Guns N Roses and Thin Lizzy Newcastle Arena 23 May 2012
My friend John and I saw a marathon, but amazing, gig by Guns N Roses in Newcastle last night. They came on stage around 10.40pm and played until 1.40am. John has been over from his home in the USA, and suggested we go to the gig. We got there quite early, bought our programmes, and John bought a poster, and we took our seats to see support act Thin Lizzy. They came on stage around 8.30pm and delivered a set of all the classic songs, finishing with The Boys are back in Town. The latest line up of Thin Lizzy is pretty true to the original, however the sound wasn’t wonderful in the big area. The venue was around three quarters full, and Lizzy got a warm reception, although everyone was there to see the headline band. We had read report of Axl and crew coming on stage very late on this tour, and Ticketmaster had emailed me to warn that they would be on stage at 10pm. On the night Guns N Roses actually took to the stage at 10.40pm, around an hour after Lizzy had finished their set. This wasn;t as long a wait as we had feared, and the crowd didn’t seem too restless. The band literally exploded onto the stage, with lots of flares and explosions, which continued at various points throughout the gig. Their performance was much much better than I had expected. Axl has assembled a band of excellent musicians, all of whom showed just how good they are. Although the set came in at around 3 hours, it didn’t drag at all. Its a long time since I’ve seen a band play this long, yet I didn’t get bored. The timings were perfect. A great mix of classic GNR tracks, well chosen covers and impressive solos that were just the right length made this a class rock show. 
And Axl still has all the energy that he did when he was a much younger guy; his voice is also as strong as it ever was. All in all John and I both agreed that this was a pretty neat gig. Impressive stuff, even if I am still tired today. Setlist: Chinese Democracy; Welcome to the Jungle; It’s So Easy; Mr. Brownstone; Sorry; Rocket Queen; Estranged; Better; Richard Fortus Guitar Solo; Live and Let Die (Paul McCartney & Wings); This I Love; Motivation (Tommy Stinson lead vocals); Instrumental Jam ; Dizzy Reed Piano Solo (based on The Who’s Baba O’ Riley); Street of Dreams; You Could Be Mine; DJ Ashba Guitar Solo; Sweet Child O’ Mine; Instrumental Jam; Another Brick In The Wall (Pink Floyd); Axl Rose Piano Solo; November Rain; Glad to Be Here (Bumblefoot lead vocals); Don’t Cry; Civil War; Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan); Nightrain.
Encore: Madagascar; Whole Lotta Rosie (AC/DC); Patience; Paradise City
Posts Tagged ‘heavy metal’
12 May
Blue Oyster Cult Newcastle Tyne Theatre 2002
Blue Oyster Cult Newcastle Tyne Theatre 2002
I lost touch with Blue Oyster Cult for some time, after seeing them several times in the 70s and 80s. There was a 17 year period between my BOC experiences, between seeing them in 1985 at Newcastle City Hall and a gig at Newcastle Tyne Theatre in 2002. I went along with my mate Norm who is a big Blue Oyster Cult fan. The Tyne Theatre is a Grade 1 listed building, which opened in 1867 as the Tyne Theatre and Opera House. Its a lovely venue, and I have fond memories of going there in the 60s with my dad to see King Kong, which seemed a marvel to me at the time. The Tyne Theatre wasn’t full that night, but a respectable crowd had gathered to see BOC. The line up at that time featured old timers Eric Bloom, Buck Dharma, and Allen Lanier and the set contained a healthy mix of old favourites. It was great to see the band again, and the performance was as good as the old days, bringing back memories of those nights in the City Hall. BOC have been back once or twice since then, although I missed those gigs. Its about time I caught up with them again. Setlist: Burnin’ For You; OD’d On Life Itself; ETI; Pocket; Harvester Of Eyes; Teen Archer; Quicklime Girl; Perfect Water; Cities On Flame; Golden Age of Leather; See You in Black; Last Days Of May; Godzilla; (Don’t Fear) The Reaper; Dominance & Submission. It was great to hear Last Days of May again; it remains one of my favourites songs.
6 May
Blue Oyster Cult Newcastle City Hall 1984 and 1985
Blue Oyster Cult Newcastle City Hall 1984 and 1985
Blue Oyster Cult underwent a series of line-up changes during the 1980s, and by the late 80s only Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma remained from the early days. I saw the band twice in the mid 80s, in 1984 and again in 1985. The 1984 show was BOC at their best. The City Hall was packed and the band delivered a great show, much better than the very poor performance my mates and I had seen at Donington a few years earlier. Support came from Aldo Nova. Setlist for 1984 gig: Me262; ETI; Hot Rails To Hell; 
Born 2 Rock; Cities On Flame; Burnin’ For You; Take Me Away; Joan Crawford; Shooting Shark; (Don’t Fear) The Reaper; Godzilla; Born to be Wild; Let Go; Gotta get outta this Place; Roadhouse Blues. Blue Oyster Cult were back in Newcastle the following year, and this time the place was only about half full. At this point the line-up featured three long time members: Eric Bloom, Buck Dharma, and Joe Bouchard. Support came from Girlshool. 
My memories of the evening are of a half-hearted performance, and little crowd reaction. Setlist: Dominance & Submission; ETI; Buck’s Boogie; White Flags; Take Me Away; Last Days Of May; Dancin’ in the Ruins; Joan Crawford; Shadow Warrior; Burnin’ For You; Godzilla; (Don’t Fear) The Reaper; Cities On Flame; Hot Rails To Hell. I lost touch with Blue Oyster Cult after the 1985 show, and didn’t get to see them for some 17 years. I’ll blog on that gig tomorrow. Looking back and reflecting on these gigs makes me realise just how good BOC were. There legacy is pretty impressive. They are still performing to this day and have released 20 albums; not bad going!
5 May
Blue Oyster Cult Newcastle City Hall 1975 and 1978
Blue Oyster Cult Newcastle City Hall 1975 and 1978
I first went to see Blue Oyster Cult at Newcastle in 1975. This was their first UK tour and at the time, they were not very well known at all in this country. I went along, with my friend John, largely out of curiosity. I’d read a little about them in NME or Sounds, and had heard a few tracks somewhere. By 1975, BOC had released three albums, and their live set featured such classics as Harvester of Eyes and my all time favourite Last Days of May, which I still love and play to this day. Set list: Stairway to the Stars; OD’d On Life Itself; Harvester Of Eyes; Flaming Telepaths; Last Days Of May; Before The Kiss; Candy Store (Fill-in Jam); Cities On Flame; Maserati GT; Buck’s Boogie; Me262 (5 guitars); Hot Rails To Hell; Dominance & Submission. 
I remember much being made of a five guitar line up, and the show as being pretty good, with a half full hall being seriously impressed by this new band. Note the miss-spelling on the ticket! By 1978, when The Cult returned to the City Hall, they were much bigger news. They had released Agents of Fortune, and Spectres both of which were massive lp successes here in the UK. 
The single Don’t Fear the Reaper was played everywhere, and has since become their trademark. So this time the City Hall was sold out, and the concert was much anticipated. Nick Kent wrote in the NME: “See, the facts as I recognize ’em are clean-cut to a fine-boned T – the two kings of heavy metal rock in the world right now are Britain’s own Thin Lizzy and the U.S. Blue Öyster Cult.” I went along with a group of mates, all of us now being big BOC fans and they were just amazing. 
BOC were at the top of their game at this time, and the Newcastle crowd witnessed a great gig, and gave them a great reception. The show was much bigger than in 1975, with lazers, smoke and other pyrotechnics. In fact BOC were one of the first rock bands to make use of lazers, which seemed pretty exciting and dangerous for the times. Support came from Japan, in their pre-Ghost arty-rock era. They were hyped up quite a lot at the time, but were pretty disappointing on the night. The set list will have been something like: R.U. Ready 2 Rock; ETI; Harvester Of Eyes; We Gotta Get Out of This Place; Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll; Then Came The Last Days Of May; ME 262; Kick Out the Jams; Godzilla; This Ain’t the Summer of Love; 5 Guitars; Born To Be Wild. Encore: Hot Rails To Hell; (Don’t Fear) The Reaper. I’ve just found a flyer for the 1975 gig, with support act Birth Control. The flyer entitles me to 70p off On Your Feet or on Your Knees! from Virgin records. I wonder if its too late to cash it in? (Actually it is, the flyer says “offer closes 30 Nov 1975”. Shame).
28 Apr
Bad Company Newcastle City Hall 1979 and 2002
Bad Company Newcastle City Hall 1979 and 2002
The next time I saw Bad Company was on the Desolation Angels on 1979. By this time, the band had morphed into a AOR band, playing much more straight rock. Few traces of the bluesy looseness of Free existed by this stage in the band’s evolution. I think the band played two or three nights at the city hall on the 1979 outing, and I remember thinking the tickets were pretty expensive. I also remember thinking they were dressed much more like your typical stadium rock stars!. It was still a great gig, and several of the old classics were played. 
The set list will have been something like this: Bad Company; Good Lovin’ Gone Bad; Gone, Gone, Gone; Burnin’ Sky; Shooting Star; Rhythm Machine; Ready For Love; Simple Man; Oh, Atlanta; She Brings Me Love; Run With The Pack; Evil Wind; Honey Child; Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy; Movin’ On; Live for the Music; Encore: Feel Like Makin’ Love; Can’t Get Enough. I lost touch with the band from then on. They went through a series of changes, which started with Paul Rodgers leaving Bad Company in 1982. There were then a couple of line ups of the band without Paul which played largely in the States during the 80s and 90s. 
I next saw Bad Company in 2002, when they returned to the City Hall. In the interim, I’d seen Paul Rodgers as a solo act a few times, and he was singing as well as ever, his concerts featuring songs from Free, Bad Company and his solo career. The 2002 line up featured Rodgers, Kirke, Dave “Bucket” Colwell on guitar and Jaz Lochrie on bass. Marie and I went to this gig, and we had great seats in the front row. We are amazed how good the band still were. The set was a mix of Bad Co classics, with a few Free songs thrown in, which were big crowd pleasers. I missed the last reunion tour, which I regret. Hope I get the chance to see them again some day.
27 Apr
Bad Company Newcastle City Hall November 1974
Bad Company Newcastle City Hall November 1974
Bad Company returned to Newcastle City Hall 8 months after their triumphant debut. In the months between, my mate John and I had seen them at the Who’s Charlton concert where they performed a strong set. In between the two gigs Bad Company had released their first album, and had a hit with the single Can’t Get Enough. That first lp features classics such as Ready for Love; Bad Company; and
Movin’ On, all which featured in the set at the time. Surprisingly later concert favourite, the beautiful Seagull does not seem to feature in setlists of the time. Ready For Love was a favourite of mine. I first heard in on the John Peel show as a Mott The Hoople track, and it stuck in my mind from that time. 
Support for the tour was Duster Bennet who was a one man band who played a bass drum with his foot, a harmonica on a rack around his neck and a 1952 Les Paul Goldtop guitar which had apparently been given to him by Peter Green. He is best known for his first album Smiling Like I’m Happy. A recording of the Newcastle concert exists which suggests that the setlist was: Little Miss Fortune; Rock Steady; Ready For Love; Don’t Let Me Down; Easy On My Soul; Bad Company; Deal with the Preacher; Movin On; Can’t Get Enough; The Stealer; Rock Me Baby. My memories are of another great gig by a band who were at the top of their game. Thanks to John for the poster which depicts the band at the time of their next album Straight Shooter, and was released in 1975, the year after this concert. They were already playing Deal with the Preacher which was to appear on Straight Shooter.
26 Apr
Bad Company First gigs Newcastle March 1974
Bad Company Newcastle City Hall March 9th 1974
This gig was a big deal at the time. It was the first gig by the new supergroup who had recently been formed by members of Free, Mott the Hoople and King Crimson. Free in particular were great favourites in the north east, and local fans had memories of top Free gigs at Sunderland Locarno, the Mayfair, the Bay Hotel, the Empire, the Rink and the City Hall. I was lucky enough to catch Free live three times at some of the venues I have just mentioned, and had fond memories of that great band. And I guess the decision to play their debut gig at the city hall was, to some extent a measure of the fondness which Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke had for the reason, and also I would think a result of the persistence of local promoter Geoff Docherty. 
If I remember right Bad Company originally announced a single concert at the City Hall, which sold out immediately and a second gig was swiftly added. I went along with a couple of mates and we had high expectations. We were not disappointed. The gig was breath taking, and the crowd were really up for it. Although for me, and many others I suspect, Bad Company never quite reached the same bluesy feel and groove that Free had, on that night they were tremendous. My friend John is a big Free fan, and he too feels that they had the edge over Bad Company. He was also at the gig, and he and I have been having some email debates as to the setlist that night. 
A recording exists of the gig, and it suggests that the set was Little Miss Fortune; Rock Steady; Ready For Love; Don’t Let Me Down; Easy on My soul; Bad Company; Deal With the Preacher; Movin’ On; Can’t Get Enough; The Stealer; Rock Me Baby. However, John is convinced that they played more Free songs including Travelling Man, and that they played Seagull. Me, my memory has big gaps, and all I recall is that it was a great experience and a highlight of my concerts at the time. Bad company were back at the City Hall a few months later. I’ll blog on that gig tomorrrow. 
Thanks to John for the scan of the unofficial show souvenir programme, and the poster which comes from a gig in Birmingham a month later. I always bought an official programme, but hardly ever bought the unofficial ones which were sold outside venues at the time. I wish I had, as they are pretty hard to find and mighty collectable now. Some of them were pretty good, while others covered the concerts of several bands so that they could be sold at gigs over a period of a few months. Thanks also to John for the great photograph of the concert (added 29th of August 2020) which he got from his friend Ken in New York, who used to live in Seaton Sluice and took the picture at the concert himself. Great memories of happy days, which seem so long ago, but which still bring me so much pleasure.
25 Apr
Black Sabbath Newcastle City Hall January 1982
Black Sabbath Newcastle City Hall January 1982
The last time I saw Black Sabbath was in 1982 on the Mob Rules tour. From this point on, the Sabbath line up went into a period of constant change, and I lost track, and to some extent lost faith in them. I went to see Ozzy several times and switched my allegiance to him, catching shows at The City Hall, The Mayfair and Donington. But it is some years since I saw Ozzy as well. The Mob Rules show was OK as far as I can recall, but to honest I remember little about it. 
By this time, the line up consisted of Ronnie James Dio on vocal and Vinny Appice on drums, with only Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler from the original band. Black Sabbath remained incredibly popular, however, and the tour sold out three nights at the City Hall and called at large venues across the UK. Typical set list from the Mob Rules tour: E5150; Neon Knights; NIB; Children of the Sea; Turn up the Night; Black Sabbath; War Pigs; Slipping Away; Iron Man; Mob Rules; Heaven and Hell; Paranoid; Children of the Grave. I am very tempted to go to Download at Donington this year to see Black Sabbath again. It would be good to see them once more. I must admit I’m not big on festivals these days, so I’ll ponder on that and will, of course, blog on it if I do go.
24 Apr
Black Sabbath Newcastle City Hall May 1980
Black Sabbath Newcastle City Hall Heaven and Hell tour 1980
And so it came to pass that the unthinkable happened and Ozzy left his Black Sabbath mates, to be replaced by one Ronnie James Dio. This seemed a strange pairing at first, but one which became more believable as time went on. Ronnie was of course known to me. I had seen him in Elf, when they supported Deep Purple on the Burn tour and Johnny Winter (thanks to John for reminding me of this), and a numbers of times in Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow. The change in line up didn’t seem to affect. Sabbath’s popularity. Indeed they were a popular as ever, with the tour selling out and featuring multiple nights at several venues, including Newcastle. So I went along with a group of mates to see this new Sabbath. Often when a band changes line up in this way, they come back stronger than ever. There are several reasons for this in my view. They have something to prove, the new member brings new energy, and the need for rehearsals also strengthens the band. I had seen this before. Deep Purple came back stronger than ever with David Coverdale on the Burn tour, and Genesis did the same, but in a different way, on the Trick of the Tale tour. 
And so it was with Sabbath. The Newcastle show was just great. We were right down the front, in the middle in front of the band, and Ronnie fitted in very well, much much better that I guessed. His small elf like frame added a new dimension t the stage show, and his devil horns two finger salute, was annoying, but it worked! I even did it back to him! The set was a mixture of tracks from the new Heaven and Hell album and old Sabbath classics. So far so good, we still had Sabbath to go and see, and also the promise of Ozzy and Blizzard of Oz shows (which were also great). Typical set list from the 1980 tour: War Pigs; Neon Knights; N.I.B.; Lonely Is The Word; Sweet Leaf ; Children Of The Sea; Black Sabbath; Heaven And Hell; Iron Man; Sabbath Bloody Sabbath; Orchid; Die Young; Paranoid; Children Of The Grave; Lonely Is The Word
23 Apr
Black Sabbath and Van Halen Newcastle City Hall 1978
Black Sabbath and Van Halen Newcastle City Hall 1978
The Black Sabbath 1978 UK tour was memorable for one reason in particular. The support act on the tour was none other than (relatively) new American band Van Halen. Van Halen has just released their first album and were hot. Their debut album sold over ten million copies in the US alone and is still one of the most successful debuts by a rock band. It features such classic track as Runnin’ with the Devil; Eruption, and their tremendous version of the Kinks’ You Really Got Me. Sabbath, on the other hand, had just released Never Say Die, which was to the last studio album featuring Ozzy. 
On the night Van Halen were simply stunning. Don’t get me wrong, I went with a group of mates and we all still enjoyed seeing Sabbath, but Van Halen were new, hungry and totally on the money. Sabbath, on the other hand, seemed to be in a routine, and Ozzy wasn’t the same strong, wild front man that he had been a few years earlier. I guess the excesses were starting to take their toll. I was chatting with my mate Norm about the gig the other night, and he agreed that Van Halen blew Sabbath off stage that night, and felt that they were much better than when they returned a year or so later to headline their own tour. This was the last time I was to see Sabbath with Ozzy, and at the time couldn’t imagine how they could possibly continue without their front man. However, a couple of years later they did return with a new singer, and actually they were pretty good. Typical setlist from the 1978 tour: Symptom of the Universe; War Pigs; Never Say Die; Dirty Women; Rock & Roll Doctor; Electric Funeral; Embryo / Children of the Grave; Paranoid; Snowblind; Black Sabbath; Sabbath Bloody Sabbath; Iron Man; Fairies Wear Boots; Hand of Doom; N.I.B.; Gypsy
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