Gary U S Bonds Newcastle City Hall 1981
Some gigs I remember very well, some I hardly recall at all. This is one that makes me strain my memory. Gary U S Bonds had hit the charts in the early 60s with New Orleans and Quarter To Three which was a No 1 in the USA. In the early 1980s, he had a career resurgence through a collaboration with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, with some of the songs on his new album being written by Steve Van Zandt. Apparently Bruce and Steve had happened to be in a bar where Gary was playing, and were impressed enough to work with him, thus giving him, in effect, a new career. This UK tour came off the back of this renewed interest and a comeback single This Little Girl. I was obviously interested enough to go along to the City Hall gig to how Mr Bonds shaped up. I recall the place being pretty empty. I can remember him playing New Orleans, Quarter To Three, and I Want You To Be My Baby, and putting on a good showing. Gary is now over 70 years old and still performing. Good on him.
Posts Tagged ‘R&B’
9 Apr
Gary U S Bonds Newcastle City Hall 1981
8 Apr
Bo Diddley Sunderland 1982
Bo Diddley
Woooh Bo Diddley!!! I was lucky enough to see the great Bo Diddley when he came to town to play a gig at Close Encounters nightclub in 1982. Close Encounters was previously the BoilerMakers Club, a well known Sunderland workman’s club, and is now a venue for Sunderland University students. I’d seen the great man once before on a rock n roll bill with Carl Perkins in the 70s. Bo rocked the place, strutting his stuff with his famous red cigar box guitar, and treating us to such gems as Who Do You Love and Hey Bo Diddley. The place was packed and we all sang along. There was a good showing by local teds who turned up in force, all decked out in their drapes, and showing off some great rock n roll bopping. Support came from local blues acts Ray Stubbs and his Blues Band, and the Hokum HotShots, both of whom are still paying around their native North East.
7 Apr
The Allman Brothers Knebworth 1974
The Allman Brothers, The Doobie Brothers, Van Morrison, The Mahavishnu Orhcestra, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Tim Buckley.
Knebworth Park 1974 The Bucolic Frolic
This was the first of the great 1970s one day festivals to be held at Knebworth Park. I went along with my mates John and Gillie, catching a bus to Stevenage and them making our way to the site on the Saturday morning. We arrived just in time for Tim Buckley, who came on early in the day just as the crowds were entering the site. I remember his deep booming voice echoing around the field, but little else about his set. Next up was the Sensational Alex Harvey band, who were already a favourite of ours, and a great festival crowd pleaser. 
We made our way to the front to get a good view of Alex, Zal and the others who started with Faith Healer, which was still quite a new song at the time. Alex was an amazing front man, had no fear at all and was also a bit of a philosopher: “Don’t pish in the water. Don’t buy any bullets , don’t make any bullets and don’t shoot any bullets”. You couldn’t get more of a contrast than Alex Harvey followed by John McLaughlin and his Mahavishnu Orhcestra, but such a rich mix of music was quite commonplace at 70s events. John was dressed entirely in white and he and his band took us through a wonderful blend of jazz, rock and classical music which swept through the field. The Mahavishnu Orhcestra was a big band, featuring Jean Luc Ponty, who had recently made his name playing with Frank Zappa. Van Morrison was just amazing, and at his peak, in the early 70s, and his set at Knebworth was great. His band on the day was a three piece, which was very small for Van, and a contrast to the Caledonia Soul Orchestra who I saw him with a few weeks later. 
I was never a big fan of the Doobie Brothers, they were a bit too funky for me, however John recalls them as the highlight of the day. They went down ok with the crowd, but by then everyone was waiting for the headliners. Jessica and Ramblin’ Man were real favourites that summer, played at all the festivals, and The Allman Brothers Band had a reputation for being THE Jamming band, renowned for playing long sets and mega versions of their songs, particularly Whipping Post. They didn’t let the crowd down. Gillie, John and I spent some time wandering around the site that day, and Jessica was constantly playing in the background. The Allmans came on late and played until well after midnight. Greg Alllman said at some point during the set “We are going to play every damn song we know” after continued shouts for Whipping Post. We slept the night on the site and got the bus back home the next morning, running into some of John’s school friends on the bus. Allman Brothers setlist: Wasted Words; Done Somebody Wrong; One Way Out; Stormy Monday; Midnight Rider; Blue Sky; In Memory of Elizabeth Reed; Statesboro Blues; Come and Go Blues; Ramblin’ Man. Encore: Trouble No More; Jessica; You Don’t Love Me / Les Brers In A Minor. Second Encore: Whipping Post. Thanks to John for the scan of the flyer. John comments that is was overall a very exciting day, with a diverse, even eclectic, line up which happened a lot a the time and gave everyone a chance to appreciate lots of different styles of music.
6 Apr
The Boomtown Rats Newcastle City Hall 1978 – 1982
The Boomtown Rats Newcastle City Hall 1978 – 1982
Blogging every day is turning up a lot of memories for me. I didn’t realise how many times I’d seen the Boomtown Rats. I must have seen them on quite a number of occassions, as I found four tickets and programmes from Newcastle City Hall in my collection, covering the period 1978 to 1982. Actually, the first time I saw the band was before those City Hall gigs, in 1977, at Newcastle Mayfair. I remember that gig well. 
It was originally going to be at Middlesbrough Rock Garden and still appears as such in published Rats gig lists, however, it was moved to Newcastle at a couple of days notice, I have no idea why. It was a Friday night, which was normally a heavy rock night at the Mayfair and the ballroom was filled with a mixture of rock fans and punks. The Newcastle crowd gave the Rats a pretty hard time, with a constant stream of beer and spit being flung at them. 
The poor keyboard player, Johnnie Fingers, who was famed for wearing pyjamas on stage, was completely soaked right through. In the end Geldof called a halt to the show and the band left the stage without completing their set. Looking After No 1 had just been released at the time and the band were very much in the news and up and coming. They were the first new wave / punk band to appear on Top of the Pops. 
The next tour, around the time of Rat Trap brought them to the City Hall. A DVD exists of the Hammersmith show from that tour including live performances of the hit singles Looking After No.1, She’s So Modern, Like Clockwork and Rat Trap, along with other Rats favorites such as Joey’s On The Streets Again (very Springsteenish as I recall) and the audience participation number Do The Rat. They toured pretty constantly over the next few years, on the back of a string of single successes, reaching a peak with the great I Don’t Like Mondays in 1979. I loved that single, and recall being very excited about seeing them on tour at that time. They were great in concert, Geldof a ball of energy, and the band really tight. 
I also saw them at Knebworth on a show with Frank Zappa, The Tubes and Peter Gabriel, where they seemed out of place and performed early on the day, low down on the bill. My last Boomtown Rats experience was at Live Aid in Wembley Stadium, by which point Geldof had become involved in other things and the band was coming to an end. I’ve never been to see Bob Geldof in concert since, although I did see him at Live 8 in Hyde Park. 
I also went along to see him receive an honorary doctorate from Newcastle University as a ceremony at the Sage Gateshead, which was a different, and interesting experience. I found a setlist from 1979 on the setlist.com site, which reminded me of some of their old tracks
: Blind Date; (I Never Loved) Eva Braun; Neon Heart; Me and Howard Hughes; Don’t Believe What You Read; Like Clockwork; Rat Trap/Kicks/Joey’s On The Street Again; Living in an Island; (She’s Gonna) Do You In; 
She’s So Modern; Looking After Number 1; Mary of the 4th Form; Do the Rat. Encore: I Don’t Like Mondays. Looking back, they had some pretty great singles. I’d forgotten Like Clockwork, I can picture Geldof tick tocking the intro. Do The Rat always signalled some pretty manic dancing. 
To summarise my thoughts, the Boomtown Rats were a fun live band, high energy and much more pop than they were punk or new wave. Geldof was amazing on stage, a dynamic front man who truly engaged the audience. For some reason I’d almost forgotten them, or how good they were at the time. I still play stuff by contemporaries the Clash, Jam, Damned and the Pistols, but would never play a Boomtown Rats track. Perhaps that something I should remedy. The Boomtown Rats have reformed, without Geldof, in recent years, and have toured a couple of times. I wonder what they are like these days.
5 Apr
The Adverts, Penetration, Warsaw (Joy Division), Harry Hack Newcastle Guildhall 1977
The Adverts, Penetration, Warsaw (Joy Division) New Wave Bop Newcastle 1977
By 1977 I was seriously into punk and new wave, and the new bands were starting to play gigs up in the North East. I still liked classic rock bands, but was also excited by the urgency and immediacy of punk. This gig was held at Newcastle Guildhall, a venue on Newcastle Quayside, which no longer holds concerts and is now a Tourist Information office. Punk was still in its early days. The Adverts had released One Chord Wonders as a single, but had yet to release Gary Gilmore’s Eyes. Penetration were starting to become known locally, but had yet to land a record deal. Penetration were quite a favourite of mine at the time. Marie and I saw them many times, and often ran into Pauline and the rest of the band at local punk gigs. This gig was memorable for another reason however. The first band up was a new combo who had come from Manchester to play. They were called Warsaw and Pauline and Gary from Penetration told us that they had played with them in Manchester a few days before at The Electric Circus. They had been impressed by them and had invited them up to Newcastle to play the Guildhall. Thus, as a late addition to the bill, there are not listed on the flyer.
Marie and I arrived early primarily to make sure that we caught Penetration’s set, and as a result we were there for Warsaw. Warsaw were, of course, to become Joy Division some months later. I would love to be able to report that we experienced something momentous that evening. However, my recollections were of a band who were nervous, and obviously still learning to play. I don’t recall Ian Curtis displaying any of the manic dancing way that would become his trademark. Rather, I remember a shy guy who appeared uncomfortable on stage. I saw Joy Division a year or so later supporting the Buzzcocks and Ian was incredible; however what we saw at the Guildhall was a new, young band playing pretty average garage punk songs. Reports of the time suggest that they will have played early songs: Reaction and Leaders of Men. A recording of Warsaw playing Reaction at Middlesbrough Rock Garden exists, and can be found on YouTube. Next up was local band Harry Hack and the Big G; I recall one song about “Brown Dog” (Newcastle Brown Ale). Pentration were, as always, excellent; they had some great songs which I was starting to know, having seen them many times. The Adverts were also a good live act. TV Smith was a dynamic front man, and Gaye Advert stood quietly alongside him playing bass. Great memories. I note that the flyer states “all bands to be recorded”. I wonder if any recording exists. I would love to hear it.
Many thanks to Jimmy for the image of the poster, which he owns. Poster added 16/09/24
3 Apr
The Stiff Tours 1977 and 1978: Be Stiff 1978
The Stiff Tours 1977 and 1978
The Stiff tours were a highlight of the late 70s rock calendar. These events featured a selection of artists from Stiff records, travelling around the UK dropping into concert halls and university student unions. The first tour was known as the Live Stiffs Tour or 5 Live Stiffs, and took place in late 1977. It boasted a great line-up with Elvis Costello and The Attractions, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Wreckless Eric, Nick Lowe (featuring Dave Edmunds) and Larry Wallis. A bunch of mates and I caught the tour at Middlesbrough Town Hall. At the time punk was really taking off around the UK, and the old town hall was packed. I remember seeing Elvis Costello outside talking to a group of kids; my mate Norm recalls him giving them a penny for the guy. 
We witnessed some great music with wonderful performances from Elvis and Ian Dury that night. Ian stole the show; he was at his height at the time, performing material from New Boots and Panties!!: “Sweet Gene Vincent”, “Billericay Dickie”, and “Clevor Trever”. The gig ended with everyone on stage performing Dury’s “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll”. The tour called at Newcastle Polytechnic a couple of weeks later. I enjoyed the show so much, I went along again, this time with Marie. Marie has a better memory than me on this gig, and can recall us chatting to Elvis Costello in the union bar. She swears that Captain Sensible was with him, holding court to a few of us, in a typical mad mood, and ate an entire packet of crisps, including the bag, all in one go. I do have a vague memory of meeting the Captain, but couldn’t be certain that it was the same night as the Stiffs tour. I wish I had kept a diary… The second tour, the Be Stiff 78 tour, again comprised five acts: Wreckless Eric, Lene Lovich, Jona Lewie, Mickey Jupp and Rachel Sweet. Norm and I caught that gig at Newcastle University. The line up wasn’t as strong as 1977, however, it saw Lene Lovich break through to chart stardom, and Wreckless Eric’s “Whole Wide World” is still a favourite of mine.
2 Apr
Pat Benatar Newcastle City Hall January 1983
Pat Benatar Newcastle City Hall January 1983
I only saw Pat Benatar once, at Newcastle City Hall in 1983 on a short UK tour. At the time she was a hard rock act; this was before her rise to mega stardom, and pop/ adult oriented rock. I knew a few of her songs at the time, notably Hit Me With Your Best Shot and Shadows of the Night”. Her big smash “Love is a Battefield” was yet to be released, although she may well have performed it. I remember the gig being a pretty good rock show. 
Support came from Brian Connolly of the Sweet, who was at the time fronting his new band called Connolly’s Encore, which consisted of ex-Argent guitarist John Verity and Terry Uttley, bass player from Smokie. I found a backstage pass on the floor after the gig, which I still have (see left). I googled a setlist from a March 1983 concert in the USA on setlist.fm, which was: Anxiety; Love Is a Battlefield; Hell Is for Children; Promises in the Dark; Precious Time; Fire and Ice; You Better Run; Heartbreaker; I Need a Lover; Treat Me Right; Shadows of the Night; Hit Me with Your Best Shot. I guess the set at the City Hall will have been similar.
1 Apr
Jack Bruce & his Big Blues Band Newcastle Tyne Theatre March 31st 2012
Jack Bruce and his Big Blues Band Tyne Theatre
Excellent show by Jack Bruce last night in Newcastle. Jack has assembled a first class seven piece band consisting of ace guitarist Tony Remy, drummer Frank Tontoh, keyboardist Paddy Milner, second bassist Nick Cohen, trombonist Winston Rollins, tenor saxophonist Derek Nash, and trumpeter Paul Newton. They really were great throughout with guitarist Tony worthy of mention for some exception solos. Jack took to the stage around 8.20pm sitting alone at a piano stage left. He was soon joined by the rest of the band, and then picked up his fretless bass and took up his place centre stage. The set was a mixture of solo material, blues and Cream classics. Quite a few were from the Songs For A Tailor lp. He introduced Neighbour Neighbour as “a song I used to sing with Graham Bond, back then, before I was born”. This guy goes back some. Theme from an Imaginary Western was performed beautifully, Jack’s voice sometimes straining a little to reach the high notes, yet coming over as powerful and haunting as ever. 
The blues of Spoonful and Born Under a Bad Sign gave the band a chance to shine, and featured some excellent solos. We’re Going Wrong is a great song, perhaps Cream’s best, and as relevant today as it was in the 60s. The last few songs were the almost inevitable White Room and Sunshine of Your Love. Its great that the old guys from the 60s are still around touring, and playing to an audience that, looking around the Tyne Theatre last night, is growing old with them. Jack suffered from a period of ill health around ten years ago, but looks great these days. Long may it be the case. Modern technology even reaches the old guys. You could buy a CD of the show at the desk (actually I’m not sure it was last night’s show you could buy or a recording of a previous night). The show finished around 10.15pm, leaving plenty of time for fishcake and chips from the wonderful local chippy on the corner. Setlist (something like): Can you follow?; Morning Story;You Burned the tables on me; Neighbour Neighbour; Child Song; Weird of Hermiston; Folk Song; Theme from an Imaginary Western; Tickets to Waterfalls; Spoonful; Born under a Bad Sign; We’re Going Wrong; Deserted Cities; White Room; Sunshine of Your Love. Encore: Politician. Just ran into an old mate Jim in the local supermarket. He’d also been at the gig last night and had spotted me there. He said that he had gone along with an open mind, not knowing what to expect, but had really enjoyed it.
31 Mar
Jack Bruce Band with Mick Taylor and Carla Bley Newcastle City Hall 1975
Jack Bruce band with Mick Taylor and Carla Bley Newcastle City Hall
A strange grouping this one. Take an ex Rolling Stone guitarist, an ex Cream bassist and a jazz keyboard player and what do you get? Actually what you did get was quite an intriguing concert experience, which as I recall promised a little more than it actually delivered on the night. I knew, of course, of Jack Bruce and Mick Taylor, but I had not heard of Carla Bley, or her recent Escalator On The Hill album, before going to this gig. The trio were short lived and never made it into the studio to record an lp, although a live album of the band does exist. 
The press of the time said: “The Bruce Band will play a smooth synthesis of diverse styles, forging ahead with a firm grasp of ‘60’s rock and ‘70’s space jazz. The personnel is all-star, but the band belongs to Jack, whose music cements the band’s foundations.” Based on a live album and reviews of the time the set will probably have consisted of something like: Can You Follow?; Morning Story; Politician; Keep It Down; Pieces Of Mind; Tickets To Waterfalls/Weird Of Hermiston/Post War; Spirit; Sunshine Of Your Love. I’m off to see Jack Bruce at the Tyne Theatre tonight; I’ll post a review tomorrow.
30 Mar
Cream The Royal Albert Hall London 6 May 2005
Cream The Royal Albert Hall London 2005
This was a big gig for me. I’d watched the Cream farewell concert on TV in the late 60s and was just mesmerised by Clapton. His hair, the psychedelic painted SG, the “woman” tone he described in the film, it all seemed just sensational to me, as a kid at the time. I so wished that I’d had the chance to see Cream. I remember older boys at school talking about seeing them at a gig in Newcastle and saying how great they were. I was so jealous of them. I bought Goodbye Cream and played it again and again. I saw Clapton many times in the 70s and 80s, and Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker with their solo projects. But to see Cream was a great dream, an ambition.
So when the rumours of a reunion came to fruition and it was announced that the three legends would come together for a series of shows in London I was determined to go. I was nervous about getting tickets, and stressed about it for days before they went on sale. On the morning that they did go on sale I had two phones and a computer to hand, and got straight through to the Albert Hall box office on one of the phones, managing to my joy to buy tickets some ten rows from the stage. I then waited in anticipation for the gig. Would it be as good as I hoped? Marie came with me, and we both thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Judging by the American accents in evidence, the Albert Hall was full of fans who had travelled a long way for the honour of seeing this legendary band play for one more time. The atmosphere was strange, everyone was quiet in anticipation. It was as if the crowd couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Quiet, almost religious. The set covered everything I could have wished for with a selection from all of the albums. Clapton was god again, Jack sang beautifully and Ginger pounded away on his drums. 
The crowd stayed in their seats until almost the end. For Sunshine of Your Love, which was the encore, we were all up and we managed to get right to the front. Marie was leaning on the stage directly in front of Jack Bruce and I was just behind her. You can even see us on the DVD if you look closely. A night that I will remember for ever. Sometimes your dreams do come true, and sometimes they are as good as you dreamed they would be. Happy days. Setlist: I’m So Glad; Spoonful; Outside Woman Blues; Pressed Rat and Wart Hog; Sleepy Time Time; N.S.U.; Badge; Politician; Sweet Wine; Rollin’ And Tumblin’; Stormy Monday; Deserted Cities of the Heart; Born Under a Bad Sign; We’re Going Wrong; Crossroads; Sitting on Top of the World; White Room; Toad. Encore:Sunshine of Your Love.
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