I worked as a "humper" cum roadie at these gigs. The good? They were amazing. The bad? Every act I saw for the next 30 odd years after this was relatively a disappointment. I never saw anyone hammer an audience this hard. Merciless grooving ... did the whole show of numbers like "Fantasy", "Saturday Night" and a few popular album tracks ...... came back and finished with an encore, a medley / segue of "Let's Groove", "Boogie Wonderland" and "September". I'm amazed Wembley Arena is still standing. Just a terrifying live act. They used Edwin Shirley's entire fleet of 27 trucks plus a couple of Range Rovers with radio comms between and I think they had to hire in more trucks. Fred White was the first to endorse DW (Drum Workshop) kits and the founder of DW went on tour with Fred White as his kind of personal drum tech. I was seconded to him. It was an unforgettable experience. Fred White is one of those rare drummers who realises drummers shouldn't actually do that much ... but what they do should be right and should groove. Very understated drummer.

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This was the night night I was introduced to Stackridge and what an introduction. My friend and I hadn't even heard of the band but went along out of curiosity and were blown away. Songs like Syracuse and Lummy Days left us so impressed I was at the local record store the following day buying Friendliness and asking what else they could order in for me. What a great band. Never got the recognition they deserved.

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A bit of a disappointment for various reasons, this one. I noted at the time that The Permanents were "worse than dire, impossible to describe" and The Slits were "just bad". Unfortunately, the Buzzcocks' set was ruined by a fight after just a few numbers. This was pretty rare for Lancaster Uni gigs, but punk/New Wave acts did tend to attract yobs, especially from Blackpool. Buzzcocks were obliged to play the rest of the gig with the house lights up which rather killed the atmosphere.

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Petty's transformation leaves his audience shouting for more
By Cathy M. Lewis
Lakeland Ledger - Monday, October 5, 1981

Donning cowboy boots and a blue bandanna tied beneath a full-toothed grin, Tom Petty moved onto the Lakeland stage Friday looking like the embodiment of the mythical all-American boy.

Petty smiled his way through "American Girl" and "Listen to Her Heart" with the naturalness of water moving against the coastline of Florida, his native state. Even a haunting keyboard solo by Benmont Tench on the grand piano during "A Thing About You" didn't erase Petty's smile.

When the band launced into "I'm in Love," Petty skipped and swaggered across the stage with the joy of an adolescent in puppy love.

Watch Petty prance. Watch Petty preen. The rest of the audience leaned back and relaxed. They'd just watch and wait their turn. And the singer didn't disappoint them.

It was a slow build. Petty mixed just enough pain into "Here Comes My Girl" to make the words sound as though they came from personal experience. And there was just enough of Bruce Springsteen in his voice to assure the few 25-year-olds in the audience he knew what rock 'n' roll was about.

It was the beginning of a transformation that would leave Petty's audience gasping for relief yet begging for more. Somewhere between the Kingsmen's classic "Louie, Louie" and Petty's own "Kings Road," the all-American boy became a passionate, streetwise rocker.

Once the atmosphere in the civic center changed, there was little relief. Only a few tuned like "Night Watchman" -- a song inspired by the man who protects Petty's privacy at his San Fernando Home and backed Friday with a dazzling light show -- and "Even the Losers Get Lucky" slowed the musical pulse of the evening.

Even then, with Petty leaning over his audience like a mad magician, swinging his arms full circle to end in a thunderous slash across his guitar, you could feel the momentum rolling through like shock waves.

When Petty's voice cried with the ache of dashed hopes "she's a woman in love but it's not me," Tench pulled the full power of his rhythm and blues background from the ivories. Teen-agers, some yet to experience that kind of pain, moaned right along with them.

When the lights went down and Petty grabbed the mike around the throat and demanded seductively, "You've got to give it to me," the now hypnotized crowd groaned in anticipation of "Breakdown." They were in love and their affair with Petty was not the light, joyful love of the first 15 minutes of this concert. This affair was full blown and passionate. They weren't letting go.

The band launched into "Refugee" with exuberance, rocking with the Dylanesque lyric as if they had come home. The crowd didn't mind. If Petty was clinging to his last like his critics have said, they would cling right along with him.

The acceptance of Petty's occasional revelry into his roots was amazing considering the same audience had heartly booed Joe Ely's late '50s style during the opening act.

When Petty left the stage, the crowd wasn't having any of it. Encoring with Sly and the Family Stone's hit "Shout," Petty led his believers with the fervor of a Southern minister. The force of their response literally knocked him flat on his back.

Even Petty seemed amazed at the feeling he was producing. He turned over, crawling belly down to the front of the stage, brought the mike down to the floor and hid behind a speaker.When Petty pulled his head from behind the speaker, one hand following the other, they were ready for him. He shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe you," he said. "Boy, is it good to be home!"

For Petty, it was the climax of the show. And when his fans demanded a second encore, he slowed the tempo with a song from his new album. He must have realized that if he didn't, he would never get out of the auditorium.

Still the believers stayed. When the house lights came up a moan of disappointment rolled its way across the crowd, as one by one, his congregation realized Petty was gone.

He had charmed them, wooed them, moved them and now he had left them -- left them begging for more.

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Andy Powell apparently owns the rights to the name Wishbone Ash and Martin Turner can't use it other than ex Wishbone Ash. Martin Turner and drummer Steve Upton recruited Andy Powell and Ted Turner to he band in 1969. Andy Powell's version of Wishbone Ash are musically very good, but the singing lets them down as does most of the material written after Martin Turner and the excellent Laurie Wisefield left the band. Martin Turner's sets are always mainly Wishbone Ash material. Andy Powell's sets include quite of lot of his later material which I find to be nowhere near as good as the Wishbone Ash stuff. Martin Turner's band are more in tune with Wishbone Ash fans like myself, having seen the various line-ups 28 times since about 1972

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Support band were probably called TNT and didn't come on until 10. My diary describes them as "crap" and "doing Quo stuff". Rich Kids didn't come on until midnight so audience was getting a bit "lively", thanks to the long wait. A friend of mine got chucked out but managed to sneak back in. RK were great.

Note: I found another site which says that this gig was on the 26th, but it was definitely Friday the 24th.

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I've added a (less than complementary) review of the gig from the local students' newspaper, SCAN. Yes, that was a good idea, send a self confessed fan of Camel, Caravan and Barclay James Harvest to review a Jam gig. However, to be fair, it wasn't The Jam at their finest. I was already a massive fan, but was quite disappointed. The vocals were barely audible and every number was indeed taken at the same breakneck speed. Weller's line in crowd interaction was almost non-existent, exemplified by the entire introduction to Bricks and Mortar, "this is about the Houses of Parliament". Huh? What? Probably the longest sentence he uttered throughout the set too. New Hearts were fair, but the vocals were inaudible. Local band China Street were so bad we walked out.

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At this distance in time, it's hard to believe that this was very much Lofgren's tour. The programme (for which I've added a few scans) was heavy on NL, with just a couple of pages set aside to introduce Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I believe this was only the latter's 2nd UK gig. I'd gone to see Lofgren, but TP&TH completely stole the show. At the time I noted that they were "BLOODY EXCELLENT, real shit hot rock & roll". After that, Lofgren was (inevitably, in retrospect) something of a disappointment, though the 2nd half of his set was tighter. Naturally, we were treated to the trampette somersault at the end, which was always a crowd pleaser.

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One of the first gigs I went to. Crazy contrast of performers - Prinipal Edwards psychedelic multimedia folk rock, band lights dancers... Then Marc Bolan and Micky Finn, sitting on the corner of stage floor playing gentle acoustic whimsey, followed by Deep Purple performing the In Rock material at a volume I had never experienced before.
Finally at about 1.00 in the morning Marsha Hunt came out onto the stage to tell us the hall managers had said it was too late for her to perform, treating us only with an expletive packed rant of frustration and rage - she was magnificent!

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Alan, I remember that about CdeB breaking a string. This gig and at least one other a few months before it was part of A & M records' promotion routine for their UK roster and Chris had just been signed up. My recollection was that initially Gallagher and Lyle were their Numero Uno band and they had put on a gig in town when Supertramp were just joining the label and we all wondered WTF are this lot ? . But within months, Supertramp had overtaken G&L and at the next A&M gig in town ie. THIS ONE...Supertramp were top of the bill.

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Arriving fairly early, Squire's Anthony Meynell was popping out his merchandise and seemingly unrecognised. Free for a pre-gig chat (and sign my Sugarplum obi-band) he seemed keen to natter and answer questions on releases past and future. Kicking off on stage around 8pm, for a short support set,the line up tonight was Anthony Meynell - Guitar/Vocals, Jon Bicknell -
Bass/Vocals and Ray Lawrence - Drums
A really enjoyable performance,despite the short set. Songs,from memory and in no order:
Does Stephanie Know, Girl On A Train,My Mind Goes Round in Circles, I Know A Girl, The Face Of Youth Today, I Don't Get Satisfaction, Live Without Her Love, B-A-B-Y Baby Love, The Young Idea, Walking Down The Kings Road, Every Trick In The Book, Stop That Girl, Has Our Love Gone Bad, It's A Mod Mod World. Squire gave way around 8:45 for Secret Affair to come on.
Apart from an ageing Mod like me it must be encouraging for Anthony Meynell to see young fans there. My seventeen year old son recently bought the Squire Singles Album on vinyl (the only Squire record I didn't buy, as I had the singles) and came away from the gig with a signed Eight Miles High 45 too! Also got a sneak peak of the new LP due out. Fabulous night!

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Just attended this performance tonight and considering it was only the 2nd night of the tour it wasn't too bad. Basicaly this is a Beatles tribute act that plays the songs the Beatles recorded with orchestration. There was the odd bum note from the Orchestra but overall I reckon they did quite a good job, particularly with the more challenging songs like A Day In The Life and Tomorrow Never Knows, extraordinarily good in fact. I hope by the end of the tour they will have polished up their act a bit. John Lennon was quite flat in a few places and Paul McCartney needs to work on his breath control and Mic technique. George and Ringo I thought were very very good and a great rendition of While My Guitar Gently Weeps with Orchestra was very well received. As I Said before, by the end of the tour they should've ironed out all the wrinkles and it will probably be great by the time the last gig comes around.

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Petty, Heartbreakers Purvey Emotional Sincerity at SPAC
By Mike Hochanadel
Schenectady Gazette - Tuesday, July 28, 1981

When Tom Petty sang the line "Saratoga rain" for "Louisiana Rain" Sunday night at SPAC, he paid a sincere tribute to the 12,300 fans who braved a series of downpours to see him. "I'm impressed," he said, squinting into the rain. So were his fans, by the best rock show this summer.

Opening act Split Enz tried to be the band in their song "Hard Act to Follow" but Petty blew away the competition -- and his rain-soaked fans with passionate rock and roll.

Petty was almost unknown when he opened for Edgar Winters at the Palace in 1977, yet "star" was written all over him.

He had classic Chuck Berry moves onstage and a tight, basic-rock band. He had beautiful pop songs with great hooks and a convincingly innocent romanticism. He was hot, but also tender. He rocked, but his music expressed feelings he wasn't afraid to show. Backstage, he said "I'm trying to play music that sounds alive on the radio."

It worked: his music kept its innocence through "You're Gonna Get It" and his 1979 breakthrough, "Damn the Torpedoes." It sounded great all over the radio.

"Hard Promises," a transitional LP with new, narrative songwriting, hasn't matched the huge success of "Torpedoes," but his well-deserved popularity onstage remains.

Petty opened explosively with "American Girl" then "Listen to Her Heart" and closed two hours later with classic-rock encores. These songs defined his style. His own music tapped the same current of exuberent romance that explodes in "Shout," and the Byrds-Stones guitar sound of "American Girl" -- his first hit -- echoed through most of his music.

In between he mixed up rockers and ballads from his five LPs -- acting the songs as well as singing them to express the direct emotional intensity behind the music. "I Got a Thing About You" rose and fell in successive codas that tiptoed gently around the melody -- then stomped all over it. Petty sang with all the vulnerable, naive pride of teen love on ""Here Comes My Girl" and exploded with rage on "Breakdown." At the end of the song, a drained-looking Petty rested his head on his arms draped over the mike-stand -- a gesture of despair that perfectly symbolized the desperation of his lyrics.

This kind of theatrical touch -- dramatic yet real -- elevates Petty's music into a rare class of rock artistry his earlier performances -- and records -- merely promised. It's a territory very few musicians occupy, including the great soul and reggae singers, Springsteen and Joe Ely.

There are no virtuosos in the Heartbreakers, yet they are a first-class band since they play with such spirit and connect so directly with Petty's classic-rock moves. Like the Stones, the Heartbreakers roll on a huge drum sound -- Stan Lynch's drumming is enormous -- and punchy rhythm guitar. Petty and Mike Campbell -- whose repetivie leads are less convincing than his busy chord-riffing -- weave a tough Byrds/Stones texture. Lynch adds expert harmonies to Petty's lead vocals and keyboard man Benmont Tench plays more prominently than in the past -- perhaps reflecting the influence of "Hard Promises" co-producer Jimmy Iovine who loves keyboard. Their no-frills arranging -- underlining Petty's hook-laden pop melodies -- echoes Creedence Clearwater Revival in its directness and power. There is no lack of nuances -- the quick tempo changes of "King's Road" and the way Petty aptly substitued "Saratoga rain" for "Louisiana Rain" Sunday night -- but no phoniness at all.





Split Enz opened with 45 minutes of the very clever pop that made them a huge success in their native Australia before "True Colors" (A&M) broke them in the States last year.

Ironic songwriting and edgy, electronic grooves that echo Roxy Music and David Bowie place Split Enz squarely in the modernist camp, as did the garish rockabilly suits they wore at SPAC on Sunday.

Enz' songwriter Tim Finn sang beautifully over a metronomic jangle of guitar and electronic keyboards. The music from "True Colors" and "Waiata" sounded faster and emotionally more compelling onstage than on their often icy records -- even though Finn's ironic neo-robot posturing added an ambiguous note of machinery at play.

Surprisingly the match-up proved to be a very effective one. Petty's sincerity rang especially true after Split Enz' coyly contrived ironies, and the impressive performing skill shown by the New Zealand band really put the Heartbreakers on their toes. Both bands featured extraordinary vocals over powerful, simple grooves. Excellent sound engineering delivered this fine concert with satisfying impact and a clarity in the vocals rare in concerts of such large scale.

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The Blues Bros. give it their all in Concord
By Peter Finch
The Stanford Daily, July 22, 1980

Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi were not raised as rhythm and blues musicians. For this reason, they have come under some fire lately. Blues purists claim that the two actors are ripping off the public in their act as Jake and Elwood Blues, two Chicago bluesmen. There are much better, and perhaps more "real" blues musicians who should be getting the recognition, the purists say; not these two rich white boys. And they're probably right. The Blues Brothers are an act. They're not for real. Their band, probably the best one money could buy. is just that — bought. And their fans are mostly cleancut white kids who live in places like Piedmont and Atherton. not Chicago's back streets. But there comes a time in dealing with self-righteous purists and/or experts in any field when one must simply ask them to "shut the hell up." If there were ever a time to do so, this may be it. Aykroyd and Belushi have embraced their Blues Brothers act with such care and energy, it shines like a freshy-polished Cadillac. You have to sec them in person to believe it; TV, records and the movie just don't do the trick. The Blues Brothers were in town last weekend, playing two sold-out shows at the pleasant, open-air Concord Pavilion. And from their now famous opening to their exuberant rendition of "Soul Man." the show oozed entertainment. One might even go so far as to call it "family entertainment," though Belushi's language is not exactly guarded, and many of the songs contain rather lurid lyrics. Part of what makes the Blues Brothers live show so Fun (with a capital "F") is the fact that Aykroyd and Belushi are very talented showmen. The two dance like nothing you ever saw, combining some Charleston, some jitterbug and some whatever. In fact, one of the evening's biggest surprises came when a flickering strobe light was switched on in the middle of one of the Brothers' dances. Already dressed in '40s clothing, the two took on the look of Laurel and Hardy in a jerky old motion picture. But beyond the Brothers' mugging and the stage's Chicago gas station set (complete with regular gas listed at 27.9 cents). Belushi is not a bad singer and Aykroyd plays the harmonica with far better than average skill. Belushi got his chance to really show off his singing skill on a couple songs, most notably
"Shot Gun Blues," the bluesiest of the evening's tunes. Belushi's weakest moment was when he sang Randy Newman's 'Guilty." Instead of sounding genuinely blue, Belushi sounded more like his hilarious Joe Cocker imitation. But one weak song out of an entire evening's worth? Not bad for a comedian. Despite repeated attempts to divert some of the attention from themselves to their band, Aykroyd and Belushi stole the show. It's certainly understandable, though somewhat unfortunate. Buoyed by big names (well, they're all pretty big names) like
Tom Scott on saxophone, Tom Malone on trombone and Matt Murphy on guitar, the Blues Brothers Band really rocks. The band's precision on songs like "Green Onion," a classic instrumental by Booker T. and the MG's, entranced the audience. The show, which included 25 songs, including encores, was comprised mostly of material from the band's two albums. Briefcase Full of Blues and their movie soundtrack. Songs which they haven't recorded, like "Going to Miami," "Who's Making Love to Your Old Lady," and a modernized version of "There's a Riot Going On" (the warden has a laser gun, now), added extra class to an already strong show. So the purists may not like it, hut the Blues Brothers are extremely entertaining. And what the purists may not realize is that in their own way, Aykroyd and Belushi are introducing a great style of music to a group of people who might otherwise have spent their whole life listening to Sammy Hagar and Pat Travers. I guess Aykroyd put it best as he and the rest of the band took a final bow, "We're on a mission from God," he said, "and the mission is the music!"

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it was normal practice to use the main bands PA... ELO were dead snooty and refused meaning we had extra work.

The audience was there simply for ELOs 1st hit single and weren't very friendly... but thats how it goes.

After Gary's set we packed the van and went for a drink.. or rather I went for the drinks... pints of orange squash, bitter for zarra and draught guiness for the driver (me).

As ELO went on stage the mics failed, after resuming several amps failed including one side of the PA..... we were asked for the loan of kit but gave the reply they gave us an hour and a half earlier.

the audience didn't much like most of their set (just as they had ours) and the "hit" had to be played several times....

happy days

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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.

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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]

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From my diary of the time: "Scorpio Rising were supported by Curveball who were fairly ordinary, pop with louder guitars. SR were brilliant though, starting with 'Bliss' they belted through a 45-minute set which included their current single 'Saturnalia'."

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CROWD GETS PETTY WORKED UP AT ARENA

Robert Morast, Argus Leader, Friday, June 27, 2003

Tom Petty may have been the most gracious rock legend on Earth Thursday night.

In front of 6,100 very appreciative fans, and with obvious zeal on his face, Petty constantly thanked his audience between songs as if the guy hadn't heard cheering in 12 years.

"You're getting me all excited," Petty said from stage. "When I get all excited I go wild. I can't be responsible for myself when I get all worked up. Just, so you still respect me tomorrow."

Arena officials were excited too. Petty's performance was the Arena's highest grossing concert ever. Final numbers weren't available, but Arena officials confirmed that it broke the previous single-show record held by Aerosmith for a 1998 show that grossed more than $250,000.

Even though the show wasn't a sell-out - Arena capacity is 6,800 - an average ticket price of $44.50 made it the top grossing show.

Aside from making Arena history, the show was special because it was the first date of Petty's current tour.

Even more special may have been a rare symbiosis between musicians and spectators where the two actually seemed on par with each other.

After spirited renditions of Petty and the Heartbreaker hits like "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and "Free Fallin'" (to which the crowd freely sang along) the audience bathed the blond rocker with honest applause.

Amped up by the appreciation, Petty smiled, danced and shimmied his way through classic rock tunes while actually looking like he was having fun - not a trait exhibited by all musicians when they hit Sioux Falls.

Because of Petty's excitement, the symbiosis was less parasitic than most concerts and felt more spiritual, resulting in a very enjoyable and entertaining concert.

The entertainment factor started early when opener Mavis Staples ended her set by talking to the crowd during a rendition of "I'll Take You There" and paying heed to "Sioux City, S.D." Not surprisingly, boos followed.

Unphased by the major faux pas, the crowd clapped when Staples left the stage and began waiting for the main draw.

At 8:45 Petty and his longtime backing band the Heartbreakers took the stage and strolled into "American Girl."

For a first tour date, the band sounded surprisingly good with no major hiccups or minor malfunctions.

Wearing a turquoise blazer, Petty danced through "You Don't Know How it Feels" for the night's second number and gave the crowd its first clue that he was feeling good.

Portions of the crowd also took Petty's advice from the song. When he sang "Let's roll another joint," wafts of marijuana smoke christened the show with the smell of a "real" rock concert.

"The joint is jumping tonight, just jumping," Petty said from stage.

Maybe the fans just appreciated a good sound. Petty's voice was what you'd expect: it sounded just like the albums, but with enough added spunk to raise the energy level. Ditto for the Heartbreakers. This was especially evident during "The Waiting," which sounded excellent thanks to an evident tempo boost.

Petty also served up the title track from last year's album "The Last DJ" and an unrecorded new song with a title that wasn't easily understood by this writer.

It could have been "The Limit" or "Melinna" or something phonetically similar [ed. note: "Melinda"]. Regardless of the name, the acoustic guitar driven tune was good, with a driving country beat and keyboard quality reminiscent of the Doors.

An hour into the performance, Petty still had the crowd standing and singing along.

Walking away, two things were evident: Petty had a ton of fun. And he's definitely a living piece of Americana.

Each of his songs reads like a journal entry that could easily have been written by Joe Average in Anytown, U.S.A. He captures the experiences we all live through. But manages to romanticize them in a way that makes life feel a little better, at least until the song is over.

Or in the case of last night, until the concert was over.

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A very bizarre night.

The band looked pretty pissed off throughout the performance and after the show ended a punch up broke out between Axl and Duff and they were both chucked out by the bouncers.

Was this was some serious method acting or was it a genuine fight?

Pretty amusing whatever the case.

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This was the archtypical 3 men and a dog pub gig, as I was in Thee Henchmen we got up and did our bit to the hard core regulars of the pub who it seemed were of the old hard rock fan variety, we got a few claps for our fuzzed out garage thing. The Curtains got up and despite being much better than us their brand of Mod music dropped stone dead....

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Highly entertaining gig by Fish & Co, the very odd thing I remember best after 35 years was the somewhat experimental support band which basically played a kind of early Acid house/ industrial dance music of sorts, this did not go down well with the mainly HM audience however it turned out to be the future!

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Just back from this concert and it was beyond superlatives. I think I just had an audience with God!!!. Sound was incredible, light show was amazing and every musician on the stage were at the top of their game, absolutely faultless. It was also the final gig of the tour.

Setlist was

Standin' In The Rain
Evil Woman
All Over The World
Showdown
Livin' Thing
Do Ya
When I Was A Boy
Handle With Care
Last Train To London
Rockaria!
Can't Get It Out Of My Head
10538 Overture
Twilight
Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle
Shine A Little Love
Wild West Hero
Sweet Talkin' Woman
Telephone Line
Turn To Stone
Don't Bring Me Down
Mr Blue Sky
Roll Over Beethoven

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Crowd loves what Petty has to offer
By Phil Chen
The Stanford Daily - Tuesday, July 30, 1985

The Concord Pavilion, a grass-and-concrete bowl located in the hills east of Berkeley, was th site Saturday night of performances by a new band, Lone Justice, and by a group that has been around since 1975, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Lone Justice is a Texas-based country-rock outfit that has been hyped into hyperspace by Geffen Records as rock's Next Great Breakthrough. With promotion like that, I was not surprised to find myself disappointed in the band. Maria McKee can certainly sing; she had a good range and was capable of packing real emotional punch into her delivery. However, I didn't care much for her screechy little-girl voice, which always made her sound as if she were throwing a tantrum.

Musically, the band sounded like many other "cowpunk" bands: basic rock beat overlaid with Marlboro Country guitar riffs. Guitarists Ryan Hedgecock and Tony Gilkyson, bassist Marvin Etzioni and drummer Don Heffington worked together to form a competent, dull unit that never explored beyond its own very constrained musical limits.

Lone Justice ran through almost every song on its current LP, including the Petty-penned "Ways To Be Wicked." Fortunately for the band, the crowd was in a terrific mood and cheered raucously after every song; even so, Lone Justice declined to play en encore when its set ended.

But the crowd, an older-looking bunch (definitely not teeny-boppers), came to see Tom Petty and his Heartbreakers, and from the opening chords of "American Girl" to the last encore an hour and 40 minutes later, he was clearly their rock 'n' roll hero. Every word he uttered and every song the group played drew an awesome response from the crowd. When Petty asked them, roughly a quarter of the crowd indicated that they had seen his show in Berkeley the night before.


What made this concert particularly fine was Petty's true appreciation of their adulation; he didn't let his status go to his head, but remained open and easygoing, even humorous at times. This didn't mean he was unaware of his control over the audience; during a song, he would often walk to the edge of the stage, his arms spread wide in a "How am I doing?" position that would immediately send the crowd into new fits of adoration.

Meanwhile, the Heartbreakers were acquitting themselves reasonably well, sounding very practiced on the show's mix of hits from the band's past and from their latest record, "Southern Accents." To break up the sameness of the Heartbreakers' music, Petty played two verses from "The Waiting" solo before the rest of the band joined in. Petty has mastered the art of singing without moving his lower jaw; this was heard most easily on the slower ballads.

"Don't Come Around Here No More," the band's latest single, was noteworthy for both its bizarre, Alice-in-Wonderland visual effects and the appearance of Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics on rhythm guitar. Stewart was by far the most colorful person on stage in his red, psychedelic-patterned jacket; otherwise, he added little to the song's performance, although he did manage to ungracefully fall off bassist Howie Epstein's monitor. He later joined the Heartbreakers for their second encore, again with no discernible result.

Backing up the Heartbreakers were three horn players, who danced, moved and gestured in unison to hilarious effect, and two female background vocalists. All five stood on platforms built around the back wings of the stage, which inexplicably had been decorated to look like a Greek temple, complete with stone steps and tall columns.

Late in the concert, several people at the front held up an elaborate "We Love You TP" banner to Petty, and he took it and wrapped it around his shoulders. It was symbolic of the bond between Petty and his fans, the success of Petty's return to his Southern-rock roots and his ability to translate both into a rousing, heartfelt performance.

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This was probably the most boring gig I have ever been too, bar none. Enlivened slightly by 'Freebird' and Ian Gillan's odd change of outfit after the 1st number.
£28.50 + £3.50 booking fee + £5 car park should have asked for my money back!

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Although the bands were great on the day. Almost everything else wasn't. Queues to get a drink stretched all around the park taking up to 2 hours!!! to get served. Toilet queues similarly insane.

And only opening one exit to let 45,000 people out at the end seems at best stupid and at worst dangerous.

And of course no-one is going to take responsibility or suffer any penalty for the worst organised music festival I have ever been to....

BBC News Story

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The Blues Bros. give it their all in Concord
By Peter Finch
The Stanford Daily, Tuesday, July 22, 1980

Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi were not raised as rhythm and blues musicians. For this reason, they have come under some fire lately. Blues purists claim that the two actors are ripping off the public in their act as Jake and Elwood Blues, two Chicago bluesmen. There are much better, and perhaps more "real" blues musicians who should be getting the recognition, the purists say; not these two rich white boys. And they're probably right. The Blues Brothers are an act. They're not for real. Their band, probably the best one money could buy. is just that — bought. And their fans are mostly cleancut white kids who live in places like Piedmont and Atherton. not Chicago's back streets. But there comes a time in dealing with self-righteous purists and/or experts in any field when one must simply ask them to "shut the hell up." If there were ever a time to do so, this may be it. Aykroyd and Belushi have embraced their Blues Brothers act with such care and energy, it shines like a freshy-polished Cadillac. You have to sec them in person to believe it; TV, records and the movie just don't do the trick. The Blues Brothers were in town last weekend, playing two sold-out shows at the pleasant, open-air Concord Pavilion. And from their now famous opening to their exuberant rendition of "Soul Man." the show oozed entertainment. One might even go so far as to call it "family entertainment," though Belushi's language is not exactly guarded, and many of the songs contain rather lurid lyrics. Part of what makes the Blues Brothers live show so Fun (with a capital "F") is the fact that Aykroyd and Belushi are very talented showmen. The two dance like nothing you ever saw, combining some Charleston, some jitterbug and some whatever. In fact, one of the evening's biggest surprises came when a flickering strobe light was switched on in the middle of one of the Brothers' dances. Already dressed in '40s clothing, the two took on the look of Laurel and Hardy in a jerky old motion picture. But beyond the Brothers' mugging and the stage's Chicago gas station set (complete with regular gas listed at 27.9 cents). Belushi is not a bad singer and Aykroyd plays the harmonica with far better than average skill. Belushi got his chance to really show off his singing skill on a couple songs, most notably
"Shot Gun Blues," the bluesiest of the evening's tunes. Belushi's weakest moment was when he sang Randy Newman's 'Guilty." Instead of sounding genuinely blue, Belushi sounded more like his hilarious Joe Cocker imitation. But one weak song out of an entire evening's worth? Not bad for a comedian. Despite repeated attempts to divert some of the attention from themselves to their band, Aykroyd and Belushi stole the show. It's certainly understandable, though somewhat unfortunate. Buoyed by big names (well, they're all pretty big names) like
Tom Scott on saxophone, Tom Malone on trombone and Matt Murphy on guitar, the Blues Brothers Band really rocks. The band's precision on songs like "Green Onion," a classic instrumental by Booker T. and the MG's, entranced the audience. The show, which included 25 songs, including encores, was comprised mostly of material from the band's two albums. Briefcase Full of Blues and their movie soundtrack. Songs which they haven't recorded, like "Going to Miami," "Who's Making Love to Your Old Lady," and a modernized version of "There's a Riot Going On" (the warden has a laser gun, now), added extra class to an already strong show. So the purists may not like it, hut the Blues Brothers are extremely entertaining. And what the purists may not realize is that in their own way, Aykroyd and Belushi are introducing a great style of music to a group of people who might otherwise have spent their whole life listening to Sammy Hagar and Pat Travers. I guess Aykroyd put it best as he and the rest of the band took a final bow, "We're on a mission from God," he said, "and the mission is the music!"

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A gig I went to (belated birthday present from big brother). We watched Bon Jovi, I didn't rate them at all (not heavy enough). Kiss were great live even sans the makeup, gig sound wasnt great as left hand PA speaker stack buzzed all through the gig. Funny I remember that but not my breakfast this morning!

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Full to capacity gig in support of the Banshees album Kaleidoscope. Altered Images were going well until someone upset the drummer & he temporarily left the stage. Nevertheless they put in a great set. Athletico Spizz 80 were a surprise - & very welcome - addition to the lineup. Spizz was a bit angry with the spitters in the audience & pretended to mow them down with a toy rifle during Soldier Soldier. Siouxsie & the Banshees were incredibly powerful, starting the gig with the venue in total darkness as the band walked on to the intro tape. Starting with 'Helter Skelter' the lights came up as Siouxsie high kicked the air & the audience went wild. They had some equipment failure during 'Clockface' but soon got going again. It was a set comprising mostly of material from Kaleidoscope plus a few tracks from the debut album The Scream, some singles & B sides plus some new material. The line up, which included John McGeogh, Steve Severin & Budgie were the strongest I had seen the band in quite a while. They played for about 90 minutes, coping very well with the spitters in the crowd - at one point (just before 'Switch') Siouxsie threatened to walk off stage if they didn't stop spitting, saying that the band 'always keep their promises' A superb gig in every way.

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I also attended this gig, and haven't seen any incarnation of Ash for around 20 years. I was lucky enough to see the band with the original lineup which was great. This time around only Martin Turner from the orignal lineup was in attendance (and yes, I know that this isn't Ash but that's only because MT can't use the name anymore, instead having to be billed as "Martin Turner - Ex Wishbone Ash".

I found Danny Willson to be a good guitar player and his vocals fit snugly against Martin's. The other guitarist on the band is Misha Nikolic who was also pretty good but didn't appear as good as DW. Of course, this could have been because he wasn't given as much to do! Last but not least was Tim Brown on drums. He was good using a very small kit.

Finally a word about Martin's performance. It was good, nay great .... but for a man his age. He is now in his seventh decade and it is (unsurprisingly) starting to show in his vocal performance. He can't get the higher notes of old and his sustain has blown but hey, still very much worth watching and a good gig.

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