“My name is Luka, I live on the second floor, I live upstairs from you, Yes, I think you’ve seen me before If you hear something late at night, Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight, Just don’t ask me what it was…” (Vega, 1987) A great song which rings round and around in my head before, during and after this great concert.
Suzanne Vega kept passing me by, or rather, I foolishly kept passing her by. Each time she played locally, usually at the Sage, I thought of going along, and then some reason made excuses to myself to pass. She was one of several artists over the years who, for no particular reason, I liked and yet I never took the time to go and see them in concert. Well, I have come to the decision that in future I will try and catch up on as many of those artists as I am able.
The song “Luka” rings round in my head as the concert grows nearer. I listen to her music on my friendly intelligent assistant, Alexa, and find that I know quite a few of her songs, which surprises me a little. Suzanne Vega emerged from the folk scene of Greenwich Village, New York, in the early 1980s; with her pure voice, a clutch of songs and an acoustic guitar. Her songs drew from storytelling each one weaving its own picture and enticing the listener to think about the content. She released her self-titled, highly acclaimed debut album in 1985. From the Sage website: “Known for performances that convey deep emotion, Vega’s distinctive, “clear, unwavering voice” (Rolling Stone) has been described as “a cool, dry sandpaper-brushed near-whisper” by The Washington Post, with NPR Music noting that she “has been making vital, inventive music” throughout the course of her decades-long career.…….[she]………“observes the world with a clinically poetic eye” (The New York Times), Vega’s songs have tended to focus on city life, ordinary people and real-world subjects. Notably succinct and understated, her work is immediately recognizable—as utterly distinct and thoughtful as it was when her voice was first heard on the radio over 30 years ago.”
Like her songs, the stage set is minimal and she’s accompanied by a single, excellent, electric guitarist. She starts, well, at the start (where else to start?) with “Marlene on the Wall” and moves through a mixture of old and new tunes each one telling its own story. She is not afraid of bearing her soul, telling us of a teenage love affair at summer camp, initiated through a mutual admiration of Leonard Cohen and his music. She told the guy not to contact her again, and wrote a song to mark the affair. But he reappeared via a note and a bunch of flowers at a concert in Liverpool one night. This sparked another song and a lifelong friendship. They meet for lunch regularly. Her set, like her songs, is full of similarly quite personal stories. She alternates between her acoustic guitar, a lovely dapper top hat and a quirky little finger clicking dance. Wonderful. (Note to myself. One day I must summon up the courage to wear the battered old top hat I bought some time ago on eBay. Or maybe not: perhaps I will silly or too eccentric, unlike Vega).
Do we like Blondie or Lou Reed? The Lou Reed vote wins (and includes Vega’s own vote) so we are treated to “Walk on the Wild Side”. I recognise many more songs than I expect. “Tom’s Diner” gets into my head and sticks there. “Da da da da…….” Not a bad way to end an evening.
I’m pleased I made the effort Suzanne. There is a depth and honesty within the simplicity of your stories. Thanks for sharing them with us. “Luka” comes back into my mind. So does the top hat. Maybe I will decide to wear it one day after all. Thanks again for a lovely evening and thoughts of my top hat.
Setlist: Marlene on the Wall; Small Blue Thing; Caramel; Gypsy; In Liverpool; The Queen And The Soldier; When Heroes Go Down / Lipstick Vogue; Rock in This Pocket (Song of David); Last Train from Mariupol; Solitude Standing; Left Of Center; I Never Wear White; Some Journey; Luka; Tom’s Diner;
Encore: Walk on the Wild Side; Tombstone; Rosemary
A bit of an adventure To see a celebration of the life of the composing genius and legend 
Now thinking back, I knew that I had to carefully plan a journey of the tube. Things are very different since I have become disabled. You can only embark upon, and alight from, the tube at certain stations as the gap (“mind the gap please when alighting at the station”) between platform and train is too wide at some stations. Also, not every station has a lift; after all this is a very old, and very efficient, underground travel facility. I knew all this yet I didn’t plan for this journey. Something told me everything would be okay. Big mistake.
We manage to get on the tube at King’s Cross and travel along the Northern line to Archway. However when we alight the train, we find there is no lift! We take advice and it seems the best way forward is to return to King’s Cross and get a bus to Archway. So this is what we do. The bus is very efficient, easy to get on, as every London bus has a ramp which comes out magically from the central entrance to the bus. The bus seems to stop at many different locations along the way but we are soon at Archway. We walk to the hotel which is quite close to Archway tube station. By now it is around 6 PM. After some argy-bargy about the hoist which seems to be missing the arm which the sling attaches to, and which involves finding a friendly guy who gets aforementioned arm from another room.
I have a short rest and my carers have a short freshen up before it is time to get to the O2. We had telephoned the information line which told us that the concert started at 8:30 PM. So plenty of time (or so we thought). Another mistake. The adventure continues. The very friendly lady on reception tells us that the best way to get to the venue is to use a London taxi cab. We soon learn that all London cabs have now been updated since the last time I was in the capital and have a ramp which enables me to get into the side of the vehicle easily, leaving room for three passengers to sit on the rear seat. The taxi takes us through some very familiar street names including the Holloway Road, Stanley Road and some quite “posh areas” of London town.
The concert is like nothing else I have ever experienced. It is a true multimedia extravaganza with a screen showing segments of classic movies such as the Good, the Bad and The Ugly and The Mission, alongside films I have never heard of such as a Fistful of Dynamite. Familiar images of my hero Clint Eastwood pop up onto the screen as the familiar theme tune from the Good, the Bad and the Ugly is delivered by orchestra, electric band, a choir and soloist. The sound is fantastic and the visuals excellent. The choir, band, orchestra and soloists are all first class. This is a sound very different to the rock bands I am used to. But it is loud, clear and very emotive; particularly when it is accompanying clips from such iconic movies.
I remember as a young teenager when the Hugo Montenegro version of the soundtrack theme for the Good, the Bad and the Ugly was number 1 in the UK singles chart for many weeks. I bought the single and played and played it again and again. When I finally got to see the movie I was spellbound by Clint Eastwood and how cool “the man with no name” was. I had to wait until I was a little older to see the film as it was, if I recall correctly, X-rated at the time. Even then I managed to get in to see it when I was quite young and felt so excited at seeing such forbidden treasure! It just shows you how times change. The violence of the film warranted, at the time, an adults only rating. Today it would be seen as quite mild compared to some of the violence in modern movies. The haunting theme, guitar and harmonica were simply tremendous.
Celebration of the work of Ennio Morricone played for one night to a full house. ….Under the baton of Morricone’s son Andrea, a selection of extracts from just a few of the 500+ scores that the Maestro had penned were played by the Flanders Philharmonic Orchestra, the programme having been largely devised and curated by Morricone himself prior to his sad passing in July 2020.”(From 
After a short wait we are back into another taxi and off to the Premier Inn Archway. I am hoisted into bed and decide that I’m hungry. Another big mistake. I wait forever for a pizza delivery which finally comes at 1:30 AM by which time I am falling asleep as my carer tries to feed me cold slices of pizza. I fall asleep. Before I know it is time to get up have a slice of toast and a quick wash and off we go to King’s Cross on the bus. Soon our friendly Grand Central train takes us back up north and the adventure ends. So, a whistlestop tour of London, an excellent, very different, concert and overall an exciting adventure. Happy days.
Now this is a guilty pleasure. After the wonderful guitar work of Jeff Beck and the excitement of seeing Johnny Depp, two days later I am in Whitley Bay Playhouse to see none other than the great Yorkshire man 
During the second set we were treated to more ballads including Sinatra’s “Come Fly with Me”. This time Tony’s suit was even more impressive, glistening, nice and shiny. I would love to wear one like that! We all sang along to “Avenues and Alleyways”, the theme tune from TV show The Protectors. Of course the closing song had to be “Is This the Way to Amarillo?” and we all sang along again. Tony explained that Neil Sedaka had offered him two songs: “Amarillo”and “Solitaire”. Tony’s manager did not like the latter of those two songs and persuaded Tony not to record it. Of course Andy Williams went on to have a worldwide smash with the song. An opportunity missed. Such is life. A great evening with some great songs. Not your classic rock, but lots of fun delivered by a real professional who has entertained crowds around the world for many years and I’m sure will do for many years to come.
Nick Mason, drummer of 
“
song “Arnold Layne”. The band did a great job of recreating the music, ethos and atmosphere of these early classics. Gary Kemp in particular, is to be applauded for his tremendous guitar work and vocals. Indeed, each member of the band is clearly an accomplished musician and together they stunned the crowd with a concert which was authentic to the original Pink Floyd musical textures. The rest of the first set comprised a mixture of songs from early Floyd albums including less well-known tracks such as “Obscured by Clouds” and the wonderful “Remember a Day”. The first half of the show concluded with an uplifting, mesmerising version of “Set the Controls for the Heart of the sun”, complete with drum rhythms and gongs. Another song which I remember Floyd performing at that 1972 concert which now seems eons away in the distant past. The instrumentals were particularly well performed. A short interval followed during which I had time to partake in a pint of Hobgoblin (no Guinness, sadly).
The second half opened by taking us right back to the start with classic guitar-based tunes “Interstellar Overdrive” and “Astronomy Domine”, two of my favourite early Pink Floyd tracks. We were then treated to a few less known, at least by me, songs and the second set ended with Barrett’s “Lucifer Sam” and Meddle’s standout track, Pink Floyd favourite, “Echoes”. A very appropriate closer for an excellent selection of songs.
I treated myself to a signed drum skin and a T-shirt (sadly no programme). Many thanks to David for his expert photography and to Elaine and Chris for placing me safely into my bed at the end of a great evening. Thank you Nick for putting together a band worthy of the songs, their leader and the band name. Classic. Happy days.
I am now at the point of adding entries to my blog, when I suddenly remember a concert from many years ago that I have yet to write about. This comes about for two reasons. Firstly, I created the blog by working systematically through my tickets and programmes. Secondly, however, this means that I missed concerts along the way if I did not have a ticket or a programme or a strong memory of the gig. So every now and then one pops into my mind. This gig, is one such example. Some of these are already listed briefly in a post entitled “Other Memories”. But now is the time to write about those other memories!
And so it was that I, and two friends (who shall remain nameless for reasons which will become obvious); one from Sunderland who had come down to London with me, and another who had recently moved to Acton, went along to savour the delights of the Marquee Club and the pub rock band 
Stadium and the Elton John concert (a story which I have already blogged on).
(later McVie of Fleetwood Mac fame), the man behind Chicken Shack was, is, and always has been the great Stan Webb. Stan is, without question, one of the greatest and most underrated guitarists of all time. For me, he stands up there with the UK greats including Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Alvin Lee and Peter Green. His use of tone, dynamics and his dexterity on the fretboard is second to none. Stan understands, and feels, the blues just as much as any of the great old black bluesman. His reinterpretations of classics such as “Thrill Is Gone” and “If I Were a Carpenter” are excellent; he starts off quietly; with long, meandering guitars solos which lead into loud, heavy, introductions to the songs accompanied by Stan’s unique vocals.
‘Unter is back in town. The guy who has given me so many wonderful memories over the years. The guy who has rock and roll in his blood. Forgive me while I reminisce a little, but seeing 
Amazing. One of the best times I have seen him. The guy was pushing 80 at the time but still has more energy, passion and drive than many half his age. I bump into Pauline and Rob of Penetration, who are surprised to see me in my wheelchair and I explain my predicament. Another night of memories, to park in the Mott/Ian Hunter collection. Till the next time, Ian. Let’s hope it is soon.
“And O how the sea she roars with laughter
On why he has decided to tour again, Harper said: “Partly because many of the things I wrote about in McGoohan’s Blues in 1968 are still very relevant 50 years later, and partly because my third record was a watershed moment in my recording life, it’s been long in my mind that I should dust it off and bring it on tour again.”
sing “I Hate the White Man” but, hey, you can’t always get what you want. Jackie my carer is now a Roy Harper convert, which is great. Me, I had a lovely evening, spent with an old friend.
a kid, maybe 10 or 11, the public house over the road “The Colliery Inn” would sell off the jukebox copies of recent hit singles when they left the charts, or when the locals lost interest in them. My mates and I would regularly go to the side entrance of the bar, where there was a little hatch and ask the barmaid to look at the records. She would bring out a box of 45 rpm singles, each with their centres pushed out for operation in the jukebox. We would, with delight, look through the pile of records including The Rolling Stones, Small Faces, The Who and others. I can still smell the beer that wafted out of the bar; lovely! There were never many Beatles singles; someone must have held on to them. I remember buying copies of “19th Nervous Breakdown”, “Little Red Rooster”, “Have You Seen Your Mother Baby (Standing in the Shadow)” and “Paint It Black”. I had to buy plastic centres for the records in order to play them on my old record player. I would stack up the records and play them again and again; particularly “Paint It Black”. My lifelong obsession with the Rolling Stones began then.
A few years later, I was a young teenager sitting in awe in Newcastle City Hall in 1971, watching in disbelief at my hero Mick Jagger. I couldn’t believe that I was actually saying the Rolling Stones, in real life, in front of me! From then on, I have seen the Stones many times; joining 200,000 fans at Knebworth Park in 1976, many shows in football stadiums around the country, and more recently, concerts in London’s plush O2 arena and at the Glastonbury Festival.
Before my accident, buying tickets was very different, and much easier. I would go to my computer; a few clicks and I had my tickets! Ticket buying is very different now I need a wheelchair space. I need to locate the accessible phone line and phone that number, only to be put into a queue, listening to music until I finally got through to an operator. I am then allocated my spot in the stadium and a free ticket for my carer. Sometimes I could be in the queue for over one hour, hoping to get tickets. This is admittedly much easier than queueing for tickets which I did many times in the 1970s. I once queued 28 hours outside Newcastle City Hall to buy tickets for the Rolling Stones! The logistics of travelling to a major gig have changed since being in a wheelchair. I need to plan ahead carefully. I book an accessible taxi to the train station, accessible seats on the train and two hotel rooms (one disabled room for me, one twin room for my carers). I take two carers with me, for different shifts during the night. Booking the train involves phoning the accessible travel line and then another number to book train tickets. I need to arrive at the station early and look for the friendly guys with a ramp who assist me on to the train.
“Gimme Shelter “and (of course) “Satisfaction”.
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