The Flamin’ Groovies 1972 Newcastle City Hall and 1976 Redcar Coatham Bowl
Support in 1972 came from Mr Moses Schoolband and Man; Support in 1976 came from the Damned 
I first saw The Flamin’ Groovies at a concert at Newcasle City Hall in 1972. I keep all my ticket stubs, but don’t have one for this. I must have paid at the door, and not been given a ticket, which sometimes happened in those days. I know that tickets did exist for this gig, as I saw one for sale on eBay a few weeks ago; I bid on it, but sadly I was outbid at the last moment. I went along to the gig on my own, but ran into some friends from town, and joined them in seats near the front. The gig was general admission, with no seat numbers on the tickets, something which never seems to happen now. It was not well attended and there were plenty of empty seats. I went along partly out on curiosity; I had read some good reports of the Flamin’ Groovies from recent festival appearances, and also to see Man, who were one of the supporting acts. First up was a strange band called Mr Moses School Band. As I recall Mr Moses was the singer and he was totally outrageous, crazy and over the top. 
He finished the set by throwing the mike stand into the crowd, just missing us; again something that you never see these days (definitely not covered by Health and Safety risk assessments). Man were next up. I saw them lots of times in the 70s, at festivals and at the City Hall. They were always amazing; great musicianship, particularly from Micky Jones who played long meandering west coast influenced guitar solos on his Gibson SG which were outstanding and never boring. Spunk Rock was my favourite at the time. The Flamin’ Groovies were quite wierd. If you can imagine mixing 50s rock n roll with garage and blending it with the Rolling Stones you wouldn’t be far off. They started with Jumping Jack Flash, and did a few Stones covers. The singer must have been watching lots of film of Jagger, who he obviously modelled himself on, almost to the point of parody. Their well know album at the time was Teenage Head; I remember them playing the title track and another song which was well known at the time, which was called Slow Death.
Roll forward four years to 1976, and a group of us went to Redcar’s Coatham Bowl to see the Groovies. Once again, there was a strong support in the form of The Damed who were a new, young punk group and very much a band of the moment, while The Flamin’ Groovies were now being hailed as one of the forerunners of punk, a label which I found difficult to understand, given my memories of the City Hall gig. By now they had teamed up with Dave Edmunds and had just released Shake Some Action. I have blogged separately on The Damned, and briefly mentioned their performance that night. Suffice it to say here that they were amazing; young, fresh, fast, crazy, and angry and they just blew the crowd away that night. The Groovies were ok, but it must have been difficult for them to follow the Damned’s high energy performance. They were a very different band from the one I saw in 1972. There were no Jagger impersonations this time, or any old 50s rock n roll songs. The show focussed very much on their own material and on their latest album.
The Flamin’ Groovies now command almost legendary status; I’m pleased that I was lucky enough to see them on these two occasions.
Many thanks to Ken for sending me the two images of his ticket and signed flyer from the 1972 City Hall concert.
The first time I saw Marianne Faithfull was just over five years ago (long overdue) at a show at Kendal Arts Centre. Marianne’s performance in Kendal was the first night of a three-week Women’s Arts International Festival, which also featured performances by iconic female artists such as Patti Smith, Peggy Seeger, and Sandie Shaw. David and I drove across to this gig. It was not only the first time we had both seen Marianne in concert, it was also our first visit to the venue, which is housed in a lovely old building in the centre of town. 
The gig was held in a small theatre, and we had great seats close to the front. Marianne was amazing. Her voice is now quite rough and gravelly but she sings with such passion. I remember her singing great versions of No Regrets (the Tom Rush song made famous by The Walker Brothers), Borken English, As Tears Go By and the great Something Better from the Stones Rock n Roll Circus. A setlist from around that time is given here: No Regrets; Guilt; Without Blame; Spike Driver Blues; No Child Of Mine; Marathon Kiss; All The Best; Ruler Of My Heart; Time Square; Something Better; Crazy Love; Vagabond Ways; Why D’ya Do It; Broken English; As Tears Go By; Don’t Forget Me
I only saw Frankie Goes to Hollywood once, when their 1985 UK tour called at Newcastle City Hall. Frankie were everywhere in 1984 and 1985. I remember going to a concert at Wembley Stadium (think it may have been Elton John, or Wham) and almost everyone there (except my mate and me) were wearing a “Frankie Says” t-shirt (probably an exaggeration, but you know what I mean). They were that big. This was in the days of postal application for tickets, and tickets for this gig sold out straight away. However, we were lucky enough to get four seats and I went along with Marie, her sister and her niece, who were all massive Frankie fans. 
The concert was quite theatrical and spectacular and was based around Frankie’s first album Welcome to the Pleasuredrome, with the hit singles Relax, Two Tribes, and Power of Love being great favourites. Power of Love had just been released at the time. The band were at the height at the time, and the buzz around and them, and the great singles, made this a powerful and fun gig. They were to tour once more, in mainland Europe, a couple of years later and then the band imploded and split. A setlist for the London gig in 1985 shows the songs played as: War; Love has got a gun; The only star in Heaven; Black night white light; The power of love; Pleasuredome; The world is my oyster; Get it on; Relax; Krisco kisses; Two tribes; Born to run; Ferry across the Mersey; Relax; Bang. I am sure the set at the Newcastle gig will have been the same. The covers of Ferry across the Mersey and Born to Run both appeared on the Pleasuredrome lp. Get it on is a cover of the T Rex song and appeared on the Pleasuredrome single.
Chris Farlowe is one great singer. I would put him alongside the greats (for me): P J Proby, Steve Ellis, Steve Marriott, Joe Cocker, Frankie Miller, Paul Rodgers, Rod Stewart, Robert Plant. I first saw him when he was being a rock star as vocalist on Atomic Rooster. He was only in the band for a short period during 1972 and possibly 1973, and I was lucky enough to see them at Sunderland Locarno. It seemed a strange match, but worked well. The next time I saw him was at the City Hall with my mate Will. This gig was billed as Chris Farlowe and Friends and was poorly attended, Chris wasn’t really seen as being “cool” at the time. However, he was amazing, and we came away as converts. A live lp exists from that period and shows his setlist as being: We’re Gonna Make It; Rhyme And Time; Peace Of Mind; After Midnight; Only Women Bleed; Mandy; Hot Property; Handbags & Gladrags; You Haven’t Done Nothin’; It Ain’t No Use. 
There are quite a few titles that I don’t recognise there, but I definitely remember him singing Mandy, Only Women Bleed and Handbags & Gladrags. It interesting that Out of Time is not listed. His band for the live album is listed as backing vocals – Joanne Williams, Madeline Bell; Bass – Pat Donaldson; Drums – Gerry Conway; Guitar – Albert Lee; Horns – Chris Mercer, Ron Carthy; and Keyboards – Jean Roussel. I do recall the great Albert Lee being on guitar at that gig, but can’t be certain about the rest of the band. I wonder if Madeline Bell was there; I have always been a great fan of Madeline, and I wasn’t sure if I have ever seen her. Maybe I saw her that night. 
Anyway it was great gig, and that night I realised just how good Chris was that night. Since then I’ve seen Chris a few times, including a couple of gigs at Newcastle Tyne Theatre some years ago. At one of those gigs, Marie and I chatted to Chris in the bar, and he signed my ticket. Chris is often backed by The Norman Beaker Band who are an excellent blues band. Favourites of mine are Handbags and Gladrags, Out of Time, and he does great versions of The Stones Paint It Black and The Small Faces All or Nothing. Long may he rock.
I got quite into goth music in the late 80s, and read a lot about Fields of the Nephilim. I was intrigued by their “dust and death” image; these guys looked pretty cool in their dusty leathers and large brim cowboy hats, straight out of a spaghetti western. Their music was a strange mix of doomy heavy rock, with soft growled vocals. Live they were a strange experience; very moody and challenging, but ultimately this was a gig I still remember to this day. This was the “Precious to the Lost” tour. 
The stage was filled with some sort of combination of dry ice, smoke or dust and the band were dressed in long ragged, cowboy clothes, covered in flour to give their trademark dusty look. The lighting was dark and doomy and the songs slow, rhythmic with strong bass lines and powerful vocals. I picked up a copy of their fan mag “Helter Skelter” at the gig. The picture on the cover will give you an idea of the band’s image. Their website also explains where they are coming from: “Fields of the Nephilim is the creation of vocalist and front man Carl McCoy, a seeker of the greater truth”. Their lyrics draw from the occult and related mythologies. This band still continues to this day, playing gigs every now and then and commands quite a legendary status. A setlist from a gig around that time shows the band playing the following songs: Preacher Man; Love Under Will; Endemoniada; Psychonaut; Trees Come Down; Celebrate; The Watchman; For Her Light; At the Gates of Silent Memory; Chord of Souls. Encore: Last Exit for the Lost; Moonchild; Phobia. I would guess that they will have played some of these songs at the gig I attended.
Jan Akkerman left on the eve of Focus’ 1976 UK tour. His last minute replacement was Belgian jazz-fusion guitarist Philip Catherine. Marie and I had been planning to go along to see them at Newcastle Mayfair, and to be honest, we hesitated and thought twice before attending. I just couldn’t imagine how Focus could continue without Jan Akkerman; he was such an important part of the band. However, several bands have continued successfully after the departure of a key member; Genesis, Deep Purple come to mind for example. So we did go along to the gig, to see what the new version of Focus were like. A respectable crowd turned out that night, but the place was by no means full. The concert was great, and the new guitarist was a fine replacement. However, Focus were soon to disband. However before they did they recorded one further album, “Focus con Proby” along with singer P J Proby. This was an unlikely pairing, and the album did not sell well. Focus were to lie dormant for many years until Thijs reformed the band in more recent times. Today they tour the UK pretty regularly; I’ve blogged on them a couple of times in the last couple of years. I really must try and find a copy of Focus con Proby on ebay; I’d love to hear what it sounds like.
I am sitting on the 06.15 train out of London, returning home after an amazing concert.
First song was “I Wanna Be Your Man”, with Mick wearing a black and white jacket and matching trilby. We were back in the 60s, and the sound and playing was superb. From where I sat I could hear every word clearly, and it was crisp and quite loud. A screen at either side of the stage and at the back, in the heart of the mouth, showed images of the band in their youth. Next was “Get Off My Cloud”, followed by “All Over Now”. Mick was in a playful mood asking “How is it up in the cheap seats?” and adding “Oh they aren’t really cheap are they?”, and joking about how the band missed out on the Queen’s jubilee and the Olympics ceremonies, but just made it “under the wire” for these gigs. He took off his jacket, all dressed in black for an amazing version of “Paint It Black” and the whole arena sang along; Ronnie and Keith sharing guitar parts, with Ronnie on an electric sitar. Ronnie Wood really shone in those first few numbers, taking on most of the lead parts. However, Keith came more to the fore as the show went on. “Gimme Shelter” saw the band welcome their first guest of the night, who was Mary J Blige, taking the vocals alongside Mick Jagger: “It’s Just a Shot Away”; great. The tone and the pace were then lowered a little for a beautiful version of “Wild Horses”. “All Down the Line” was accompanied by a video of the Stones’ influences and heroes: John Lee Hooker, James Brown, Howling Wolf, Elvis, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, and a host of others appeared on the screen. The next guest to appear was “one of our contempories” Jeff Beck who led the band through “Going Down”, playing some amazing guitar; very flashy, loud, and for a few minutes outshining the band who were clearly loving it. The next song was “Out of Control” from Bridges to Babylon, which was less familiar to me. 
Mick then introduced the two new songs “One More Shot” and “Doom and Gloom”. I must say that these two new tracks are not my favourite Stones’ songs, but they sounded pretty good last night.
The band left the stage to a tremendous reception; they had delivered 100%, the last two hours had just flown over, and everyone in the arena cheered for more. They were quickly back, accompanied by a choir for a sweet version of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, followed by closer “Jumping Jack Flash”, with the voices of the crowd almost drowning the band. They left the stage for the last time at 11pm, the crowd clapping and shouting for more; then the tongue logo appeared with the words “Thanks for coming; have a safe journey home” and we knew that it was finally over. Apparently the set list had also included “Satisfaction” as the last song, but the strict curfew prevented them from playing it. So that was it. You have to give it to them; they showed all their critics that they could still deliver, and at a level that I haven’t seen for a long, long time. This was one of the best times I have seen The Rolling Stones; much, much better than the last time I saw them at the O2 in 2007. I can honestly say that I can’t think of any band to match last night in terms of performance, energy and the rich back catalogue that they have to draw from. And yes Mick’s voice held out, Keith can still play (and well too), Ronnie was great, and I mustn’t forget to mention Charlie, who sits quietly at the back, keeping the beat. And you could tell that they were all enjoying it. The self-styled Greatest Rock n Roll Band in the World retains its crown for a while yet.
Focus were back at Newcastle City Hall in 1974, a year after their last gig at that venue. They had a new album out at the time, which was called “Hamburger Concerto” and a single “Harem Scarem” was released from the album. Their set at the time featured tracks from the new album and old favourites such as “Sylvia” and “Hocus Pocus”. This was another good gig, with amazing performances by Thijs van Leer and Jan Akkerman. I blogged about Focus quite a bit yesterday, so today I will focus (no pun intended 🙂 ) on the great support act Blue. Before Blue were a boy band, there was this outfit from the early 70s. Blue were fronted by ex-Marmalade guitarist Hughie Nicholson. Nicholson was a member of Marmalade between 1971 and 1973, writing their hits, “Cousin Norman”, “Back On The Road”, and “Radancer” before forming Blue in 1973. 
Blue’s most well known number is probably “Gonna Capture Your Heart”, but my favourite is “Little Jody”, which is a great song and got a lot of airplay at the time, although it didn’t chart. The late, great Jimmy McCulloch was also a member of Blue for a short period of time; however, by the time of this gig in 1974, Jimmy had left to join Paul McCartney and Wings. Blue made some good music, blending pop with soft rock, and some strong melodies. I still have their first album, which is a classic and gets played every now and then. It was to be a couple of years before I saw Focus again, by which time Jan Akkerman had left the band.
I first saw Focus at a couple of festivals (Lincoln and Reading) in 1972. They were virtually unknown at the time, but were a big success with the crowd. They were (and still are!) a crazy, fun band. They had all the right ingredients, a crazy front man in Thijs van Leer, who was also a very accomplished and classically trained musician, an excellent, fluent guitarist in Jan Akkerman, some complex and beautiful instrumental pieces, and lots of crazy, mad fun. Highlights at the time were Hocus Pocus, House of the King and Sylvia. By 1973, Focus were well known enough in the UK to headline their own tour of concert halls. 
Thijs is a magnetic performer and dynamic guy on stage. He mixes first class musicianship (on organ and flute) with some very strange nonsensical lyrics, yodelling and very high falsetto singing. Jan Akkerman was the perfect foil; he seemed quiet and shy on stage, and his guitar playing was slick, beautiful, restrained; just perfection. A great gig. The programme says Harvey Andrews and Graham Cooper were support, while the ticket says Snake Eye! My memory doesn’t stretch to confirming who actually supported Focus that night. I certainly remember seeing Harvey Andrews on a number of occasions, but don’t recall when. I have no recollection of ever seeing Snake Eye, or who they were. Based on live recordings from the time, I would think that the set is likely to have contained a selection taken from the following Focus tunes: Focus; Focus II; Focus III; Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers!; Eruption; Sylvia; Hocus Pocus; Anonymous; House Of The King.
In the early 80s Paul Rodgers joined forces with Jimmy Page to for The Firm, a British rock supergroup which also comprised Manfred Mann’s Earth Band and Uriah Heep drummer Chris Slade and bass player Tony Franklin. The band, played two UK gigs in 1984, one in London at Hammersmith Odeon, and another at Middlesbrough Town Hall. This was a big deal at the time, with two rock superstars coming back to the North East. In Paul Rodgers case, this was also a homecoming show, as he was born in Middlesbrough. The tickets went on sale from the Town Hall on a week day, and I was at work at the time. My mate Dave was on night shift that week and was able to go down to Middlesbrough and bought tickets for us.
We were really excited about the gig and full of anticipation. We were hoping for one or two Free, Bad Company or Zeppelin songs, but that wasn’t to be. The set consists of the new Firm album and some songs from Jimmy and Paul’s solo work. I remember Paul Rodgers seated at a grand piano for “Live in Peace” from his earlier solo album. Jimmy Page played songs from the Death Wish II soundtrack, which featured his trademark playing of the guitar with a violin bow while beneath the Zeppelin laser pyramid. They also played a great version of the Righteous Brothers’ You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’. It was a very enjoyable show, but I think we were expecting something more. The set list for the London show is listed as this: Closer; City Sirens; Make or Break; The Morning After; Together; Cadillac; Prelude; Money Can’t Buy; Radioactive; Live In Peace; Midnight Moonlight; You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’; The Chase; Someone To Love; Full Circle; Boogie Mama; Everybody Needs Somebody. I would imagine that the set at Middlesbrough was similar.
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