Posts Tagged ‘music’
3
Apr
Posted by vintagerock in Roy Harper. Tagged: classic rock, concert, concerts, folk, gig, gigs, music, rock, rock n roll. 1 comment
remnants of my ticket stub
Roy Harper Middlesbrough Town Hall 1977
1977 and Roy almost became a pop star. He released a fine single One of Those Days in England and had a proper rock band backing him. In Roy’s own words from his web site: “The single shot to no. 42 in the chart, with a promise from the Top Of The Pops producer, Robin Nash, to have us on the show as soon as the record reached 40 or better. That same week the record company released the album, with a free single inside it! ! ! So… that was it for that ‘campaign’.. At the time I had a constituency of about 150,000 people. Top Of The Pops would have given us a potential constituency of 13,000,000.” So Roy never made Top of the Pops and the single didn’t reach any higher in the charts. But he was pretty popular at the time and was filling concert halls up and down the country.
Flyer for an earlier tour (1975) I think. Don’t recall if I was at the gig at Newcastle City Hall or not!
I remember this gig at Middlesbrough Town Hall as being full, and Roy playing a loud electric set. Roy looked very much the rock star part, sporting a satin cowboy shirt, and a big hat. I think he may have even been playing an electric guitar, a Rickenbacker comes to mind, but that could be my memory playing tricks again. I do remember this as a great gig, one of the best times that I saw Roy in the 70s. Roy’s band at the time was (I think) the great Henry McCullough (ex Joe Cocker Grease Band) on lead guitar; Andy Roberts (Grimms) guitar; Dave Lawson (ex Greenslade) keyboards; John Halsey (Patto) on drums, and Dave Cochran (sole survivor of Roy’s previous band Trigger) on bass. I am not sure if the band was called Chips or Black Sheep at this stage (I think it was Chips), as both names were used for the band in 1977. The sheep reference was derived from Roy’s mysterious illness which he contracted from giving a sheep kiss of life whilst on his farm. This was also the time of the great Watford Gap song: “Watford Gap, Watford Gap, A plate of grease and a load of crap” hailing the delights of the service station. The song goes: “One of those days in England with the country goin’ broke”…pretty relevant today methinks 🙂
2
Apr
Posted by vintagerock in Roy Harper. Tagged: classic rock, concert, concerts, folk, gig, gigs, music, rock, rock n roll. 2 comments
Roy Harper Knebworth 5th July  1975
The next time I saw Roy Harper was at the Knebworth Festival in 1975. This one day event was headlined by Pink Floyd, with appearances by the Steve Miller Band, Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, Linda Lewis and Graham Chapman (Monty Python) and friends, with DJ for the day John Peel. I’ll blog about the full event on another day, probably when I come to write about Pink Floyd, but I wanted to write here about my memories of Roy from that day. Roy was a strong favourite of mine by this time, so I made sure that I had a good view for his set. His band in 1975 was called Trigger and featured Chris Spedding on guitar (ex Jack Bruce band, and Pete Brown’s Battered Ornaments and to go on to further solo success), Dave Cochrane on bass (Dave stayed with Roy for a number of years) and Bill Bruford on drums (ex Yes and King Crimson). Setlists from the day suggest that Roy played: Commune; Twelve Hours of Sunset; Another Day; Electric; Hallucinating Light; Referendum; Highway Blues; Too Many Movies; The Spirit Lives; Home; The Game; Grown Ups Are Just Silly Children. By now Another Day was a favourite of mine, along with Highway Blues. I think I remember Jesus dancing at the front for Roy’s set. If he wasn’t he should have been. It was one of those hippy days. Roy was back on stage later in the day with headliners Pink Floyd to sing vocals on Have a Cigar. I saw Roy appear once more at Knebworth, when Genesis headlined in 1978. He was a big favourite with the festival crowds, and always seemed at ease, even in front of 100,000 people. He would chat away quite naturally to us all, and always had something entertaining and interesting to say.
1
Apr
Posted by vintagerock in Chilli Willi, David Gilmour, John Paul Jones, Julie Felix, Kokomo, Roger McGuinn, Roy Harper, Toots & the Maytals. Tagged: classic rock, concert, concerts, folk, gig, gigs, music, rock, rock n roll. 3 comments
The cover of my copy of The Passions Of Great Fortune Lyric Book
Hyde Park free concert August 31st 1974
Line-up: Roger McGuinn, Roy Harper and Friends, Julie Felix, Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers, Kokomo, Toots and The Maytals.
I’d just got back from the Reading festival, which was headlined by Traffic and Alex Harvey, a few days earlier, and quite fancied going to another open air event. My mate Will was up for going to this free Hyde Park concert on Saturday, so we decided to hitch down to London after going to the local Mecca ballroom on Friday night. Around midnight we hitched a lift to the A1 at Durham and started to make our way down south. It took us all night to get down to London, but we made it by early morning. We had some crazy lifts along the way, including one in the back of an army jeep driven by a couple of squaddies who took a dislike to us (we jumped out of the jeep at a service station and started to hitch again), and another with a guy who was totally spaced out of his brain (he told us he had been taking acid) and was speeding through the centre of some strange town (I think it may have been Nottingham) driving through red lights and singing at the top of his voice. Our last lift was from a kind old couple who gave us something to eat and took us into London. When we arrived we took the tube out to Wembley so that I could buy tickets for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young who were appearing at Wembley Stadium a couple of weeks later. We then went to Hyde Park for the concert, where we ran into a few other boys we knew from the town. I don’t remember much about the first few acts, but do remember being impressed by Julie Felix. Her set featured the excellent Ollie Halsall from Patto on guitar, and we all sang along to Going to the Zoo. There was much anticipation for Roy Harper’s set that day, and much speculation about exactly who might be guesting with him. Roy came on stage late on the afternoon and introduced his friends for the day: Dave Gilmour on guitar, John Paul Jones on bass, and Steve Broughton on drums. A recording of the epic Harper song The Game exists from the concert, with some great guitar work from Gilmour. My memory is a little hazy (it is almost 40 years….) and I don’t recall exactly what else was played, although I think Roy performed I Hate the White Man, but I do remember it being a great set. Roger McGuinn was headlining and played a set of classic Byrds songs. We left before the end of his set to get to the motorway before the rest of the crowds, and took the tube to Hendon to pick up the M1 junction and hitch back up north. Our journey back home took ages. We managed to get back to the A1(M) Bishop Auckland turn-off by Sunday afternoon and stood for hours without so much as a sniff of a lift. So we walked into Bishop Auckland to see if we could get a bus home. Sadly we’d missed the last bus and had hardly any money anyway so we decided to try to walk home. We popped into a pub somewhere near Spennymoor for a glass of water (as we didn’t have enough for a drink) only to find a group of guys from Sunderland in the back room. I have never been happier to see some familiar faces; they gave us a lift home at closing time! So we arrived back home some 48 hours after we set off, having had no sleep at all, and very hungry. The crazy things you do when you are young. Still I’m pleased I went to this event; it was good to see Roy. I have a copy of the recording of the Game from that day. Its pretty rough, but brings back some great memories when I play it. Happy days.
31
Mar
Posted by vintagerock in Roy Harper. Tagged: classic rock, concert, concerts, folk, gig, gigs, music, rock, rock n roll. 9 comments
I’m going to spend a few days this week blogging about Roy Harper. I’ve become a bit of a fan of Roy’s over the year, which sort of crept up on me without me realising it. Roy has always been there as part of my concert experience, someone who seemed to just pop up and play at many of the festivals I went to in the 70s, and someone that I went to see now and then as an act in his own right. In recent years however I’ve begun to reflect on just how important Roy Harper and his music is to me and, I’m sure, to a lot of other people.
My concert journey with Roy Harper started with the first ever rock concert I attended, which was a Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band concert at Sunderland Empire on 8th March 1969. The support acts that night were Mad Dog, Yes and Roy. I was sitting in the front row directly in front of Roy that night. He was sitting on a high stool, sporting what seemed to me to be incredibly long hair, a pair of beat up old jeans and a pair of big Dr Martin boots. I think he sang Hells Angels, Nobodies Got Any Money in the Summer, and I Hate The White Man. I knew Nobodies Got Any Money in the Summer from the Rock Machine Turns You On sampler lp. I was surprised at the way he interacted with the audience; it was as if people knew him and were having conversations with him from the stalls. It was that authenticity and naturalness that struck me. With Roy what you see is what you get; he always speaks and sings from the heart and is never frightened to tell it as it is.
I saw Roy as support act at a few more gigs, and at a few of the Knebworth festivals in the 70s. My friend’s brother had the Flat Baroque and Berserk album and I used to go around to his house to listen to it. Our favourite tracks were I Hate the White Man, Another Day and Tom Tiddler’s Ground. The ticket here is from a gig at Newcastle City Hall in 1974. The wonderful Me and My Woman was featuring as a highlight of his live performances at this time. This Newcastle concert came one month after Roy’s legendary London Rainbow Theatre show which took place on February 14 (Valentine’s Day) 1974, where he was backed by guests including Jimmy Page, Keith Moon and Ronnie Lane. I went along to the City Hall in the hope that similar guests might grace the stage that night. I don’t recall who the guests were but they weren’t the same guys who played with Roy at the Rainbow. None the less it was still a great gig.
And so my lifelong fascination with the words, music anecdotes and philosophies of Roy Harper began. Over the years I’ve seen lots of faces of Roy: Roy the angry young man (late 60s and early 70s), Roy the festival hippy and raconteur, Roy the face of the alternative counter culture, Roy the electric rock star, and in more recent years the reflective Roy, looking back at his songs, his career and life in general; Roy the wise elder statesman of music. I’m going to write a little about each of these faces over the next few days.
30
Mar
Posted by vintagerock in Human League. Tagged: concert, concerts, electronica, gigs, music, new wave, pop, punk, rock, rock n roll. 3 comments
The Human League in concert in Newcastle 1978 – 1987
I first saw The Human League when they supported Siouxsie and the Banshees at Newcastle City Hall in 1978. This was the Banshees first major UK tour and it gave the Human League a chance to play before sold out concerts halls up and down the country. I was impressed by this new band and their electronic synth-based sound, which stood out from the norm at the time, when everyone else was playing standard guitar-based punk. I’d also heard their first single Being Boiled which was also pretty good, and live they played a pretty strange and fine version of Gary Glitter’s Rock n Roll Part 2. Phil’s long one-sided fringe was pretty strange and outrageous at the time; you couldn’t fail to take notice of this band. The next time I saw the Human League was at Newcastle Mayfair in 1980 (May 15th). I seem to recall that I was with my friend Ian and that we went down to the Mayfair late (probably around 10.30) after going to a 10CC concert at the City Hall. Its always strange going into a packed gig late, when the band is already on stage; I’ve done it several times and I always feel quite out of things. When we arrived at the Mayfair the Human League were already well into their set; I remember some pretty heavy dark electronic stuff being played. This was at the time of their second album Travelogue, and the last tour with founding band members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, who left the band shortly after this gig and went on to form Heaven 17. Many people thought that this might have been the end of the band but remaining members Phil Oakey and Adrian Wright continued, moving The Human League towards a new musical direction with a new line-up. In fact the next stage in the Human League story was pretty strange, and a spot of good luck or genious, depending on how you look at it. Oakey, in a panic to complete the band’s line-up so that he could honour existing tour dates,went out in Sheffield city centre clubs with the intention of recruiting female backing vocalists. In the Crazy Daisy Nightclub he spotted two teenage girls dancing together on the dance floor. Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall were schoolgirls on a night out together. Oakey asked both girls to join the tour as dancers and incidental vocalists, and history was about to be made. The Human League morphed into a pop band, and the Dare album and the massive No 1 single Don’t You Want Me followed. It was a few years later before I got to see the new line up live at the City Hall in 1987. By then they had been in the charts several more times. The 1987 was very much a greatest hits show and good fun. I’ve never seen the band since, although they continue to this day. Typical setlist from 1980: The Black Hit of Space; The Touchables; Dreams of Leaving; The word before the last; Life Kills; Almost Medieval; Circus of Death; Crow and a Baby; Only After Dark; Being Boiled; Blind Youth; WXJL Tonight. Encore: Marianne; Empire State Human. Typical setlist from 1987: Hard Times; Money; The Things That Dreams Are Made Of
The Real Thing; Do or Die; Human; Sound of the Crowd; Love Action; Jam; Love on the Run; Seconds; The Lebanon; (Together in) Electric Dreams; Party; Mirror Man; Don’t You Want Me. Encore: Fascination; Rock n’ Roll
29
Mar
Posted by vintagerock in Ian Hunter. Tagged: classic rock, concert, concerts, gig, gigs, music, pop, R&B, rock, rock n roll. 1 comment
I hate printed tickets
Ian Hunter Newcastle Academy 2007
At the Stockton gig on Tuesday night Ian Hunter told us that he moved to the USA in 1975, that he always meant to return home to the UK, but never has. He went on to point out that he has spent more time in the USA (38 years) than he has here (35 years). Although in recent years he has come over to the UK to tour quite often, this wasn’t always the case. During the 80s and 90s I don’t recall him playing many UK gigs. I went over 30 years without seeing Ian in concert; from the mid 70s to this gig at Newcastle Academy in 2007. I did miss a few gigs in the early 2000s, which I now regret, but picked up on him again at the time of his Shrunken Heads album. I remember being quite excited about seeing him again, and wasn’t disappointed. The set drew heavily from the new album but also featured a good few Mott classics, including (of course) the hits (All the Young Dudes, All the Way from Memphis, Roll Away the Stone, Saturday Gigs), but also delving further into that rich back catalogue with great songs such as Sweet Angeline and Rock n Roll Queen. The Academy was pretty full, although not packed, and the Newcastle crowd gave him a great reception. Mott were always a big favourite and really popular in the North East. The Mayfair crowd loved them and used to go crazy when they played, to the extent that on one (in)famous occasion the bouncers brought the alsation dogs into the crowd to try to control things. I wasn’t at that gig, but heard about it, and do remember the bouncers having the dogs; however they were usually kept at the door. In Ian’s own words from the great Newcastlestuff site: “Newcastle was always one of Mott’s favourite gigs. It is, however, mainly City Hall that I remember. I remember doing one gig up there (it might have been the Mayfair), and it got a bit crazy and Alsatian dogs appeared on the stage. The dogs were scared and to this day I think that was about the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen a ballroom manager do. Fortunately, they got them off the stage without anybody getting hurt. Kids were wild in Newcastle. They’d have the tour bus two feet from the stage door entrance and still they’d get you. Shades smashed, hair pulled, clothes ripped. Ah the good old days! Got booed off city hall stage by 2000 kids one night when the drummer turned up legless. I was the mug who had to tell them the show was off. Not a pretty sight or sound. Great audience.” I remember being at a Mott gig at the City Hall where the show was cancelled, but my memory is that it was because of a power cut. Maybe that was a different gig. Happy Days. I’ve seen Ian a couple of times since this gig in 2007, attended the Mott the Hoople reunion in London, and will try to catch him live whenever I’m able. There’s something about the guy, his voice, his passion and his attitude that draws you in. Long may he continue to come over here and play in his home country.
28
Mar
Posted by vintagerock in Ian Hunter, Jet. Tagged: classic rock, concert, concerts, gig, gigs, music, pop, R&B, rock, rock n roll. Leave a comment
Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson Newcastle City Hall 1975
Support from Jet
This seemed a strange, yet exciting, pairing at the time. I’d seen both artists individually; Hunter with Mott the Hoople, who were one of the best live acts around in the early 1970s, and Ronson with David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars, and on own his solo tour. So I was interested to see what the two together would be like, and went along with some mates to the gig at Newcastle City Hall. Hunter had just released his first solo album, which Mick Ronson featured on, and the single Once Bitten Twice Shy was just about to be released. Ronson had released the solo album Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, and a second album was on its way. The set was a mix of tracks from both artists solo albums, and a few Mott favourites. The pairing worked well, and it was a good gig. Both guys were heroes of mine at the time. They were both strong personalities on stage, each having their own style and swagger. Happy Days. The excellent Glasgow Apollo site has a setlist from the show at that venue, which took place a couple of days before we saw Hunter and Ronson at Newcastle. I would think the set at Newcastle will have been similar: Once Bitten Twice Shy (Hunter and Ronson); Lounge Lizard (Hunter); Angel No.9 (Ronson); Growing Up and I’m Fine (Ronson); Who Do You Love? (Hunter); White Light/White Heat (cover; from Ronson album and also covered by Bowie and the Spiders); Boy (Hunter); Play Don’t Worry (title track of Ronson second album); The Truth, the Whole Truth, Nuthin’ but the Truth (Hunter); Roll Away the Stone (Mott); Slaughter on 10th Avenue (Ronson); The Golden Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll (Mott); All the Way from Memphis (Mott); All the Young Dudes (Mott); The Girl Can’t Help It (a cover, but from Ronson’s second album). Support for the tour came from Jet who were a short lived glam rock with a strong pedigree. The line-up was Andy Ellison (crazy frontman and vocals, ex-John’s Children, went on to front Radio Stars), Martin Gordon (bass, ex-Sparks and also was later in Radio Stars), Chris Townson (drums, formerly in John’s Children and also was later in Radio Stars), David O’List (lead guitar, ex-The Nice) and Peter Oxendale (keyboards and breifly in Sparks).
27
Mar
Posted by vintagerock in Ian Hunter. Tagged: classic rock, concert, concerts, gig, gigs, music, pop, R&B, rock, rock n roll. 1 comment
Ian Hunter Stockton Arc March 26th 2013
Ian Hunter is currently touring the UK with an acoustic show, featuring himself and guitarist Andy York (Ian’s producer and guitarist for John Mellencamp) and double bass player David Roe (who has played with Johnny Cash). Special guest for the tour is Jason Ringenberg of Jason and the Scorchers. I’d had a busy day and arrived late, just before Ian took to the stage, missing Jason’s set. The Arc was packed, the show having sold out some time ago. This was a seated concert, which was good for me, as I need to sit down at gigs these days. I saw a face I recognised in the next row. I am pretty sure it was Janick Gers from Iron Maiden, who lives locally. Good to see that he had turned out to see Mr Hunter. The three piece acoustic line up works well. I was in the second row, directly in front of Andy York, who is an excellent guitarist, and David Roe plays a pretty mean double bass. A lot of the songs were unfamiliar with me, but I really enjoyed the gig. Hunter was on good form, and in good voice although he was sucking throat lozenges. The set included Shrunken Heads; Ships (which Ian explained was a hit for Barry Manilow); Once Bitten Twice Shy; Wild Bunch; When I’m President; Sweet Jane (a great cover of the Velvet Underground song with some nifty guitar from Andy). For the encores it was the hits: Roll Away the Stone; Life; All the Young Dudes (with Jason on backing vocals); and to close the evening s very short excerpt from Goodnight Irene. Good to see Ian again. Still snowing as I drove home. I will scan my ticket and load it later today.
26
Mar
Posted by vintagerock in Heartbreakers, Johnny Thunders, Models, Siouxsie and the Banshees. Tagged: concert, concerts, gigs, music, new wave, pop, punk, rock, rock n roll. 5 comments
Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers Middlesbrough Town Hall 1977
Support from Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Models
This was a great gig with a pretty legendary line-up. It was billed to place in the larger upstairs hall, but was not that well attended, so the concert was moved to the small hall, known as “the crypt”, which was downstairs.. Punk was just arriving in the North East, and none of the bands on the bill were that well known at the time. Marie and I went to many the punk gigs which took place in the North East in the late 70s. I know we arrived early for this show, because I’d read about support act Siousxie and the Banshees in the Sounds and NME, and particularly wanted to catch them. First up were the Models, a punk band which featured Marco Pirroni who was to go on to join Adam and the Ants. Siouxsie was a revelation. She was full of edge, obviously out to shock, dressed in a see-through net top, a leather cap and looking just great. She commanded the stage with some crazy dancing and goose stepping. The band were very young at the time and looked it; this was the first and best line-up of the Banshees; before they released their first landmark album “The Sream”. I can’t be certain what they played that night, but remember being very impressed by them. I am pretty sure they played Metal Postcard, Carcass, T Rex’s 20th Century Boy (she announced the song “From one Carcass to Another” which I remember clearly as I thought it pretty bad taste at the time: Bolan had died just a few weeks before. I told you she was out to shock), Love in a Void, The Lords Prayer, and Helter Skelter. For me they were the best band of the night and I went on to see them many more times over the next few years. The Banshees stood out from the rest of the punk bands in their style, their attitude, and the mysterious, somewhat dischordant, dark noise that they made. Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers were as fast, loud and raucous as you would expect them to be. This was at the time of the L.A.M.F. album, and the set comprised most of the tracks from that record. I particularly remember them playing high energy versions of Born too Loose and Chinese Rocks. A great night. Wish I’d taken a video camera.
25
Mar
Posted by vintagerock in Black Crowes. Tagged: blues, classic rock, concert, concerts, gig, gigs, heavy rock, music, pop, R&B, rock, rock n roll. 2 comments
The Black Crowes Manchester Academy 24th March 2013
This was the first night of the Black Crowes’ “Lay Down with No 13” world tour which sees them taking to the road again after a short hiatus. I’ve only seen the Crowes once before, when they appeared low down the bill at a Donington Monsters of Rock festival (which was headlined by AC/DC) in 1991. My friend John is a massive Crowes fan and goes to see them regularly in the USA, where he lives, and I figured it was about time that I went to see what all the fuss was about. I must admit to being a little nervous about driving to Manchester again, after the difficult drive that Laura and I had across the M62 when we went to see Johnny Marr at Manchester Ritz on Friday. And two long night drives in three days is a bit much for me now. But hey I had a ticket and really wanted to see this band, so I set off around 4pm to make sure that I arrived on time. As it happened the roads were clear and the drive was problem and event free, so I arrived at the venue early at 6.45pm after a short stop off at a service station. I joined a massive queue outside the Academy which is situated in the heart of the University quarter of Manchester. After a short and very cold wait I was in the venue which soon filled to capacity. The Academy is an all standing venue with no public balcony. I made my way to the front of the hall and got myself a spot pretty close to the stage. There was no support act and the Black Crowes came on stage, to a great roar from the crowd, around 8.15pm; shortly after the advertised time of 8pm. I must admit to knowing very little of their material although John gave me a DVD which I’ve watched and enjoyed. The first number was Jealous Again, which seemed familiar, and I recognised some of the better known songs such as She Talks to Angels and Thorn in My Pride. Apart from that much of the rest of the set was unfamiliar to me, but pretty enjoyable none the less. I lasted the first few songs in my spot near the front before I decided to have a coke and take in the view from the back of the hall. Black Crowes’ music shows lots of 70s influences; I could see shades of the Faces, the Stones, Humble Pie, the Allmans and Free in there, which can’t be bad. The band were on great form, with some great guitar work from Rich Robinson and newcomer Jackie Greene (this was his first gig with the band). Singer Chris Robinson has a wonderful soulful rock voice and seemed genuinely pleased to be back in the UK. The crowd, who were a mix of old hippy types and heavy rock fans lapped it up and sang along to many of the songs. There was a short acoustic set in the middle of the show. I enjoyed them as I knew I would, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen an American rock n roll act like this, but I would have liked to know more of the material. I was pleased to see Hard to Handle (which I remember seeing them play in 1991) and Hush as part of the encore. The set was around 2 hours, finishing at approx 10.15pm. I picked up a setlist online this morning, and see that the fourth song was Traffic’s Medicated Goo. To my shame I didn’t recognise it last night. A great gig. Thanks go to John for alerting me to the Black Crowes. The drive back was also uneventful; I got home around 1am. Setlist: Jealous Again; Thick N’ Thin; Hotel Illness; Medicated Goo; Sister Luck; Wiser Time; She Talks to Angels; The Last Place That Love Lives; Whoa Mule; My Morning Song; High Head Blues; By Your Side; Thorn in My Pride; Remedy; Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution; Soul Singing. Encore: Descending; Hard to Handle; Hush; Willin’
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