The Rolling Stones
St James Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, June 23rd 1982
Support Acts: J Geils Band, George Thorogood and the Destroyers. Setlist: Under My Thumb; When the Whip Comes Down; Let’s Spend the Night Together; Shattered Neighbours; Black Limousine; Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me); Twenty Flight Rock; Going to a Go-Go; Chantilly Lace; Let Me Go; Time is on My Side; Beast of Burden; You Can’t Always Get What You Want; Little T&A; Tumbling Dice; She’s So Cold; Hang Fire; Miss You; Honky Tonk Women; Brown Sugar; Start Me Up; Jumpin’ Jack Flash. Encore: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction 
The Rolling Stones were on tour across Europe again in 1982, some 6 years after their last UK appearances, in support of their album, Tattoo You. UK Fans had waited a long time for this tour, and anticipation was high. The tour took in a mix of venues from small concerts halls in Scotland, to stadiums in Newcastle and London. I queued for hours outside St James Park to get tickets for the Newcastle gig. People slept all night outside the ground and the queue weaved its way around all the surrounding streets. After a few hours in the queue I managed to get tickets for the gig. This was the first gig at the Newcastle ground and the local fans were determined to give the band a good reception. Support came from George Thorogood and the J Geils Band, who had recently had a hit with their single Centrefold. The Stones started with Under My Thumb, which was quite unexpected for me. I’d become used to them opening with big hits like Jumpin’ Jack Flash. The show was quite long, although not as long as their Knebworth set. We started off sitting in the stand opposite the stage, and spent some time wandering around the pitch. The gig was general admission, so you could wander around the stadium freely. The Stones played well, but not great, and the sound wasn’t too hot. I missed the intimacy of the City Hall gigs.
Reports from the time suggest that there was friction in the band, particularly between Mick and Keith, and the shows got mixed reviews. This was their first mega tour of Europe, and followed on from a massively successful US tour, which was the biggest grossing tour of 1981. This was the start of a pattern for the Stones, of stadium gigs, based on a massive stage show, every few years.
Posts Tagged ‘R&B’
20 Feb
The Rolling Stones St James Park Newcastle 1982
19 Feb
The Rolling Stones Knebworth 21 August 1976
The Rolling Stones Knebworth 1976
The Rolling Stones, 10cc, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Todd Rundgren’s Utopia , Hot Tuna , Don Harrison Band.
By 1976 The Rolling Stones were reaching the peak of their success. The Knebworth festival of that year was a massive event of celebration. The band had sold out a big UK tour, and this show was added to satisfy the huge demand for tickets. I’d seen their Glasgow Apollo show a few weeks earlier, but couldn’t resist going to see them again at this big show. Lots of my friends were going, it seemed everyone I talked to was going to make the trip south for this gig. I drove down with Marie and my friend John arriving the day before the gig. I’d been to the 1974 (Allman Brothers) and 1975 (Pink Floyd) Knebworth concert, but the crowd for The Stones was much larger; with a capacity crowd of 100,000 attending the festival. The supporting bill was pretty strong: Todd Rundgren put in a good set (I Saw The LIght was one of my favourite tunes at the time), and Lynyrd Skynrd almost stole the show with a mega version of Freebird, and some superb guitar dueling. 10CC were OK, and played all their hits. The stage was a giant tongue, based on the Stones logo, and two large screens projected the stage action to the back of the crowd. There was a long, long, boring wait for the Stones who came on very late. The Stones played a marathon set and delved deep into their back catalogue, playing many songs that hadn’t featured in their set since the 60s. The sound wasn’t too good in some parts of the field, and although they were fantastic it wasn’t the best Stones performance, but it was a great event. 
Setlist: Satisfaction; Ain’t Too Proud to Beg; If You Can’t Rock Me / Get Off of My Cloud; Hand of Fate; Around and Around; Little Red Rooster; Stray Cat Blues; Hey Negrita; Hot Stuff; Fool to Cry; Star Star; Let’s Spend the Night Together; You Gotta Move; You Can’t Always Get What You Want; Dead Flowers; Route 66; Wild Horses; Honky Tonk Women; Country Honk; Tumbling Dice; Happy; Nothing from Nothing; Outta Space; Midnight Rambler; It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll; Brown Sugar; Rip This Joint; Jumpin’ Jack Flash; Street Fighting Man. 
Annoying, and unusually, I don’t have my ticket stub for this event (although I do have my programme); I’m pretty sure the whole ticket was taken from me at the gate. This musn’t have been the case at other gates, as stubs do come up on ebay. I must try and get one sometime. Update on May 12th 2012. I bought a stub on ebay! See scan to right. Thanks to John for sending me the poster scan.
18 Feb
April Wine late 1970s rock
April Wine came on to my radar in the late 1970s and early 80s. They appeared alongside the (re)emergence of heavy rock with the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal). The only song I can remember by them is Before the Dawn, which I’ve just watched on YouTube. Check it out, its a great piece of heavy melodic rock. I went along to see all of the upcoming NWOBHM bands, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Saxon, Samson. 
It was a good time for rock; you could see some great rock bands in small sweaty clubs, and concert halls up and down the country before some of them they moved into arenas. Looking at the programme for one of the April Wine tours, I see that the support acts were Angel Witch and Sledgehammer, with heavy metal DJ Neil Kay. Those were the days!
April Wine came over as support for Sammy Hagar, and then quickly headlined their own tour. They were also on the bill at the first Monsters of Rock festival at Donington, so they were very much part of the early 80s heavy rock scene. They are still performing in their home of Canada, and come to Europe now and then. 
April Wine started in the late 60s so are very much a veteran rock band. Its good to see that bands like this are still performing.
17 Feb
Joan Armatrading
Joan Armatrading worked very hard at her craft in the early to mid 70s, supporting national tours by artists such as Supertramp, and gigging up and down the UK. She was one of those artists who popped up a lot as a support act, and at festivals, and her music grew on me over the years. I saw her at Newcastle City Hall once or twice in support slots, and also remember seeing her perform low down on the bill at the 1975 Reading Festival. 
In 1976 she had her fist hit with Love and Affection, and started to come more into the public eye. I first saw her headlining at the City Hall in 1977. By then her set featured some great songs, which were becoming well known to me, including the beautiful Willow and Down To Zero. Support for her 1977 tour came from the late Kim Beacon, a Scottish singer with a great blues/soul voice, who was once a member of String Driven thing.
I next saw Joan on her 1980 UK tour. By this time she had moved from a jazz oriented style to a rockier pop sound, and had a hit with the single Me Myself I. Support for the 1980 tour was Richard Digance. Joan’s music continued to grew on me over the years, and each time I saw her she put on a strong, passionate performance, with some lovely ballads. 
I haven’t seen her in concert since those days, which is something I need to put right. Joan has released 17 studio albums, and received many awards and accolades over the years since she emerged in the 70s. I’ve read some reviews of recent concerts and they suggest that she is certainly still worth seeing. She’s coming to the Sage in Gateshead later this year. I really must take the time to go and see her.
16 Feb
Mick Abrahams Sunderland 1977
Quite a nice looking ticket for this gig, and an intriguing event. This was a guitar demonstration by Mick Abrahams ex-Jethro Tull; billed as “Top London Session Man”. The event was organised by White Sound equipment who were a local guitar shop run by a guy called Bill White. Entry was free, and the idea was that it would promote the shop and Yamaha guitars. The gig was held upstairs in the Barnes hotel, and Mick played a number of guitars, trading some pretty neat licks. I recall a few gigs of this nature in the 70s, one at Newcastle Guildhall with the great Big Jim Sullivan playing guitar, and another at Middlesbrough Town Hall with Rod Argent demonstrating electric pianos and keyboards. They don’t seem to have such events these days. Mick Abrahams hasn’t been too well lately and is having a rest from gigging. Hope he’s well and able to gig again soon.
14 Feb
The Animals reunion Newcastle 1983
The Animals reunion Newcastle 1983
The Animals reformed in the early 80s for a tour, and to record a new album. This was the original line up of Eric Burdon, Alan Price, Hilton Valentine, Chas Chandler and John Steele, augmented by a few other musicians including Zoot Money. The tour took in two North East dates at Newcastle City Hall and Middlesbrough Town Hall. I went along to the City Hall date.
The set was a mix of classic hits, such as Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood; House Of The Rising Sun; It’s My Life; Don’t Bring Me Down and We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place, plus R&B standards and tracks from the new lp. I remember I was somewhat disappointed that there weren’t more older tracks in the set. Perhaps not surprisingly they didn’t play any of the later Eric Burdon tracks which were hits for later versions of the Animals, such as Good Times, When I was Young etc. It was great to see the original line up playing back in their home town.
12 Feb
Van Morrison The Sage Gateshead 11 Feb 2012
Van Morrison The Sage Gateshead 11 Feb 2012
“No cameras. If anyone takes a photograph he says he will walk straight off stage” the lady at the door told me as I entered the concert last night. Welcome to a gig by the enigma that is Van Morrison. I was seated in a box to the left of the stage, just a few feet away from where the great man would stand. The gig had been sold out for weeks; Van’s legend is as strong as ever, and he is filling halls out again, as it should be. Spot on at 8pm as advertised the band took the stage, followed by Van who walked on from stage left playing a saxophone. They were straight into Brown Eyed Girl; a version with a jazzier feel than the original. Morrison was singing well and you don’t get much tighter than this band. So far so good, I thought. I’ve enjoyed the last couple of Van gigs that I’ve seen, and expected this to be similar. But it was so much better. Last night, I could sense that Van was getting more into the performance as the night went on. Maybe it was because I was close to the stage and could clearly see the expression on Van’s face, but I think it was more than that. I swear I saw him smile a few times, and by the last few songs he was singing with a commitment and passion that I haven’t seen for many years. Between songs he was having some little chats with members of band, particularly the bass player; obviously giving them some instructions as to the next song and the arrangement. I’d love to be able to hear what he was saying. Van himself played sax and harp on several numbers and on Haunts Of Ancient Peace he sat and played at a keyboard, something I can’t recall seeing recently. He even introduced one of the songs and asked us to thank the band several times. The band, by the way, are excellent; switching from jazz to blues to soul, with some great solos, whether it be by the sax player, guitarist or the pianist. By the last song, the old Them classic, Gloria, they were really rocking, and Van was belting out the lyrics. He just gets better. Setlist: Brown Eyed Girl; Higher Than The World; Not Feeling It Anymore/Hurting Game; These Dreams Of You; Enlightenment; All In The Game/No Plan B/No Safety Net; Real Real Gone/You Send Me; Crazy love; Moondance; Into The Mystic; Precious Time; Haunts Of Ancient Peace; In The Garden/Holy Guardian Angel; Fair Play; Ballerina; Help Me; Gloria. I told a guy at work, who used to go and see Van a lot, that I was going to the gig. He told me that he had been disappointed by Van’s performances in the past, and wouldn’t go again. He missed a treat. Wish I had tickets for York tonight, but I checked and its sold out, which is as it should be. Come back soon Van.
11 Feb
The Rolling Stones Glasgow Apollo May 10th 1976
The Rolling Stones Glasgow Apollo May 10th 1976
I saw the Stones for the third time in Glasgow in 1976. My friend John was at University in Edinburgh and bought the tickets. There was a big sramble for tickets for this tour. I seem to recall that I applied for tickets for Stafford I think, and wasn’t successful; and was delighted to hear that John had managed to get a couple for the Glasgow show. This was my first visit to the legendary, and sadly missed, Apollo; I went to see a few bands there in the 70s. I drove up to Edinburgh to pick John up, and then we drove across to Glasgow. Support came from the American funk band The Meters, who were ok but didn’t stand out to me. We had good seats up in the circle with a great view of the stage. 
The Stones came on and started with Honky Tonk Women. The crowd in the circle were quite reserved, staying in their seats throughout. This was the Stones at the height of their popularity and the start of the mega tour. It was also their first outing with new guitarist Ronnie Wood. Setlist: Honky Tonk Women; If You Can’t Rock Me / Get Off of My Cloud; Hand of Fate; Hey Negrita; Ain’t Too Proud to Beg; Fool to Cry; Hot Stuff; Star Star; You Gotta Move; You Can’t Always Get What You Want; Happy; Tumbling Dice; Nothing from Nothing; Outta Space; 
Midnight Rambler; It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It); Brown Sugar; Jumpin’ Jack Flash; Street Fighting Man. The Stones were great that night, and a Stones concert was becoming an event as much as a concert. After the gig, John and I drove back to Edinburgh and then I drive home to Sunderland. I had a busy week of concerts that week. I’d driven to London and back at the weekend to see David Bowie at Wembley, saw the Stones in Glasgow on Monday and then drove to Birmingham later the same week to see Kiss on their first UK tour. John, Marie and I saw the Stones a few months later at their massive Knebworth show. I’ll write a review of that gig soon.
5 Feb
Maggie Bell and Stone the Crows in concert 1971 – 1974
Maggie Bell and Stone the Crows in concert 1971 – 1974
I saw Stone the Crows in concert three times in 1971 and 1972. The first time was in late 1971 at Sunderland Locarno. This was the original band with Maggie Bell on vocals, and her partner Les Harvey (Alex’s younger brother) on guitar, before he was sadly electrocuted and killed on stage at Swansea Top Rank, by touching a live mike. They also had James Dewar on bass, who went on to have great success with Robin Trower. Maggie was often, and not unfairly, compared to Janis Joplin at the time, and the band were a great blues rock act. Although they were a great live act, they still weren’t that well known, and I recall standing near the front in a pretty small crowd watching Maggie, dressed in a denim jacket and jeans, tearing her way through the set. There was a hard edge about Maggie and her singing, and you felt that her blues matched the tough street image that Glasgow had at the time. I next saw Stone The Crows at the Lincoln Festival, which was their first performance after Les’ death, and Steve Howe from Yes stood in on guitar. 
The Lincoln performance was highly emotional and the crowd gave Maggie the strongest reception of the day, sensing how real the blues was to her that night, coming only a few weeks after she had lost her boyfriend. By September 1972, the band had a permanent new member in ex-Thunderclap Newman young guitar prodigy Jimmy McCulloch, a new album Ontinuous Performance, and a UK tour which called at the City Hall. Support at the City Hall came from Tennent and Morrison (mis-splet on the ticket), although I don’t pretend to remember much about them. Stand out gig tracks throughout those days were Penicillin Blues (I can picture Maggie now singing “You got the needle in me baby”) and a 20 minute version of Dylan’s Hollis Brown, and Niagara. They were a pretty incredible live act, and played some great blues at the time. 
By 1973, Stone The Crows had split, and Maggie had gone solo. I saw her twice in 1974. The first time was on the bill of The Who’s excellent Charlton gig, and the second was at The City Hall, with the wonderful Pretty Things as support. The Petty Things were now label mates, both appearing on Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song label. Her set featured largely new material from her Queen of the Night and Suicide Sal lps. She put on a great rock show, but some of the raw power, and blues, of Stone The Crows had been lost. She’d moved to a more traditional heavy rock format (as had label-mates The Pretty Things), and in my mind, it didn’t suit her as well as the blues that she had grown up with. Maggie went on to have a hit with “Hold Me” which she sang with B A Robertson, and she also sang the theme tunes to the TV shows Hazell and Taggart. She moved to Holland and all but disappeared from the music scene, returning to the UK a few years ago. She is now playing solo, sometimes with blues singer Dave Kelly and sometimes in the British Blues Quartet, in the UK, Germany and mainland Europe. I haven’t caught up with her yet, and really must do so; it would be great to attend a Maggie Bell gig again.
4 Feb
The Rolling Stones Newcastle City Hall 13th September 1973 (late show)
The Rolling Stones Newcastle City Hall September 1973
The Rolling Stones returned to Newcastle in 1973, two years after I first saw them at the same venue. This time I was determined to get a ticket when they went on sale, having had to buy one outside the gig on the night in 1971. The tickets went on sale on a Sunday morning, the box office of the City Hall opening specially, as big crowds were expected. So two friends and I decided to queue overnight for tickets to ensure that we go to the concert. We turned up at the City Hall early on the Saturday morning, more than 24 hours before the tickets were due to go on sale. There were already a few people in front of us in the queue as we settled down for a long wait. And wait we did. As the day went on, a few more joined the queue. It wasn’t until later in the day that most people arrived, but by Saturday night the queue was weaving its way round the corner and along the street. The City Hall steps are not the most comfortable place to sleep, and in fact we didn’t get much sleep at all, but the crack with the crowd was good, everyone having fun and feeling pretty good that we knew we would be getting tickets. By the time Sunday morning came, the queue was massive and it was clear that many people would be going home disappointed, even though the Stones were playing two shows. As in 1971, the band were playing an early (6.30pm) and late (8.45pm) show. Last time I went to the early show. This time we were planning to buy tickets for the late show and were feeling very grown up as a result! When the box office finally opened, we were still pretty near the front of the queue and managed to buy tickets in the middle of the second row of the stalls! Looking back I wish I’d had the foresight (and the cash) to go to both shows.
The night of the gig came some weeks later. The support act was Billy Preston, who also, as I recall played keyboards in the Stones band. I knew little by Billy other than his Beatles connections (he played on Get Back and at the rooftop concert) and the hit Thats the way God planned it. As I remember he was pretty good, and got us all singing along to Thats the way God planned it. The Stones came on, exploding into Brown Sugar. My friends and I couldn’t believe how close we were to the band. Unlike the early show in 1971, everyone was up on their feet from the start. The set continued with Gimme Shelter, Keith singing Happy, Tumbling Dice, Star Star (the lyrics seemed very rude to me as a young teenager), Dancing with Mr. D, Angie, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, Midnight Rambler, Honky Tonk Women, All Down the Line, Rip This Joint, Jumpin’ Jack Flash and Street Fighting Man as an encore. The Stones seemed to me to be the perfect rock band at that point, and this was to be the last time I saw them in a venue as small as the City Hall, although not the last time I was so close to the stage. Jagger was the ultimate rock show man, and they all looked young, fit and still hungry to make their mark as the greatest rock n roll band in the world. For us young teenagers that night they definitely were the greatest band we had ever seen, and this was a gig that we talked about again and again, and for a long time after. Its interesting to note that in the early 70s the Stones were not playing any of their early 60s hits on stage, something they have returned to more recently.
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