Duran Duran Newcastle City Hall 1982
By the time of the Rio album and tour Duran Duran were massive and at the top of their game. They sold out two nights at the City Hall, and I attended the second night. The set included all the hits; their first two albums contain a load of great songs: Rio, Hungry Like the Wolf, Save A Prayer: all good. I was pretty near the front and the crowd was going crazy around me: great stuff! This was the last time I was to see Duran Duran in concert, other than their appearance at Live Aid in 1985, which signalled the end of the band for some 20 years until the recent reunion.
Setlist: Rio; Hungry Like the Wolf; Last Chance on the Stairway; Lonely In Your Nightmare; Sound of Thunder; Night Boat; New Religion; Friends of Mine; Save a Prayer; Planet Earth; Hold Back the Rain; Careless Memories. Encore: Come Up And See Me (Make Me Smile); My Own Way; Girls on Film. Interesting to see that they covered Cockney Rebel’s Make Me Smile as the first encore on this tour. Support came from Bloomsbury Set (thanks Greg!).
Posts Tagged ‘gigs’
26 Sep
Duran Duran Newcastle City Hall 1982 Rio!
25 Sep
Duran Duran Newcastle City Hall 1981
Duran Duran Newcastle City Hall 1981
I first came across Duran Duran when they supported Hazel O’Connor on her Breaking Glass tour at Newcastle City Hall. It was clear then that this was a band with a strong image and some great pop songs with catchy hooks, which transcended the New Romantic tag which they had. A year later they were back with their own headlining tour. I remember being surprised at the time at how quickly this new band had risen to headline status. They had released three singles in quick succession: Planet Earth, Careless Memories and Girls of Film, but I still doubted that they could fill the City Hall. But the gig was full; Duran Duran had already started to build their own strong following. 
Their short set on this, their first UK tour, featured the new album and a cover or two. I remember being very impressed by them, and by Simon Le Bon in particular. They were much more than a group of pretty boys, they were a great live band, on their first major tour, and clearly enjoying their new success. It was obvious that they were going to be very big.
24 Sep
Doctor Ross Sunderland Black Cat Club 1975
Doctor Ross Sunderland Black Cat Club 1975
Dr Ross was THE MAN. This gig was at the Black Cat Club, which sat in the grounds of Roker Park, the old Sunderland football ground. The Doctor had played previously in Sunderland at the Glebe Folk and Blues Club, and had built up quite a following on local blues aficionados. Doctor Ross was a black blues singer in the traditional style of John Lee Hooker and Sonny Boy Williamson. He was a true one-man band, and played harmonica, acoustic guitar, bass drum, and hi-hat simultaneously.
Ross was born in Mississippi in 1925. He was apparently nicknamed Doctor because he carried his harmonicas in a black doctor’s bag. Doctor Ross achieved greater success in the UK and Europe than in his home country and spent quite a bite of time touring here during the 70s. His shows were impressive, great traditional blues with this one guy playing all the instruments as well as singing. He seemed an old guy at the time, but actually he was 50 years old (which seems very young now…).
A 1973 album: “Live an Montreux” contains the tracks: Doctor Ross Rockin’; Freight Train; Mama Blues; Good Morning Little Schoolgirl; General Motors Blues; Got Something to Tell You; Hobo Blues; Let’s Boogie All Night Long; Honey Bee Blues; My Airplane Chick, giving an indication of the set he was playing in the 70s. Dr Ross passed away in 1993, at the age of 67.
23 Sep
Steve Gibbons Band Beamish Hall Durham 23rd Sep 2012
Went along to Beamish Hall last night, where they have started a new music club, Shaftos. The club is holding music nights once a month, the venue being Shafto’s Hall. The place was pretty full; quite an impressive turn out for the first night of a new venture. Support came from local singer Steve Daggett, who warmed the crowd up with a set featuring Lindisfarne, Bob Dylan and Alan Hull classics. After a short break Steve Gibbons and his band took to the stage. It was good to see Steve again, it must be close to 30 years since I’ve seen him in concert. 
His set was very blues and R&B based, with a Dylan song or two thrown in. Steve has a vast catalogue of albums to draw from, and delved back through these, playing tracks from across his career. He is quite difficult to catagorise; his songs mix blues, rock n roll, R&B, country and shuffle. The confidence and stage craft developed over a 50 year career shines through, and he is backed by a band of first cass musicians. This gig brought back old memories; I saw Steve Gibbons a number of times during the 70s and early 80s. The ticket scanned here is from a gig at Sunderland Kasbah (a short lived venue) in the early 80s. The Steve Gibbons Band supported a number of bands during the 70s, including The Who. The current line up of the Steve Gibbons band is: Steve on vocals, guitar and mouth harp; Phil Bond on piano, and accordion; Brendan Day on drums; John Caswell on bass; and Howard Gregory on guitar, and violin.
22 Sep
Deaf School in concert 1976 – 1978
Deaf School in concert 1976 – 1978
Deaf School were a very influential band, although they are seldom mentioned these days. Holly Johnson said: “They revived Liverpool music for a generation.”, and Paul Du Noyer (founder of Mojo magazine) claimed:: “In the whole history of Liverpool music two bands matter most, one is The Beatles and the other is Deaf School.” Strong praise indeed, and not bad for a band who never had a hit single and existed for only a few years in the late 70s.
Deaf School were quite a large troupe of members with Bette Bright, Enrico Cadillac, and Eric Shark on vocals, Ian Ritchie on woodwind instruments, Max Ripple on keyboards, Clive Langer on guitar, Steve “Average” Lindsey on bass guitar and Tim Whittaker on drums.
Deaf School live were like nothing else at the time. Part art school review, part vaudeville, part rock n roll and doowop, very theatrical, with catchy songs and great musicianship. And remember this was at a time when punk was sweeping through the country. 
I saw them several times, at Redcar Coatham Bowl, Middlesbrough Town Hall, Newcastle University and Newcastle Poly. I note from the ticket for the Redcar gig, that the support was Ray Phillip’s (ex Budgie) band Woman, who I saw a few times in the 70s. Deaf School always delivered a great show, and it was exactly that, a show. They should have achieved much greater success than they did. I suspect one reason why this never happened was because they couldn’t capture the fun, theatricality and atmosphere of their live show on record. They were essentially a great live band. Every time I saw them the crowd was totally blown away. Deaf School have reformed recently, and have played a few gigs in home town Liverpool, London and further afield. Another one for my list of people to see again.
21 Sep
The Dickies in concert
The Dickies in concert
The Dickies were at their height in the UK in the late 1970s. They are a crazy, fun punk band who played superfast versions of well known songs. They were like the Ramones, but even more tongue in cheek and took and very funny. Their album “The Incredible Shrinking Dickies” was quite a hit in the UK, as were versions of “Paranoid”, “Eve of Destruction” and “Nights in White Satin”. They had their biggest success with “Banana Splits (Tra La La Song)”, the theme tune from the TV show, which got into the UK top 10 in 1979, and was released in dayglo yellow vinyl. 
I saw The Dickies a few times, including gigs at the City Hall (first supporting the Jam, and then their own headline show at which they were supported by Chelsea) and The Mayfair. The Mayfair gig took place while Banana Splits was in the charts. Played live, the song featured loads of bananas being thrown into the audience. They were a great fun night out, a cartoon-like crazy punk band, every song played super fast, with the crowd pogoing for their lives. They had a pretty strong following in the North East with young punks. I found this report from the time: “A riot breaks out in Newcastle when the band appears at a record signing. 2500 kids skip school to meet them but end up breaking the store’s front window. The police are called.” I seem to recall for the Newcastle Mayfair gig they played two shows, an early show for under 16s and a later show for older fans. My memory tells me that I went to the early kids show, so that I could then go along to the City Hall and see Judas Priest, but my ticket shows the time of the show as 7pm start, so maybe I went to see Priest first and then went to The Mayfair. The Dickies remain popular with punks in the UK, and continue to play to this day.
20 Sep
Cambridge Folk Festival 1975
I realised that working alphabetically through my ticket and programme collection won’t cover the festivals that I’ve been to over the years, so I have decided to skip out of the alphabet now and then to cover a festival or two. Hence I’m having a rest from covering artists starting with the letter D and will write something today on the Cambridge Folk Festival.
I’ve only been to Cambridge once, and greatly enjoyed it and have often fancied returning, but have never done so. I drove down in 1975 with my mate Norm to the event at Cherry Hinton Hall. We drove down on the Saturday, which was the second day of the festival and paid at the door, driving back on Sunday night, and arriving home early Monday morning. I think the attendace was around 15,000 and over-crowding was becoming a problem for the organisers. It was one of the friendliest festivals that I’ve ever been to; with music all around. Everywhere you turned someone was playing a guitar and singing, from local artists, through to impromptu sets by some of the headliners. We ran into some friends from the North East and had a great time taking in different sorts of music. We were both much more used to rock festivals, and found this laid back folk event a very refreshing change. Great atmosphere, and great music. Highlights for me were Leo Kottke and his incredible impressive slide guitar on Vaseline Machine Gun, Stefan Grossman, seeing Bert Jansch sing to a small crowd outside one of the tents, Richard and Linda Thompson playing a superb set drawn from their albums I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight and Hokey Pokey, and headliner Dave Bromberg. The line-up was quite strong and included: Tom Rush, Vin Garbutt, Richard and Linda Thompson, Brillo, Robin and Barrie Dransfield, Harvey Andrews and Graham Cooper, Stefan Grossman, Bert Jansch, Tony Rose, Nic Jones, Stefan Grossman, Dave Bromberg Band, Leo Kottke, Jack The Lad, Five Hand Reel, Country Gazzette, Spud.
19 Sep
The Doors (of the 21st Century) Manchester Arena 2004
The Doors (of the 21st Century) Manchester Arena 2004
Line-up Ray Manzarek – keyboards, vocals; Robby Krieger – guitar, vocals; Ian Astbury – lead vocals; Ty Dennis – drums, percussion; Angelo Barbera – bass guitar.
More than 30 years after I saw The Doors at Newcastle City Hall, David and I went to see them at Manchester Arena. This version of the band featured original members Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger, with new singer Ian Astbury of The Cult fame. Drummer John Densmore declined to take part in the project and sued the other band members over their use of the name. I had mixed views about going to the gig. The last time I saw the band Ray and Robby took vocal duties and the set was largely new material. This time it was clear that the set would be classic Doors and Ian was almost mimicking Jim Morrison. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about that, and how appropriate it was. However we did attend, out of interest as much as anything. The 20,000 capacity venue was nowhere near full, I would say it was a quarter full, if that. We had great seats a few rows from the front. There was no support act and the band were onstage for a couple of hours, the set consisting of a selection of Doors classics. Looking at setlists from the time it is clear that the band changed their set significantly from night to night. One disappointment for me was that they didn’t play Riders on the the Storm. But putting that aside, this was a great gig, which Ian carried off well. He looked like Jim, was dressed like him, and must have studied videos of his movements. But it worked well. We have the old songs, a psychedelic light show, and a band with two original members. It was just great and made me realise how amazing The Doors must have been in the day. David and I both enjoyed it. Setlist: Break On Through (to the Other Side); Not to Touch the Earth; Love Me Two Times; Alabama Song (Whisky Bar); Back Door Man; Love Her Madly; The Changeling; Hyacinth House; Spanish Caravan; Five to One; The Unknown Soldier; Peace Frog; Roadhouse Blues; L.A. Woman. Encore: Touch Me; Light My Fire
18 Sep
Glencoe: an under-rated early 70s band
Glencoe: an under-rated early 70s band
Blogging on the Deep Purple gigs that I attended in the early 70s, has made me think a little about Glencoe, who supported Deep Purple on their 1972 UK tour. I remember Glencoe well and saw them a few times. They featured Norman Watt Roy on bass and John Turnbull ( from Newcastle ) on guitar, who had been in Bell and Arc. Both of them went on to be part of Ian Dury and the Blockheads. Norman is now bass player for Wilko Johnson. One particular gig comes to mind. I went along to see Stray and Glencoe at the Mayfair, with a friend who was heavily into Stray. It was a midnight to 4am gig; it may have been Easter Sunday or something like that. We got the last train through to Newcastle and arrived at the Mayfair. The queue was massive, and I remember being worried that we might not get in, and would be left stranded in Newcastle all night. We did get in and the place was packed to the walls. Glencoe played, and then they announced over the PA that Stray weren’t coming and would be replaced by a local band. My memory is hazy here. I have vague memories of both Lucas Tyson and Brass Alley playing. I think Lucas Tyson may have been on first, before Glencoe, and then Brass Alley replaced Stray (or was it the John Miles Set? Who nows….). We were also told over the PA that in compensation we could come along and see Edgar Broughton free of charge the following Friday. We didn’t think that was very fair, as we had come especially to see Stray, so we went along and spoke to a bouncer. I said I wanted to see the manager to ask for our money back. The bouncers weren’t the most understanding of guys in those days. He slapped me across the face, and told me to b***** off or he would throw us out. We decided it would be wiser to accept his advice. We stayed in the Mayfair until the gig finished at 4am. We then went to Bowers all night cafe which was opposite the station, had a cup of coffee and stayed there until the first train back to Sunderland, which was around 6am. Happy Days….Glencoe were a good band, who were a mix of funk and rock. Norman Watt Roy was the stand out as bass player, and John Turnbull was also great on guitar. I had their album at one point, and still have a single of theirs, called Friends of Mine. I also remember a song called Airport, which was a highlight of their live set at the time.
17 Sep
The Doors Sandy Denny & Hawkwind Newcastle City Hall 1972
The Doors Newcastle City Hall 1972
Support from Sandy Denny and Hawkwind
This was a pretty impressive line-up when I look back on it. I went along with my friend John, largely to see The Doors. This was post-Jim Morrison, at a point where the three remaining members were touring without any replacement singer. The line-up was Ray Manzarek – keyboards, vocals; John Densmore – drums, percussion; Robby Krieger – guitar, vocals; plus touring musicians Jack Conrad – bass guitar, and Bobby Ray Henson – rhythm guitar, back vocals, percussion. Ray and Robby took vocal duties, and they were promoting their recent album Other Voices. The advertised support act was Sandy Denny, who was touring as a solo artist, having left Fairport Convention a few years earlier. Hawkwind weren’t advertised at all, and were a nice surprise on the night. We arrived at the show not late but were suprised to find a band on stage that was obviously not Sandy Denny. At first we had no idea who they were, but were impressed by them and realised we were watching something which was quite weird and pretty special. Then they played Master of the Universe, which was in heavy rotataion at the local Mecca at the time, and we realised who we were watching. This was the classic Hawkwind, with naked dancer Stacia, Lemmy, Dik Mik, Dave Brock, Nik Turner, Del Dettmar, Simon King, and possibly Robert Calvert. There were certainly lots of them on stage. I recall great lights, a strong smell of joss sticks in the hall (the band were giving them out to the audience) and a set of great songs, which blended from one into the next. This was pre the release of Silver Machine, but I suspect the song will have featured in the set at that time. We were both blown away by Hawkwind and remain life long fans of the band to this day. Sandy Denny sat at a grand piano centre stage; I can’t remember what she played, but I suspect it was taken from her solo album Sandy which was released in 1972. The Doors were OK, but many of the songs were new and unfamiliar to us. The only old songs they played were Light My Fire and Love Me Two Times. We were both disappointed that they didn’t play Riders on the Storm. A great gig, and a great introduction to Hawkwind, who were at their height at that time. And all for 75p!
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