Saturday. by 1984 it had become a nightclub, and had a reputation for fights, and earned the nickname “The Barbaric”. There was no trouble that night; the place was full of teds, and we had a long wait before our hero Sutch came on stage. The show was very similar to the gig I had attended 10 years earlier. Good fun, perhaps not as powerful the second time.
From Wikipedia: “David Edward Sutch (10 November 1940 – 16 June 1999) also known as 3rd Earl of Harrow, or simply Screaming Lord Sutch, was an English musician. He was the founder of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party and served as its leader from 1983 to 1999, during which time he stood in numerous parliamentary elections. He holds the record for losing all 40 elections in which he stood. As a singer he variously worked with Keith Moon, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Charlie Watts and Nicky Hopkins.
RIP the original monster raving loony Screaming Lord Sutch. We will never see his like again.
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
There’s a man who walks the streets of London late at night
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
With a little black bag that’s oh-so tight
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
He’s got a big black cloak hangin’ down his back
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
Well, that’s a one big cat I just a hate to fight
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
When he walks down the streets
To every girl he meets, he says, is your name Mary Blood?
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
The Ripper, Jack The Ripper
(Jack the Ripper, Screaming Lord Sutch)
PS I looked up Black Cat who are mentioned on the ticket for the 1984 gig. There were a rockabilly band, and often backed Sutch at the time.
23 Apr
Paul Rodgers Newcastle City Hall 12th October 2006
Paul Rodgers Newcastle City Hall 12th October 2006
I have already written about Paul Rodgers as a solo artist, as a member of Free, as a member of Bad Company and as a member of Queen. He remains, without a doubt, one of our finest blues and soul voices. He has stayed true to the blues and his roots; and he looks as fit, and sings as well, today as he did in the early ’70s when I first saw him perform live with Free. Rather than write about Paul again, I have reproduced the words of a letter which Rodgers had written to Paul Kossoff, a copy of which is included as a handwritten note in the 2006 tour programme. I found it today when I opened the programme.
“Dear Koss. When we were kicking around London together back in ’68 talking about the group we were going to form, who would have thought it would turn out this way. DVDs, digital even videos were a thing of the future. We loved the blues. Driving round town in your mini listening to B B King’s “Live at the Regal”, Albert King’s “Born Under a Bad Sign”, Hendrix and Cream. I remember us laughing when they turned us away from restaurants because our hair was too long.
The first time we jammed together when you showed up with drummer Andy Borenius at my gig with Brown Sugar; you came right up to the stage and said ” I want to get up and jam” and I said “Do you have a guitar?” and you said “Yes I have a Les Paul out in the car”. And I said “Woa this is Finsbury Park man, you need to bring it straight in here or it’ll be gone”. We played B B King’s “Four in the Morning”, “Every Day I have the Blues” and “Stormy Monday Blues”. People came up after and said “You know, time stood still”.
For me in many ways time has stood still since because we made such timeless music.
Thanks for the heart wrenching solo in “Come Together in the Morning”. Thanks for the laughs. Thanks for doing all the driving – you were an excellent driver. Thanks for being a great friend and apologies if we somehow let you down.
See you again one day. Always your friend. Paul”
This was yet another great concert by Paul Rodgers. The set drew from his entire career, and included songs from Free, The Firm, and Bad Company along with a few blues standards. Support came from Paul’s son, Steve Rodgers.
Typical setlist from the 2006 tour: I’ll Be Creepin’; The Stealer; Ride on a Pony; Radioactive; Be My Friend; Warboys (A Prayer For Peace); Feel Like Makin’ Love; Bad Company; I Just Want To See You Smile; Louisiana Blues; Fire and Water; Wishing Well; All Right Now. Encore: I’m a Mover; The Hunter; Can’t Get Enough. Encore 2: Seagull
22 Apr
Ramones Newcastle City Hall 28th September 1978 and 29th January 1980
Ramones Newcastle City Hall 28th September 1978 and 29th January 1980
I have already written about the first time I saw the Ramones, which was at Newcastle City Hall in 1977. For completeness, and as I come towards the end of acts whose names begin with the letter “R”, I am including an entry on a couple of other times that I saw the band. The Ramones returned to the City Hall in 1978 and 1980. By 1978 Tommy Ramone had left the band, his drum stool being filled by Marky Ramone. Their music had also developed a little further. Although most of their songs remained the very fast short crash bam bop slabs of pure rock ‘n’ roll, they were starting to venture further into pure pop, and their albums also includes, shock horror, some slower songs and even some, dare I say it?, ballads. However, their live shows remained largely unchanged. A night with the Ramones was guaranteed to be a night of fun with Da Brudders playing a set of lots of short hectic songs all in quick succession, and Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee up front singing and playing like there was no tomorrow. 
Both of these concerts were great fun. Support for the 1978 tour was the excellent vocalist Snips, who had previously fronted Sharks with Andy Fraser. The 1980 show was opened by The Boys, who were one of the first and legendary punk bands; a three piece featuring Casino Steel, Matt Dangerfield and Honest John Plain.
Setlist from the 1980 show: Blitzkrieg Bop; Teenage Lobotomy; Rockaway Beach; I Don’t Want You; Go Mental; Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment; Rock ‘N’ Roll High School; I Wanna Be Sedated; Do You Remember Rock ‘N’ Roll Radio?; She’s the One; I’m Against It; Sheena Is a Punk Rocker; This Ain’t Havana; Commando Baby, I Love You; I’m Affected; Surfin’ Bird; Cretin Hop; All the Way; Judy Is a Punk; California Sun; I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With You; Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World; Pinhead; Do You Wanna Dance?; Suzy Is a Headbanger; Let’s Dance; Chinese Rock; Beat on the Brat
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