Pauline Murray, John Cooper Clarke and the Invisible Girls Newcastle City Hall 1980
I went to see Penetration play a lot in the North East during the late 70s, and was sad when they split. I always thought they deserved greater recognition and success than they achieved. But not to worry, lead singer Pauline soon bounced back with her own solo career, releasing an album and touring in late 1980. This home-coming gig featured Pauline and punk poet John Cooper Clarke each performing their own set. Both performers were backed by the Invisible Girls who had originally been formed to provide backing music for John Cooper Clarke. The Invisible Girls were Manchester producer Martin Hannett’s house band at the time and featured various members including at one point Wayne Hussey. I can’t be certain who was in the band at the City Hall concert but do remember that it featured the excellent Durutti Column’s Vini Reilly on guitar, Buzzcocks drummer John Maher, and Penetration’s Robert Blamire on bass. 
I think the Invisible Girls may have played their own short instrumental set before John Cooper Clarke came on stage. Vini Reilly had a particular guitar style, very atmospheric, beautiful and melodic. I never quite understood the need to add music to John Cooper Clarke’s poetry, which is strong enough to stand in its own right. I enjoyed seeing him with the Invisible Girls, but his set that night didn’t have the same edge as previous performances I had witnessed; the music somehow almost stifled John’s poems, and didn’t allow him to experiment with phrasing and rhythm in the way that he normally did. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable performance. Pauline’s solo material was much more melodic and poppier than the punk rock of Penetration, and her set that night featured songs from her first album, which is a classic of the time, and quite under-rated. The music is very atmospheric, dark, almost goth in parts. I remember this gig as an enjoyable evening with some uplifting music.
Posts Tagged ‘new wave’
27 Nov
Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls Newcastle City Hall 1980
24 Nov
The Mission Newcastle City Hall 1987 and 1988
The Mission Newcastle City Hall 1987 and 1988
I saw the Mission on four occasions during ’87 and ’88; three times at Newcastle City Hall, and supporting U2 at Edinburgh Murrayfield Stadium (in August 1987). They were a mesmerising live act, whose set included dark, heavy rock, psych, and some great cover versions. The first time I saw them was 20th March 1987 at the City Hall. The support act was All About Eve, who were to go on to achieve success in their own right. They opened with a great heavy-psych version of The Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows”, which set the mood for the rest of the gig. Their own material was all jangling guitars, swirling rhythms, and dark, deep goth vocals from front man Wayne Hussey. He formed the Mission after spells with Pauline Murray’s Invisible Girls, and the Sisters of Mercy.
Hussey was simply a revelation on stage, there was a unique connection between him and the fans; he took control of the entire hall and everyone joined together in a swirling, sprawling mass of music and celebration. Wayne would dance around like a dervish, all in black, lots of jewelry, wearing a wide brimmed hat, sometimes throwing read roses into the audience. The stage set would feature dark, heavy imagery and the song titles themselves conveyed gothic messages from a darker world: “Serpent’s Kiss”, “Sacrilege”, “Blood Brother”: all quite deep, dark, doomy stuff (but great :)). There was a strong feeling of camaraderie at a Mission gig. The band had a group of intensely loyal fans, known as the Eskimos (not sure why ?), who travelled to every gig and were always down the front clambering on top of each other and diving on stage to dance with the band. The classic line-up was singer/ guitarist Hussey, bassist Craig Adams, lead guitarist Simon Hinkler and drummer Mick Brown. Live favourites of mine at the time were: a great cover of Free’s “Wishing Well”, the single “Severina” and “Serpents Kiss”. For the gig on 4th March 1988 the support act was Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, and on 29th November 1988 it was The Mighty Lemon Drops. These were wild, joyous, nights with a strong happy, family feel about them. There was a sense of occasion, of being part of something special and quite stunning; a oneness of band and audience, an intensity and passion; very very different to any other gigs at the time. The Mission were, without a doubt, one of the best live acts around during the late 80s. 
Set list from March 1987: Tomorrow never knows, Stay with me, Garden of delight, Like a hurricane, Let sleeping dogs die, Severina, Serpents kiss, Over the hills and far away, Sacrilege, wake, Blood brother, 1969, Love me to death, Wasteland, Wishing well, Shelter from the storm.
Setlist from March 1988: Beyond the pale, And the dance goes on, Like a hurricane, Child’s play, Serpents kiss, Garden of delight, Tower of strength, The crystal ocean, Dream on, Sacrilege, Wasteland, 1969, Wishing well, Blood brother, Love me to death, Shelter from the storm.
Setlist from November 1988: Wasteland, Serpents kiss, Severina, Belief, Stay with me, Kingdom come, Deliverance, Tower of strength, The crystal ocean, The grip of disease, Dream on, Sacrilege, 1969, Beyond the pale, Like a hurricane, Child’s play, Dancing barefoot, Gone to the devil (Hungry as the hunter), Shelter from the storm /
Rain.
PS I found an explanation of the name “The Eskimos” on a forum. Apparently the group of fans was originally called “the Missionaries”. At one point when travelling through Europe, a customs guy called one of the group an “eskimo” when going throught a checkpoint, and the name stuck. Not sure that makes me any the wiser, however :).
22 Nov
Motorhead 1981 & 1982 Newcastle City Hall and 1984 Newcastle Mayfair
Motorhead 1981 & 1982 Newcastle City Hall and 1984 Newcastle Mayfair
Motorhead continued to be massively popular with rock fans throughout the early 80s, selling out multiple nights at concert halls up and down the country. I saw them live a couple of more times at the City Hall, in 1981 and 1982. Their next album “Iron Fist” was released in 1982 and they toured again to promote it. 
Their shows continued to be a feast of heavy, loud, fast, high energy rock’n’roll, with front man Lemmy always on good form. But things were soon to fall apart. Fast Eddie left the band in 1983, followed shortly by Phil Taylor. 
By the time I saw Motorhead again at Newcastle Mayfair in 1984, the line-up featured Lemmy, Phil “Wizzö” Campbell and Würzel on guitars, and Pete Gill on drums. Campbell remains with the band to this day. 
The new line-up put on a good performance at the Mayfair and I enjoyed the gig. But things were not quite the same. It was 26 years until I saw Motorhead again, at the City Hall in 2010. I blogged about that gig at the time. t was great to see them again, and in many ways nothing had changed. Lemmy came on stage and told us: “We are Motorhead and we play Rock and Roll”. Lemmy: “Is it loud enough?” Crowd: “No!!!”. Lemmy: “Then we’ll turn it up. I don’t f***ing care if you go deaf. I’m f***ing deaf already”. Lemmy hasn’t been too well of late, and their 2013 tour has been postponed until 2014. Hope he’s soon better. It’s characters like him that brighten up rock’n’roll. That concludes my memories of Motorhead; tomorrow I’ll move on to other concert memories.
21 Nov
Motorhead Live Newcastle Mayfair October 30th 1980 The Ace of Spades !
Motorhead Live Newcastle Mayfair The Ace of Spades !
By 1980 Motorhead had become a massive live attraction, selling out everywhere they played. During the Summer the band headlined “The Over The Top Heavy Metal Brain Damage Party” (great title for a rock concert) at Bingley Hall, Staffordshire. A comic programme, which featured “The Overwhelming Motorhead” in “Rock Commando” was produced especially for (reportedly exclusive) distribution at their Bingley Hall concert. I didn’t attend the gig (at least I don’t think I did, unless perhaps the Heavy Metal Brain Damage really has got to me 🙂 ) but I have a copy of the comic which I must have brought at a later gig, probably at the Mayfair later that year. The comic was written by Klaus Blum with a section from Alan Burridge of Motorheadbangers, and features a great comic strip adventure with our heroes in a futuristic England and France. 
During the Summer of 1980, Motorhead went into the studio again to record the ‘Ace Of Spades’ album, and took it out on tour throughout the UK in the Autumn. This time they called at Newcastle Mayfair, rather than the City Hall. The Mayfair was in fact a much more natural choice of venue for Motorhead. It was a home for heavy rock in the 70s and 80s and their music was much better suited to a packed ballroom. Motorhead filled the Mayfair for two nights that year; 
I attended the gig on Thursday 30th October, which was the second of the two nights. Support came from NWOBHM band Weapon. I remember being right down the front for this gig. It was absolutely deafening and my ears were ringing for days, which seemed to me to be a badge of honour at the time. The tour was entitled “Ace Up Your Sleeve”. The front cover of the tour programme features a similar image of the band to the “Ace of Spades” lp cover, with Lemmy and the gang looking very sharp and cool, dressed as cowboys. The ‘Arizona desert-style’ pictures were apparently actually taken during a photo session at a sandpit in Barnet! “Ace of Spades” is seen as the definitive Motorhead album, and was their biggest album chart success. These guys were at the height of their powers in the late 70s and early 80s, and were an excellent live act who bridged classic heavy rock, punk and the NWOBHM.
20 Nov
Motorhead Newcastle City Hall and Reading 1979
Motorhead Newcastle City Hall 1979
1979 was a busy year for Motorhead. Lemmy and crew released two albums, headlined two UK tours, appeared on Top of the Pops, and played at the Reading Festival. The year started with the release of the “Overkill” album, and a March tour of the UK, with support from Girlschool. I saw the Newcastle City Hall gig, which was a great double bill and both bands put in a rocking performance. Come August, and Motorhead were third on the Friday night bill at Reading, sandwiched between performances by Wilko Johnson and The Tourists. The Friday night was headlined by The Police. Motorhead played well and got a great reception from the crowd. Reading that year had a strange line-up, which tried to mix up-and-coming new wave acts with more established rock bands. This caused a split crowd, and lots of can fights. Motorhead were one of the few bands who both camps were “allowed” to like, and this resulted in their performance being one of the successes of the weekend.
Motorhead released the “Bomber” album later in the year, and toured again to promote it. This time they had another great rock band of the day, Saxon, as support, and they called at Newcastle City Hall in November. The Bomber tour featured a massive “Bomber” plane lighting rig hanging over the band and going through its manoeuvres while they played. Great stuff. Motorhead were really at the top of their game during this period, and just couldn’t be beaten for a loud, fun night out.
A typical setlist from a late 1979 Motorhead gig: Overkill; Stay Clean; No Class; All the Aces; Metropolis; I’ll Be Your Sister; Dead Men Tell No Tales; Keep Us on the Road; Iron Horse/Born to Lose; Stone Dead Forever; Lawman; (I Won’t) Pay Your Price; Poison; Leaving Here; Capricorn; Train Kept A-Rollin’; Bomber. Encore: Limb from Limb; White Line Fever; Motörhead
“Only way to feel the noise is when it’s good and loud, So good I can’t believe it screaming with the crowd, Don’t sweat it, get it back to you, Overkill, Overkill, Overkill…On your feet you feel the beat, it goes straight to your spine, Shake your head you must be dead if it don’t make you fly, Don’t sweat it, get it back to you, Overkill, Overkill, Overkill.” (Overkill, Motorhead, 1979)
19 Nov
Motorhead Live The Marquee London 1975 and Newcastle City Hall 1978
Motorhead Live The Marquee London 1975 and Newcastle City Hall 1978
From day one I was really into the image of Lemmy and Motorhead. The idea of the gun-slinging outsider “louder than anyone else” rock’n’roller appealed to me. I was lucky enough to see the band at one of their first ever gigs, when they played the Marquee Club in London in August 1975. My mate and I were on our way to the Reading Festival, and stopped off in London en route. By chance, Motorhead were playing at the Marquee that night so we went along to see them. Support came from a London band called National Flag, who were quite popular at the time, and were resident band at the Marquee. This was the first Motorhead line-up of Lemmy, ex-Pink Fairies Larry Wallis, and Lucas Fox on drums. Imagine our surprise when we walked into the Marquee club, only to see Lemmy himself playing on the one armed bandit. We had a chat with him, and he advised us on how best to play the bandits. A few years later, I saw Lemmy again in similar circumstances; this time playing a bandit in the bar at Newcastle City Hall. Motorhead were a bit rough that night at the Marquee, but you could see the track that they would be treading. The set consisted of a few new songs, some Pink Fairies (“City Kids” I think), the song “Motorhead” itself, and a couple of classics (“Johnny B Goode”). This initial Motorhead Line-up was short-lived and was soon replaced by the classic grouping of Lemmy on bass and vocals, “Fast Eddie” Clarke on guitar, and drummer Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor. The next time I saw Motorhead it was the classic line-up and they were on their first major headline tour, which called at Newcastle City Hall. 
That was in 1978, and by then the band had released their first eponymous album. Support came from ex-Pink Fairies Duncan Sanderson’s Lightning Raiders (although I am sure that they were announced as “The Deviants” but I don’t think the late great Mick Farren was there?). The programme from that gig tells me that it’s “All About Being Loud” and “Loud Enough? Christ! It’s like being wired to some gigantic vibrator – not a sound – more of a sensation. Pete Sutton, NME.” “Noise is a big part of Motorhead mania, some fans actually stick their heads in the P.A. bins.” I didn’t quite do the latter, but I did stand right next to the P.A. at a gig at the Mayfair (probably the Bomber tour), which might explain something about the current state of my hearing. Motorhead were a breath of fresh air at the time, accepted by the NWOBHM fraternity and by the punks. I found a setlist from Hammersmith 1978 on the internet. I suspect the City Hall concert featured a similar set: Motörhead; Vibrator; Tear Ya Down; Keep Us on the Road; Leaving Here; I’ll Be Your Sister; Lost Johnny; The Watcher; Damage Case; Iron Horse/Born to Lose; No Class; Louie Louie; Limb from Limb; (I Won’t) Pay Your Price; I’m Your Witch Doctor; Train Kept A-Rollin’; City Kids; White Line Fever. I always liked the raw energy and pure rock’n’roll noise produced by this band, and went on to see them several more times over the next few years. I’ll write a little more about them over the next few days.
3 Nov
Toy Dolls North Shore Sunderland 2nd Nov 2013
Toy Dolls North Shore Sunderland 2nd Nov 2013
Last night mackem heroes the Toy Dolls made a long awaited return to Sunderland to play a concert in local venue North Shore. Its 30 years since they last graced a stage here, when they played a gig at the much missed Old 29 in 1983. As you might imagine, anticipation was high for last night’s homecoming, with tickets selling out in a day or so. North Shore (previously known as Manor Quay, or Close Encounters, or The Boilermakers Club, depending upon which era you are from) is a club venue which now plays host to the events of Sunderland University Students Union. But last night it was packed to the walls with punks young and old who had come to see the return of Olga and the Toy Dolls. 
Well Olga and the guys didn’t let us down, and played a blistering, crazy set of their fast punk anthems, which chronicle Olga’s life and tales from mackem legend, including Cloughy Is a Bootboy!; Dougy Giro; Dirty Doreen; Spiders In The Dressing Room; The Ashbrooke Launderette; Olga… I Cannot; Tommy Kowey’s Car; Queen Alexandra Road Is Where She Said She’d Be, but Was She There to Meet Me… No Chance; Harry Cross (A Tribute to Edna); hit single Nellie the Elephant. Fine stuff, great fun. The vibe of the night was friendly good hearted fun, with the crowd singing along to every word, and Olga running back and forth across the stage, chopping away at his Telecaster. Old friendships were renewed, and a good time was well and truly had by all.
2 Nov
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Edinburgh Usher Hall 1 Nov 2013
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Edinburgh Usher Hall 1 Nov 2013
Last night Laura and I crossed the border to Scotland, where we took a step over another border into the darker side of rock, for a night in the company of Nick Cave and his compatriots the Bad Seeds. I’ve only ever seen Nick Cave once before, and that was as at a solo concert at the Sage Gateshead some years ago. This was the first time that Laura had seen him, although she is a fan and familiar with much of his music. We had seats in the upper circle looking directly down on the proceedings, with a good view of the stage and the packed stalls where all the seats had been removed, and fans were crammed around the stage, awaiting an audience with Nick. Support came from solo artist Shilpa Ray who played a short set of her own songs, accompanied only by herself on harmonium. Her sound is a sort of bluesy punk with searing, screeching vocals.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds came of stage shortly before 9pm, and were truly amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a performance which maintained such passion, power and intensity throughout. Nick was dressed all in black, looking like a cool, young Bela Lugosi, and the songs were all very dark in both mood and lyric. Crazed bearded violinist Warren Ellis tore shreds out of his instrument and was a perfect foil to frontman Cave. Nick prowled around the front of the stage singing and talking directly to the first few rows of fans. The guy seemingly has no fear, and seemed to completely lose himself in the performance. The songs were, at one end of the spectrum, all power chords, manic instrumental breaks, with Cave dancing crazily and haranguing the front rows; to another extreme of dark, sombre, power ballads with Cave at the piano. Highlights for me were Jubilee Street, Tupelo, Red Right, The Mercy Seat, and Stagger Lee. The main set finished with Push the Sky Away, but the band returned for a incredible five song encore including Deanna, the great Breathless (my favourite 🙂 ) and closer Give Us a Kiss. The show finished just before 11pm, and we had an uneventful drive back down the A1; arriving home around 1.45am.
Setlist: We No Who U R; Jubilee Street; Midnight Man; Tupelo; Red Right Hand; Mermaids; From Her to Eternity; Stranger Than Kindness; God Is in the House; He Wants You; Into My Arms; Higgs Boson Blues; Hiding All Away; The Mercy Seat; Stagger Lee; Push the Sky Away. Encore: We Real Cool; Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry; Deanna; Breathless; Give Us a Kiss
29 Oct
The Monochrome Set Durham University 1981
The Monochrome Set Durham University 1981
The Monochrome Set was formed in London in 1978. The original line-up consisted of Indian-born lead singer and songwriter Bid, Canadian guitarist Lester Square, drummer John Haney and bass guitarist Charlie Harper. The band went through several bassists in the next few years. Experimental filmmaker Tony Potts began working with the band in 1979, designing their lighting and stage sets with the use of film projections for their live shows. The band’s early shows were defined by the shadowy, stage images created by his films and he is often described as being their “fifth member”. Today they are spoken of in reverential terms and are thought of as a seminal, legendary new wave / art-rock band. I only recall seeing the Monochrome Set once, at this gig at Durham University Dunelm Ballroom in 1981. By this point the line-up was John, Bid, Lester and Andy Warren on bass. My memories of the band are of a weird, slightly avant-garde arty new wave ensemble, very black and white (hence their name); quite strange.
From their official site: “You can never pin down The Monochrome Set. They’re so difficult in many ways, yet easy to appreciate.
They’ve been together now …. since the dying days of punk, developing a music which oscillates between furtive seriousness and high enjoyment and tries to connect fantasy with the world. Label them and their music at your peril. Because of the Rough Trade alliance, brief enigmatic press coverage, shadowy pictures, the casualness of the group, their seemingly aloof airs and faces, and the apparent strictness of their live performances, the wrong impression of the group is being communicated. I’m not sure they are doing all they can to change this.” Support came from local heroes the Carpettes.
The band have recently reformed and have been playing concerts to renewed acclaim.
27 Oct
The Mo-dettes Dunelm Ballroom Durham University Students Union 25 October 1980
The Mo-dettes Dunelm Ballroom Durham University Students Union 25 October 1980. 
The Mo-dettes were an all-female punk/new wave band. They were formed in 1979 by guitarist Kate Korris, who had been an original member of The Slits and was also briefly a member of The Raincoats. The other members of the band were Jane Crockford (bass), Ramona Carlier (vocals) and June Miles-Kingston (drums). The Mo-dettes were championed by John Peel and their best known song is “White Mice”, which was self-released as their first single in mid-1979 on Mode records, and spent five weeks at No 1 on the Indie chart. They were a fun live band, dressed in shiny 60s gear, all jerky guitar rhythms. The highlights of their set were “White Mice” and a reggae-tinged version of the Stones “Paint it Black”. I saw them live on at least a couple of occasions; once at this gig at Durham University and again at Darlington Arts Centre. I may also have seen them at Middlesbrough Rock Garden, but can’t be certain. The Mo-dettes only existed for a couple of years, and are largely forgotten now. If you are interested, there is a great video of them playing “White Mice” on YouTube.
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