As a change from the Cricket World Cup Young Ben and I were watching the wonderful Vintage TV Music Channel the other morning before our walk and who should come on but Led Zeppelin followed by Steppenwolf. This took me back to the first real live music I ever saw back in 1970 when as a 15 year old my two older brothers took me to Bath Festival. We were living in Ayr at the time and they hired a car for the weekend and off we went. To an impressionable teen like myself it was a fantastic adventure and when I look back now at the line up of artists it is understandable why it was so special...Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, Santana, It's A Beautiful Day, Frank Zappa, Jefferson Airplane and my own personal favourite of the time Steppenwolf with their classic "Born To Be Wild". The only slightly sour note of the weekend was that on the way home after driving through the night,we stopped in Cumnock, some 16 miles from Ayr, to phone our mum to start making the bacon sandwiches and as my brother was exiting the car a passing wagon clipped the door of our car. No one was hurt physically but the I seem to recall the loss of the deposit seemed to cause severe pain to my brothers at the time.
After this I regularly went to concerts and in the 70s when we lived in the North East of England I would often travel to Newcastle to see the likes of Genesis, Roxy Music, 10CC, The Who, Cat Stevens and Steve Harley. I remember seeing Roxy Music in Newcastle with Leo Sayer as supporting act. This was when he wore the full clown's outfit and performed songs from his Silverbird album including the excellent "The Show Must Go On". I also recall seeing The Sensational Alex Harvey Band at The Locarno in Sunderland and that was entertaining
I recall in 1974 travelling down with friends to Wembley to see Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Joni Mitchell and The Band. Although I have always been a big fan of Joni I think I only went to that concert because I thought Dylan might turn up to play with The Band. Unfortunately he did not. Dylan was my main man until Springsteen came along and I finally saw him for my one and only time at Earl's Court in 1978. He did not disappoint.
As I have mentioned before I consider The 80s a fairly barren time for music and concerts attended during that time with my then wife and friends included Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Simply Red, Dire Straits and the hugely disappointing Prince. During this time however Mr Springsteen was a solitary star shining in an otherwise black sky and his 1985 Born In The USA concert at St James Park, Newcastle remains to this day the finest concert I have ever seen. I have seen him since in Paris, Glasgow and twice in Manchester but that first time was definitely the best
After years of seldom going to concerts I started to take an interest again in the 2000s and saw and enjoyed James Blunt (yes, saw and enjoyed), Damien Rice, Eminem and The Killers. I also saw half a Paul Simon concert when my mate said there was no way he would be on at the specified time obviously not aware that Mr Simon is an extremely punctual fellow. Fortunately I was not late for an Art Garfunkel concert in Edinburgh as he was on and off stage within the hour. In 2008 I finally saw one of my other great favourites when my son and I saw Stevie Wonder at The O2 arena. He was superb.
Recent concerts have been more sedate. At The Glasgow Concert Hall I saw Glen Campbell, who at 74 could still put on a great show but unfortunately not remember his own son's name who was part of the backing band and last year Brian Wilson, who was also excellent if slightly frail.
The most bizarre concert I saw in recent years was Steven Seagal and Thunderbox at The Renfrew Ferry in Glasgow. Let's just say that his singing made his acting look accomplished
I have tried to talk Young Ben into coming with me to see Neil Diamond at Hampden Park this summer but he says he is washing his hair that night. Strangely I haven't actually told him what night it is but it looks as if I will have to Sing my Song Blue on my own that night
Well, you have seen some mince over the years.
ReplyDeleteSurprised you never managed to see The Crystals, who would have raised the tone a bit after Simply Red, Campbell, Garfunkel, Blunt and Seagal! I mean, Seagal, really??
Young Ben clearly gets his dashing good looks from the distaff side of the family - let us hope for his sake that the same applies to his musical taste.
ps the car door was NOT my fault!