Monsters of Rock, Donington Park, 17 august 1991
Line up: AC/DC; Metallica; Mötley Crüe; Queensryche; The Black Crowes
This is the last of my ramblings on AC/DC and it brings me up to date with my concert memories of the band. The 1991 Monsters of Rock festival was the last time Iwas to see the band for almost 20 years; as the next AC/DC concert I attended was at Manchester MEN Arena in 2009. It was also the last time I attended a Monsters of Rock festival. That particular my daughter was getting into rock music, and her and her friends were big fans of Mettalica, and that was our primary reason for attending. So I drove her and two friends to the festival. Highlights for me were The Black Crowes, Metallica and AC/DC. I don’t remember much about the other bands.
Metallica had just released their “Black” Metallica album, which had been heavily played in our house. I hadn’t rated the band up until then, although I had seen them at an earlier Monsters of Rock in 1985, but that lp got me into them. My favourite track was Enter Sandman, which was the opening song at Donington that year. Metallica were at the top of their game at that time, paying some of the best heavy rock of the time. We made sure that we arrived in time to see The Black Crowes, as I’d heard a lot about them. I remember being impressed by them, particularly by their cover of Otis Redding’s Hard to Handle. My friend John lives in the US and is a massive Black Crowes fan, and he keeps me up to date on them. I really must get to see them again some day soon. AC/DC closed the day with a set which closed with one of the biggest firework displayed I’ve ever seen. I then spent some time finding the others, which was not easy in a crowd of 60,000+ people all of whom were aiming for the exits, and then we drove back home. AC/DC setlist: Thunderstruck; Shoot to Thrill; Back in Black; Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be; Heatseeker; Fire Your Guns; Jailbreak; The Jack; Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap; Moneytalks; Hells Bells; High Voltage; Whole Lotta Rosie; You Shook Me All Night Long; T.N.T.; Let There Be Rock Encore: Highway to Hell; For Those About to Rock (We Salute You). I’ll move on from AC/DC now, and will ponder on which concerts to reflect on this coming week. Back tomorrow.
Posts Tagged ‘heavy metal’
6 Jan
AC/DC: Monsters of Rock Donington Park 1984
AC/DC at Monsters of Rock Donington Park; 18 August 1984
Line up: AC/DC; Van Halen; Ozzy Osbourne; Gary Moore; Mötley Crüe; Y & T; Accept
This was probably the best Monsters of Rock festival that I attended. I’d won tickets in the local newspaper (note “complementary” stamp on ticket at left), which was a positive to start with, so my mate and I went along free of charge for once! The weather was great, hot and dry, and the line-up was as strong as you could get in terms of heavy rock in the mid 80s. The bottle fights really took off this year, as I recall, with bottles of piss being lobbed across the crowd throughout the day. I have never been one for trying to get to the front at such events, and staying near the back of the crowd was definitely wise on this particular day.
I don’t remember much about Accept or Y&T. Motley Crue were OK, but didn’t have the scale of theatre and excess that I would see on their Theatre of Pain tour the following year (review to follow at some point). Gary Moore played some great blues guitar, as always. Ozzy was at the top of his game during this period in my view. At this time he was playing Mr Crowley, Crazy Train, along with Sabbath classics Iron Man and Paranoid. Van Halen were OK but, for me, had already lost some of the power and hunger they had in the early days when they supported Sabbath on their 1978 tour and on their first UK headline tour shortly after that (review to follow). As I recall there was a lot of talk about Van Halen blowing AC/DC off the stage, which just didn’t happen at all in my view. AC/DC were, as always, excellent and brought a great day to a close. AC/DC setlist: Guns for Hire; Shoot to Thrill; Sin City; Back in Black; Bad Boy Boogie; Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution; Flick of the Switch; Hells Bells; The Jack; Have a Drink on Me; Highway to Hell; Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap; Whole Lotta Rosie; Let There Be Rock; Encore: T.N.T.; For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)
5 Jan
AC/DC: Monsters of Rock Donington Park 1981
Monsters of Rock festival August 22, 1981
I’m continuing my AC/DC memories with thoughts on the 1981 Monsters of Rock Festival. The line up for this, which was the second Monsters of Rock event was AC/DC; Whitesnake; Blue Öyster Cult; Slade; Blackfoot; More.
I went along to this gig with a group of mates in the back of a Transit van with one of my friends driving us. We went primarily to see AC/DC, who were a favourite band of all of us, although many of us were also fans of Blue Oyster Cult. This was our first visit to Donington, and for me is for the first of several visits to the Monsters of Rock festival over the next 10 years. My recollection of the day is a very cold and wet one, with, as often the case for festivals in the UK, quite a bit of rain. The first couple of bands: More and Blackfoot weren’t anything special as I recall, but Slade went down well as they always did at a festival.
I’d seen Slade tear the place apart at the Reading Festival the year before, in common with many others in the Donington crowd, and that Reading comeback meant that they were now well accepted by the heavy rock fraternity. I also remember lots of cans etc being thrown across the crowd that day. The sound mix for Blue Oyster Cult was awful and they were a big disappointment for all of us; it didn’t go well for them at all that day. Whitesnake were on top form around this time with Coverdale in great voice, delivering classics like Mistreated and Ain’t no love in the heart of the city. AC/DC closed the day and were great, their show translating well to a massive open air setting. The AC/DC setlist at Donington was: Hells Bells; Shot Down in Flames; Sin City; Back in Black; Bad Boy Boogie; The Jack; What Do You Do For Money Honey; Highway to Hell; High Voltage; Whole Lotta Rosie; Rocker; T.N.T.; Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution; You Shook Me All Night Long; Let There Be Rock. Over the next couple of days I’ll do a write up on the 1984 and 1991 Monsters of Rock festivals, which will bring my AC/DC memories up to date. I’ll then move on to another band. I haven’t been there since 1991, but am planning to go to Download at Donington in June this year to see the reformed original Black Sabbath, unless they add any indoor shows before then.
4 Jan
AC DC: Whitley Bay Ice Rink Jan 14th 1986
January 14th 1986 Whitley Bay Ice Rink
Whitley Bay Ice Rink was a venue for concerts throughout the 1980s. I remember seeing quite a few gigs there including Rainbow, The Cure, Wham!, and The Jam. However, this gig draws a blank. I have a ticket and a programme, so I must have been at the gig. But I can’t remember anything at all about it. I can only conclude that this wasn’t a particularly memorable gig! By now AC/DC had graduated from clubs to concert halls, to arenas and festivals, with stadium gigs to come.
The Ice Rink was a vast, cavernous and very cold (naturally; it was, and still is, an ice rink!), and not the best place to see a band. It did however fill a gap in the North East venue map. The old Newcastle Odeon, with a slightly larger capacity than the City Hall, had sadly been converted into a multi-screeen cinema by the 1980s, and the Arena wasn’t built until 1995. Setlist: Fly on the Wall; Back in Black; Shake Your Foundations; Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap; You Shook Me All Night Long; Sin City; Jailbreak; The Jack; Shoot to Thrill; Highway to Hell; Sink the Pink; Whole Lotta Rosie; Let There Be Rock; Encore: Hells Bells; T.N.T.; For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)
3 Jan
AC/DC: Back in Black at Newcastle City Hall 1980
AC/DC: Back in Black tour; Newcastle City Hall 4th November 1980
For Those about to Rock tour; Newcastle City Hall 5th October 1982
After the great nights at the Mayfair, it was difficult to imagine How AC/DC could make any sort of return after the sad passing of singer Bon Scott. When the Back in Black tour was announced, however, the tickets sold out immediately, such was the loyalty of their fans. Everyone was waiting to see how new singer Brian Johnson would shape up. Brian hails from Newcastle, and had already had a taste of fame with local band Geordie, who had enjoyed a couple of chart hits.
I saw Geordie quite a few times at local venues around the North East. They were basically a fun rock band, who would guarantee you a good night out in a local club, but to be honest they were nothing particularly startling. They’d grown out of the local workingmen’s club circuit. I picked up their first two lps at the car boot (see cover of second lp) but don’t play them. But Brian has a strong rough voice, and I could sort of see how he might fit into AC/DC. So I was looking forward to seeing them with interest, not quite sure what to expect.
My memories of the Back in Black gig, which I saw on 4th November 1980 (ticket above; programme left), are entirely positive. I remember the stage set, which was one of the biggest backline of stacks and amps that I had ever seen. It was also the first appearance of the bell, hanging above the stage. I also remember the gig as being very, very loud. From the start it was clear that the guys were out to impress and prove themselves; and prove themselves they did; in spades. Coming back after the loss of a strong, charismatic front man can make a band try that extra bit harder. I’d seen a similar thing happen before when Deep Purple came back with David Coverdale replacing Ian Gillan on the Burn tour, and in a different way, Genesis on Trick of the Tale tour with Phil Collins on vocals after the departure of Peter Gabriel. In both cases the bands came back with renewed power, backed up by a strong lp with great new songs and blew the crowd away. The same was true of AC/DC in 1980. Back in Black is a classic album, and many of the songs remain in their concert set to this day. That night in the City Hall the power, and the passion, were there as before, but in a different way. Angus was, as ever, manic, a twisted evil schoolboy. Brian Johnson rose to the occasion; his squealing vocals worked and he Angus worked the stage together. The setlist was something like: Hells Bells; Shot Down in Flames; Sin City; Back in Black; Bad Boy Boogie; The Jack; Highway to Hell; What Do You Do For Money Honey; High Voltage; Whole Lotta Rosie; You Shook Me All Night Long; Let There Be Rock.
AC/DC were back at the City Hall in 1981 and 1982. I missed the 1981 show; I’m not sure why, possibly because I’d seen them at the Donington Monsters of Rock festival that year (separate report to follow) and figured I was AC/DCed-out at the time. I was back in the City Hall on 4th October 1982 to see them again (ticket right; programme below). Again, a good gig.
The setlist for 1982 tour was something like: Hells Bells; C.O.D.; Shot Down in Flames; Sin City; Shoot to Thrill; Back in Black; Bad Boy Boogie; Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution; Highway to Hell; Let’s Get It Up; Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap; Whole Lotta Rosie; Let There Be Rock. Encores: You Shook Me All Night Long; For Those About to Rock (We Salute You). The 1982 concert was the last time that AC/DC played the City Hall. From there on in, they played in arenas, festivals and, more recently, stadiums. Their next visits to the region were gigs in Whitley Bay Ice Rink and Newcastle Arena, both pretty soulless sheds. More recent tours have sadly missed the North East completely, which is somewhat surprising, given the band’s following in the North East and their new singer’s local connection. I’ll report on their 1986 Whitley Bay Ice Rink show tomorrow.
2 Jan
AC/DC at Newcastle Mayfair 1977 to 1980
In many ways AC/DC and Newcastle Mayfair were made for each other. Friday nights at the Mayfair in the 1970s was one of the best rock nights I’ve ever experienced, and at that time AC/DC were one of the new breed of upcoming heavy rock bands. They became a great favourite at the venue in the late 70s; the Newcastle crowd took to AC/DC and the feeling was obviously mutual. I remember their shows at the venue as some of the best I have ever seen there, or anywhere else. I was lucky enough to attend all of their shows at the Mayfair, other than when they played for two nights at the venue, in which case I went along to one of those nights.
AC/DC first played Newcastle Mayfair on March 4th 1977. This was a standard “pay at the door” Friday night, there was no need for advance tickets. This was the third time that I’d seen the band. The support act was Jenny Darren, whose name seems familiar, but I can’t remember watching her. We may have gone into the venue late. The programme (left) has the same outer cover as the 1976 programme; however the inner pages are different. As time moved on, and AC/DC became more and more popular, they were packing the place for two night runs. I look back on all of those shows with some considerable fondess; they were nights of great, loud rock music in a relatively small venue the like of which I may never see again.
AC/DC were back at the Mayfair on October 14th 1977. This time, as well as the Mayfair gig I also went to see them at Middlesbrough Town Hall on this tour (see ticket stub). At that time many bands played both Newcastle and Middlesbrough, which gave me a chance to see them twice at local gigs on the same tour. I can still picture Bon Scott walking through the crowd in the lovely old hall in the Town Hall; Angus on his shoulders, still playing his guitar.
The band were next at the Mayfair on May 5th 1978 (programme to left). The support act for this tour was British Lions, a band formed by members of Mott the Hoople (Buffin, Morgan Fisher and Overend Watts) and Medicine Head (John Fiddler). As a Mott fan I must have gone along early to catch them, but I have no memory of doing so, or what they were like. The Powerage lp was released around this time, and Whole lot of Rosie was establishing itself as a firm favourite with the crowd. Punk was becoming well established at this time, and the Mayfair was also booking many new wave acts, but Friday night remained mostly a heavy rock night, and AC/DC were the perfect band for the venue.
By 1978 they were a very big rock band and they returned to the Mayfair to play for two nights on November 2nd and 3rd 1978. I attended the gig on the first night (ticket to right). Support came from Blazer Blazer.
This time advance tickets were sold for the gigs, which both sold out. The programme for the late 1978 tour is to the left. A typical setlist from 1978 was something like: Riff raff; Problem child; Hell ain’t a bad place to be; Rock and roll damnation; Bad boy boogie; Whole lotta rosie; Down payment blues; The Jack; High voltage; Let there be rock; Encore: The Rocker
The band were due back at The Mayfair for a further two nights in October 1979. The tickets all sold out in advance, by postal application, as I recall. A fire took place in the venue as the band were loading their gear for the first night (Thursday), and as a result the gig was postponed. The fire wasn’t too big, and not much damage was caused, so the Friday night concert went ahead as planned, with new upcoming rockers Def Leppard as support. The Thursday night gig was rescheduled and took place on January 25th 1980.
Sadly this was to be the last time the great Bon Scott played at the Mayfair, and was his penultimate concert. Three weeks later, he was dead, having passed away in his sleep after a heavy nights drinking. I was lucky enough to be at both of those last Mayfair gigs, and recall the band being on top form. Recordings exist of the second gig, and are apparently pretty good quality.
At the time, we all viewed Bon as irreplaceable, and thought we had seen the last of the band. However, another Newcastle was to come (enter Brain Johnson; ex Geordie). Tomorrow I’ll go back to the Back in Black tour and the move from the Mayfair Ballroom to Newcastle City Hall.
1 Jan
AC/DC: Early UK concerts at the Reading Festival and Newcastle University 1976
I’m going to start my 2012 concert blogs with some memories of AC/DC in concert. I’ve seen this band around 15 times over the years, and have never ceased to enjoy them. I’ve chosen AC/DC to start my 2012 blogging for no other reason than alphabetical, as they were the first band I came to in my book of tickets. It’ll take me the rest of the week to cover the AC/DC concerts I’ve attended, starting today with a couple of early UK gigs in 1976. I saw AC/DC for the first time at the Reading Rock Festival that year. I’d read good reports of the band in Sounds magazine, who were promoting their first UK tour, The ‘Lock up your Daughters Summer Tour’, and I was eagerly looking forward to seeing how they shaped up live. So my mates and I all made a point of being in the field when they took the stage late on the Sunday afternoon (August 29th 1976) sandwiched between Brand X and Sutherland Brothers and Quiver. I remember we all thought they were pretty good and, along with Rory Gallagher and The Enid, they were the highlight of the weekend. I remember being both amazed and amused by Angus who, dressed in his trademark school uniform ran about the stage like a madman, while playing some pretty mean guitar.
Having enjoyed the set at Reading I was definitely interested in seeing AC/DC again. So when they came to North East to play at Newcastle University students union, I bought tickets and Marie and I went to the gig which was on November 13th 1976. I’d bought their lp High Voltage by this time, and was heavily into some of the tracks, particularly Live Wire and Its a long way to the top. High Voltage is a classic rock album and features many of the bands best songs, some of which remain in their set to this day. Newcastle University dances were held at that time in a ballroom at the top of a flight of stairs above the refectory in the students union, and Marie and I often went along there to the gigs, which were usually held on a Saturday.
My memories of the gig are few, although I do remember that they were really great. Bon would take Angus on his shoulders in those days and run around the crowd. When he did so that night, some idiot threw a full pint of beer over Angus. Angus was absolutely soaked, but kept on playing. Happy days. Pretty sure that they started with Live Wire. As always I bought a programme (see left).
A typical AC/DC setlist from 1976 drew heavily from the High Voltage lp, included a few covers, and was something like: Live wire; Rock and roll singer; Jailbreak: She’s got balls; The Jack; School days; Rocker; TNT; Its a Long Way to the Top (if you want to rock and roll); High voltage; Baby Please don’t go.
Tomorrow I’ll continue my AC/DC memories by posting something about the great nights I spent with them at the sadly missed Newcastle Mayfair ballroom.
27 Nov
Deep Purple and Cheap Trick Glasgow SECC 26 Nov 2011
Deep Purple (with 38 piece orchestra) and Cheap Trick Glasgow SECC 26 Nov 2011
Norm and I drove up for this great gig last night. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen Deep Purple. They haven’t visited the north east on the last couple of tours, and for one reason or another I wasn’t able to travel to see them. This tour was however especially tempting with the double attraction of Cheap Trick as special guest, and the 38 piece orchestra which was accompanying Deep Purple. I waited until the last minute to decide whether or not to go, however, because I was little unsure about the weather at this time of year. As the weather was ok we decided to go.
We arrived at the SECC at around 6.30pm, and managed to score a couple of tickets from a guy outside of the venue for £60 for a pair, which was a snip as face value would have been £90, plus the dreaded booking fees. The seats were pretty good too,l in the centre block about 12 rows back.
It’s a long time since we last saw Cheap Trick at Newcastle Mayfair in the 70s. I’d forgotten just how good there are and how many great catchy tunes they have. Rick Nielson is still as crazy as ever and Robin Zander still looks great. They were on stage around one hour and the set included: Stop This Game (Mind Choir): Dream Police; Need Your Love; California Man (The Move song); If You Want My Love; I Want You to Want Me; Surrender; Good Night. I managed to get one of the many plectrums that Rick threw out into the crowd. Rick’s vibe neck guitar looks pretty cool.
I hadn’t been sure about how the big orchestra would work alongside Deep Purple’s rock classics. I needn’t have worried; it was absolutely great. Great set, some long solos but the two hours that they were on stage seemed to pass in no time at all. They started with Highway Star, and the set include some of my favourites: Lazy, Strange Kind of Woman, When a Blind Man Cries, Woman from Tokyo. They finished with Smoke on the Water, and the encores were Hush, and Black Night. Ian Gillan looks really fit, and he was singing well although he clearly finds it difficult to get some of the high notes and can’t scream like he used to. Roger Glover always looks like he is having great fun. Don Airey seems to fit perfectly with the others now, and played excellently. Its good to see a local Sunderland lad doing so well. In fact all of the band seemed to be really enjoying themselves. It was great to see them again, and the classics sounded fresh, with the orchestra adding new depth to the arrangements. This was the best time I’ve see them play for many many years. Great stuff.
The drive back was pretty tricky but uneventful, through torrential rain and high winds. We got home around 2.15am.
Deep Purple setlist: Highway Star; Hard Lovin’ Man; Maybe I’m a Leo; Strange Kind of Woman; Rapture of the Deep;Woman From Tokyo; Contact Lost (Guitar Solo); When a Blind Man Cries; The Well Dressed Guitar; Knocking at Your Back Door; Lazy; No One Came; Perfect Strangers; Space Truckin’; Smoke on the Water
Encores: Hush; Black Night
ticket
Rick Neilson plectrum (thanks Rick)
24 Jul
Judas Priest Newcastle Metro Arena 20 July 2011
Judas Priest Newcastle Metro Arena 20 July 2011
I went along with a group of mates (Will, Will’s on Jack, Ter and Ritchie) to see Judas Priest last week. Priest are part of our collective youth; a band that we all went to see lots of times throughout the 70s and early 80s. This tour, the Epitaph tour, has been billed as their last world tour, so we all figured that we should catch them this time. Ter, Will and I saw the Priest a few years ago at the arena, and were looking forward to this one. Support came from Rival Sons(?) and Queensryche, who are one of Ter’s favourites, so we made sure that we arrived on time for them. Queenrsyche lived up to Ter’s memories, but it was the main band that we had all come to see. Priest came on stage around 8.45 and launched into a set whch covered, as promised, something from every album in their 40 year career. So we got favourites such as Victims of Change and their great covers of Diamonds and Rust and The Green Manalishi. Singer Rob Halford left the singing entirely to the crowd for Breaking the Law. Quite a few good songs were missing; why no Ripper? In some ways, Priest have become almost a parody of themselves, with lots of chains and metal on display and Rob Halford taking a number of costume changes, each one being completely over the top. And the music is super crafted metal, with great guitar from Glen Tipton and a new guy (K K Downing retired just prior to the tour) and incredibly strong vocals and screams from Rob. Rob still rides his Harley onto the stage, and we all still lapped up the old rockers. Great stuff from a great band; it’s sad that this may have been the last time we will experience the Priest. We all went home fully satisfied; they don’t make bands like this any more.
Setlist: Rapid Fire; Metal Gods; Heading Out to the Highway; Judas Rising; Starbreaker; Victim of Changes; Never Satisfied; Diamonds & Rust; Dawn of Creation; Prophecy; Night Crawler; Turbo Lover; Beyond the Realms of Death; The Sentinel; Blood Red Skies; The Green Manalishi; Breaking the Law; Painkiller
Encore: The Hellion; Electric Eye; Hell Bent for Leather; You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’; Living After Midnight
I hate printed tickets
programme
13 Nov
Motorhead Newcastle City Hall 10 November 2010
Motorhead Newcastle City Hall 10 November 2010
“We are Motorhead and we play Rock and Roll”
Lemmy: “Is it loud enough?” Crowd: “No!!!”. Lemmy: “Then we’ll turn it up. I don’t f***ing care if you go deaf. I’m f***ing deaf already”
Its been around 25 years since I last saw Lemmy and crew. I thought it was about time I put matters right; plus I managed to score a ticket for £15 on ebay (whoopee!). I’d almost forgotten how great the loud, uncompromising Motorhead experience can be. Not much has changed over the years. The guitarist and drummer are different to last time I saw the band (no Fast Eddie any more), but Lemmy looks pretty much the same and the sound (and volume) hasn’t changed at all. One thing had changed: I didn’t see Lemmy in the bar on the bandit where he could often be found in the late 70s. I enjoyed this much more than I expected. I must remember to go and see Iron Maiden next year!
Setlist: We are Motorhead; Stay clean; Back in line; Metropolis; Rock out; OTT; One night stand; Thousand names; I got mine; Know how to die; Tragedy; Power; Brazil; Killed by death; Bomber; Ace of Spades
Encore: Born to raise; Overkill
ticket
flyer
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