Supertramp Newcastle City Hall 14th October 1977
I first saw Supertramp when they played as support for Ten Years After at Newcastle City Hall in 1971. It was at the time of their second album “Indelibly Stamped”. The thing I remember most was that the album sleeve was quite controversial for the time, as it featured a picture of the tattooed torso of a woman, including her bare breasts. Apparently two gold stars were pasted over the nipples for the US issue of the lp. The line-up of the band at the time was Roger Hodgson (vocals and guitars), Rick Davies (keyboards and vocals), Dave Winthrop (flute, saxophone, vocals), Frank Farrell (bass) and Kevin Currie (drums). They played a solid set that night, but I’d gone to see TYA, and the truth is I remember little about their performance. I next saw them at the 1975 Reading festival. By this time the band had released “Crime of the Century” and were starting to receive major recognition, particularly for “Dreamer” which reached No 13 in the UK singles chart. I made a point of watching their performance that weekend, and was impressed by them. The band’s line-up had changed quite a bit by then with Hodgson and Davies being the only members remaining from the band I saw in 1971. They were joined by John Helliwell who as well as playing sax, flute and singing also took on the role of addressing the audience and cracking jokes with the crowd, Dougie Thomson (bass) and Bob Siebenberg (drums). 
The next, and last time, I saw Supertramp was at Newcastle City Hall on 14th October 1977. By then they were a major band. They had released two more albums “Crisis? What Crisis?” (1975) and “Even in the Quietest Moments…” (1977), both of which were chart successes. They also hot the UK singles chart with “Give a Little Bit”. Support came from a new artist called Chris De Burgh. Their set is likely to have included: Give a Little Bit, Bloody Well Right, Lady, Dreamer, Give a Little Bit, Bloody Well Right, Sister Moonshine and Crime of the Century. I enjoyed the show, but can’t pretend that I was a big fan. Supertramp went on to even greater success with the “Breakfast in America” album and hits including “”The Logical Song”. I never saw them live again, which I now regret as their music has grown on me over the years, and I realise now how great a band they were. Supertramp last toured a few years ago, although the current line-up does not feature Roger Hodgson, with Davies and Helliwell now fronting the band. I really should try to see Supertramp, and Roger Hodgson, again if/when they next play.
Posts Tagged ‘pop’
22 Jul
Supertramp Newcastle City Hall 14th October 1977
20 Jul
Leo Sayer Newcastle City Hall 23rd April 1976 and 5th October 1977
Leo Sayer Newcastle City Hall 23rd April 1976 and 5th October 1977
I saw Leo Sayer on two further occasions before I started to loose faith. The first was on 23rd April 1976 at Newcastle City Hall. Support came from Glyder, a band that featured Dave Bronze on bass, who would go on to play with Eric Clapton and many others. Sayer was becoming more and more popular, both in the UK and the USA, and was starting to transform into a middle of the road family entertainer. He was soon to have a massive No 1 hit which would take his career in a new direction and would enable Leo to front his own TV show on BBC every Friday night, guest on The Muppet Show, sing a duet with Miss Piggy, and appear with his idol, Fred Astaire on TV in Hollywood. There was no new album or single to promote for Leo’s Spring 1976 tour; he released his fourth album “Endless Flight” later in 1976. “Endless Flight” featured two US No. 1 hit singles, “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” and “When I Need You”. 
The setlist for the 1976 was something like this: Giving It All Away; I Hear the Laughter; Hold on to My Love; One Man Band; Train; How Much Love; Endless Flight; No Business Like Love Business; You Make Me Feel Like Dancing; When I Need You; Reflections; Long Tall Glasses; The Show Must Go On. No performance of “The Dancer” which will have disappointed me 😦 
My final Leo Sayer experience took place at Newcastle City Hall on 5th October 1977. Leo’s 1977 UK tour came after massive No 1 success with the single “When I Need You”. “When I Need You” was written by Albert Hammond and Carole Bayer Sager, and first appeared as the title track of Hammond’s 1976 album. Leo Sayer’s version was a big hit worldwide, reaching No 1 on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in February 1977. Leo Sayer performed it on the second show of the third season of The Muppet Show, and his transformation to a successful middle of the road artist was complete. Leo’s 1977 tour was hugely popular, and sold out very quickly. A whole new audience were clammering to see Leo perform “When I Need You”. I went along to the concert with a mate, and we both knew that we had lost the singer-songwriter who created the wonderful “Silverbird” album. 
The tour was to promote Leo’s fifth album “Thunder in My Heart”, which featured the hit single of the same name. Support came from singer-songwriter Aj Webber, who popped up supporting several acts during the ’70s, played the Reading festival and had a great song “Magnus the lonely gnome”, and Blue, who were a soft-rock band fronted by ex-Marmalade Hugh Nicholson, had a great catchy single “Little Jody” and should have had more success. We saw a different, new Leo Sayer at the City Hall that night in 1977. The transformation had been coming about for some time, but it became very apparent at that concert. Gone were the serious, dark, moody early songs, replaced by singalong hits. Leo had become a song and dance man. Just look at the covers of his albums and you can see how his persona has changed. The sold out audience was also different. Gone were the rock fans who had followed him in the early days, replaced by a crowd who came to sing along to “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” and “When I Need You”.
Thinking back about Leo Sayer, his first album, those early hit singles, and his early tours, I remember how much I enjoyed the guy’s music, and how he was respected as a serious singer-songwriter. I think I’ll dig out my vinyl copy of “Silverbird” and play it one more time. I’ll play “The Dancer” first.
19 Jul
Leo Sayer Newcastle Odeon 16th October 1975
Leo Sayer Newcastle Odeon 16th October 1975
It’s funny how certain songs stick in your mind. I loved “Moonlighting” when it was released in 1975. The catchy tune, the story of star crossed lovers. OK cool it certainly wasn’t but there was just something about the song that hooked me and still does. I just couldn’t get it out of my head. We would call it an “ear worm” today.
“He sees her at the same time every night, at the Mexican discotheque. She gives him French kisses, he gives her French cigarettes. They sit at the same table every time, the lights are low, but their eyes shine, just digging the music from those sweet soul bands. She keeps him outta fights, holds on to his hand. He whispers slowly “Tonight’s the night”. Months of planning so it’s gotta be right. Under the table her bag is bursting at the seams. She made sure to bring everything.
Moonlighting, they’re leaving everything. Moonlighting, they’re losing all their friends.
Moonlighting, it’s the only way. It’s frightening, but it means they’ll stay, together. They’re gonna make it together……….
We’re only ten miles to Gretna, they’re three hundred behind….Moonlighting..” (Leo Sayer, 1975)
Looking at the lyrics it really isn’t cool. No excuses, and I have no way of explaining my taste at the time….
“Moonlighting” was Leo Sayer’s fourth UK top ten single, reaching No 2 in the charts in September 1975. He went out on tour to promote his third album “Another Year”, calling at Newcastle Odeon this time. Support came from Max Merritt and the Meteors who were making a name for themselves on the pub-rock circuit at the time. Max Merritt hailed from New Zealand and record “Slippin’ Away” which reached No. 2 on the Australian singles charts in 1976. During the early to mid 1970s he was based in London playing the pubs of the capital.
Leo still played “The Dancer”, which remained by favourite Leo Sayer song and made the concert worthwhile for me, even if I couldn’t get “Moonlighting” out of my head 🙂
Maybe I shouldn’t feel too guilty in admitting my penchant for the early music of Leo Sayer. Actually thinking about, it was all pretty good, and he was really quite a serious musical artist at the time. His singles and albums were all big successes and reviews of his concerts were positive, and why shouldn’t they have been? After all, the guy put on a great show. Here are some snippets from a review of Leo Sayer’s October 1975 concert at Bournemouth Winter Gardens, written by Harry Doherty for Melody Maker: “musically, Sayer was excellent…..he left nothing to chance and gave a rousing performance of songs from his three albums…..he has a great voice, gutsy one minute, melancholic the next…..he was backed by a very tight four-piece and played a set of his best songs.”
The setlist will have been something like: Giving it all away; Train; In my life; One man band; The kid’s grown up; Only dreaming; Telepath; The last gig of Johnny B Goode; Moonlighting; I will not stop fighting; The Dancer; Long tall glasses; The show must go on.
16 Jul
Leo Sayer Newcastle City Hall 11th September 1974
Leo Sayer Newcastle City Hall 11th September 1974
This might seem a guilty pleasure today, but trust me, it seemed far from it “back in the day”. Leo Sayer was a pretty cool guy, with a hot debut album “Silverbird”. He first came into the public eye as the guy who appeared on the Old Grey Whistle Test dressed as a clown (or in a pierrot style costume, to be precise), co-wrote songs (with David Courtney) for Roger Daltrey’s solo lp including the hit single “Giving it All Away”, and was managed by Adam Faith (another cool guy). Leo’s second single “The Show Must Go On” was of course, a massive hit. He also appeared as support act on tours by Roxy Music and Elton John, which I foolishly missed.
From Leo Sayer’s bio on his website: “the B.B.C. offered Leo a slot on their T.V. rock show, “The Old Grey Whistle Test”.Leo came on the show dressed as the Pierrot and such was the reaction to his performance, the entire business noted that a new star was born.”
I had the “Silverbird” album and played in endlessly, my favourite tracks being the rocky “Drop Back”, “Slow Motion” and the very dark, moody, almost scary “Dancer”. Listen to the album, and don’t be put off by Sayer’s later poppier and disco material, it’s classic stuff, he was a great singer-songwriter when he emerged.
I first got to see Leo Sayer when he toured in September 1974, calling at Newcastle City Hall. By then the clown outfit had gone; Leo, his songs and his excellent band were strong enough to stand in their own right. The tour came just before the release of his second album “Just a Boy”. I was hooked, particularly on seeing him perform “Dancer”. Support for the UK tour came from Wally, a progressive rock band from Harrogate, who were presumably named after the festival chant.
Sputnik music says of the “Silverbird” album: “The first – and, in this reviewer’s opinion, only worthwhile – album from British artist Leo Sayer. Few people know that before Leo Sayer became the white-fro sporting King of Disco, he was an artist……”Silverbird” is very dark and depressing at its heart. It’s a concept album, in that the themes of isolation and sadness weave each of the songs together. I would give this album a 4 out of 5. This is a side of Sayer we only see briefly in his follow up album “Just A Boy,” and then it dies, replaced by a bad disco singer who sold out.”
14 Jul
Rod Stewart St James Park Newcastle 25th June 2007
Rod Stewart St James Park Newcastle 25th June 2007
Rod was back in Newcastle in 2007 to play a massive open air show at St James Park in June 2007. I turned up on the night and bought a ticket for half price outside the stadium (result, as tickets for Rod Stewart concerts were getting more and more expensive 🙂 ), the show was far from sold out. It was a dreary, cold night with spells of rain, which didn’t help the atmosphere inside the stadium. The stage was placed in the middle of the stadium, which created quite strangely angled views, from whichever position you took in the vast area. Support came from the excellent Pretenders, with Chrissie Hynde chatting with the crowd and playing their hits from the late 1970s and early 1980s, including Brass In Pocket and Talk Of The Town. 
Rod’s performance included an acoustic set in the middle of the show. Not the best time I’ve seen Rod, but still an enjoyable evening, with the highlight for me being the chance to see the Pretenders again.
The setlist was something like: You Wear It Well; Some Guys Have All the Luck; Sweet Little Rock & Roller; It’s a Heartache; Rhythm of My Heart; Reason to Believe; Missing You; Father and Son; Every Beat of My Heart; Having a Party; Stay With Me; The Tracks of My Tears; Hot Legs; I Don’t Want to Talk About It; Dirty Old Town; Every Picture Tells a Story; The First Cut Is the Deepest; Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright); This Old Heart of Mine; Young Turks; Sailing; Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?; You’re in My Heart; Baby Jane; Maggie May. Encore: Twistin’ the Night Away; I Was Only Joking
13 Jul
Charity evening at Wolsingham Constitutional Club 12th July 2014
We spent last night supporting Laura and her friends who were playing at Wolsingham Constitutional Club. The event was a charity night benefit for The Brain Tumour Charity, organised by Carl’s Crusaders https://www.justgiving.com/teams/carlscrusaders
There was a raffle, a charity auction, and we all got to play “Irish Bingo”. The band played a selection of pop and soul classics which went down well with the audience. A good time was had by everyone, and over £5,000 was raised for an excellent cause.
10 Jul
Rod Stewart Newcastle Arena 7th Dec 2005 The Great American Songbook tour
Rod Stewart Newcastle Arena 7th Dec 2005 The Great American Songbook tour
By 2000 Rod Stewart was a massive world wide star, having sold over 100 million records worldwide. In 2002 his career took a change in direction as he began to record 1930s and 1940s pop standards from the “Great American Songbook”, written by songwriters such as Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George and Ira Gershwin. Although this met with great popular success, giving Rod the same level of album sales as he enjoyed during the 1970s, it was also met with disappointment and dismay by those of us who still held memories of Rod the Mod and Rod the Rocker, and of those great Faces concerts. So when I decided to go along to see Rod perform some of these classics in 2005, I feared the worst. The first half of the concert was a standard Rod set (good 🙂 ), with the Great American Songbook” reserved for the latter part of the evening. So in the first part of the show we got Rod, complete with his band, playing his normal sort of stuff. There was then an interval and for the second part of the show Rod donned his tux and was accompanied by a “Palm Court” type orchestra. The show was slick, and yes I had to admit that the songs are classics and that Rod delivered them well, but it still didn’t feel right. 
However the “Songbook” part of the show was, in the event, only five or so songs, and it was then back to more traditional Rod (relief), some (I think) with the orchestra, and the later songs (Maggie May, Baby Jane) with the band. I spent the second part of the evening wandering around the rear of the arena, viewing the show from different vantage points. For me this was a strange event, which I still have mixed feelings about it. I enjoyed it in parts, but there were other times during the night where it just didn’t feel right.
The setlist will have been something like this (Rod varied the set from night to night)
First set: You Wear It Well; This Old Heart of Mine; Young Turks; Sweet Little Rock & Roller; Every Beat of My Heart; Tonight I’m Yours; Downtown Train; The First Cut Is the Deepest; Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright); Reason to Believe; Hot Legs; What Am I Gonna Do (I’m So in Love With You); I’m So Excited; Have I Told You Lately; You’re in My Heart.
Second set: I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm (Irving Berlin); They Can’t Take That Away From Me (Gershwin); Blue Moon (Rodgers & Hart); As Time Goes By (Herman Hupfeld); A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (Maschwitz & Sherwin); Pennies From Heaven (Johnson & Burke); I Don’t Want to Talk About It; It Takes Two; Twistin’ the Night Away; Having a Party; Rhythm of My Heart; Sailing; Maggie May / Gasoline Alley; Baby Jane
8 Jul
Joy Division Newcastle City Hall 4th October 1979 (supporting The Buzzcocks)
Joy Division Newcastle City Hall 4th October 1979 (supporting The Buzzcocks)
I am going to jump out of sequence a little here, as I have just realised that I haven’t written a piece on Joy Division, and in particular of seeing them in concert supporting the Buzzcocks at Newcastle City Hall on 4th October 1979. At the moment I am working on a chapter which discusses the roots of trance music, and I wanted to link that to Joy Division’s music, so writing about them here will help me do so. Anyway here goes.
My recollections of this 1979 concert are, in fact, more of support act Joy Division and of Ian Curtis’ unique, bizarre and compelling performance than of The Buzzcocks. It was generally accepted at the time, that “although Joy Division were the support act on the Buzzcocks tour of Britain, on several nights they completely out-performed the Buzzcocks” ( http://www.joydivisiondata.co.uk/joyd_concerts2.html ). I had seen Joy Division once before at an early gig in Newcastle Guildhall in 1997, when they were known as Warsaw, and I’d heard some of their album played at Middlesbrough Rock Garden. I’d also read reviews of the lp in the music papers which I bought each week; NME proclaiming that “Unknown Pleasures is an English rock masterwork” (Bell, 1979). So I was looking forward to seeing them again, and to experience the intensity of their performance.
Joy Division had just released their debut album “Unknown Pleasures” at the time of this concert, which was part of a nation wide tour as support for The Buzzcocks. The single “Transmission” was played quite a lot at the Rock Garden. This was before “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and the original line-up was, of course, Ian Curtis (lead vocals), Bernard Sumner (guitar, keyboards), Peter Hook (bass) and Stephen Morris (drums). Jon Savage described the music on “Unknown Pleasures” as “a definitive Northern Gothic statement: guilt-ridden, romantic, claustrophobic” (1994). Oksanen (2007) writes of “The revival of the Gothic in late modern culture” and how “the subject feels isolated and alienated and is left with a trance-like dream reality” and that “the works of Joy Division and Diary of Dreams underline personal emptiness, ambivalence and dream states.”
I made a point of arriving at the City Hall early to see the support act, passing on a visit to the City Tavern or the downstairs bar. We had seats right down the front, and watched all of Joy Division’s set. Their music had developed a lot from the basic punk thrash that I saw at the Guildhall a couple of years earlier, and had become a dark, gothic, rhythmic, noise. The musicality of the songs impressed me and set them apart from their punk and new wave contemporaries. But most of all, I was transfixed by Ian Curtis, his blank expression, glaring eyes and crazy, manic epileptic dancing. It was clear that there was something awkward, different yet brilliant about the guy, which came through in his dark lyrics which painted dark images of alienation, his monotonic, snarling vocals and his manic, crazed dancing. The performance was intense, scary, compelling, and unnerving.
I found this great review by Adrian on http://joydivision-neworder.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/joy-division-newcastle-4-oct-1979-flac.html which describes the concert much better than I can, so I have reproduced it here:
“Joy Division in concert were simply astonishing. I’ve never experienced anything like it. I was 15 years old and into the post punk type of thing. I’d known for a while that Joy Division were coming to Newcastle and wanted to see them – I’d heard a few things on John Peel and caught the end of a TV appearance on Something Else some time earlier. The Buzzcocks were generally viewed as a pop band by this point, who often had good support bands.
My friends and I got to the City Hall late, and had just got to our seats as the hall lights went down. The stage was very dark I recall, and as they began to play, I wondered when the lights were going to come on properly (they never did!). The first thing that struck me was the power of the drums – I’d never felt such deep bassy drums at a concert, one’s whole body felt the beat. Ian Curtis was at the front of the stage, what seemed like the very edge – he appeared to be on a brink of a cliff. He couldn’t have been more than 25 feet from where I was sitting. The others were just figures in subdued light – maybe it was blue, I cannot recall.
When Ian Curtis started singing, it was loud and even deeper than the drums, and it caught you in the diaphragm – incredible feeling. I don’t think he did “the dance” until a few tracks into the short set, but when he did, staring into the audience, it sent shivers down my spine, and I realised that I was witnessing something extraordinary.
A few of us stood up out of our seats at that point (we had been told to remain seated), and bouncers attacked many of us, including my friend about three rows in front of us – the memory of a bouncer leaping over rows of seated people to attack my friend, while Ian Curtis did his dance above on the stage during “She’s Lost Control”, is something that will stay fixed in my visual memory forever.
Hooky was pretty animated on a few tracks, and I recall a broken bass string hanging down from his guitar – not something you usually saw at concerts. “Colony” also stood out as fantastic and alien-sounding. The set seemed to be over very quickly, and there was a feeling of…well, I suppose it was “shock” more than anything at watching Joy Division perform.
The Buzzcocks seemed to come on almost immediately to play their pop songs. When audience members stood up, unchallenged by the bouncers this time, I just walked out of the hall into the rain – it was October and sleety – down to the bus station. It didn’t seem right watching any other band, especially the poppy Buzzcocks, after what I had just seen.”
A recording of the concert exists; Joy Division performed the following songs: Disorder; Shadowplay; Colony; Day Of The Lords; Glass; Transmission; She’s Lost Control; Atrocity Exhibition.
Bell, M. (1979). Review of Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures (Factory). New Musical Express (NME), 14 July 1979
Oksanen, A. (2007). Hollow Spaces of Psyche: Gothic Trance-Formation from Joy Division to Diary of Dreams. In Nostalgia or Perversion? Gothic Rewriting from the Eighteenth Century until the Present Day, van Elferen, I (ed.). Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Savage, J. (1994). Joy Division: Someone Take These Dreams Away. Mojo. July 1994.
7 Jul
Rod Stewart Hampden Park Glasgow 3rd July 1999
Rod Stewart Hampden Park Glasgow 3rd July 1999
Seeing Rod Stewart in concert in Glasgow is an experience; he commands a mighty following, wearing his Scottish roots with pride, and the people have certainly taken him to their hearts. This was the second time that I saw Rod playing North of the Border, this time it was in the massive newly re-opened Hampden Park stadium. Support came from The Proclaimers (great singalongs, although they played very early, as the crowd was just arriving) and Abba tribute act Bjorn Again (a strange choice for an opening act, but actually quite fun).
Rod’s arrival was greeted by a stage full of Scottish Pipers who led the massive crowd in the Flower of Scotland, flags waving everywhere: “O flower of Scotland, When will we see your like again, That fought and died for, Your wee bit hill and glen, And stood against him, Proud Edward’s army, And sent him homeward, Tae think again…….” Very patriotic and moving. And then “Ladies and Gentlemen, Please give a big Hampden roar to the only Cockney Scotsman: Rod Stewart” and he was straight into “Tonight I’m Yours”. Great stuff. 
I went with Marie to the concert; we spent the weekend in Glasgow and had a great time. A video of the entire concert exists on YouTube. I watched some of it last night and it brought back memories. The video claims to contain the entire concert, but only includes 10 songs:
Tonight I’m Yours; Baby Jane; First Cut Is The Deepest; Stay With Me; I Don’t Want To Talk About It; Rhythm Of My Heart; Do Ya Think I’m Sexy; Sailing; Maggie May; Twisting The Night Away. I’m certain he played more.
6 Jul
Rod Stewart, Status Quo & Joe Cocker Gateshead Stadium 2nd June 1991
Rod Stewart, Status Quo & Joe Cocker Gateshead Stadium 2nd June 1991
This was an excellent line-up with three class acts, and played for two nights at Gateshead Stadium in 1991. How could I not go to this one, Rod, The Quo and Joe Cocker. I have always been a big fan of Joe Cocker, and was very much looking forward to the opportunity of seeing him in concert again. It had been almost 20 years since I had last seen him perform, on a cold windy night in a field somewhere near Lincoln. 
If my memory is correct this was also a wet day, but all three acts played great sets to a packed crowd. I took Ashleigh along to this concert, and although she wasn’t a fan of any of the acts and a teenager at the time and into punk and heavy metal, she also enjoyed it. Rod Stewart setlist: Tonight I’m Yours; Sweet Little Rock’n’Roller; This Old Heart Of Mine; The First Cut Is The Deepest; Downtown Train; Hot Legs; Tonight’s The Night; Passion; Go Out Dancing; Every Beat Of My Heart; Sweet Soul Music; Rhythm Of My Heart; Da’Ya’ Think I’m Sexy?; Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay; Time Is Tight (band only);Every Picture Tells A Story; Mandolin Wind; You’re In My Heart; Muddy Waters Blues; Baby Jane; Some Guys Have All The Luck; Reason To Believe; Maggie May; You Wear It Well; I Don’t Want To Talk About It; Sailing; Twistin’ The Night Away; It Takes Two; Stay With Me
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