Hawkwind Newcastle City Hall 1977
Support Bethnal 
I saw Hawkwind twice in 1977; once at the Reading festival and at Newcastle City Hall on their annual tour. The band released Quark, Strangeness and Charm, which maintained their high standards, and I would rate as one of their best albums. Stand-out tracks for me are Spirit of the Age; Hassan I Sahba; and the title track, all of which became live favourites. The line-up was now Robert Calvert; Dave Brock; Simon House; Adrian Shaw and Simon King. Adrian Shaw replaced Paul Rudolph on bass, coming from the group Magic Muscle who had supported Hawkwind on the 1972 Space Ritual tour. This was the year of punk, and a very muddy Reading festival. 
There were a few traces of punk and new wave at Reading in the form of Wayne County (who was greeted by a hail of cans), Ultravox! and the Motors. But the majority of the line-up was classic rock: Aerosmith; the Sensational Alex Harvey Band; the Doobie Brothers; The Enid (who went down a storm); Frankie Miller; Golden Earring; and Uriah Heep. Thin Lizzy were massive at the time and headlined the event. Hawkwind appeared on the Sunday on a bill headlined by, I think, Alex Harvey. A month later and I saw Hawkwind again at the City Hall. This was a great show and the new songs were fast becoming favourites. Support came from Bethnal who were a new wave band that featured an electric violinist and were pretty good too. Setlist from Reading: Reefer Madness; Hassan I Sahba; The Forge of Vulcan; Brainstorm; Quark Strangeness and Charm; Steppenwolf; High Rise; Robot; Spirit of the Age; Damnation Alley; Uncle Sam’s on Mars; The Iron Dream
Posts Tagged ‘heavy rock’
22 Feb
Hawkwind Newcastle City Hall and Reading 1977
21 Feb
Hawkwind Newcastle City Hall 1976
Hawkwind Newcastle City Hall 1976
Support Tiger with Big Jim Sullivan on guitar 
It was 1976 and Hawkwind were back on the road with a new album and a new show. Robert Calvert had rejoined the fold, after guesting at Reading in 1975, but Stacia had decided to give up dancing and take up family life. Paul Rudolph of the Pink Fairies was new on bass guitar duties, replacing Lemmy who had been sacked from the band. Paul himself wasn’t to be in the band for long. The new album was Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music and the stand out track was Reefer Madness. I didn’t realise at the time that this song title came from an old anti-drugs film which I have seen quite recently on TV. The tour concept was Atomhenge which was a futuristic version of Stonehenge and shrouded the stage with a myriad of lights. “Throughout the show, thousands of light bulbs within the glass–fibre structure sprang to life, giving an eerie, almost menacing atmosphere onstage.” 
Calvert was in his element and took on several roles during the show, ranging from a Biggles-like airforce pilot, through a swordsman warrior to a character resembling Lawrence of Arabia. This was one of Hawkwind’s most memorable shows, and I saw it on my 20th birthday! Support came from Tiger who featured the legendary session man Bij Jim Sullivan on guitar. I was a fan of Big Jim from his performances on Tom Jones’ TV show. The band was to disintegrate soon after the tour, with the departure of Nik Turner, Alan Powell and Paul Rudolph, leaving Dave Brock and Bob Calvert at the nucleus of the band. Setlist (obtained from a bootleg of the Newcastle show): Reefer Madness; Paradox; Chronoglide Skyway; Hassan I Sahba; Brainstorm; Wind Of Change; Steppenwolf; Uncle Sams On Mars; Time For Sale; Back On The Streets; Sonic Attack; Kerb Crawler. Encore: Magnu; Master Of The Universe
20 Feb
Hawkwind The Reading Festival August 1975
Hawkwind The Reading Festival August 1975
Had the Hawklords sold out? Here they were headlining the Friday night of a mainstream festival. What about the hippy free festival ideals? Why weren’t they playing outside while we all stormed the fences? No worries, Hawkwind were still as anti-establishment as ever, and anyway why shouldn’t they have headlined a rock festival?
A group of us went to Reading 1975 which took place over the August bank holiday weekend. The festival boasted a strong line-up with Hawkind, Dr Feelgood and UFO on Friday; Yes, Supertramp and Thin Lizzy on Saturday; and Wishbone Ash, John Mclaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Soft Machine on Sunday. Hawkwind headlined on the Friday night, taking the stage after a storming set by the Feelgoods. The Hawklords rose to the occasion and brought the cold Friday to a fitting close. Robert Calvert rejoined the band for the evening, and enjoyed it so much he decided to stay on and woudl return to the fold for the next year or so. I found the following quote of a Feelgoods fan site. It comes from a review of the time andsums things up better than I can: “Midnight on Friday. Hawkwind shambled offstage amid amplified exhortations to “smoke plenty of good dope” having blasted the wax out of every ear for miles around. As they strolled backstage – Nik Turner wreathed in orange hair and smiles, Simon House deadly serious and toting a small child – the audience at the first night of the Reading Festival turned their collars against the sudden cold, shivering. The temperature, never particularly high during the whole day, seemed to have taken a sudden plunge as the last rumbling notes of “Silver Machine” died away. Camp-fires were being stoked into life here and there.” Setlist: Mind Journey; Assault And Battery; Golden Void; Ode To A Crystal Set; Psychedelic Warlords; Wind Of Change; The Awakening; Paradox; Spiral Galaxy; Sonic Attack; Magnu; Opa Loka; Master Of The Universe; Welcome; Brainstorm; Silver Machine.
19 Feb
Hawkwind Newcastle City Hall December 1974
Hawkwind Newcastle City Hall December 1974. The Dead Singer tour. Support from Al Matthews.
Hawkwind were back at the City Hall almost a year to the day from the last time I saw them their. But this time they had a new lp and some changes to the line-up. From the tour programme: “Welcome, friend of Hawkwind, to our tour. You probably know that, with the exception of two dates this summer, this is our first tour of Britain since The Ridiculous Roadshow last Christmas. But we have not been idle since we last saw you. In that time we have recorded and released a new album Hall Of The Mountain Grill and toured the United States twice. Tonight we will be introducing you to our two new members. Del Dettmar, of course, has gone to live in a cabin by a lake in a forest in Canada with his wife Ros. Simon House, who plays keyboards, synthesiser and violin joined us from The Third Ear Band, to replace Del. In the summer we also acquired a new drummer. Simon King, who plays a lot of football and supports Chelsea (still?) broke some ribs in a game and Alan Powell, who has drummed with many good bands including Vinegar Joe and Chicken Shack, deputised for Simon on our European tour. 
Then when Simon recovered they discovered they liked playing together and we liked two drummers in the band so Alan stayed on. We hope you like it too. Apart from that most everything else stays the same. Dave, Nick, Lemmy, Stacia, Jonathan Smeeton, Steve, Bob, Douglas, Jon Lee, Val and Richard are still with us. Pete our drum roadie got busted and couldn’t get into the States so Ian replaced him and we acquired a new personal roadie in Stuart.” The new album Hall of the Mountain Grill includes the classic track The Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear in Smoke) which was to become a live favourite. These were the classic years for Hawkwind; they always gave a great live show with special effects, some bizarre madness and some great rock music. The tour was called the “Dead Singer” tour after the name of a short story by Michael Moorcock which appeared in the programme. Setlist: Warriors; Lord Of Light; The Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear in Smoke); Wind of Change; Warriors; Brainstorm; You Know You’re Only Dreaming; The Watcher; The Awakening; Paradox; Sonic Attack; Master of the Universe; Welcome to the Future. Encore: You’d Better Believe It; D-Rider; You Shouldn’t Do That; Seeing It as You Really Are
18 Feb
Hawkwind Ridiculous Roadshow Newcastle City Hall 1973
Hawkwind Ridiculous Roadshow Newcastle City Hall 1973
Hawkwind wanted to draw a line under the hugely successful Space Ritual tour, and this new outing in late 1973 was named The Ridiculous Roadshow tour. The tour called at Newcastle City Hall on 11th December 1973 and I went along with a group of mates. The linne-up at this time was Dave Brock; Lemmy; Simon King; Del Dettmar and Nik Turner. I’m pretty sure that Stacia was still dancing with Hawkwind, and that there was a second dancer. The set was drawn from Space Ritual and from their first three albums: Hawkwind (1970), In Search of Space (1971) and Doremi Fasol Latido (1972). Hawkwind had some classic tracks, which looking back, were really quite groundbreaking and fore-runners of modern dance music. Songs such as Brainstorm, Time We Left This World Today, and Master of the Universe are just great and still stand up today. I bought a Hawkwind ‘best of’ CD at Sainbury’s and have it in the car, and when no-one else is there I can be found driving around with Master of the Universe playing at full volume. How times have changed. Back in the day, Hawkwind were the rebels, the outsiders, the hippies, the proto-punks, and very clearly anti-establishment. And now I buy their CD in Sainsbury’s. Not sure what that tells me! Setlist: Coming Of Hawkwind; Brainbox Pollution; Wizard Blew His Horn; Lord Of Light; Only Dreaming; Standing At The Edge; Brainstorm; Seven By Seven; It’s So Easy; You’d Better Believe It; D-Rider; Sonic Attack; Watcher; Warrior On The Edge Of Time; Master Of The Universe; Welcome To The Future; Silver Machine; Seeing It As You Really Are. And all for £1!
17 Feb
Hawkwind Space Ritual Tour Sunderland Locarno 1972
Hawkwind Space Ritual Tour Sunderland Locarno 1972 
“This is earth calling”…….”In case of Sonic Attack on your district, follow these rules…If you are making love, it is imperative to bring all bodies to orgasm simultaneously..Do not waste time blocking your ears…..Do not waste time seeking a soundproof shelter…….Try to get as far away from the sonic source as possible…Do not panic…”
I am starting the letter H today in my bloggings, and there is no better way to start than reflecting on the times I have seen Hawkwind in concert. I’ve seen the band lots of times over the years, so please indulge me, while I write about those experiences. It will take me a week or so. I blogged some time ago on my first Hawkwind experience, which was when I saw them as one of the support acts for the post-Morrison Doors at Newcastle City Hall. It wasn’t long before I saw the band again. The Space Ritual tour called at Sunderland Locarno in 1972, and was as epic as the legends suggest. Silver Machine and Master of the Universe were great favourites at the Mecca (the Locarno) at the time; the dancefloor always filled up when they came over the PA. So when it was announced that the band were coming to play as part of their Space Ritual tour, there was a lot of excitement, and huge anticipation for the gig. This was the classic Hawkwind line-up with Robert Calvert on vocals; Dave Brock on guitar and vocals; Nik Turner on sax, flute, and vocals; Lemmy on bass guitar and vocals; Dik Mik and Del Dettmar on synthesizers and Simon King on drums. 
The gig was everything you might imagine: very loud, a tightly packed ballroom, lots of flashing lights and strobes, Stacia dancing naked, strong smells of joss sticks and dope, strong bass and rock rhythms, lots of strange noises, weird space-rock, great psychedelic light show, booming sinister vocals from Calvert, Lemmy looking cool. This gig had every ingredient a rock n roll gig should and, as a young kid, I was just blown away and totally hooked on Hawkwind. From that point on I was a fan, and went to see them again and again; although I have to admit that I did lose faith a little during the late 80s and 90s. This is one of those gigs that I would love to experience again. If only I had a time machine…Happy days and happy memories. Setlist: Earth Calling; Born To Go; Down Through The Night; The Awakening; Lord Of Light; Black Corridor; Space Is Deep; Electronic No. 1; Orgone Accumulator; Upside Down; 10 Seconds Of Forever; Brainstorm; 7 By 7; Sonic Attack; Time We Left This World Today; Master Of The Universe; Welcome To The Future; You Shouldn’t Do That. Encore: can’t really remember, but I imagine it will have been Silver Machine
16 Feb
Geordie in concert
The band Geordie are probably better known because of their lead singer Brian Johnson, who is now lead singer with AC/DC, than as a band in their own right. But they had a few hits in the early to mid 70s and gigged constantly, particularly in their hometown Newcastle and the rest of the North East of England. Geordie feautured Brian Johnson on vocals, and Vic Malcolm on guitar, and hit the charts with “Don’t do that” (their first single which reached No. 32); “All because of you” (No. 6); “Can you do it” (No. 13); and “Electric lady” (No. 32). Geordie grew out of the workingmens club circuit. There were many rock bands playing the clubs at the time, playing mainly covers of bands like Free and Deep Purple. Geordie developed their blend of rock to become a sort of heavy rock glam act, of a similar ilk to Slade and Sweet. 
In fact they supported Slade on a UK tour. I saw Geordie many times in concert during 1973 and 1974, particularly at Sunderland Locarno, where they performed on several occasions. Brian left Geordie in 1976 and was asked to john AC/DC in 1980 after the death of Bon Scott, and the rest is history. A Geordie gig was always good fun, and a great live singalong favourite (if a little corny) was their version of the traditional song “Geordie’s lost his liggie”…”he lost it down the nettie…..so he got a case of dynamite…and he blew the stinking nettie along the Scotswood Road…..it was in his bloody pocket”! Work that one out! Happy days.
28 Jan
Girlschool Newcastle City Hall 1981 & 1982
Girlschool Newcastle City Hall 1981 & 1982
I saw Girlschool at Newcastlte City Hall again in 1981 and 1982. 1982 was a busy year for the band. The band teamed up with Motorhead on the “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” EP. The EP contained a cover of Johnny Kidd & The Pirates’ song “Please Don’t Touch” and two tracks where the bands covered each other, with Motörhead performing Girlschool’s “Emergency”, and Girlschool playing Motörhead’s “Bomber”. The two bands performed together on Top of the Pop as “Headgirl” playing “Please Don’t Touch”. I can remember the performance to this day; it was great pun, and so powerful. If you haven’t seen it go to Youtube, I’ve just played it and it still blows away the cobwebs today. The record reached No.5 in the UK Single Chart during February 1981; the biggest hit for both bands at the time. 
It was with this performance in my mind that I went along to see Girslschool at the City Hall in April 1981. A setlist from a BBC in Concert show of that year shows the band as playing the following songs: Demolition Boys; Tush (great cover of the ZZ Top song); Midnight Ride; Breakdown; Take it all the Way; The Hunter (not the Free song; pretty punky and a live favourite at the time); Nothing to Lose; Race with the Devil (yes the Gun song; an excellent cover); Emergency. Girlschool live were great, and very much of that time, a blend of punk, NWOBHM, and girl power attitude. The Newcastle metal hords loved them and always gave them a great reception. A girlschool gig consisted of lots of guy in denim jackets covered in the customary questions shaking their heads off and going crazy. 
The album Hit and Run was released in 1981, along with the title track being released as a single. Both were big successes with the album reaching No.5 and the single No.33 in the charts. I think support for the 1981 gig was AIIZ. The band also headlined at Reading in 1981. This was the first year I missed Reading for almost 10 years of attending the festival. I went along to the Newcastle Rock on the Tyne festival. I’ve never been to the Reading festival again, which I regret. Girlschool’s third album Screaming Blue Murder was released in 1982. It didn’t do so well as its predescor, and the line-up of the band started to change at this point. The 1982 Newcastle gig was, I think, the last time I saw the band. Time to put that right.
27 Jan
Girlschool Newcastle City Hall 1980
Girlschool Newcastle City Hall 1980
Girlschool came together in 1978, evolving out of a band called painted lady, and drawing from punk, classic rock, and NWOBHM. Girlschool’s original line-up was Kim McAuliffe, Enid Williams, Kelly Johnson, and Denise Dufort, and they released their first single Take it all away in late 1978. Lemmy of Motorhead took an interest in the band and in 1979 I saw them as support act on the Overkill tour. A year later they were headlining their own tour and I went to see them at Newcastle City Hall. Girlschool live were a raw hard rock band with the energy of punk and some of the speed and volume of Motorhead. 
I saw them quite a few times in the late 70s and early 80s; supporting Motorhead, and possibly Uriah Heep, then headlining at the Mayfair and three gigs at the City Hall. Girlschool released their debut album, Demolition, in 1980. The album also produced the singles Emergency, Nothing to Lose and a great version of the Gun song Race with the Devil. I think support act for this gig might have been Angel Witch, who were a great NWOBHM band fronted by a guy with long blonde hair who looked a little like Francis Rossi. They had a great song Angel Witch, and are still gigging today, as are Girlshool. The current Girlschool line-up features Kim, Enid and Denise from the original band. Kelly sadly died from cancer a few years ago. Another band who I should make the effort to see again!
23 Jan
Gillan Newcastle City Hall 30th October 1982
Gillan Newcastle City Hall 30th October 1982
Gillan were to visit Newcastle City Hall for the last time on 30th October 1982. I’d seen the band earlier in the year at the Donington Monsters of Rock bonanza, where they took the second spot on a strong rock bill headlined by Status Quo. Gillan’s set at Donington was: What’s The Matter; Bluesy Blue Sea; Black Night; No Laughing In Heaven; Trouble; Born To Kill; M.A.D. (Mutually Assured Destruction); Living For The City; Vengeance; Bite The Bullet; No Easy Way; New Orleans; Smoke On The Water. The 1982 Gillan tour was to promote the Magic album, which was to be the band’s last. Support came from upcoming NWOBHM band Spider, who were much more boogie than heavy metal, and were often compared to Status Quo. Gillan split shortly after this tour, when Ian Gillan took the suprising step of joining Black Sabbath as vocalist. 
Looking back on these concert experiences over the last few days has made me realise just how much fun I had at Gillan gigs. In fact I have probably seen them just as many times as I have seen Deep Purple, albeit within a much more concentrated period of 5 years. Gillan were, for a few short years in the late 70s and early 80s, a really credible and great rock band, who managed to blend the traditions of classic rock ala Purple, with the spirit of NWOBHM, and a sprinkling of new wave in the form of Bernie Torme. They never took themselves too seriously, and were a collection of five strong musicians and individuals. Reflecting on a band for a few days, and in Gillan’s case it has been a week, usually leaves me with some unfinished business to follow up. This often involves promising myself I will try to see the band again, which for Gillan is not possible (although I do look forward to the next time Purple play in the UK). In Gillan’s case I realise that I only have one of their albums, Future Shock, so I have promised myself that I will look for a copy of Glory Road (I am watching a copy on ebay which is currently at 99p 🙂 ). Anyway, I have enjoyed writing about Gillan, and refecting on the fine nights of rock I enjoyed with them. Time to move on to another band tomorrow.
Vintagerock's Weblog. 