Adam and the Ants 1979 – 1985
It was interesting to observe the transformation of Adam Ant from punk rocker to pop star as the 70s turned into the 80s. The first time Marie and I saw Adam and the Ants was at the great, sadly missed Middlesbrough Rock Garden, around 1979. This was around the time of thw Dirck Wears White Sox lp. The place was quite full, but not packed as I recall. The Ants played the Rock Garden a few times around that time, and were a favourite there. 
I remember him singing “Lady” which was the B side of the Young Parisians single. I can picture him now singing: “I saw a lady and she was naked; I saw a lady she had no clothes on”. Happy memories. Have a vague memory of Jordan being in the crowd watching him that night. 
The next time I saw Adam and the Ants was with my mate Davey at Durham University Students Union in 1980. This was around the time of Kings of the Wild Frontier; Dog Eat Dog had just been in the charts, and Adam was leading a new version of the Ants, Marco Pirroni having joined on guitar. The place was ram packed and we all sang along to Kings, Antmusic, and others. Great Burundi beats. They were awesome that night and it was clear that we were seeing a band who had arrived and were on their way upward. 
The next time we saw Adam and the Ants was at the Gosforth Royalty, which has now been replaced by a supermarket. By now our daughter was heavily into the band and a few of us went along. Again it was a great night, I recall Kevin Mooney being in a strange mood, smashing his bass into the stack. He left the band shortly afterwards. From there on Adam Ant became a massive star, playing at Newcastle City Hall. We caught the next couple of tours including the Prince Charming Revue. These gigs were OK, but lacked the excitement and energy of early shows. The last time I saw Adam Ant was at Live Aid in Wembley Stadium in 1985, where he put on a pretty average show. Adam is playing again at the moment and getting rave reviews. I must take the time to see him again.
Update on 23 December 2021. Many thanks to Jimmy Burns (a.k.a. Punk Hoarder) for the great image of the poster for the Gosforth Royalty concert. My sister-in-law recognised it straightaway as we took her to that very concert when she was a teenager. We both have many happy memories of the old, slightly dilapidated, grandeur of that lovely venue, now long gone. I still haven’t fulfilled my promise to myself to see Adam Ant again. He is playing Newcastle City Hall next year but I can’t make it. Next time I really have to make the effort to do so. I did have tickets to see him at the Sage some years ago but I was in hospital at the time and my son and daughter went along and really enjoyed it. Those early shows, particularly in the Rock Garden, were for me when he was at his best. Happy days.
Reeth is a lovely village situated deep in the Yorkshire dales. It took Marie and I just over an hour to drive there, down the A1M to Scotch Corner and across through Richmond. The Buck Hotel stands tall at one end of the village green. Last night there was a Sold Out sign at the door, and the small room to the side was packed with rock fans of the older variety, who had all come to see a legend play some blues. The venue is a lovely old village inn, and the concert room holds around 100 people; this was like seeing Mick Taylor play to you in a friends house. Mick and band took to the stage just before 9pm, and started with Secret Affair. It was obvious from the word go that Mick has put together one hell of a tight band, with the great Zoot Money on keyboards, Ronnie Johnson on second guitar, Michael Bailey on bass, and Jeff Allen drums. The pace was set for the evening, with some rocking, shuffling blues and Mick singing and taking the lead with lots of use of slide. Mick’s playing was at times exceptional, very reminiscent of Peter Green at his best, very fluid with great use of tone; and yet sometimes he didn’t quite make it. His vocals were pretty strong, much better than I expected. It was great to see him, and his playing was much better than I expected, and he was generally on better form than previous times I’ve seen him. Mick looked well last night, and seemed in good spirits. But this was a band show as much as Mick’s. Second guitarist Ronnie Johnson took a couple of solos and gave Mick a run for his money. Ronnie seemed familiar to me; I see he has played with Manfred Mann and Van Morrison among others, so I guess I must have seen him somewhere before. Zoot Money took the vocals for a few songs, notably It never rains but it pours, which he wrote for Jimmy Witherspoon, and Will the Circle be Unbroken, which he dedicated to those no longer with us, including the names of sadly departed friends: Tony Ashton, Robert Palmer and others. Zoot’s singing was pretty incredible and he almost stole the show with his jazzy R&B. There was a short break half way through the set, during which everyone took advantage of the fine real ales on offer. Dylan’s Blind Willie McTell moved into All Along The Watchtower, with a Hendrix style solo. The band finished with an excellent version of the Stones’ song No Expectations, which was a fitting end to a great gig. The drive around the winding Yorkshire roads was fine and we were back home by 12.30. Set included: Secret Affair; Twisted Sister; Fed Up With The Blues; It never rains but it pours (Zoot vocal); Tore Down; Will the Circle be Unrboken (Zoot vocal); Blind Willie McTell / All Along The Watchtower; No Expectations. I’ve listed the songs I recognised and have definitely missed quite a few.
Aha were big news in 1986. They’d had big hits with Take on Me and Hunting High and Low, and the video for Take on Me was very distinctive, using a mix of pencil drawings, animation and live action. Ashleigh was very into them, and we went along to their show at the City Hall. This was their first tour and the gig sold out very quickly. I remember the show as being very slick, great vocals, good light show and wonderful pop. I’ve never felt the need to see Aha again, but pleased that I did. Ashleigh really enjoyed seeing them and still talks about it to this day. 
On a good night in the 80s The Alarm were untouchable. Full of righteous passion, great stirring singalongs and celtic rock. Occupying a territory somewhere between The Clash, U2 and Dylan, this band could really cut the mustard. My first Alarm experience was at Newcastle Tiffanys club. I may have seen them before that as a support act, but can’t be sure. This gig was just as 68 Guns had been released. 
I can picture my mate Davey and me, on the balcony in Tiffanys looking down on the stage with the whole place singing along and the whole balcony shaking. Happy days. The next couple of times I saw The Alarm they were at the City Hall. I remember those gigs as being good, but its that night at Tiffanys that sticks in my mind. 
They had quite a few hits, but none of them matched the power of 68 Guns, and the passion that Mike Peters sang it with. Mike Peters has not been well, but has kept playing, and The Alarm play on to this day. The last time I saw Mike Peters was in the bar at a Springsteen gig at the O2 in London. The guy has good taste.
This gig doesn’t seem that long ago, but its getting on for four years since Laura and I saw Adele at the Tyne Theatre in Newcastle. I recall at the time being surprised how quickly this gig sold out, and that was well before the mega-stardom that she enjoys now. At the time I had only heard “Chasing pavements” but was caught up in the wave of new female singers, such as Amy Winehouse and Duffy. So Laura and I decided to check Adele out. The show was very impressive, particularly considering that Adele was just 20 at the time. She struck me as quite shy, and couldn’t seem to believe it all herself. I remember her singing the Dylan song “Make You Feel My Love”, and realising that it was one Dylan song that I didn’t know. Good to see how her career has gone from strength to strength since then. I wonder if we’ll ever see her back at the Tyne Theatre again? And with a ticket price of £15?
This was a pretty cool line up, and was my fist time seeing both bands. I knew a lot of stuff by America, but nothing by Poco. I went along with my friend Ian, as I recall. America had previously toured as support for Family in 1971, but the gig was the same night as Led Zeppelin played Sunderland Locarno (theres a gig I must report on), so I didn’t go. So when they returned to Newcastle for this gig at the Odeon I made sure that I attended. The Odeon is now sadly closed, but was an important venue for gigs in the North East in the early 70s. It was a little bigger than the City Hall, with a capacity of around 3,000, and I saw a few bands play there: Humble Pie, King Crimson, Black Sabbath, ELP, The Faces and The Who come straight to mind. BY the mid 70s it had sadly been converted to a multi-screen cinema, and the capacity reduced. I am pretty sure that this was the case for this gig. I recall both bands being really good that night. Typical America set list from 1975: Tin Man; Muskrat Love; Baby It’s Up to You; Moon Song; Old Man Took; To Each His Own; Lonely People; I Need You; Don’t Cross The River; Ventura Highway; Only In Your Heart; Woman Tonight; The Story of a Teenager; Half a Man; Company; Hollywood; Sister Golden Hair; Encore: Sandman; A Horse With No Name. I also googled and found a Poco setlist from 1974: Blue Water; Fool’s Gold; Rocky Mt. Breakdown; Bad Weather; Hoedown; Railroad Days; Ride the Country; Faith in the Families; Angel; Drivin’ Wheel; I Guess You Made It; Restrain; A Right Along; C’Mon. My friend John, who was also at this gig, has just emailed me to remind me that America/Poco played “Don’t Cross the River if you can’t swim the tide” with both bands on stage as the final number. 
Bryan Adams was at the height of his success at the time of this concert in 1992. He’d just had a mega hit with Everything I do. Although that particular songs is not one of my favourites, some of his others songs, and especially Summer of 69, are great. A packed Gateshead Stadium gave him a great reception that night. Setlist: House Arrest; Kids Wanna Rock; Hey Honey – I’m Packin’ You In!; Can’t Stop This Thing We Started; Is Your Mama Gonna Miss Ya?; Cuts Like a Knife; It’s Only Love; Touch The Hand; Heaven; Lonely Nights; (Everything I Do) I Do It for You; Run to You; When the Night Comes; Somebody; There Will Never Be Another Tonight; B-Stage: C’mon Everybody; She’s Only Happy When She’s Dancin’; Encore: Summer of ’69; Diana; Straight from the Heart. 
The concert also sported strong support acts in Squeeze, Extreme and Little Angels. Little Angels are a heavy rock band who come from just down the coast, in Scarborough. I can’t recall seeing them, and probably arrived after they played. I do remember seeing Extreme, and made a point of making sure I saw them. Although they are also primarily heavy rock, there best known song is the classic ballad More Than Words, which had been a hit just the year before this gig. Squeeze have some top songs and got the crowd singing along. This is the only time I’ve seen Bryan. I’m not a fan, really, and haven’t felt the need to see him again, although he has returned to the region several times, playing the Arena, Gateshead Stadium again two years later, and a recent unplugged show at the Sage.
Writing this blog, with a post each day based on my ticket and programme collection is an interesting exercise, particularly when I come across a ticket like this. I must admit that I have absolutely no recollection of seeing Alkatraz or even who the band were. But for completeness I am including them, and I decided to see if I could find anything out about this band. The name would suggest a mid 70s heavy metal outfit, perhaps at the start of the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal). Sure enough some googling uncovered the following album description: “ALCATRAZ – DOING A MIDNIGHT – 1976 (UK) heavy progressive. Meanwhile, after his stint in The Neutrons, Will Youatt joined up with his ex-Quicksand partner James Davies to found Alkatraz, a fabulous and all too short-lived band who we’d hoped would carry the welsh rock flag into the eighties. Their one release, Doing A Moonlight, is a really superb example of intelligent and well-executed guitar based rock.” which I found on the orexisofdeath blogspot. The Neutrons were a spin-off from Welsh rock wizards Man, and were well thought of in the 70s. So the Man connections make Alkatraz look an interesting outfit to me. Interesting also to see that DJ support came from the Dave Wood Road Show. I wonder if that was the same Dave Wood who established the local heavy metal label Neat in the late 70s? I only wish I could recall all these gigs, or go back in time and relive them!
Marie and I spent a very pleasant evening in the Sage Gateshead last night seeing Fairport Convention. This time the band had chosen to visit the smaller Hall 2, which had been sold out for some weeks. We bought a programme on the way in, which Dave Pegg and Ric Sanders, who sitting at the merchandise table, kindly signed. Support came from Irish singer songwriter Kieran Goss, who delivered a short, but enjoyable set, before being joined by the Fairports for a nice version of Reach Out (I’ll Be There), the old Motown classic. This was Fairport’s 45th (!) anniversary tour, and for the occasion they asked fans to nominate songs, via email, that they would like to hear from their massive back catalogue. This has resulted in a set list with old favourites and a few surprises. 
We bought a programme calendar when we arrived and Dave Pegg and Ric Sanders kindly signed it for us. For me, the highlight of the night was a beautiful rendition of Sandy Dennny’s Fotheringay from the 1969 lp, What We Did On Our Holidays. The sound was crisp and clear; the Sage has wonderful acoustics. Setlist: Reach Out (with Kieran Goss);Sir Patrick Spens; Crazy Man Michael; Farewell, Farewell; Albert & Ted; The Cell Song; Genesis Hall; John Gaudie / Shetland Tunes; Interval: Mercy Bay; Fotheringay; Celtic Moon; Rosie; Jewel In The Crown; I Wandered By The Brookside; Hexamshire Lass; Hiring Fair; Danny Jacks Reward; Matty Groves; Encore: Meet On The Ledge
Good showing on all fronts for Noel Gallagher last night. The place was packed, and the crowd gave Noel the sort of reception only long time heroes can expect. I missed the support and arrived just before Noel and his band took to the stage. The set was a mix of songs from his recent album and a few Oasis songs thrown in for good measure. He didn’t include as many of the Oasis hits, as I’d expected. This was by no means a greatest hits performance. None the less, His new songs are potential anthems in their own right. The crowd certainly knew the lyrics of every song and sang along with every word. Better than I expected. Great band, and an orchestra and choir for a couple of songs. 
Some cheeky banter from Noel, who even had the nerve to tease the crowd about the Sports Direct Arena issue, brave man; only he could get away with it! Setlist: (It’s Good) To Be Free; Mucky Fingers; Everybody’s on the Run; Dream On; If I Had a Gun; The Good Rebel; The Death of You and Me; Freaky Teeth; Supersonic; (I Wanna Live in a Dream in My) Record Machine; What a Life!; Talk Tonight; Soldier Boys and Jesus Freaks; Broken Arrow; Half The World Away; (Stranded On) The Wrong Beach; Encores: Whatever; Little By Little; The Importance of Being Idle; Don’t Look Back In Anger
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