This was the Stranglers first tour of Australia in 1979. This gig on the tour and the band's experience while in our town would later provide the inspiration for the song "Nuclear Device" you know "Brisbane men stay at home all night because I've outlawed all of the vice". The show was in a pub crammed with about 500 people and the band walked off after about 30mins then got involved in a fight with some (about 20) of the crowd. Jacques unstrapped his bass and was wielding it as a weapon against the more crazed members of the audience. Earlier Jet Black was knocked senseless while playing under a hail of full beer cans. Hugh was gobbed on continuously throughout the show and copped a few beer cans himself. David fared better being able to hide a bit behind his keyboards. So an eventful evening but not much of a show and a disappointing night for most in attendance especially the band.
4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?A huge disappointment. So far this is the only gig I've ever walked out of half way through. The sound was appalling, apparently mixed by DragonForce's own guy rather than the usual one from the Academy.
3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?This was the loudest and best concert I had ever been to; Support act Shanghai were bloody hurting my ears but Quo ramped it up further when they came on stage opening with one of my all time favourite Quo tracks Juniors Wailing, also impressed with several tracks from Blue for You Album notably: is there a better way, Rain, Mystery song then the usuals Caroline as encore Forty five hundred times, big fat mamma, don't waste my time. Had seen the band twice before this in 74 and 75 but this was and still remains my top concert. I remained a loyal fan seeing them in Paris, Holland and venues all over the UK up to and including 1982. When they ditched hard rock, John Coghlan and eventually Alan Lancaster and became a pop rock commercial group. I gave up on them.
Saw them twice more: in 2000 and I think 2006 in Perth Western Australia entertainment centre and the famous in last century tour at Burswood Theatre. The old stuff was still good but can't stand the pop crap.
Shame if they had stuck to the hard rock formula I believe they would have been as big as AC/DC.
5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?Opening gig for Teenage Fanclub's tour, they were very good. No idea what they played as I don't know any of there songs but it was an enjoyable gig.
Spinning Coin need a singer and a better sound balance
5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?The Saints were supposed to play the "I'm Stranded" album in it's entirety but didn't. So that was a major disappointment but not as bad as the performance the Saints actually produced on the day which could only be described as dismal and by the time the band wobbled off stage to handful of claps everyone was sick of the sight of them. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds had to move in quick to quell the disgust of the agitated crowd. Fortunately, after a off key start from Nick the band hit their straps and put the memory of Saints pathetic performance out of everyone's mind. The Brisbane leg of the festival was a scaled back version of what the rest of the country saw and the heat (36 degrees celsius), running out of beer, heavy security and wind affected sound made it a fairly second rate version of what is (was) normally a really good festival. Nick and the Bad Seeds were magnificent but overall the the whole thing was a bit of a let down.
6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?A sort of community project for young people, the bands didn't play in this order however as far as I know only the various members of The Persuaders would go onto make records (The Curtains, Hipster, Hoodwinks etc).
On the back of the ticket I have written (about the Persuaders) "three people danced!"
3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?FIRST NIGHT REVIEW
Pop: Rumer at Cadogan Hall, SW1
When the British vocalist went through the easy-listening songbook she was untouchable, but it didn’t work so well with her own material
Will Hodgkinson
October 19 2016, 12:01am,
The Times
★★★☆☆
It takes a high tolerance of schmaltz to include a slide show of wedding photographs at your concert, but that’s Rumer. Since the release of her 2010 debut album, Seasons of My Soul, this British singer has become a modern Karen Carpenter, heading fearlessly towards the middle of the road and making the kind of mid-1970s-style easy listening that goes well with a cocktail, an evening dress and a prescription of tranquillisers. Now living in Arkansas and married to Rob Shirakbari, who is also her pianist, Rumer returned to the UK to present a show that was the musical equivalent of a relaxing back massage.
“This is one from the new CD,” said Rumer, managing to make a CD sound like something that had just been invented, before singing Bacharach and David’s Balance of Nature. When Rumer went through the easy listening songbook she was untouchable; there’s something about not just her voice but her very being that makes her the perfect vehicle for smooth standards such as Walk On By and Jimmy Webb’s PF Sloan.
It didn’t work so well with her own material. Pizzas and Pinball was a portrait of an American childhood that listed such pursuits as eating candyfloss and slurping on a Slurpee; not quite up there with Hal David’s way of evoking deep emotional truth through everyday language.
Nevertheless, Rumer is a likeable performer and, in her long black gown, a convincing chanteuse. “Look at him. He’s so small,” she said of her husband, pointing to a photograph of Shirakbari with Dionne Warwick. Backed by an orchestra as well as a band, she brought soporific charm to the best of her own material, such as the peerlessly sad Aretha, and to an encore of What the World Needs Now Is Love. It was anything but challenging, and therein lay the appeal.
2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?Didn't really have much expectation of what we were going to see but all in all it wasn't a bad nights entertainment. Musically I thought the show was quite good, there were several versions of The Beatles and they would change intermittently to suit the narrative of the show. One set of Beatles were definitley better sounding. It did get a bit hammy and over acted in places but not bad. I was surprised however to sit and watch the studio engineer smoking quite a bit throughout the performance and was obviously added to give a sense of how it must've been back in the day but in this day of anti-smoking legislation I'm surprised they got that passed. Every now and then the scene would be broken up by a group of teenagers running around screaming which I didn't particularly like, other than that quite a good evening.
The Sessions website
[YouTube Video]6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?Would've got a 10 only Damien in the band had a broken ankle, his leg was in a cast and he had difficulty playing. There were the odd moments when he would lose concentration, balance or something else and strange notes would eminate from his guitar. He at one point when finishing a number on an accoustic guitar played the wrong ending note and he visibly slumped his head forward in a dispondant manner. You couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy. In true Wall fashion " The Show Must Go On "
5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?This, on the face of it should've been a good night, unfortunately it turned out to be one of the coldest summer solstices in living memory. Being perched on the clifftops overlooking the Irish Sea only served to exacerbate the situation with the wind coming off the sea making the temperatures plummet even further. I felt sorry for the guys in Horslips as by the time they came on it was freezing and they could hardly play their instruments at all. So all-in-all a pretty gruelling event and one not to be repeated
4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?Based on the success of the BBC4 music show The Transatlantic Sessions and Following the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow early in the new year, a selection of artists from the Transatlantic Sessions part of the festival will make a short tour in these islands: four dates in England and one (Thursday 4 February) in the Waterfront Hall, Belfast. The package consists of Shetland fiddle maestro Aly Bain and dobro legend Jerry Douglas, Nickel Creek vocalist/fiddler Sara Watkins, O brother where art thou? soundtrack star Dan Tyminski (aka the singing voice of George Clooney), Eddi Reader, Tim O’Brien, Darrell Scott, Karen Matheson (Capercaillie), Bruce Molsky and Cara Dillon and 'the ultimate house band'. The BBC4 shows were made available to buy on DVD also
4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?With Norman Blake now residing in Canada this was a rare live appearance in London and TFC were of course as dependably excellent as ever. This was very much a greatest hits set with only a few songs from their new album (out this week). The new songs sounded great and I'm glad I've pre-ordered the vinyl. Highlights for me were 'The Concept' (with a massive crowd singalong), 'Your Love Is The Place Where I Come From' and 'Sparky's Dream'.
A lovely venue too with only the bar letting it down (£5 tinned beer and then it's poured into a plastic glass)
3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?I must admit that this was one of the few concerts I have ever attended that I was quite disappointed at. Other than the one hit "867-5309/Jenny", the show was really flat and the crowd uninspired.
4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?Fantastic show. Burton Cummings is the consummate professional, always striving to give his best performance. The set list was full of many Guess Who and solo standards sure to please his audience. His band, The Carpet Frogs, were spot on also. I'll say one thing, Burton can sure work up a sweat! Wish he performed in the northwest U.S. more often.
4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?Amazing concert! Stevie played for 4 hours with a 30-minute intermission.
The album became one long extended jam, with superb added touches - "The Letter" and "People Get Ready" were just two - and the genius was on top form! Very funny, a natural entertainer.
I was very impressed with Pharrell Williams! What a show
he put on!
I always found Corinne Bailley Rae dull - maybe it was the live environment but I enjoyed her set, too.
My knees are still aching but wow, what a day! :thumbsup:
3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?Ry X - very melancholy with a voice like Coldplay's Chris Martin
Louise Goffin - country rock, voice like her mama's in places!
Michael Kiwanuka - soul and a bit of rock
Don Henley - stuck in an 80s time-warp
Carole King - unimpeachably brilliant!!!
:happy:
2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?Provided I got the right year I was surprized at how quiet this gig was? A couple years later I saw the original Quo here and again it was quiet, not a great venue if you want hear it without fighting your way to the front.
2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?A fantastic show with a set list that included most of the first three albums even though "Porcupine" was over a year away from proper release. I ambled up straight after work on the day, primarily to get to front of the queue but took my camera in the hope of getting shots of the show. Lo and behold when I arrive the Bunnies are doing a soundcheck for the show (see pic above) so I just started taking pics and tried to look like I was meant to be there. After the soundcheck I had a long chat with all the "Bunnies" out the front of the venue.
Then their car arrived to take them to dinner before the show and just as the "Bunnies" were hopping in (he-he) Mac turned to me and yelled " Hey, do want to come to dinner and show us round town a bit before the show." I was waiting for fiends to turn up, you know the kind, and in a split second made made a very bad decision and decided to wait for my compadres. When they arrived they noticed that I was very pissed off in spite of the arrival some top class contraband. I told them the story of what had happened earlier - they told me I was full of shit. When the Bunnies returned, they saw me at the front of the queue and came over and told me they'd had a good time and then ushered me and my bewildered friends in for free.
An absolutely astounding show followed and I got to sit on the stage and freely take pics all night. What an idiot to miss dinner with the Bunnies but I did manage to snap some shots of the show and soundcheck and found some in a shoebox the other day. So I'll tack some on.
3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?I saw Bowie's first tour of Australia in Nov.1978 and it was magnificent. It was the same band and stage set up as the Stage live album and set included everything from the album plus Jean Genie, Alabama Song, Rebel Rebel and probably others as well. There were two sets and three encores and the whole thing was a tour de force. So when he returned in '83 I was well primed for a second helping. I'd heard the live worldwide broadcast of the Canadian show that promoted the tour and was very impressed. My brother was working in the hotel Bowie was staying at had guaranteed me an invite to the after show party.
So everything was perfect but I hadn't banked on the impact that new noise laws would have on the show. The council had set a 100dB limit on all shows just prior to Bowies arrival. A passing motorbike registered 104 dBs just before the show started. The support act the Models were past their prime but were OK if a bit on the quiet side. When Bowie hit the Stage the crowd registered 110 dBs but Bowie and his band kept to the limit and when heard my foot tapping along to "Starman" I realised this was no rock 'n' roll show and despite the fabulous sets, slick playing and a good performance from Bowie in difficult circumstances the whole thing whimpered to an anticlimactic end. Keyed up for the after party my brother was organising cabs outside the venue, who are you going with he asked me as I shambled out. I was so pissed off I told him I couldn't be arsed and toddled off home. Couldn't be arsed to meet Bowie, damn you Brisbane City Council.
4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?As i remember DMR'S came out with their dungarees inside out. At one point Kevin Rowland wanted silence from the audience so he could deliver some kind of sermon. That didn't go down well with some of the crowd jeering the band.
i kind of remember a comedian double act as the support. could have been Hale & pace.
was a good night though
2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?Enjoyed Dirt Flower, absolutely brilliant, if I can get the vid onto disc I will upload
2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?Travelled north to Leeds for this gig because Shepherds Bush Empire is just too big - especially for something as intimate as a Mountain Goats gig.
The journey was absolutely worthwhile. The venue is a perfect size, sight lines are good, and the audience was respectful (ie not talking through the quiet parts). Opening, The Weather Station, reminded me considerably of Joni Mitchell. She is well worth catching. The Mountain Goats, a 4 piece this time (I've seen 1, 2 and 3 piece versions before), were as ever, magnificent. Dipping between new songs and the sterling catalogue, the long set flashed by much too quickly. There is a great catharsis in the favorites with which the whole audience sings along. No "Best Ever Death Metal Band Out of Denton" tonight (wasn't expecting it after recent happenings in Kunduz), so "No Children" was the climax.. the lyrics spent much of the next three days lodged in my head.
3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?This was the first ever gig I attended. I had all the albums up to this point and was very disappointed. They were so loud (they had recently been billed as the loudest band in the world) that my ears were ringing for days later and, as they were so loud I couldn't actually hear the music, if that makes sense.
I was so put off I didn't listen to them again for years but of course when I did, I instantly became a fan once more.
1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?Went to show with radio station friends who had comps. Saw Cheap Trick then rushed across Bay Bridge to see Tom Petty at Winterland. Cheap Trick show was good with lead guitar player sending hundreds of guitar picks into audience. If I remember he had like a dispenser, played some licks tossed pick, got another from dispenser, etc. Pretty funny. We figured we could see Doobies again since they were local band. I never did see them live.
1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?Bit disappointed with this one. The arena was a plain church, and we were sat on rows of chairs. Emma Swift didn't support, as expected - someone else did (female, surname Simpson, and a decent guitarist she is too). There were no 'friends' with Robyn, and he did one set of maybe 12 or 14 songs, no break, then lights up. The acoustics meant that you couldn't speak during a song without it sounding so loud it was interrupting the music. On the plus side, Robyn unveiled about 4 new songs - hopefully coming soon on a new album? Can't remember all the tracks, but he did play:
I Often Dream of Trains
The Devil's Coachman
Trams of Old London
Raining Twilight Coast
Autumn Is Your Last Chance
My Wife & My Dead Wife
Encore: Visions of Johanna
1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?This gig was cancelled - it was supposed to be Electric Light Orchestra/Colin Blunstone/Fishbaugh, Fishbaugh and Zorn. I had a ticket but it was cancelled on the day.
Their next Newcastle gig was cancelled also - May 16 1976 at the Theatre Royal
2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?Dylan came dressed like a pimp in a dark suit, wide-brimmed hat and funky white cowboy boots and looked like the coolest man on earth. He never played guitar once all night and for a lot of the songs he was just stood at the mike with one hand on his hip in slightly camp fashion. He got the legendary harmonica out a few times and for other songs he moved over to the piano.
The audience was stunned when, halfway through the show, the great man actually spoke (a rare event apparently). He mumbled "thank you" and something that sounded like "how ya doin'?" before promptly leaving the stage for twenty minutes. He eventually returned and picked up where he left off. Most of the songs were from his more recent albums with only five Dylan "classics" all night ("She Belongs To Me" was the second song of the evening and he also did "Tangled Up In Blue" and "Simple Twist Of Fate"). His band were excellent and Bob was in fine voice throughout. Dylan really looked to be enjoying himself and I swear I saw him smile more than once.
There was an encore of just two songs; a kick-ass version of "All Along The Watchtower" and a barely recognisable "Blowin' In The Wind". And with that, he was gone.
1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?Great show featuring Dave Gonzalez (Paladins, Hacienda Brothers) on vocals and lead guitar backed by the Branded Men: Glen Earl Brown Jr., bass and vocals; Dave Zirbel,, steel guitar; and Dana Burt, drums. 2 sets of Hacienda Brother originals and classic country with super interplay between the Dave's guitar and steel. Guest Sylvia sat-in on second set singing and playing bass on 2 Ray Price songs.
3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?Boy, this was a LOUD concert. The reverb was so bad and loud on the floor that it was difficult to distinguish which songs were being played. We retreated into the upstairs bar area and found it much better (plus the bar being nearby!). "
Boris The Spider" was one of the first songs played when we got up there, and it was great. Should have retreated earlier! R.I.P. Ox.
1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?This was a fairly intimate venue, with 1000 as the maximum seating. The dinner shows, which this was, offered seating very near the performing area. I will always remember the bass solo played by Jack Bruce only a few feet in front of me that left me speechless. Great show!
1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
