Van Halen Newcastle City Hall 17th June 1980
Van Halen in 1980 was all about crazy, OTT, wild rock excess, and the classiest, loudest rock’n’roll on the planet. We just knew when we arrived at the City Hall and saw loads of mega size trucks parked in a line outside, that this was gonna be some show. That feeling continued when we entered the venue and saw that the stage had been built outward so that it covered the first few rows of the stalls.
Van Halen’s 1980 contract rider says it all. The venue was required to provide: potato chips with assorted dips; nuts; pretzels; M & M’s (WARNING: ABSOLUTELY NO BROWN ONES 🙂 ); 12 peanut butter cups; 12 assorted yogurt (on ice); 48 large, bath-size cloth towels; 100 cups for cold drinks (16 oz., waxed paper); 50 styrofoam cups (minimum 10 oz.) for hot drinks; forks, knives and spoons (metal, not plastic); serving utensils, corkscrew, bottle and can openers; salt and pepper (in shakers); tablecloths; napkins (paper); 2 large bars Ivory soap; large tube KY Jelly! Wow!
Van Halen arrived on stage a little the worse for wear; there had obviously been some back stage drinking activities. Although there performance may not have been as tight as in previous visits to the City Hall, what they lacked in slickness they certainly made up for in craziness.
Setlist: Romeo Delight; Bottoms Up!; Runnin’ With the Devil; Tora! Tora!; Loss of Control; Take Your Whiskey Home; Dance the Night Away; Women In Love; Jamie’s Cryin’; Bright Lights, Big City; Everybody Wants Some!!; And the Cradle Will Rock…; Light Up the Sky; Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love. Encore: Ice Cream Man; You Really Got Me
I saw Van Halen on one further occasion, when they appeared second on the bill to AC/DC at the 1984 Monsters of Rock festival at Donington. The word on street (or, rather, in the field) was that Halen would blow AC/DC off the stage, and although, that didn’t quite happen as AC/DC delivered a stella performance (how could they not, as headline act, with a big show, and the darkness of night on their side?) Van Halen were undoubtedly great that day. “Jump” and the album “1984” had just been released and they were on a roll. Dave Lee Roth had some great rap with the crowd, famously saying in reaction at some cans being thrown about: “Don’t be throwing no shit up on stage, but that’s alright I know who threw that bottle and after the show pal I’m gonna f**k your girl friend man”. They played tracks from their new “1984” album, did a great cover of Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman” and closed, as usual, with their cover of the Kinks “You Really Got Me”. And then a big bell came down from the roof of the stage, signally the arrival of AC/DC (but that’s another story).
Donington Setlist 1984: Unchained; Hot for Teacher; On Fire; Runnin’ With the Devil; Little Guitars; House of Pain; I’ll Wait; Everybody Wants Some!!; Oh, Pretty Woman; 1984; Jump; Panama; You Really Got Me
There really was no-one else like Van Halen in the late 70s and early 80s. Pure rock’n’roll class.
Posts Tagged ‘gigs’
21 Dec
Van Halen Newcastle City Hall 26th June 1979
Van Halen Newcastle City Hall 26th June 1979
Van Halen were just about the hottest new rock’n’roll act on the planet. I’d seen them once before when they supported Sabbath on their 1978 UK tour and they blew Sabbath off the stage. This time they were back to play two nights at the City Hall. I went along on the first night (note the typo in their name on the ticket 🙂 ). Van Halen had the perfect recipe for hard rock. In David Lee Roth they had the ultimate flamboyant rock god singer, mane of blonde hair, shirt open to his waist, tight skinny jeans and energy, craziness, and jumping around like you have never seen. Oh and the guy could sing too. Eddie Van Halen was the slickest cool showman guitar player, with a the fastest finger tapping technique you’d ever seen. These two guys were 110% showmen with massive egos, both sparring for the audience’s attention; you could just see why conflict between them would surface in later years. Eddie’s brother Alex Van Halen was hidden behind a massive drum kit pounding away, and bass player Michael Anthony was far from the silent type, providing back vocals and dancing while keeping solid rhythm. 
This tour was around the time of the release of their second album and their set contained classic Halen tracks: “Runnin’ with the Devil”, Eddie’s guitar solo “Eruption” and the band’s first US hit single, “Dance the Night Away.” They also did great covers of the Kink’s “You Really Got Me” and “You’re No Good”. These guys were LOUD, fast, crazy, straight in your face, triumphant and a whole lot of fun. We came out of the City Hall with our ears ringing and smiles right across our faces.
Setlist: Light Up the Sky; Somebody Get Me a Doctor; Runnin’ With the Devil; Dance the Night Away; Beautiful Girls; On Fire; You’re No Good; Jamie’s Cryin’; Feel Your Love Tonight; Outta Love Again; Ice Cream Man; Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love; Eddie Guitar Solo (Eruption and Spanish Fly); You Really Got Me; Bottoms Up!; Atomic Punk
20 Dec
Velvet Revolver Newcastle Arena 15th January 2005
Velvet Revolver Newcastle Arena 15th January 2005
Support from The Datsuns
Velvet Revolver were formed in 2002 by ex Guns N’ Roses bandmates Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass), and Matt Sorum (drums), Dave Kushner (from Wasted Youth on second guitar) and ex Stone Temple Pilot Scott Weiland (vocals).
They recorded a soundtrack single for the Hulk called “Set Me Free” in 2003 and released their second single “Slither” in 2004, along with their debut album “Contraband”. They toured the UK for the first time in 2005, calling at Newcastle Arena with support from the Datsuns. Their music was a mix of STP and G N’ R which brought a “sense of danger and beauty to modern rock.” A respectable sized rock crowd gathered in the Arena for the gig, which was an enjoyable experience and a chance to see Slash up relatively close.
Setlist: Sucker Train Blues; Do It for the Kids; Headspace; Superhuman; Illegal I Song; Crackerman (Stone Temple Pilots); Dirty Little Thing; Fall to Pieces; Big Machine; It’s So Easy (Guns N’ Roses); Sex Type Thing (Stone Temple Pilots); Set Me Free; Used to Love Her (Guns N’ Roses); You Got No Right; Mr. Brownstone (Guns N’ Roses); Slither
19 Dec
Van Der Graaf Generator live 1971 to 1977
Van Der Graaf Generator live 1971 to 1977
I always found Van Der Graaf Generator to be a tricky and complex band. They come from the dark and deep side of prog which they inhabit with King Crimson. I totally loved some of their songs, but found others too dark, strange, jerky and lengthy for my liking. My favourites were, and remain, “Killer”, “Refugees” and “Darkness”. “Killer” is an epic prog classic, which was played again and again at my local Locarno ballroom in the early ’70s. Its narrative tells the story of a lonely killer whale: “So you live in the bottom of the sea, and you kill all that come near you ….but you are very lonely, because all the other fish, fear you …..”. I would group “Refugees” and “Darkness”‘ together; both are beautiful, slow ballads. “Refugees” tells a poignant story of hope, and of Mike and Susie who are “refugees, walking away from the life that we’ve known and loved”; they “walked alone, sometimes hand in hand……smiling very peacefully” and ends “Now we are alone….” “Darkness”, as its title suggests is a moody, fascinating piece: “Day dawns dark, it now numbers infinity. Life crawls from the past, watching in wonder. I trace its patterns in me. Tomorrow’s tomorrow is birth again.” Deep, heavy stuff. VDGG live were equally dark, complex and intense. I found their performances fascinating, uplifting, yet also frustrating and troubling; sometimes even slightly scary. The focus was always the intense and passionate performance of Peter Hammill, swirling organ, and lengthy (sometimes too lengthy in my view) sax solos. The classic line-up, which I saw twice in the period between 1971 and 1972 was Peter Hammill (vocals, piano), Hugh Banton (organ), Guy Evans (drums) and David Jackson (sax, flute). The first time I saw VDGG was at a concert at Newcastle City Hall, where they were supported by Lindisfarne and Genesis (a great triple bill 🙂 ). It was a Charisma package tour, and the tickets were all of 30p, but we had vouchers from Northern Arts which entitled us to half price entry. That was a great evening, and a bargain at 15p! I blogged of that concert some time ago. I next saw them at Sunderland Locarno on 3rd March 1972. Another great gig. The band then split for a period, reforming a couple of years later. I remember going to one of the shows on their “comeback” tour at Newcastle Polytechnic on 24th October 1975. I saw them again the following year at the Reading Festival on 28th August 1976, where they played a short festival set of Masks, Childlike Faith in Childhood’s End, Still Life, The Sleepwalkers and closed with Killer. By 1977 the line-up had changed. David Jackson and Hugh Banton had left and Nic Potter had joined on bass, along with Graham Smith, formerly of the excellent String Driven Thing on violin (check out String Driven Thing’s great song “Its a Game” which was covered by none other than the Bay City Rollers). I saw that line-up at a gig at Redcar Coatham Bowl on 30th October 1977. VDGG reformed a few years ago, and I have blogged on a performance I attended in Manchester a couple of years ago.
Van Der Graaf Generator are, without question, one of the most important and influential bands to come out of the prog rock genre.
18 Dec
Venom Newcastle City Hall 3rd October 1985
Venom Newcastle City Hall 3rd October 1985
Venom are, according to their official site: “the original inventers and founders of Black Metal, the creators of Thrash, Speed, Death and Power Metal, the deadliest force ever to hit the music scene, the original sinners playing the Devil’s music at its highest intensity, the ultimate Rock n’ Roll band in the universe, Venom, hell f**ing yeah!!!!!!!.” Venom, as you might have gathered play LOUD, fast, evil, rock. They have songs called “Die Hard”, “The Seven Gates of Hell”, “Don’t Burn the Witch”, “Welcome to Hell” and “Bloodlust”. Wow! I think you may get the idea.
Venom hail from the 70’s and the North East of England, namely Newcastle, and were formed by Conrad Lant (aka: Cronos). Cronos wanted to create the ultimate metal band that was “heavier and more over the top than anything anyone had ever seen or heard before, more Satanic than Black Sabbath, louder than Motörhead, with a pyrotechnic show to rival Kiss, and with even more leather and studs than Judas Priest”. Great concept. Cronos completed his line-up and his plans for metal world domination with Jeffrey “Mantas” Dunn on guitar, and Tony “Abaddon” Bray on drums, and Venom released their debut album in 1982. Venom made their debut at the Hammersmith Odeon in London in 1984. They always said that their stage show was so massive and that they’d never play a UK date until they could headline at a venue that could house “every last pyro and effect”. “We did it to shove two fingers up at the music industry” recalls Cronos. “we were told… there was a certain way of doing things in this industry. You had to get in a van and do all the s**t hole clubs… I said ‘Bollocks!!!, then booked the Hammersmith Odeon in London and sold it out.”
I saw them with my mate Dave at the City Hall in 1985. According to the ticket support came from Exodus and Chariot, who I have no recollection of. The gig was not that well attended, with an estimated 400 people in the 2,400 capacity hall. From the programme: “Good evening hellspawn, to the most unholy unacceptable and unspeakable blitz of metal you will ever see in your comparatively paltry lives. You are about to experience the grossest amount of sonic assault, volatile visuals and plain power Uber….you are about to experience Venom, the most magnificently powerful metal monster in the world….Ladies and Gentlemen, from the depths of Hell — Venom.”
Venom live were LOUD with scary screaming vocals over a fast thrash metal noise, and flames, explosions and other crazy pyrotechnics. Think a twisted version of Motorhead + Kiss + Sabbath + Slipknot.
An experience like no other. Truly epic.
Setlist: Too Loud (For the Crowd); Black Metal; Die Hard; Nightmare; Countess Bathory; The Seven Gates of Hell; Teacher’s Pet / Poison / Teacher’s Pet; Buried Alive; Don’t Burn the Witch; In Nomine Satanas; Welcome to Hell; Warhead; Schizo; Satanachist.
Encore: Leave Me in Hell; Bloodlust; Witching Hour
17 Dec
The Vapors Newcastle University 14th June 1980
The Vapors Newcastle University 14th June 1980
The Vapors were a one hit wonder band best remembered for their single “Turning Japanese”, which mixed pop hooks, with oriental riffs, and silly lyrics. The band were managed by Paul Weller’s dad, who also managed the Jam. I saw them twice, once at this headlining gig at Newcastle University Students Union, and on one other occasion when they supported the Jam at Newcastle City Hall as part of one of the Jam’s national tours. I remember the Vapors as a fun pop / new wave act, but can’t pretend to remember anything other than “Turning Japanese”. There was a lot of talk at the time about the meaning of the song. The band explained it thus; songwriter and front man David Fenton: “Turning Japanese is all the clichés about angst and youth and turning into something you didn’t expect to”; and guitarist Rob Kemp: “It’s a love song about somebody who had lost their girlfriend and was going slowly crazy, turning Japanese is just all the cliches of our angst… turning into something you never expected to.” The Vapors existed between 1979 and 1982 and released two albums, and eight singles. “Turning Japanese” reached No 3 in the UK singles charts.
16 Dec
The Undertones live in 1979 & 1980
The Undertones live in 1979 & 1980
I first saw the Undertones at a gig in Middlesbrough Rock Garden on 4th March 1979. The place was completely jam packed and the band were simply incredible. There was a garage pop sensibility about this band, with Feargal’s wonderful warbling vocals, great tunes with instantly catchy hooks, cutting buzz guitar, and honest quirky songs about teenage angst and day to day life. The Undertones were a flash of welcome relief from the heavier political sentiments of many of the punk acts of the time. Their performances were pure raw energy, and they looked like (and were) young guys who had just stepped out of their front room rehearsals. The Rock Garden gig came soon after the release of the momentous “Teenage Kicks” single and before the release of their equally important first album. The original line-up of the band was Feargal Sharkey (vocals), John O’Neill (rhythm guitar), Damian O’Neill (lead guitar), Michael Bradley (bass) and Billy Doherty (drums).
A few months later and the Undertones had been in the UK Top 20 with “Jimmy Jimmy” and were headlining theatres and civic halls up and down the country. I saw them at Newcastle City Hall on 8th October with support from Tenpole Tudor (“Swords of 1,000 Men”).
They were back in the charts in 1980 with “My Perfect Cousin” and the wonderful “Wednesday Week” which was my favourite song of theirs. The Undertones returned to Newcastle City Hall on 8th June 1980 for another glorious performance. Support this time came from the Moondogs, who were a fellow Northern Irish band.
15 Dec
UB40 live 1980 to 1982
UB40 live 1980 to 1982
UB40 emerged out of the renewed interest in reggae during the punk and new wave movement of the late 70s and early 80s. UB40 were formed by Robin Campbell, his younger brother Ali, Earl Falconer, Brian Travers, James Brown, and Norman Hassan, who were all friends in Birmingham. They recruited Michael Virtue and Astro and aligned themselves to left-wing political ideals, naming themselves after an unemployment benefit form. I first saw them live during the summer of 1980 around the time of their debut single “King / Food For Thought” which reached the UK Top 5. I saw UB40 twice in the same week at Sunderland Mayfair on 23rd July 1980, and then supporting the Police at Milton Keynes Bowl on 26th July 1980.
UB40’s music was very different to anything else at the time. Political lyrics, sung over reggae rhythms with some lengthy instrumental passages, with horn solos and some rap and scat singing. Visually they were also very different, with so many musicians on stage. I remember going to the Sunderland gig having only heard “Food for Thought” and being pleasantly surprised by their performance.
UB40’s first album “Signing Off” was released in September 1980. The album cover shows a yellow British UB40 unemployment benefit card from which the band took their name, stamped with the words SIGNING OFF, signally that the band were leaving the world of unemployment and had arrived on the music scene. “Signing Off” went to No. 2 in the UK and stayed on the album chart for 72 weeks. I saw UB40 twice more, at Newcastle City Hall on 9th June 1981 & 19th January 1982. Both of these were great, fun gigs.
UB40 setlist from 1980: Tyler; My Way of Thinking; Burden of Shame; Strange Fruit; Adella; One In Ten; I Think It’s Going to Rain Today; Summertime; King; 25%.
Encore: Food For Thought; Little by Little
“Ivory Madonna dying in the dust, Waiting for the manna coming from the west.
Barren is her bosom, empty as her eyes, Death a certain harvest scattered from the skies.” (Food for Thought, UB40, 1980)
14 Dec
Uriah Heep Carlisle Sands Centre 30th October 2004
Uriah Heep Carlisle Sands Centre 30th October 2004
Support from Doogie White’s White Noise
Thanks for sticking with my during my week of ramblings on Uriah Heep. This will be my last post on that mighty, great band (at least until I see them again).
It was 2004 and I was suffering Heep withdrawal. I had foolishly lost touch with the band and it had been 19 years since I last saw them perform at a gig at Newcastle Mayfair. I read that they were touring the UK, and saw the nearest concert to me was at Carlisle Sands Centre, so I decided to go along. Carlisle is a 60 or so mile drive, and the Sands Centre is a leisure centre cum concert venue just outside the city centre. I arrived in time to catch support act Doogie White and White Noise. The ticket lists Manfred Mann’s Eartband as support, but this wasn’t the case. Doogie White was the singer in a later line-up of Blackmore’s Rainbow, and his set contained quite a few Rainbow favourites.
The 2004 line-up of Uriah Heep was Mick Box (guitar), Lee Kerslake (drums), Trevor Bolder (bass), Phil Lanzon (keyboards) and Bernie Shaw (vocals). Shaw and Lanzon both joined the band in 1986, and Shaw is now their longest serving vocalist. It was really great to see Uriah Heep again. I wasn’t sure how many old songs they would play, and whether I would know many, but I need not have worried. They started with Easy Livin’, and also played Stealin’, Gypsy, The Wizard and July Morning. The encores were Bird of Prey and Lady in Black. Shaw is an excellent front man with a great voice, and does justice to those classic Heep songs. It all came back to me, and I was once again a big fan. I’ve seen Uriah Heep on four further occasions since then, in Stockton, Workington, Newcastle and Holmfirth, and have already blogged about those shows. During that period Trevor Bolder has sadly passed away, and Lee Kerslake has retired from the band. Mick Box continues to lead the band. Long may they continue to rock.
Setlist: Easy Livin’; Shadows of Grief; Pilgrim; The Other Side of Midnight; Stealin’; Wise Man; The Wizard; Devil’s Daughter; Sunrise; Gypsy; July Morning; Look at Yourself
Encore: Bird of Prey; Lady in Black
12 Dec
Uriah Heep Newcastle Mayfair 1982 & 1985
Uriah Heep Newcastle Mayfair 1982 & 1985
So….the mighty Uriah Heep were reduced to one member, guitar wizard extraordinaire Mick Box, who “locked myself in my flat for two days and drank myself senseless in complete self-pity.” Like any true wizard Box was not to be defeated and he soon began to forge a mystic plan for the future of Heep. He contacted his old mate and former Heepster drummer Lee Kerslake who was now with Ozzy Osbourne in Blizzard of Oz. Kerslake rejoined Uriah Heep,bringing bass player Bob Daisley with him. They were joined by ex Heavy Metal Kids keyboard player John Sinclair and vocalist Peter Goalby from Trapeze. The new Heep line-up shared the song writing duties and produced the 1982 album “Abominog” which was well received by fans and critics. Uriah Heep were well and truly back and went out on tour. Their success was, in part, helped by a resurgence in interest in heavy rock, as result of the emergence of the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal). Their sound was moving more in a hard rock / heavy metal direction and away from the swirling operatic progisms of “Demons and Wizards”. I first saw the new line-up at Newcastle Mayfair in June 1982. Note how the ticket declares the concert as bing by “Uriah Heep with Mick Box”, so that punters knew what to expect. Support came from NWOBHM band Rage. I went along not sure what to expect from Uriah Heep, and half prepared to be disappointed, but I was seriously impressed by the new line-up. All credit to Mick Box, who could have given up at that point, but rebuilt the band which he continues to lead to this day.
I saw Uriah Heep again a couple of months later in August 1982 when they appeared low down the bill at Donington Monsters of Rock festival. The line-up was, in order of appearance, Anvil, Uriah Heep, Hawkind, Saxon, Gillan and Status Quo.
My next Heep experience was when they returned to the Mayfair in 1985. By this point Bob Daisley had left and Trevor Bolder had returned to the fold. Note how the ticket cleverly uses the font from “Uriah Heep Live”. Sadly that concert came just over a week after the passing of the great David Byron.
1985 Set List: Sell Your Soul; Stealin’; The Other Side Of Midnight; Too Scared To Run; Rockarama; Angel; The Wizard (dedicated to David Byron); July Morning; Bad Blood; Party Time; Gypsy; Easy Livin; That’s The Way That It Is; Look At Yourself
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