David Gilmour Royal Albert Hall London 2006
I went to this gig with David, having bought tickets at the last moment, just before they sold out. I was dithering about whether it was worth the trip to London to see David Gilmour, and by the time I decided I would take the plunge, the only tickets left were standing tickets right up in the gallery looking down on the stage. Security for the concert was such that no tickets were issued and we had to turn up at the Albert Hall with photo ID to obtain entrance to the concert. The tour was to support Gilmour’s new release On An Island, and much of the set was drawn from that album. The tour stopped at the Albert Hall for three nights, and further shows were added including Manchester Bridgewater Hall, which I would have preferred to attend. The set was a mix of tracks from the new album and a good selection of Pink Floyd classics. Gilmour’s band for the concerts was
old Floyd mate Rick Wright on Hammond organ, piano, and synthesizer; from Roxy Music: Phil Manzanera on guitar; Dick Parry on saxophones; Guy Pratt on bass; Jon Carin on synthesizer and Steve DiStanislao on drums. There were also a number of superb special guests including Crosby and Nash, Robert Wyatt, and for the encores the band was joined by Nick Mason on drums, making this in effect a Pink Floyd concert, or at least the same line-up as the last version of Floyd. The lightshow was subtle, but amazing; one of the best that I have ever seen. And I was delighted to see them play Arnold Layne, which I never imagined I would see performed live. It was also great to hear Shine on Your Crazy Diamond and my personal Floyd favourite Echoes, both of which were played true to the original. An amazing gig, and easily on par with some of the Floyd or Roger Waters performances I have attended. My only regret was that we didn’t go along on the first night, when Gilmour was joined by David Bowie for Arnold Layne. Now that would have been amazing to see. Setlist:
Speak to Me; Breathe; Time; Breathe (Reprise); Castellorizon; On An Island (with Crosby & Nash); The Blue (with Crosby & Nash; Red Sky At Night; This Heaven; Then I Close My Eyes (with Robert Wyatt); Smile; Take A Breath; A Pocketful Of Stones; Where We Start; Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V) (with Crosby & Nash); Fat Old Sun; Dominoes; Arnold Layne; Coming Back to Life; High Hopes; The Great Gig in the Sky (with Mica Paris); Echoes. Encore: Find the Cost of Freedom (with Crosby & Nash); Wish You Were Here (with Nick Mason); Comfortably Numb (with Nick Mason). A DVD of the concert, entitled Remember That Night, was released in 2007.
Posts Tagged ‘psych’
13 Feb
David Gilmour Royal Albert Hall London 2006
3 Feb
Family London Shepherd’s Bush Empire 2 Feb 2013
Good to see Family again after 40 years
I had been looking forward to this gig for months. It is 40 years since Family last performed together and since I last saw them on their farewell tour at Newcastle City Hall in 1973. Marie decided a few days ago that she would like to come along with me, and I managed to buy a ticket for her, so we were all set for a nostalgic weekend. The last time she saw Family was probably 1969 or 1970 at Sunderland Locarno. We travelled down to London by train on Saturday morning, met up with David for a meal, and then took the tube across to Shepherd’s Bush. We had a couple of drinks in the pub next door, and went into the Empire at 8.45pm. Family were on stage prompt at the advertised time of 9.15pm. We had standing tickets down in the stalls and by the time we got into the venue the place was absolutely packed to the walls. I bought a programme and we found a spot on a little raised area at the back of the hall, where we had a good view of the stage.
The line-up for the two reunion concerts featured Roger Chapman on vocals, Poli Palmer on vibraphone, Jim Cregan on guitar and Rob Townsend of drums. The members of Family changed quite a but during their career and last night’s grouping represented a pretty good selection of past members. The one big miss was of course Charlie Whitney. I assumed that this was because of some long term fall out between old friends Chapman and Whitney, but the programme says otherwise. Apparently Whitney was the first person that Roger Chapman approached when the idea of a reunion came up, but Charlie now lives in Greece, hasn’t been involved in music for some time, and just didn’t feel as if he could do it. Shame. 
Never the less the show did go on, and the band was augmented by a number of other musicians to ensure the strange textures of the old classic songs were recreated on stage. There were 9 musicians in total on stage at Shepherd’s Bush Empire last night. As well as the four members of Family there was Geoff Whitehorn on guitar, Nick Payne on sax, flute and mouth harp, Gary Twigg on bass, Paul Hirsch on keyboards and John Lingwood on drums. The programme refers to the additional musicians as the “in laws” and they are all members of Roger’s band. The band were introduced onto the stage by long time friend and local Leicester football hero, Frank Worthington. The set was drawn from across their 8 album catalogue with all the classics and a few lesser know (at least to me) tracks. Family music was always a strange mix and difficult to categorise, blending folk, rock, psych, and blues with a deep sense of dynamics, shifting effortlessly from the soft and melodic to loud, rocky and swirling progrock or R&B. The opening song was Top of the Hill, followed by Drowned in Wine. My favourite No Mules Fool came half way through the set. As we got to the end the classics were rolled out to the delight of the largely male, balding late 50s and 60 something crowd. The last couple of songs were the rocky Burlesque, and In My Own Time. For the encore they played an exquisite version of The Weavers Answer, and then we all sang along to My Friend The Sun. Roger was as engaging as ever, a mix of the wild rock singer, the cheeky arrogant front man, and still getting lost in some weird crazy dancing at times. 
His voice was strong, but has lost a little of its power and the warbling vibrato is perhaps not quite as evident. But hey the guy is 70 and he gave it his all and put in an amazing performance. His crack with the crowd was as cheeky and friendly as ever, like he was with a group of old friends, which of course he was. Time and age haven’t dimmed his humour or his ability to eff and blind with the best of the them. He also made a few quips about effing Whitney sunning himself in Greece, clearly missing his old friend. At the end Roger thanked us and assured us that this was to be the last effing time we would see Family. We all rolled out into the cold night, warm in the knowledge that we had just spent a night with some old friends, and a good night it was too. Marie enjoyed it and recognised the well known songs. Next reunion gig for me is the Status Quo Frantic Four gigs next month. There are some good things about getting old and revisiting your past.
Setlist: Top of the Hill; Drowned in Wine; Holding the Compass; Part of the Load; Ready to Go; Crinkly Grin; Burning Bridges; No Mule’s Fool; Sat’dy Barfly; Between Blue and Me; Hung Up Down; Burlesque; In My Own Time. Encore 1: Weaver’s Answer. Encore 2: My Friend the Sun; Sweet Desiree.
22 Dec
The Grateful Dead Newcastle City Hall 1972
The Grateful Dead Newcastle City Hall 1972
Some gigs take on a whole new level of importance as time goes on. This is one such gig. When the Grateful Dead came to Newcastle City Hall to play a concert in 1972 I went along more out of curiosity than as a fan of this legendary band. I knew very little of their material; I’d probably heard Casey Jones, Truckin’ and Dark Star, but not much else. I’d also read that they played very long concerts, sometimes going on for 5 or 6 hours. Since then I’ve picked up most of their albums over the years, and appreciate just how great The Grateful Dead are. This gig is definitely one I wish I could go to again, knowing then what I know now, as the say. But, hey, such is life. At least I got to see them even if I didn’t savour this gig the way I should have.
I had a seat in the third row, and went along quite excited to see what these guys were like. The place was full of hard core hippy types, and there was a distinct smell of dope in the air. The Dead’s amplifiers were decked out in psychedelic tie dye colours, and there was a whole lot of gear on the stage. There was no support act, and the Dead came on pretty promptly at 7.30pm and started their set. The songs seemed a mix of countryish rock with long meandering psychedelic west coast guitar solos. I was seated more or less directly in front of Bob Weir, who sported a long pony tail which was almost down to his waist. Jerry Garcia was on the other side of the stage. Pigpen was wearing his cowboy hat and playing his Hammond organ. Sometime between 9pm and 10pm the Dead took a break before returning for a second set, which seemed to go on for ever. I enjoyed the concert, but it just went on a little too long for me. I also found it heavy going, because I wasn’t familiar with the material.
My dad used to sometimes drive through and pick me up from the City Hall, and I’d asked him to do so that night, as I figured I might miss the last train home. I think I’d asked him to come along for 11.30pm, as I thought the concert would go on quite late. As it was, I decided I better leave at midnight, as I knew he was sitting in the car waiting outside. However, I regret to this day leaving this gig early. I heard from others that they played until after 1am. These shows are, of course, now legendary; it is generally recognised that The Dead were at their best during this tour. This was their first European jaunt, and the tour was recorded, and a selection of songs released on the Europe 1972 triple album. The entire tour has recently been released as a box set.
Set I: Greatest Story Ever Told; Deal; Mr. Charlie; Black Throated Wind; Tennessee Jed; Big Boss Man; Beat It on Down the Line; Sugaree; Jack Straw; Chinatown Shuffle; China Cat Sunflower; I Know You Rider; Playing in the Band; Next Time You See Me; Brown-Eyed Women; Looks Like Rain; Big Railroad Blues; Casey Jones.
Set II: Good Lovin’; Ramble on Rose; Truckin’; Drums; The Other One; Comes a Time; Sugar Magnolia; Brokedown Palace.
Encore: One More Saturday Night
13 Nov
Gong, Hatfield and the North & Tubular Bells film Newcastle City Hall 1974
Gong, Hatfield and the North, Tubular Bells Newcastle City Hall 25th April 1974
Virgin Records Crisis Concert
Ticket price 44p
As I’ve just seen Gong, and blogged about them yesterday, I thought I would have have a little break from covering bands beginning with the letter F and cover the only other time I saw the crazy Gong guys in concert. It was in 1974 as part of the Virgin Records Crisis (can’t remember what the crisis was at the time!) tour, which featured Gong, Hatfield and the North, and a film of Mike Oldfield performing Tubular Bells. To be honest, my friends and I went along largely to see the Tubular Bells film, as it was the only chance at the time to see a performance of this great album. We were also attracted by the very reasonable 44p ticket price! Although Mike Olfield did tour a few years later, at that time he was resisting offers to take his masterpiece on the road. The film was very good, and featured footage of Mike performing the entire album as I recall, in the studio I think. I also recall Viv Stanshall being part of it. The sound wasn’t great and the film was projected onto a small screen, which wasn’t too woderful, but I still recall enjoying it. I wonder if you can get a DVD of this? Gong and Hatfield and the North rotated headlining status on the tour; I don’t remember who closed the gig at Newcastle. I do remember finding both bands quite hard going, but that we enjoyed Gong’s silliness, and loved Squeezing Sponges Over Policemen’s Heads, from Camembert Electrique, which I am pretty sure they played. There were lots of wooly tea cosey hats and flying teapots in evidence.
12 Nov
Gong Alston Town Hall 11th November 2012
Gong Alston Town Hall 11th November 2012
Laura and I went to see Gong at Alston Town Hall last night. This was the first time I have seen Gong for almost 40 years, the last time being at Newcastle City Hall in 1974. This gig was originally scheduled to take place at Newcastle Academy, but low advance ticket sakes caused the promoter to cancel the gig. Not wanting to miss out on the chance to see Gong play in the North, a group of people from Alston decided to promote the gig themselves at Alston Town Hall. 
Alston is a small town in Cumbria and it is one of the highest towns in the country, at about 1,000 feet above sea level. So this meant a drive past Hexham and up a very windy road across the moors for Laura and I. The venue was, as we expected in the centre of the town, and was small, holding 200 people. This must be one of the smallest crowds that Gong have played to in some time. The gig had been sold out for some time, everyone tickets through a facebook page, and people had come from far and wide for this special Gong show. I’d spent some time on Sunday reading through the Gong mythology with Laura, so we knew a little of the story of Planet Gong, Radio Gnome and the PotHead Pixies. The band is fronted by founder Daevid Allen who looks great, and is as crazy as ever. Sadly the other founding member Gilli Smyth is not so well at the moment so couldn’t be with the band. Daevid encouraged us to all cry Miaow for Gilli, which he assured us would make her feel much better. Gong music still sounds very weird to me, and I can’t pretend to know the songs, although I do possess a copy of Camembert Electrique. The light show was fantastic, with various characters from the Gong story flying around the backdrop. The crowd loved it; lots of dancing and crowd reaction. Many congratulations to Janet and the rest of the crowd from Alston for putting this on. I wonder what their next project is?
20 Oct
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown Fibbers York 19 Oct 2012
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown Fibbers York 19 Oct 2012
Laura had expressed interest in seeing veteran psych crazy guy Arthur Brown, so last night we took a trip to York to see our hero perform in all his splendour at Fibbers Club. The current Arthur Brown show returns to the “Crazy World of” moniker and concept, and thus focusses on his early material, drawing heavily from the 1968 album of the same name. Arthur has put together a band of young musicians who authentically replicate the 60s sound, with swirling keyboards reminiscent of the late great Vincent Crane (courtesy of Lucyy Rejchrtova), and lots of fuzz and wahwah guitar (from Nona Gromniak). Jim Mortimer is on bass, and was also introduced as the musical director of Arthur’s latest project, and on drums is Samuel Walker. Arthur was accompanied at the front of stage by dancer Angel Fallon, who wore a series of bright different costumes throughout the show. We arrived around 8pm and said hello to Charlie who was doing the sound. The set was a mix of covers (Kites, Green Manalishi) and tracks from the early days (Devils Grip, Spontaneous Apple Creation, I Put a Spell on You). Quite a few of the other songs in the set sounded familiar to me, but I’m not able to put a name to them. Arthur was as manic as ever and in good spirits, having a bit chat to us all, and indulging in some crazy, silly dancing. The new show is very theatrical and Arthur and the band have obviously put a lot into creating it. It features lots of costume changes, and great dance routines between Arthur and Angel. The band took to the stage wearing quite spooky bird masks with massive beaks, which set the tone for a quite dark night. The set ended with Fire with Arthur going mad, and Angel in a splendid costume with a massive silver cape and a large crown-like hat. Arthur’s voice is really strong, with screaming very much in evidence; not bad for a guy who entered his 7oth year in 2012. The encore was a super version of The Animals’ Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood. The crowd loved it, as did Laura and I. Support act The Moulettes are worth a special mention. They were very different and quite unexpected, playing acoustic instruments: violin, cello, autoharp, bassoon; their music being a blend of folk and elizabethan. They reminded me a little of Blackmore’s night, and are certainly worth watching out for. Apologies for the grainy photo, I am really going to have to practice using my iphone camera.
13 Oct
Jefferson Starship Blackburn King Georges Hall Oct 12th 2012
Jefferson Starship Blackburn King Georges Hall Oct 12th 2012
Last night San Franciscan psychedelic rock came to Blackburn in the form of the latest incarnation of Jefferson Starship. I’d promised myself that I would see Jefferson Starship the next time they came to the UK, having missed their last few visits, so last night I took a drive across the moors to King George’s Hall Blackburn for this gig. The concert was held in the Windsor room, and I would estimate that there were a couple of hundred people present. I arrived around 8.15pm, having missed the first support act, but just in time to catch a short set by local band Wagon Wheels. Their music is a mix of rock, folk and country with 5 front men and 4 guitarists. They were very good, and went down well with their home crowd. I saw shades of Mumford and Sons in their music. They had brought along their own local fans, and one of them got a big surprise when she was brought on stage while the keyboard player proposed to her. Luckily, she accepted to a big cheer from the crowd.
Jefferson Starship took to the stage at around 9.15pm, starting with Wooden Ships. This line up features original Starship commander and super-psych guitarist Paul Kantner, long time collaborator and sweet vocalist David Frieberg, and the great, raunchy rock-chick vocalist Cathy Richardson. This was only the second time that I have seen The Starship, the first being at Knebworth in 1978, when they featured on a bill headlined by Genesis. On that occasion the band was going through a difficult period, and arrived late for the gig without singer Grace Slick, who had left the band a few days earlier after a cancelled gig in Germany where all the band’s gear was trashed and burned by the angry crowd. The band played without her at Knewborth, and delivered a powerful set that was one of the highlights of the day. So I was looking forward to seeing them play again after a 34 year gap. For the first few moments last night I felt the sound mix was murky, and I feared that I was going to be disappointed. But this was soon sorted as the band settled into a set of classic psychedelic rock, drawn largely from Jefferson Airplane’s 60s catalogue. Wooden Ships featured spot on harmonies, and was swiftly followed by Crown and Creation and then the absolute classic White Rabbit, which took me back to my youth in a big way. Dated? Yes of course, but so what! These are great great songs, and part of our rock history. It was tremendous to see them played so well in an intimate venue, with a close-up view of the band. Paul Kantner is clearly the leader, although he left the stage on a couple of occasions to hand over to Cathy Richardson while she sang a couple of her solo tracks. David Frieberg also got to take the lead on a couple of songs; I was delighted that one of those was Quicksilver Messenger Service’s Fresh Air; a favourite track of mine. Brought back memories of seeing the late great John Cipollina when he toured the UK with Man in the 70s. David has a beautiful voice, and reminded me of David Crosby, who is of course, a former collaborator of the band. Jude Gold, who is standing in for regular guitarist Slick Aguilar for this UK tour, was exceptional, playing those classic psych guitar solos. Other stand outs were Get Together, Miracles, and Jane. They finished at around 11pm with Somebody to Love, Cathy punching the air and the crowd singing along. It just doesn’t get any better. Got home around 1.15am. Apologies for the blurry photo; I must get more practice with my camera phone.
7 Oct
Radiohead Manchester Arena Oct 6th 2012
Radiohead Manchester Arena Oct 6th 2012
Went to see Radiohead last night at Manchester Arena. It was a great gig; Laura thought it was the best gig she has ever been to :). 
Last night I started to “get” Radiohead, after some time of sitting on the fence wondering why all my family rave about them. I’ve seen them twice before, both in massive open air venues (Edinburgh Meadowbank, Lancashire Cricket Ground) and it all passed me by at those gigs. The sound wasn’t great at those big shows and we were some way from the stage. Last night was different. Laura and I had great seats (bought through WASTE; many thanks) in the front row of the first side block, just to the left of the stage. We arrived around 7pm to collect our wrist bands from the Waste area outside the arena, had a look at the merchandise (Laura bought a vinyl copy of King of Limbs, and I bought a badge: no programmes 😦 ), and took our seats around 8.15pm, having missed support act Caribou, who Laura told me good things about. Radiohead took to the stage shortly before 9pm. From the start I found myself being transfixed by Thom Yorke, who was whirling about, arms flailing and just took command of the audience. Although to my shame, none of the material was familiar to me (unlike Laura who knew every line of every song) I could appreciate the beauty and complexity of the songs this time. The light show was also just amazing, with individual screens moving up and down from the roof. 
The sound was crisp and clear from where we sat, perhaps the best I have heard for a large arena gig. It was Thom Yorke’s birthday and at one point the crowd sang Happy Birthday to him. Truly a great gig. Next time I really must get into their material so I know the songs which, I guess, would help me fully get into Radiohead. Setlist: Lotus Flower; Airbag; Bloom; The Daily Mail; Myxomatosis; The Gloaming; Separator; These Are My Twisted Words; Pyramid Song; Nude; Weird Fishes/Arpeggi; Reckoner; There There; The National Anthem; Feral; Paranoid Android. Encore 1: You and Whose Army? (Crowd sing Happy Birthday to Thom); Full Stop; Morning Mr. Magpie; Planet Telex; How to Disappear Completely. Encore 2: Give Up the Ghost; Everything In Its Right Place. Encore 3: Idioteque.
29 Sep
The Damned 80s gigs
The Damned’s line-up changes several times in the late 70s and early 80s, with a few different people filling the guitar spot. I lost track of the different permutations, and I also remember seeing the band billed as The Doomed at a Rock Garden gig at one point. My mate Norm reminded me that we went to see Damned spin-off band Rat Scabies White Cats in 1978 at Whitley Bay Rex Hotel. The White Cats were short lived and Rat soon returned to The Damned fold. The Damned played Newcastle Mayfair a few times in the early 80s, and always attracted a big crowd. By then they had a lot of strong singles, and the set was much longer than in the early days. 
A live album exists of their Mayfair gig from 1982; I gig which I probably attended, and shows the setlist as being: Ignite; Disco Man; Generals; I Just Can’t Be Happy Today; Stranger on the Town; Wait for the Blackout; Bad Time for Bonzo; Curtain Call; Dozen Girls; Limit Club; Melody Lee; Fuse; Love Song; Sensible’s a Wanker; Smash It Up; Looking at You; New Rose; Happy Talk; Noise Noise Noise; Hippy Hippy Shake; Citadel. Favourites for me at that time were Smash It Up and Love Song. 
I also loved their version of Eloise, which is one of my all time favourite songs. I loved the Barry Ryan original, and remember going out and buying the single. I saw The Damned at Newcastle City Hall in 1986, around the time of Eloise, and was still impressed by them. By that time, however, Sensible had left the band, and only Vanian and Rat remained from the original line-up. I think that was the last time that I saw the band in concert. I keep meaning to go and see them again, and would really like to do so, particularly as the latest line-up features Dave Vanian and Captain Sensible. They are playing in Newcastle in December, but I’m pretty sure that I will be working in Ireland that day, so will miss them again. Must put that right sometime soon. I have some great memories of Damned gigs, and always had fun when I saw them.
The Mayfair was a great venue and I remember some crazy nights with The Damned there. Jimmy Burns has kindly sent me an image of a poster from those heady days. Many thanks, Jimmy (a.k.a. Punk Hoarder). I’m pretty sure I will have been at that concert. I have seen The Damned since then, featuring Dave Vanian and Captain Sensible from the original band and they were as crazy as ever. I have tickets for their reunion concert next year at Manchester Apollo and I am really looking forward to it. Maybe happy days can be here again.
28 Sep
The Damned 70s gigs
The Damned 70s gigs
The Damned, like much of punk rock, were a breath of fresh air when they exploded on to the late 70s music scene. Unlike the Pistols, and to some extent The Clash, The Damned were played up and down the country all of the time. I saw them lots and lots of times in the late 70s at Redcar, Middlesbrough Rock Garden, Newcastle Poly and later at gigs at Newcastle City Hall and Mayfair. I first saw The Damned supporting The Flaming Groovies at Redcar Coatham Bowl in 1976. This was at the time of New Rose, and I remember we went into the gig early especially to see The Damned. I recall that, for some reason, Dave Vanium wasn’t wearing his usual gothic styled make up and clothing and appeared wearing a leather jacket and no make up. The Captain was just mad, Brain James was the guitar hero, and Rat was going crazy on the drums. Their set included New Rose, their manic version of the Beatles’ Help and some embryonic versions of songs which would feature on their first album, which came out the following year. 
I then saw them at a shambolic gig at Newcastle Poly; there was lots of glasses flying, much edginess, fights and the set was cut short as a result. Marie and I talked to The Captain in the bar; he held court to a few of us, telling us how he was an Abba fan, and devouring a packet of crisps, including the packet itself all in one go. I also remember a gig at the Rock Garden. I was one of the few people at the gig with long hair, and Rat came up to me at the bar and said he thought I was Lemmy (! not sure if that was good or bad, but it seemed a fun complement at the time). That particular gig finished with an encore and The Captain coming back on stage stark naked and peeing on the crowd (who very quickly moved back and out of the way; luckily we were standing at the back). The City Hall ticket above was for a 1977 gig, at which they were supported by The Dead Boys, featuring the late great Stiv Bators. The Mayfair ticket is for a later gig (may actually be from the 80s). I also saw them at The City Hall supporting T Rex, which was a strange, but for me successful, pairing. I think I saw them once or twice at Durham University Dunelm Ballroom as well. What I remember of these guys was chaos, madness, great fun, some loud, fast punk rock. Great nights. Can I be young again?
Update 22 December 2021
Many thanks indeed to Jimmy Burns (a.k.a. Punk Hoarder) for sending me this lovely image of the flyer for the concert. It brings back great memories. I’m looking forward to seeing the reunited original line-up of the Damned at Manchester Apollo next year. The concert has just been postponed from February 2022 to November 2022. Something to look forward to. Expecting some mad Damned mayhem! Happy days can be here again. And yes I can be young again (at least in my mind and heart). Roll on 2022 and more concerts.
Vintagerock's Weblog. 