Evening 5 out of a crazy run of 6 concerts in 6 nights. I haven’t done this since before my accident and it is a marathon and a test of stamina for me and my carers! The final evening is Wishbone Ash and I will report on that very soon 🙂
Anyway this is something I couldn’t miss out on. Another audience with John Lydon and this time in my hometown of Sunderland in the wonderful new venue that is The Fire Station.
I go back a long way with John, to the days when he was Johnny Rotten and I first saw Sex Pistols in a pub in Whitby in 1976. He was exciting, outspoken, challenging and exhilarating then and he remains so today. That evening in Whitby, and the following year in Scarborough Penthouse club, opened up my eyes to an alternative view of music.
Then a few years later I travelled to Manchester Belle Vue to see an early performance of his new band Public Image Ltd. That evening was another revelation and shock to the system. Pistols fans in the audience did not know how to take on this new music that we were presented with that night. John was screaming over what sounded like a discordant noise. This was at the time of the first Public Image single and album.
So, John, you have been responsible for opening up my eyes to new music throughout your career. The latest version of Public Image is as uncompromising as ever. The Fire Station is completely sold out and I am sat at the back of the hall looking over a standing crowd in front of me. John stands front centre stage at a lectern, almost preacher – like, delivering his sermon to the masses.
The set comprises many familiar and favourite songs: “Albatross”, “Poptones” from the first album; the singles “This Is Not a Love Song” and “Death Disco “, and “Flowers of Romance”. The sound comes across in waves as John and his band weave a strange aural cacophony which reverberates around the hall. For the encore we are treated to the first single “Public Image” and closer “Rise”, to which we all sing along; everyone is dancing in front of me. A great night spent with a familiar face and voice in a lovely new Sunderland venue. One more night to go! Thanks to Chris for the photographs.
Setlist: Penge; Albatross; Being Stupid Again; Poptones; This Is Not a Love Song; Death Disco; The Room I Am In; Flowers of Romance; Memories; Car Chase; The Body; Warrior; Shoom.
Encore: Public Image; Open Up; Rise.
I am a massive aficionado of the great diva 
Then she added a date close by at Tynemouth Priory as part of the Mouth of the Tyne Festival. So I passed on Glasgow and bought tickets for Tynemouth. I have vague memories of seeing her appear at Maxwell’s nightclub in Tynemouth around 1978 but I can’t really be sure if that really happened or if it is my mind playing tricks on me.
Tynemouth Priory is a lovely setting for seeing concerts. The backdrop on one side is the sea and on the other the ancient priory. We were situated up on a wheelchair platform with a good view of the stage. Jan and I took our place on the platform; Jan had brought along a small fold–away chair which was a good idea as there were only a few seats provided for carers and they were all taken. Siouxsie came on stage at 8:30 PM prompt as there was a 10 PM curfew, presumably to protect local residents from loud sound late at night!
Oh, I forgot to say I bought a lovely limited edition poster with a picture of Siouxsie and the date and location of the concert. An excellent momento of a great occasion.
And so the mighty 
The current line up of The Damned consists of: Dave Vanian; Captain Sensible; Paul Gray (on bass: I remember that name, yes he was in Eddie and the Hot Rods); Monty Oxymoron (crazy on keyboards) and Will Taylor on drums. And pretty great they remain!
We were soon on the home strait and the band crashed into classic after classic.”Love Song”, “Neat, Neat, Neat” moved into a mix of old songs including “Be Bop a Lula”! Class! Then “Eloise” (one of my favourite songs from the 60s, but hey guys, no one tops Barry Ryan and his version: the guy was my hero and role model when I was a kid!) “Smash It Up” and finally right back to the start and “New Rose”. These guys still know how to rock. Long may they do so.
Setlist: The Man With the Golden Arm; Street of Dreams; The Invisible Man; Wait for the Blackout; Lively Arts; Bad Weather Girl; You’re Gonna Realise; Western Promise; Beware of the Clown; Wake the Dead; Follow Me; Motorcycle Man; Leader of the Gang; From Your Lips; Born to Kill; Love Song; Second Time Around; Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow; Neat Neat Neat / 1969 / Folsom Prison Blues / Be Bop a Lula
Jimmy Burns is not only a massive punk hoarder and collector, he is also a real gent. We first touched base some time ago when Jimmy contacted me through the blog and shared some images of posters which he had, of punk concerts I had been to in the past. Jimmy then kindly let me use these images on my blog. Since then we have kept in touch and I was delighted when he told me that part of his massive punk memorabilia collection was to be displayed in 
Newcastle Mayfair. Happy days.
urrently on display in Newcastle Central library.
Went to see an old friend the other night. 
“John Cooper Clarke, also known as the Bard of Salford, is a phenomenon: Poet Laureate of Punk, rock star, fashion icon, TV and radio presenter, social and cultural commentator – he’s one of Britain’s most beloved and influential writers and performers.” (From the man’s website).
Well here I am. Back at the City Hall with 
Brooks who, of course, went on to much greater success in Vinegar Joe, again with Robert Palmer, and as a soloist). Soon I saw the Rolling Stones there, a few weeks later, and then many more bands over the years including Led Zeppelin, The Who, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Bruce Springsteen, and many, many more over a 50+ year period. For the first time they had somehow managed to remove all of the seats from the downstairs area, allowing a massive crowd of Stranglers fans to jump around and have fun to the music. It was very strange, yet refreshing, to be part of a very different experience in a very differently configured City Hall.
tour was almost cancelled but fan demand persuaded the members to continue in tribute to Dave Greenfield’s massive contribution to the band and their music. Only Jean-Jacques Burnel remains from the original lineup. Drummer Jet Black retired some years ago. Lead singer and songwriter Hugh Cornwell left many years ago, and after a few line-up changes including one with both a vocalist and a guitarist, his position is filled by local Sunderland lad Baz Warne with Baz taking over vocal and guitar duties and becoming the band’s main front man. The Stranglers were the first punk band to play Newcastle City Hall in 1977, a concert which I attended and was absolutely stupendous. Later in 1977 they returned and after some altercations between Hugh, Jean-Jacques and the bouncers which ended up in a massive stage invasion The Stranglers were banned from the City Hall for a number of years. But the soul of the band remains as does the power of the music. Nothing is diminished, we are overwhelmed by a constant barrage of classic songs: right back to the start with “Grip” and “Peaches”, through the massive hits “Sweet Little Girl” and “Golden Brown” and many, many more along the way. This is The Stranglers at their best and just as I remember them from the many times I have seen them over the years. If this was to be the last time I experience this band, it couldn’t be any better. Jean-Jacques is a joy to see, quietly leading the band, his bass playing as booming and driving as ever. Baz has a bit fun with the Newcastle crowd, in terms of the Geordies/Makem rivalry. There are lots of encores and lots of dancing and moshing down at the front. For the first encore Jean-Jacques and Baz return as an acoustic duo and treat us to a couple of beautiful, more subdued, songs. The pace and volume then return for the second encore and the band finish, triumphant. The crowd go home overjoyed at the experience.
great view over the heads of the jumping, swirling, moshing, crazy crowd below us.
“Babylon’s Burning”. Both of these were very credible versions and it was great to hear them again.
“He’s a legend and an icon, a revolutionary and an immortal. 
You couldn’t get much more of a contrast: Cliff Richard two days ago and then John Lydon! Two very different icons of popular music. But then, perhaps not as far apart as you might imagine: “Lydon, the uncompromising man of punk, explained his admiration for Cliff Richard: “My parents had a fantastic collection. It wasn’t just Irish folk tunes and accordion diddly-doos, there was early Beatles and lots of Cliff Richard too. The first record I would have ever wanted to buy was ‘Move It!’ by Cliff Richard. It was a really good song at the time and still is.” Richard may be a bit square now, but he influenced tonnes of acts form the sixties. “Early Cliff was a riotous assembly of sorts, and he had moves that left a good impression on a 5 year old.”” (
The stage was nicely set out with two red velvet chairs, one for John and one for his on tour interviewer. We weren’t allowed to take photographs, hence the image of the stage setup. The evening consisted of two segments separated by a short interval. The entire show lasted around two hours. The first segment was devoted to John telling us some memories of his life. The second and final segment took the form of a question-and-answer session. Attendees were allowed to write questions on special cards and post these in a box, placed at the front of the stage, during the interval.
ways. He talks a lot, and becomes quite emotional, about his wife Nora who has Alzheimers and for whom John is now primary carer. He has been with Nora since the 1970s and she is of German origin and the mother of the late Ari Up of the all girl punk band, 
Guinness which goes down really well (even through one of those horrible paper straws).
Both Lisa and Elaine really enjoyed the show, as did I. A very entertaining evening with an icon of punk rock and popular culture. It doesn’t come much better than Cliff one night and John two nights later. A short taxi ride and we were back home where Lisa and Elaine hoisted me back into my bed with thoughts of John and Edgar Broughton swirling around in my head, no doubt aided by the pint of Guinness. A great night.
This was (I think) my third live streaming event by 
The event was billed as: “Patti Smith returns to Veeps for a very special collaboration with Electric Lady Studios and Spotify: streaming from the legendary recording facility on September 9th. A message from Patti “We are very proud to be part of this very special series at our favourite recording studio. It was a unique challenge and offered us an exciting and innovative platform”.”
Soon Patti did appear and we were treated to a great performance of the songs from the album. The aforementioned album contains a selection of old Patti Smith’s songs and some covers including a wonderful version of Dylan’s “One Too Many Mornings”. The lady was on top form and was backed by her usual musicians including long-time collaborator 
Setlist: April Fool; Ghost Dance; Blame it on the Sun; Broken Flag; Birdland; One Too Many Mornings; Peaceable Kingdom
An invitation from 
So I finally entered the live streaming era. I couldn’t resist, of course, “seeing”
daughter Jessie Paris on keyboards and Tony Shanahan or electric piano.
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