John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and Peter Green’s Splinter Group Sunderland Empire 2000
When I was getting into music in the 60s I listened to a lot of white blues. Cream, Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and Ten Years After were never off my record player back then. My guitar heroes were Clapton, Alvin Lee, Frank Zappa and Peter Green. I would listen to Greeny and The Supernatural again and again, trying to learn how to play them on my cheap Zenta guitar. There was a feel and a tone about Peter Green’s playing which gave it an atmospheric quality unlike any of the other guitar greats of the day.
This tour presented a chance to see two of my heroes from those days perform on the same stage, in my local theatre. I went along with my friend Will. It was almost 20 years since I’d seen John Mayall in concert. We’d seen Peter Green more recently at a concert at Redcar Coatham Bowl, which took place a few years earlier. Peter had been coaxed out of seclusion by long time collaborator and fellow lead guitarist Nigel Watson. Peter and the Splinter group were on stage first and played a set which drew from blues classics and from his old Fleetwood Mac days. The line-up was Peter Green (guitar and vocals), Nigel Watson (guitar and vocals), Pete Stroud (bass), Roger Cotton (piano and keyboards) and Larry Tolfree (drums). I think they played Need your Love so Bad, Oh Well, Albatross, Green Manalishi and Black Magic Woman. It was just great to see Peter again, and glimpses of the old Peter Green came through from time to time, where his guitar playing was fine and as fluid and beautiful as ever. Nigel Watson was by his side, watching over him and at times stepping in to sing or take the lead guitar parts.
After the interval John Mayall and his Bluesbreakers took to the stage. The line-up was Mayall (guitar, mouth organ and vocals), Buddy Whittington (guitar), Greg Rzab (bass), and Joe Yuele (drums). This was the first time I’d seen Buddy Whittington on guitar; he really is outstanding. Mayall has described Buddy as “possibly the greatest Bluesbreaker of them all”. I found a setlist from the Albert Hall date of the tour: Hot Ticket, White Line Fever, My Country Girl, Always A Brand New Road, Maydelle, So Many Roads, Hideaway, Another Man Done Gone, Ain’t No Surrender, Nacksboro Highway, Dance With Me Honey, A Hard Road, Room To Move. Encores: Dead City, Checking’ Out My Baby
Peter Green was coaxed on stage to join John Mayall for the encore, reliving a music partnership that started in the 60s. From the programme: “Wow! John Mayall and Peter Green – can it be real- is it a dream? No! It is real, you are going to see two legends of the blues playing on the same bill – the Godfather of British Blues and the prodigal son – pulling E, G and A out of the air to weave their magic at your heartstrings…..Ladies and gentlemen, sit back and enjoy John Mayall and Peter Green in an evening of the best British blues you’ve heard fro a long time – if not ever!”
Posts Tagged ‘gigs’
19 Oct
John Mayall and Peter Green Sunderland Empire 2000
18 Oct
John Mayall Newcastle City Hall 1971 and 1972
John Mayall Newcastle City Hall 1971 and 1972
I first saw John Mayall in 1971 and 1972 at Newcastle City Hall. I had the “Hard Road” and “Bluesbreakers” lps, and played them a lot, and I was also aware of the pedigree of Mayall’s bands over the years. The line-up for the 1971 tour was: John Mayall on vocals, harmonica, keyboards; the young Jimmy McCulloch on guitar, Larry Taylor on bass, and Keef Hartley on drums. Jimmy McCulloch was just 18 at the time, and had already had major chart success as a member of Thunderclap Newman. Larry Taylor joined Mayall from Canned Heat, and Keef Hartley was leading his own band at the time. McCulloch was just an amazing guitarist, and went on to join Stone the Crows and then Paul McCartney and Wings. Support for the 1972 tour came from American soft rock band Eggs Over Easy, who were quite good. 
I’m afraid I don’t recall which tracks Mayall and the band played that night, but it was, of course, some great blues. There is a live recording of the band from October 1971 on Youtube. Mayall was back at the City Hall the following year. I’m less clear who was in his band for that concert, but think it was probably like this: Keef Hartley on drums again, John Mayall (of course), Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Freddy Robinson on guitar, Clifford Solomon on sax. This was a much more jazz oriented band than previous years. Support for the 1972 tour was Matching Mole featuring the great Robert Wyatt. I saw Matching Mole a couple of times; the other was at the Reading festival. In 1973, Wyatt fell from a third floor window during a party, leaving him paralysed from the waist downwards. 
From that day onwards he has concentrated his efforts into solo recordings. I remember Matching Mole as being quite avant garde and, like the headliners, they were also quite jazz-rock influenced. One of my favourite Mayall songs at the time was “Room to Move” which was played a lot in clubs at the time. The live version would come towards the end of the set and always included a lengthy and impressive mouth harp solo by Mayall. At the time I saw him, John Mayall had already been playing for many years, and of course he continues to play to this day. The great man hits 80 (!) this year, and will be touring the UK next year to celebrate. It was many years until I saw John Mayall again after these early 70s gigs. He moved to the USA in the 70s and his visits to the UK become less and less frequent. I have, however, seen him a few times in recent years, on blues package tours with Chicken Shack and Peter Green and I’ll write about those concerts over the next few days.
17 Oct
Mahogany Rush and Lone Star Newcastle City Hall 1977
Mahogany Rush and Lone Star Newcastle City Hall 1977
This was a pretty hot double bill by any standards. Lone Star were an up and coming UK band who had only recently headlined the City Hall themselves and Mahogany Rush, featuring Frank Marino, were the new US power trio cum Hendrix-style guitar sensation. Legend is that when Marino was a teen he was “visited by an apparition of Jimi Hendrix after a bad LSD trip, which led to the spirit of Hendrix entering Marino’s body and bestowing his ability to play the guitar.” Marino denies this today, but its a pretty good story. There’s no denying that Frank Marino plays guitar like Hendrix, although in interviews at the time he would always try and downplay this. The programme talks about his drug fueled dream and how he picked up guitar after coming out of hospital, suffering from the effects of a drug overdose, aged only 14!: “the guitar became a kind of therapy, some way to express and perhaps exorcise his recurring dreams, which sometimes consisted of a rock music soundtrack accompanying a visual image of each instrument personified in an everyday object. 
‘Picture the vocals’ says Frank ‘coming out of a little plastic clothespin, with choruses of them coming out of the corner, thistles and reeds coming up with the bass. Legs turning into bicycle pedals, going around so they make percussive noises” and it goes on to refer to the Hendrix “experience”: “Particularly when you have the distinct idea that the spirit of the late Jimi Hendrix has become much more than an influence, and sometimes seems to have become permanently embedded in you to the extent where you seem to be his living personification….” Now come on Frank. Unless you had no input into the tour programme and no control over it, it would be difficult for you to deny that you had a hand in the crazy Hendrix stories and comparisons.
Putting aside the question around whether Frank Marino is the “living personification” of Jimi Hendrix; Mahogany Rush were a hot live rock trio. Their set included at least one Hendrix cover maybe more, I don’t entirely remember, and was a showcase for Franks’ astonishing guitar wizardry. Lone Star also performed well, and went down a storm with the Newcastle crowd, although I seem to recall that the Hall was only around half full for this gig.
I would imagine that the set I saw at the City Hall in 1977 will have been something like this: The Answer, Dragonfly,I’m a King Bee, Excerpt form Back Door Man, A New Rock and Roll, Johnnie Be Goode, Talkin Bout a Feelin, Excerpt Who Do Ya Love, Electric Reflections of War, The World Anthem, Look at me, Strange universe, Voodoo Chile, Purple Haze. This is from the official live album recorded on a US tour in late 77 and released in 78, and an update from Damian. 
This was the only time that I’ve seen Mahogany Rush. They continue to play to this day, but their visits to the UK are few and far between now. My friend John has seen them in the States a few times and tells me how good they still are. He sent me a signed CD (pictured here). Thanks also to John for the scan of the poster from this gig.
That early acid experience clearly had a profound effect on Frank Marino. He still talks of it today, and says on his official website: “This experience became the basis of everything that I was to do in music, including the name Mahogany Rush, which was a description I would use to describe a certain sensation that I was having on the trip. The artwork on the albums, Child of the Novelty and Strange Universe are an artist’s rendition of my trip as told by me to the artist, Ivan Schwartz, who has since passed away”. John saw Frank Marino four times between 2006 and 2011. His views on those recent shows: “I thought he was just absolutely fantastic and he had the same effect on me as the first time I saw Robin Trower in 1975. An exceptional player with a good voice, he plays a lot of covers which is fine with me and has some exceptional songs in He’s Calling and Hometown Hero. Electric Reflections of War is too much for me but other than that song; its all just great.” Frank Marino last toured the UK in 2005 and he played the City Hall in 2002 as part of a package called Legends of Rock; featuring him as the opening act, followed by Uli John Roth, then Glenn Hughes and with Jack Bruce headlining. Now there’s a gig I shouldn’t have missed.
16 Oct
Crosby, Stills & Nash Gateshead Sage October 15th 2013
Crosby, Stills & Nash Gateshead Sage October 15th 2013
The past 10 years has seen several visits to the UK by Crosby and Nash, and CS&N, after many years of not visiting this country. This is the fourth time that I’ve seen C&N or CS&N in the last ten years, as well as solo shows by Stephen Stills and Neil Young. This year’s tour features Crosby, Stills and Nash who played to a packed Sage concert hall in Gateshead last night. Laura decided to join me this time. She’s not a fan, but is familiar with some of their songs, largely as a result of hearing me play them. The show was almost three hours, with an interval and featured all of the classic CS&N tracks, with some solo material and some new songs. The harmonies were, as always, still beautiful.
From the programme: “Welcome to our world of music. All our lives we’ve been focussed on touching your hearts and hopefully having you think abut the crazy world we still live in….whether it’s a love song or a subject of vital importance, it’s essential for us to communicate with you and make you a part of our lives. Hopefully our music will help you feel less lonely, less crazy and perhaps, inspire you to do something positive about your life and the lives of others. Time, family and friends are our only true currency and we have to recognise that all of us together, can make a difference and help make the world a better place for ourselves and our children. Rock on!” Still old hippies at heart, and still out there playing for us, and doing a pretty damn good job of it too.
The set list included (from memory; I have definitely missed some): Carry On/Questions; Marrakesh Express; Long Time Gone; Southern Cross; Lay Me Down; Bluebird; Love the One You’re With. Interval. Helplessly Hoping; Golden Days; Treetop Flyer; What Are Their Names; Guinnevere; Just a Song Before I Go; Burning for the Buddha; Our House; Teach Your Children; Almost Cut My Hair; Wooden Ships. Encore: Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.
15 Oct
The Motors Newcastle Mayfair 1978
The Motors Newcastle Mayfair 1978
Airport! The Motors were a British pub rock band who got swept up in the punk scene and hit the charts with “Airport”, which was a number 4 UK hit single in 1978. They were formed in London in 1977 by former Ducks Deluxe members Nick Garvey and Andy McMaster together with guitarist and front man Bram Tchaikovsky, and drummer Ricky Slaughter. I saw them a few times around this period, notably at the Reading Festival and at Newcastle Mayfair. “Airport” was rising up the charts at the time of the Mayfair gig and the place was packed. These guys had learned their craft in the pub rock scene of London, and it showed. They were a slick and professional live rock band, with some catchy tunes. As well as “Airport”, their earlier single “Dancing the Night Away” was also pretty good. Bram left the band shortly after this, and went on to lead his own band. The Motors continued for a few more years until they folded in 1982. My poster programme (pictured) tells me that support for the Mayfair gig came from heavy rock band “Marseille” and young Glasgow band “The Jolt”.
“Airport, airport, You’ve got a smiling face, You took the one I love so far away, Flying away, flying away, Airport, airport, You’ve got a smiling face, You took my lady to another place, Flying away, flying away” (The Motors, 1978).
14 Oct
Mr Big live 1976
Mr Big live 1976
Mr Big were a British pop rock band, fronted by the enigmatic Dicken. They are best known for their 1977 Top 5 hit “Romeo”. The members of Mr Big had been playing together since the late 1960s, and in 1974, the band signed to Epic Records. In 1975, Bob Hirschman, then manager of Mott the Hoople, took over as the band’s manager, and their first album, Sweet Silence, was released on EMI. In November 1975, Mr Big supported Queen on their A Night at the Opera tour. I caught the tour at the City Hall, but got in late (that’s a story for another day) and missed Mr Big. I did get to see them once or twice, and have a programme from their solo tour. I don’t recall whether I saw them at Redcar Bowl, or Newcastle Mayfair, or possibly both. Romeo was a catchy tune, and Mr Big were good live. Dicken was a charismatic front man with a strong raspy voice. I’ve just played some of their material on YouTube to remind myself of them. I found the following write up which describes them well: “Not to be confused with the American band that came about years later, this Mr. Big are the real deal from the 70s. Probably best known for their massive hit “Romeo” in 1977, they were hard to define or pin down to one musical genre. Their music could be Pop one moment, Hard Rock the next and anything in between. Progressive Rock even! Signed to EMI around the same time as Queen and Cockney Rebel many fans feel they should have been just as big but sadly they lost out, particularly to the former. They toured as support to Queen, Sweet, Tom Petty, Journey, Kansas, The Runaways and were signed to the Arista label in the USA. Ian Hunter (of Mott the Hoople fame) produced their third album “Seppuka” but it was not released until years later. Dicken and bassist Pete Crowther went on to form another band named Broken Home, which released two albums in the early 80s (again highly recommended listening).” I also saw Broken Home at Reading 1980. From the Mr Big tour programme: “They took the British press by strom lat year, causing some of Britain’ finest music publications to rave ecstatically over their ‘awesome creative powers’. Mr Big is the quintessential British Band.”
13 Oct
Deep Purple Manchester Apollo Oct 12th 2013
Deep Purple Manchester Apollo Oct 12th 2013
I decided at the last minute to go and see Deep Purple at Manchester Apollo last night. Its a couple of years since I’ve seen them and the nearest calling point of this year’s tour was Manchester. The concert wasn’t sold out, so I bought myself a standing ticket, printed it off on my computer. I was soon on my way down the A1 and across the M62 to Manchester, listening to “In Rock” as I drove down. I arrived just as support band Rockbox took to the stage. The Apollo seemed pretty full, with the stalls packed, and looking upstairs I could see very few empty seats. Rockbox were quite bizarre. They are a five piece; the singer used a loud hailer rather than a mike, and the four other guys were wearing red velvet school uniforms ala Angus Young, complete with devil horns and short trousers. The guitarist wore his amp in a satchel and had a speaker strapped to his belt. Two guys had drums hanging around their necks; one with a bass drum and the other with a snare and a couple of cymbals. And oh, there was also a guy with a huge horn, draped around him; I think it was a sousaphone. A pretty strange line-up and very different from the norm. Their set was all covers including Won’t get fooled again, Sgt Peppers, and Don’t stop me now. They went down well with the crowd, who found it good fun, and knew all the songs. 
I found a spot quite close to the stage, and Deep Purple came on bang at 9pm. They have just released a new CD “Now What?!” which is their 19th album, and their first for 8 years, and the set featured a few tracks from it. In fact, they started with a new song, which surprised me (and disappointed me a little as I was expecting usual opener Highway Star). Not to worry, however, as there were plenty of old classics for me. Each member took a solo during the set, which I usually find tiring, but last night the balance was OK, with each members instrumental piece working well, and not being over long. Favourites for me were (of course) all of the old ones: Strange Kind of Woman, Lazy, Into the Fire, Space Trucking, Smoke on the Water, and the encores Hush and Black Night. Ian Gillan’s voice was quite strong, with the usual screams intact. He is now in the habit of disappearing off stage between verses, presumably to take a rest, and a drink for his throat. They dedicated one of the new songs, Above and Beyond, to Jon Lord. Black Night closed the show at 10.45pm, and was just great. It took me a good 30 mins to get out of the car park; they pack the cars in nose to tail, so you are blocked in and can’t get out until everyone around you arrives at their car. I then got stuck in traffic driving through the city centre. I was home around 1.45am. It was good to see Deep Purple again, particularly in a relatively intimate venue. Just classic. The old ones are still the best. Setlist: Après vous; Into the Fire; Hard Lovin’ Man; Vincent Price; Strange Kind of Woman; Contact Lost (guitar Solo by Steve Morse); Uncommon Man; The Well-Dressed Guitar; The Mule (drum Solo by Ian Paice); Above and Beyond; Lazy; Hell to Pay (keyboard Solo Don Airey); Perfect Strangers; Space Truckin’; Smoke on the Water. Encore: Green Onions (Booker T. & The MG’s); Hush; (bass Solo by Roger Glover); Black Night
12 Oct
Steve Marriott Sunderland Kazbah Club 22nd January 1989
Steve Marriott Sunderland Kazbah Club 22nd January 1989
Reflecting back on the gigs I have attended over the years gives me the opportunity to think about the performers that I really rate. One of them has to be Steve Marriott. For me, Steve is simply the best performer and the best white soul and R’n’B singer that I have ever seen. Period. I’ve already written about the Humble Pie concerts I attended in the early 70s. I was also lucky enough to see Steve in the reformed Small Faces, who I caught a couple of times in the late 70s; I’ll write about those shows on another day.
Today, I’m thinking about the last time I saw Steve Marriott in concert which was in 1989, a couple of years before his sad and untimely death. The Kazbah club was a small, short-lived, club which operated in Sunderland in the late 80s. I saw a few bands perform there; Chicken Shack, The Groundhogs and Steve Gibbons come to mind. Going to this gig was a last minute decision; I just decided to go along on the night and entered the club late, right before Steve took to the stage. It was great to see him again, after a gap of 10 years or so. To be honest he looked a little weary, and worse for wear, but the passion remained in his performance. The voice was a little raw, and more rusty, but at times he sang with the power of the old days. The set contained quite a few unfamiliar songs, but I remember him performing “All or Nothing” which remains one of my favourites and went down well with the sparse crowd. He also played a few “standards”; I recall “High Heal Sneakers” being performed that night. It was great to watch Steve in such a small and intimate venue, but for me the evening was also tinged with sadness, seeing him play in front of a few people, and not in great shape. The line-up at the time was probably Steve Marriott and The DT’s. The DT’s were an existing band from Birmingham who Steve admired and eventually hooked up with. Their line-up included Steve Walwyn, Greg Rhynd, Simon Hickling and Ches Chaplin. Typical Steve Marriott setlist from early 1989 (from humble-pie.net) : Watch Your Step; Let’s Work Together; Everything’s Gonna Be Alright; Don’t You Lie to Me; My Babe; World in a Jug; Before You Accuse Me; Big Train Stops at Memphis; I Don’t Know Where I’ve Been; Five Long Years; All or Nothing; Promised Land; Just Your Fool; High Heeled Sneakers; This Old Fool. Two years later Steve Marriott sadly died when a fire, thought to have been caused by a cigarette, swept through his home in Essex.
PS. Just noticed that Steve’s surname is spelt incorrectly on the ticket.
11 Oct
Mud Sunderland Locarno 1974
Mud Sunderland Locarno 1974
My entry today is a very guilty pleasure, so please accept my apologies up front. My excuse is that, at the time, I was in the habit of going to the local Mecca every Friday night, and one Friday Mud were playing. To be honest, I am not even sure it was a pleasure :), but I have to admit it was a bit of fun. Mud were on the crest of a wave of success at the time having just hit No 1 in the UK charts with “Tiger Feet”. Their new release was “The Cat Crept In”. They were to hit the top spot again later that year with “Lonely This Christmas”. To be honest my only memory of the evening was them playing “Tiger Feet”, and everyone doing the crazy dance that they used to do. The line-up of Mud was Les Gray on vocals, Rob Davis on guitar and big crazy earrings, Ray Stiles on bass, and Dave Mount on drums. Les Gray and Dave Mount are both sadly no longer with us. I have seen Ray Stiles several times since, as he has for many years now been the bass player in the Hollies. Rob Davis has gone on to be a very successful song writer, writing dance tunes for Kylie and others. The tour was entitled “Mud on the Road”! and, according to the programme, support came from Sweet Sensation and Ferret. Sweet Sensation went on to have their own Uk No 1 “Sad Sweet Dreamer”, which also topped the charts in 1974.
10 Oct
The Moody Blues Newcastle City Hall 1997 to 2006
The Moody Blues Newcastle City Hall 1997 to 2006
I went to four Moody Blues concerts at Newcastle City Hall between 1997 to 2006: in 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2006. I saw them more recently at the same venue in 2008, and have already written about that concert. The line-up changed over the years, with Patrick Moraz leaving in 1991, and Ray Thomas retiring in 2002. The band continues with the trio of “original” members Justin Hayward, John Lodge and Graeme Edge. Of course the only member who has been with the band from the very start in drummer Graeme. Ray is a miss in the live shows, I found his songs quite different in style to those of Justin and John. Legend of a Mind (which I always thought was called “Timothy Leary’s Dead” 🙂 was a favourite of mine, even if does sound a little dated. I greatly enjoyed all of their gigs, even though the set was becoming predictable.
Typical setlist: The Voice; Tuesday Afternoon; For My Lady; English Sunset; Words You Say; Strange Times; Steppin’ in a Slide Zone; Haunted; I Know You’re Out There; Story in Your Eyes. Intermission. Your Wildest Dreams; Isn’t Life Strange; The Other Side of Life; Nothing Changes; I’m Just a Singer; Nights in White Satin; Legend of a Mind; Question. Encore: Ride My See-Saw.
I’ve foolishly missed the Moody Blues the last couple of times that they have visited Newcastle. I must make the effort to see them next time. Nothing can touch the classic albums that the Moody Blues produced in the late 60s and very early 70s.
“Timothy Leary’s dead. No, no, no, no, He’s outside looking in. Timothy Leary’s dead. No, no, no, no, He’s outside looking in. He’ll fly his astral plane, Takes you trips around the bay, Brings you back the same day, Timothy Leary. Timothy Leary.” (Thomas, 1968).
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