A lovely evening spent in a great venue in my home town. I have passed on many chances to see Joanne Shaw Taylor in the past. A few of my friends have seen her in concert and recommended I go along. So, here she was playing locally so I had to catch up with her and see what I have been missing. Well, I have been missing quite a lot of good music actually. I was (more than) pleasantly surprised by the bluesy voice and outstanding guitar playing of Joanne.
For some reason, I have had Rory Gallagher in my mind lately. I was and remain, a big fan of Rory. I first saw him in 1970 when he was playing with his first band Taste. I remember Rory performing classic songs such as “Blister on the Moon” and “Catfish” complete with his battered Fender Stratocaster and a Vox AC30 amplifier. Out of pure madness I recently bought myself a Stratocaster and a Vox AC30 purely to use as ornaments with no chance of me ever being able to play them. Still, they remind me of Rory and many other great bands and guitarists. In those days the performer could fill the hall with the sound of that small amplifier; no big Marshall stacks then!
So, apologies for digressing. Why do I return to Rory? I saw glimpses of Rory in Joanne Shaw Taylor’s performance the other night in The Fire Station. Why do I need to compare people I see with my past heroes? Not sure, and it is probably an unfair thing to do. Joanne Shaw Taylor has her own, very powerful, unique repertoire to draw upon. Comparisons are unnecessary. She is a very soulful, bluesy singer who plays extraordinary electric blues guitar. How could I have missed opportunities to see this lady so many times before. Foolishness; pure foolishness, that’s all.
The Fire Station announced the gig: “Join Joanne Shaw Taylor and her stellar band performing songs from her critically acclaimed studio album, Nobody’s Fool, as well as songs from the upcoming new album. Her guitar prowess, vocal abilities, and songwriting talents reach new heights as she presents a bold slate of material at the peak of her career. Joanne will also dig deep into her rich back catalogue where she will hand-pick songs from her previous recordings along with classic blues songs.”
A mix of country, soul and blues. She even played a song from the 1960s which was very different to how I remembered it. So different that by the time I got home I had forgotten what the song was. I searched on the Internet and discovered that it was “If You Gotta Make A Fool of Somebody” which was, of course, a hit for Freddie and the Dreamers in the UK. Joanne’s version was very different; soulful and bluesy with exquisite electric guitar by Joanne herself and also her guitarist. Perhaps Joanne’s version is closer to the original song which I must look up.
Joanne is supported by a band of excellent musicians but is very much a charismatic band leader. Her performance was amazing, much better than I expected and she surely must progress to greater things. Joe Bonamassa comes to mind. Another comparison; apologies Joanne. Joe played blues clubs and small venues and gradually built up a following to the extent he now fills arenas around the world. It was a privilege to catch this great blues singer and guitarist in a small venue. Fantastic. Someone I must definitely see again.
Many thanks to Jackie for the photographs and to Jan for helping me manipulate the site.
Setlist: (something like this) In the Mood; Keep On Lovin’ Me; All My Love; If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody; Can’t You See What You’re Doing to Me; Dyin’ to Know; Wild Love; Won’t Be Fooled Again; Watch ’em Burn; Diamonds in the Dirt; Fade Away; Runaway; Sweet Lil Lies; Bad Blood.
Encore: Going Home
This is a new band who I have never seen before. Indeed, I had never heard of them until Chris suggested them to me, comparing their music with that of Fairport Convention. Intrigued I decided to go along and find out myself. Chris and Elaine both accompanied me to the concert.
I have heard of Martin Simpson and Nancy Kerr but I have never seen them before. 1 of my friends, who loves acoustic guitar music, tells me that Martin Simpson is an excellent guitarist. So that further intrigues me and led me to attend the performance.
The Fire Station website continues: “Formed from the idea of bringing together a group of established folk musicians who would mix their song-writing styles and musicianship in a full-on electric band to create exciting new music and update the classic 60’s and 70’s British folk/rock sound, the possibilities of The Magpie Arc being something special and unique on today’s folk scene became obvious very quickly. Having three strong writers the focus has naturally been on new material, however they’ve also tackled some great covers plus their own re-workings of traditional songs. There’s folk and rock, some country and even blues, but whatever the genre the band are already proving to be a musical mix of everything you could expect from such a line-up, with excellent songs, lush harmonies, powerful electric guitars, gorgeous fiddle lines and rock solid bass and drums.”
The concert was excellent with a mixture of traditional folk songs song performed by individuals and others by the entire band. Martin Simpson is an excellent electric guitarist, Findlay Napier provided some great songs, several with a country influence and Nancy Kerr sang lovely traditional folk music accompanying herself on violin.
They reminded me of a much more electrified version of Fairport Convention. I once saw Fairport Convention in the early 70s and at the time they were very loud and electric. This was the sort of music that The Magpie Arc reminded me of as characterised by the quotes below:
Many thanks to Chris and Elaine for the photographs. I also purchased an album which Martin and Findlay kindly signed (see image)
It has been many years since I saw 
Barbara has appeared around the region many times over the years and I have always meant to go and see her but for some reason, I never did. As this was her farewell tour I figured I should go along and see what the lady was like in concert on this last opportunity. The Glasshouse announced the show: “Theatric. Passionate. A triumphant finale. Legendary Scottish singer, songwriter, musician and actress Barbara Dickson has announced her Farewell Tour with her full band. In her own words ‘I played my first headline tour with full band in 1977. Now, in 2024, I’ve decided to make this one my last. A memorable occasion and a suitable celebration is required. Come and join us to make this tour the most special of all.’ Throughout her career Barbara has achieved countless accolades including two Olivier Awards for her role in Blood Brothers and Spend Spend Spend plus she was awarded an OBE from Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II in 2002.”
The songs she performed were a mixture of her hits and some which harked right back to her folk club roots and were very traditional. A great performance with a wonderful mixture of tunes. Barbara was accompanied by an excellent band of musicians, including a guy who played a beautiful Scottish pipe. No photography was allowed. During the interval I purchased a couple of programmes and a tea towel! I also invested in a double Jack Daniels which always adds to the sense of occasion.
The first, last (and only) time I saw 
For some reason I passed many opportunities to see ABC in the intervening years. Time to make up for this schoolboy error. And this was some great opportunity indeed to catch up with Martin Fry (the only remaining member from the early days of the band), his vision and his extraordinary music. Looking back at his career Martin Fry is responsible for the beautiful, and massively successful, piece of music which lies in the album The Lexicon of Love.
Somewhere from the electronica soundscape of Sheffield which Martin Fry shared with the human league and other bands of the time, came a collection of beautifully crafted songs, many of which focused upon the 3 of Love and passed romances. The Lexicon of Love was, of course, a major album chart hit, and remains an important part of many peoples youth, including my own. Martin is currently touring with the Southbank Sinfonia, and filling venues across the UK. The conductor of the orchestra, Anne Dudley is someone who Martin worked with several years ago along with the legendary Trevor Horn.
The Glasshouse website announced the event: “Unique. Lavish. A masterpiece returns. ABC performs The Lexicon Of Love in its entirety, plus their other greatest hits with Southbank Sinfonia Conducted by Anne Dudley. The Lexicon Of Love was first released in 1982 and went straight to number one. Fusing dance floor finesse with a post-punk attitude, the album spawned timeless tracks such ‘Poison Arrow’, ‘The Look Of Love’ , Tears Are Not Enough’ and ‘All Of My Heart’. The album saw ABC enchant the world with their own unique brand of pop. The Lexicon Of Love Orchestra tour first came to fruition in 2009 with countless 5 star reviews from a one off show At The Royal Albert Hall with Martin donning his iconic gold lame suit.”
“It sees Martin joined by Southbank Sinfonia and long time collaborator Anne Dudley as conductor for a truly magical evening celebrating this pop masterpiece. Next year will be 15 years since that first partnership that sees audiences returning again and again. ABC fronted by Martin Fry were formed in Sheffield in the 1980’s when they decided they wanted to fuse the world of disco funk with their own unique post punk vision. ABC’s debut album The Lexicon Of Love sold over a million records.”
The Glasshouse was completely packed with an audience who have loved this album from the day they first heard it some 40 years ago. Everyone was singing along and dancing to great tracks such as “The Look of Love” and “All of My Heart”. The sound was exquisite and Martin looked fantastic in sharp suits (although no gold lame suit this evening); just the same as he did when I watched him perform those tracks on Top of the Pops.
The concert was in two parts with a short interval. I started the evening by investing in a T-shirt, two programmes (one for me and one for my friend John in the USA), a vinyl copy of the Lexicon of Love Live signed by Martin Fry and a double Jack Daniels. A lovely concoction of mementos and a nice drink to start the evening. The first set comprised a number of hits and more recent ABC songs including the great “When Smokey Sings”.
During the short interval I decided to pass on another alcoholic beverage and instead had a lovely small tub of chocolate ice cream. For the second set we were treated to Martin Fry in a lovely pink suit, the orchestra and band performing the Lexicon of Love in its entirety. This is what everyone had come to hear. There was mucho dancing in the aisles and in seats and lots of singing along. The encore was a reprise of “The Look of Love”. A great evening with an artist whose work has lived on through the years and was greatly enhanced by the addition of the orchestra. Elaine and I both really enjoyed it all.
Setlist: Set 1: Overture; When Smokey Sings; Viva Love; The Night You Murdered Love; (How to Be a) Millionaire; The Flames of Desire; The Love Inside the Love; Ten Below Zero; One Better World; Ocean Blue; Be Near Me.
I recall going to see many movies: all of the Disney cartoons,The Man from Uncle films, Cliff Richard in Summer Holiday, Born Free, Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu, the Beatles in Hard Days Night and Help and, of course, all of the James Bond films from Doctor No onwards through From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, the spoof Casino Royale and You Only Live Twice.
I was a massive fan of the Sean Connery Bond films and the theme tunes: the James Bond theme by the 
So I was looking forward to this performance of the James Bond theme songs and music, by no less than the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor 
The concert itself was excellent with great deliveries of the songs going from the early Sean Connery days up to the present day and epics such as “Skyfall” originally performed by Adele and “A View to a Kill” originally performed by Duran Duran. The vocalists delivered the songs excellently and the entire concert was just fine. I even decided to buy some of my old favourites on eBay (see images) and I purchased a natty little programme at the concert.
Many thanks to Chris for the images and navigating the site again. By the way, Sean Connery was still the best Bond. I still live back in the 1960s and my happy memories of the cinema with my dad. This concert took me back some 60 years. Happy days.
Setlist: Dr No – Theme; You Only Live Twice – Title Song; GoldenEye – Title Song; Live and Let Die – Title Theme; From Russia With Love – Title Song; Quantum of Solace – Another Way to Die; The World is Not Enough – Title Song; Goldfinger – Title Song; A View to a Kill – Title Song;
Thunderball -Title Song; Skyfall – Title Song; For Your Eyes Only – Title Song; The Spy Who Loved Me – Nobody Does It Better; Moonraker – Title Theme; No Time to Die – Title Song; On Her Majestys Secret Service – We Have All the Time in the World; Casino Royale – You Know My Name; Diamonds Are Forever – Title Song; Spectre – The Writings on the wall; Licence to Kill – Title Song
Chris says of his new tour: “My new songs written with Boo Hewerdine tell a story of celebration; 25 years writing lyrics and playing on stages big and small. A journey I look back on with great fondness and gratitude. I can’t wait to climb back on stage and perform. Although I have been shy in the past I now find myself feasting on the here and now deep within the shell-like of your ear. I will be joined on stage by Melvin Duffy on his pedal steel and together we will deliver an evening of warm and, I hope, funny stories. Melvin’s playing is outstanding and I feel so lucky to have him as my sideman, he cries over the songs and always makes them sound amazing. “Not Only But Also is not just a look back on 50 lyrical years, it’s a journey that asks, ‘What Happened?’ – What happened to all those years and mates I grew up with before I formed a band? I hope you enjoy this new show for 2023.”
And a journey and a feast of songs and stories it was. Chris was in a jovial mood telling many stories of how we grew up on a council estate in South London, became a skinhead and attended reggae nights at the local Palais as a teenager. Then he discovered progressive rock and became a Hawkwind fan. He was even lucky enough to attend the first Glastonbury festival witnessing an early morning set by David Bowie and a great performance by Hawkwind. Magic.
The stories went on, to include tales of meeting Sting, Bono and Jon Bon Jovi when Squeeze were supporting them, or vice versa. We all laughed along with him as he joked about their massive success compared to that of Squeeze. Now, come on Chris you haven’t done too badly after all! The show was in two sets with a short interval in between. Along with Chris’ wonderful stories we were also treated to songs which comprised all of the well-known Squeeze chart hits and some of Chris’ solo material, which was equally engaging. Chris sang, among others, the big hit singles “Up the Junction” (my favourite), “Cool for Cats” and “Is That Love?” (another particular favourite of mine).
Chris was accompanied by, I assume, the aforementioned Melvin Duffy who played a Fender Telecaster, rather than a pedal steel guitar as promised by Chris above. Whatever, his guitar was excellent and he, like the audience, could not stop laughing along with Chris’ stories.
Setlist: Set1: Take Me I’m Yours; Unk; What Happened; Pulling Mussels (From the Shell); I Lived for Each Moment; Slap & Tickle; Tempted
Being a massive fan of 
Now Nick Harper comes with some growing credentials including the following:
The extract below from Nick’s own site explains how he blends words, stories with music. He is also an excellent acoustic guitarist, by the way: “As 2020 got about its reckless mischief……Nick retreated to the studio. The resulting album couldn’t have been more of a great escape in every way. Phantastes is an ethereal dream realm of an album that explores the parallels of the seminal fantasy novel of the same name by George MacDonald and the beginnings of Nick’s own love story from 1982. Totally divorced from 2020 in time and space, the album has been enthusiastically received by fans seeking a temporary refuge from the here and now. Continuing his recent predilection for the spoken word, Nick cemented the bond between his music and the aforementioned book by recording an audiobook of Phantastes, with musical interpretations of George MacDonald’s poems and songs contained therein.”
So, on the recommendation of some friends and reading the above testimonies I went along with high expectations. After a short wait Nick took to the stage and it soon became obvious how many fans and friends this guy has. Everyone seemed to know Nick and his songs and there was quite a lot of banter between artist and crowd, no I would call them friends. This is somewhat reminiscent, although quite different, to the way in which his father Roy would interact and chat with his audience.
Each song was preceded by quite a lengthy, yet fascinating, explanation of how the song came together. Nick explained that some came in a matter of minutes and others took many years to gestate. There were references to his father, late mother, late grandfather and his daughter. This is clearly a close family, and that comes through in the stories and the songs. Sometimes I thought I could hear echoes of his father’s voice; only for an instant and then it was gone. Nick is his own man with a set of strong songs, lots of stories, and is an incredible acoustic guitarist to boot.
During the interval he kindly signed a copy of one of his albums which I purchased (see image). The second half continued with more stories and songs. Throughout the evening Nick replenished himself with shots of tequila, several of which he shared with members of the audience. All too soon it was over and Jan and I were out in the cold night air and into our taxi homeward bound (an intentional pointer towards one of Nick’s stated influences, Paul Simon, another being the great folk singer/guitarist Davey Graham, whose music he played before his set and during the interval).
A lovely evening spent with a great guitarist, singer and wordsmith. Many thanks to Jan for the photographs and to Chris for manipulating the site. Afterwards I went to his website and bought a T-shirt which also tempted me towards Roy Harper’s site where I also purchased a shirt. That’s me done on Harper merchandise for now. I have added an image of a flyer from when I saw Roy in 2019 just to round things off and take me back to my starting point.
This was a great local event, hosted by 
Friday night was wonderful and eventful in many ways. My carer Jackie and I arrived late afternoon in order to catch Eric Bell, who was playing two sets: one in the early afternoon and one later in the day. We decided to go along for the later set hoping to catch him play some old Thin Lizzy favourites. As we arrived we were welcomed by the guys on the door who pointed us towards the VIP lounge where we were introduced to the man himself, Eric Bell!
We had a pleasant chat with this legend, during which I reminded Eric about meeting him with Phil Lynott in the bar of Sunderland Locarno around 1971 or 1972. Eric asked me if liked old Thin Lizzy, which of course I replied I did, and I also said I liked the later Thin Lizzy which he agreed with. “Do you like the Beatles? And Jimi Hendrix?” Asked Eric. “Yes of course” I replied. “I also love the Rolling Stones” I added. Eric nodded his head. Do you like “Whiskey in the Jar” and “The Rocker” he asked. “Of course,” I replied.
We then entered the main stage room which was situated upstairs. Downstairs there were two further stages: an acoustic stage and a blues stage. This really was a fantastic, well-coordinated event. The organisers had kept a table for us at the back of the room where Jackie and I had a great view of the proceedings. They then very kindly, as a result of our early bird VIP tickets, presented us with a plate of pizza, and another containing garlic bread and nibbles. Lovely. This really was a great event in every way.
After a short while, the Eric Bell Trio took to the stage. The first part of their short set was a series of excellent renditions of traditional blues classics. I was beginning to think that maybe Eric now focuses on the blues and might not play thin Lizzy songs. But then the opening bars to “Whiskey in the Jar” rang around the room and we were off back into many happy memories of the early Lizzy that I saw several times in the first part of the 1970s. After a great rendition of “Whiskey in the Jar”, Eric finished the set with the aforementioned “The Rocker”. Pure magic from a gent and a legend.
After another short break, the 
We all left the club in quite an orderly fashion, Jackie and I taking the lift downwards and out onto the cold windy seaside street in Cullercoats. Everyone was waiting outside to be re-admitted to the venue. My friendly taxi driver was waiting around the corner so Jackie and I decided to take a ride home that evening. A very eventful and enjoyable evening at the 
Roll-on to Sunday night and we had a shorter but also eventful visit back to the Cullercoats Crescent Club. The programme told us that Martin Turner was playing two sets: one in the afternoon and one quite early in the evening. Once again, I was really interested in seeing Martin as the headline act so Elaine my carer for the evening and I turned up just in time to see him play. On arrival we were told “Martin Turner has already been on. Because of the weather he decided to play a longer set in the afternoon”.
I was a little disappointed, however the organiser was very kind and apologetic, explaining the circumstances which were, on reflection, very understandable. The weather last Sunday evening was terrible with gale force winds and we were situated right on the coast. I would imagine that Martin Turner had to travel quite a distance to home or his next gig so I can understand why he needed to leave early. Never mind I have tickets to see him perform at Newcastle Cluny later in the year. Elaine and I decided to join in with the full festival experience and after a pint of Guinness and a great set by the 
Two interesting acts at a local venue. It has been many years since I have seen both of these. I last saw 
The last time I saw 
We had a great vantage point on the wheelchair platform. First up were The Primitives who played a great selection of jangly pop tunes including, of course, “Crash” which sounded as fresh and singalong today as it did all those years ago. During Hugh Cornwell’s set Tracy was down in front of the merchandise stand and we caught her and she kindly signed my ticket (see image).
Soon Hugh took to the stage with his three-piece band. Himself on vocals and guitar, a bass player who pounded away on his bass guitar in a similar way to that of Stranglers bass player Jean-Jacques Burnel and mid-stage a drummer also pounding away at his kit. The set was once again a mixture of solo material and a few Stranglers gems thrown in here and there.
In total he played around 9 Stranglers tracks, some of which I recognised including “Always the Sun”, “Strange Little Girl” and the closing track which took me right back to the early days “Hanging Around”. A two hour set which didn’t drag at all. The crowd loved it and Hugh seemed to enjoy himself. At the end a guy dressed as a chicken arrived on stage to play maracas. Bizarre.
Setlist: I Wannahideinsideaya; Too Much Trash; Skin Deep (Stranglers); Wrong Side of the Tracks; Delightful Nightmare; Strange Little Girl (Stranglers); Totem and Taboo; Bad Vibrations; Who Wants the World? (Stranglers); Moments of Madness; When I Was a Young Man; Tramp (Stranglers); Pure Evel; Mr. Leather; Always the Sun (Stranglers); Duce Coochie Man; Goodbye Toulouse (Stranglers); Another Kind of Love; Out of My Mind (Stranglers); Live it and Breathe it; Leave Me Alone; Thrown Away (Stranglers); Lasagna; Hanging Around (Stranglers).
Along the way I saw Lindisfarne many times. The Lincoln Festival where they triumphed with the whole crowd singing along to songs from Nicely Out Of Tune and the Fog On The Tyne albums. The Grangemouth festival 1972 in Scotland where they again got the crowd singing along. Seeing them at Sunderland Top Rank around 1972 and headlining the City Hall two nights in a row, one with Genesis support and the other with Stackridge support on the Dingley Dell tour (a much underrated album). Then the split and witnessing Lindisfarne 2 and the other offshoot Jack The Lad at festivals. The reforming of the band with a magical comeback concert at the City Hall and then back at the top with “Run for Home” and attending a sold-out concert at Redcar Coatham bowl during which we all danced on the tables and the aforementioned single was high in the charts.
The Alan Hull solo concert at the City Hall. Then all the Christmas concerts which I attended during the 1980s at the Newcastle City Hall. Travelling to Carlisle Sands Centre to see their farewell concert. I even took a copy of that evening’s Newcastle evening Chronicle trusted Carlisle; they were fully pictured on the cover and I got them to sign the newspaper. They were surprised as they did not know that they featured in it! Attending a ceremony outside the City Hall when a blue plaque was placed there to celebrate the life of Alan Hull. Ray Jackson’s Lindisfarne played outside at the ceremony.
And then starting to see the newly reformed band a few times, firstly with Ray Jackson fronting the band and more recently with Rod Clements as front man. I don’t know how many times I must have seen Lindisfarne but it is on many, many occasions. And of course, the Newcastle City Hall was, and remains, my spiritual music home. So, you can see how this was such a memorable event for me.
The City Hall was completely sold out and when Jan, my carer for the evening, and I entered the building we were greeted by a brass band on stage playing Christmas carols. Soon a Geordie Santa arrived to tell us a series of rather rude, but also quite funny, Christmas jokes, in the same way that Mike Elliott would do so at the original Christmas concerts. Then the band took to the stage to a very loud Geordie welcome. The set for the evening was very similar to that I have witnessed a couple of times this year already: once in the Princess Pavilion Yarm and also in the Sunderland Fire Station. But this time things were very different. The atmosphere was very different. This was Lindisfarne, fronted by Rod Clements, returning home to their home crowd in their spiritual home, Newcastle City Hall.
The evening was in two parts with a short interval during which a double Jack Daniels went down well and set me up for the proceedings. Santa returned with more Christmas cracker jokes before the band resumed the concert to another massive cheer. The Newcastle crowd who had travelled from near and far to this special event were really up for a great night. We were treated to all the classic songs: “No Time to Lose”, “We Can Swing Together” and my personal favourite “Winter Song” performed perfectly by David Hull– Denholm, Alan Hull’s son in law.
Soon, we were on the home front and the closing songs were: “Fog on the Tyne”, “Meet Me on the Corner” and “Run for Home”. All massive singalongs with the entire City Hall on its feet. The closer was, as it was in 1971 and has been ever since: “Clear White Light”. There truly was magic in the air last night. We all walked out into the rather mild Christmas evening, Jan and I into our taxi and away home.
Many thanks to Jan for the photographs and Chris for manipulating the site as usual.So, that brings me to the end of my 2023 concert adventures. A little rest before I start again in 2024. A Merry Christmas to all of you who read my blogging, and all the best and see you in 2024. Peter
Set 2: No Time to Lose; Passing Ghosts; Sundown Station; Dingley Dell; When The War Is Over; Winter Song; We Can Swing Together; Fog on the Tyne; Meet Me on the Corner; Run for Home; Clear White Light, Part 2.
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