Sham 69 Brudenell Social Club Leeds 14 September 2012
Support: Chelsea and Acid Drop
Great to see the original line up of Sham 69 again in the Brudenell Social Club with David last night. Jimmy was on top form. Its must be more than 30 years since I last saw this band, back in the day. Sham always stuck out to me as one of the best punk bands. There was an edge about them, their songs were both punky and catchy, and Jimmy Pursey was so charismatic and passionate on stage. I saw them in Sunderland Polytechnic Wearmouth Hall and at Reading Festival in the late 70s. Both gigs were marred by skinheads and violence. In those days I couldn’t resist going to see Sham, but went in fear of my life, being the only guy in the audience with long hair. When I saw they had reformed the original line-up I just had to go and see them. The gig was sold out, and had been for some time. 
The Brudenell Social Club is a great little venue, and this was the second time that I’d been. First up were local band Acid Drop, who were good, and played a mix of punk, thrash and ska. Then after a short break Chelsea took to the stage. This is also a band that a saw a few times in the late 70s. I recall a gig at Newcastle City Hall where Gene October told the crowd to ignore the bouncers and come down to the front. 
I think they were banned from the City Hall after that gig. The band features original members Gene on vocals and James Stevenson on guitar. I recognised a couple of the songs; in particular Right To Work, which was the last song. It was good to see them again. Sham 69 took to the stage around 10.20pm. The place was completely packed, the crowd consisting of a mix of old punks, skinheads, and some younger fans, with a smattering of old timer long hairs like me. David and I managed to get a spot right down at the front, towards the side of the stage, and a safe distance from the mosh pit. Sham exploded onto the stage with What Have I Got, the crowd responding with a loud F*** All!. This set the mood for the rest of the evening, the crowd knew every word of every song, and went crazy at the front. Jimmy looks great, trim and fit, and was in great form. Lots of opening up his arms to the crowd and getting them to sing the lines. Lots of water being thrown about; by the end of the evening Jimmy was soaked. 
Favourites for me were always going to be Bortal Breakout, If the Kids are United and Angels with Dirty Faces. Other highlights were a great version of The Clash’s White Riot and a new song Stockwell, which was slow, dark and sombre. The set was short and the songs fast, and they were on stage around one hour, or slightly less. And they were just great, just as powerful, angry and relevant as they ever were. It was great to attend a Sham gig again, to have fun and not to be frightened. And the glasses that get thrown now are plastic! A great fun night. David is not a big fan of punk rock, but even he enjoyed them. We got home around 1am. The set consisted of (can’t remember the order, and may have missed some): What Have We Got; Hey Little Rich Boy; Tell Us the Truth; I Don’t Wanna; Ulster; Angels With Dirty Faces; George Davis; That’s Life; Money; Hersham Boys; Asbo Sports Day; Stockwell; Borstal Breakout; White Riot; If the Kids Are United; Rip Off; Hurry Up Harry. I could see the setlist on the stage and Questions and Answers was on the list, but not played. Photos are by David.
Posts Tagged ‘punk’
15 Sep
Sham 69 Brudenell Social Club Leeds 14 September 2012
14 Sep
Deep Purple Newcastle Arena 2004 Bananas Tour
Deep Purple Newcastle Arena 2004 Bananas Tour
Support from Peter Frampton and Thunder
It was almost 20 years until I saw Deep Purple again. I went along with my mate Will to this gig, which was at Newcastle Arena. The show used part of the Arena, with the rest sectioned off. This allows the band to perform to a larger audience than can be accommodated in a concert hall, such as Newcastle City Hall, but loses much in terms of atmosphere. Support came from rock band Thunder and Peter Frampton. I hadn’t seen Frampton since the Frampton Comes Alive tour, and I’d forgotten just how good he is. He has some great songs and is a pretty neat guitarist to boot. He played, of course, Show Me The Way, and a few other classics from his 70s heyday. 
By 2004 Blackmore had left Purple again, and Jon Lord had just retired. Steve Morse was well established on guitar, and local hero Don Airey had recently joined on keyboards. Long-timers Gillan, Glover and Paice were there from the old days. The band had recently released the Bananas album. The set was a mix of old favourites, and quite a few recent tracks which were unfamiliar to me. I’d almost forgotten just how great Purple are, and was well impressed. It was great to see them play old favourites like Speed King, and particularly Hush. Steve Morse is an impressive guitarist and fits in well, and his solo on Contact Lost was a stan-out. Setlist: Silver Tongue; Woman from Tokyo; I Got Your Number; Strange Kind of Woman; Bananas; Demon’s Eye; Knocking at Your Back Door; Contact Lost; The Well-Dressed Guitar; Perfect Strangers; Space Truckin’; Highway Star; Smoke on the Water. Encore: Speed King; Hush.
13 Sep
Deep Purple Knebworth 1985
Twelve years after I last saw them, the classic Deep Purple line-up was back and playing at Knewborth. I went with my mate Dave on a trip bus from the town. The line-up for the day was very strong with The Scorpions, Meat Loaf, UFO, Mountain, Blackfoot, Mama’s Boys, and Alaska (can’t remember who they were) but unfortunately the weather was lousy. It rained and rained all day and then it rained more. Dave and I spent much of the day sheltering under a tree. At one point we found our way into an indoor bar which must have been for guests because it was empty (!) and we kept warm and dry in there. The Scorpions went down best of all the support acts, and there was a never ending two hour wait between the end of their set and Purple taking to the stage at around 10pm. 
I can’t remember much about the other bands, but Purple were good despite the rain. As expected they started with Highway Star and played all of the classics, along with quite a few songs from the new album Perfect Strangers. To cap it all our bus got stuck in the mud in the carpark and some of us had to push it out. We didn’t get out of the carpark until early morning and arrived back home at dawn. The things I’ve done for rock n roll…Setlist: Highway Star; Nobody’s Home; Strange Kind of Woman; A Gypsy’s Kiss; Perfect Strangers; Under the Gun; Lazy; Knocking at Your Back Door; Difficult to Cure; Space Truckin’. Encore: Speed King; Black Night; Smoke on the Water. Other memories are of some guys setting fire to the portaloos to keep warm, no screens and an awful view of the stage from the back, pretty cool lasers for Purple, and a massive firework display after Purple’s set. Happy Days.
12 Sep
Deep Purple Newcastle Odeon 1974
Deep Purple Newcastle Odeon 1974
Support from Elf
So Deep Purple returned to the North East with a new line-up. Ian Gillan and Roger Glover had departed and in came local lad David Coverdale, who hailed from Saltburn, on vocals and Glenn Hughes, from Trapeze, on bass and vocals. The gig had sold out pretty quickly, which was some achievement given the changes in the band and the fact that they had graduated from the City Hall to the larger capacity Odeon. I went along with a group of mates, with some trepidation; I just couldn’t imagine how the new guys were going to fit it, and live up to the huge reputation that was Deep Purple. Support came from Elf, who featured Ronnie James Dio on vocals, and delivered an impressive set. Purple had released the new album Burn, and one of mates had bought it. We’d all listened to it and agreed that it was pretty good. The Deep Purple we all experienced that night was easily on par with its predecessor. They exploded onto the stage with “Burn”; Coverdale was on fire, Blackmore was his old self, Jon was attacking his organ, Hughes added a more soulful dimension to the vocals, and Ian Paice provided the solid back beat. I have a theory that bands can find great strength at times of change. I’ve seen it happen a couple of other times: when Genesis came back without Gabriel is another example. Deep Purple came back stronger than ever, and the strength of the songs on Burn helped. Mistreated, Might just take your life, and Burn itself are all very powerful songs. Setlists from the time show the set as being: Burn; Might Just Take Your Life; Lay Down, Stay Down; Mistreated; Smoke on the Water; You Fool No One; The Mule; Space Truckin’. Encore: Going Down; Highway Star. 
My friend John sent me his own recollections of the gig: “For years I though this was the City Hall; I had a great seat near the front. They played Burn and Mistreated from the new album which were great plus I think Might Just Take your life, You Fool No One and Lay Down Stay Down. Burn was the starting track, Mistreated was the highlight for me and think they played Highway Star, Space Trucking and presumably Smoke on the Water.Support was Elf with Rockin Ronnie. Remember Glenn Hughes had really long hair – had seen him once before in Trapeze.”
It was all of 11 years until I saw Deep Purple again. I didn’t see the Tommy Bolin line-up; they toured the UK but didn’t play the North East, although a show at Middlesbrough Town Hall (which would have been a home-coming show for David Coverdale) was rumoured but, to my knowledge, never happened.
11 Sep
Deep Purple Newcastle City Hall 1973
Deep Purple Newcastle City Hall 1973
Support from Nazareth
This was the last time that I saw the classic Deep Purple Mark II line-up in the 70s. By this point tensions in the band were growing and relations between Gillan and Blackmore were not good. Both Gillan and Glover were to leave the band before the year was out. This tour came just as the Who Do We Think We Are album was released. This is not their strongest album but it does feature the great hit single: Woman from Tokyo. Published setlists from the time show the set as being: Highway Star; Smoke on the Water; Strange Kind of Woman; Mary Long; Lazy; The Mule; Space Truckin’; and Black Night. My friend John recalls them also playing Woman from Tokyo; Smooth Dancer and Never Before from Machine Head. My main recollection from the gig was how different Gillan looked. He had grown a beard and was wearing a smart jacket and slacks; a very different image to that of previous tours. Reports of shows from that period suggest that you could sense the tensions within the band and the growing distance between the members, but I can’t say I noticed anything amiss. I was sitting upstairs with a group of friends, and enjoyed the gig, although not quite as much as previous tours. Nazareth were a great support act. A few months later the unthinkable had happened and Gillan and Glover had both departed. I thought that was the end of Deep Purple, which was far from what transpired, more of which tomorrow.
10 Sep
Deep Purple Newcastle City Hall 1972
Deep Purple Newcastle City Hall 1972
Support from Glencoe
Deep Purple were back at the City Hall in 1972 and this was the band at its peak. This was the Mark II version of the band, which most people regard as the ultimate and classic line-up of Deep Purple. In 1972 Purple had world-wide success with the release of their album Machine Head, and in the same year they recorded the superb live album Made In Japan. They started with Highway Star, which is just the perfect set opener; it kicks off with a great riff, its fast and up-tempo, and there’s a wonderful solo from Blackmore. They played all their best known songs, including the now classic Smoke on the Water which was then new to the set. Other songs which featured in the set at that time were Child in Time; The Mule; Strange Kind of Woman; Lazy; and Space Truckin’. All great. It didn’t get any better than this at the time. 
The encores will probably have been one or two of Black Night; Speed King and possibly Lucille; I can’t be certain. Its difficult to put into words just how great Deep Purple were at that time; they were easily on a par with Zeppelin and Sabbath. Jon Lord’s swirling organ and the unbelievable vocal range that Gillan had in those days gave them something unique, which set them apart from any other band. And Blackmore was amazing, so confident, so flashy in his guitar technique. For this gig I was lucky enough to be sitting in the third row, right in front of Ritchie, and I just couldn’t keep my eyes off him. And Purple were so LOUD; my ears were ringing for days after. My hearing isn’t so good these days, and I reckon the main culprits are Deep Purple, the Who and Motorhead! I remember support act Glencoe well and saw them a few times around that time. They featured Norman Watt Roy on bass and John Turnbull on guitar, who I’d seen in Bell and Arc. Both of them went on to be part of Ian Dury and the Blockheads, and Norman is now bass player for Wilko Johnson. They were a good band, who deserved more recognition. Tomorrow I’ll bring together my memories of the 1973 Deep Purple tour, which was the last time I saw the classic line up in the 70s. Things were not great in the Purple camp, and sadly the band was about to disintegrate.
9 Sep
Deep Purple live in the early 70s
Deep Purple live in the early 70s
Deep Purple were just untouchable live in the early 70s. They had all those classic rock songs: Black Night, Speed King, Strange Kind of Woman, Child in Time; and they were all top class musicians and performers. I can picture them now; Jon Lord rocking his Hammond organ back and forth while squeezing rich swirling chords out of it; Ritchie Blackmore sombre, dressed all in black: black hat with a sliver buckle, black scoop neck top, black velvet flares; Ian Gillan, long lion-like hair, screaming and screeching the vocals, Roger Glover on bass, wearing a hat and leather trousers, smile across his face, rocking back and forth in time to the music; and Ian Paice on drums, a constant in terms of rhythm, but also in terms of the band and its many incarnations. This was the classic Purple Mark II line-up. I first saw Deep Purple at Newcastle City Hall in 1971, which was the Fireball tour. They were loud and just amazing. I was seated in the 7th row, and had a great view. I was a young kid and I was just fascinated and enthralled by Blackmore, who was the ultimate guitar showman in those days, running both hands up and down the neck of his Fender Stratocaster, pulling at the amps, ringing feedback from the guitar, throwing it in the air. I too had a Strat at that time and was watching his every move; total hero worship. My mate John was there and recalls: “My first gig at the City Hall – I remember it was just fantastic. They played the now-classics from “Deep Purple In Rock”: Speed King, Child in Time, plus Black Night and my all time favorite the single Strange Kind of Woman plus a lot from Fireball. While not their best album I thought it was a great show with Fireball, No No No, Demons Eye, No One Came, the extended version of the Mule plus the rather odd Anyones Daughter. Support was Bullet featuring members of Atomic Rooster John Cann and Paul Hammond – although for years I thought it was Glencoe”. Setlists from the time also show that Highway Star was included in the set, although it was yet to appear on record, as it featured on Machine Head, which came out in 1972. I think the encore will have been Black Night, followed by Lucille and a medley of old rock n roll songs. Thanks also to John for the scan of his Fireball poster. 
John was lucky enough to see Deep Purple at Sunderland Top Rank in 1970. I wasn’t at that gig, and am so jealous of him. John’s memories of that gig: “I was 15 and it was my first gig. Free were the headliners but as the Purple van broke down on the highway and they arrived late, they played last. We arrived at about 6.30pm and queued up outside with many others; the line was from the door across the bridge before. It was billed as an Indoor Festival with five bands. I don’t remember the first band (Yellow), Principal Edwards were strange but I really enjoyed Cochise and bought their album (which features Steve Marriott on the stand out track Thats Why I sing the Blues). At this time they were still playing tracks from the Mark I line plus tracks from their new, and soon to be classic album, Deep Purple In Rock. I believe they played Speed King, Child in Time, Into the Fire (?) and the old songs I remember were a very long Wring that Neck and Mandrake Root at the end of the set. The encore was the hit single Black Night and Lucille which I thought was odd – why would a cool band play such an old song?. I had much to learn. I seem to remember the show finished at about 1.30am which I thought was very cool and then I walked home on my own because the others left early, missing the encore.”
5 Sep
Patti Smith Newcastle Academy 4th September 2012
Patti Smith Newcastle Academy 4th September 2012
Patti Smith is one special artist. She is many things: a legend, an icon, a punk, a poet, a rocker, an outsider, but above everything what really strikes me is the total authenticity of the lady. With Patti what you see is 100% what you get; each and every time. Last night Patti was in a playful mood; she came onstage around 8.30pm, and treated a packed Newcastle Academy to a set which mixed tracks from her new album “Banga” and classics from her back catalogue. She seemed pre-occupied by the chicken that she had eaten at Nandos earlier in the day, which got the blame for everything. She fluffed the start of the first song, and started again, which was fine, and told us that it was because of the chicken. Later on in the set she admitted that she was chattering a lot, and wondered if the chicken was making her do that. Patti was indeed in a chatty mood. She told us that she’d been to the hairdressers to have her hair curled (she also thought that this might have caused her chatty mood, along with the chicken) and how she’d been photographed by the NME for their icon series, holding a copy of an old NME from 1976 which featured her on the cover. Enough about Patti’s chat; which I mentioned to illustrate the good mood that she was in. The music was great. She played several classics which went down well with the crowd: Free Money, Pissing In The River, Because The Night. All great. Long time band partner Lenny Kaye had his own spot, which he dedicated to local band Penetration, and featured: Night Time / (We Ain’t Got) Nothin’ Yet / Born To Lose / Pushin’ Too Hard. During this spot Patti did her cute quirky little dance while Lenny and the guys ran through the songs. Gloria was the closing number. The encore was the title track of her new album Banga, followed by People Have the Power, and closing with an ace version of Rock ‘N’ Roll Nigger, the entire place singing “Outside of Society”. She closed around 10.20pm; almost two hours after she started. Patti closed by telling us how much she had enjoyed it, explaining that some nights are great musically, but that last night she had “fun”, and that Newcastle was a magical place. We all believed her; and judging by the comments of everyone leaving the venue, the crowd agreed and had great fun too. Just amazing. Some people do get better with time.
4 Sep
Dr Feelgood Newcastle City Hall 1977 to 1979
Dr Feelgood Newcastle City Hall 1977 to 1979
So Wilko was gone and Gypie Mayo was in. I had big doubts as to whether this could work. Wilko was a class act, and would be very hard to follow. The chemistry between Lee and Wilko was obvious, they worked together so well. It could never be the same again. So we went along to see; and it worked. All credit to Gypie Mayo for taking this on and making it work, but work it did. Apparently Gypie only had a week to learn the set before going out on this tour. He kept his own style, and didn’t try to imitate Wilko, but he and Lee worked together and the Feelgoods continued to rock, just as they had before. 
Support for the 1977 tour came from the very excellent Mink DeVille, who hit the charts around the same time with “Spanish Stroll”. We went along to the City Hall early to make sure we caught their set; this was one gig where we gave the bar a miss. Will DeVille was a cook guy and warmed the crowd up well for our session in the Dr’s surgery. 
Dr Feelgood often seemed to choose a strong support act to open for them. The support in 1978 was Squeeze, who are another class act. I think support in 1979 came from Red Beans and Rice. 
After 1979, the Feelgood’s North East gigs were in smaller venues than the City Hall, such as Durham University and Redcar Coatham Bowl. By 1981 there had been more change and Gypie Mayo had left then band, to be replaced by Johnny Guitar. I saw that line up at the Rock on the Tyne festival which took place over the 1981 August Bank Holiday weekend. This was the start of several more line up changes, which have gone on until this day. 
I saw Dr Feelgood once more, at Newcastle Mayfair in 1987. I’ll blog on that gig shortly. Its easy to forget just how great Dr Feelgood were in the 70s, particularly as a live act. Without the Feelgoods we may not have had punk, and things just wouldn’t have been the same. I spent some great nights with these guys.
3 Sep
Dr Feelgood Newcastle City Hall 1975 and 1976
Dr Feelgood Newcastle City Hall 1975 and 1976
Dr Feelgood were just plain amazing in their early days. They grew out of pub rock and preceded punk, and were pretty untouchable as a live act. I first saw them as support for Hawkwind on their 1974 tour, and was blown away by them. I couldn’t take my eyes off the two front men Lee Brilleaux and Wilko Johnson. Wilko strutted backwards and forwards across the stage, playing his Fender Telecaster in his characteristic choppy style, while Lee stared menacingly at us all, dressed in a sharp white suit, wringing the mike and pumping his fist. Sparko and The Big Figure silently and relentlessly provided the rhythm. I loved those tunes: “Back In the Night”, “Roxette”, “She does it right”. There was no one like them and no-one to touch them. 
The Feelgoods visited the City Hall every year from 1976 to 1979 and I went each year. They were always a great live act, and I never saw them put on anything other than a great performance. They also had some pretty cool support acts: GT Moore and the Reggae Guitars on the 1975 tour, and the George Hatcher band in 1976 (although the ticket says Clover, I am pretty sure they were replaced on the tour by George Hatcher). I also saw them at the Reading Festival in 1975, where they were the favourites of the weekend. Went with a group of mates; I can remember all of us coming back from the local pub specially to catcg the Feelgood’s set. 
And then the unthinkable happened, and Wilko was gone. I was shocked, and couldn’t see how the band would survive the loss of such a charismatic figure. Wilko wrote many of the songs, and was so crucial and integral to their sound, and their live show. But survive they did. I’ll blog tomorrow on the post-Wilko gigs that I saw at the City Hall. The live album “Stupidity” gives an idea of a setlist from those days: Talking About You; 20 Yards Behind; Stupidity; All Through The City; I’m a Man; Walking The Dog; She Does It Right; Going Back Home; I Don’t Mind; Back in the Night; I’m a Hog for You Baby; Checking Up on My Baby; Roxette; Riot in Cell Block No. 9
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