Uriah Heep Newcastle City Hall 21st Nov 1973 & 17th Oct 1974
The strange little black blob pictured here is a prized plectrum that I was lucky enough to catch at a Uriah Heep gig in the early ’70s. It was thrown to me by Mick Box, and I was so excited when I caught it. It is a small black plastic Hofner pleccie and was well worn when I got it, so it had obviously been used quite a bit by Mick. I have used it myself a few times and found it quite hard and chunky; great for riffs. I would try and play “Gyspy” in the hope that it would somehow transform my playing into that of Mick Box, but sadly it didn’t quite work out. I couldn’t get the same tone or power. Still it’s nice to have it, and frightening to think that 40 or so years have passed since Mick threw it from the stage of the City Hall.
We would always try and get down to the front at Heep gigs. When Uriah Heep came on stage there was always a rush for the front. They would usually start with a favourite, perhaps “Easy Livin'” or “Stealin'” and it would be loud and rocking. There would be a massive crush at the front of the stage and Dave Byron and Mick Box would both play to the crowd. Mick would have a massive grin on his face. He would do a series of strange hand gestures, lifting one arm above his head and wiggling his fingers as a magician would do, pointing towards the strings of his guitar, as if he was magically controlling it and playing it from a distance, just like one of the wizards that they would sing about. Mick in an interview: “The hand movements came about when I play a left hand trill in the old days and we were only playing clubs, and everybody could see it to be clever. When we first went to the USA and supported Three Dog Night playing 10.000-20.000 seaters I waved my arm in the air so that all and sundry could see.” Sometimes Mick would lift his guitar above his head, or hold it out in front of himself, and let those down front strum the strings. Pure magic. I remember reading somewhere that David Byron was the ultimate rock front man, and that ain’t far wrong. Ken Hensley: “David was the communication point, the focal point of the whole group’s stage presentation. He had so much charisma, so much ability.” His vocals were amazing and his stage presence, charisma, ego and attitude were all so much larger than life. Dave Byron knew that he was a star. How could he be anything else? I can picture him now, wearing satin flares, one foot on the monitor, leaning over towards us all, hands outstretched. He was singing directly to us. Byron: “I see myself as more than just a vocalist. I have a definite job in tying the band together visually. It stands to reason that the spotlights will be on me most of the time because I’m the front man, so by moving around I can involve everyone. I take singing very much to heart, and I try to use my voice as an instrument.”
All around us down at the front of the stage were fans going absolutely crazy. I would usually stand and watch but many of the people beside me were totally manic. It was called “idiot dancing” at the time. A definition of “idiot dancing”: “a style of frenzied, abandoned dancing on the spot (invariably consisting of writhing hand and arm movements and shaking of the head) to rock music, particularly the ‘psychedelic’ style (a precursor of heavy metal) of the late 1960s. By the mid-1970s it had mutated into the less picturesque headbanging.” I notice from my tickets for Heep gigs in late 1973 and 1974 that my seat was halfway back in the stalls, or in the balcony. But by the end of the show I swear I was in the crush near to the stage.
Support for the 1974 tour was the mighty Heavy Metal Kids. Imagine it: Gary Holton and Dave Byron on the same stage in one night. Mayhem! The setlist was probably something like this: Easy Livin’; Sweet Lorraine; Stealin’; July Morning; Dreamer; If I Had The Time; Gypsy; Seven Stars; Sweet Freedom; Look At Yourself; Love Machine; Rock ‘n’ Roll Medley
According to the Uriah Heep website the support act for the 1974 tour was Peter Frampton. Now I have no recollection of seeing Frampton with Uriah Heep, but hey who knows, the City Hall bar (or the City Vaults) may well have been calling me. If it was Frampton, this was at the time of his third solo album “Somethin’s Happening” and he will have played songs like “Its a Plain Shame”, “Lines on my Face” and “Doobie Wah”. A typical setlist for Uriah Heep in 1974 was: Stealin’; Suicidal Man; Something Or Nothing; Wonderworld; Sweet Freedom; I Won’t Mind; July Morning; Easy Livin’; Sweet Lorraine; Little Piece Of Leather; Look At Yourself; Gypsy; Love Machine; Rock ‘n’ Roll Medley
Bass player Gary Thain suffered an electric shock at a concert in Dallas, Texas on 15 September 1974, and was seriously injured. He was also suffering from a drug habit which was affecting his performance, and he was fired by the band in early 1975. He was replaced by former King Crimson bassist John Wetton. Thain passed away as a result of a heroin overdose, on 8 December 1975 at his London flat. He was just aged 27.
Gary Thain had a unique, and very intense bass style. He would play without a plectrum, preferring to use his fingers, and would put his entire body into the performance. I first saw him play in the Keef Hartley band, and remember being impressed by him then. He was undoubtedly a very important part of the classic Uriah Heep line-up. In just three years Gary Thain participated in over 400 live performances all over the world with Uriah Heep.
This was the end of the classic line-up, but there were still many more great concerts to come.
More Heeping tomorrow.
Posts Tagged ‘heavy rock’
2 Dec
Uriah Heep Newcastle City Hall 19th Jan 1973
Uriah Heep Newcastle City Hall 19th Jan 1973
Support was from Nick Pickett, who was a folk singer on the Vertigo label.
They started out as the band the critics loved to hate. A reviewer for Rolling Stone magazine even promised to commit suicide “if this band makes it” (bet he didn’t 🙂 ). But those of us who were fans understood. We knew that Uriah Heep were one of the classic rock acts of the 70s. Easily up there with Zeppelin, Purple and Sabbath.
The classic Heep line-up existed between 1972 and 1975 and was Mick Box (guitar), David Byron (vocals), Ken Hensley (keyboards), Lee Kerslake (drums) and Gary Thain (bass).
One of my mates had their first album “..Very ‘Eavy …Very ‘Umble” and we would gather in his house listening to the raw primitive riff of Gypsy and the spooky twisting tale of Come Away Melinda (which was my favourite). “Play ‘Gypsy again’.” Onto the turntable it would go, volume on full, needle down, again and again and again. And at the local Mecca, when “Gypsy” came screaming out of the speakers, the dance floor would fill with people playing air guitar and shaking their long hair around and around. “When I was only seventeen, I fell in love with a gypsy queen.” There remains something basic and primeval about that song; so simple and yet so powerful. But there was so much more to Uriah Heep; the imagery of “Demons and Wizards” (“he was the wizard of a thousand kings”), the dark folklore narrative of “Lady in Black”, the thundering, rock’n’roll of “Easy Livin'”, the majestic “Sunrise”, and that classic mirror lp cover of “Look At Yourself”. Then there was “July Morning”, Uriah Heep’s own “Stairway to Heaven”, which used dynamics, orchestral arrangements and narrative to take us to a different world; I could visualise Dave Byron standing on a warm summer morning, the sun breaking through; simply classic.
I got to see Uriah Heep for the first time in January 1973 on the “Magician’s Birthday” tour. I went along a semi-interested fan and came away 100% a convert. The performance was so powerful, the music so loud, and the songs so great, in every way. Dave Byron was the perfect rock vocalist, possessing an operatic voice with an incredible range, and had tremendous stage presence, commanding the audience to join in and become part of the show. Mick Box was, and remains, the unsung guitar hero, long hair and a massive grin stretching from ear to ear. Ken Hensley would rock back and forth pulling at his Hammond, a long mane of hair swaying behind him, creating sounds that blended 60s R’n’B swirl with deep Bach chords. Gary Thain was the silent, solid bass man, and Lee Kerslake was constant at the back, crashing away on the drums. And the volume. Uriah Heep understood that rock had to be LOUD, that feeling the music was just as important as hearing it. When they played ‘Easy Livin'”; the volume went up a notch, the bass notes hit me hard right in the chest, and I honestly feared I would never be able to hear again (can I sue a band for the state of my hearing today ?) The other important, distinctive and vital element of Uriah Heep in concert was the screaming harmonies. They were simply stunning live. Ok, I get that it’s not cool to say so (and I guess it’s not cool to use the word “cool” but who cares), but to a teenage kid in the stalls of the City Hall in 1973 Uriah Heep were just as good as Purple or Zeppelin or Sabbath.
I came out of the City Hall that night a big fan of Uriah Heep. I went to school the next day and bored everyone about how great they were. Oh and my ears were ringing for days after, but that was part of the fun, it reminded me that I had experienced a proper rock gig.
I’ve seen Uriah Heep another 17 or so times since. I’ve lost faith in them now and then, particularly as the line-ups changed over the years, and I’ve missed some of their tours, but I’ve always returned to them. I’m going to spend the next few days writing about Uriah Heep live (don’t worry, I’ll combine some gigs and have already reviewed some recent shows, so it won’t take me 17 days) and I will try to remind myself what made (and still makes) them so great and mighty.
Set List in Jan 1973: Sunrise; Sweet Lorraine; Traveller In Time; Easy Livin’; July Morning; Gypsy; Tears In My Eyes; Circle Of Hands; Look At Yourself; The Magician’s Birthday; Love Machine; Rock ‘n’ Roll Medley.
The above setlist is from the Birmingham gig of the tour, which was recorded for the classic Uriah Heep Live double lp. I also think they played Bird of Prey at Newcastle. I particularly remember Dave Byron announcing it as “Here is an old one, probably the last time we will play this” (it wasn’t 🙂 ) The rock’n’roll medley typically contained songs like: Roll Over Beethoven; Blue Suede Shoes; Mean Woman Blues; Hound Dog; At The Hop; Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On. And we all sang along. Happy happy days.
19 Nov
Robert Plant Newcastle Academy 18th Nov 2014
Robert Plant Newcastle Academy 18th Nov 2014
You just know that Robert Plant is enjoying himself.
The Newcastle Academy was completely packed last night; packed to the walls, so you couldn’t move at all; probably the fullest I’ve ever seen it. I was right down at the front crammed close to the stage, and there were lots of Zeppelin veterans around, everyone talking about their memories of that legendary band. One guy was relating stories of Zeppelin gigs at the Mayfair and an early City Hall show in 1970. Two other guys were talking about Earls Court and Knebworth. The respect for Plant remains solid, immovable, deep and immense. But a Plant performance these days isn’t simply a Zeppelin tribute act; far from it, The Sensational Space Shifters are a band, and each of the members are great musicians in their own right. The set is a mix of tracks from the new album, blues, folk (“there is lots of folk music tonight”) and Zeppelin classics reworked (a little, but not too much). Shape Shifter music is an eclectic mix: the world music side is clear and exemplified by Gambian Juldeh Camara’s contribution to the performance on the “riti” (a single-string fiddle) and Robert and the others playing those large tambourine-like instruments (are they called a “daf”?), but it isn’t as simple as combining african instruments and rhythms with rock. 
There is also rockabilly, particularly from crazy rock-out guitarist Justin Adams, psych, and the blues runs through everything, and screams from Liam “Skin” Tyson’s guitar. Oh, and of course, those familiar Zeppelin rock riffs come thundering through every now and then, as if we needed to be reminded where this guy’s roots lie. Plant looks great, his lion’s mane of hair intact and swaying, his voice as soulful, powerful and gentle as ever. You can feel that he is enjoying life and the music; he smiles and chats and jokes with the crowd, who give the band a roaring reception. The Sensational Shape Shifters give Plant the freedom, opportunity and space to safely bend the blues, rock, world music, mix it with excerpts from his back catalogue, and throw in all of the other musical influences which obviously run through his head, within a safe environment. The crowd know what to expect, and love it. We even get a snippet of House of the Rising Sun which prompts a massive singalong from the Geordie crowd. Amazing. Possibly the best time I’ve seen Plant in recent years.
Setlist was something like this: Friends; Spoonful; Turn It Up; Going to California; Embrace Another Fall; Rainbow; What Is and What Should Never Be; No Place to Go; Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You; Little Maggie; Fixin’ to Die; House of the Rising Sun; I Just Want to Make Love to You / Whole Lotta Love. Encore: Rock and Roll
1 Nov
Tygers of Pan Tang Newcastle City Hall 13th May 1981 & Newcastle Mayfair 3rd Sep 1982
Tygers of Pan Tang Newcastle City Hall 13th May 1981 & Newcastle Mayfair 3rd Sep 1982
The Tygers of Pan Tang were formed in Whitley Bay. For readers who are not from the North East, Whitley Bay is a seaside town. close to Newcastle upon Tyne. The original Tygers line-up was Robb Weir (guitar), Rocky (bass), Jess Cox (vocals) and Brian Dick (drums). They released the single “Don’t Touch Me There” in 1979 and the album “Wild Cat” in 1980. I saw the original band several times at gigs in the north east; I think at their old stomping ground The Rex Hotel in Whitley Bay, and possibly at the Old 29 and/or the Mecca in Sunderland. I also saw them supporting Magnum at Redcar Coatham Bowl and The Scorpions at Newcastle City Hall. John Sykes (later of Thin Lizzy) joined the band during 1980; soon afterwards Jess Cox left and was replaced by Jon Deverill.
The new line-up recorded their second album “Spellbound” and went out on a headline tour to promote it. 
I won a competition in a local paper and as my prize received a clutch (I think it was 6 or 8!) tickets for the City Hall gig, a sweatshirt, a copy of the new “Spellbound” album and some badges. Result 🙂 ! So I played my prize to get to know the songs ready for the gig. A group of us met in Steels club on the night of the concert and drove through to the City Hall in a couple of cars, clutching our free tickets (note the ticket stamped “COMPLIMENTARY”. Support came from Magnum (a bit of an about turn, as the Tygers had supported them just a year earlier) and Alcatraz, who I can only assume were a NWOBHM band and not to be confused with Alkatraz (a Man spin-off band who I had seen a few years earlier) or Alcatrazz (a band formed in 1983 by vocalist extraordinaire Graham Bonnet, guitar ace Yngwie Malmsteen and ex-Maiden drummer Clive Burr). 
The City Hall wasn’t full for the gig, but the Tygers performed a set of class metal, fronted by the powerful front trio of Jon Deverill who stood stage front open shirted, mane of long hair, confidently and powerfully screaming the vocals, John Sykes who was already a rock star in his head and you just knew it to watch him, and founder and guitar anchor Robb Weir. They released a great version of “Love Potion No 9” around the same time. John Sykes left shortly afterwards the tour to join Thin Lizzy, and was replaced by Fred Purser from Penetration, which is the line-up I saw at the Mayfair in 1982. The Tygers were one of the better bands to emerge from the NWOBHM genre. Robb Weir fronts a reformed Tygers to this day.
PS. I’ve just found this great flyer, in a pile of things in my room. It shows bands coming to Newcastle Mayfair (Rock on Friday!) in 1980: Vardis, Quartz, Anglewitch and Tygers of Pan Tang (with special guest DJ Alan Robson 🙂 ). All very NWOBHM. It also advertises “Forthcoming attractions in October: 5 Giants of the rock world: Gillan, The Scorpions, Cheap Trick, Motorhead, AC/DC. Tickets on sale now!” Happy days.
31 Oct
Twisted Sister Newcastle Mayfair 15th April 1983
Twisted Sister Newcastle Mayfair 15th April 1983
Twisted Sister were crazy, sick, evil, motherf**kas. Going to see Twisted Sister was like going to a military drill, where the sergeant major dressed as a woman, made you swear, and ridiculed you if you didn’t join in and go totally crazy. These guys took all the evil, nasty, vile, scary, bits from Alic Cooper, New York Dolls, Slade, Bowie and The Stones, dragged them through their worst nightmares of Frankenstein and Dracula, and produced a metal band with an attitude and image like we had never seen before. Twisted Sister music was anthems and choruses sung again and again over slabs of loud, crashing, metal. Oh, and by the way they were just great 🙂 Perfect for a loud rock night at the Mayfair.
Lead singer and 110% crazy guy Dee Snider looked like a 6 feet something biker, dressed in drag, with the tightest, most disgusting bright spandex pants, make-up smeared all over his face like he had been out partying all night, and the craziest mane of bright yellow hair. “We are Twisted F**in’ Sister”. “And I am a sick muthaf**ka!” “Are you a sick muthaf**ka?!” “Say it, I am a sick muthaf**ka!” “Hey that f**in’ guy up there isn’t f**in’ saying it! Does he think he is at f**in’ Woodstock?! We ain’t no f**in’ Grateful Dead, maaaan.” “Come on man, f**in’ shout it. I am a sick muthaf**ka!” “”What do we say to f**in’ people who don’t want to f**in’ party seven days a week, 365 f**in’ days a year? We are sick muthaf**kas! We are sick muthaf**kas! We are sick muthaf**kas!” There was no escape.
Snider: “I tap into everything negative in my personality. I think about the things I hate, the things I’m angry about. I let it all out – I curse, scream, roll around – and afterwards, I feel good…. Metal is an outlet for negative emotions – anger, frustration, hostility. There’s always anger, and you need to let it go. You want to punch somebody in the face – Heavy Metal, you punch your fist in the air. You want to stomp on somebody, you stomp on the floor. You want to scream at your parents, you scream into the air.”
Wonderful. No Twisted Sister; no Motley Crue, no Ratt, no Poison.
Setlist: What You Don’t Know (Sure Can Hurt You); Sin After Sin; Bad Boys (Of Rock ‘n’ Roll); Destroyer; We’re Gonna Make It; Tear It Loose; You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n’ Roll; Shoot ‘Em Down; Run for Your Life; I Am (I’m Me); It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It); Blaydon Races; Ride to Live, Live to Ride; Under the Blade; Let the Good Times Roll
I saw Twisted Sister later that year at Donington and more recently supporting Alice Cooper.
“We are sick muthaf**kas!”
26 Oct
Phil Lynnot’s Grand Slam Middlesbrough Town Hall 11th July 1984
Phil Lynnot’s Grand Slam Middlesbrough Town Hall 11th July 1984
This gig wasn’t well attended. Grand Slam were a shadow of Thin Lizzy, and sadly Phil Lynott didn’t look well. His face was bloated and his performance lack lustre. The concert was a disappointing, sad affair, particularly in comparison to the power and glory days of Lizzy. They played a few Thin Lizzy songs, I think “Whiskey in the Jar”, “Sarah” and “Cold Sweat” from “Thunder and Lightning”. They also performed Phil’s great solo track “Yellow Pearl” (written with Midge Ure and the theme to Top of the Pops in the early ’80s) and “”Parisienne Walkways”, which Phil wrote with Gary Moore. A live CD suggests that they may also have played covers of “Whiter Shade of Pale” and “Like a Rolling Stone”, but I don’t recall. Support came from Young Blood a NWOBHM band from Darlington.
Grand Slam’s line-up was Lynott (bass, vocals), Laurence Archer (lead guitar; ex-Stampede, Wild Horses, Lautrec), Donal ‘Doish’ Nagle (guitar; ex-The Bogey Boys),[ Robbie Brennan (drums), and Mark Stanway (keyboards; ex-Magnum).
I prefer to remember Phil as the wild rover, the cowboy, the vagabond, the Rocker, “one of the boys” that he wrote and sung about, and to think about the many magnificent Thin Lizzy performances I saw in the north east and at the Reading festival.
Phil Lynott died on 4th January 1986 (aged just 36) from heart failure and pneumonia. He had been admitted to hospital on Christmas Day, after collapsing from a drink and drug binge at his home in Surrey.
RIP Phil Lynott.
“Down from the glen came the marching men
With their shields and their swords
To fight the fight they believed to be right
Overthrow the overlords
…..They had come to claim the Emerald
Without it they could not leave”
(Emerald, Thin Lizzy, 1976)
Another sad note. Yesterday we lost another great musician, bass player and singer, Jack Bruce. I am a big fan of Jack Bruce’s music. His passing is really sad and makes me realise that we are coming to a stage where we are losing more and more of the legends who formed rock as we know it.
RIP Jack Bruce
25 Oct
Thin Lizzy Farewell Newcastle City Hall 20th March 1983
Thin Lizzy Newcastle City Hall 20th March 1983
The replacement for Snowy White was John Sykes, from Tygers of Pan Tang. Sykes brought a heavier sound and rock axeman guitar style to Lizzy. Very much a showman, he fitted the Lizzy image and signalled a return to form for the band. The new line-up recorded Thunder and Lightning, the band’s twelfth and final studio album. But this was the beginning of the end for Lizzy and the Thunder and Lightning tour, was announced as the final farewell tour. Support for the UK tour was Mama’s Boys, a hard rock group from County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland who featured three brothers Pat, John and Tommy McManus. The tour called at Newcastle City Hall for two nights, and I went the first night.
This was very much Lizzy back on form, with Scott Gorham and John Sykes trading and sparking off each other, and Phil and the guys delivering a performance reminiscent of that great rock band of old. Definitely the best time I had seen them for some years. 
We all knew that this was going to be the last time we saw the band, and we made the most of it, giving them a rousing reception. Thin Lizzy played their hearts out, drawing from throughout their back catalogue. They even played Whiskey in the Jar. Stunning.
Setlist, something like: Thunder and Lightning; Waiting for an Alibi; Jailbreak; Baby Please Don’t Go; This Is the One; Angel of Death; Are You Ready; The Holy War; The Sun Goes Down; Cold Sweat; Cowboy Song; The Boys Are Back in Town; Sha La La; Emerald; Baby Drives Me Crazy; Still in Love With You
Encore: Rosalie; Whiskey in the Jar; Dancing in the Moonlight
Although I didn’t see Thin Lizzy again, I did see Phil Lynott once more. I’ll close my Lizzy memories by reporting on that concert tomorrow.
24 Oct
Thin Lizzy Newcastle City Hall 1981 & 1982
Thin Lizzy Newcastle City Hall 1981 & 1982
Thin Lizzy released Renegade, their eleventh studio album in 1981. This was the first album to credit keyboard player Darren Wharton as the fifth member of the band. The Renegade tour was scheduled to call at Newcastle City Hall on 27th October 1981. The concert was postponed and Thin Lizzy actually played the gig on 10th December 1981, supported by Sweet Savage, a metal band from Belfast, who included Dio and Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell. Lizzy went out on tour again in 1982, and were scheduled to play at Newcastle City Hall on 25th March 1982. As with the previous year, this gig was also postponed as Scott Gorham was suffering from exhaustion. Lizzy played the gig on 27th April 1982. This was the last time I saw the band with Snowy White. 
Snowy: “It wasn’t really my scene, my environment really… socially … we hardly met. If we were on tour I’d be coming down for breakfast and the rest of the boys would probably be coming in .. after their night out, you know. I’d meet them in the lobby, I’d be getting up for breakfast and they’d be coming in for their bed. So after a while I’d had enough. And I think after a while they weren’t too unhappy to see me go either. You know it was time. It’s just a natural thing.”
Both gigs were excellent, but as I said yesterday, I felt that the classic Lizzy years were past. I saw Lizzy once more, on their farewell tour, which I will write about tomorrow to complete my Lizzy memories.
A typical Thin Lizzy setlist during this period: Angel of Death, Renegade, Hollywood (Down on Your Luck), Waiting for an Alibi, Jailbreak, Got To Give It Up, Don’t Believe a Word, Killer on the Loose, Cowboy Song, The Boys Are Back in Town, Suicide, Bad Reputation, Are You Ready
Encore: Baby Drives Me Crazy, Rosalie
23 Oct
Thin Lizzy Newcastle City Hall 1st May 1980
Thin Lizzy Newcastle City Hall 1st May 1980
Gary Moore had no sooner joined Thin Lizzy than he decided to leave. The switching guitarists wasn’t the only problem for the band at the time; Phil and Scott were increasingly using hard drugs. Scott Gorham speaking to the Daily Mail “as to why we did it, I can’t give you a simple answer….Some bands take drugs to get high. Others do it to beat the boredom….. people soon became concerned, especially about Phil. Our management would sneak into our hotel rooms and flush the drugs down the toilet.’
Moore’s replacement was Snowy White, a fine bluesy guitarist who had played with Peter Green and Pink Floyd. Snowy: “…. I bumped into Scott….. he remembered me because he’d come to see the Animal’s tour in Madison Square Garden a few months previously… he…said, “Wow man, we’re looking for a guitar player… can you come up and play with us and see how it works out?”
This was, for me, the beginning of the end of Thin Lizzy. Snowy was an excellent guitarist, but it just didn’t seem to work. His blues style, his quiet manner and his on stage persona just didn’t fit with the wild rock image of the rest of the band, or his predecessors. Don’t get me wrong, Snowy White, was, and is, an excellent guitarist, but he wasn’t right for Lizzy.
The new line-up recorded Chinatown, Lizzy’s tenth studio album, which was good, but not one of their best records. The release of the new album was preceded by the hit single “Killer on the Loose”. Thin Lizzy went out in tour in the UK, calling at Newcastle City Hall for two nights on 1st and 2nd May 1980. I went to the first night’s concert. It was another enjoyable show, but it seemed slicker and less wild than previous Lizzy concerts. Sadly the classic years had passed. 
Support came from The Lookalikes – a power pop band from Dublin. The highlight of the concert was when former Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson joined the band for the encore, playing on Emerald and Rosalie. Apparently Robbo’s new band Wild Horses had a gig at Newcastle Poly the following night. The appearance of Robbo was reciprocated the next night at the Poly gig when Phil and Scott joined Wild Horses on stage (now why wasn’t I at that gig?)
Setlist something like: Are You Ready; Chinatown; Waiting for an Alibi; Jailbreak; Dear Miss Lonely Hearts; Do Anything You Want To; Don’t Believe a Word; Got To Give It Up; Still in Love With You; Sweetheart; Cowboy Song; The Boys Are Back in Town; Suicide; Sha La La
Encore: Sugar Blues, Baby Drives Me Crazy, Rosalie, Emerald
Thanks to John for the image of his Chinatown poster.
22 Oct
Thin Lizzy Newcastle City Hall 11th April 1979
Thin Lizzy Newcastle City Hall 11th April 1979
There had been some to-ing and fro-ing between Gary Moore and Brian Robertson for some time, with Gary replacing Brian for a few spells. This time however, the disagreements between Phil Lynott and Brian Roberston had got to a point where the two could no longer work together. Brian left, and Gary Moore joined as his permanent replacement. Thin Lizzy was now Philip Lynott, Brian Downey, Scott Gorham, and Gary Moore. This line-up recorded “Black Rose”, the ninth Thin Lizzy ninth studio album, which is generally recognised as one of the band’s greatest and most successful recordings, and features “Do Anything You Want To”, “Waiting for an Alibi” and “Sarah” as stand-out tracks.
Lizzy went out on a UK tour during March and April 1979, to promote “Black Rose”, supported by Irish punk pop band The Vipers. The tour included two nights at Newcastle City hall.
I nearly didn’t make it to this gig. Marie and I had tickets to see Thin Lizzy at Newcastle City Hall on their second night at the venue; Thursday 12th April 1978. Then Kate Bush announced her first tour which included a concert at Sunderland Empire on the very same night. Dilemma. What do I do? We decided that we had to forego the Lizzy concert (I can’t remember what I did with the tickets, I may have sold them or given them away….) so that we could go and see Kate Bush. 
However, the pull of Thin Lizzy soon got the better of me, and I somehow managed to get a ticket for the first Lizzy concert on Wednesday 11th April 1978. Not sure how I managed this as the show was sold out; I may have gone through on spec on the night and scored a ticket outside the venue. Anyway; Result! I saw Lizzy one night, and Kate Bush the next, and it didn’t get much better than that in 1979.
Lizzy were, as always excellent. Gary Moore fitted in seamlessly; he came from the same musical and cultural background, was an old mate, and had played with the band before on many occasions. However, his stay with the band was short-lived; he walked out on them a few months later, during a tour of the USA.
Setlist: Are You Ready, Bad Reputation, Get Out of Here, Do Anything You Want To, Don’t Believe a Word, Waiting for an Alibi, Jailbreak, Got To Give It Up, Still in Love With You, Warriors, Roisin Dubh (Black Rose): A RockLegend, Cowboy Song, The Boys Are Back in Town, Suicide, Me and the Boys, Rosalie, Emerald, Baby Drives Me Crazy, The Rocker
PS Note the misspelling of “Thin Lizzie” on the ticket 🙂
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