Coldplay Newcastle Arena 2005
Support Richard Ashcroft
Is this really 7 seven years ago? It doesn’t seem like anytime at all since David, Laura and I went to this gig, which had sold out in superfast time. Support came from special guest Richard Ashcroft who was worthy of headline status in his own right, and warmed the crowd up with a set which included all the Verve classics. The crowd were really up for it, there was a great sense of anticipation. Tickets were selling outside for around £100 each. 
Coldplay got a great reception from the Newcastle crowd and delivered a set which included all their anthems. At the end the lights were switched on and the cameras turned on the audience, showing lots of smiling faces on the video screens. Although I wouldn’t pretend to be a fan, I was pretty impressed by Coldplay at this gig. Setlist: Square One; Politik; Yellow; Speed Of Sound; God Put A Smile Upon Your Face; X&Y; White Shadows; How You See The World; The Scientist; ’Til Kingdom Come; Don’t Panic (Acoustic); Clocks; Talk. Encore: Swallowed In The Sea; In My Place; Fix You
Posts Tagged ‘gigs’
4 Aug
Coldplay Newcastle Arena 2005
3 Aug
Harry Chapin Newcastle City Hall 1977
Harry Chapin Newcastle City Hall 1977
The late Harry Chapin had some great songs, and he played them all at this gig at Newcastle City Hall in 1977. The advert for the tour declared” “Harry Chapin is unique. He’s one of the finest balhadeers of our time”, and that’s all true. Harry was promoting his new album “Dance Band on the Titanic” at the time. I remember this as a great gig, by a sadly missed artist. Harry returned to the City Hall in 1978 and in 1981, however, I only attended his first gig there in 1977. My favourites are his well known songs WOLD, Cats in the Cradle and All my Life’s a Circle (which was a big hit for the New Seekers here in the UK). 
Band: Harry Chapin – Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals; Steve Chapin – Piano, Vocals; “Big John” Wallace – bass, vocals; Kim Scholes – Cello; Ron Palmer – Lead guitar; Howie Fields – Drums. A recording exists of the London show on the tour which shows the setlist as: I Wonder What Happened to Him; Mercenaries; My Old Lady; Mr. Tanner; WOLD; Halfway to Heaven; I Wanna Learn a Love Song; Tangled Up Puppet; Taxi; Sniper; There Only Was One Choice; Cat’s in the Cradle; Bluesman; Odd Job Man; Dogtown; Mail Order Annie; Let Time Go Lightly; 30,000 Pounds of Bananas; Dance Band on the Titanic; All my Life’s a Circle
2 Aug
Crawler, Boxer & Moon Newcastle 1977
Crawler, Boxer & Moon Newcastle 1977
At first glance this may not seem a particularly strong line-up. However, if you dig a little deeper it was actually a pretty interesting collection of bands. Crawler had morphed out of Back Street Crawler, who were Paul Kossoff’s post-Free band. After Kossoff’s sad passing, the remainder of the band continued as Crawler, recruiting Geoff Whitehorn (who had just left jazz-rock band If, and is now in Procol Harum) on guitar. The rest of the line-up was Terry Wilson-Slesser (local Newcastle hero and ex-Beckett) on vocals, Terry Wilson on bass, Tony Braunagel on drums, and John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick (ex-Free, and, until recently, of The Who) on keyboards. Boxer were a later version of Patto, fronted by Mike Patto, and originally had the late great Ollie Halsall on guitar. However, by the time of this package tour the Ollie had left and the line-up was Mike Patto vocals, Eddie Tuduri drums, Chris Stainton (Joe Cocker’s band) on keyboards, Tim Bogert (Vanilla Fudge and Beck, Bogert and Appice) on bass, and the late Adrian Fisher (ex Andy Fraser’s Toby and Sparks) on lead guitar. So between these two bands there were some very respectable musicians. Moon were a seven piece funk-rock band who opened the show. I remember going to the gig with Marie, and that the City Hall was about half full. I don’t recall anything about Moon, but do remember watching Boxer (I thought Mike Patto was a great singer) and Crawler. Crawler delivered a solid blues-rock set, with Slesser doing the business vocally and as a front man. Good values for £1! Actually looking back at this lineup in retrospect some 40+ years later, there were some amazing musicians on stage together that night: the excellent local singer Terry Slesser, Rabbit, the wonderful and very underrated Mike Patto (ex Time Box and Patto), Chris Stainton and Tim Bogert! Boxer were on paper sensational! I wish I could go back and relive this one!
1 Aug
The Crusaders Newcastle City Hall 1980
The Crusaders Newcastle City Hall
Support Randy Crawford (didn’t appear)
I went along with my mate Ian largely to see special guest Randy Crawford, who had just hit the singles chart with “One Day I’ll Fly Away”. She had also previously hit the charts with “Streetlife”, on which she was backed by The Crusaders. However, we were to be disappointed, as Randy was unwell, and did not perform that evening. Interestingly, The Crusaders asked in anyone in the audience was a singer, and a girl got up on stage, and delivered a pretty good version of “One Day I’ll Fly Away”. 
The girl’s name was Debbie, and the Sunday Sun website quoted her recently: “When I was a teenager I used to sing in a band and we all went off one night to the City Hall in Newcastle to see Randy Crawford and the Crusaders. They made an announcement that Randy was ill and asked if there was a singer in the house, and everyone pushed me on stage! I was only 18 but I got to sing with the Crusaders, which was an amazing experience.”
The rest of the show was instrumental, and very jazz-based. Great musician, but we both felt let down by Randy’s non-appearance. “The Crusaders are the epitome of musical excellence- acclaimed the world over by fans and critics alike. Their peers in the music industry refer to the members of The Crusaders as “musician’s musicians”” (from wiki). The Crusaders are: Stix Hooper on drums; Wilton Felder on sax; Joe Sample on piano, and still play to this day. I never did get to see Randy Crawford.
31 Jul
Classix Nouveaux, Theatre of Hate Newcastle Mayfair 1981
Classix Nouveaux, Theatre of Hate, Fad Gadget & Shock
Newcastle Mayfair 26th March
This tour was billed as The 2002 Review, and was a package tour of bands under the “new romantic” banner. I guess 2002 was chosen as a “futuristic’ date. It certainly seemed a long way in the future at the time! “During the early part of 1981 the band (Classix Nouveaux) established their following with two major UK tours. The first was the much publicised 2002 Review which sprang from Sal Solo’s idea of combining a number of promising new bands in one package. This gave national exposure to Kirk Brandon’s Theatre of Hate and Shock” (from ChemistryDaily.com). Classix Nouveaux were formed from the ashes of X-Ray Spex plus shaven headed singer Sal Solo (great name). Theatre of Hate were fronted by Kirk Brandon, later of Spear of Destiny, and were much punkier that the headliner. Fad Gadget (Francis John (Frank) Tovey) was a synth-based musician and early proponent of industrial music. I don’t recall anything about the band Shock. I remember enjoying Theatre of Hate who delivered a very powerful set with great passion from Kirk Brandon. I was also impressed by Classix Nouveaux, whose set was quite dramatic, and Sal Solo a great, charismatic frontman. Great value; all for £3!
30 Jul
Cocteau Twins Newcastle Tiffanys 1984
Cocteau Twins Newcastle Tiffanys 1984
Support Felt
I went along to this gig with my mate Dave. We weren’t that familiar with the band’s music other than the exquisite “Pearly-Dewdrops’ Drops” single. I recall that the place was absolutely packed to the rafters, to the extent that you could hardly move at all. We were surprised just how popular the band were. I’m afraid I don’t recall whether or not we saw support act Felt. I remember being impressed by vocalist Elizabeth Fraser, whose “distinctive singing earned much critical praise. She was once described as “the voice of God.” (from Wiki). This band has somewhat legendary status these days, so I’m pleased I got to see them. I had a t-shirt from the gig, which was worn out and thrown away some years ago. I’ve just checked their gigography and now realise that I also saw The Cocteau Twins a year earlier in 1983, supporting Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. A recording exists of the Tiffanys gig, featuring the tracks: “Hitherto”, “Kookaburra”, “Sugar Hiccup”, and “Pearly Dewdrops Drops”. A review of the recording says: “the gig itself is a bit of an oddity. It might be due to the sound quality but Liz Fraser’s voice sounds much more upfront in the front, and she’s throwing out strange vocal inflections into nearly every line, oversinging almost everything to the point of almost showing off.”
29 Jul
Morrissey Manchester Arena 28 July 2012
Morrissey Manchester Arena 28 July 2012
Welcome home Morrissey! Laura and I went to see the great man perform at the vast Manchester Arena last night. We arrived early, had a look at the merchandise, but decided to pass as Laura was looking for any Morrissey vinyl. We also noticed that all the fast food stalls were selling veggie. Morrissey had obviously insisted that no burgers were to be sold. Support came from Kristeen Young, who has opened for Mozza for some time now. Her weird screechy music bemused the audience as it usually does. During the interval the customary video show displayed some choice obscure cuts, several of which we had seen before, and a couple that were new to us. I recognised Shocking Blue, Vince Taylor (who Morrissey must have modelled himself on to some extent), New York Dolls, Bridget Bardot, and a great video of Francoise Hardy travelling through the night lights of a city (London and Soho?) in an open top car singing “All Over the World”; just perfect. And then a taped rant of some of the world’s ills is played across the PA (Adolf Hitler, torture, Nelson Mandella’s imprisonment, cancer, etc, you get the idea) which must have gone on 5 minutes or more, and Morrissey’s onstage early at 8.35pm. The early entrance took the crowd by surprise, and many people were still entering the arena at that point. The screen shows a cheesy picture of Adam West and Burt Ward (60s Batman and Robin). Morrissey was on good form, and in a really good mood: “Wherever you may roam, there’s no place like… Hulme”. He told us that he “hadn’t been invited to the Olympic opening ceremony because my smile is too sincere”. The Diamond Jubilee also got a mention: “How much longer do we have to put up with that moronic family?” The band were all wearing “We Hate William and Kate t-shirts”. The set bore some similarities to last time Laura and I saw him at Middlesbrough, but there have been quite a few changes, including a couple of new songs that Laura and I didn’t know. The Arena was pretty packed with only a few empty seats right up back at the very top. Guitarist Boz was in drag and introduced by Morrissey as Gaynor Tension (whats all that about?). An image of Oscar Wilde with the speech bubble: “Who is Morrissey?” kept popping up. The sound was clear and loud, from where we sat in the arena, although I know others felt that the sound was poor. Great lights, and the band seemed to me to have a much heavier, darker sound this time round. Towards the end Morrissey gave the mike to the crowd, and let a few fans make comment. One guy thanked Morrissey for meeting him in Belgium (I think) and mentioned that he had given Morrissey a T Rex book. 
Morrissey got one guy up on stage, who hugged him; this prompted lots of people trying to get on stage and some crowdsurfing at the front of the mosh pit. Morrissey dedicated the evening to John McBeath, a promoter from Manchester who passed away earlier this year. The image of Adam West and Burt Ward returned at the end. Highlights for me were: Everyday is Sunday; How Soon is Now; Please Let Me Get What I Want, Still Ill, which I don’t think I’ve seen him play since the days of The Smiths. Meat is Murder was quit extended with lots of old video footage of animals being slaughtered. I wonder if this is the same footage that was used on the Smiths’ Meat is Murder tour. It looks pretty similar. The crowd were quite subdued; the reaction wasn’t anywhere near what we’d expected, given this was a homecoming gig and his only British gig this year. Nothing like the 50th birthday gig at the Apollo. Notwithstanding that this was a good gig, which both Laura and I really enjoyed. He finished shortly after 10pm, and we were home by around 12.45am. Setlist: You Have Killed Me; Everyday Is Like Sunday; You’re The One For Me, Fatty; How Soon Is Now?; I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris; Ouija Board, Ouija Board; Maladjusted; When Last I Spoke To Carol; Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me; People Are The Same Everywhere; I Know It’s Over; To Give (The Reason I Live); Scandinavia; Black Cloud; Action Is My Middle Name; I Will See You In Far-Off Places; Meat Is Murder; Let Me Kiss You; Speedway; Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want. Encore: Still Ill
28 Jul
Ry Cooder Newcastle City Hall 1982
Ry Cooder Newcastle City Hall 1982
Ry Cooder is, of course, a legend who has played with so many greats, including The Rolling Stones, Captain Beefheart, and Eric Clapton. This 1982 gig was the only time that I saw him in concert. The 1982 UK tour was to promote the Slide Area album. I recall this as a good gig, but I knew very little of Ry’s material. The new album featured all Ry Cooder originals, and much of the set was drawn from it. I also recall that the ticket price of £5 seemed expensive at the time. The programme states: “Ry Cooder continues as one of the most loving and inventive practitioners of modern music. Without a doubt, Ry Cooder is one of America’s most precious natural resources”. 
Band: Baboo on percussion; Jim Dickinson on piano; Chris Ethridge on bass; Jim Keltner of drums; Smitty Smith on keyboards; and Willie Greene, Bobby King and Pico Payne on backing vocals. A bootleg of the Hammersmith Odeon show of the same tour shows the setlist as: Little Sister; Go Home Girl; Smack Dab in the Middle; Denomination Blues; Down in the Boondocks; Fool about a Cigarette; Feeling Good; How can a Poor Man stand such Times and Live; I’m Not Worried; Its All Over Now; Blue Suede Shoes; Which Came First; If Walls Could Talk; I’m Drinking Again; The Very Thing that makes you Rich; Never Make your Move too Soon; Crazy ’bout an Automobile; Down in Hollywood; Chain Gang.
27 Jul
Camel Newcastle City Hall 1979
Camel Newcastle City Hall 1979
The last time I saw Camel in concert was in 1979 at Newcastle City Hall. By this time the late Peter Bardens had left the band, and had been replaced by two keyboard players. I remember wondering how the band would survive the departure of such a key founder member, and was a little unsure whether to go along to the concert this time around. However a few of us did go along, and the band performed as consistently as ever. 
The tour was to promote the new album “I Can See Your House from Here”, which was quite controversial as a result of its cover which features a crucified astronaut looking down on the earth. I haven’t seen Camel since 1979, although versions of the band have toured up until 2003; with Andy Latimer at the helm. Andy’s poor health has restricted Camel activity in recent years, however the good news is that the Camel website suggests that a new album is under development. Setlist from the London show of the tour: Echoes; Unevensong; Song within a Song; Neon Magic; Rhayader; Rhayader Goes to Town; Migration; Rainbow’s End; Wait; Ice; Hymn to Her; Announcement; Who We Are. Encore: Your Love Is Stranger Than Mine; Never Let Go
26 Jul
Michael Chapman: a Fully Qualified Survivor
Michael Chapman gigs in the 1970s
Michael must have spent the whole of the 1970s gigging up and down the country. I recall seeing him support several major touring artists: Emerson, Lake and Palmer; Focus and Camel come to mind, but I’m sure there were several others. I also recall going to see him as headline act at Newcastle Mayfair one Friday night around 1975 or 1976. Pretty sure he had a full band with him that night, featuring Keef Hartley on drums, and Rick Kemp on bass. Danny Thompson also often played with Michael, on acoustic double bass. If you haven’t heard any of Michael’s material, listen to his first album Rainmaker, or the Fully Qualified Survivor album, both of which are classics. Michael continues to play to this day, and is another guy who I really must catch up with and go and see again. I always enjoyed seeing him in the 70s, his guitar playing is as strong as his songs and his soulful voice.
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