Posts Tagged ‘pop’

26 Oct

Classic Legends of Rock Harrogate

Posted by vintagerock in Focus, Groundhogs, Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash, Wishbone Ash. Tagged: , , , , , .

Classic Legends of Rock Harrogate Royal Hall October 24 2008

This triple bill of classic rock bands (Groundhogs, Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash and Focus) has been playing halls around the country for the past few weeks. The nearest date to us was Harrogate so went along with my friends Norm and Will to see three bands who we all had fond memories of.

The drive to Harrogate was straightforward and we quickly found the Royal Hall which lies in the centre of town. We went straight into the venue as we wanted to be sure to catch the Groundhogs who were first up. The Royal Hall has been recently refurbished and is a lovely old theatre, where greats such as the Beatles have played over the years. After a drink in the (quite expensive) bar we took our seats for the show. I bought a poster (a bargain at £2) and we had a chat with Joanna, who admired my Split t-shirt.

First up was the Groundhogs. We are all long standing fans of Tony McPhee and the band and have seen them many many times over the years. The set was (from memory) : Eccentric Man, Garden, Split 1, Split 2, Split 4, Natchez Burning and Cherry Red. Tony’s guitar playing was pretty on form tonight, but his singing wasn’t so hot to be honest. The drummer looks new, and is adding some backing vocals. It was nice to see them again, and a good start to the show. We then went over the road to the local Wetherspoons for a quick drink between the sets. Norm and Will had a word with Tony; shook his hand and congratulated him on a good gig.

Next up was Martin Turner’s version of Wishbone Ash. This was the first time that we had seen this band, although Will and I had seen Andy Powell’s Wishbone Ash a couple of times lately and we all three had fond memories of seeing the original band in their 70s heyday. The band played a set of classic Ash songs; and did them spot on. Martin looked great; it made us all think how great it would be if the original band were to regroup (probably not likely). The set was : The King Will Come, Warrior, Throw Down the Sword, Phoenix, Living Proof, Blowing Free, Jailbait. Back to Wetherspoons.

Focus closed the show. We all knew less Focus tracks than the other bands, but we were looking forward to hearing Hocus Pocus, Sylvia etc. Thijs Van Leer is a great showman, and a pretty crazy guy; the young guitarist is great and played Jan Akkerman’s guitar part perfectly.
A pretty good set which sent everyone home happy.

After some chips at the local chippy we made the drive up the A1 which was pretty clear all the way. A good gig; all enjoyed it.

Websites
Groundhogs : http://www.thegroundhogs.co.uk/
Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash : http://www.wishboneash.co.uk/
Focus : http://www.focustheband.com/english.html

my ticket

my ticket

12 Oct

Oasis Sheffield Arena 10 October

Posted by vintagerock in Oasis. Tagged: , , , , , .

Oasis Sheffield Hallam Arena Friday 10 October 2008

Oasis are back and on top form. A new album, and a new tour which sold out in the first hour. To the fans who have followed them over the years, Oasis are THE band. So there is an air of heavy anticipation around in the cavernous Sheffield Hallam arena on Friday night.

Laura and I drove down to Sheffield on Friday night; traffic wasn’t too bad given it was a Friday. In fact we arrived there with plenty of time to spare. Laura bought her customary t-shirt and I bought my programme. Then, after a couple of pretty mega size hot dogs, we took our seats which were at the back of the arena, opposite the stage. The support act was a band called Twisted Wheel, who niether of us had heard of before. They were OK I suppose, pretty average actually, sounded like a cross between old school punk (doesn’t everyone nowadays?) and the Arctic Monkeys. After they have finished there’s a short wait before Oasis take the stage to a might roar from the Yorkshire crowd.

The sound is pretty clear from where we are; maybe could be a little louder. Liam’s voice is really strong, and he looks pretty cool on stage. The set is a mixture of old and new. The songs from the new album are very strong, and the old favourites go down well with the crowd. Lots of singing along. Lots of beer flying aroundon the floor and on the lower terraces. Luckily we mostly escape this.

In the encore we get Don’t Look Back in Anger sung largely acoustic by Noel, and a great version of Champagne Supernova. The last song is I am the Walrus which nearly takes the roof off. And then its over, seemed like they had only been on stage 5 minutes, although it had been almost 2 hours in reality.  The drive back to Newcastle is straight forward; road is clear.

So the lads didn’t let us down. They follow in a great line of British rock bands. Just like seeing the Who, the Faces or the Kinks on a good night. Roll on next Summer (now where will the mega gig in Manchester be?) ; can’t wait.  

 

  Set list:  Rock N Roll Star ; Lyla ; The Shock Of The Lightning ;Cigarettes And Alcohol; Meaning Of Soul ;To Be  Where There’s Life;  Waiting For The Rapture; The Masterplan; Songbird; Slide Away; Morning Glory; Ain’t Got Nothing; The Importance Of Being Idle; To Be Where There’s Life; Wonderwall; Supersonic

 

 Encores: Don’t Look Back In Anger (Acoustic); Falling Down; Champagne Supernova; I Am The Walrus

website: www.oasisinet.com

12 Oct

Stevie Winwood Sage Gateshead 6 October

Posted by vintagerock in Stevie Winwood. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Stevie Winwood Sage Gateshead 6 October 2008

 Stevie Winwood returned to the North East with a set which covered all aspects of his career. Its been many years (perhaps more than 20?) since Stevie Winwood has played in Newcastle and the crowd at the Sage in Gateshead gave him a great reception as he took the stage on Monday night. The Sage concert hall was not full, but the turn out was pretty good and everyone was clearly excited at the prospect of hearing Stevie’s great soulful voice.  The set up on the stage was pretty sparse, with Stevie’s band comprising a guitarist, bassist, percussionist and a drummer.  Stevie split his time between sitting at the organ and playing guitar. In fact his guitar playing, though often overlooked, is pretty fine. But it is the great songs and his wonderful soulful voice that everyone has come to hear.

The set contained a mixture of old classics from Spencer Davis days, through Traffic, Blind Faith and Winwood’s solo career, interspersed with quite a few from his new album. So we got I’m a Man early on in the set, followed by Empty Pages, Can’t find my way back home, back in the high life again. The encores were Dear Mr Fantasy and Gimme Some Lovin. All sung excellently; his voice is as strong as ever. A great show. The only slight downer was the crowd reaction which although good, was also quite laid back. At a couple of points, the guitarist in the band tried to get the crowd to get up and dance, without any success; its something about the formalish nature of the venue I think.  

website: http://www.stevewinwood.com/

28 Sep

Status Quo Newcastle City Hall 27th Sept 2008

Posted by vintagerock in Status Quo. Tagged: , , , , , .

Status Quo Newcastle City Hall September 27 2008

Loud. Rocking. Great atmosphere. The Quo army. Lots of Quo t-shirts. Deafening. Old songs and new(ish) songs. Pretty awesome actually.

So the mighty Quo return to the City Hall, where they always get a great reception, to start their Pictures 40 Years of Hits tour. There has been lots of chat on the fanclub message board about what the promised (and long overdue) changes to the setlist might be. Lots of expectations for this one, and fans in the front rows have travelled from all over the UK to see the first night of the tour.

I’m sitting 7 rws from the front to the left of the stage right in front of the speakers (dangerous). Quo come on to the usual drone intro and are straight into Caroline (no change yet then). But we soon realise that this is going to be  a new show, and pretty special too. Lots of old ones have been brought back : Mean Girl, In MY Chair, Softer Ride, Is There a Better Way.  And yes they did play Pictures of Matchstick Men and Ice in the Sun (the only song from last night which I’ve never seen them do before ; they probably haven’t played this one since the late 60s). The stage show has 3 screens at the back which worked pretty well; they showed some great old pictures of the band.

The last few songs were as usual : Down Down, Whatever you Want, Rocking All Over the World, with Juniors Wailing, Rock n Roll Music and Bye Bye Johnny as encores.

A pretty great show actually. Must be the best I have seen them for a long time, and Quo and I go back a long way (have seen them 30+ times since 1971). If you were getting tired of the show, and were going to give them a miss this time please think again and go along and see them; you won’t regret it.

Francis was in great cheeky form, having jokes with the front few rows. Rick’s voice is sounding pretty good too, and he got to sing quite a few. The crowd were, as always, up for it (although the centre of the balcony stayed seated pretty much throughout). My ears are still ringing this morning. Now do I go and see them again at the Arena shows in December (Sheffield or Glasgow is pretty tempting….. Manfred Mann is support for those shows…)

Setlist:

Caroline
The Wanderer
Rain
Don´t Drive My Car
Mean Girl
Softer Ride
Beginning of the End
Is There a Better Way
Proposin´ Medley
Big Fat Mama
Pictures of Matchstick Men
Ice In the Sun
The Oriental
Creepin´ Up On You
In My Chair
Living On an Island
In the Army Now
Roll Over Lay Down
Down Down
Whatever You Want
Rockín´ All Over the World
–Encores—
Junior´s Wailing
Rock´n´Roll Music
Bye Bye Johnny

Website: http://www.statusquo.co.uk/

28 Sep

The Moody Blues Newcastle City Hall 2008

Posted by vintagerock in Moody Blues, The Moody Blues. Tagged: , , , , , , .

The Moody Blues Newcastle City Hall September 23 2008

The Moody Blues just keep going. On Tuesday night they were at Newcastle City Hall, where they come every couple of years or so now. No big surprises in the set list; all the favourites were played : Tuesday Afternoon, Nights in White Satin, Voices in the Sky, Question, I’m Just a Singer in a Rock and Roll Band, The Voice. The set is in two halves with the well known songs spread pretty evenly throughout. My seat was 4 rows from the front to the left of the stage, and the sound from there was pretty mirky. I couldn’t hear the vocals very well at all, so for the second half I went upstairs and sat in a empty seat about half way back. My view wasn’t as good but the sound was crystal clear from there.

The band played, as always, pretty faultlessly. Justin Haywood and John Lodge both look great, and Justin’s voice is still pretty strong. The only other long time member is Graeme Edge the drummer (who is actually the only original member from the Go Know days).  The backdrop showed lots of pictures of the band in the late 60s and early 70s. The encore was, as usual, Ride my SeeSaw. All great songs and well played.  

 

website : http://www.moodyblues.co.uk/index_main.html

14 Sep

Stevie Wonder Manchester Arena Sept 9 2008

Posted by vintagerock in Stevie Wonder. Tagged: , , , , , .

Stevie Wonder Manchester Arena September 9 2008

Its been 28 years since I last saw Stevie Wonder at Wembley Arena, and I was really looking forward to seeing him again. Laura and I took the train to Manchester to see the great man in concert at the vast Manchester Evening News Arena. We arrived at the arena in time to have a good look at the merchandise. Laura was delighted to discover that the t-shirts had braille on them and she bought a “Isn’t She Lovely” t-shirt and a key-ring which also had braille on it. I was a little disappointed that there were no programmes (apparently they hadn’t been printed in time for the early dates and will be joining the tour later).

Our seats were on the floor; half way back. Two rows in front of us was sat Ian Brown who was looking as cool as ever and sporting a great Motorhead t-shirt. Laura was well chuffed when I spotted Ian! Stevie came on playing some great bluesy harmonica ; first song I recognised was Master Blaster (Jammin).  Everyone was on their feet from the start; lots of shouting; a great roaring reception; a lot of people had waited a long time for this. 

The set was a mixture of hits and less well know songs. I would guess I knew around half of the songs. Lots of singing along, with Stevie getting the men and women to sing different parts a couple of times. Perhaps a little too much singing along; and not enough hits; but actually it was OK; balance was probably about right on reflection. He was backed by a great 14 piece band including his daughter as one of the singers (she also got a solo).

The guy sitting next to Laura was really into in it, dancing and singing all the time (he knew absolutely all of the words from every song).  There were a few occassions where everyone sat down; this guy refused to; even when someone behind him asked him to and then threatened him; thought they were going to fight! The guy behind got a steward who had a word with them both and managed to calm the situation.

As we go towards the end we got more hits: Signed, Sealed, Delivered and Superstition were great. I was a little disappointed that he didn’t do For Once in My Life which is my favourite; but hey you can’t have everything every time. Laura and I agreed that it was a great show from a legend!

Setlist included : Master Blaster All I Do Knocks Me Off My Feet Higher Ground Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing Visions Livin’ for the City Golden Lady Isn’t She Lovely My Cheri Amour Signed, Sealed, Delivered Sir Duke I Wish Do I Do I Just Called to Say I Love You Superstition As 
 

16 Aug

Julie Felix The Sage Gateshead

Posted by vintagerock in Julie Felix. Tagged: , , , , , .

Julie Felix

The Sage Gateshead Sat 14 June 2008

Julie’s 70th birthday concert

This special event was Julie Felix’s 70th Birthday concert. Will and I had seen Julie once before at a free concert in Hyde Park in the 70s, but I’d never been to see her since then. I have a few of her albums and thought it was time to see her again,  and was intrigued at the thought of going to her birthday concert. So Will and I went along to the Sage to see Julie, along with fans from across the country who had come to celebrate her birthday with her.

It was obvious that many of the people in the audience knew each other and knew Julie; and that they had travelled from all over the UK to come to this concert. The stage was decked with balloons to celebrate the occasion; Julie came on stage dressed in a white trouser suit; she looked great! For her first set Julie focused on songs by her 60s contemporaries, some of which appear on her latest CD Highway of Diamonds. These included Bob Dylan’s A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall, Buffy Sainte-Marie’s  Universal Soldier; and Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. Each of these songs was accompanied by a story of her memories of her meetings with the writer in the 60s. 

She read out a message from Tom Paxton: “At 70, still the possessor of the most radiant smile in Britain. Old friends are the best friends, especially when they get old. But that’s not for awhile yet for you. They tell me that 70 is the new 40, but you’re not a day over 35. All the best. From Tom.”

In the second set Julie sang a selection of her own songs, a couple of which were in Spanish. I didn’t know these songs, but they all sounded pretty good. The crowd gave her a standing ovation at the end, and everyone seemed to agree that it had been a pretty special event. Will and I certainly enjoyed it.

ticket

ticket

programme

programme

 

website : http://www.knibbworld.com/juliefelix

Review of concert at website : http://www.knibbworld.com/juliefelix/reviews.htm

14 Aug

P J Proby South Shields Customs House

Posted by vintagerock in P J Proby. Tagged: , , , .

P J Proby

South Shields Customs House 27 March 2008

P J Proby is the man. Always has been, always will be. It may not be cool to like him these days, and it probably never was, but he has a voice like no other.  Over the years I’ve been to see many great male rock singers: Robert Plant, Paul Rodgers, Joe Cocker, Stevie Marriot, Terry Reid, Arthur Brown, Frankie Miller, Long John Baldry, Rod Stewart, Chris Farlowe ; but to me P J Proby stands apart from all them. This guy has no fear; go to youtube and watch some of those old videos of him in the 60s and you’ll see what I mean.

Its great to see that he’s still going strong and out there. In fact he’s playing more in the UK now than he ever did since the 60s. He out there playing at local theatres and on some 60s package tours but he’s still much more than a revival act.

Norm and I went along to the Customs House which is a smallish (4oo seat) theatre in South Shields to see P J.  We arrived just as he had taken the stage; the place was packed and everyone was already up on their feet. The set was a mixture of ballads, Elvis and Johnny Cash songs; and his own hits from the 60s.

The Johnny Cash set saw P J singing Jackson and Daddy Sang Bass along with his wife. His version of Elvis’ American Trilogy has to be seen to be believed and he still manages to hit all the notes in Maria. Finished off with Hold Me which is still a great rock song, and leaves the crowd screaming for more.

You could buy a DVD of the show from the merchandise stall straight after the show. I settled for a signed magazine with a great write up about Proby’s wild life. A great night; if you get the chance to go and see this guy; do it; you won’t be disappointed.

ticket

ticket

signed magazine

signed magazine

website: http://www.proby.co.uk/

12 Aug

Paul McCartney Liverpool Sound 1 June

Posted by vintagerock in Dave Grohl, Paul McCartney, The Kaiser Chiefs, The Zutons, Yoko Ono. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

Paul McCartney, the Kaiser Chiefs, the Zutons, Dave Grohl
Liverpool Sound Sun June 1 Anfield Liverpool

Liverpool Capital of Culture 08

We’d been looking forward to this concert for ages. Pretty powerful stuff; going to see Paul McCartney in Liverpool, as part of the Capital of Culture celebrations in Anfield stadium!!! The tickets had been allocated in a raffle ages ago. We hadn’t been drawn in the first run of the raffle but were lucky in a second draw where both Laura and I were drawn so we could buy two tickets each. Hence four of us; me, Laura, David and Mari went along to this one.

There’d been lots of rumours about the support acts for this concert. Initial promises of lots of international stars didn’t materialise; the story seems to be that the organisers at the Capital of Culture couldn’t deliver on these initial promises and that Paul McCartney’s management came in a late stage to help with organisation. The final line up of Paul with the Kaiser Chiefs and the Zutons plus a “special guest” seemed fine to us anyway. One thing had become clear, Paul was going to perform a pretty full set and not just a few songs as Ringo had at Liverpool the Musical earlier in the year.

We drove down to Liverpool, stopped off at our Travelodge to check out our rooms and arrived at the stadium in plenty of time. We joined a pretty long queue to get in; some people had been there for several hours to make sure that they got a good spot in front of the stage. When we got in Laura and I found some seats in one of the stands, while David and Mari decided to take to the pitch and see if they could get close to the front.

First up were the Zutons. The Stadium is still filling up at this point. David and I had seen them once before at the Leeds Wireless festival on a bill supporting the Who and like last time they were pretty good. Its never easy warming a crowd up when most of them have come along to see the main act, but they did go down quite well.

Next up were the Kaiser Chiefs who were great and are now pretty used to working up a stadium size crowd. They had just done a triumphant home-coming show at Elland Road the week before, and were ready to take on the Anfield crowd. Ricky had the crowd doing mexican waves, and was really working things up. It took the crowd some time to get really warmed up but by the end of the set, everyone was singing along to Ruby, I Predict a Riot and Oh My God. They played for just under one hour, and couldn’t have been much better. Laura, David and I have seen them before at a home gig in Millenium Square Leeds.

Paul came on just after 9pm and gave us some surprises from the start. Hippy Hippy Shake was the first one up. He probably hasn’t played this one since the Beatles days. I’ve certainly never seen him play it on any of his UK tours. Then it was into a set which was pretty similar to his last UK tour apart from Penny Lane which I don’t recall seeing him sing before. The atmosphere was great; the whole stadium singing along to all these classic tunes. You really can’t get much better than singing Beatles songs in the heart of Liverpool with Paul McCartney!! Dave Grohl was the “special guest” and joins Paul and the band for Band on the Run and Back in the USSR (the Foo Fighters are playing in Manchester the next day).

The big surprises come in the encores, when Paul comes back to do A Day in the Life, followed by Give Peace a Chance as a tribute to John Lennon. Yoko is in the audience singing along with us; it doesn’t get much better than this. The verdict from all four of us was that this was a pretty special show and a pretty special day. We drive back to the hotel and watch the highlights on the TV.

programme for the event

programme for the event

my ticket

my ticket

Paul Set list:
Start time: 9:08PM
1. Hippy, Hippy Shake
2. Jet
3. Drive My Car
4. Flaming Pie
5. Got to Get You Into My Life
6. Let Me Roll It (tease “Foxey Lady”)
7. My Love
8. C’Moon
9. The Long and Winding Road
10. Dance Tonight
11. Blackbird
12. Calico Skies
13. In Liverpool
14. Follow the Sun
15. Eleanor Rigby
16. Something
17. Penny Lane
18. Band on the Run (with Dave Grohl on guitar and vocals)
19. Back in the U.S.S.R. (with Grohl on drums)
20. Live and Let Die
21. Let it Be
22. Hey Jude
23. Yesterday
Encore:
24. A Day in the Life
25. Give Peace a Chance
26. Lady Madonna
27. I Saw Her Standing There (with Grohl on drums)
End time: 10:56pm (Total time 1 hour 48 minutes) 

Websites:

http://www.paulmccartney.com/

http://www.liverpool08.com/

http://www.kaiserchiefs.co.uk/

http://www.thezutons.com/

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