David Bowie Newcastle City Hall 2 June 1972
Sunderland Top Rank Suite 5 September 1972
Newcastle City Hall 8 June 1973
In celebration of David Bowie’s 65th birthday, I’ve decided to spend the rest of the week recalling my concert experiences of him, which started in 1972 in the Ziggy Starduct era, and will take me to this last Reality tour which I caught in Dublin 2004.
My first experience of David Bowie in concert was at Newcastle City Hall on 2nd June 1972. 
I’d heard the new single Starman on the radio, and decided to go along and see what all the fuss was about. There was a lot of chat in the music press at the time about Bowie knocking T Rex and Marc Bolan off the top. So I wandered along to the City Hall and paid the princely sum of 40p entrance at the door for a seat toward the back of the stalls. The hall was by no means full, as I recall; the support act was a folk band called The JSD Band. I’d heard the Hunky Dory lp, and of course knew the Space Oddity single, but a lot of Bowie’s material was still unfamiliar to me. Although this tour is often refereed to as the Ziggy Stardust tour, the Ziggy lp was not yet released. In fact it came out a few days after the Newcastle gig on 6 June 1972. Bowie was great, wearing the full make up and Ziggy gear, as on Top of the Pops a month later when Starman hit the charts.
See attached the lovely flyer which my friend Jon recently purchased for me from eBay. The rear of the flyer is hand signed by David Bowie himself (who knows if this signature is genuine 🙂 but it is great anyway)
During early 1972 the setlist was something like: Hang On to Yourself; Ziggy Stardust; The Supermen; Queen Bitch; Song for Bob Dylan; Changes; Starman; Five Years; Amsterdam; Andy Warhol; Moonage Daydream; White Light/White Heat; Suffragette City; Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide
Bowie was back in the north east a few months later, at Sunderland Top Rank on 5 September 1972. Although Starman had been a hit, he was still by no means a massive star, to the extent that the gig was, as I remember, pretty poorly attended. The thing I remember about this gig was that, surprisingly at the time, David performed the show without any make up or costume at all. I am pretty sure that he wore a leather jacket and a pair of jeans. I can also vividly recall a few encores including definitely White Light White Heat and (I think) Waiting for the Man.
Pretty sure my mate Gilly and I missed the last bus and walked home after the gig, getting back very early in the morning, which wasn’t good as we we at school the next day.
Aladdin Sane was released on 13 April 1973, and by this time the demand for tickets was huge, to the extent that Bowie played a couple of shows on the same night at Newcastle City Hall. The setlist had developed to include songs from Aladdin Sane and was something like: Hang On to Yourself; Ziggy Stardust; Watch That Man; Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud; All the Young Dudes; Oh! You Pretty Things; Moonage Daydream; Changes; Space Oddity; The Jean Genie; Time; The Width of a Circle; Let’s Spend the Night Together; Suffragette City; White Light/White Heat; Round and Round. The production had also developed since he previous year. Bowie was wearing dresses and having several costume changes, and was accompanied by a mime artist. This tour culminated in a show at Hammersmith at which Ziggy announced his retirement. At the time I thought I’d seen David Bowie for the last time.
I never did get a programme for any of these concerts on the Ziggy tour. I just assumed (apparently wrongly) that there was no programme for these dates. However my friend John who now lives in the USA found one on eBay which he kindly purchased for me (see image). Now back in those days tour merchandise was pretty rare. Most concert tours did not have any programmes, posters or T-shirts. And often I would go to the merchandise stall, or see the staff (who I knew well) who sold the programmes as well as selling ice creams and ask if they had any programmes for sale. They would often reply “yes apparently there were programmes but they sold out of them after the London concerts” or something like that. It seems that programmes were often printed in a short run and soon sold out, often after only a few concerts. And by the time the Newcastle concert came there would be none left. I guess that is what must have happened in this case. Anyway thank you so much John for getting me this collector’s item. It is great to possess the real item and to be able to add it to my blog now!
This is the last of my ramblings on AC/DC and it brings me up to date with my concert memories of the band. The 1991 Monsters of Rock festival was the last time Iwas to see the band for almost 20 years; as the next AC/DC concert I attended was at Manchester MEN Arena in 2009. It was also the last time I attended a Monsters of Rock festival. That particular my daughter was getting into rock music, and her and her friends were big fans of Mettalica, and that was our primary reason for attending. So I drove her and two friends to the festival. Highlights for me were The Black Crowes, Metallica and AC/DC. I don’t remember much about the other bands.
Metallica had just released their “Black” Metallica album, which had been heavily played in our house. I hadn’t rated the band up until then, although I had seen them at an earlier Monsters of Rock in 1985, but that lp got me into them. My favourite track was Enter Sandman, which was the opening song at Donington that year. Metallica were at the top of their game at that time, paying some of the best heavy rock of the time. We made sure that we arrived in time to see The Black Crowes, as I’d heard a lot about them. I remember being impressed by them, particularly by their cover of Otis Redding’s Hard to Handle. My friend John lives in the US and is a massive Black Crowes fan, and he keeps me up to date on them. I really must get to see them again some day soon. AC/DC closed the day with a set which closed with one of the biggest firework displayed I’ve ever seen. I then spent some time finding the others, which was not easy in a crowd of 60,000+ people all of whom were aiming for the exits, and then we drove back home. AC/DC setlist: Thunderstruck; Shoot to Thrill; Back in Black; Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be; Heatseeker; Fire Your Guns; Jailbreak; The Jack; Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap; Moneytalks; Hells Bells; High Voltage; Whole Lotta Rosie; You Shook Me All Night Long; T.N.T.; Let There Be Rock Encore: Highway to Hell; For Those About to Rock (We Salute You). I’ll move on from AC/DC now, and will ponder on which concerts to reflect on this coming week. Back tomorrow.
This was probably the best Monsters of Rock festival that I attended. I’d won tickets in the local newspaper (note “complementary” stamp on ticket at left), which was a positive to start with, so my mate and I went along free of charge for once! The weather was great, hot and dry, and the line-up was as strong as you could get in terms of heavy rock in the mid 80s. The bottle fights really took off this year, as I recall, with bottles of piss being lobbed across the crowd throughout the day. I have never been one for trying to get to the front at such events, and staying near the back of the crowd was definitely wise on this particular day.
I don’t remember much about Accept or Y&T. Motley Crue were OK, but didn’t have the scale of theatre and excess that I would see on their Theatre of Pain tour the following year (review to follow at some point). Gary Moore played some great blues guitar, as always. Ozzy was at the top of his game during this period in my view. At this time he was playing Mr Crowley, Crazy Train, along with Sabbath classics Iron Man and Paranoid. Van Halen were OK but, for me, had already lost some of the power and hunger they had in the early days when they supported Sabbath on their 1978 tour and on their first UK headline tour shortly after that (review to follow). As I recall there was a lot of talk about Van Halen blowing AC/DC off the stage, which just didn’t happen at all in my view. AC/DC were, as always, excellent and brought a great day to a close. AC/DC setlist: Guns for Hire; Shoot to Thrill; Sin City; Back in Black; Bad Boy Boogie; Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution; Flick of the Switch; Hells Bells; The Jack; Have a Drink on Me; Highway to Hell; Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap; Whole Lotta Rosie; Let There Be Rock; Encore: T.N.T.; For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) 
I went along to this gig with a group of mates in the back of a Transit van with one of my friends driving us. We went primarily to see AC/DC, who were a favourite band of all of us, although many of us were also fans of Blue Oyster Cult. This was our first visit to Donington, and for me is for the first of several visits to the Monsters of Rock festival over the next 10 years. My recollection of the day is a very cold and wet one, with, as often the case for festivals in the UK, quite a bit of rain. The first couple of bands: More and Blackfoot weren’t anything special as I recall, but Slade went down well as they always did at a festival. Â 
I’d seen Slade tear the place apart at the Reading Festival the year before, in common with many others in the Donington crowd, and that Reading comeback meant that they were now well accepted by the heavy rock fraternity. I also remember lots of cans etc being thrown across the crowd that day. The sound mix for Blue Oyster Cult was awful and they were a big disappointment for all of us; it didn’t go well for them at all that day. Whitesnake were on top form around this time with Coverdale in great voice, delivering classics like Mistreated and Ain’t no love in the heart of the city. AC/DC closed the day and were great, their show translating well to a massive open air setting. The AC/DC setlist at Donington was: Hells Bells; Shot Down in Flames; Sin City; Back in Black; Bad Boy Boogie; The Jack; What Do You Do For Money Honey; Highway to Hell; High Voltage; Whole Lotta Rosie; Rocker; T.N.T.; Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution; You Shook Me All Night Long; Let There Be Rock. Over the next couple of days I’ll do a write up on the 1984 and 1991 Monsters of Rock festivals, which will bring my AC/DC memories up to date. I’ll then move on to another band. I haven’t been there since 1991, but am planning to go to Download at Donington in June this year to see the reformed original Black Sabbath, unless they add any indoor shows before then.
Whitley Bay Ice Rink was a venue for concerts throughout the 1980s. I remember seeing quite a few gigs there including Rainbow, The Cure, Wham!, and The Jam. However, this gig draws a blank. I have a ticket and a programme, so I must have been at the gig. But I can’t remember anything at all about it. I can only conclude that this wasn’t a particularly memorable gig! By now AC/DC had graduated from clubs to concert halls, to arenas and festivals, with stadium gigs to come.
The Ice Rink was a vast, cavernous and very cold (naturally; it was, and still is, an ice rink!), and not the best place to see a band. It did however fill a gap in the North East venue map. The old Newcastle Odeon, with a slightly larger capacity than the City Hall, had sadly been converted into a multi-screeen cinema by the 1980s, and the Arena wasn’t built until 1995. Setlist: Fly on the Wall; Back in Black; Shake Your Foundations; Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap; You Shook Me All Night Long; Sin City; Jailbreak; The Jack; Shoot to Thrill; Highway to Hell; Sink the Pink; Whole Lotta Rosie; Let There Be Rock; Encore: Hells Bells; T.N.T.; For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)
After the great nights at the Mayfair, it was difficult to imagine How AC/DC could make any sort of return after the sad passing of singer Bon Scott. When the Back in Black tour was announced, however, the tickets sold out immediately, such was the loyalty of their fans. Everyone was waiting to see how new singer Brian Johnson would shape up. Brian hails from Newcastle, and had already had a taste of fame with local band Geordie, who had enjoyed a couple of chart hits.
I saw Geordie quite a few times at local venues around the North East. They were basically a fun rock band, who would guarantee you a good night out in a local club, but to be honest they were nothing particularly startling. They’d grown out of the local workingmen’s club circuit. I picked up their first two lps at the car boot (see cover of second lp) but don’t play them. But Brian has a strong rough voice, and I could sort of see how he might fit into AC/DC. So I was looking forward to seeing them with interest, not quite sure what to expect.
My memories of the Back in Black gig, which I saw on 4th November 1980 (ticket above; programme left), are entirely positive. I remember the stage set, which was one of the biggest backline of stacks and amps that I had ever seen. It was also the first appearance of the bell, hanging above the stage. I also remember the gig as being very, very loud. From the start it was clear that the guys were out to impress and prove themselves; and prove themselves they did; in spades. Coming back after the loss of a strong, charismatic front man can make a band try that extra bit harder. I’d seen a similar thing happen before when Deep Purple came back with David Coverdale replacing Ian Gillan on the Burn tour, and in a different way, Genesis on Trick of the Tale tour with Phil Collins on vocals after the departure of Peter Gabriel. In both cases the bands came back with renewed power, backed up by a strong lp with great new songs and blew the crowd away. The same was true of AC/DC in 1980. Back in Black is a classic album, and many of the songs remain in their concert set to this day. That night in the City Hall the power, and the passion, were there as before, but in a different way. Angus was, as ever, manic, a twisted evil schoolboy. Brian Johnson rose to the occasion; his squealing vocals worked and he Angus worked the stage together. The setlist was something like: Hells Bells; Shot Down in Flames; Sin City; Back in Black; Bad Boy Boogie; The Jack; Highway to Hell; What Do You Do For Money Honey; High Voltage; Whole Lotta Rosie; You Shook Me All Night Long; Let There Be Rock.
AC/DC were back at the City Hall in 1981 and 1982. I missed the 1981 show; I’m not sure why, possibly because I’d seen them at the Donington Monsters of Rock festival that year (separate report to follow) and figured I was AC/DCed-out at the time. I was back in the City Hall on 4th October 1982 to see them again (ticket right; programme below). Again, a good gig.
The setlist for 1982 tour was something like: Hells Bells; C.O.D.; Shot Down in Flames; Sin City; Shoot to Thrill; Back in Black; Bad Boy Boogie; Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution; Highway to Hell; Let’s Get It Up; Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap; Whole Lotta Rosie; Let There Be Rock. Encores: You Shook Me All Night Long; For Those About to Rock (We Salute You). The 1982 concert was the last time that AC/DC played the City Hall. From there on in, they played in arenas, festivals and, more recently, stadiums. Their next visits to the region were gigs in Whitley Bay Ice Rink and Newcastle Arena, both pretty soulless sheds. More recent tours have sadly missed the North East completely, which is somewhat surprising, given the band’s following in the North East and their new singer’s local connection. I’ll report on their 1986 Whitley Bay Ice Rink show tomorrow.
AC/DC first played Newcastle Mayfair on March 4th 1977. This was a standard “pay at the door” Friday night, there was no need for advance tickets. This was the third time that I’d seen the band. The support act was Jenny Darren, whose name seems familiar, but I can’t remember watching her. We may have gone into the venue late. The programme (left) has the same outer cover as the 1976 programme; however the inner pages are different. As time moved on, and AC/DC became more and more popular, they were packing the place for two night runs. I look back on all of those shows with some considerable fondess; they were nights of great, loud rock music in a relatively small venue the like of which I may never see again.
AC/DC were back at the Mayfair on October 14th 1977. This time, as well as the Mayfair gig I also went to see them at Middlesbrough Town Hall on this tour (see ticket stub). At that time many bands played both Newcastle and Middlesbrough, which gave me a chance to see them twice at local gigs on the same tour. I can still picture Bon Scott walking through the crowd in the lovely old hall in the Town Hall; Angus on his shoulders, still playing his guitar.
The band were next at the Mayfair on May 5th 1978 (programme to left). The support act for this tour was British Lions, a band formed by members of Mott the Hoople (Buffin, Morgan Fisher and Overend Watts) and Medicine Head (John Fiddler). As a Mott fan I must have gone along early to catch them, but I have no memory of doing so, or what they were like. The Powerage lp was released around this time, and Whole lot of Rosie was establishing itself as a firm favourite with the crowd. Punk was becoming well established at this time, and the Mayfair was also booking many new wave acts, but Friday night remained mostly a heavy rock night, and AC/DC were the perfect band for the venue.
By 1978 they were a very big rock band and they returned to the Mayfair to play for two nights on November 2nd and 3rd 1978. I attended the gig on the first night (ticket to right). Support came from Blazer Blazer.
The band were due back at The Mayfair for a further two nights in October 1979. The tickets all sold out in advance, by postal application, as I recall. A fire took place in the venue as the band were loading their gear for the first night (Thursday), and as a result the gig was postponed. The fire wasn’t too big, and not much damage was caused, so the Friday night concert went ahead as planned, with new upcoming rockers Def Leppard as support. The Thursday night gig was rescheduled and took place on January 25th 1980.
Sadly this was to be the last time the great Bon Scott played at the Mayfair, and was his penultimate concert. Three weeks later, he was dead, having passed away in his sleep after a heavy nights drinking. I was lucky enough to be at both of those last Mayfair gigs, and recall the band being on top form. Recordings exist of the second gig, and are apparently pretty good quality.
Having enjoyed the set at Reading I was definitely interested in seeing AC/DC again. So when they came to North East to play at Newcastle University students union, I bought tickets and Marie and I went to the gig which was on November 13th 1976. I’d bought their lp High Voltage by this time, and was heavily into some of the tracks, particularly Live Wire and Its a long way to the top. High Voltage is a classic rock album and features many of the bands best songs, some of which remain in their set to this day. Newcastle University dances were held at that time in a ballroom at the top of a flight of stairs above the refectory in the students union, and Marie and I often went along there to the gigs, which were usually held on a Saturday. 
My memories of the gig are few, although I do remember that they were really great. Bon would take Angus on his shoulders in those days and run around the crowd. When he did so that night, some idiot threw a full pint of beer over Angus. Angus was absolutely soaked, but kept on playing. Happy days. Pretty sure that they started with Live Wire. As always I bought a programme (see left).
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