Z Z Top Rocking the Castle, Donington 17th August 1985
Line-up: ZZ Top; Marillion; Bon Jovi; Metallica; Ratt; Magnum; Tommy Vance (DJ)
Donington 1985 became “Rocking the Castle” rather than “Monsters of Rock”, presumably because the line-up was a little more mixed than the usual heavy metal fare. Z Z Top returned to the festival after playing third on the bill a couple of years earlier. They were joined by a strong clutch of bands including Bon Jovi and Metallica, both of whom who would go on to be headliners in their own right. It was a beautiful hot day; one of the best Donington festivals I attended, in terms of the weather. Don’t remember much about Magnum or Ratt, although I have always been a fan of Magnum. Metallica seemed very thrash metal to me at the time; they hadn’t yet developed the subtlety that was to come later. Bon Jovi were amazing; you could just tell that they were going to be massive. 
At some point during the afternoon the Z Z Top car flew over the crowd, carried by a helicopter; this resulted in a massive cheer, and a hail of bottles and cans, none of which (luckily) managed to get high enough to touch the limo. This was the era of the can fight…. Marillion were the hit of the day, and went down really well with the crowd. They were at the tipping point of their career, having just released “Misplaced Childhood” and with major chart hits “Lavender” and “Kayleigh”. But the day belonged to boogie kings Z Z Top who were one of the biggest acts on the planet at the time, and effortlessly tore the place up with those classic songs, tongue in cheek humour, and unique style. Classic.
Z Z Top setlist: Got Me Under Pressure; I Got The Six; Gimme All Your Lovin’; Waiting For The Bus; Jesus Just Left Chicago; Sharp Dressed Man; Ten Foot Pole; TV Dinner; Manic Mechanic; Heard It On The X; I Need You Tonight; Pearl Necklace; Cheap Sunglasses; Arrested For Driving While Blind/Hit It Quit It; Party On The Patio; Legs; Tube Snake Boogie; Can’t Stop Rockin’; Jailhouse Rock; La Grange; Tush.
Two days to go ……
Posts Tagged ‘heavy rock’
1 Apr
Local heroes: Brass Alley & Lucas Tyson
Local heroes: Brass Alley & Lucas Tyson
I couldn’t finish my blog project without saying a few words about these two bands.
Brass Alley and Lucas Tyson (along with Beckett who I have already covered in earlier posts) were arguably the top North East bands in the early ’70s, playing in ballrooms and clubs around the region.
Brass Alley were a heavy rock band with a bluesy edge, fronted by singer Dave Ditchburn and featuring Barry Alton (guitar), Frankie Gibbon (bass), and Howard Martin (drums). They were heavily influenced by Free, and always included a few Free covers in their set. I saw them loads of times at Sunderland Locarno (Mecca), Newcastle Mayfair, in several working mens’ clubs and supporting touring acts at the City Hall. I remember that they had, for a short period, a Sunday night residency at Sunderland Top Rank. I can picture us all now, standing on the tables chanting for “The Hunter”; which was their encore at the time. The guitarist would do a great instrumental version of the “Theme from Exodus”.
Lucas Tyson were a much more guitar-oriented band fronted by the excellent, Hendrix-influenced, Pete Barclay. Pete played a Fender Strat, made heavy use of wah-wah and fuzz, and was a guitar hero for many of us young guys. I also saw Lucas Tyson play at Sunderland Mecca, Newcastle Mayfair, Sunderland Poly, and at the City Hall. Pete would do great Hendrix covers (“Voodoo Chile”, I think) and other guitar-led tracks. I remember seeing them support Edgar Broughton one night at the Mecca, when they played an awesome version of the Floyd’s “Astronomy Domine”.
Brass Alley and Lucas Tyson both feature on the single pictured above. I still have a copy and it’s a gem of early ’70s rock psych. The 45 EP features four tracks: “Daylight Child” by Lucas Tyson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57TSW5w1j6s&list=PLRBjLK_SZFghJcBolYpCMkTVt9L60TtCv&index=1 ; “The Hobo Song” by Yellow; “Pink Pills” by Brass Alley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeR7xmNupF8 and “I Know You Well” by Trilogy. The single was released to promote Hart Rock, a 1971 rock festival held at Hartlepool football ground which featured these four local bands, plus others and was headlined by Arrival and Beggars Opera.
Four days to go.
14 Mar
Baker Gurvitz Army Newcastle Mayfair 24th November 1975
Baker Gurvitz Army Newcastle Mayfair 24th November 1975
Ginger Baker formed the powerhouse rock band Baker Gurvitz Army with brothers Paul and Adrian Gurvitz (formerly of The Gun and “Race with the Devil” fame), former Shark’s singer ‘Mr Snips’ (I recall seeing Sharks at Sunderland Mecca and they were excellent) and keyboard player Peter Lemer. They recorded their first album ‘Baker Gurvitz Army’ in 1974. The album was very much in the mould of Cream; “This album’s a strong, decisive statement, and if hard rock’s what you crave, you won’t be disappointed.” (Ralph Heibutzki, All Music Guide). In 1975 the band went out on tour. I saw their show at Newcastle Mayfair on 24th November. I’d always regretted missing out of seeing Cream first time round, and had made every effort to see their three members in concert. I’d seen Clapton and Bruce, and this was my first chance to see Ginger Baker. I remember enjoying the concert and that they played “White Room” and “Sunshine of Your Love”; and being delighted that they did so. Ginger had a massive drum kit which took up much of the stage; Adrian Gurvitz was an excellent guitarist and Snips, who I had seen before in Sharks, was a cocky punky character with a bluesy soulful voice.
A 1975 concert at Derby was recorded and released as a live album many years later. The tracklisting is: The Hustler; Space Machine; Remember; White Room; Neon Lights; Inside Of Me; Memory Lane; Sunshine Of Your Love; The Artist; Freedom; Time; Going To Heaven. I would imagine that the set at the Mayfair will have been similar to this. Baker Gurvitz Army were a great and now largely forgotten part of heavy blues rock history.
Chris Salewicz reviewed a gig in Watford on the same tour: “Okay, so there’s no phasing on the drums and he must be one of the only drummers currently working the rock and roll circuit who doesn’t take his shirt off on stage, and occasionally his style may still smack of ’67 And All That, but nevertheless Ginger Baker’s drumming is a positive joy to listen to. Baker’s playing oozes power. As such it blends in with and propels along the sheer energy which the Baker-Gurvitz Army seem to have cornered for themselves. Snips’ singing … is a direct utilisation of the lead singer’s voice as sensual instrument. Adrian Gurvitz, though not perhaps the most athletic lead guitarist around, certainly ain’t no slouch when it comes to the old brain power necessary for searching out those squealing, fleshy guitar notes or those near-psychedelic indented blues runs.”
Baker Gurvitz Army split in 1976 in part because “Adrian’s guitar playing was just too loud” and he was “getting off with every chick that I fancied!” (Ginger)
1 Mar
Steppenwolf Newcastle Mayfair 6th October 1972
Steppenwolf Newcastle Mayfair 6th October 1972
“Born to be Wild” was a big song in the early ’70s. We’d seen Easy Rider, with Peter Fonda riding his Harley to the song, and Slade would close their set with their version of the song. Everywhere we went it was played. So a chance to see the legendary American masters of biker rock and heavy metal thunder, Steppenwolf, in Newcastle Mayfair ballroom wasn’t to be passed on. The Mayfair was packed; I got myself a spot close to the stage and waited for what seemed like hours (and probably was) for the band to take the stage; bands came on late at the Mayfair, probably around 11pm, and the venue was open until 2am. There were a lot of songs which were unfamiliar to me, but I recognised the doomy anti-drug anthem (God Damn) “The Pusher”, and “Magic Carpet Ride” with its great swirling organ intro and which was a minor UK singles chart hit in the late ’60s. The encore was of course “Born to be Wild” and the Mayfair crowd did exactly that; went wild and crazy. Front man John Kay looked super cool; all in black leather with dark shades. Steppenwolf performed “Born to be Wild” on the Old Grey Whistle Test during their visit to England; you can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_8hAfRrTJ0 I just watched it and it brought back great memories of the Mayfair gig.
A Steppenwolf setlist in 1972 would be something like this: Sookie Sookie; Ride With Me; Foggy Mental Breakdown; Tighten Up Your Wig; Ball Crusher; Shackles and Chains; Monster / Suicide / America; The Pusher
Encore: Magic Carpet Ride; Born to Be Wild; Hoochie Coochie Man
Line-up at the time: John Kay (vocals); Kent Henry (guitar); George Biondo (bass); Goldy McJohn (keyboards) and Jerry Edmonton (drums).
Steppenwolf split in 1972, but reformed in the mid-’70s. Marie and I saw the reformed band when the returned to the Mayfair in, I think, 1975.
“Like a true nature’s child, We were born, born to be wild, We can climb so high, I never wanna die.
Born to be wild, Born to be wild”
(Born to be Wild, Steppenwolf, 1968)
17 Feb
Whitesnake Newcastle City Hall 27th June 2006
Whitesnake Newcastle City Hall 27th June 2006
Support from The Answer
A lot of water had passed under the Whitesnake bridge (22 years to be exact) since I last had the pleasure of seeing David Coverdale. The line-up of the band was completely different (other than, of course, Coverdale) to all the previous line-ups I had witnessed and was David Coverdale (vocals), Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach (guitars), Uriah Duffy (bass), Timothy Drury (keyboards) and Tommy Aldridge (drums). Whitesnake 2006 was a honed heavy metal machine, a million riffs away from the soulful bluesy unit of the early ’80s. And they were LOUD.
Whitesnake exploded onto the stage with an amazing version of the Deep Purple classic “Burn”, which then went straight into another Purple classic “Stormbringer”. The crowd were up on their feet from the word ‘go” and Coverdale looked and sounded great. There were, however, times when you could see he was having a little difficulty with his voice (some of the earlier shows on the tour had been cancelled because he had been unwell) but overall this was a great performance. Highlights for me were ‘Walkin’ in Shadow Of The Blues’ and ‘Soldier of Fortune’ as a final encore.
Setlist: Burn / Stormbringer; Slide It In; Love Ain’t No Stranger; Walking in the Shadow of the Blues; Lovehunter; Slow an’ Easy; Is This Love; Ready an’ Willing; Blues for Mylene; Snake Dance; Crying in the Rain; Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City; Give Me All Your Love; Here I Go Again
Encore: Take Me with You; Still of the Night
Encore 2: Soldier of Fortune
That concludes my Whitesnake ramblings. I’ve spent the last week or so listening to, and watching, Whitesnake, and it has reminded me just how great this band were, and what an amazing rock vocalist and performer David Coverdale is. Next time he tours, I’ll make sure I’m there.
16 Feb
Whitesnake Newcastle City Hall 10th March 1984
Whitesnake Newcastle City Hall 10th March 1984
Support came from LA hard rock band Great White
Things were about to change again in the Whitesnake camp. In late 1983, they recorded the “Slide It In” album. Shortly after completing the album Mick Moody left the band: “Me and David weren’t friends and co-writers anymore. David never said anything to me. He just didn’t socialise with me anymore. David was a guy who five, six years earlier was my best friend…..Then one night we were in Germany and we did kind of a mini festival with Thin Lizzy and John Sykes was on guitar. Back at the hotel we were all sitting around and David was really talking a lot to John Sykes. I was sitting there quietly and David just turned around to me, pointing his fingers and said, ‘Don’t you ever turn your back on the audience again’. I went, ‘Pardon?’ He said, ‘That’s really unprofessional’, in front of John Sykes to make me look small and I thought to myself, ‘That’s it’….I decided to leave after finishing the end of the tour. The last gig was in Brussels in Belgium in October 83.” This led to John Sykes joining the band. At the same time Colin Hodgkinson left and Neil Murray rejoined. The vibe of the band and their music was changing from the bluesy rock of the early band to a heavier and more adult-oriented rock, which helped the band to break in the US. 
The new line-up of Coverdale, John Sykes, Mel Galley, Neil Murray, Jon Lord, and Cozy Powell toured the UK in March 1984, calling at the City Hall for two nights. It was a good concert, but Whitesnake were becoming a very different animal.
Setlist: Gambler; Guilty of Love; Ready an’ Willing; Love Ain’t No Stranger; Here I Go Again; Slow an’ Easy; Crying in the Rain/Soldier of Fortune; Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City; Fool for Your Loving; Thank You Blues; Slide It In; Don’t Break My Heart Again.
Mel Galley suffered a broken arm in an accident during the tour. He never recovered full use of his arm, and fitted having “the Claw” to his hand in order to to play the guitar.”It was the most devastating thing that could happen to a guitarist. One minute I was playing with one of the biggest bands in the world, next minute finding it very hard to even scratch my own arse. Thankfully, with the aid of the Claw, even though told by doctors I would never play again, determination made me prove them wrong.” A few weeks later, Jon Lord left to reform Deep Purple.
It was 22 years until I saw Whitesnake again. I’ll write about that tomorrow, to conclude my series of Whitesnake memories.
15 Feb
Whitesnake Monsters of Rock festival Donington 20th August 1983
Whitesnake Monsters of Rock festival Donington 20th August 1983
Line-up: Whitesnake, Meat Loaf, Z Z Top, Twisted Sister, Dio, Diamond Head. DJ: Tommy Vance.
Aah! The Monsters of Rock festivals. Up early, on with the denim jacket, into the car, pick up my mates, and down the A1 and M1 we went. Three hours or so, and 165 miles (according to AA route planner), later and we joined the metal hordes in the Donington Park Race Circuit. We knew we were there when we saw the Dunlop tyre bridge.
Its funny what I find when I’m constructing these posts. “Chris Evans has bought Donington Park race track’s famous Dunlop bridge. The 30-year-old structure was sold during a racing memorabilia auction, for about £300, in aid of a Leicestershire charity. On his show, Evans said the bridge was a national landmark and appealed for help getting it from the track. Evans joked he was going to put up the bridge, which is over 70 metres (230 ft) in length, in his garden over the top of his neighbour’s house.” [Wonder if he did that 🙂 ] (from BBC News site).
Back to rock. First up in 1983 were Diamond Head. We listened to them while we had a little wander around the site. I will have bought my programme, we’ll have consumed our first burger of the day, and made our first visit to the beer tent [as designated driver, I would be limited to one pint early on in the day 😦 ]. Next was Dio, his operatic vocals drifting over the crowd, and the smell of burgers and beer, and lifting the mood on classics such as “Holy Diver”, “Stargazer”, “Heaven And Hell” and “Man On The Silver Mountain”. Classic.
It was probably about this time that the can fights would start. You had to watch out for them; a can on the back of your head could do some serious damage. Twisted Sister were next. Dee Snider and Co captured the crazy metal mood of the event perfectly and went down well. Dee understood metal and its antics and lapped up crowd reaction, both positive and negative; a few cans or bottles thrown on stage didn’t bother him. After all “You Can’t Stop Rock N’ Roll”. Next up was Meat Loaf, who didn’t take kindly to the sea of bottles and cans which were thrown at him throughout his set. Nonetheless he played on and treated us to “Bat Out Of Hell”, “I’m Gonna Love Her For Both Of Us”, “All Revved Up With No Place To Go”, “Midnight At The Lost and Found” and “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad”. Great stuff. Back to the beer tent, another burger, and a walk around the tyre to stretch our legs, and then meander and squeeze our way as close to the stage as we could safely get. Things were about to get even better.
This was our first exposure to Z Z Top, their beards, and that relentless, often tongue in cheek, Texan rock’n’roll boogie: “Gimme All Your Lovin'”, “Sharp Dressed Man”, “Pearl Necklace”, “Arrested For Driving While Blind”, and set closer “Tush”. Amazing. Two years later they were back as headliners; and rightly so. Another burger, avoid a few more cans and bottles, final visit to the beer tent, and back down front.
The day belonged to Whitesnake. The deserved it, and didn’t let us down one little bit. Whitesnake’s set was recorded; you can find it on YouTube. Mistreated is here (and is a simply awesome performance by Coverdale): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BZprpxhyMk
Coverdale opens the song thus: “We’ve got an old song for you. I think this may be the last time we’ll ever play it [it wasn’t]. Please enjoy it. It features my good friend Mel Galley on guitar”.
Whitesnake setlist: Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues; Rough An’ Ready; Ready An’ Willing; Guilty Of Love; Here I Go Again; Lovehunter; Mistreated; Soldier Of Fortune; Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City; Fool For Your Loving; Thank You Blues; Don’t Break My Heart Again; Wine, Women An’ Song.
In 1983 the ‘Snake were: David Coverdale (lead vocals and 110% rock godliness); Micky Moody (blues guitar); Jon Lord (swirling Hammond); Mel Galley (rock guitar); Colin Hodgkinson (thumping bass); and Cozy Powell (powerhouse drums).
Back in the car. An hour or two to get out of the car park. My mates would fall asleep and snore. I would drive back up a lonely and empty M1 and then the A1. Back home in the early hours. Denim jacket hung up again. Happy happy days 🙂
14 Feb
Whitesnake Newcastle City Hall 14th December 1982
Whitesnake Newcastle City Hall 14th December 1982
Support Samson
When David Coverdale returned in late 1982 with a new Whitesnake. Only Jon Lord and Micky Moody remained from the old band with Bernie Marsden, Neil Murray, and Ian Paice being replaced by guitarist Mel Galley from Trapeze, bassist Colin Hodgkinson, and drummer Cozy Powell respectively. Micky Moody had actually also left the band and rejoined. Whitesnake released the album “Saints & Sinners” which was another Top 10 UK album and contained the hit single “Here I Go Again”.
Micky Moody explained the changes thus: “By ’81 people were becoming tired. We had too many late nights, too much partying. We weren’t making nowhere near the kind of money we should have been making. Whitesnake always seemed to be in debt, and I thought ‘what is this?, we’re playing in some of the biggest places and we’re still being told we’re in debt, where is all the money going?’. 
We hadn’t got much money out of it and to be told you’re £200,000 in debt, when you just had six golden albums. It wasn’t just me, cause everybody was getting tired, p***ed off and losing their sense of identity. It was over by then, we couldn’t get any further. It’s difficult for a band to go more than three or four years without getting tired of each other and losing ideas. Nothing lasts forever. Everybody wanted to do something different after a few years, a solo album or write with someone else.” The changing line-up didn’t seem to impact upon the band’s popularity. They toured the UK in late 1982, playing to packed out halls everywhere. The tour called at Newcastle City Hall for 3 nights, and the concert was as explosive as ever.
Support for the tour came from Samson featuring new vocalist Nicky Moore, who had replaced Bruce Dickinson, who’d left to join Iron Maiden.
Setlist: Walking in the Shadow of the Blues; Rough an’ Ready; Ready an’ Willing; Here I Go Again; Don’t Break My Heart Again; Lovehunter / Steal Away; Crying in the Rain; Soldier of Fortune; Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City; Fool for Your Loving; Wine, Women an’ Song
13 Feb
Whitesnake Newcastle City Hall 24th May 1981
Whitesnake Newcastle City Hall 24th May 1981
Support from Billy Squier
In 1981 Whitesnake recorded “Come an’ Get It” which made No. 2 in the UK lp chart. It was kept off the No. 1 slot by Adam and the Ants’ Kings of the Wild Frontier. Two singles were released from the album: the Top 20 hit “Don’t Break My Heart Again” and the Top 40 hit “Would I Lie to You”. The band toured the UK in Spring, and this time their popularity had grown to the extent that they could sell out multiple nights at the top concert venues, including two nights at Newcastle City Hall. I went to the first night, and it was another great gig. Whitesnake were now one of the top heavy rock acts in the UK. A Whitesnake gig was heavy rock with a soul, featuring extended yet measured guitar and organ solos which came from the heart, rather than for flashiness or effect. And Coverdale was nothing short of amazing, his passion for the blues ripping and screaming its way through his performance, and his vocal ability simply outstanding.
I saw the band a few months later when they appeared second on the bill to headliners AC/DC at the Monsters of Rock festival at Donington.
After the 1981 tour David Coverdale took time out from music, as his daughter was not well, which put Whitesnake on hold for a short while. Coverdale also felt that some of the members of the band were becoming a little complacent. There were also rows over money, and Coverdale felt that the rest of the band lacked his ambition to push Whitesnake onwards and upwards, so he ultimately came to the decision in early 1982 to disband the line-up entirely. There were shortly to re-emerge with a new line-up, but more of that tomorrow.
Setlist from City Hall 1981: Walking in the Shadow of the Blues; Sweet Talker; Ready an’ Willing; Don’t Break My Heart Again; Till the Day I Die; Lovehunter; Mistreated; Soldier of Fortune; Belgian Tom’s Hat Trick; Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City; Fool for Your Loving; Take Me with You; Come On; Wine, Women an’ Song
11 Feb
Whitesnake Newcastle City Hall Newcastle City Hall 18th June 1980
Whitesnake Newcastle City Hall Newcastle City Hall 18th June 1980
Support from Gary Moore’s G Force
The 1980 tour programme gave a great build-up for a great concert: “To categorise Whitesnake as a heavy metal band is something like passing off Bob Dylan as a folk singer. Certainly there are those root elements, but anyone with the ability to peer over the obvious can see that Whitesnake are far more than a headbanging storm machine. One of the strongest influences in creating the thunderous hard rock they belt out is the blues and not just a token wail and groan here and there, but a sincere realisation of what the blues is all about. Good times, no nonsense progressive rhythm and blues, that’s what Whitesnake is all about and they’re ready an’ willing to prove it.
With Whitesnake onstage we get David Coverdale throwing back his head in a halo of curling hair, exploding in vocal dynamic, teasing and pleading for us to join in singing and share the whole experience together as one….Two of the best blues-rock guitarists in the business: Micky Moody and Bernie Marsden firing on all six and generating truly awesome electric guitar virtuosity tempered with raunch and taste….Jon Lord, the Maestro, with his battery of keyboards providing a sweeping sound of colours, fusing rock and classical roots to paint the backdrop of Whitesnake….Neil Murray’s strong, me.odic bass-playing which rises above and expands on normal bass riffing to give a definite extra edge and subtlety to the rhythm lines created by…..Ian Paice, considered by many to be the Guv’nor drummer. As any of you who saw Ian’s welcome return to the rock and roll stage on Whitesnake’s ’79 UK tour can testify, he is the consummate drummer. 
This is what we get….from a whisper to a scream……Whitesnake!”
Bernie Marsden was recently given a video featuring unseen live footage of this gig. Taking about the video Bernie says: “This video is very special. A few months ago I was given a reel of film by a fan of a Whitesnake gig at Newcastle City Hall on the “Ready an’ Willing” tour in 1980. It is unique and unseen footage of the classic early Whitesnake line up…. It’s a little grainy, but it is the real deal, watch Jon Lord in classic style on the Hammond organ. Many thanks to the people of the North East in the film, and of course the whole of the Whitesnake army out there. Special thanks to Mark Smith for his camera work and great editing. Hope you enjoy it, those on-tour Snake memories flood back!” You can see the video here: http://classicrock.teamrock.com/news/2014-10-21/premiere-bernie-mardsen-s-trouble-feat-coverdale
Setlist: Come On; Sweet Talker; Walking in the Shadow of the Blues; Ain’t Gonna Cry No More; Lovehunter; Mistreated; Soldier of Fortune; Nighthawk; Belgian Tom’s Hat Trick; Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City; Fool for Your Loving; Take Me with You; Ready an’ Willing; Lie Down (A Modern Love Song)
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