Sensational Alex Harvey Band on tour 1976
SAHB toured again in May 1976. I have a programme for the tour, which I think must have come from The Who concert that I attended at Charlton at the end of May 1976. SAHB shared the bill, headlined by The Who, with Little Feat, The Outlaws and Roger Chapman’s Streetwalkers. I’ll blog on that event when I come to cover The Who. I also have a vague memory of sneaking into the City Hall to see the encore of a SAHB gig at Newcastle City Hall that year. The band played two nights at the City Hall in early May as part of the tour, with support from Pat Travers. I didn’t buy a ticket (big mistake, in hindsight) as I knew I was going to see them at Charlton at the end of the month. I’d been out in Newcastle, and wandered along to the City Hall with a couple of mates. The gig was coming to an end and the doors were open to let people out. We wandered into the Hall and caught the band playing Delilah and The Faith Healer. The programme for the 1976 tour comes in the form of a comic book, complete with a free banger (see below) just like the ones that came free with our comics in the 60s. The cast was: The Teacher: Alex Harvey; The Actor: Zal Cleminson; The Punk: CHris Glen; The Buffer: Ted McKenna; The Professor: Hugh McKenna; Dr Killjoy: As himself. The story is Vambo v Dr Killjoy with, SAHB as superheroes saving the word through Vambo Rool! The story starts: “England is under the oppressive rule of Dr Killjoy – Sinister head of the Ministry of Boredom! His rule has ground the will from the people.” Vambo coming to the rescue…
Vambo, featured in the song Vambo Marble Eye, was a teenage punk and super hero of the future. When performing the song Alex would spray paint an imitation brick wall with the slogan ‘Vambo Rool.’ Alex and band were one of the best live bands around at the time, and certainly went down well with the Charlton crowd. I saw Alex and the guys once more after this tour, at the (very very muddy) Reading Festival 1977, which was their last live performance. Alex was reportedly not so well by that stage of their career, and it wasn’t their best gig, but still a strong point of the festival. I did see Alex once more in concert in 1980 and I’ll blog on that gig tomorrow. Typical setlist from the 1976 tour: Love Story, School’s Out, Tomahawk Kid, Isobel Goudie, Dance to you Daddy, Amos Moses, Framed, Midnight Moses, Vambo Marble Eye. Encore: Delilah, The Faith Healer.
Posts Tagged ‘gig’
28 Apr
Sensational Alex Harvey Band on tour 1976
27 Apr
Sensational Alex Harvey Band Newcastle City Hall 1975
Sensational Alex Harvey Band Newcastle City Hall 1975
By the time of this gig SAHB had released four albums: Framed (1972); Next (1973); The Impossible Dream (1974) and Tomorrow Belongs to Me (1975). The band were at the top of their game and were selling out concert halls up and down the country. SAHB had graduated from playing the clubs to playing venues like the City Hall, but their show remained as crazy and intimate as ever. Seeing SAHB was very much a show, with Alex as Master of Ceremonies. The 1975 programme explains it well: “He [Alex[ class it simply a 1975 song-and-dance act, yet it inevitably comes off as something of a morality play. The show is often surreal, difficult to follow, but there emerges, beyond Harvey’s unadorned, solid presence (which suggest sailor, lion tamer, master of ceremonies) beyond the more defined roles (paperback detective, leather-jacketed, graffiti-scrawling, framed prisoner) and in paradoxical contrast to the blazing cynicism he projects, a clear and present appeal to sanity, to escape from the repression and yes, to respect for freedom. His warning: ‘Don’t pish in the water supply'”. 
Beneath all the show and bravado, Alex was a bit of a philosopher, and came over as an authentic, moralistic guy, a teacher, a role model, the older brother. He would tell us (in hos own words, also from the programme): “Dear Boys and Girls, As we start on our British tour – be good, don’t smash any windows or throw any rubbish. We look forward to seeing you because we love you and that’s why we don’t want you to get into any trouble, Love Alex xxxx”. So what we experienced in these concerts was part vaudeville, part morality lesson, part theatre, part madness, part proto-punk (and setting the scene for what was to come) and some great rock n roll music. We have never seen the like since and perhaps never will again. Yes it was that unique and ahead of its time. Setlist from 1975 (from Glasgow Apollo site): Faith Healer; Action Strasse; Tomahawk Kid; Give My Compliments To The chef; Delilah; The Tale Of The Giant Stone Eater; Vambo; Midnight Moses; Dance To The Music; Tomorrow Belongs To Me; Gang Bang; Framed
26 Apr
Sensational Alex Harvey Band: reflections of amazing gigs in the early to mid 70s
Sensational Alex Harvey Band gigs in the early to mid 70s
I first saw the Sensational Alex Harvey Band (or SAHB as they became to be known) at a gig at Sunderland Locarno. It must have been in 1972 or 1973, as it was at the time of the Framed album, and the band were unknown at the time. I was totally blown away by them; their name was correct; they were truly sensational. Their stage show was innovative, powerful and totally crazy; Alex was the ultimate frontman, having honed his craft with his soul band in the sweaty clubs of Glasgow and Hamburg. The guy had no fear, and took total command of the audience. And the rest of the band were also pretty sensational: Zal Cleminson playing the mad, evil guitarist in his white-faced pierrot make-up and suit; Chris Glen leering at us, wearing a codpiece on top of his jeams, and Hugh and Ted McKenna on electric piano and drums respectively. Framed is a very strong debut album, and the songs were great live: The Hammer Song; Midnight Moses; the epic tale of the Scottish witch Isobel Goudie; and St. Anthony. These are all great rock songs and the band performed them with a craziness, syncopation, and faultless choreography that no other band could match at the time. Framed was one of the last songs; it seemed like Alex was speaking the words directly to you. He would put a stocking over his head and fill his mouth with a bar towel. It was truly awesome to see them close up in a small ballroom, with a reasonably size, but by no means packed, crowd. There went down so well they were booked again and came back a few weeks later.
I then saw SAHB at Newcastle Mayfair, at Newcastle City Hall, and at several festivals: Reading 1973 (low down on the bill), Reading 1974 (headlining the Friday night), Buxton 1973, Knebworth 1974, supporting Yes at Stoke Football ground in 1975, supporting the Who at Charlton in 1976, and back at Reading in 1977. The Buxton and Stoke gigs stick in my mind for similar reasons. On both occasions Alex took control of a difficult crowd situation. At Buxton the festival was over-run by Hells Angels who were driving their bikes through the crowd, harrassing us all, and fighting amongst each other. When Alex took to the stage he negotiated with the Angels to behave themselves, talking directly to theie leader and telling him to get his guys to behave themselves. At the Yes Stoke gig, a fight broke out down near the front, and Alex jumped straight into the crowd and pulled the guys apart. As I said earlier, this guy had no fear, and was so impressive and captivating. Other memories are of them playing The Faith Healer at Reading and thinking how different it was, with the opening rhythms throbbing across the field, and of those great and off the wall covers. I can think of Del Shannon’s Runaway, the Osmonds’ Crazy Horses, Jethro Tull’s Love Story and Alice Cooper’s Schools Out. These songs all got the crazy SABH treatment. And then of course there was Delilah. There was truly no-one like the Sensational Alex Harvey band on a good night, and indeed every time I saw them in those early days were great nights! I’ll blog a little more on SAHB, and a few specific gigs over the next few days.
25 Apr
The Hull Story Newcastle City Hall 2005
Ten years after the sad passing of Alan Hull, this gig was held at Newcastle City Hall to celebrate Alan’s life. Several special guests took part in the gig and played many of Alan’s songs to capacity crowd. Ray Jackson came out of retirement specially for the show. The concert also featured members of Lindisfarne; Prelude; The Motorettes; Kathryn Tickell and Jimmy Nail. A monologue was provided by Terry Morgan, whilst playwright Tom Pickard gave a reading of a piece of Alan’s poetry. This was a great celebration of the great man’s music and quite an emotional gig. A DVD of the concert was made and is pretty fine too. 
Full cast list: Featuring Phil Armstrong, Michael Bailey, Alan Clark, Simon Cowe, Andrew Craggs, Marty Craggs, Steve Cunninghan, Steve Daggett, Brian Duffy, Tommy Duffy, Mike Elliott, Frankie Gibbon, Charlie Harcourt, Graham Hardy, Brendan Healy, Tim Healy, John Hedley, Robin Howe, Brian Hume, Irene Hume, Ray Jackson, Jack Laidlaw, Jed Laidlaw, Ray Laidlaw, Ian McCallum, Finn McCardle, John Miles Jnr, Billy Mitchell, Scott Mitchell, Terry Morgan, Jimmy Nail, Paul Nichols, Tom Pickard, Greg Pullen, Rachael Rhodes, Chris Ringer, Stephen Robson, Bob Smeaton, Paul Smith, Julian Sutton, Kathryn Tickell and Peter Tickell. Setlist: Track Listing: Do What I Want; The Hully Variations; United States Of Mind; Dingly Dell; You’re The One; Malvinas Melody; All Fall Down; Court In The Act; Scarecrow Song; The Morgan Monologue; Peter Brophy Don’t Care; Make Me Want To Stay; Evergreen; A Reading From The Mocking Horse; Mystery Play; I Hate To See You Cry; Long Way From Home; 100 Miles To Liverpool; Money; This Heart Of Mine; Winter Song; River; Taking Care of Business; Numbers (Travelling Band); Walk In The Sea; Lady Eleanor; January Song; Fog On The Tyne; Clear White Light; Run For Home
24 Apr
Alan Hull Newcastle City Hall 1977: “Jimmy Carter for the Whitehouse; Alan Hull for the City Hall”
Alan Hull Newcastle City Hall 1977
This gig took place while Lindisfarne were taking a break as a band, and had officially split, although a reunion Christmas concert took place in 1976. The gig was promoted by Lindisfarne promoter Barry McKay and was heavily promoted around the town with a set of posters proclaiming: “Jimmy Carter for the Whitehouse; Alan Hull for the City Hall”. The bill comprised Alan with his new band the Radiators, Harcourt’s Heroes featuring Ray Jackson and Charlie Harcourt, and Hutch who worked with David Bowie in the 60s as one of his closest sidemen, and part of his early bands the Buzz, and the Hype. He was also a member of the Spiders from Mars at one point. 
The City Hall was packed and there was a great buzz about this concert. Alan had released two solo albums: Pipe Dream and Squire, and the set was drawn largely from them. Hutch was first up, performing solo with an acoustic guitar playing a mix of folk and country tinged songs. Then Harcourt’s Heroes with Jacka took to the stage. I don’t recall much about their set to be honest. Alan was great. The first half of the set was acoustic before he introduced the band which featured Kenny Craddock-Keyboards; Peter Kirtley-Guitars; John Ashcroft-Keyboards; Colin Gibson-Bass; Ray Laidlaw-Drums; and Terry Popple-Drums. The setlist was: Breakfast; United States Of Mind; Money Game; January Song; Lady Eleanor; One More Bottle Of Wine; A Walk In The Sea; Winter Song; Corporation Rock; Madmen And Loonies; Love Is The Alibi; Love Is The Answer; Band Introduction; I Wish You Well; Make Me Want To Stay; Somewhere Out There; Dancing On The Judgement Day; Anywhere Is Everywhere; Fog On The Tyne. Winter Song is one of my favourite songs of all time; just beautiful. A great gig.
23 Apr
Richie Havens RIP and memories of Newcastle City Hall 1972
Richie Havens Newcastle City Hall 1972
From the programme: “Richie Havens has a way of singing songs that makes people listen to them as if they’ve never heard them before. Taking as his material his own songs and the compositions of today’s greatest popular songwriters: Lennon and McCartney, Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot…. – Richie gets right inside the meanings of them in a way that corresponds exactly to the way he and his audiences feel about the songs, the stories in them and the world around them. Whereas many musicians re-interpret songs by surrounding them with symphony orchestras, swamping them with the thousand strong choirs, Richie’s method is exactly the opposite. 
Using a minimum of sideman, accompanying himself with his rhythmic and forceful guitar technique (for which he uses an unorthodox open E-tuning). Richie relies above all on the strength of his own personality to get the music across. And it works.” The Woodstock film brought world wide fame for a number of artists such as Richie Havens. His passionate performance in that film introduced me to his music, and drew me to see him in concert at the City Hall in 1972. I remember this gig well for his deep and personal treatment of some of his own songs and a selection of classics. The set included versions of Maggie’s Farm; Fire and Rain; War; Here Comes the Sun; Eleanor Rigby and Freedom. Richie was trashing away at his guitar, using his thumb across the frets. He would wander around the stage, and was dripping with sweat by the end of the show. Support came from the excellent Linda Lewis. I have just read that the great man passed away yesterday, aged 72. He will be greatly missed.
22 Apr
Patti Smith Scarborough Spa 21st April 2013
Patti Smith Scarborough Spa 21st April 2013
Laura and I went to sunny (although cold) Scarborough last night to spend an evening in the company of Patti Smith, accompanied by Tony Shanahan. This was an intimate concert in the Spa Theatre; one of three dates that have come about as part of a visit to Yorkshire and the Bronte country, that Patti has been making with her sister (it was her sister’s 65th birthday treat). So there was lots of talk of the Bronte sisters, and some music, poetry and chat. Patti was in good spirits and on great form. This was the first time that Laura has seen her in concert, and she was very impressed. 
Patti Smith seems so natural in concert these days; going to see her is like going to see an old friend who chats to you about what has been going on in her life. So last night she told how she had been to visit Ann Bronte’s grave in Scarborough, how she loves watching UK TV detective shows (Frost, Lewis, Morse, Cracker are all favourites), and how she enjoyed great kippers for breakfast for the first time (in her Scarborough hotel). Many of the songs were dedicated to the Bronte sisters and their brother, and Banga was even dedicated to their dog Keeper (with much barking from Patti and the audience: you had to be their 🙂 ). She also read a poem by Ann Bronte (A Reminiscence), and introduced Because the Night by reading an extract from her recent book “Kids”. All pretty powerful stuff, and an awesome and capitaviting performance by a true artist who is as relevant today as she ever was (and her voice is just as strong. Awesome. Setlist: Dancing Barefoot; April Fool; It’s a Dream; Beneath the Southern Cross; Ghost Dance; Peaceable Kingdom; My Blakean Year; This Is the Girl; Pissing in a River; Because the Night. Encore: Banga; People Have the Power.
A Reminiscence by: Anne Bronte (1820-1849)
ES, thou art gone! and never more
Thy sunny smile shall gladden me;
But I may pass the old church door,
And pace the floor that covers thee,
May stand upon the cold, damp stone,
And think that, frozen, lies below
The lightest heart that I have known,
The kindest I shall ever know.
Yet, though I cannot see thee more,
‘Tis still a comfort to have seen;
And though thy transient life is o’er,
‘Tis sweet to think that thou hast been;
To think a soul so near divine,
Within a form so angel fair,
United to a heart like thine,
Has gladdened once our humble sphere.
21 Apr
Haircut 100 Newcastle University & Newcastle City Hall 1982
Haircut 100 Newcastle University & Newcastle City Hall 1982
Haircut 100 burst onto the UK pop scene in 1981, fronted by Nick Heyward. By the time Marie and I saw them at Newcastle University Students Union they were already pretty successful, having hit the charts with “Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)” and the place was absolutely packed. Their music was straight pop, with a very clean cut image. Their next single “Love Plus One” was a massive hit, followed by two further top ten singles “Fantastic Day” and “Nobody’s Fool”. 
Support at the Newcastle University concert were the Bluebells of “Young at Heart” fame. These concerts were at the time of Haircut 100’s debut album “Pelican West” which was also a big success. Three months after the first gig, Haircut 100 were big enough to headline at Newcastle City Hall, and I went along to see them again; with my friend Norm. Norm told me the other day that I won tickets in a competition, which I can’t recall, but could well be true. 
The City Hall gig was packed with screaming girls; this band was very hot at the time. The music was a mix of pop, latin rhythms, some horns, and a little jazz. Very up, and quite summery, and very different from the punk and new wave that was going on around them. Nick Heyward left the band later in 1982, and the band split shortly after. Mick then went onto a sucessful solo career. There were programmes for each of these two gigs, but the only difference was the colour of the cover, and the dates listed inside! A live album from that period exists which shows the set list of consisting of tracks from the “Pelican West” album: Baked Beans; Boy Meets Girl (Favourite Shirts); Calling Captain Autumn; Milk Film; Show Girl; Lemon Firebrigade; Coming Home; Fantastic Day; Love’s Got Me In Triangles; Love Plus One; I Believe In Sunday; Kingsize (You’re My Little Steam Whistle); Hayley’s Heart. Encore: Boy Meets Girl (Favourite Shirt)
20 Apr
Steve Harley Sunderland Empire 2001
Steve Harley Sunderland Empire 2001
This is my last day of blogging on Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel. The last time I saw Steve Harley was at a concert at Sunderland Empire. It was billed as the “Resistance is Useless” tour, and “Back with the Band” (to make it clear that this was not an unplugged show). The front cover of the programme promised a show that was “Definitely Plugged In”, with “No Support” and thus “Maximum Steve”; and indeed thus it was. Marie came along with me to the gig, having been impressed with Steve when we saw him play unplugged at Billingham a couple of years earlier, and he didn’t let her down. 
This was another great gig, with Steve on fine form, and all the classics played. I haven’t seen Steve Harley in concert since that concert; it does seem like 12 years ago. He has toured quite a lot during that period, so I don’t have any excuse. In fact I did have tickets to see him at the Sage a few years ago, but couldn’t make it for some reason and gave the tickets to a friends. So its definitely about time to put this right and see Steve again. It seems to me that I have a couple of opportunities to do so; a tour is planned for November 2013, and he is also planning a concert, backed by orchestra and choir, at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester in April 2014. The latter gig will feature the first two Cockney Rebel albums in full, repeating a similar gig that Steve performed in Birmingham last year. Now that’s a gig I should definitely attend.
19 Apr
Steve Harley Billingham Forum Theatre 1999
Steve Harley Billingham Forum Theatre 1999
Ten years after I had last seen Steve Harley at Sunderland Empire, I noticed that he was playing an unplugged show at Billingham Forum Theatre. Marie rang up and booked a couple of tickets on the day of the concert, and we went along and picked them up on the night. Steve had recorded a live alum “Stripped to the bare bones” at the Jazz Cafe the year before, and this show was in a similar format, with Steve telling stories about his life and performing great acoustic versions of his songs. He was accompanied by another guitarist, I think it may have been Nick Pynn. We both enjoyed seeing Steve, and listening to him tell us about his life and sing those great songs with just his voice and a couple of guitars. Marie particularly enjoyed the concert, and still talks about it. The track listing from the “Stripped to the bare bones” album is shown below. The show we saw was similar. Tracklisting: My Only Vice (Is the Fantastic Prices I Charge for Being Eaten Alive); Star for a Week (Dino); Best Years of Our Lives, The; Judy Teen; Last Time I Saw You, The; Mr. Soft; (Love) Compared to You; Tumbling Down; Only You; Bed in the Corner; Sling It!; Riding the Waves (For Virginia Woolf); Sebastian; Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me).
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