Eddie and the Hot Rods Newcastle City Hall 1978
Support from Radio Stars Squeeze
By 1978 The Hot Rods had enjoyed chart success with Do Anything You Wanna Do, and had released their second album Life on the Line. They returned to the City Hall with another strong supporting line-up of Radio Stars and Squeeze. Radio Stars had supported the Hot Rods at the City Hall the year before, so we were already acquainted with the mad antics of Andy Ellison, and their great song Dirty Pictures. Squeeze were new to the scene and were the first band on the bill at this concert. Squeeze had just released their first album and single: Take Me I’m Yours and there was a buzz about them, but this was before the massive hits Up THe Junction and Cool For Cats, which followed in 1979. 
This was the original line up of Squeeze, featuring Chris Difford, Glenn Tilbrook, and Jools Holland. I remember making a point of getting to the gig early to see Squeeze and Radio Stars. Eddie and The Hot Rods were great as usual, super high energy rock n roll. Another fun night. The more I think back to these gigs, the more I realise how much fun we had, and how great the late 70s were. There were gigs going on most nights of the week, and some great new bands to see, all hungry for success and playing vital rock n roll. Eddie and the Hot Rods are another band who have reformed recently and are still out their playing clubs up and down the country. They are supporting Status Quo on some of the dates of their QuoFestive Christmas tour, unfortunately this doesn’t include my own local gig. I must make a point of going to see them next time I get the chance.
Posts Tagged ‘punk’
7 Nov
Eddie and the Hot Rods Newcastle City Hall 1978
6 Nov
Eddie and the Hot Rods Newcastle City Hall 1977
Eddie and the Hot Rods Newcastle City Hall 1977
Support from Radio Stars
I looked forward to this gig with great excitement. I’d read a lot about Eddie and the Hot Rods in the music papers of the time, who compared them to The Sex Pistols and other punk bands of that era. In reality, and on reflection, they were closer to the Feelgoods and R&B than punk, but at the time I went along to any gig that closely resembled punk rock. The City Hall was packed to see The Hot Rods, and everyone was looking forward to a night of high energy punk rock n roll. Support act Radio Stars warmed the crowd up with their catchy pop/punk, frontman Andy Ellison going totally crazy, climbing up the speakers, jumping from the balcony and being every bit the mad punk star. I remember the song Dirty Pictures, which was good fun, and thought Radio Stars should have been more successful than they were. 
The Hot Rods live in 77 was pure energy. Singer Barrie Masters would run backwards and forwards across the stage at super speed, flanked by the guitarists who were throwing out Chuck Berry riffs at 1,000mph. The music was superfast R&B, blending pop, punk and garage; the Hot Rods were definitely a live force to be reckoned with in those days. Their set in those early days drew heavily from the first album Teenage Depression, and also included some well chosen covers, all played at breakneck speed: The Who’s “The Kids Are Alright”, Van Morrison’s “Gloria,” Bob Seger’s “Get Out of Denver,” ? Mark’s “96 Tears,” and the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction”. A good fun night guaranteed. And the Hot Rods were just that, good fun. No deep politics, no snarling or pretentiousness, just good clean, very very fast rock n roll. We all rolled out of the City Hall that night wringing with sweat, worn out and totally satisfied!
30 Oct
The Exploited Middlesbrough Town Hall 1981
The Exploited Middlesbrough Town Hall 1981
This gig was in Middlesbrough Town Hall Crypt, which is a small hall underneath the main hall. The Exploited came out of Scotland, enthused by the music of the Sex Pistols and The Clash, and developed their own style of hardcore, fast punk rock, with highly political lyrics. This gig was in their early days, at the time of their Punks Not Dead album. It was a strange gig, as singer Watty was not well so guitarist Big John asked if any of us could sing and knew the lyrics. A member of the crowd got up on stage, and he and Big John shared vocals for the show. The Exploited released a live album around this time, I’ve included the track list here to show their setlist of the period: Cop Cars; Crashed Out; Dole Q; Dogs Of War; Army Life; Out Of Control; Ripper; F*** The Mods; Exploited Barmy Army; Royalty; S.P.G.; Sex And Violence; Punks Not Dead; I Believe In Anarchy.
29 Oct
Echo and the Bunnymen in concert 1981 – 1984
Echo and the Bunnymen in concert 1981 – 1984
The Bunnymen crept up on me in the late 70s and early 80s. There seemed a refreshing change from punk, providing a more melodic alternative to the fast trash of many other bands of the period. I saw them a few times in concert in the early 80s, each time at Newcastle City Hall. All of those gigs were enjoyable experiences, and by 1984 they had some really great songs. I especially liked The Cutter in concert, and The Killing Moon and Seven Seas (Kissing the tortoise!) are also favourites. Ian McCulloch was super cool on stage; I’ve just been looking at some early videos on youtube which remind me just how great this band were. 
The Bunnymen blended punk and new wave with shades of psychedelia; they were very clearly fans of The Doors and would sometimes play Light My Fire or People Are Strange in concert. The last time I saw Echo and the Bunnymen was when they played a few songs at the opening concert for the Capital of Culture event at Liverpool Arena a few years ago. I really must make a point of going to see them again soon. 
Looking at the ticket stub for the 1982 gig, it seems that the show must have been postponed until 1983, although I don’t recall why. I can’t be sure which tour the programme pictured below comes from; it consists of a series of quite arty black and white photographs of the band, with no text at all; very cool! 
Setlist from 1983: Going Up; With a Hip; Gods Will be Gods; All That Jazz; The Cutter; Porcupine; In Bluer Skies; All My Colours (Zimbo); Rescue; Heaven up Here; Heads Will Roll; Crocodiles; Over the Wall; Do It Clean
6 Oct
Doll by Doll in the late 70s
Doll by Doll in the late 70s
Doll by Doll were an intriguing band. Led by the late and sadly missed Jackie Leven, Doll by Doll surfaced around the time of punk, but their music was much deeper than the punk moniker suggests. One of my mates was raving about their first album, so I went to see them when they played at Middlesbrough Rock Garden, think it was around 1979. I also seem to recall seeing them as a support act at Newcastle City Hall, I think it was in the same year, on a Hawkwind tour. They are worthy of mention, as looking back, it is clear that they were a pretty significant, and very under-rated band. Jackie Leven came from a folk-roots background and blended this with psychedelia, some great guitar, and smattering of punk. The first album, Remember, is pretty special, and unlike anything else around at the time. Although I didn’t recognise Doll by Doll as anything particularly special when I saw them, I had their first album and played it quite often, and now realise just how unique the band were. “There are spiritual story tellers and there are soulful story tellers. I hope to be a soulful story teller. I see the two kinds as two different directions. Spiritual is ascending. Sky, God and all that. I hope my story telling is going down into the earth, is wetter, has more moisture.” Jackie Leven.
1 Oct
Ian Dury & the Blockheads in concert
Ian Dury & the Blockheads
I first saw Ian Dury in Kilburn and the Highroads when they supported The Who at Newcastle Odeon on their 1973 Quadrophenia tour. I can’t pretend to remember much about them, other than they seemed like an ok pub rock band. Interesting to see that the Kilburns also featured Nick Cash who I was to see a few years later in 999, and who were truly a top punk band. The next time I saw Ian Dury was on the Stiff tour at Middlesbrough Town Hall, where he stole the show which closed with everyone on stage and all of us singing along to Sex and Drugs and Rock n Roll. Ian was an enigma on stage. 
He was, of course, nothing like a traditional rock star. And he was hardy “punk”. But his onstage patter, his humility, the way that he dealt with his disability, and his crazy dress sense, all gave him a charisma and a connection with the audience that no one else had in the day. We were all with him from the word go, and his stage presence, coupled with the tremendous musicianship of the Blockheads made every Dury gig a unique and fun experience. The thing that I remember most about the 1978 gig at Newcastle City Hall was that I had one of my final Maths exams for my degree the next morning. I figured that there was no point in any further revision at that point, so went along to see Ian and the Blockheads. Glad I made that choice! Support at that gig were Matumbi (a reggae band) and Whirlwind (a rockabilly band). 
For me, the best tracks live were Sweet Gene Vincent, Clever Trevor and Sex and Drugs. To be honest, I was never a great fan of Rhythm Stick or Reasons to be Cheerful, although I have warmed to the latter song recently. 
A setlist from Hammersmith in 1979 shows the songs played as: Clever Trevor; Inbetweenies; Don’t Ask Me; Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3; Sink My Boats; Waiting For Your Taxi; This Is What We Find; Mischief; What A Waste!; Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick; Sweet Gene Vincent. I guess the Newcastle gig will have featured a similar set. I’m surprised Sex and Drugs and Rock n Roll doesn’t feature in the list. It was certainly a high point of the early Blockheads gigs I saw. Great memories of a one-off and a great man; sadly missed. Great gigs. Respect.
Note added 20th July 2014. I found the programme below in my collection. It must have come from the December 1980 concert.
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.
21 Sep
The Dickies in concert
The Dickies in concert
The Dickies were at their height in the UK in the late 1970s. They are a crazy, fun punk band who played superfast versions of well known songs. They were like the Ramones, but even more tongue in cheek and took and very funny. Their album “The Incredible Shrinking Dickies” was quite a hit in the UK, as were versions of “Paranoid”, “Eve of Destruction” and “Nights in White Satin”. They had their biggest success with “Banana Splits (Tra La La Song)”, the theme tune from the TV show, which got into the UK top 10 in 1979, and was released in dayglo yellow vinyl. 
I saw The Dickies a few times, including gigs at the City Hall (first supporting the Jam, and then their own headline show at which they were supported by Chelsea) and The Mayfair. The Mayfair gig took place while Banana Splits was in the charts. Played live, the song featured loads of bananas being thrown into the audience. They were a great fun night out, a cartoon-like crazy punk band, every song played super fast, with the crowd pogoing for their lives. They had a pretty strong following in the North East with young punks. I found this report from the time: “A riot breaks out in Newcastle when the band appears at a record signing. 2500 kids skip school to meet them but end up breaking the store’s front window. The police are called.” I seem to recall for the Newcastle Mayfair gig they played two shows, an early show for under 16s and a later show for older fans. My memory tells me that I went to the early kids show, so that I could then go along to the City Hall and see Judas Priest, but my ticket shows the time of the show as 7pm start, so maybe I went to see Priest first and then went to The Mayfair. The Dickies remain popular with punks in the UK, and continue to play to this day.
16 Sep
Deep Purple Newcastle Arena 2007
Deep Purple Newcastle Arena 2007
Support from Styx and Thin Lizzy
A group of us went to this gig, attracted as much by the strong support acts on offer, as by the prospect of seeing Deep Purple. My friends are all big Styx fans, and couldn’t miss the opportunity of seeing them. The gig started early at around 7pm, to allow each vabd to perform a reasonable length set. First up was Thin Lizzy, this line-up fronted by John Sykes and Scott Gorham. 
They delivered a set of Lizzy classics, proving that there is life for the band without front man Phil Lynott. In fact, I was surprised just how good they were, and it was great to hear classics such as The Boys Are Back In Town, and Jailbreak again. Styx were next up, also missing front man Dennis DeYoung. Styx gave headliners Purple a run for their money, and delivered a set of classics which went down well with the assembled crowd. Although Purple’s latest album was Rapture of the Deep, this show also featured the band playing their classic album Machine Head in full. A good evening in the company of friends, and three classic rock bands. Setlist: Fireball; Things I Never Said; Into the Fire; Strange Kind of Woman; Rapture of the Deep; The Well-Dressed Guitar; Highway Star; Maybe I’m a Leo; Pictures of Home; Never Before; When a Blind Man Cries; Smoke on the Water; Lazy; Space Truckin’. Encore: Hush; Black Night.
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