Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band
Newcastle City Hall 28th April 1973
I couldn’t wait to see Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band again after witnessing their magnificent 1972 performance at Newcastle City Hall. And it wasn’t long until they were back in the UK for another tour. The Magic Band line-up had changed slightly since their last visit in that Alex (pyjama) St Claire had replaced (the wonderfully named) Winged Eel Fingerling on slide guitar. This time the show was not as theatrical as the previous year, however the music was as mesmerising as ever, the setlist expanded slightly to include a good selection of tracks from throughout the Captain’s career including one of my favourites, “Electricity”, alongside tracks from the current album “Clear Spot”. 
The set was also considerably much more delta / werewolf growl blues than last time. However, this gig doesn’t stick in my mind as much as the 1972 concert. Fraid I can’t recall at all who the support act was (or if there was a support), and I don’t have a programme to help me. The setlist for the Nottingham show from the 19873 tour is listed as follows, I would assume that the Newcastle show was a similar set: Hair Pie Bake III; Suction Prints; Sue Egypt; Mirror Man; Low Yo Yo Stuff; Crazy Little Thing; Sifter Solo; Sugar ‘n’ Spikes; I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby; Electricity; Peon; I’m a King Bee; Click Clack; Alice in Blunderland; Nowadays a Womans Gotta Hit a Man. Encore: Big Eyed Beans From Venus; Golden Birdies
Posts Tagged ‘prog rock’
9 Aug
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band Newcastle City Hall 1973
8 Aug
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band Newcastle City Hall 5th April 1972
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band 5th April 1972 Newcastle City Hall
Support from Foghat
The Magic Band: Rockette Morton; Winged Eel Fingerling; Ed Marimba; Zoot Horn Rollo; Orejon
It was very cool to be into Captain Beefheart in the early 70s. Me, I got into him through Frank Zappa, and his vocals on “Willie the Pimip”, on the “Hot Rats” album. I then heard “Safe as Milk” and “Trout Mask Replica”. I was fascinated by the very strange sounds they made, so when he came to play at Newcastle City Hall, I bought a ticket straight away. It was one of the oddest, and best gigs, I have attended. I was sitting pretty close to the front, and I was surrounded by some of the wierdest looking hippy types that I’d seen at any gig. A guy sitting a few seats away from me had white hair down to his waste and spent the entire set rocking back and forth in his seat, swinging his long hair about. There was a strong smell of dope in the air. 
Beefheart’s show started with a performance from a ballerina and then a belly dancer. Rockette Morton took to the stage and played a manic extended bass solo. Soon he was joined by the rest of the Magic Band, and the Captain wearing a massive cloak, and singing in the deepest voice I had ever heard. The whole show was one of the most amazing things I have seen to this day. The band were all dressed outrageously, the music was amazing, and it was totally unlike anything I had heard before. And the Captain was just unbelievable. The set was pretty unfamiliar to me; it was by no means a greatest hits set. However, that didn’t matter. The whole show was just incredible: I was blown away by it all, and became a committed Beefheart fan that night. I was to see Beefheart on three further occasions, and he was great each time, but none of those gigs matched this first encounter with the Captain. Setlist: Bass Solo; When It Blows Its Stacks; Grow Fins; Click Clack; Hobo Chang Ba; I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby; Black Snake; Peon; Abba Zaba; Woe-Is-Uh-Me-Bop; Alice in Blunderland; Spitball Scalped a Baby. Encore: More. Support came from Foghat, who grew out of Savoy Brown and played some nice blues/rock/boogie. Although they were a UK band, they found success in the USA, and toured extensively in the States throughout the 70s, coming home only occasionally.
6 Aug
Caravan Newcastle City Hall 1977
Caravan Newcastle City Hall 23rd Sept 1977
I first saw Caravan in the early 70’s at Sunderland Locarno. I’d seen them on Top of the Pops performing “If I Could Do It All Over Again, I’d Do It All Over You” and remember them playing that song, which probably places the gig around 1971. This would have been the classic Caravan line up of David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan. The ticket and programme pictured here are from a later gig, which I attended at Newcastle City Hall in 1977. 
Caravan were promoting their latest album “Better by Far” at the time. Support came from Nova, who were an Italian progressive rock/jazz fusion band. I recall there being quite a bit of publicity around Caravan at the time. They had moved to a new record label, the new album was produced by Tony Visconti, and they embarked upon a tour of concert halls which took them around the UK. The line-up had changed considerably from the early days, with only Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan remaining from the original band. I recall the gig as a night of pleasant melodic rock, with tracks from the new album which were much more poppy than their earlier material. Caravan have reformed recently and are playing The Sage Gateshead in January. Time to revisit them, I think.
2 Aug
Crawler, Boxer & Moon Newcastle 1977
Crawler, Boxer & Moon Newcastle 1977
At first glance this may not seem a particularly strong line-up. However, if you dig a little deeper it was actually a pretty interesting collection of bands. Crawler had morphed out of Back Street Crawler, who were Paul Kossoff’s post-Free band. After Kossoff’s sad passing, the remainder of the band continued as Crawler, recruiting Geoff Whitehorn (who had just left jazz-rock band If, and is now in Procol Harum) on guitar. The rest of the line-up was Terry Wilson-Slesser (local Newcastle hero and ex-Beckett) on vocals, Terry Wilson on bass, Tony Braunagel on drums, and John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick (ex-Free, and, until recently, of The Who) on keyboards. Boxer were a later version of Patto, fronted by Mike Patto, and originally had the late great Ollie Halsall on guitar. However, by the time of this package tour the Ollie had left and the line-up was Mike Patto vocals, Eddie Tuduri drums, Chris Stainton (Joe Cocker’s band) on keyboards, Tim Bogert (Vanilla Fudge and Beck, Bogert and Appice) on bass, and the late Adrian Fisher (ex Andy Fraser’s Toby and Sparks) on lead guitar. So between these two bands there were some very respectable musicians. Moon were a seven piece funk-rock band who opened the show. I remember going to the gig with Marie, and that the City Hall was about half full. I don’t recall anything about Moon, but do remember watching Boxer (I thought Mike Patto was a great singer) and Crawler. Crawler delivered a solid blues-rock set, with Slesser doing the business vocally and as a front man. Good values for £1! Actually looking back at this lineup in retrospect some 40+ years later, there were some amazing musicians on stage together that night: the excellent local singer Terry Slesser, Rabbit, the wonderful and very underrated Mike Patto (ex Time Box and Patto), Chris Stainton and Tim Bogert! Boxer were on paper sensational! I wish I could go back and relive this one!
27 Jul
Camel Newcastle City Hall 1979
Camel Newcastle City Hall 1979
The last time I saw Camel in concert was in 1979 at Newcastle City Hall. By this time the late Peter Bardens had left the band, and had been replaced by two keyboard players. I remember wondering how the band would survive the departure of such a key founder member, and was a little unsure whether to go along to the concert this time around. However a few of us did go along, and the band performed as consistently as ever. 
The tour was to promote the new album “I Can See Your House from Here”, which was quite controversial as a result of its cover which features a crucified astronaut looking down on the earth. I haven’t seen Camel since 1979, although versions of the band have toured up until 2003; with Andy Latimer at the helm. Andy’s poor health has restricted Camel activity in recent years, however the good news is that the Camel website suggests that a new album is under development. Setlist from the London show of the tour: Echoes; Unevensong; Song within a Song; Neon Magic; Rhayader; Rhayader Goes to Town; Migration; Rainbow’s End; Wait; Ice; Hymn to Her; Announcement; Who We Are. Encore: Your Love Is Stranger Than Mine; Never Let Go
26 Jul
Michael Chapman: a Fully Qualified Survivor
Michael Chapman gigs in the 1970s
Michael must have spent the whole of the 1970s gigging up and down the country. I recall seeing him support several major touring artists: Emerson, Lake and Palmer; Focus and Camel come to mind, but I’m sure there were several others. I also recall going to see him as headline act at Newcastle Mayfair one Friday night around 1975 or 1976. Pretty sure he had a full band with him that night, featuring Keef Hartley on drums, and Rick Kemp on bass. Danny Thompson also often played with Michael, on acoustic double bass. If you haven’t heard any of Michael’s material, listen to his first album Rainmaker, or the Fully Qualified Survivor album, both of which are classics. Michael continues to play to this day, and is another guy who I really must catch up with and go and see again. I always enjoyed seeing him in the 70s, his guitar playing is as strong as his songs and his soulful voice.
25 Jul
Camel Newcastle City Hall 1978
Camel Newcastle City Hall 1978
Support Michael Chapman
I was back in the City Hall again in 1978 to see Camel, with support from Michael Chapman. This tour was to promote the Breathless album, and the set included tracks from the new album, as well as a medley of tracks from the Snow Goose album. I remember being quite pleased to hear the Snow Goose material. This was to be the last tour with founder Peter Bardens in the line up. 
Support Michael Chapman seemed to be gigging constantly throughout the 70s. I must have seen him support many different artists. Michael deserves a separate mention: I’ll blog on him tomorrow. Setlist: Earthrise; Unevensong; Song within a Song; The Sleeper; Summer Lightning; Tell Me; La Princesse Perdue; Skylines; Echoes; Never Let Go; One of These Days I’ll Get an Early Night; Lunar Sea. The Snow Goose Medley: Rhayader Goes to Town; Sanctuary; The Snow Goose; Flight of the Snow Goose; Preparation; Dunkirk; Epitaph; La Princesse Perdue; The Great Marsh. Encore: Air Born
24 Jul
Camel Newcastle City Hall 1977
Camel Newcastle City Hall 1977
I didn’t get fully into Camel until after their breakthrough Snow Goose album. I’m not sure why I didn’t pick up on them earlier; I did see them at the Reading Festival in 1974 and 1976 but they weren’t fully on my concert-going radar until 1977, when a group of us went to see them at Newcastle City Hall. This tour was in support of Rain Dances, which was their fifth album. 
Although I always enjoyed seeing Camel in concert, I was never as familiar with their material as I was with that of contemporaries like Yes and Barclay James Harvest. My recollections of Camel are of a progrock band with excellent musicianship; and sets which were largely instrumental, and quite orchestral in nature. My other recollection was that I sometimes confused them in my own mind with Frampton’s Camel, who I saw supporting Humble Pie around the same time. Setlist: First Light; Metrognome; Unevensong; Rhayader; Rhayader Goes to Town; Preparation; Dunkirk; Fritha Alone; La Princesse Perdue; Tell Me; Song within a Song; Skylines; Highways of the Sun. Encore: Lunar Sea; Rain Dances. Encore 2: One of These Days I’ll Get an Early Night; Never Let Go
13 Jul
John Cale The Sage Gateshead 2006
John Cale The Sage Gateshead 2006
John Cale strikes me as a pretty cool and sorted guy. Musically he crosses several genres and gives the impression that his music is very much his art. I never saw the original Velvet Underground in concert, which I deeply regret, although I have seen Lou Reed in concert several times. I did go to see a later version of the Velvet Underground at Sunderland Locarno in the early 70s, but I have a feeling the band didn’t turn up that night. This, however, was the first and only time that I have seen John Cale. I went along to this gig with David, and we had standing tickets at the front of the hall. The atmosphere in the small standing section was great, with a small number of die hard fans going totally crazy. The set was quite long, and consisted of a mix of songs from throughout John’s career, including some Velvet Underground classics. I seem to remember that he has a single out at the time which was very punky. A great gig which David and I both enjoyed. I couldn’t find a setlist for the Gateshead gig, but did manage to find one from Glasgow on the same tour: Venus In Furs; Walkin’ The Dog; Evidence; Woman; Helen Of Troy; Dancing Undercover; Femme Fatale > Rosegarden Funeral of Sores;
Hush;Dirty Ass Rock ‘n’ Roll; Guts; Look Horizon; Magritte; Cable Hogue; Set Me Free; Things; Ship Of Fools; Sold Motel; Perfect; Leaving It Up To You; Gravel Drive; Heartbreak Hotel. Band: Dustin Boyer: lead guitar; Michael Jerome: drums; Joseph Karnes: bass
5 Jul
Eric Clapton Sheffield Arena 2006
Eric Clapton Sheffield Arena 2006
Support: Robert Cray
I spent hours in the late 60s and early 70s listening to the John Mayall Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (Beano) lp, marvelling at Clapton’s bluesy guitar, and trying to learn some of the licks. In particular, I practiced and practiced “Steppin’ Out”, which was Clapton signature guitar solo number in the 60s. I always dreamed of seeing him play it live. I bought a ticket for this gig a few days before on ebay, managing to score a good seat at half the face value! I drove down to Sheffield after work and arrived in time to see Robert Cray, who delivered a pretty fine set. 
Clapton was great that night, I think his playing is actually getting better as the years go by. His band was: Doyle Bramhall II – guitar; Derek Trucks – guitar; stalwart Chris Stainton – keyboards; Tim Carmon – keyboards; Willie Weeks – bass; Steve Jordan – drums; Michelle John & Sharon White – backing vocals; and The Kick Horns. The set featured an a few acoustic blues at the mid point. 
Setlist: Pretending; So Tired; Got To Get Better In A Little While; Lost and Found; I Shot the Sheriff; Anyday; Back Home; I Am Yours; Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out; Milkcow’s Calf Blues; Running On Faith; After Midnight; Little Queen of Spades; Everybody Oughta Make a Change; Motherless Children; Wonderful Tonight; Layla; Cocaine. Encore: Crossroads. John saw him in the US on this tour and sent me the US programme which is different from the UK version (thanks John). I still haven’t seen Eric play Steppin’ Out….guess there is still time.
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