I just checked my blog entries and it tells me that I have seen Wishbone Ash more than 30 times since 1972. To be honest I think that is a somewhat conservative estimate. Anyway, I always enjoy seeing this band so the opportunity to catch them again could not be passed up. The Wylam Brewery is a lovely building situated within Exhibition Park Newcastle. It still operates as a brewery as well as a concert venue and a very successful venue for weddings. You drive up a little road into the park, past a little lake and up to the majestic hall.
This tour is entitled the Live Dates tour, commemorating 50 years of their live albums of the same name. I run into an old friend and fellow blogger Peter. Lovely to meet you Peter. We chat and realise that we were both at the same concert in 1973 at Newcastle City Hall when the Live Dates album was first recorded. I could not resist going back and reproducing my memories of 50 years ago. See below.
Wishbone Ash were back touring the UK in June 1973, and recorded a double live album at concerts in Croydon Fairfield Halls, Reading University, Portsmouth Guildhall and Newcastle City Hall, using The Rolling Stones Mobile Recording Studio. I attended the Newcastle gig, during which three tracks: “Warrior”, “Blowing Free” and “Throw Down the Sword” were recorded for the album. We didn’t know about the recording until we got into the City Hall. We could see a couple of mikes hanging from the ceiling (aah, such was the technology in those days). Then it was announced over the PA, to a big crowd cheer, that they were going to be recording the show for a future live album. The place was packed and the capacity crowd gave Wishbone Ash a tremendous reception, cheering before and after each song, all of us hoping that our voices might be heard on the lp.
Set list from 1973: The King Will Come, Warrior, Throw Down The Sword, Ballad Of The Beacon, Rock N Roll Widow, Everybody Needs A Friend, The Pilgrim, Blowin’ Free, Jail Bait, Doctor, So Many Things To Say, Baby What You Want Me To Do, Phoenix.
Encores: No Easy Road, Where Were You Tomorrow, Lady Whiskey.
So, roll on 50 years and I am treated to a set which is very similar to that of the momentous 1973 Newcastle City Hall concert. Wishbone Ash start with “Real Guitars Have Wings” before moving swiftly back in time to the Argus album and a particular favourite of mine “The King Will Come”. The rest of the first set is very similar to the original, and even includes the old blues standard, originally by Jimmy Reed, “Baby What You Want Me to Do”.
The second set comprises further classics including another particular favourite “Jail Bait”. They close with the epic “Phoenix” a track which I used to think was too long, but I have grown to love over the years. The encore moves us forward a few years to another favourite of mine “Living Proof”. A great selection of songs.
As often is the case, there are some omissions from the original 1973 set which would have added to the delight of the evening: “No Easy Road” and a track that is rarely featured in their live shows “Where Were You Tomorrow”. You can’t have everything. Hopefully it won’t be long until they return to the north-east. Happy days and 6 nights of concerts in a row. A night of rest before I start again!
Setlist: Set One: Real Guitars Have Wings; The King Will Come; Warrior; Throw Down the Sword; Rock ‘n Roll Widow; Ballad of the Beacon; Baby What You Want Me to Do.
Set Two: The Pilgrim; Blowin’ Free; Jail Bait; Lady Whiskey; Phoenix
Encore: Living Proof; Persephone.
Evening 5 out of a crazy run of 6 concerts in 6 nights. I haven’t done this since before my accident and it is a marathon and a test of stamina for me and my carers! The final evening is Wishbone Ash and I will report on that very soon 🙂
I go back a long way with John, to the days when he was Johnny Rotten and I first saw Sex Pistols in a pub in Whitby in 1976. He was exciting, outspoken, challenging and exhilarating then and he remains so today. That evening in Whitby, and the following year in Scarborough Penthouse club, opened up my eyes to an alternative view of music.
Then a few years later I travelled to Manchester Belle Vue to see an early performance of his new band 
The set comprises many familiar and favourite songs: “Albatross”, “Poptones” from the first album; the singles “This Is Not a Love Song” and “Death Disco “, and “Flowers of Romance”. The sound comes across in waves as John and his band weave a strange aural cacophony which reverberates around the hall. For the encore we are treated to the first single “Public Image” and closer “Rise”, to which we all sing along; everyone is dancing in front of me. A great night spent with a familiar face and voice in a lovely new Sunderland venue. One more night to go! Thanks to Chris for the photographs.
Setlist: Penge; Albatross; Being Stupid Again; Poptones; This Is Not a Love Song; Death Disco; The Room I Am In; Flowers of Romance; Memories; Car Chase; The Body; Warrior; Shoom.
Vocalist and songwriter Ricky Ross is raring to go on this celebration of Deaon Blue’s brilliant and loyal fans, roaring the Caledonian gospel from the South Coast to the Uplands. He said: “We’ve decided to play a Greatest Hits show with a difference,” he says. “Yes, we intend to play all (or nearly all) the old 45s, but we also want the first half of the evening to be an intimate acoustic performance, the band gathered round the piano with acoustic guitars and whatever Dougie decides to hit. We’ll play some album tracks and reinterpret a few favourites from the back catalogue. We’ll take a short break then come back and make a lot of noise. We hope you can be part of that noise.
Ricky Ross, co-vocalist Lorraine McIntosh, Dougie Vipond (drums), Jim Prime (keyboards), Gregor Philp (guitar) and Lewis Gordon (bass) will breathe new life into well-loved songs.”
Time for a quick whiskey before the second half. The second half was a massive singalong for the crowd with everyone joining in with all the songs, many of which I recognised. I had not realised how many hits this band has had. Of course, even I recognised and sang along to “Real Gone Kid” and, during the encore “Dignity”. I really enjoyed the concert.
Setlist: Set 1: Acoustic: Queen of the New Year; S.H.A.R.O.N.; Chocolate Girl; I Will and I Won’t; Cover From the Sky; A New House; I’ll Never Fall in Love Again; All Over the World.
Encore: Peace Will Come; Dignity; Fergus Sings the Blues; Keep Me in Your Heart
Another night spent with another great band. Tonight it is local heroes 
And apologies for any repetition from a previous blog entry about Lindisfarne. My only excuse is that I have a run of concerts and many blog entries to write this week! “Their first hit, the Clements-penned “Meet Me on the Corner”, paved the way for their classic Fog on the Tyne to become the UK’s top-selling album of 1972. Lindisfarne’s unforgettable songs, powerful live performances and unpretentious style led to worldwide success and an enviable reputation as festival favourites, and the annual Christmas concerts they presented in their native Newcastle became the stuff of legend.
The original band finally called it a day in 2003, but now Lindisfarne are back with a classic five-piece line up of long-time members fronted by original founder-member Rod Clements (vocals, mandolin, fiddle, slide guitar) and Alan Hull’s son-in-law Dave Hull-Denholm (vocals, guitars). “ Other members are: Steve Daggett (vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar and harmonica) who has been in the band since 1986; Ian Thomson (electric and double bass) a member since 1995 and Paul Smith (drums) who joined more recently in 2021.”
The concert was in two sets with a short interval between them. Lindisfarne play all the old favourites and do them 100% justice. Rod Clements is a quiet yet charismatic front man who introduces many of the songs. Dave Hull-Denholm performs his father-in-law’s songs with the reverence they deserve and his vocals sound very much like Alan Hull. Steve Daggett sings quite a few of the songs and again does justice to the Lindisfarne repertoire. So in the first set we get great tunes such as the enigmatic, melodic early classic “Lady Eleanor”. Other favourites are “Road to Kingdom Come” and “January Song”.
This year’s tour focuses on the album Magic in the Air. This is a live album (see image of my copy) which contains all of the band’s well known songs. So the second set contains many more tunes that I recognise including a wonderful, atmospheric performance of the much underrated “Dingley Dell”. This brings back lovely memories of seeing Lindisfarne at Newcastle City Hall on the Dingley Dell tour. I went both nights as there were different supports each night and I was a fan of each band: Stackridge and Genesis! Happy days.
Then, my particular favourite which still makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck: Dave performing “Winter Song”. Soon we are into the hits: “We can Swing Together”, “Fog on the Tyne” and “Meet me on the Corner”, followed by the massive hit Lindisfarne reunion song “Run for Home”. And the closer, yes it had to be “Clear White Light”. I am transported back to the first time I saw Lindisfarne in the City Hall sandwiched between headliner Van der Graaf Generator and new up-and-coming band Genesis. All for 25p as I recall! Happy days
I remember seeing 
Something I wasn’t aware of, and that Jackie discovered while researching her background, was that she first came over to the UK as one of Ike and Tina Turner’s Ikettes, on a package tour supporting the Rolling Stones. This lady has a long career and is to be much respected.
PP started her set with a song dedicated to her mentor Tina Turner: “River Deep, Mountain High” and so we were off to a great start of another great concert. She has just released a new album, so her set consisted of old favourites, collaborations and tracks from her latest record. I recognised a number of the songs, but many were unfamiliar to me. PP was supported by a group of excellent musicians and her voice, rhythm and soul remain undiminished.
The lady is 76 years young and looks just great! She explained that she was once a backing singer for Eric Clapton in the days that he was forming Derek and the Dominoes. This led into a song that they were performing at the time: Traffics’ “Medicated Goo”. She then sang a song which she has performed with the great Steve Marriott and Small Faces in the late 60s. She made reference to rehearsing Small Faces’ “Tin Soldier” for future performances. Now that would be something to see. If you get the chance look up her performance of the song with Steve Marriott and Small Faces on YouTube. It is simply incredible.
Soon she was back for an encore, closing with “The First Cut Is the Deepest”, telling us that Cat Stevens wrote the song for her personally.Many thanks to Jackie for buying me a signed book (see image) for my birthday present 🙂
A new name for a familiar venue. The Sage is now officially relaunched as 
We were welcomed to the event by the Director of the Sage/Glasshouse (I will have to get used to this new name) which was a nice touch. I met, John Lyons, a photographer who had travelled from London for the event. He took a lovely photograph of me and we promised to keep in touch. Please do have a look at John’s 
Then another classic: “Marrakesh Express”, followed shortly by one of my favourite songs, this time a Nash solo track “Military Madness”. After a few more songs, Graham closed the first set with a cover of his friend Stephen Stills’ “Love The One You’re With”. Time for a swift whiskey.
Then “Just Before I Go” a song apparently written as part of a wager, which Graham won. His friend bet that he could not write a song before he left and, of course, he did so. He finishes with “Our House” telling the story of how the song was written when he had just returned home to the house which he shared with Joni Mitchell. For the encore the three musicians perform a lovely a cappella version of Buddy Holly’s “Everyday”. The closing number is another classic “Teach Your Children”.
Bought a signed copy of the lyrics to “Teach Your Children”. Wonderful.
Last week I was invited to attend this event at the Centre For Life in Newcastle. The press release below will explain why I was invited and also the great experience I had!
One of the first music fans in the world to hear tracks from Pink Floyd’s iconic Dark Side of the Moon album, enjoyed an out of this world trip down memory lane at Life Science Centre (Life), Newcastle.
As a 15-year-old, Peter Smith saw Pink Floyd play at Newcastle City Hall in 1972, when the band first played tunes that would feature on the classic album a year later. At the time the album was provisionally entitled “Eclipse”.
The 66-year-old Sunderland University emeritus professor said: “I can remember it was a really impressive gig – it was played in quadrophonic sound, with speakers around the hall, and I had never heard anything like it before.
“We have heard some really nostalgic stories from visitors who have shared a range of personal memories they have of the album – it definitely seems to have resonated with a lot of people.”
Another trip to the lovely community venue the Crescent, York. I feel alive and alert again after a short period without any concert experiences. Our friendly taxi driver takes us (me, and carers Jan and Joanne) to Durham station, and an equally friendly passenger assistance guy is waiting with the ramp to get me onto the train to York.
At the other end another passenger assistant is waiting with a ramp and I am quickly on the platform. No sooner said and we are snug in the York Station Tap for a swift drink (mine is a large red, thank you) before the short walk to the Crescent. The venue is already full.
I must admit, and to my shame, I am not very familiar with the music of 
The mainstay of the band is guitarist Ed Wynne who is well practised in Steve Hillage glissando guitar which he plays to great advantage alongside another guitarist, a flute player and a keyboard player. Add throbbing drumbeats, liquid lens 60s/70s light shows and lots of crazy dancing by the crowd and you get the picture.
I can’t pretend to have known the songs but the music is enticing, enthralling and encapsulating. Magic. And no drugs (they wouldn’t mix well with my medication anyway). Our view is not great as the venue is, quite appropriately admittedly, standing although Jan and Joanne do manage to sneak a couple of chairs in from the bar. We all enjoy the experience and I look forward to seeing the band again, this time with Gong as support in Newcastle next year.
A short wet walk up to the station and I have a chat with a guy from Newcastle who I last spoke to at the Cluny and another new friend from Northallerton. We all share notes on progressive rock band experiences. Great crack. Hope you both read this blog entry. Soon another friendly face helps me up a ramp onto the train and, as if by magic, the same happens at the other end. Thank you passenger assistance.
Our friendly taxi chariot awaits and whisks us back home in no time at all. I watch Coronation Street on recording and then drift off to sleep. Another fun time had by all. Many thanks to Jan and Joanne for the pictures and to Ozrik Tentacles for a hippie, trippy evening. It was almost the 1970s all over again 🙂
Ozric Tentacles are: Ed Wynne: Guitars / Keyboards; Silas Wynne: Keyboards; Brandi Wynne: Bass; Tim Wallander: Drums; Saskia Maxwell: Flutes.
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