Led Zeppelin Newcastle City Hall 30th November 1972
A year after my first live Zeppelin experiences our heroes were back out on tour in the UK again. This was the first show of their 24 date UK tour. The tour sold out in four hours: a total of 110,000 tickets, which was some sort of record at the time. The 1972 tour consisted of stops at concert halls around the UK and also included two nights at the massice 6000 seater Alexandra Palace in London. It was Zeppelin’s longest ever UK tour, and included two nights at the City Hall on 30th Nov and 1st December. I can’t recall how I got tickets for this gig; I guess I must havd queued at the City Hall. However we did get them, we had pretty good seats, about half way back downstairs, on the first night. All tickets for the tour were £1, which was very reasonable, particularly given the popularity of Zeppelin at the time. I went along with three mates, a couple of whom had been at the Sunderland show the year before. We were all excited about the show; Led Zeppelin were at this point the biggest band in the world, and they had a lot to live up to.
It was, as the previous year, an amazing show, but I must admit I don’t have the same strong memories of this concert as I do of the two 1971 gigs I attended. Maybe thats because it was my first time seeing the band in 1971, maybe those shows had a slight edge over this one; I don’t know. They were introduced by promoter Tony Smith with a simple “What can I say – Led Zeppelin!”. Robert plant apparently wore silver shoes, although I don’t recall this. In those days, the City Hall would sometimes let people sit at the back of the stage behind the band, and this happened at this gig, with around 100 lucky people being allowed to pay on the night to take their place on some raised steps just a few feet away from the band. Stairway to Heaven was dedicated to Roy Harper who was in hospital at the time. The set included four numbers from the new album: Over the Hills and Far Away, The Song Remains the Same, the Rain Song and Dancing Days.
Set list: Rock and Roll, Over the Hills and Far Away, Black Dog, Misty Mountain Hop, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Dancing Days, Bro Yr Aur Stomp, The Song Remains the Same, The Rain Song, Dazed and Confused, Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love (including Let the Boy Boogie, Lets have a party, Goin Down Slow, the Shape I’m In), Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, extended Melletron introduction into Thank You.
Wish I’d gone both nights.
Thanks to John for jogging my memory on some of the details of this concert, and for the photo of the tour advert.
Posts Tagged ‘gigs’
11 Sep
Led Zeppelin Newcastle City Hall 30th November 1972
10 Sep
Led Zeppelin Sunderland Locarno 12th November 1971
My ticket from the gig. Pretty cool graphics.
Led Zeppelin Sunderland Locarno 12th November 1971
So having recovered from my Zeppelin experience at Newcastle City Hall the previous night, I was ready to see the band again at our local ballroom Sunderland Locarno (or The Mecca, as we knew it). Local ace promoter Geoff Docherty had been promising us a Zeppelin gig in Sunderland for some time. By 1971 the band were massive, and it seemed unbelievable that they would come and play at our local Mecca ballroom. But Geoff was true to his word, and delivered the rock gods to us on a Friday night in November. The account of how his persistence landed the Zeppelin gig is well documented in Geoff’s excellent book “A Promoter’s Tale” (Docherty, 2012). Tickets had been on sale at Bergs record shop in Sunderland, for all of 75p. I still have mine, and pretty cool it looks too. Like many others, I rushed home from school, and got over to the Mecca early, to join the queue and get a good spot down the front near our idols. By the time the doors opened there was a massive queue right down the ramp which used to lead into the venue, along the street and over the road to the Wheatsheaf pub, which stood on the corner. Everyone I knew was going; there were lots of friends in the queue with us. I was full of stories of the previous night’s gig and how great Zeppelin were.
Rear of the ticket. I wonder how many people took up the offer of 25p off the lp?
As soon as we got in, we took our places on the dance floor. Those were the days when you would sit cross-legged on the floor watching the band. The Mecca was a medium size ballroom, I would guess it must have held around 1,500 or so people. The dance floor had wonderful plastic palm trees at either side, and there was a revolving stage, although for bigger bands like Zeppelin a wooden platform was built above that. I remember that Zeppelin came on stage quite late, and the crowd immediately rose to their feet and surged to the front, forming a terrible crush. There was some concern about taking photographs, I think they searched us at the door on the way in, and were confiscating cameras. I remember a guy trying to take a photo of Robert Plant just as they came on stage, and the bouncers waded into the crowd to get his camera. Robert intervened, and told the bouncers to leave off the guy to a great cheer from the crowd. The set list was similar to the previous night, but the atmosphere was so much better. I was right down the front close to the band; I could almost touch them and the atmosphere was electric. 
They played an extended version of Whole Lotta Love, incorporating a medley of rock’n’roll standards, such as Hello Mary Lou. I managed to stay down the front for about half of the set, but I was too hot, sweaty and crushed and in the end I gave up and made my way to the back of the hall, and spent the latter part of the concert up in the balcony.
My friend, John, was also at the gig and sent me his memories of the night: “Obviously this was a really big deal for them to play in Sunderland, probably everyone we knew tried to go. They had just returned form Japan and played a 16 date UK tour to close out the year, which included two London Empire Pool concerts, known as the Electric Magic shows; which lasted for five hours and included Stone the Crows and some mixed vaudevillian and circus acts. I can remember queuing up to get in and standing on the ramp that leads up to the entrance with friends. It was the only time I can recall queuing up to get in. I can vividly remember being at the very front at the beginning of the show, I could almost touch the band, at the right hand side of the stage in front of a speaker stack when they played the Immigrant Song. It was so loud and with Plants voice so high, I am embarrassed to say that it was a bit hard to take and I had to move back a few spots. I remember them sitting down for the acoustic set on stools, which was quite unusual for the time and Robert saying something like “we are going to have a cup of tea”. Although I was not a big acoustic fan I thought that section was just great.The fourth album had been released just before the show (it was out on November 8th 1971) and I do not recall Stairway seeming a big deal at the time, but rather Whole Lotta Love was the highlight for most people.”
Setlist: Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Black Dog, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Rock and Roll, Stairway to Heaven, That’s the Way, Going to California, Tangerine, Dazed and Confused, What Is and What Should Never Be, Celebration Day, Whole Lotta Love (medley including Hello Mary Lou, Let the Boy Boogie, and other rock’n’roll standards), Communication Breakdown.
Sadly the Mecca was demolished a year or so ago, and in the spot now stands a massive supermarket. I drove past this morning, and thought of that magical night. The next time I saw Zeppelin was back at Newcastle City Hall, a year later. I’ll write about that show tomorrow.
Thanks to John for the photographs of his classic Page and Plant posters.
Reference: Docherty, Geoff (2012) A Promoter’s Tale: Rock at the Sharp End, CreateSpace Independent Publishing.
9 Sep
Led Zeppelin Newcastle City Hall 11th November 1971
My ticket stub; a bit battered and with rusty pinholes from when I had it proudly displayed on my bedroom wall.
Led Zeppelin Newcastle City Hall 11th November 1971
For an old guy like me, who grew up listening to rock music in the late 60s and early 70s, Led Zeppelin were THE band. Their early albums are absolute classics of blues rock, and their live shows were simply the thing of legend. Everyone I knew had a copy of Led Zeppelin II, and would bring it to school to play at the record club, proudly displaying it to as a badge of honour. I’d so wanted to see Zeppelin live since I’d heard my friend’s older brothers talk about how great they were. They were lucky enough to see them at Newcastle City Hall and the Mayfair in the late 60s, and they came back from those gigs so excited, full of tales of Plant’s screaming vocals, of Page’s amazing guitar and how he “played his guitar with a violin bow”. In those days such tricks seemed almost unbelievable to a teenager like me. So when Zeppelin toured in late 1971 it was my turn to see them for the first time. I was determined to make the most of the opportunity, and was lucky enough to end up seeing them twice in two days, on the first two nights of their UK tour, when they played in Newcastle and Sunderland. The concerts took place in the week that the classic Led Zeppelin IV album was released. Zeppelin were at the peak of their powers at this time, and were simply an awesome, electric live act.
I had a ticket for the Led Zeppelin concert at Sunderland on the Friday night, and just couldn’t wait! So I decided to try and see them at Newcastle the night before. The City Hall gig has been sold out for weeks, with people queuing all night for tickets; but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I got home quickly after school on the Thursday night, had something to eat, and then set off on the train to Newcastle to try and blag a ticket outside of the venue. I managed to buy a ticket for a pretty ropey seat up in the circle, paying £1; which was twice the 50p face value. This may sound cheap now, but it seemed quite expensive at the time. But hey I was in, and although my view wasn’t great; I was going to see Led Zeppelin for the first time! I took my seat and waited for Zeppelin to take the stage. 
There was no support act; soon the lights went down and the guys stormed out, Robert Plant greeting us with a simple “Good evening! Here we are again”; and then it was straight into Immigrant Song, with Plant’s screaming wails roaring above Jimmy Page’s guitar. Page was wearing his guitar low, down around his knees, prowling around the stage while Prant posed, and played the rock god at the front. John Paul Jones stood quiet, and calm, providing the bass rhythms while John Bonham pounded and bashed away at his massive drum kit. For the next couple of hours I sat completely mesmerised by this band. I couldn’t take my eyes off Page and Plant. The set unfolded; featuring old favourites and tracks from the new lp. There were so many highlights: the opening “Hey hey mama said the way you move, Gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove” lines of Black Dog; the mystical beauty of Stairway to Heaven; the back to their roots rhythms of Rock and Roll; the exquisite blues guitar and blood-tingling vocals of Dazed and Confused; the acoustic guitar interlude for Thats the Way, Going to California and Tangerine. And Jimmy Page did play his guitar with a violin bow, and he has this strange aerial which he waved his hands at and, as if by magic, made weird spacey, spooky sounds (I later learned that this was called a theremin).
A crowd recording exists, on which you can apparently hear Robert Plant talking about the release of the new album: “Now then, today’s the day of the Teddy Bear’s picnic, and to go with it, the new album came out. I know what they say about the lenght of time between the two, and I’m sure you can read all sorts of reports and toss a coin!” The concert was quite long, over two hours, and LOUD (which was good; for me the louder the better), even up in the circle where I was sitting. Just perfection; the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world. I caught the late train, the music still ringing in my ears, still buzzing and knowing that I’d experienced something very special. I couldn’t wait to see them again the next night, and bored everyone at school with how great they were.
There seems to be a little debate as to the setlist that night. Most sites show the set as: Immigrant Song; Heartbreaker; Black Dog; Since I’ve Been Loving You; Rock and Roll; Stairway to Heaven; That’s the Way; Going to California; Tangerine; Dazed and Confused; What Is and What Should Never Be; Celebration Day; Whole Lotta Love. Encore: Communication Breakdown. However, I’ve also read that they played Moby Dick, but I am assured that this was not the case. They did however also play Bron-y-aur Stomp.
The next night I saw Led Zeppelin again, when they played at Sunderland Locarno ballroom. I’ll write about that, my second, and equally as exciting, Zeppelin experience tomorrow.
Thanks to John for the snap of the poster, and for helping jog my memory.
8 Sep
Little Feat Newcastle City Hall 1977
Little Feat Newcastle City Hall 1977
Little Feat played two nights at Newcastle City in 1977, as part of a UK tour. I attended the first concert. There was no support act. The line-up of the band at the time was the late great Lowell George on vocals and guitar, Paul Barrere on guitar, Richie Hayward on drums, Bill Payne on keyboards, Sam Clayton on percussion and Kenny Gradney on bass. Feat were also accompanied for the tour by the Tower of Power horn section. The tour was to promote their sixth studio album Time Loves A Hero. I’d seen Little Feat previously when they supported The Who at their 1976 Charlton concert, but can’t pretend that I was a massive fan; although they were undoubtedly a fine band. To my shame I never took the trouble to listen to much of their stuff. This was still the case when I went to see them with my friend Ian in 1977, so most of the set was new to me. I did of course recognise Dixie Chicken, and enjoyed the concert. This was the band at the peak of their powers, and the show certainly showed off their excellent musicianship. 
I saw similarities to the Grateful Dead show that I attended at the same venue a few years earlier; lots of jamming, top class playing, and quite laid back southern rock. I really should have invested the time to get to know their material before I went to see them. From the tour programme: “Little Feat. Six albums strong, turning the fine edge of their music into a resiliency that has been able to withstand countless setbacks. Little Feat, finally at the juncture of in their colourful history where they’re able to have their cake and eat it too. Little Feat on the heels of Time Loves a Hero. It’s been six years of hard rock’n’roll labour but its obviously been worth it, from the beginning”. Lowell George sadly died of a heart attack in 1979. I saw the latest version of Little Feat at the Sage a year or so ago. Setlist: Walkin’ All Night; Fat Man in the Bathtub; Red Streamliner; Oh Atlanta; Day at the Dog Races; All That You Dream; Mercenary Territory; On Your Way Down; Skin It Back; Old Folks Boogie; Rock and Roll Doctor; Cold Cold Cold; Dixie Chicken; Tripe Face Boogie.
7 Sep
Jerry Lee Lewis Newcastle Mayfair 1980 and Newcastle City Hall 2004
The Jerry Lee Lewis Show Newcastle Mayfair 1980
Jerry Lee came to town, and the Newcastle Mayfair ballroom, normally a heavy rock stronghold, transformed into a cabaret venue especially for the occasion. The tickets for this concert were relatively expensive, probably around a fiver a pop, or a little more if you elected for the chicken in a basket option. Marie and I opted to pass on the supper, but couldn’t resist the opportunity to see The Killer in action. The Mayfair was pretty full, with a very different crowd to the normal Friday night rock crew. The set was quite short, probably around an hour or less, which is I guess was the norm for a Jerry Lee concert at the time. Jerry was backed by a full band dressed in their very best concert suits. He sat at a grand piano, wearing a pair of shades and cool country and western gear. His set was a mix of country, gospel and the classic early rock’n’roll hits, including Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On, Great Balls of Fire and Chantilly Lace. The guy knew how to perform and hold a crowd, and his boogie woogie piano was pretty fine, very fluid. Ever the showman, Jerry Lee played the piano with his foot, kicked aside the stool and played standing up, and then climbed on top to sing to us. I sat in awe, feeling privileged to witness a true rock legend close up. Support for the 1980 Jerry Lee Lewis tour was J D Sumner and the Stamps, a US gospel singing group who had been backing singers for Elvis.
Jerry Lee Lewis The Generations Tour Newcastle City Hall 2004
Roll forward 24 years and Jerry Lee was back in Newcastle, this time at the City Hall. We’d had heavy snow, and it was on a cold winter night that I turned out for my second experience of The Killer live. This City Hall was packed, with several members of the audience proudly wearing their best teddy boy drapes. By 2004, Jerry Lee was in his late 60s, but he was in fine form, singing and playing a set of classic rock’n’roll. The set was short, probably around 30 minutes, but that was fine by me. What I got was another glimpse of a legend, with the same twinkle in his eye, and the same power in his voice. And his piano playing was as rocking and rolling as ever. 
The setlist for the London show of the tour is (from the setlist.fm site) as: My Babe; Lonely Weekends; Sick and Tired; Matchbox; Proud Mary; Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee; She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye; Lucille; Don’t Put No Headstone on My Grave; Chantilly Lace; High School Confidential; Rockin’ My Life Away; Mean Woman Blues; Kansas City; What’d I Say; Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On; Great Balls of Fire. I would guess that the Newcastle show featured a similar set. I certainly remember that he played Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On; Great Balls of Fire, and the song Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee (great title :)) sticks in my mind. Support came from Blondell, an Elvis tribute act, and Jerry was accompanied by The Memphis Horns and the “All Star Killer Band”.
Jerry Lee continues to tour and play to this day, and reviews suggest that the fire remains. Long Live The Killer!
6 Sep
Lone Star Newcastle City Hall 1977
Lone Star Newcastle City Hall 1977
Lone Star (not to be confused with the more recent band Lonestar) were a mid to late 70s Welsh rock band formed in Cardiff. Their line-up featured ace guitarist Paul “Tonka” Chapman, who had impressed me when I saw him in the early 70s playing in Skid Row (he replaced Gary Moore), and UFO, where he played alongside Michael Schenker. I saw Lone Star a few times; as support act on the Mahogany Rush and Mott (post Hoople) tours, at the 1977 Reading Festival, and on this (I think it was their only) major headline tour. They were a pretty classy heavy rock band. Their music was much more than straight heavy metal; they were quite melodic with shades of UFO and Zeppelin, and hints of jazz, blues and prog. This UK tour was in support of their second, and final, studio album “Firing on All Six”. It was a pretty epic rock gig, Lone Star displaying a level of confidence and a stage show that you would normally associate with a much more established band. However, the City Hall was by no means full; the band were still not that well known. Lone Star performed an awesome extended rock version of the Beatles’ “She Said She Said’, which features on the album. “Bells of Berlin’ was another live favourite. I must dig out my copy of “Firing on All Six”. Young new-comer John Sloman had just joined on vocals, replacing original singer Kenny Driscoll. This was Lone Star at their peak, and 20 year old John was (quite rightly) being compared with Robert Plant. The word on the street at the time was that Lone Star were going to be the next massive rock band. Sadly this was not to be. The band split shortly after this tour, John Sloman went on to join Uriah Heep, and Tonka Chapman rejoined UFO. Support came from Stranger (thanks to Mitch).
5 Sep
Little Bob Story The Rex Hotel Whitley Bay 1977?
Little Bob Story The Rex Hotel Whitley Bay 1977?
Its funny the things that stick in your mind. My mate Norm and I went to this gig around 35 years ago, and yet it is one of the gigs that we still talk about today. I can’t remember exactly when we saw Little Bob, but it was probably some time in 1977. Little Bob Story were a French rock’n’roll band who came over to the UK at the time of the pub rock boom, and then got caught up in the punk scene. They signed to Chiswick records and released an album, Off the Rails, and a few singles over here. Little Bob Story music was a blend of R&B, rock’n’roll and blues, and was quite Stones-influenced. They were often referred to as “The French Dr Feelgood”. Little Bob Story were fronted by singer Rogomme Roberto Piazza, who was a big guy, and the band name was often taken as his name. Their albums, and their live set, contained a mix of originals and classics such as “Lucille” (Chuck Berry), “I’m Crying” (Animals), and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” (Bob Dylan). Live they were a pretty hot rock’n’roll act, and Roberto (or Little Bob) was a pretty great front guy. Norm and I certainly enjoyed the gig and, as I say, we still talk about it today. The Rex was host to many gigs throughout the 60s and 70s, and is a majestic hotel which sits on the sea front at Whitley Bay, in the North East of England. I don’t have a ticket stub for the gig as it must have been a pay at the door affair, but Norm did buy a badge which he snapped for me. Norm says “Long Live Leetle Bob!”.
4 Sep
The Lurkers Sunderland Lees Club 1978
The Lurkers Sunderland Lees Club 1978
The Lurkers were part of the first wave of punk bands. They were big fans of The Ramones, The New York Dolls and the US Garage scene, and you could tell this from their music. This gig featured the original line-up of Howard Wall on vocals and Pete Stride on guitar. The Lurkers had just released their first album Fullham Fallout, and had hit the lower regions of the chart with their first three singles. Lees Club stood in Park Lane Sunderland, and was pretty empty for this gig. The two songs I remember most of all from the night were the Lurkers’ catchy fourth single “I Don’t Need To Tell Her” which they played on Top of the Pops (look it up on YouTube; it still looks pretty cool) and the B side of the same single “Pills” which is a Bo Diddley song, also covered by the New York Dolls. It was a pretty good raw punk gig. Support came from the Straw Dogs, a local band who featured Olga, and were soon to morph into The Toy Dolls. The Toy Dolls, of course, dedicated a song “She Goes to Finos” to this very night club (Lees Club was to become Finos a year or so later). The Lurkers exist to this day, featuring a line-up based around bass player Arturo Bassick, who was an original member of the band, but had left by the time I saw them in 1978. I saw the current line-up of the Lurkers a couple of years ago, when they supported the Buzzcocks at Newcastle Academy. Pretty cool yellow card ticket, and a bargain at £1.25.
3 Sep
Lords of the New Church Barbary Coast Sunderland 1983
Lords of the New Church Barbary Coast Sunderland 1983
The Lords of the New Church were a punk supergroup formed in 1982, by the late great (and totally crazy) Stiv Bators (The Dead Boys), Brian James (The Damned), Dave Tregunna (Sham 69) and Nick Turner (The Barracudas). Having seen The Dead Boys once or twice, and the Damned lots of times, this band seemed an attractive live attraction. The Barbary Coast was the latest incarnation of the old Boilermakers club, which is now North Shore, and part of the Sunderland University Students union. The Lords played in a small side room, not in the main hall, and the place was pretty empty. Their music was melodic punk / rock n roll, with a dark gothic psych tinge to it. Live they were a cross between The Damned and the New York Dolls, with Stiv a manic front man showing shades of Iggy, and no fear. Support came from Agent Orange, an American punk band.The Live lp has the following track list: New Church; Livin On Livin; Eat Your Heart Out; Russian Roulette; Fortune Teller; Open Your Eyes; Girls Girls Girls; Holy War; Apocolypso; New Church. I would guess that the set I witnessed that night will have been similar to this. From the rhapsody.com site: “Lords Of The New Church quickly established themselves as a must-see live act due to the wild, death-defying (literally!) stage antics of Bators.” From Wiki: “Bators had developed a fearless reputation in his Dead Boys days and continued such antics with The Lords, the most famous being the time he reportedly hanged himself during a show. Bator’s stunt went awry and he was pronounced clinically dead for several minutes.” Stiv died in Paris in 1990, after being knocked down by a taxi.
2 Sep
Liverpool Express Newcastle City Hall 1977
Liverpool Express Newcastle City Hall 1977
Support from local band Arbre
Liverpool Express were formed in 1975, by members of the legendary Liverpool 60s beat band The Merseybeats. They are best known for their two hits “You Are My Love” (which Paul McCartney once famously declared to be one of his favourite songs), and “Every Man Must Have A Dream”. I won tickets for this gig in a competition in a local newspaper. “You Are My Love” is a great pure pop song with beautiful harmonies, and was quite a favourite of mine at the time. 
The City Hall was reasonably full for this gig, which was part of the 1977 Newcastle Festival festivities. Guitarist Billy Kinsley was playing his trademark Gibson Firebird, which the Merseys were well known for; in fact all three front men played similar guitars, and still do to this day. Kinsley rejoined the Merseybeats after Liverpool Express folded, and remains in the band today, alongside fellow founder member Tony Crane. Liverpool Express were quite well known for a short time, appearing on British television quite frequently; particularly Top of the Pops. As well as playing their own hit singles, I think they also played a couple of Merseybeat hits.
Support for the gig were Arbre, a local band fronted by brothers Phil, Peter and Paul Caffrey who have been singing together for most of their lives, and still do today as the Caffreys. Arbre were signed to DJM records, which was home to Elton John at the time. They were promoted as Britain’s answer to the Eagles, but split after a few years and a couple of albums.
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