Darts Newcastle Polytechnic
Programme is from March 9th 1978
A night with Darts in the late 70s was guaranteed to be fun filled. These guys were crazy and did great versions of all those rock n roll and doo wop classics. Marie and I used to quite often frequent Newcastle Poly dance on a Friday night, sometimes just turning up without knowing who was playing. Darts played there a few times during that period. Darts formed from the remnants of Rocky Sharpe and the Razors and John Dummer’s Blues Band, and built up a strong live following from relentless gigging up and down the country playing pubs, ballrooms and university student unions. This band were a whole lot of fun with great harmonies, and a very intricate and well choreographed stage show. Records such as Daddy Cool were OK as were their TV appearances, but they just didn’t come close to how good this band was live. Put Darts in front of a packed crowd of students late on a Friday night, with beer flowing, and a good time was definitely had by all. Darts line up was Rita Ray, vocals; Den Hegarty, vocals; Horatio Hornblower, sax; Griff Fender, vocals; Bob Fish, vocals; Thump Thomson, bass guitar; John Dummer, drums; George Currie, lead guitar and Hammy Howell, piano.
Posts Tagged ‘music’
24 Aug
Darts Newcastle Polytechnic late 70s
23 Aug
Depeche Mode Newcastle 1981 and 1982
Depeche Mode Newcastle 1981 and 1982
Its easy to forget how important Depeche Mode are. They have had an incredible 48 songs in the UK Singles Chart and have sold over 100 million albums and singles worldwide, making them the most successful electronic band in music history (Wiki). Q magazine called Depeche Mode “The most popular electronic band the world has ever known”. This a far cry from the very young looking guys I saw at Newcastle University in 1981. Singer Dave Gahan will have been less than 20 years old at the time, and looked so young then. I remember them as a cute new pop / dance band. This gig was very early on in the career, and featured the original line up before Vince Clarke went off Yazooing. 
The band had hit the chart with “just Cant Get Enough” and this was the first night of their first proper tour. A few months went by, Vince Clarke had left the band, and they were back for another tour of the UK to promote “See You”. This time they played the City Hall. The scans on this page come from the programme from that tour. 
Its hard to believe that these cute young clean cut guys went on to produce some of the much darker, minimalist synth / electronica that emerged on their later albums. So, yeah, ny experiences of Depeche Mode in concert are from some 30 years ago, and way out of date. Keeping this blog, and revisiting my old concert going activities is making me realise how much great music there is out there, and how diverse it all is. It is also reminding me that there are quite a few bands that I should try and catch up with again, and Depeche Mode is one of them. 
So next time they come to the UK, I intend to put that right and see what these guys are up to these days. I bet its quite different, and has developed somewhat, from these two early gigs. I bet they don’t play “Just Can’t Get Enough” or “See You” these days. PS. I’ve just visited the Depeche Mode forum and see that there is talk of a visit to the UK next June. I also checked out recent setlists, and no they don’t play “Just Can’t Get Enough” or “See You”.
22 Aug
Devo Newcastle City Hall 1978 and 1980
Devo Newcastle City Hall 1978 and 1980
Question: Are we not men? Answer: We are DEVO.
There were some pretty crazy messages coming out of planet DEVO in the late 70s. The messages even got through to the north east of England and drew us all to Newcastle City Hall to observe these strange beings that were DEVO, listen to the songs that they chose to share with us, and do our mad DEVO dances. The DEVO guys were very different to UK punk rock, and to anything else that we earthlings had seen come out of American new wave. So along we went (twice in my case!) to be DEVOed and to stare in awe at these crazy guys who wore red pointy hats, weird yellow suits and sang quirky punk songs with strange lyrics and obscure messages, many of which also had quite catchy hooks. Mongoloid and Jocko Homo were quite good fun, and their version of Satisfaction was ok, if a little strange. 
As the programme says: “The band eveolved from a long line of brain-eating apes, some of which settled in N.E. Ohio around Akron where members of Devo eventually appeared years after the A-Bomb ended World War II. By the process of natural selection they met and shared the habits of making electronic noise, watching TV and watching everybody esle. They called that they saw around them De-evolution and called their music Devo. It made the sound of things falling apart.” Support for the 1978 Newcastle gig came from The Members whose Sound of the Suburbs was pretty neat. They were fronted by singer Nicky Tesco who was a cool guy and good fun on stage. 
The Members had been brought in at short notice to replace Doll by Doll (featuring Jackie Leven) who had been dropped from the tour because they were “not sufficiently DEVO”. Apparently Doll by Doll turned up for this gig, only to find out that they were not playing and were understandably not too pleased. Anyway, my two interactions with the DEVO aliens were both good clean fun, even if it was all a little crazy. But then, these were crazy times. I also had the good fortune to be present when the DEVO space craft landed in a field at Knebworth and they performed on a bill with Genesis, Tom Petty and Jefferson Starship. But thats a story for another days blogging. Perhaps the DEVO guys, who are still playing in the States, will yet take over the world and I will wake up tomorrow and find that I am living on planet DEVO. Perhaps I already am? Are we not men? We are DEVO? “If the spud fits; wear it : DEVO”
20 Aug
Joe Cocker and many others Great Western Festival Lincoln 1972
Joe Cocker and many others Great Western Express Festival Lincoln May Bank holiday weekend 1972
I was 15 at the time and so excited about going to a real pop festival. My dad drove me and a couple of mates down on the Friday night, after we’d been to the local Mecca ballroom. We arrived in the early hours of Saturday morning, having missed the Friday night bands, and slept in a big crash tent for a few hours. We soon ran into a group of other lads who had also come down from Sunderland, and between us we built a cabin out of bails of hay and planks of wood which were lying around in the fields. I swear there were around 20 of us sleeping in there. We were quite close to the stage, and I pretty much stayed in that cabin all weekend. We could also stand on the roof and watch the bands. There was a massive (and very empty) press enclosure which divided the crowd from the stage, so no-one could get that close, which was bad planning. The weather was wet, with rain for most of the weekend. But I didn’t care; this was a real pop festival, and I was determined to enjoy every minute. The line-up for the remaining three days of the event was really strong. I’ll try and recall as much as I can.
Saturday. Nazareth opened the day around noon. I remember them playing Morning Dew, and thinking that they were ok. They were followed by Locomotive GT, Roxy Music who were playing their first major gig and Heads, Hands and Feet, featuring the great Albert Lee, who I remember playing “Warming up the band”. The first band I have strong memories of was Wishbone Ash. They hd just released “Argus” and their set consisted of all the classic Ash songs: Time Was, Blowin’ Free, Jailbait, The King Will Come, Phoenix etc. They were just wonderful at that time. Helen Reddy did not perform, and was replaced by Rory Gallagher, who had stayed on from the Friday to play again, as I understand his Friday set was cut short because of the weather. The Strawbs featured the classic Cousins/Hudson/Ford line-up at the time. This was before any of the hits. Pretty sure they played “The Hangman and the Papist” and “The Man who called himself Jesus”. Stone The Crows were next up. This was their first performance after Les Harvey’s death, and Steve Howe from Yes stood in on guitar. Maggie Bell’s performance was highly emotional and the crowd gave her the strongest reception of the day, sensing how real the blues was to her that night, coming only a few weeks after she had lost her boyfriend. Rod Stewart and The Faces closed Saturday night. I remember Rod wearing a silver lame jacket and that they were pretty ramshackle, but good.
Sunday. The Natural Acoustic Band started the day, followed by Focus who warmed the crowd up with Sylvia, and Brewers Droop who were a raunchy boogie band who popped up at a few festivals in those days. Spencer Davis played with his new band, which was heavy on steel guitar and country oriented, followed by The Incredible String Band. Lindisfarne were the first band to get the crowd going and were a big hit of the weekend. We were all on the roof of our cabin, singing along to Fog on the Tyne. Average White Band were followed by The Persuasions who were an a cappella soul band, and were impressive. The next big hit of the day were Slade, who just tore the place apart. They started this performance with a lot to prove to a “Hippy” crowd, who viewed slade as a pop act. By the end of the performance everyone was singing along and converted. They were just great. Monty Python’s Flying Circus, with the entire cast, did all their great sketches: Dead Parrot, Lumberjack Song, Argument; great fun. The Beach Boys closed the evening and were wonderful singing all the hits. Great end to a great day.
Monday. The morning featured some folk acts, who had been moved to the main stage because the folk tent had been damaged by the weather. I remember Jonathan Kelly performing and singing “Ballad of Cursed Anna” which is a favourite of mine to this day. Jackson Heights, featuring Lee Jackson from the Nice started the main part of the day off, followed by Atomic Rooster, Vincent Crane collapsing (as he normally did) during Gershatzer. Vinegar Joe with Elkie Brooks and Robert Palmer were next up, followed by the Sutherland Brothers. The next two bands were both up and coming at the time: Genesis and Status Quo. They were both festival favourites, Peter Gabriel with his shaved forehead, telling those great stories to introduce beautiful songs such as Musical Box, and Quo were still trying to establish themselves as a proper rock band and shake off the pop image, which they were doing very well with tracks such as Someones Learning and Is It Really Me? Don McLean sang American Pie and the rain stopped for him. Humble Pie were something else. Steve Marriott was at the top of his game and was fully into his “My skin is white but my soul is black” routine. I Don’t Need No Doctor!! Just great. Sha Na Na, still featuring in all our minds from the Woodstock movie, had us all singing along. Joe Cocker closed the festival. He came on very late as I recall. There was a long wait and he took to the stage in the early hours of the morning. I remember him singing The Letter and Cry Me a River. He was good, but I was tired and cold by that time. All my mates had gone to sleep.
Other memories of the weekend. A large black and white screen above the stage, which worked some of the time. They showed movies on it throughout the night. I watched Marlon Brando in The Wild One, which was banned in the UK (!) at the time. Lots of chants of Wally. People openly selling dope with price lists on their tents. Hari Krishna’s giving out free food. A straw fight during (I think) Lindisfarne’s set. Everyone around me had also been to the Bickershaw festival a couple of weeks before, and were taking about how great The Grateful Dead and Captain Beefheart were. I was dead jealous.
I caught the train back on Tuesday. My mates variously hitched and scored lifts. I arrived home tired, unwashed, and determined to go to as many festivals as I could in the future, which I sort of stuck to for the remainder of the 70s.
19 Aug
Death Cult Redcar 1983 and The Cult Newcastle 1985
Death Cult Redcar 1983 and The Cult Newcastle 1985
Ian Astbury is an interesting and impressive guy. He was born in Liverpool, lived for some time in Canada, and discovered music through The Doors, punk and Crass. I first became aware of him in Southern Death Cult, first saw him live in Death Cult, and then in the later incarnation of the band, The Cult. The last time I saw Ian was fronting The 21st Century Doors in the vast Manchester Arena, featuring original Doors members Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek. He is now back fronting The Cult. This is a guy who is clearly living his dream. My first encounter with Ian Astbuty was in the Death Cult, at Redcar Coatham Bowl in 1983. Ian was sporting a painted face and bandanna, strutting his stuff to the goth / new wave music of this post-punk supergroup, which he had formed with Billy Duffy from Theatre of Hate. Pretty impressive stuff, but just a taste of the rock splendour that was to follow a couple of years later. Support for the Redcar gig came from Goth band Look Back in Anger. 
The next time I saw The Cult in concert, they had transformed into a fully fledged rock band, and were touring to support the “Love” album. “She sells Sanctuary” had been high in the charts for a number of weeks, and their new single “Rain” had just been released. Ian was now very much the heavy rock god. I remember being particularly impressed by Ian’s performance and by Billy Duffy’s guitar playing that night. I had a seat pretty close to the front and recall that the gig was very LOUD; my ears were ringing for some time after. 
“Love” and the follow-up “Electric” are both great albums, the former more psychedelic rock, and the latter much more hard-rock oriented. The City Hall concert was pretty electric, and the band went on to tour the USA to phenomenal success. Not certain who the support act was for the City Hall show; it may have been Balaam and the Angel. Setlist: Love; Nirvana; Big Neon Glitter; Revolution; Brother Wolf, Sister Moon; Rain; Resurrection Joe; Dreamtime; She Sells Sanctuary; Go West; Spiritwalker; Horse Nation; The Phoenix; Hollow Man; Wild Thing / Louie Louie
18 Aug
Nick Cave The Sage Gateshead 2005
Nick Cave Sage Gateshead 2005
Tickets for this gig sold quickly; Nick Cave has a very committed hard core following. This is the only time I’ve seen him in concert. I have vague memories of The Birthday Party supporting Bauhaus at Newcastle University in the early 80s, but can’t be certain I attended that gig. David and I went to the Sage gig, David being more familiar with Cave’s material than I was. This was a solo concert, with Nick on piano, and Bad Seeds Warren Ellis (violin), Martyn Casey (bass) and Jim Sclavunos (drums). It was one of the first gigs I attended at the Sage Gateshead, which had only been open for a couple of months. Nick’s songs are dark and intense, and the set drew songs from throughout his career, and a selection from the Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus album, which had been released around that time. Nick is a pretty cool guy (great moustache) and had some interesting banter with the crowd between songs. An excellent gig by a unique guy. Laura is pretty jealous and has Nick Cave high on her lists of concert must-sees. I bought her a signed copy of his book “The Death of Bunny Munro” which takes pride of place in her flat, and I have promised to take her to see him next time he comes to the North of England. Setlist: West Country Girl; Abattoir Blues; Red Right Hand; Hallelujah; Cannibals Hymn; God Is In the House; The Ship Song; Babe You Turn Me On; Christina The Astonishing; Henry Lee; The Mercy Seat; Hiding All Away; Messiah Ward; Rock Of Gibralter; Jack The Ripper. Encore 1: The Lyre Of Orpheus; Lucy; Stagger Lee. Encore 2: The Singer
17 Aug
Crosby & Nash in Gateshead; and Crosby, Stills & Nash in Manchester 2005
Crosby & Nash in Gateshead; and Crosby, Stills & Nash in Manchester 2005
If you had asked me 10 years ago, I would have said that we wouldn’t see Crosby, Stills and Nash back in the UK. It seemed so long since they toured over here. I had my memories of the great CSNY gig at Wembley Stadium in 1974, and figured that would be the one and only time I saw that great band, or CSN, live in concert. However, I would have been wrong. The past 7 years has seen a few visits to the UK by Crosby and Nash, and CSN. The first news of this was that Crosby and Nash were to tour Europe in early 2005. The first concert to be announced was set for the Royal Festival Hall London in February 2005. I bought tickets straight away for Marie and I to go to that show; however within a week or so, a gig was added at The Sage Gateshead, a venue which is local to us. So I bought tickets for the Sage gig and sold our tickets for London (ebay comes in handy a lot these days). We had good seats for the Sage concert, and ran into lots of old friends there. The show started with Military Madness, and took us through all of those great songs, with those exquisite harmonies; as beautiful as ever. A month or so later, further UK dates were announced, this time with Stephen Stills as part of the line up. I couldn’t resist a chance to see CSN so bought tickets for the Manchester Arena concert. David came along with me and we both enjoyed it. These were two great gigs; these guys are responsible for some of the best music of the last 40 years. I’ve loved them since I heard Marrakesh Express on the radio in the late 60s. 
The set list for Crosby and Nash gig was something like this: Military Madness; Marrakesh Express; Long Time Gone; Lay Me Down; In My Dreams; Broken Bird; Pre-Road Downs; Page 43; Jesus of Rio; They Want It All; Orleans / Cathedral; Déjà Vu; Live On (The Wall); Guinnevere; Milky Way Tonight; Puppeteer; Just a Song Before I Go; Delta; Don’t Dig Here; Wasted on the Way; To the Last Whale…A. Critical Mass B. Wind on the Water; Wooden Ships; Our House; Almost Cut My Hair. Encore: Teach Your Children.
The setlist for the CSNY gig was something like this: Part 1: Carry On; Marrakesh Express; Acadienne; Long Time Gone; Jesus of Rio; They Want It All; Guinnevere; Ole Man Trouble; Military Madness; In My Dreams; Feed the People; Déjà Vu. Part 2: Southern Cross; Helplessly Hoping; Lay Me Down; Milky Way Tonight; Spanish Suite; Don’t Dig Here; Love the One You’re With; Almost Cut My Hair; Chicago; Wooden Ships; Woodstock; Teach Your Children
15 Aug
Alice Cooper Newcastle 1986 and 1988
Alice Cooper Newcastle 1986 and 1988
It was around ten years till I saw Alice Cooper again. He visited the UK in 1982, but for some reason I didn’t make a show on that tour. However he was back again in 1986, and paid his fist visit to Newcastle. After experiencing the splendour of the “Welcome to my Nightmare” tour, I was looking forward to this gig. Support came from Alien Sex Fiend, a deathrock band formed at the Batcave club in London. Alice was promoting the Constrictor lp, which was his 16th(!) album, and the tour was named “The Nightmare Returns”. 
It was seen as a return to form, if perhaps a little more heavy metal than previous outings. The show was as theatrical as ever, with Frankenstein making an appearance for the song “Teenage Frankenstein”. The set contained a selection of all the classic Alice tracks. Setlist: Welcome to My Nightmare; Billion Dollar Babies; No More Mr. Nice Guy; Be My Lover; I’m Eighteen; The World Needs Guts; Give It Up; Cold Ethyl; Only Women Bleed; Go to Hell; Ballad of Dwight Fry; Teenage Frankenstein; Sick Things; I Love the Dead; School’s Out. Encore: Elected; Under My Wheels. Seem to recall that I went to the gig with my mate Norm and that we went down to Tiffanies (it may have been another club) afterwards and saw We’ve Got A Fuzzbox and We’re Gonna Use It!! 
Alice was back in Newcastle two years later; this time for a two night stay at the City Hall. Support this time came from heavy metal act Chrome Molly, and Alice’s new album was Raise Your Fist and Yell. I found the following interesting snippet on the sickthingsuk site: “During the first night at Newcastle City Hall 8th April, 1988, Alice accidentally threw one of the dancers whips [during Go To Hell] up into the balcony and was caught, much to the delight of a female member of the audience (Steve Olley, January 2009).” The set was quite similar to Alice’s previous visit, and this time the show featured Freddie Kreuger appeared in the show!
13 Aug
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Wembley Stadium 1974
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Wembley Stadium 1974
Special guests: Joni Mitchell, The Band, Jesse Colin Young
Looking back this was a very strong line-up and a truly historic gig, although I’m not sure I realised it at the time. A group of us went down to London by train, primarily to see CSN&Y. To be honest ( and to my shame) I had little interest in seeing the other acts on the bill. This gig was very much a coming together of the long hairs; everyone there to see a cluster of west coast superstars who rarely appeared in the UK. The weather was good, a hot late summer day, and the vibe friendly and laid back. I remember running into loads of people from the North East. We had tickets for the stands, and couldn’t get down on the pitch which was frustrating. My mates and I spent some time next to the back stage area, star spotting. We saw (I think; from a bad….memory) members of the Moody Blues, The Faces, Led Zeppelin and Marc Bolan. My mate Don and I ran into Robert Plant in the gents, and we chatted to him; Don offered Plant a drink from his bottle of beer, Plant took a swig to Don’s delight (he swore he would keep the bottle for ever!). We arrived early and saw all the bands; I wish I’d taken more notice of their sets than I did. Jesse Colin Young’s “Darkness, Darkness” is now one of my favourite songs, but I remember nothing of what he played that day. I remember that the Band played a solid set including “The Weight”, “Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and “Cripple Creek”. Joni Mitchell’s set was part solo on acoustic guitar or piano, and part accompanied by Tom Scott’s L.A. Express. Her album at the time was Court and Spark, and she played tracks from that lp plus favourites such as “Woodstock”, “Big Yellow Taxi” and “This Flight Tonight”. She is another artist who I really appreciate now; much more so than I did back then in the day. 
CSN&Y played a long set of around four (!) hours. They were just amazing; incredible harmonies, great musicianship. There were times when it dragged a little for me, as the set included a lot of songs which were unfamiliar to me. However, before too long another classic would come along, the harmonies would be spot on, and the guitar duels would spark off again. My enduring memories are of the start and end of their set. They started with an extended version of “Love the one you’re with” and the place went crazy. My last memory is of standing on a wooden bench, such as the seats were in the Wembley stands in those days, singing the chorus of “Ohio”, with 72,000 other people. Days don’t come any better. Where did the years go?
CSNY setlist: Love the One You’re With; Wooden Ships; Immigration Man; Helpless; Military Madness; Johnny’s Garden; Traces; Almost Cut My Hair; Teach Your Children; Only Love Can Break Your Heart; The Lee Shore; Time After Time; It’s All Right; Another Sleep Song; Our House; Hawaiian Sunrise; Star of Bethlehem; Love Art Blues; Old Man; Change Partners; Blackbird; Myth of Sisyphus; Word Game; Suite: Judy Blue Eyes; Déjà Vu; First Things First; Don’t Be Denied; Black Queen; Pushed It Over the End; Pre-Road Downs; Carry On; Ohio
12 Aug
Penetration Stockton Georgian Theatre 11 August 2012
Penetration Stockton Georgian Theatre 11 August 2012
Middlesbrough Rock Garden Revisited
“Nostalgia for an age yet to come”
This gig was one of a series of concerts organised under the Rock Garden Revisited banner, which is booking veteran punk acts to play at the Stockton Georgian Theatre and, in doing so, allowing ageing punks to relive their youth. Although I can’t claim to have been a true, and out and out, punk in the late 70s, I did go to gigs at the Rock Garden quite a lot in those glorious days which seem so long ago now, and Penetration were a band that Marie and I saw loads of times at various North East venues. 
So I decided to join in, and try and relive some of my younger days. This was my first visit to the Georgian Theatre, which is hidden away in the redeveloped Riverside quarter of Stockton. Actually, I was a bit unsure about going to this gig. Penetration are a band that we were really into in the day, to the extent that I still know the lyrics to most of the songs. Sometimes its better to leave memories intact; revisiting them runs a risk of tarnishing precious memories. However, I decided I would go and played their first album “Moving Targets” to remind myself of those great songs. The place was full; tickets had sold out in February. Penetration took to the stage around 10pm, and played a set of all their classic tunes. Great stuff, Pauline was on good form and in good voice, and the crowd loved it. The sound was a bit ropey at times, with feedback and distortion creeping in here and there, and they were really LOUD. My ears are still ringing this morning. 
Penetration started with Future Daze and the set included (although not necessarily in this order): Life’s a Gamble; Feeling; Lovers of Outrage; Movement; Free Money; Silent Community; Don’t Dictate; Danger Signs; Nostalgia; Come Into the Open; She is the Slave. The encore included Shout Above the Noise and Firing Squad.
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