Rush Newcastle City Hall 11 June 1977
I hadn’t heard of Rush at all when I first went to see them. I remember being surprised that this “new” Canadian rock band was headlining the City Hall. Of course, Rush weren’t new at all, and had already released several albums. Anyway, I went along to see them out of curiosity as much as anything, to find out what they were like. There was actually another reason that I went along to this concert, and that was to see support band Stray. I was a big Stray fan from the early 70s onwards and went to see them every chance I had. By 1977 Stray were coming to the end of the first part of the career, but nonetheless Del and the band played a storming set. 
Rush were touring to support 2112, and it came as a big surprise to me just how good they were. I was also surprised that a three piece band could be play such intricate musical, and that they could also rock and play so loud. The members were, as they remain today: Alex Lifeson (guitar), Geddy Lee (bass) and Neil Peart (drums). The other surprise was Geddy Lee’s high pitched vocals which took some getting used to. Rush opened with Bastille Day and the set included the epic 2112 suite, the wonderful Xanadu (which became a great favourite of all of us rockers in the late 70s) and the excellent Working Man and Finding My Way. I left the City Hall converted to Rush, and went to see them quite a few times over the next few years.
Setlist: Bastille Day; Anthem; Lakeside Park; 2112 Part I-VII: Overture; The Temples of Syrinx; Discovery; Presentation; Soliloquy; Grand Finale. Xanadu; Something for Nothing; By-Tor & The Snow Dog; The Necromancer; Working Man; Finding My Way; Fly by Night; In the Mood; What You’re Doing.
Posts Tagged ‘heavy rock’
22 Mar
Rush Newcastle City Hall 11 June 1977
21 Mar
Rainbow Whitley Bay Ice Rink 8th September 1983
Rainbow Whitley Bay Ice Rink 8th September 1983
The next time Rainbow visited the North East it was to play in the cold and cavernous Whitley Bay Ice Rink, which was the venue of choice of bigger bands in the 80s, before Newcastle had an arena. This was now Rainbow MK VIIII (!) and the line-up was Ritchie Blackmore (guitar); Roger Glover (bass); Joe Lynn Turner (vocals); David Rosenthal (keyboards); Chuck Burgi (drums). Support came from ex-Runaway Lita Ford.
Whitley Bay Ice Rink was a pretty awful venue for a rock concert. It held a lot of people but standing on top of an ice rink covered in wooden boards is not the best setting for a gig, and it was always soooo cold. 
However Rainbow’s performance made up for it. Ritchie was on excellent form, controlling his guitar and the band with strange almost magical hand gestures. A bootleg recording exists of the show. It was a long set by Rainbow standards, probably around two hours. Very loud and a storming performance. One of the best times that I saw Rainbow live. I think Ritchie’s strat was smashed into pieces, which he threw into the crowd, if I remember correctly. This was the last time I saw Rainbow. The next time I saw Ritchie it was back in Purple at their massive comeback show at Knebworth.
Setlist: Spotlight Kid; Miss Mistreated; I Surrender; Can’t Happen Here; Catch the Rainbow; Drinking with the Devil; Difficult to Cure; Power; Blues; Stargazer; Stranded; Death Alley Driver; Fire Dance; All Night Long; Maybe Next Time; Since You Been Gone; Encore: Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll
20 Mar
Rainbow Newcastle City Hall 23rd July 1981
A year had passed since Ritchie Blackmore and Rainbow last graced the stage of Newcastle City Hall, and things had yet again changed in the band. Graham Bonnet and Cozy Powell both resigned to pursue other projects following a very successful performance at the first Monsters of Rock festival at Donington. The new line-up was Rainbow Mk VII and featured Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Roger Glover (bass), Don Airey (keyboards), Bobby Rondinellu (drums) and Joe Lynn Turner (vocals). Their UK tour called at the City Hall for two nights, and I attended the first night, on 23rd July 1981. Support came from Rose Tattoo, an Australian hard rock and roll band, fronted by bald-headed and heavily tattooed Angry Anderson, who went on to major solo success with the power ballad “Suddenly”. I remember that there was quite a buzz about Rose Tattoo at the time, so I made a point of watching their set, and pretty good they were too.
By now I was getting used to the ever changing format of Rainbow, and I’d heard the single “I Surrender” which gave the band another big chart success. Joe Lynn Turner was another great front man and vocalist and took the band even further in the direction of classic AOR and even bigger success around the world. This was another amazing performance by Blackmore and the band.
Setlist: Land of Hope and Glory / Over the Rainbow; Spotlight Kid; Love’s No Friend; I Surrender; Man on the Silver Mountain; Catch the Rainbow; Can’t Happen Here; Lost in Hollywood; Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll. Encore: All Night Long.
19 Mar
Rainbow Newcastle City Hall 19th February 1980
Rainbow Newcastle City Hall 19th February 1980
It was now 1980, and Rainbow’s line-up had changed yet again. Blackmore had his eye on the commercial rock market, and wanted to move Rainbow’s music in the direction of more commercial straight ahead rock, away from their traditional “swords and sorcery” thematic. Ronnie James Dio was having none of this, so he was off, soon to join Black Sabbath. So the band morphed yet again. In came singer Graham Bonnet, last seen fronting The Marbles who hit the UK charts in the late ’60s with a Bee Gees penned pop classic “Only One Woman”. Bonnet has a great solid rock voice, with an amazing vocal range; although at the time I found it difficult to imagine anyone other than Dio singing Rainbow classics like “Man on the Silver Mountain”. But sing them Graham did, and he made a pretty good fist of it too. The line-up of Rainbow Mk V was Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Cozy Powell (drums), returning old Purple mate Roger Glover (bass), Don Airey (keyboards) and Graham Bonnet (vocals). 
The changing nature of the band didn’t seem to impact upon their popularity. If anything Rainbow were more popular, and once again sold out two nights at the City Hall. I attended the first night’s concert. Support came from NWOBHM band Samson featuring Bruce Dickinson (or Bruce Bruce as he was then). This concert displayed more shades of classic rock than the mystical dark elements on show during the Dio-era. It was a different type of gig, but no less enjoyable, and Blackmore was as on-fire as ever. The new formula had already paid dividends in the form of a massive hit single “Since You Been Gone”, which was followed by the almost as successful “All Night Long”.
Setlist: Eyes of the World; Love’s No Friend; Man on the Silver Mountain; Catch the Rainbow; Lost in Hollywood; Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll / Kill the King; All Night Long
18 Mar
Rainbow Newcastle City Hall 1st November 1977
Rainbow Newcastle City Hall 1st November 1977
Ritchie Blackmore and Rainbow returned to the City Hall in 1977 to promote their upcoming album “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll”. The ever changing line-up had evolved into Rainbow Mk4 and was now Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Ronnie James Dio (vocals), Bob Daisley (bass), David Stone (keyboards) and Cozy Powell (drums). This time demand to see the band was massively high, resulting in two sold out performances at the City Hall. Support came from Kingfish. Once again, Rainbow put on an amazing show, with guitar pyrotechnics ala Blackmore, soaring vocals from Dio, and an amazing stage and light show. They just don’t make rock bands like this any more.
From the tour programme: “Welcome to one of the most exciting events in rock music today. This is not simply another travelling show. It is a spectacular of lights and music. Rainbow’s $100,000 computerised ‘firework machine’ brings a new dimension to the concert stage…Visually, it is stunning. Musically, it weaves through every emotion. But the emphasis on this tour is excitement. ‘If anyone has come for a nice, quiet night’ smiles Cozy Powell ‘they’d better head for the exit. If we don’t burst your ears, we’ll blind your eyes.’ Long Live Rock & Roll!”
Well said, Cozy.
Setlist: Kill The King; Mistreated; Sixteenth Century Greensleeves; Catch The Rainbow; Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll; Lazy-Man On The Silver Mountain; Still I’m Sad.
17 Mar
Rainbow Newcastle City Hall 14th September 1976
Rainbow Newcastle City Hall 14th September 1976
In 1975 Ritchie Blackmore was becoming disillusioned with Deep Purple, wanting to move their music in a different direction, drawing from his interest in classical music. He decided to try a few songs out with rock band Elf, fronted by Ronnie Jame Dio; Elf having supported Purple on the 1974 Burn tour. The liaison with Dio worked well and so Blackmore decided to leave Purple to form his new band Rainbow, although he was less than happy with the rest of Elf, and soon changed the rest of the line-up. By the time the band started to tour, and reached the UK; the line-up of Rainbow Mk2 consisted of Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Ronnie James Dio (vocals), Jimmy Bain (bass), Tony Carey (keyboards) and Cozy Powell (Drums). Their first tour called at Newcastle City Hall on 14th September 1976.
Support came from Stretch, a band that was fronted by Elmer Gantry (of Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera and “Flames” fame). Stretch developed from a band put together in 1974 with (according to them) help from Mick Fleetwood, to perform as Fleetwood Mac on a US tour. In the end Fleetwood dropped out (and denied any involvement) and they toured without him, but punters soon realised that the band contained no members of Fleetwood Mac and the tour collapsed. They subsequently had a hit single in 1975 with “Why Did You Do It?”,which was a direct attack on Fleetwood. Stretch were a pretty good rock band, who I saw a couple of times in the mid-70s. 
Rainbow concerts were tremendous events. The stage was surrounded by a massive rainbow which consisted of 3,000 coloured lights. And Blackmore was at the height of his powers in both guitar prowess and showmanship excess. He would climb on top of the stacks up and onto the balcony. I remember one show (I think it may have been this one) where he stood on top of a massive stack bashing his Strat against the side of the balcony, until it (the guitar that is) was totally demolished (I think it also left a few dents in the side of the balcony which had to be repaired afterwards). Of course we all cheered him on. Great stuff. Dio had an unbelievable vocal range, and added lyrics, and an atmosphere, of demons, goblins and mysticism to the proceedings. Their songs were excellent too: “Sixteenth Century Greensleeves”, “Man On The Silver Mountain” and “Stargazer” are classics from the time. Blackmore retained “Mistreated” from his days with Purple. In the early days of Rainbow their concerts consisted of a relatively small number of songs, each one becoming an opportunity for epic jamming, particularly by Blackmore. The guy was amazing and his performance simply breathtaking in those days.
Setlist: Kill The King; Mistreated; Sixteenth Century Greensleeves; Catch The Rainbow; Man On The Silver Mountain; Stargazer; Still I’m Sad; Do You Close Your Eyes.
Note added 20th July 2014. I found the programme below in my collection. I guess it must be an unofficial programme which I bought outside the City Hall show in 1976. 
15 Mar
Uli Roth and Pallas Newcastle City Hall 21st May 1983
Uli Roth and Pallas Newcastle City Hall 21st May 1983
Uli Roth obviously has fond memories of Newcastle City Hall. When I last saw him in concert, at The Office in South Shields a year or so ago, the City Hall was facing possible closure, and Uli told us that we must not let it happen: “get a petition; do something, you can’t let it close, that hall is one of the most beautiful in your country”. Well Uli, we did. The City Hall gained a reprieve, and continues to host rock concerts. From the Newcastle Journal: “Newcastle’s under-threat City Hall has been saved from closure after the city council announced it would not axe 100% of its arts budget…Plans to remove the City Hall from the council’s books were met with strong opposition. Around 11,000 people, both online and on paper, signed a petition against the move, started by the North East Music History group.” Anyway, back to Uli Roth. Uli formed his band Electric Sun after leaving the Scorpions in the late ’70s. 
Uli is a charismatic and flamboyant character who developed his own guitar style. Technically excellent, and a massive influence on many of today’s players, he blends the blues with indian and classical influences, and this; coupled with showmanship and virtuosity, make him a unique guitar player. He is also massively influenced by Jimi Hendrix. This show at Newcastle City Hall was recorded and segments of it appear on the 2006 DVD release Historic Performances. I remember being totally stunned by his playing, and the epic nature of his songs. Support came from the excellent Pallas, who had just released their first single “Paris is Burning”. I picked up a copy of their fanzine “The Sentinel” (pictured here) at the concert. Pallas were one of the few bands flying the prog-rock flag in the early ’80s, when that particular genre had become very unfashionable in the wake of punk, and the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal.
18 Feb
Jimmy Page Newcastle City Hall 23rd November 1988
Jimmy Page Newcastle City Hall 23rd November 1988
Support from Dare.
In 1988 Jimmy Page released his solo album Outrider, which featured guest musicians included Chris Farlowe, who sang on a number of tracks, Robert Plant, who sang on one track, John Miles (sang on two tracks) and John Bonham’s son Jason on drums. Jimmy subsequently went out on tour with a band featuring John Miles (vocals and guitar), Durban Laverde (bass) and Jason Bonham (drums). The tour was relatively short, luckily he called at Newcastle City Hall. Jimmy reflected on the album and tour afterwards: “Outrider’s all right. It’s demo-like compared with those overproduced albums that came out at the time. It didn’t do very well — doesn’t matter — but I did tour. I was playing music on that tour going right back to The Yardbirds. Jason [Bonham] was the drummer on that tour.” Jimmy’s set included tracks from Outrider, Zeppelin classics, songs by his previous band (with Paul Rodgers) The Firm, and back to his Yardbirds days for Train Kept a Rollin’. 
It was a great concert; we had seats looking down on the stage, but a pretty good view nonetheless and it was amazing seeing the guitar maestro so close up. Jimmy did the full bit; violin bow; theremin, and classic Zep solos. Great stuff. Setlist: Who’s to Blame; Prelude; Over the Hills and Far Away; Wanna Make Love; Writes of Winter; Tear Down The Walls; Emerald Eyes; Midnight Moonlight (including excerpts from White Summer, Black Mountain Side and Kashmir); In My Time of Dying; City Sirens; Someone To Love; Prison Blues; The Chase; Dazed and Confused; Wasting My Time; Blues Anthem (If I Cannot Have Your Love …); Custard Pie; Train Kept A-Rollin’; Stairway to Heaven (instrumental version).
17 Feb
Robert Plant Strange Sensation Sage Gateshead 30th October 2005
Robert Plant Strange Sensation Sage Gateshead 30th October 2005
My next encounter with Robert Plant in concert was at the Sage Gateshead in 2005. The band was Strange Sensation and they were promoting Mighty ReArranger, which was Plant’s 8th solo album. The setlist consisted of songs from the new album, plus some oldies and was as follows: Tin Pan Valley; Shine It All Around; Black Dog; Freedom Fries; 7 and 7 Is; Win My Train Fare Home (If I Ever Get Lucky); Going to California; Another Tribe; Thank You; Hey Joe; Four Sticks; Gallows Pole. Encore: The Enchanter; Boogie Chillen’; Whole Lotta Love. Another good show, with the Eastern and psych influences showing through even more strongly; to the extent that the reworkings of Zep classics had moved even further from the originals. I saw Plant once more, at the Sage again in 2010, and blogged about that show at the time. I have yet to see his latest band, something which I intend to put right this year if I can. This concludes my reflections on Mr Plant; I have one Jimmy Page concert to write about, and will do so tomorrow.
15 Feb
Robert Plant Strange Sensation 21st October Newcastle City Hall 2002
Robert Plant Strange Sensation 21st October Newcastle City Hall 2002
A couple of years after his Priory and Brion outing came to Whitley Bay, Plant was back at Newcastle City Hall with his new band Strange Sensation. The band this time consisted of Plant (vocals), Justin Adams (guitars, gimbri, darbuka), John Baggott (keyboards), Clive Deamer (drums, percussion), Charlie Jones (bass) and ‘Skin” (guitar). Robert had just released his 7th album “Dreamland”, which featured him and Strange Sensation performing covers of blues and rock songs, several of which had been played during the Priory of Brion tour. The album was well received by fans and critics alike and was nominated for two Grammys in 2002 for The Best Rock Album and The Best Male Rock Performance. The programme sums up Plant’s influences: “Plant’s attraction to and affection for the music of Morocco, the Atlas region and beyond, as well as his lifelong leaning towards the psychedelic indo-rock of West Coast USA led to his new collision of styles and colours. The music draws together talent from a broad spectrum of renowned and respected UK musicians, now working together with Plant as the band ‘Strange Sensation.'” Reviews of the time were extremely positive: Hugh Davies wrote (in the Daily Telegraph) of his performance at Glastonbury 2002: “Of the 60 bands performing over the weekend, plant emerged as the most charismatic act”, and Steve Jelbert (the Independent) reviewed a concert at London Astoria: “Best of all is the sincerity of the performance….these are songs he obviously loves and he’s not selling them but sharing them….a refreshing display from a man with nothing to prove.” 
The set at Newcastle was an excellent mix of reworked Zeppelin classics, covers of 60s psych, rock and blues and a smattering of Plant’s recent solo tracks. By the point, almost 20 years into his solo career, Plant was clearly enjoying himself; he had come to terms with his Zeppelin legacy, and wasn’t afraid of reworking those songs that mean so much to us all; he could play some of the songs which influenced him when he was starting out, and he had a respectable catalogue of recent solo material to draw from. Another great concert. Support came from the ever-crazy, and irrepressible, God of Hell Fire, Arthur Brown; another hero of mine whose performance and amazingly strong voice never fails to impress. Setlist: Hey Joe; Four Sticks; Down to the Sea; Morning Dew; Going to California; Hey Hey What Can I Do; Girl from the North County; In the Mood; Celebration Day; Funny In My Mind (I Believe I’m Fixin’ To Die); A House is not a Motel; Tall Cool One; Babe I’m Gonna Leave You. Encore 1: Darkness Darkness; Whole lotta love. Encore 2 : Song To The Siren
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