Alice Cooper Newcastle 1986 and 1988
It was around ten years till I saw Alice Cooper again. He visited the UK in 1982, but for some reason I didn’t make a show on that tour. However he was back again in 1986, and paid his fist visit to Newcastle. After experiencing the splendour of the “Welcome to my Nightmare” tour, I was looking forward to this gig. Support came from Alien Sex Fiend, a deathrock band formed at the Batcave club in London. Alice was promoting the Constrictor lp, which was his 16th(!) album, and the tour was named “The Nightmare Returns”. 
It was seen as a return to form, if perhaps a little more heavy metal than previous outings. The show was as theatrical as ever, with Frankenstein making an appearance for the song “Teenage Frankenstein”. The set contained a selection of all the classic Alice tracks. Setlist: Welcome to My Nightmare; Billion Dollar Babies; No More Mr. Nice Guy; Be My Lover; I’m Eighteen; The World Needs Guts; Give It Up; Cold Ethyl; Only Women Bleed; Go to Hell; Ballad of Dwight Fry; Teenage Frankenstein; Sick Things; I Love the Dead; School’s Out. Encore: Elected; Under My Wheels. Seem to recall that I went to the gig with my mate Norm and that we went down to Tiffanies (it may have been another club) afterwards and saw We’ve Got A Fuzzbox and We’re Gonna Use It!! 
Alice was back in Newcastle two years later; this time for a two night stay at the City Hall. Support this time came from heavy metal act Chrome Molly, and Alice’s new album was Raise Your Fist and Yell. I found the following interesting snippet on the sickthingsuk site: “During the first night at Newcastle City Hall 8th April, 1988, Alice accidentally threw one of the dancers whips [during Go To Hell] up into the balcony and was caught, much to the delight of a female member of the audience (Steve Olley, January 2009).” The set was quite similar to Alice’s previous visit, and this time the show featured Freddie Kreuger appeared in the show!
Posts Tagged ‘gigs’
14 Aug
Alice Cooper Liverpool Empire 1975
Alice Cooper Liverpool Empire 1975
Welcome to my Nightmare tour
Support Heavy Metal Kids
This was the first time that I saw Alice Cooper. A group of us went to the gig in a couple of cars, all of us exciting at the prospect of seeing the king of shock rock. We’ll heard the singles, seen him perform “School’s Out” on Top of the Pops and read about the outlandish stage shows in the NME and Sounds. This was our chance to see Alice in the flesh in his ghoulish horror show which featured snakes, an execution and babies being sliced up. It was Alice’s first concert in the north of England; he had previously only played in London and Glasgow. Support came from Heavy Metal Kids, with Gary Holton on top form, giving his usual super cocky cockney act. We had seats right down at the front and all thought the gig was tremendous. There had been some luke warm reviews of the “Welcome to my Nightmare” album, largely because Alice had lost all of the original band members, and was now, in effect, a solo artist, rather than Alice Cooper the band. However, we needn’t have worried, as this was Alice Cooper at his theatrical best, fronting a stage show that was at times just astounding, and, for its time, unbelievable in places. The show started with the taped voice of Vincent Price booming over the PA system, followed by wonderfully choreographed dancers, who seemed to appear out of nowhere from a giant projection screen, which was the size of the stage. Next Alice suddenly appeared singing the opening lines of the title track. 
Alice had a giant toy box, and from that jumped devils, bats, and a bunch of skeletons who delivered a nifty dance routine complete with top hats and canes. There was a massive graveyard scene with Alice creeping through the gravestones, dancing demons, giant spiders for “Black Widow” and a cyclops during “Department Of Youth”. And he played School’s Out! Just Wonderful! Setlist: Welcome To My Nightmare, Years Ago, No More Mr Nice Guy, Years Ago, Billion Dollar Babies, Years Ago, I’m Eighteen, Some Folks, Cold Ethyl, Only Women Bleed, Devil’s Food, The Black Widow, Steven, Welcome To My Nightmare (reprise), The Awakening, Escape, School’s Out, Department of Youth
13 Aug
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Wembley Stadium 1974
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Wembley Stadium 1974
Special guests: Joni Mitchell, The Band, Jesse Colin Young
Looking back this was a very strong line-up and a truly historic gig, although I’m not sure I realised it at the time. A group of us went down to London by train, primarily to see CSN&Y. To be honest ( and to my shame) I had little interest in seeing the other acts on the bill. This gig was very much a coming together of the long hairs; everyone there to see a cluster of west coast superstars who rarely appeared in the UK. The weather was good, a hot late summer day, and the vibe friendly and laid back. I remember running into loads of people from the North East. We had tickets for the stands, and couldn’t get down on the pitch which was frustrating. My mates and I spent some time next to the back stage area, star spotting. We saw (I think; from a bad….memory) members of the Moody Blues, The Faces, Led Zeppelin and Marc Bolan. My mate Don and I ran into Robert Plant in the gents, and we chatted to him; Don offered Plant a drink from his bottle of beer, Plant took a swig to Don’s delight (he swore he would keep the bottle for ever!). We arrived early and saw all the bands; I wish I’d taken more notice of their sets than I did. Jesse Colin Young’s “Darkness, Darkness” is now one of my favourite songs, but I remember nothing of what he played that day. I remember that the Band played a solid set including “The Weight”, “Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and “Cripple Creek”. Joni Mitchell’s set was part solo on acoustic guitar or piano, and part accompanied by Tom Scott’s L.A. Express. Her album at the time was Court and Spark, and she played tracks from that lp plus favourites such as “Woodstock”, “Big Yellow Taxi” and “This Flight Tonight”. She is another artist who I really appreciate now; much more so than I did back then in the day. 
CSN&Y played a long set of around four (!) hours. They were just amazing; incredible harmonies, great musicianship. There were times when it dragged a little for me, as the set included a lot of songs which were unfamiliar to me. However, before too long another classic would come along, the harmonies would be spot on, and the guitar duels would spark off again. My enduring memories are of the start and end of their set. They started with an extended version of “Love the one you’re with” and the place went crazy. My last memory is of standing on a wooden bench, such as the seats were in the Wembley stands in those days, singing the chorus of “Ohio”, with 72,000 other people. Days don’t come any better. Where did the years go?
CSNY setlist: Love the One You’re With; Wooden Ships; Immigration Man; Helpless; Military Madness; Johnny’s Garden; Traces; Almost Cut My Hair; Teach Your Children; Only Love Can Break Your Heart; The Lee Shore; Time After Time; It’s All Right; Another Sleep Song; Our House; Hawaiian Sunrise; Star of Bethlehem; Love Art Blues; Old Man; Change Partners; Blackbird; Myth of Sisyphus; Word Game; Suite: Judy Blue Eyes; Déjà Vu; First Things First; Don’t Be Denied; Black Queen; Pushed It Over the End; Pre-Road Downs; Carry On; Ohio
12 Aug
Penetration Stockton Georgian Theatre 11 August 2012
Penetration Stockton Georgian Theatre 11 August 2012
Middlesbrough Rock Garden Revisited
“Nostalgia for an age yet to come”
This gig was one of a series of concerts organised under the Rock Garden Revisited banner, which is booking veteran punk acts to play at the Stockton Georgian Theatre and, in doing so, allowing ageing punks to relive their youth. Although I can’t claim to have been a true, and out and out, punk in the late 70s, I did go to gigs at the Rock Garden quite a lot in those glorious days which seem so long ago now, and Penetration were a band that Marie and I saw loads of times at various North East venues. 
So I decided to join in, and try and relive some of my younger days. This was my first visit to the Georgian Theatre, which is hidden away in the redeveloped Riverside quarter of Stockton. Actually, I was a bit unsure about going to this gig. Penetration are a band that we were really into in the day, to the extent that I still know the lyrics to most of the songs. Sometimes its better to leave memories intact; revisiting them runs a risk of tarnishing precious memories. However, I decided I would go and played their first album “Moving Targets” to remind myself of those great songs. The place was full; tickets had sold out in February. Penetration took to the stage around 10pm, and played a set of all their classic tunes. Great stuff, Pauline was on good form and in good voice, and the crowd loved it. The sound was a bit ropey at times, with feedback and distortion creeping in here and there, and they were really LOUD. My ears are still ringing this morning. 
Penetration started with Future Daze and the set included (although not necessarily in this order): Life’s a Gamble; Feeling; Lovers of Outrage; Movement; Free Money; Silent Community; Don’t Dictate; Danger Signs; Nostalgia; Come Into the Open; She is the Slave. The encore included Shout Above the Noise and Firing Squad.
11 Aug
David Cassidy Newcastle City Hall 2001
David Cassidy Newcastle City Hall 2001
This concert was without doubt a guilty pleasure. I’d always secretly liked David Cassidy since I watched The Partridge Family on TV in the 70s. I didn’t get to see him in his heyday, and when I read he was coming to Newcastle I came clean and admitted to Marie that I would like to go along. She also quite fancied it, so I bought a couple of tickets, scoring seats a few rows from the front. 
The show sold out pretty quickly; it seemed that David had maintianed his strong fan base. On the night of the gig we arrived shortly after 8pm to find David already on stage; although the ticket had listed “plus guests” they was actually no support act.The show was pretty enjoyable. David Cassidy is a pro, he has a back catalogue of strong material to draw on, and he can really work a crowd. The audience was almost all 40 something women, who just went crazy, everyone reliving their teenage dreams. Cassidy’s set included all the hits: “Daydreamer”, “I woke up in love”, “Cherish”, “Could It Be Forever”, “How Can I Be Sure”, “Some Kind of A Summer”, “I think I Love You” and his later hit “Last Kiss”; some covers (think he did “River Deep, Mountain High” for exaomple) and some vaudeville thrown in for good measure. We both enjoyed it; I’m pleased Marie came; I would have felt SO out of place on my own at this gig!
10 Aug
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band Newcastle City Hall 1974
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band
Newcastle City Hall 4th June 1974
Support from Henry Cow
The Captain completed a hat trick of visits to Newcastle City Hall with this 1974 concert. The line-up for The Magic Band had changed completely since their last UK visit; it seems there had been a fall out between the band and their captain. Beefheart quickly put together a new band to honour existing tour dates.The new Magic Band comprised Fuzzy Fuscaldo on guitar; Ty Grimes on drums; Del Simmons on saxophone; Dean Smith on guitar; Michael Smotherman on keyboards and Paul Uhrig on bass. Unfortunately they weren’t at all familiar with the intricacies and complexity of their predecessors’ material, and it showed. They were described by reviewers of the day as a “bar band”, or “The Tragic Band”, a moniker which stuck and is often used to describe Beefheart’s band of that period. The show consisted of a selection of Beefheart classics delivered more as twelve bar blues, than in their original format. Imagine Beefheart growling over the same soft rock boogie shuffle backing for each song, and you’ve just about got it. It was still an enjoyable show, but far removed from the magnificence of the 1972 tour. Support came from Henry Cow, who were very experimental and avant garde, as I recall. Unlike previous Beefheart gigs at the City Hall, I don’t think this show was very well attended. I saw Beefheart once more, at the 1975 Knebworth festival, on a bill headlined by Pink Floyd. The 1973 Magic Band regrouped as Mallard along with a new singer and toured the UK; I caught their show at Newcastle Mayfair in 1976. Beefheart was a truly unique artist, who is much missed, and I’m please I was lucky enough to see him a few times. A typical set list from the 1974 UK tour was: Mirror Man; Upon the My-Oh-My (which he performed on The Old Great Whistle Test during this visit); Full Moon Hot Sun; Sugar Bowl; Crazy Little Thing; Mighty Crazy; Sweet Georgia Brown; This is the Day; New Electric Ride; Abba Zaba; Peaches.
9 Aug
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band Newcastle City Hall 1973
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band
Newcastle City Hall 28th April 1973
I couldn’t wait to see Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band again after witnessing their magnificent 1972 performance at Newcastle City Hall. And it wasn’t long until they were back in the UK for another tour. The Magic Band line-up had changed slightly since their last visit in that Alex (pyjama) St Claire had replaced (the wonderfully named) Winged Eel Fingerling on slide guitar. This time the show was not as theatrical as the previous year, however the music was as mesmerising as ever, the setlist expanded slightly to include a good selection of tracks from throughout the Captain’s career including one of my favourites, “Electricity”, alongside tracks from the current album “Clear Spot”. 
The set was also considerably much more delta / werewolf growl blues than last time. However, this gig doesn’t stick in my mind as much as the 1972 concert. Fraid I can’t recall at all who the support act was (or if there was a support), and I don’t have a programme to help me. The setlist for the Nottingham show from the 19873 tour is listed as follows, I would assume that the Newcastle show was a similar set: Hair Pie Bake III; Suction Prints; Sue Egypt; Mirror Man; Low Yo Yo Stuff; Crazy Little Thing; Sifter Solo; Sugar ‘n’ Spikes; I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby; Electricity; Peon; I’m a King Bee; Click Clack; Alice in Blunderland; Nowadays a Womans Gotta Hit a Man. Encore: Big Eyed Beans From Venus; Golden Birdies
8 Aug
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band Newcastle City Hall 5th April 1972
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band 5th April 1972 Newcastle City Hall
Support from Foghat
The Magic Band: Rockette Morton; Winged Eel Fingerling; Ed Marimba; Zoot Horn Rollo; Orejon
It was very cool to be into Captain Beefheart in the early 70s. Me, I got into him through Frank Zappa, and his vocals on “Willie the Pimip”, on the “Hot Rats” album. I then heard “Safe as Milk” and “Trout Mask Replica”. I was fascinated by the very strange sounds they made, so when he came to play at Newcastle City Hall, I bought a ticket straight away. It was one of the oddest, and best gigs, I have attended. I was sitting pretty close to the front, and I was surrounded by some of the wierdest looking hippy types that I’d seen at any gig. A guy sitting a few seats away from me had white hair down to his waste and spent the entire set rocking back and forth in his seat, swinging his long hair about. There was a strong smell of dope in the air. 
Beefheart’s show started with a performance from a ballerina and then a belly dancer. Rockette Morton took to the stage and played a manic extended bass solo. Soon he was joined by the rest of the Magic Band, and the Captain wearing a massive cloak, and singing in the deepest voice I had ever heard. The whole show was one of the most amazing things I have seen to this day. The band were all dressed outrageously, the music was amazing, and it was totally unlike anything I had heard before. And the Captain was just unbelievable. The set was pretty unfamiliar to me; it was by no means a greatest hits set. However, that didn’t matter. The whole show was just incredible: I was blown away by it all, and became a committed Beefheart fan that night. I was to see Beefheart on three further occasions, and he was great each time, but none of those gigs matched this first encounter with the Captain. Setlist: Bass Solo; When It Blows Its Stacks; Grow Fins; Click Clack; Hobo Chang Ba; I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby; Black Snake; Peon; Abba Zaba; Woe-Is-Uh-Me-Bop; Alice in Blunderland; Spitball Scalped a Baby. Encore: More. Support came from Foghat, who grew out of Savoy Brown and played some nice blues/rock/boogie. Although they were a UK band, they found success in the USA, and toured extensively in the States throughout the 70s, coming home only occasionally.
6 Aug
Caravan Newcastle City Hall 1977
Caravan Newcastle City Hall 23rd Sept 1977
I first saw Caravan in the early 70’s at Sunderland Locarno. I’d seen them on Top of the Pops performing “If I Could Do It All Over Again, I’d Do It All Over You” and remember them playing that song, which probably places the gig around 1971. This would have been the classic Caravan line up of David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan. The ticket and programme pictured here are from a later gig, which I attended at Newcastle City Hall in 1977. 
Caravan were promoting their latest album “Better by Far” at the time. Support came from Nova, who were an Italian progressive rock/jazz fusion band. I recall there being quite a bit of publicity around Caravan at the time. They had moved to a new record label, the new album was produced by Tony Visconti, and they embarked upon a tour of concert halls which took them around the UK. The line-up had changed considerably from the early days, with only Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan remaining from the original band. I recall the gig as a night of pleasant melodic rock, with tracks from the new album which were much more poppy than their earlier material. Caravan have reformed recently and are playing The Sage Gateshead in January. Time to revisit them, I think.
5 Aug
Stan Webb and Chicken Shack
Stan Webb and Chicken Shack
Stan Webb is massively under-rated as a guitarist. In my view, he stands up there with Clapton and Peter Green as one the great British blues guitarists. He’s also a great showman, and a great character on stage. I’ve spent many happy nights in the company of Stan and various line-ups of Chicken Shack over the years. My first encounters were a couple of spots as support act for The Groundhogs, probably in 1971 or 1972. One gig was at the City Hall, and the Groundhogs didn’t appear for some reason, so Chicken Shack took on the headline spot. This was no mean feat, as the City Hall was sold out, and we were all waiting to see Tony McPhee and the guys, who were in the charts with Split at the time. However, we were assured that The Groundhogs would play in a couple of weeks, and that if we all held on to our tickets we would see the return gig for free (which we did!). 
Stan and the guys truly rose to the occasion that night and delivered a great set. This was around the time of the Imagination lady album, and Chicken Shack were a three piece at the time, featuring Stan on lead and vocals, John Glascock (soon to leave to join Jethro Tull) on bass guitar, and Paul Hancox on drums. I remember them playing “Crying Won’t Help You” and great versions of B B King’s “The Thrill is Gone” and Tim Hardin’s “If I were a Carpenter”, all of which sometimes feature in the set to this day. 
The other vivid memory I have is of Stan walking to the back of the City Hall through a crowd of people filling the aisles, still playing his guitar all the time. This was well before the days of radio connections, and it was all done with a massively long guitar lead. I saw Stan do the same thing many times over the years, including one night in a ram packed Newcastle Mayfair, where he had to work his way across a packed dancefloor (he was always accompanied by a roadie) and then stood in front of the bar playing a solo to the delight of all of us around him. I recall a couple of gigs in the Mayfair, one with The Groundhogs at the time of the “Who Will Save the World” album, and another supporting Vinegar Joe. 
I’ve always tried to catch Stan and Chicken Shack when they come to the North East, and have seen him in Whitley Bay Dome, Middlesbrough Ladle, Sunderland Kazbah, Newcastle Dingwalls, Newcastle Jewish Mother restaurant (over a pizza meal), Newcastle Tyne Theatre, Hexham Royal Hotel (Stan was very chatty on stage that night, and had probably had a few drinks), The Sage Gateshead with John Mayall, Newcastle City Hall (again with Mayall), Sunderland Ropery, and probably several other gigs that I’ve forgotten over the years. My mate Will has been with me at several of these gigs, and also agrees that Stan is a great guitar player. 
Every time Stan’s guitar playing has been superb; he never lets you down. If you want to check him out, go to Youtube and look for “Poor Boy” and “Daughter of the Hillside” and you’ll soon see what I mean. 
Chicken Shack are, of course, best remembered by many for their hit Single “I’d Rather Go Blind”, which they recored when Christine Perfect was in the band. Christine went on to mega-stardom with Fleetwood Mac, and is now retired. By the time I picked up on Chicken Shack in the early 70s, Christine had long left the band. Its been a few years since I last saw Chicken Shack, as Stan doesn’t seem to tour quite as extensively as he once did. However, I see that he is headlining a blues festival in York in September, which I may go along to if I can make it. Stan’s current line-up features Gary Davis on second guitar, Jim Rudge on bass and Chris Williams on drums (according to Wiki).
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