Futurama 2 Festival Queens Hall Leeds 14th September 1980
This was the second Futurama festival and it took place at Queens Hall, which was in the centre of Leeds. The Saturday line-up featured U2 (low down on the bill), Echo & The Bunnymen, Soft Cell and Siouxsie & The Banshees (who headlined). I attended the Sunday with my mate Dave and it featured The Psychedelic Furs, Gary Glitter, The Durutti Colum, Classix Nouveaux, Young Marble Giants, Hazel O’Connor, The Soft Boys, Flowers, Naked Lunch, Blurt, Artery, Notsensibles, Vice Versa, Desperate Bicycles, Frantic Elevators, Athletico Spizz 80, Brian Brain, Tribesmen, Boots for Dancing and Household Name. We arrived during the afternoon and missed some of the bands. Queens Hall was a cavernous building, which was originally a tram and bus depot. It was used as a concert venue during the 1980s. It has since been demolished and is now a car park.
When we arrived it looked like a war zone. Punk fans from all over the north, and further afield, had decamped there for the weekend, and had been in the venue all night, sleeping on the floors; there was trash everywhere. We saw faces that we recognised from Middlesbrough Rock Garden, which had closed for the weekend as everyone was going to the festival. We chatted to a few people; everyone was talking about how great Siouxsie (who had headlined the Saturday night) had been. There were stalls around the place and pop-up art performances in dark corners of the hall. I recall one performance which involved a guy having a crap in a bucket; we moved on. The bands were playing on a stage at the end of the massive hall. 
This was an opportunity to see bands who went on to stardom: The Frantic Elevators became Simply Red, and Vice Versa became ABC. There was a great mix of bands at the event and the atmosphere was wonderful, really friendly. Although on the surface this festival appeared messy and shambolic, it is actually one of the best I have every attended for the musical range and the feeling in the crowd. Highlights of the day were Hazel O-Connor, who was in the charts with “Eighth Day” and became the robot from “Breaking Glass”, Durutti Column featuring Vini Reilly’s meadering guitar, and the 4″ by 2″s who were a proto-Oi! band featuring Jimmy Lydon (John Lydon’s brother) and also at one point featured Youth of Killing Joke. But the highlight was an incredible performance by Notsensibles, a punk band from Burnley who had some success with their single “I’m in Love with Margaret Thatcher”. Their set included a lot of tongue-in-cheek songs, all performed in their strong Northern accent. They’d brought a large contingent of fans, who all sang along with every daft song. Notsensibles motto was “all we want to do is make silly records and play silly gigs”. There is a video on YouTube of them performing “Death To Disco” at the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIGrhea75qU
The festival ran very late into the night (inevitable given the incredible number of bands who were performing) and we left around midnight during Psychedelic Furs set to drive back up North and home, thus missing the headliner who was (also incredibly) the now shamed star Gary Glitter. The Futurama festival had a history of choosing off-the-wall headliners; on another occasion the closing acts was a reformed Bay City Rollers (now that must have been something to experience). A crazy, mad, fun event with some great bands. Happy happy days 🙂
Posts Tagged ‘gigs’
15 Mar
Futurama 2 Festival Queens Hall Leeds 14th September 1980
14 Mar
Baker Gurvitz Army Newcastle Mayfair 24th November 1975
Baker Gurvitz Army Newcastle Mayfair 24th November 1975
Ginger Baker formed the powerhouse rock band Baker Gurvitz Army with brothers Paul and Adrian Gurvitz (formerly of The Gun and “Race with the Devil” fame), former Shark’s singer ‘Mr Snips’ (I recall seeing Sharks at Sunderland Mecca and they were excellent) and keyboard player Peter Lemer. They recorded their first album ‘Baker Gurvitz Army’ in 1974. The album was very much in the mould of Cream; “This album’s a strong, decisive statement, and if hard rock’s what you crave, you won’t be disappointed.” (Ralph Heibutzki, All Music Guide). In 1975 the band went out on tour. I saw their show at Newcastle Mayfair on 24th November. I’d always regretted missing out of seeing Cream first time round, and had made every effort to see their three members in concert. I’d seen Clapton and Bruce, and this was my first chance to see Ginger Baker. I remember enjoying the concert and that they played “White Room” and “Sunshine of Your Love”; and being delighted that they did so. Ginger had a massive drum kit which took up much of the stage; Adrian Gurvitz was an excellent guitarist and Snips, who I had seen before in Sharks, was a cocky punky character with a bluesy soulful voice.
A 1975 concert at Derby was recorded and released as a live album many years later. The tracklisting is: The Hustler; Space Machine; Remember; White Room; Neon Lights; Inside Of Me; Memory Lane; Sunshine Of Your Love; The Artist; Freedom; Time; Going To Heaven. I would imagine that the set at the Mayfair will have been similar to this. Baker Gurvitz Army were a great and now largely forgotten part of heavy blues rock history.
Chris Salewicz reviewed a gig in Watford on the same tour: “Okay, so there’s no phasing on the drums and he must be one of the only drummers currently working the rock and roll circuit who doesn’t take his shirt off on stage, and occasionally his style may still smack of ’67 And All That, but nevertheless Ginger Baker’s drumming is a positive joy to listen to. Baker’s playing oozes power. As such it blends in with and propels along the sheer energy which the Baker-Gurvitz Army seem to have cornered for themselves. Snips’ singing … is a direct utilisation of the lead singer’s voice as sensual instrument. Adrian Gurvitz, though not perhaps the most athletic lead guitarist around, certainly ain’t no slouch when it comes to the old brain power necessary for searching out those squealing, fleshy guitar notes or those near-psychedelic indented blues runs.”
Baker Gurvitz Army split in 1976 in part because “Adrian’s guitar playing was just too loud” and he was “getting off with every chick that I fancied!” (Ginger)
13 Mar
Gentle Giant Sunderland Locarno 21st April 1972
Gentle Giant Sunderland Locarno 21st April 1972
This was a strange tour. Prog rock band Gentle Giant toured the UK as support for “Jimi plays Berkeley”, which was a film of a Jimi Hendrix concert. “Jimi Plays Berkeley” was never intended for official release but was hurriedly put together as a film shortly after Hendrix’s untimely death, and was put out on an European tour complete with support acts, which was Gentle Giant in the UK. Because everyone was so hungry for anything to do with Hendrix, it became one of the most popular music films of its era. The film features excerpts of performances by Jimi, bassist Billy Cox, and drummer Mitch Mitchell from two concerts. They perform “Purple Haze”, “Machine Gun”, “Voodoo Child” “Star Spangled Banner” and “Johnny B. Goode.”
I found this fascinating write-up of the tour on the excellent Gentle Giant tour history site: “…the tour may have been a somewhat humiliating experience for the group, as they actually had to serve as the opening act for a movie, the Jimi Hendrix live concert film, Jimi Plays Berkeley. Certain ads for the tour had the band’s name in large, bold print, as if they were headlining, but they did, in fact, take the stage first each night, before the movie. This tour also had its share of problems, supposedly. At one gig, the film never arrived. At another unknown date on the tour, Giant’s equipment didn’t arrive, due to a van breakdown, so they were unable to perform. This also caused a further problem for the film, as the band’s PA system was supposed to be used for the soundtrack. Roadie Phil Freeman recalls that the angry crowd actually beat up the projectionist on this occasion, out of frustration…..” I recall very little about Gentle Giant’s set but I do remember a long wait before the film was shown. I think the film was travelling separately to the band. When it finally arrived it was a bit of a let down as the makeshift projection and screen facilities weren’t great in the ballroom and the picture and sound were poor.
Gentle Giant’s line-up at the time was Gary Green (guitar), Kerry Minnear (keyboards), Derek Shulman (lead vocals, saxophone), Phil Shulman (lead vocals, saxophone, trumpet), Ray Shulman (bass, trumpet, violin) and John “Pugwash” Weathers (drums, percussion). They were formed by the Shulman brothers from the remnants of Simon Dupree and the Big Sounds of “Kites” fame. The band’s aim was to “expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music at the risk of becoming very unpopular”. Gentle Giant were much more experimental than other bands of the prog genre, making their music much less accessible and more difficult to get into than say Genesis, Yes or King Crimson. This concert was at the time of their third lp, “Three Friends”.
Gentle Giant’s setlist is likely to have consisted of the following songs: Prologues, Alucard, Funny ways, Nothing at all, Schooldays, Plain Truth, the Queen.
I saw Gentle Giant once more around the same time, supporting the Groundhogs at Newcastle City Hall.
12 Mar
Department S & Spizzles Sunderland Mayfair 9th April 1981
Department S & Spizzles Sunderland Mayfair 9th April 1981
I was driving yesterday, when the great Department S single “Is Vic There?” came on the car radio, reminding me that I saw the band at a gig at Sunderland Mayfair. It was around the time that the record was in the charts and they shared the bill with Spizzles, who were the 1981 incarnation of Spizz aka Spizz Energi (Where’s Captain Kirk). Spizz was always good for a crazy sci-fi laugh, but I went to the gig to see Department S and to hear them play “Is Vic There?”, which had such a catchy hook; it was one of those songs that once you heard you could never get out of your head.
Department S were formed in 1980, and took their stage name from the 1960s cult TV series of the same name which featured the great Jason King. They hit the UK charts with their debut single, “Is Vic There?”, which was originally released in December 1980 and reached No. 22 in 1981. Although Department S are usually characterised as a new wave band, “Is Vic There?” is quite a rocky guitar oriented song, with shades of darkness; the opening sequence of the song reminds me of the music of the Groundhogs. I remember that Department S were pretty entertaining live, although the only song that I, and the rest of the audience, recognised was the hit single; and I think, they also did a cover version of T.Rex’s “Solid Gold Easy Action” which was the single’s B side. For “Is Vic There?” singer and front man Vaughn Toulouse held his mike like a telephone, to fit with the recurring ring tone from the record.
Vaughn Toulouse was born Vaughn Cotillard on Jersey in 1959. He followed the Clash on tour in 1978 and wrote about the tour in “The Face” magazine. He then went on to form the bands Guns For Hire and Department S. Toulouse became a regular “face” of the ’80s London club scene, writing for the music press, performing as a DJ, appearing on the cover of the Jam’s final record, and playing with the Style Council. Vaughn Toulouse died in 1991 of AIDS-related illness.
“The night is young, the mood is mellow
And there’s music in my ears
Say, is Vic there?
I hear ringing in the air
So I answer the phone
A voice comes over clear
Say, is Vic there?”
(Is Vic There? , 1981)
11 Mar
Yes Manchester Arena 19th June 2004
Yes Manchester Arena 19th June 2004
In 2004 Yes reverted back to the classic 1970s line-up of Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman and Alan White. They celebrated their rich musical legacy by going out on 35th anniversary arena tour, complete with a new massive OTT Roger Dean stage set. I feared that the massive 20,000 capacity Manchester Arena would be empty, as it was many years since Yes had performed in large venues in the UK. However, I needn’t have worried. Yes fans from all over the North turned out for the occasion, and although the upper tier of the arena was curtained off, the turn-out was impressive, with the lower tier and the floor area almost full. Marie and I went to Manchester for the weekend and had seats about half way back on the floor, with a great view of the stage. I was quite excited about seeing the classic band again, and with a big show.
This was Yes on full power, with a set which took us Right through their career, including going back to “Sweet Dreams” and “Your is no Disgrace”. The show was in two sets, the second set including acoustic versions of some of the classics. An excellent concert.
Set 1: The Firebird Suite (intro); Going for the One; Sweet Dreams; I’ve Seen All Good People; Mind Drive (Part 1); South Side of the Sky; Turn of the Century; Foot Prints; Mind Drive (Part 2); Yours Is No Disgrace
Set 2: The Meeting; Long Distance Runaround; Wonderous Stories; Time Is Time; Roundabout; Show Me (Steve Howe guitar solo); Owner of a Lonely Heart; Second Initial (Steve Howe solo); Rhythm of Love; And You and I; Ritual (Nous Sommes du Soleil)
Encore: Starship Trooper
I saw Yes on three further occassions; in 2009, 2011 and 2014. I have already blogged about those concerts; so this concludes my coverage of Yes. I am going to spend the next few days catching up on a few bands/gigs that I have overlooked, before completing “Y” (I have Paul Young to cover) and then moving on to the letter “Z”.
10 Mar
Yes Symphonic (or Magnification) Tour Newcastle City Hall 12th December 2001
Yes Symphonic (or Magnification) Tour Newcastle City Hall 12th December 2001
For the Magnification album and tour Yes were accompanied by an orchestra. It had been many years since I had seen the band, and what better way to do so. The line-up of Yes for this tour was Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White. They were accompanied by Tom Brislin on keyboards. The orchestra was conducted by Wilhelm Keitel. I remember that I’d had a terrible day at work, and I was unsure whether to go to the concert at all. However, the thought of seeing Yes again raised my spirits and I enjoyed the concert and was pleased that I went.
The set was a mix of songs from throughout their career, including several newer ones which were totally unfamiliar to me. Classic Yes tracks which they played were “Close to the Edge”, “Long Distance Run-around”, “Starship Trooper”, “And You and I” and “I’ve Seen All Good People”. The encore was “Roundabout”. The orchestra added greater depth and richness to the Yes sound which suited some of their more expansive pieces such as “Ritual”. However, I felt that some of their songs, “Starship Trooper” for example, were better suited to their original “band” sound and that the orchestra added little to them, and sometimes detracted from the purity of the song. Having said that, I enjoyed the concert and it was great to see Yes again, after such a long time.
The concert at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam on 22 November 2001 was recorded and released on DVD in 2002 and on CD in 2003.
Setlist: Give Love Each Day; Close to the Edge; Listen to Your Heart; Long Distance Run-around; Don’t Go; In the Presence of… Concerto in D (2nd Movement) (Steve Howe); Second Initial (Steve Howe); Starship Trooper; Magnification; And You and I; Ritual (Nous Sommes du Soleil); I’ve Seen All Good People
Encore: Roundabout
Many thanks to Mitch for the image of his flyer from the concert.
9 Mar
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe Whitley Bay Ice Rink 20th October 1989
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe Whitley Bay Ice Rink 20th October 1989
By 1988 Jon Anderson had become disillusioned with Yes, who now consisted of himself, Trevor Rabin on guitar, Tony Kaye on keyboards, Chris Squire on bass and Alan White on drums. Rabin and Squire were taking the band in a more rock-oriented direction, and Anderson wished to return to the more traditional Yes sound. He left the band, initially intending to record a solo album. He was soon joined by previous Yes members Bill Bruford, Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe. The band recorded one album, “Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe” and went out on tour, advertising the shows as “An Evening of Yes Music Plus”. Chris Squire and co filed a law suit which attempted to prevent them using the name “Yes” in any of the publicity, however the tour went ahead. The UK leg of the tour started with a concert at Whitley Bay Ice Rink, then visited Edinburgh Playhouse, Birmingham NEC and closed with three nights at Wembley Arena. The Whitley Bay show was not very well publicised: I think it was added to the itinerary at the last minute, and as a result it was poorly attended. The cold, cavernous ice rink was never a great concert venue, and the sound wasn’t good. However, it was wonderful to hear those Yes classics again. They started by going back to the early days with “Time and a Word”, played “And You and I”, “Close to the Edge” and “Heart of the Sunrise”, and the more recent “Owner of a Lonely Heart”. Steve Howe performed both “Clap” and “Mood for a Day”. They also played several new songs which featured on the “Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe” album. The encores were “Roundabout” and “Starship Trooper”. The four Yes members were augmented by additional musicians including Tony Levin on bass. The concert reminded me just how great Yes were; “Heart of the Sunrise” is a particular favourite of mine, and I remember being knocked out by Jon’s performance of that song in particular at Whitley Bay.
Set 1: The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (intro); Time and a Word; Owner of a Lonely Heart; Teakbois; Clap/Mood for a Day (Steve Howe); Gone But Not Forgotten/Catherine Parr/Merlin The Magician (Rick Wakeman); Long Distance Runaround; Birthright; And You and I; I’ve Seen All Good People;
Set 2: Close to the Edge; Themes; Brother of Mine; The Meeting; Heart of the Sunrise; Order of the Universe; Roundabout
Encore: Starship Trooper
8 Mar
Yes Newcastle City Hall 2nd December 1980
Yes Newcastle City Hall 2nd December 1980
I missed the next couple of Yes tours. I had tickets for the “Going for the One” tour (with Donovan support) at Glasgow Apollo, but passed on it to see the Tubes at Newcastle that night. I also missed out on the Tomator Tour in 1978, which stopped off for four nights and a matinee at Wembley Arena; Yes’ only UK dates on that tour. I remember one of my mates went down to London for the matinee, returning the same evening. The next time I saw Yes was when they returned to Newcastle City Hall for three nights, as part of the Drama tour. By then Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman had departed and been replaced by Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes of Buggles and “Video Killed the Radio Star” fame. The line-up was thus Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Alan White, Horn and Downes. Horn took vocal duties and Downes keyboards and synthesisers.
We went to the first concert of the three night run, and the City Hall was far from full. The line-up change was just too much for many Yes fans. There was (and still is) a very strong allegiance to Jon Anderson, and any line-up without him can never feel quite right. The fact that Jon and Rick had been replaced by Buggles seemed a step too far; the musical gap between the two bands was far too great. It didn’t feel right. We wondered what on earth this new line-up of Yes could possibly be like. 
Actually it was pretty good. Trevor Horn looked nervous, and his voice didn’t quite fit the Yes classics, but he did a great job in what must have been a very difficult situation. Geoff Downes was surrounded by keyboards and synths including a computer; which was probably the first time I’d seen anyone use one on stage. The set drew heavily from their new album “Drama” which featured the new line-up. I remember wondering if they would play “Video Killed the Radio Star”; they didn’t, but they apparently did play the song one night on the USA tour. They did play “Yours Is No Disgrace”, “And You and I”, “Starship Trooper” and “Roundabout”. I remember one of the new songs; “Into the Lens” was particularly good. An interesting concert. Chris Squire (now the only original member) definitely saw himself as the leader of the band; the programme made this very clear, starting with a picture of Chris and a statement about how he founded Yes. Yes split shortly afterwards, and would soon enter a very confusing phase of endless line-up changes. I lost touch with the band during that period. Their visits to the UK would become less frequent, as they concentrated on the American concert stage.
Setlist: Apocalypse; Does It Really Happen?; Yours Is No Disgrace; Into the Lens; Clap; And You and I; Go Through This; Man in the White Car Suite; We Can Fly From Here (a Buggles song); Tempus Fugit; Amazing Grace / Whitefish; Machine Messiah
Encore: Starship Trooper; Roundabout; White Car (a cappela)
7 Mar
The Enid Leeds Holy Trinity Church 6th March 2015
The Enid Leeds Holy Trinity Church 6th March 2015
The Enid are truly back, ignoring their critics (as always), and playing their own brand of symphonic prog-rock in the way that only they can. But this time the critics are unanimous in their praise:
“The Enid have reaffirmed their place among the pantheon of Prog Gods” (Rachel Mann, Prog Magazine).
“The quintessentially English prog group” (Tim Jones, Record Collector Magazine).
“The most majestic rock band of all time” (Band On The Wall).
Enid founder Robert John Godfrey has assembled a new line-up which rivals all previous incarnations of the band. The musician is, without exception, superb and, in Joe Payne, they have discovered a front man who is simply astounding in his stage-craft, performance and vocal ability. They have recently completed a new album, “The Bridge”, which they are touring with at the moment. Robert John Godfrey calls “The Bridge” a “musical allegory” and says of it: “Bridging the gap between the arts and entertainment; the shallow and the deep; the brash and the sensitive. A place where history meets the future. A plea for open mindedness, tolerance and natural justice at a time when the world is sleep walking into the unknowable.”
Last night I went to see The Enid perform their “Bridge” show in Holy Trinity Church Leeds. The show was sold-out and the venue was perfect; Holy Trinity is an active Georgian church in the centre of Leeds. I drove down to Leeds and arrived around 7.30pm, the show was due to start at 8pm. The church was already full and I found myself a seat in a pew towards the back, making sure I had a clear view through the pillars.
Singer Joe Payne says of the new tour concept: “When we first discussed making an album of classical music, I insisted we perform this music exclusively in intimate seated venues. I grew up in the theatre, and hadn’t had much of a rock background before meeting The Enid. So I was determined to re-explore my roots and put on a really extravagant show….The set list must tell a story. The show must run seamlessly. No more ‘now we’re going to play this one, and then we’re going to play that one’. There will certainly be pieces from across The Enid’s back catalogue, but ultimately art must trump nostalgia. These shows will be our most ambitious since the Salome Ballet in the 1980s!”
The concert started in darkness with a grainy screen, mimicking the opening of a 1950s cinema newsreel, and with the traditional Enid anthem “Land of Hope and Glory” (ah, memories of the Reading festival and previous Enid triumphs). Then a video of Joe Payne, dressed as our vintage monarch, delivers a message “We are One. We Can Take It. We are One. We are Many” to her people. Godfrey opens “One and the Many” with quiet, exquisite piano, and then, creeping out of the darkness, appears a hooded Joe Payne; singing as he walks from the back of the church, in the highest, scariest yet sweetest soprano voice. I can’t describe how powerful this opening was.
The mood was set for the rest of the evening. The performance was stunning, outstanding, mesmerizing. Each song “bridged” to the next with a short (semi-political) video, displayed on the multi-media screen behind the band. The visuals were superb, perfectly complementing the performance. So many influences came through; classical, prog-rock, Eastern, opera, church choirs, musical theatre, early-Genesis; yet the music is of its own. Concept pieces like this often come over as contrived and pretentious, and thus ultimately fail; this one doesn’t; it succeeds on every level. The Enid have created a show which exceeds all the superlatives that have been written about it, and lives up to the hype. In a couple of years they have gone from playing to a handful of people to selling out venues of a few hundred. I heard one guy say that he had flown from France for the show. Another said that he has seen the Enid three years ago at Leeds Irish Centre and that there were around 6 people in the audience.
At the end of the performance the audience stood and gave Godfrey and his creation thunderous applause, which lasted for several minutes. The encore was “In the Region of the Summer Stars” from their debut album.
I don’t recall exactly when I last saw the Enid. It was probably in the mid-’70s at either Newcastle Mayfair or the Reading festival, where they became big favourites. At that time they played all instrumentals. The Enid of today is a very different animal. I don’t think I have ever seen a band re-emerge in such a strong and perfect way.
The concert finished around 10.45pm. I drove home up a windy A1 and A19; back home around 12.30am.
The Enid are: Robert John Godfrey (keyboards), Joe Payne (vocals), Max Read (guitar, bass), Dave Storey (drums, percussion), Jason Ducker (guitar) and Dominic Tofield (bass, percussion, guitar).
Act I: Land of Hope and Glory; One and the Many; Terra Firma; Earthborn; Witch Hunt; Space Surfing; Malacandra; Dark Hydraulic
Act II: Wings; Something Wicked This Way Comes; Execution Mob; Leviticus; Someone Shall Rise; Judgement; Shiva
Encore: In the Region of the Summer Stars.
One of the best performances I have seen by any band in many, many years.
6 Mar
Yes Reading festival 23rd August 1975
Yes Reading festival 23rd August 1975
This is probably my favourite Yes show. Not because it was their best performance, although it was pretty good. No, this show just felt right; one of those moments in time that worked. Yes were one of the biggest bands in the UK at the time, Reading was the most iconic festival of the mid-70s, and Yes headlined the Saturday night, which was seen as the “main” night. The rest of the line-up was strong, and the festival sold out in advance, which was unusual.
There was something special about Yes’ set that night. Although I’d already seen the band twice that year, I was still excited about seeing them. The crowd waited in anticipation, for what seemed like a long time; there was an hour or more delay while Yes set up their equipment and apparently insisted on using their own mixing desk, rather than the festival gear, which every other band used. It was worth the wait, although it started to rain, and continued to do so throughout Yes’ set. Yes had a spectacular laser show, the green lights cascading through the rain and across the field. The set was similar to that which they had played throughout the Relayer tour, although I think they played one new song “High Vibration” which was to appear on their next album “Going for the One”. Jon Anderson was amazing, his small figure picked out by the stage lights, and his gentle, sharp, shrill, sweet voice drifting over the field in the cool evening. “Close to the Edge” and “And You and I” we’re classic. Yes played until well after midnight which was the curfew, and their performance was, in the end, cut short. They returned to play a triumphant “Roundabout”. I think they also started to play “Sweet Dreams” but were prevented from doing so.
Robert Fripp of King Crimson was present and in a 1979 interview summed up his evening thus: “I went to the Reading Festival in August, 1975. A band came on stage who were actually friends of mine [I assume he is referring to Yes]. Anyway, we’d been waiting an hour-and-a-half while their laser show was being set up. I went out to the front. It began to rain. I was standing in six inches of mud. It was drizzling. A man over here on my right began to vomit. And a man over here on my left pulled open his flies and began to urinate on my leg.” A typical festival then 🙂
Dave Holmes tells a great story (on Forgotten Yesterday’s site): “Imagine my horror……,.when, at 12:23 as I recall, emerging from stage left, came the small, grey-suited and grey-haired figure of… my Dad! He walked straight up to Jon Anderson, mid-song, actually took the microphone off him, and made some kind of announcement to the audience about having to finish the concert. The rest of the band looked stunned and stopped playing. The stage lights went off, the crowd started booing and throwing cans of piss at the stage. That was the end of the set and the festival for the year. I didn’t know what to do, I was dying of shame…”
Happy days.
Setlist: Sound Chaser; Close to the Edge; And You and I; High Vibration; The Gates of Delirium; Leaves of Green; I’ve seen all Good People; Mood for a Day; Long Distance Runaround; Clap; Ritual (Nous Sommes du Soleil). Encore: Roundabout
Vintagerock's Weblog. 