The evening started with a massive and welcome surprise. Jackie, my carer for the evening, enquired of the steward “what time does the concert finish and is there a support act?” I was so pleased and surprised when she returned and said “there is a support act and they are called Son of Man”. Well, the reason I was so pleased was this. Many moons ago I was a massive fan of the band Man who were a Welsh band often compared to the Grateful Dead. I saw Man many times over the years including concert appearances at the City Hall in the early to mid 1970s. Indeed they were one of the first bands I ..read more

The Glasshouse website announced this concert thus: “Cultural. Multifaceted. Still capturing the zeitgeist. Don’t miss your chance to see one of the world’s most important and entertaining spoken word artists at his bold and brilliant best. Watching John Cooper Clarke perform is an opportunity to see a living legend at the top of his game. His sense of humour resounds throughout his career, and his latest live show is a mix of classic verse, new material, hilarious ponderings on modern life, good honest gags, riffs and chat.” “And so the stick man poet came to the north-east Dressed in trendy ..read more

My friend John was over from the USA. It was great to meet up with him again and to share memories of concerts that we enjoyed together at Newcastle City Hall in the 1970s. This was the second time I have seen Slash As a solo artist. The first time was at Glastonbury some years ago. I also saw him with Guns & Roses many years ago. John is a fan and has seen him several times in the US. So, we were both looking forward to the concert. Elaine was my carer for the evening and John, Elaine and I all went off together in the taxi to the City Hall. First up as support act was an American band ca ..read more

Another great concert at the Fire Station which is proving to be an excellent hometown venue. And with two of my favourite 1980s bands. Support came from the semi psychedelic music of the Icicle Works. Now, I was a big fan of the Icicle Works during the 1980s and saw them perform several times in that period. Ian McNabb has kept The Icicle Works flag flying in recent years performing their material as a solo artist. However, this was the first time in 25 years that he and original bassist Chris Layhe have played together. So, the lineup I saw was this duo of McNabb and Layhe and it was great t ..read more

I am entering this report for completeness really. I went to see Barbara Dickson recently and she played quite a few Beatles songs, mentioning that the Beatles have been an important part of her career, starting with her rendition of Beatles tracks for the musical John Paul George Ringo & Bert which I saw at Sunderland Empire sometime around 1974. So I searched on my blog for the musical and to my shame discovered that I had not done an entry for this. So here I am today rectifying this error. To help me remember something about the musical I bought a copy of the album (see images) on eBay ..read more

It has been many years since I last saw Kiki Dee in concert. It must have been in the early to mid 1970s at Middlesbrough Town Hall around the time she had been in the charts with the lovely, haunting “Amoureuse”, “Star” and “I’ve Got the Music in Me”. All classic songs from a great artist. So, it was about time I saw Kiki again. Especially as she was playing in a local venue 1719, named so because of the date it opened : “Holy Trinity Church (sometimes Church of the Holy Trinity or Sunderland Parish Church) is an Anglican church building in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear formerly the area’s parish ..read more

I go back a long way with Gong and have seen them several times over the years since I first saw them at Newcastle City Hall in the early 1970s. That was at the time of the Flying Teapots Trilogy and just after the Camembert Electrique album. The line – up of the band has changed many times over the years with the one (almost) constant factor being found remember Daevid Allen who sadly passed away in 2015. The last time I saw Daevid Allen in the band was at Allston Town Hall with my daughter Laura in 2012. “Australian beatnik poet Daevid Allen (ex-Soft Machine) began making music with his part ..read more

“As I was a goin’ over the far famed Kerry mountains I met with captain Farrell and his money he was counting I first produced my pistol and I then produced my rapier Saying, “Stand and deliver” for he were a bold deceiver Mush-a ring dum-a do dum-a da Whack for the daddy-o Whack for the daddy-o There’s whiskey in the jar” (traditional Irish folk song). The Dubliners are, of course, a legendary band whose back catalogue is extensive and they have recorded many albums throughout their career. I saw them once at Newcastle City Hall with my daughter Laura and her friend and we all had a great sin ..read more

This concert sold out pretty quickly. Liam Gallagher remains a legend to this day. And here he was complete with band and Stone Roses guitarist John Squire along for the ride. Liam and John Squire received equal billing on this tour and quite rightly so. But before the proceedings proper began, Jake Bugg warmed the crowd up. It is some years since I have heard anything from Jake; I first saw him at a sold-out Newcastle Academy many years ago. He was then very much an upcoming star. Next I saw him perform as support act for either the Who or the Rolling Stones in Hyde Park (can’t remember which ..read more

It is many years since I last saw Stiff Little Fingers. I seem to recall seeing them at Newcastle City Hall on their farewell tour, in the mid–1980s, supported by (I think) James (or did I dream that?). Somewhere along the line the band reformed, fronted by original member Jake Burns. Roll back a few years more and I remember witnessing their first Newcastle concert at the Guildhall in 1978 when they were supported by local punk heroes The Angelic Upstarts. There was a lot of trouble that night as I recall. Keith Bell, a.k.a. The Sheriff, the manager of the Upstarts stood at the front of the s ..read more