After the Fire October 1979
I saw After The Firs a few times in the 70s. The band formed in the early 70s as a progressive rock band, but by the time of this gig in 1979 they had moved to a more poppy new wave sound. I recall the song Laser Love, which was also the title of their lp of the time.
After The Fire were regulars at The christian-based Greenbelt festival throughout the 70s. Greenbelt ran on the same August bank holiday weekend as the Reading festival, which I always attended. However I’m pretty sure that they defected to Reading one year; think it was in the late 70s. They were also support act on a number of tours. I remember seeing them at a gig at Newcastle Polytechnic in 1977, supporting The Damned. Think that gig was cut short because the crowd were throwing bottles and glasses at The Damned. I found a programme and a copy of their fanzine Friends, in among my programme collection. 
I was surprised to find that they have reformed, are gigging again, and that there is now a Friends website, which is attempting to connect old fans who subscribed to the fanzine.I’m not sure I’m too impressed with the posing on the programme cover! I must take the time to read the Friends magazine, which I’m sure will bring back some memories. I’ve just read through the band biography on the Friends website. This band gigged a lot, and achieved a lot in the late 70s, including headlining The Rainbow Theatre, and touring Europe as support for ELO and for Queen.
Posts Tagged ‘punk’
2 Mar
After the Fire October 1979
28 Feb
Alkatraz Sunderland Polytechnic Wearmouth Hall Jan 21st 1977
Writing this blog, with a post each day based on my ticket and programme collection is an interesting exercise, particularly when I come across a ticket like this. I must admit that I have absolutely no recollection of seeing Alkatraz or even who the band were. But for completeness I am including them, and I decided to see if I could find anything out about this band. The name would suggest a mid 70s heavy metal outfit, perhaps at the start of the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal). Sure enough some googling uncovered the following album description: “ALCATRAZ – DOING A MIDNIGHT – 1976 (UK) heavy progressive. Meanwhile, after his stint in The Neutrons, Will Youatt joined up with his ex-Quicksand partner James Davies to found Alkatraz, a fabulous and all too short-lived band who we’d hoped would carry the welsh rock flag into the eighties. Their one release, Doing A Moonlight, is a really superb example of intelligent and well-executed guitar based rock.” which I found on the orexisofdeath blogspot. The Neutrons were a spin-off from Welsh rock wizards Man, and were well thought of in the 70s. So the Man connections make Alkatraz look an interesting outfit to me. Interesting also to see that DJ support came from the Dave Wood Road Show. I wonder if that was the same Dave Wood who established the local heavy metal label Neat in the late 70s? I only wish I could recall all these gigs, or go back in time and relive them!
3 Feb
Burt Bacharach Edinburgh Playhouse 29 July 2002
Marie and I had tickets to see Burt Bacharach in concert in Manchester in 2000. However, Burt was not well, and the concert was cancelled. Two years later he was due back in the UK, with a show in Edinburgh. We bought tickets straight away and managed to get seats in the middle of the front row. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew all of the great songs, but was unsure how Burt would perform them. 
First up was Scottish singer, Horse, who went down well with the home crowd. Burt, who sat playing a grand piano, was accompanied by a small band and a group of male and female singers who took turns at singing the songs. He performed all of the classics, including (although not necessarily in this order): What the World Needs Now Is Love; Don’t Make Me Over; Walk On By; This Guys In Love With You; I Say A Little Prayer; Trains & Boats & Planes; Wishin’ & Hopin’; Always Something There To Remind Me; I’ll Never Fall In Love Again; Do You Know the Way To San Jose; Anyone Who Had A Heart; Magic Moments; Tower Of Strength; The Look of Love; Arthur’s Theme; What’s New Pussycat; The Man who shot Liberty Valance; Wives & Lovers, He sang the last few songs Alfie; A House Is Not A Home; Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head, himself. His singing voice is not great, but it was good to hear the man himself perform these great songs. It was a privilege to see the master perform all of those timeless classics. I managed to shake his hand as he left the stage. A night I will always remember.
2 Feb
Kate Bush in concert Sunderland Empire April 12th 1979
Kate Bush Sunderland Empire April 12th 1979 
I nearly didn’t go to this gig, but I am so glad I did. Marie and I had tickets to see Thin Lizzy at Newcastle City Hall on the same night. I’d already bought the Thin Lizzy tickets before Kate’s gig was announced. I was quite a fan of Lizzy, and went to every tour; however I also quite fancied seeing what this strange lady singer was like. So we decided to forego the Lizzy concert (I can’t remember what I did with the tickets, I may have sold them or given them away….) and to go and see Kate Bush. [In fact, Lizzy were playing two nights, and in the end I managed to get a ticket for the alternate night, and saw Lizzy one night and Kate Bush the next. Result!] I queued for tickets at the Empire the day they went on sale. There was quite a queue when I arrived and by the time I reached the box office all I could get were a couple of seats to the rear of the circle. But never mind, we were in. 
The show itself was quite different to a normal rock show. It was very theatrical, with dancers and Kate herself doing a lot of dancing. The set featured songs from her first two lps, and the hits to date. The sound was impeccable and the performance faultless. She succeeded in bringing the concept to the stage, and blended pop/music, dance and theatre perfectly. I can picture myself now, looking down from the balcony at Kate and her dancers performing Wuthering Heights. Oh to go back in time and relive the experience. Will she ever perform in this way again. I doubt, but I hope so. If she does I will be there, no question. Setist: Moving; The Saxophone Song; Room for the Life; Them Heavy People; The Man with the Child in His Eyes; Egypt; L’amour Looks Something Like You; Violin; In the Warm Room; Fullhouse; Strange Phenomena; Hammer Horror; Kashka from Baghdad; Don’t Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake; Wow; Coffee Homeground; In Search of Peter Pan; Symphony in Blue; Feel It; Kite; James and the Cold Gun; Oh England My Lionheart; Encore: Wuthering Heights
1 Feb
Arthur Brown in concert 1973 – present
Arthur Brown is a total one-off. From the moment I saw the guy singing Fire on Top of the Pops in 1968, I knew he was something special. I went out and bought his first lp, which had such wonderful prog tracks as Spontaneous Apple Creation, Child of My Kingdom and Fire Poem, featuring Arthur’s manic soaring vocals and the late great Vincent Crane’s rich swirling Hammond organ. I first got to see Arthur Brown live around 1973 at a Kingdom Come gig in Sunderland Polytechnic Wearmouth Hall. That gig was spectacular, and unlike anything I’ver ever see before or since. 
Remember, this was before Alice Cooper and any other rock theatre, and it was sensational. The stage was set with a massive wooden cross as its centre. Arthur was brought on stage and tied to the cross in a simulated crucifixion, where he stayed as he sang the first song. His voice was so strong, deep, loud and operatic in texture. His hair was very long, and the rest of the band looked pretty menacing, with lots of make up. After the first song Arthur leapt from the cross and started dancing around the stage like a madman. At one point in the set they had a section called The Brain, where one of the band crawled into the audience in a massive brain costume (it worked better than it reads…) followed by another member dressed as a priest. The priest then chased the brain around the hall, eventually capturing it while Arthur sang something about religion screwing up your brain. Pretty heavy stuff, but it worked, and blew my mind as a teenager. At the end of the set all of the band departed, leaving Arthur alone on stage singing a strange rambling song which appeared to be totally improvised. After some time the band came back on stage, captured Arthur, put him in a white straitjacket and dragged him off still singing and screaming. I wish I had this on video. Arthur disappeared for a long time from the scene during the 80s, and reappeared in the UK in the late 90s. The next time I saw him live was at a free open air show in Tynemouth. His set was pretty much as it is today, often starting with Dylan’s Hard Rains Gonna Fall, with Arthur wearing a black mask, eerily tapping a long walking stick on the floor as he slowly walks up to the stage. Other regulars in his set are I Put a Spell on You, Time Captives, Spontaneous Apple Creation, and of course Fire. Sometimes he plays covers such as Green Manalishi, Kites and How Strong my Love is. I’ve seen him a few times over the past 10 or so years. Once in his home town of Whitby (see ticket), and also as support act for Robert Plant, The Pretty Things, where he signed my ticket (I will look that out and scan it in for this post) and Hawkwind. He never fails to amaze, his voice is as strong as ever, and the guy has so much energy. The true God of Hellfire!
31 Jan
Argent in concert 1972 – 1974
Argent in concert 1972 – 1974
I first saw Argent in concert at Sunderland Top Rank on a double bill with Beggars Opera. I have a feeling it was a 12 midnight to 4am show that they put on now and then, sometimes on bank holiday weekends. Both bands were heavily organ-based; I had already seen Beggars Opera before, but Argent were new to me. Hold Your Head had just been realised, which places the concert sometime in 1972. I remember everyone standing on the tables in the Rink, singing to Hold Your Head Up; think they played in twice, once in the set and once as an encore. (Update note: I’ve just seen someone selling a poster for the gig on ebay. It was on Sunday 28th/ Monday 29th May 1972, from midnight to 4am. The gig was promoted by Fillmore North ie Geof Docherty. Support for Argent came from local bands Brass Alley and Beckett, and Beggars Opera. Tickets were all of 60p). I was impressed enough to go and see Argent again at Newcastle City Hall in 1973. 
Their lp at that time was “In Deep” which features the track God Gave Rock and Roll to You, later to be covered by Kiss. Argent were back at the City Hall in 1974, boasting a quadrophonic/stereo show, which featured speakers around the hall; I remember I was sitting right next to one on the balcony. The ticket advertised the concert as quadrophonic downstairs and stereo in the balcony! Interesting concept. 
The lp for this tour was Nexus, which was pretty heavy prog rock stuff, with tracks such as The Coming Of Kohoutek (great title) and the mega opus Music From The Spheres, which clocks in at over 8 minutes on the lp and was probably longer live. Alongside these new songs, The Zombies’ Time of the Season also got an outing in concert in those days. By 1974 Russ Ballard had left the band to be replaced by John Verity and guitarist John Grimaldi. Argent was a class act. Some great songs, and some top keyboard form Rod Argent. I remember being jealous of Rod Argent’s (very) long hair, and being fascinated by Russ Ballard’s guitar which had holes drilled through the body. 
A few years after Argent had split, I saw Rod Argent at a free keyboard demonstration concert at Middlesbrough Town Hall. I notice the ticket for the 1974 tour shows that Clancy, who were part of the pub rock scene of the early 70s, were the support act. Argent have reformed recently, and have been playing a few concerts in the past week. I would like to see them again, but haven’t caught up with them yet. (Update note: I found a flyer for the Quadrophonic gig at the City Hall so have added it here). I have since seen Rod a couple of times with Colin Blunstone and with The Zombies, who he tours with now. 
Update on 26/12/12. I’ve added a scan of the poster from the gig at Sunderland Top Rank, which John bought on ebay. This shows that it was a midnight to 4am show, on May 28/29 1972 (late May bank holiday). The Line-up was Argent, Beggars Opera, Beckett and Brass Alley.
30 Jan
Budgie: a much under-rated rock band. Memories of gigs 1972 – 2005
Budgie: a much under-rated band. Memories of gigs 1973 – 2005
My first memories of Budgie were seeing their name on the bill at the 1972 Lincoln festival. I was at the festival and noticed in the programme that they were playing in the Giants of Tomorrow tent. I remember thinking that Budgie was a strange name for a band. I can’t remember if I actually went to see them; I suspect not, as I spend most of the time in front of the main stage. The next time that Budgie came onto my radar was an appearance on The Old Grey Whistle Test. 
They played Breadfan and the riff just blew me away. My friend had the album Never Turn Your Back on a Friend, and I spent hours practising and learning the riff. Not long after that I went to see them at the local Locarno ballroom in Sunderland. Seem to remember they started with Breadfan, and played it again as an encore. But they had other great rock songs: Parents, Zoom Club, In the grip of the tyre-fitters hand. 
The album Never Turn your Back on a Friend is a classic, which I played again and again at the time. Burke Shelley has a unique vocal style. By 1977 Budgie were a regular on the concert hall circuit and often played at Newcastle City Hall. By 1978 guitarist Tony Bourge had left the band, and original drummer Ray Philips had also departed some time ago. Burke Shelley kept the band going, and signed up new guitarist Robert Kendrick. I went to see Budgie twice at the City Hall in 1978. They were still drawing a respectable crowd, but not filling the place, and I was beginning to feel that their time had passed. However, the dawn of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal gave a kick start to their career and a spot at the 1980 Reading Festival, where I saw them play on the Sunday afternoon, kept them in the minds of heavy rock fans.
They returned to headline Reading in 1982, a gig I sadly missed. It was to be over 20 years before I saw Budgie again. In fact the band all but disbanded in the late 80s, concentrating on studio work, and not gigging at all. They returned in the late 90s and started touring the UK again around 10 years ago. Will and I took the chance to see them when they last came to Newcastle in 2005 to play at Trillians Rock Bar, which used to be The Man on the Moon pub in the 70s. 
The set consisted of some new tracks but the old favourites: Parents, Zoom Club, and of course Breadfan all featured. They were loud, in fact very loud, and the guitarist Simon Lees was excellent. Burke Shelley’s screeching vocals were as strong as ever and he played and looked great. It was really good to see them again. Will and I had tickets to see them again at Trillians a few years later, but the gig was sadly cancelled. The last I heard was that Burke Shelley had taken ill while on tour in Poland. The rest of the tour was cancelled and Burke returned home to recover. Hope he’s OK. 
Budgie are often forgotten, and are never given the credit they deserve. They were a pretty good solid rock band, who I remember with some fondness. Hope I get to see them again one day. I’ve just found a very old (and very small) programme from the Never Turn Your Back on a Friend tour. 
I must have got this (probably free) at Sunderland Locarno or Newcastle Mayfair in the early 70s. I didn’t know I had it. I’ve scanned it and added it to the post (see right).
29 Jan
Carlito and The Drug Store Cowboys The Ivy House Sunderland 28 January 2012
Carlito and The Drug Store Cowboys The Ivey House Sunderland 28 January 2012
Carlito (Carl Stephenson) is the son of Sunderland born Jazz drummer Ronnie Stephenson, house drummer at Ronnie Scott’s Club in the 60s. He formed The Drug Store Cowboys in Holland a few years ago, and has recently returned to Sunderland to form a new version of the band. Last night was their debut gig, and was full of friends and relatives. Luke, guitarist in the new Cowboys, is Davy’s mate; so we went along to support them on their first night. Carlito is a high energy performer from the mould of Iggy Pop and Mick Jagger; think of The Damned, The Dead Boys, The New York Dolls, Captain Beefheart and The Stooges all rolled into one. 
The set was a mixture of originals, other than a version of The Velvet Underground’s Waiting for the Man, and the encore of The Stone’s Sympathy for the Devil. Luke also got to perform three of his own songs. The sound mix wasn’t great at times, but Carlito’s manic performance made up for it. Davy got me the setlist. The guys play the White Room in Sunderland soon (see flyer to the left, which Davy designed).
17 Jan
Redcar (Coatham) Bowl: gigs again?
Redcar Bowl: The Adverts; Atomic Rooster and other memories
I read a report the other day that a lady from Teesside is planning to put gigs on at The Redcar Bowl again. It would be great to see that the old Coatham Bowl active again as a concert venue. My mates and I spent some great nights during the 70s, usually Sundays as I recall, at the Coatham Bowl. We often stopped off in The Lobster for a drink before the gig. They used to have a lobster on a string which crawled up the wall when you came in the door. I wonder if it is still there? A lot of great bands played there throughout the 70s, following on from the days of the Redcar Jazz Club, which saw all the greats play in the 60s. I remember gigs by Lindisfarne, Chris Rea, The Flaming Groovies with The Damned supporting, UFO, SAHB without Alex, Split Enz (Finn brothers prior to Crowded House), Magazine (awesome), The Adverts (see ticket stub), Frankie Miller, Meal Ticket, Mr Big, The Rich Kids with Midge Ure and Glen Matlock, The Climax Blues Band, The Jags (the guitarist hit a guy in the audience over the head with his guitar for spitting at him!), Atomic Rooster (see ticket stub), Dave Edmunds Rockpile with Nick Lowe, Destroy all Monsters, X Ray Spex, my personal 70s favourites Penetration, The B52s, Dead Fingers Talk (great band; forgotten and very underrated), and many others that I can’t remember.
The last time I was there was when Will and I went to see Peter Green with the Splinter group, which was probably in the 80s. I have some ticket stubs for gigs that I attended at the Bowl, but for many of the gigs I paid at the door and didn’t get a ticket, or the ticket was given up on the way in. Of the two gigs I have shown tickets for here (I have others which I must dig out), I have little recollection of The Adverts gig, in fact I can’t remember being there at all! I do remember loving the Gary Gilmore’s Eyes single and seeing the The Adverts a few times at Newcastle, once supporting Iggy at the City Hall, and another gig at Newcastle Guildhall, where The Adverts were supported by Penetration and Warsaw, before they became Joy Division. I also think I saw them at the legendary Middlesbrough Rock Garden. The Atomic Rooster gig was part of a reunion tour, as I recall. Vincent Crane, who is sadly no longer with us, was a master of the swirling Hammond organ, who served his apprenticeship with Arthur Brown. He would do an organ solo called Gershatzer (thanks John for the correct spelling!), his piece de resistance, during which he would collapse and fall to the floor under the organ. The first time I saw him collapse I thought it was for real, but after seeing him do so a few times, I began to realise it was part of the act! I love 60s Hammond solos, and Vincent was one of the best.
A series of gigs are planned (see http://www.roundelpromotions.co.uk ) with others to follow. Good luck with the gigs; see you at The Hollies in August. Hope you do manage to get The Damned to come back to play in Redcar; it’s about time I saw them again. I’ll remember to stand near the back, I don’t want the Captain to pee on us as he did (naked) at the Rock Garden.
Update on March 4th 2012. I don’t know what has happened, but the Roundel Promotions website doesn’t seem to exist anymore and I read on a local news site that the gigs are not going ahead as planned, which is a shame. I was looking forward to seeing The Hollies in Redcar, but I guess that’s not going to happen now. Does anyone know what happened to the plans?
15 Jan
David Bowie Roker Park Glass Spider Tour 23 June 1987
David Bowie Roker Park Glass Spider Tour 23 June 1987
Support Acts: Big Country
“Good evening Newcastle”, said David Bowie as he took the stage at this gig. Big mistake for a gig in Sunderland; rivalry between the two towns run deep, particularly in the context of football, and saying this in Roker Park, the home of Sunderland football, was not a good idea. It was to be an omen for the rest of the gig, which wasn’t one of Bowie’s best. In theory, this should have been a great gig. Bowie has a great band, with Peter Frampton coming in on guitar. He had promised that this tour would see a return to theatricals of the scale of the US Diamond Dogs tour. There was great anticipation for the gigs, which ultimately played to 3m people, exceeding the Serious Moonlight tour.
The day was wet, as I recall, and Big Country went down a storm, perhaps better than Bowie. Bowie’s setlist focussed on his more recent catalogue, and particularly his latest lp Never Let Me Down, ignoring the Ziggy era. The stage set was Ok, but somewhat silly, and personally I didn’t think it was as impressive as promised. At one point Bowie came down from the stage on a swing, and the spider just looked strange (but was it a forerunner of the recent U2 stage set up?). The programme for the gig (shown left) was obviously produced for the word tour, with lots of glossy photos of David, and nothing about the support acts; there was also an edition of the Sunderland Echo produced specially for the event (see below).
Setlist: Up the Hill Backwards; Glass Spider; Day-In Day-Out; Bang Bang; Absolute Beginners; Loving the Alien; China Girl; Fashion; Scary Monsters; All the Madmen; Never Let Me Down; Big Brother; ’87 and Cry; Heroes; Time Will Crawl; Beat Of Your Drum; Sons of the Silent Age; Dancing With the Big Boys; Zeroes; Let’s Dance; Fame; Encore: Blue Jean; Modern Love. Towards the end of the gig Bowie said: “I’m glad the rain has kept off”. It then poured down during the encore. Not a good day; I was slowly losing faith in Bowie, and I was to suffer further disappointment at a Tin Machine gig a few years later (see my blog of a few days ago). Tomorrow I’ll report on The Reality tour which I caught in Dublin in 2003, and which restored my faith in Bowie.
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