'Judgement'
D3 has just told me about this performance, and it is just stunning - especially at 5.15am, as I was wide awake, and JRT wanted to go out!
I missed out on a lot of good music around 1979, as family members were unwell, and work was too good, but time-consuming, the girls were very young and I had to be away a lot...
'Pomp Rock' has always been foremost here, (I even got bollocked by Tuscan Tony for not knowing much about early Pink Floyd, and preferred some of the later stuff), but hopefully, there'll be a few more from D3 from around then, and I'll get up early for those as well!
57 comments:
Glad you like it, even better live,they did this in a small Cambridge pub on the corner of Grafton Street with a wooden floor called the Boat Race, (no longer a pub) and the whole place was shaking
Think I still have a little tinnitus from that performance !
! also saw the Crazy World of Arthur Brown there, he was barmy, good days
BTW check their website they are doing a free live stream broadcast of a concert on 29 January
Another "I was there" moment which I consider to be a tour de force, one of the finest guitar moments I have ever seen, in front of over 150 000 at Knebworth Park, just up the road from me,(bunking off sixth form to get tickets from a local bookshop), we camped out with people from all over the world to ensure a good view and despite getting in there at 4am were still at least 50 yards from the stage and then a wait until 10pm when all hell broke loose !
Officially 120 000 attendance but they did not witness the fences coming down at 7pm and what seemed the population of Steveage and Hertfordshire surging in to see Led Zep for the first time in the UK for over 5 years
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWOuzYvksRw
Scrobs, I fought in the punk war trenches to get rid of the likes of the enid....it seems we lost the war.
I could say so much about that, but leave you with one observation, Lydon begging for tickets for the Led Zeppelin reunion 2007
Ever felt cheated ?
Kind regards
D3
D3, if only that was true, nice fairy tale though.
My daughter had Zep sorted by the age of 11....she is much better now, easy when you know how.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK6SYkT1aws
I've only been to Knebworth once, to see Genesis with a daughter in 1993.
It was reckoned that the capacity was around 140,000 then, we didn't get there until lunchtime, and were some way back, but the screens were fabulous and so was the whole performance!
Parking was a nightmare - we didn't get out until 4.30am, we were almost out of petrol and I had to be at work in Canterbury five hours later...
I have a friend who has a place in Kent in a nice village called Wickhambreaux do you know it ?
I was at Broadstairs just before lockdown, a coastal town without apparently any seafood restaurants that we could find
RE knebworth Genesis, I think it was 1992, my mum was in hospital in Stevenage a good couple of miles away wondering what the noise was...
It was indeed 1992, D3 - thank you!
Is there still a pub called 'The Rising Sun' in Stevenage?
Used to have some sort of relative working the place some years ago!
Wickhambreux is near Canterbury, but I didn't really get out that way much, most of my work was in London, but we did have jobs everywhere in the South East at the time!
We had our Christmas bash in a great pub in Littlebourne one year, and a chum pinched the pub sign, and took it back to the office...
A very hungover Scrobs returned it the next day!
As for Broadstairs...
http://scroblene-webley-bullock.blogspot.com/2013/08/paradise-in-kent.html
http://scroblene-webley-bullock.blogspot.com/2014/07/fannit-and-poo-scandal.html
...so I suppose we did have more work that way - the job was in Ramsgate actually, but at least we got paid!
There is a Rising Sun pub in he couhtryside outside of Stevenage in a little place called Halls Green
Will be checking out more Kent coastal towns when we can as there is a great connection from ST Pancras, welcome any recommendations
It was in Julians Road - now a private house!
As for Kent seaside places, The Historic Dockyard is worth a visit, but that's about all for the Medway towns! Nothing much along the North Kent Coast until Whitstable, which is fabulous for seafood - right out of a lovely little harbour! Ramsgate's OK, Margate not so much, After Broadstairs, which is still fine, maybe more in the summer, then Sandwich is quite nice too.
Deal's worth a visit, Dover's a bit of a dump, but you may like Folkestone with the harbour in the summer! We developed the Holiday Inn there, out of town. Hythe is interesting, then the small towns along the marsh are pleasant enough, and if you finish over the border at Rye where I went to school, got married, spent all my formation drinking years etc, there's a train back to the smoke via Ashford!
Will have a look aound this summer if we can, the wife loves seafood
maybe meet up if you like although do not know where you are in Kent,
By the way, obscure prog band of the day (if you can believe it.... this is the original AC DC singer Bon Scott !!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZY2nl2CwLc&feature=emb_logo
Also I take it you are aware of the "Canterbury" scene ? 60s 70s folky prog rock with a decided "English" quaint flavour, Caravan is one of my favourites and there are others all based around the city, worth checking out if you like that style
my favourite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=313zsTyVcsg
Both great songs - and bands! A neighbiour once started a band modelled on Caravan...
Soft Machine were big in Canterbury too!
I worked there for fourteen years, but left in 2001...
I've been going through my bookmarks, deleting many old names no longer around, but was pleasantly surprised to find you still active! The thread about tomatoes & greenhouses from 2013 popped up, and my input brought back some memories. Then on checking your latest offering I find the Enid, a band I saw many years ago (possibly before this recording was made) at a poky little pub in Gorleston, Norfolk, one summers evening. This clip takes me back to a time when ALL bands & singers had to be able to perform live, no fancy digital tech to make a silk purse out of a pigs ear. I remember going to gigs from the likes of Dire Straits, Eric Clapton, Camel, Climax Blues Band, Blue Oyster Cult, Judie Tzuke, and many more, at places as diverse as the Hammersmith Odeon and West Runton Pavillion - long since replaced by housing. I'll have to pay you a visit more often.
Microdave!
It's great to see your name here again - many thanks for dropping by!
I've sort of kept the blog ticking over since back then, because I've burnt all my old work diaries, and somehow need a nudge when recalling things from those years! A.K.Haart is much better than me with his regular posts, and while we've sadly lost several chums like Mutley, Raedwald, Anna Raccoon etc., I suppose some sort of continuity from the few of us who are left from around then isn't a bad thing!
Our dear chum Lilith popped back only last week, and it was her blog which really started me thinking all those years ago...
D3 (above), started me off on Pomp Rock again, and despite Thud being the only band I've known of, who was ever on the John Peel Show, and of course causing him some anguish in the process, the 'new names of old' are a welcome interlude within all the restrictions we face at the moment!
If you have any names you want to put up here, by all means do, as I would like to post them as above any time!
Best wishes!
HI Microdave
thanks for reminding me of West Runton, a friend used to run the place when Motorhead played there and I was in West Runton last year talking to the hotel concierge who was a Motorhead fan and could not believe thy played there, he checked it out and was amazed, it was used as a discrete place to try out material live before a tour by many bands such as Ozzy Osbourne, Dire Straits ACDC etc
http://www.villageinnwestrunton.co.uk/pavilion
Some of the highlights of past Pavilion shows include:
The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees
AC/DC, Curved Air
XTC , Def Leppard
Elvis Costello, Darts
Thin Lizzy, Iron Maiden
Joy Division, Motorhead
The Clash, Echo and the Bunnymen
T-Rex, King Crimson
Slade, Blue Oyster Cult
Jeff Beck, The Jam
The Damned, The Pretenders
UB40, Undertones
Stiff Little Fingers, The Sex Pistols
Dire Straits, The Commodores
Stranglers, Chuck Berry
The Rubettes, Boomtown Rats
Wishbone Ash, Hot Chocolate
Bad Manners, Hawkwind
Duran Duran, Manfred Mann
@ D3 - "It was used as a discrete place to try out material live before a tour by many bands"
Blue Oyster Cult were one such band, and the only reason I saw them was because a workmate happened to know their original name - "Soft White Underbelly" - and noticed it on the Pavilion listings. We took the afternoon off work and went over with two friends, intentionally getting there very early - expecting huge crowds. As it happened only about a couple of hundred turned up, so not many "switched on" fans about! A good show was had by all. My memory is not as good as it used to be, but John Miles & Curved Air were other favourites and I think they both also appeared at the UEA LCR - another regular spot for bands to play.
I saw BOC at the second Monsters of rock at Donnington but they were suffering "issues" which have been well documented elsewhere
What I would like to find is a copy of their fantastic album "On Your Feet or on your Knees" a great double live I used to have on vinyl...
we had a college up the road in Hitchin that used to have some great bands including a new band called Dire Straits, it was during the punk era and I looked at the name of the band and thought oh not another bunch of bleeding punks...so gave it a miss
Something for the morning sir ?
Possibly my favourite prog song... and an interesting version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCnzDy2tSk0
Although I don't know what Prince Andrew was doing on piano....maybe just there for the groupies
Hadn't heard that version, D3, but fabulous, as it demands a big backing!
Steve Hackett is on record as saying that he thought 'Selling England by the pound' was their best ever album! He really is a fabulous guitarist, but probably had to leave the band when there were so many alternatives on keyboards, which Tony Banks excelled on also!
BTW, Daryl Stuermer went absolutely mental on the solo at 6.15, back in August 1992...
And I didn't know he was any good on keyboards either!
Great names, Microdave!
Do you remember "Fresh Garbage" - Spirit - from the LP Spirit?
I first heard it on 'The Rock Machine turns you on', back then, and even bought the whole lot again a few years back!
...and
"Dolphins Smile" – The Byrds – from the LP The Notorious Byrd Brothers! I automatically reach out for the pack of Gold Leaf when I hear that one!
And Both, how's about the solo on this one, at 2.15? Highly voted!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3i6wq1SObs&ab_channel=SteelyDan-Topic
Sorry, cock-up on the catering front...
https://youtu.be/q3i6wq1SObs
Oh yes love Steely Dan I have a double album best of in the car always, and you remind me "The Rock Machine Turns you on" I had that once, also another compilation "by invitation only" which had "Yours is no Disgrace" by Yes on it and other little gems
lost all this vinyl, my sister has a lot to answer for so many limited edition picture discs etc
Fond memories of a time and place from first hearing this song also
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWmECLnMKGk
Love KC! They've dated well too!
I heard a lot of great stuff on this album, back in 1973...
https://www.amazon.com/Music-People-Great-Artists-Record/dp/B001AV27TA#:~:text=VIDEOS-,The%20Music%20People%20(40%20Great%20Artists)%20Vinyl,LP%20Record%20Set%20of%203
'Bugler', by The Byrds is now on every playlist I have!
Yes are favourites here, D3!
I want 'Going for the one' (extended version) at my funeral!
I will check out the two Byrds tracks, funnily enough was listening to best of Byrds in the carjust last week but these two tracks did not feature, did discover something I had not heard for a long time on another compilation though:Grace by Jeff Buckley
I can smell the patchouli and joss sticks from here.
Ever felt cheated pt 2
'Zeppelin? I Love 'Em': The Confessions Of John Lydon
By Ian Fortnam (Classic Rock) September 04, 2015
Think you knew the man they once called Johnny Rotten? Think again.
https://www.loudersound.com/features/zeppelin-i-love-em-the-confessions-of-john-lydon
D3 I have no idea what you are on about, I'm quite aware of most aspects of musical history. Was signed to warner brothers myself, on the zep front was asked by R.Plant to join honeydrippers as guitarist and ran biggest concert venue in manchester for 19 years, I know my stuff.
I am sure you do, the punk wars you referred to ("ever felt cheated", quote from Lydon at the last US concert as US did not swallow the great swindle)all was not what it seemed, Zep attended a few Damned concerts.
Unfortunately, I was of an age when I was just getting into rock music and it was a very uncomfortable (and violent / intimidating) time for many,(literally violent on a couple of occasions) and quite annoying that the likes of Tony Parsons and Julie Burchill (where are they now...or rather what is their view now) at the NME made it 10 times worse with their "journalism" that practically carried out a cancel culture for so much music or just abused it, their in concert reviews completely ignoring Knebworth for example
and to find so much of it was artifice from the main protagents is rather ironic
Many on here seem to have experience of early rock gigs so maybe can help with something I have been looking for unsuccessfully on the internet and elsewhere.
Marshall "plexi" amps did not have a master volume so to be used effectively for their signature sound (such as Hendrix, Page, Townsend etc) had to be cranked and even a 50 watt would have deafened people and blown the windows out of smaller venues.
Hendrix played many small venues on his first UK tour including pubs, Zep also played many small venues, distortion overdive pedals were not widely available (Roger Mayer developed one for Page late 60s and Hendrix had a fuzz but again quite rare)
Unless they all used a smaller amp (VoxAC30 as Blackmore and Page did use intitially) how did they use a plexi in these smaller venues without the attenuators and master volumes that later appeared ?
Hendrix especially relied on the cranked Marshall for the harmonics, sag and punch when at full volume...
A friend of mine saw Zeppelin in the Cherry Tree pub at Welwyn Garden City 1970 / 71 and said they were stupidly loud but still probably not a fully open Marshall as dounbt if you could get a PA big enough to compensate for vocals drums etc ...
I recall a story about Blackmore putting pins in the speaker cones to get a distorted sound but anyway. wondering if they just played at much lower volumes which would sound very different.
Not talking about gain, (Page Blackmore did not use too much) but about the sound of a valve amp working at peak.
They just played loud, even in the eighties I played a mesa boogie mk2 through marshall cabs and in small venues it was painful...volume and perhaps my playing. I'm in the process of buying a couple of older marshalls to replace daughters dsl 100's, she too plays them wide open. Tearing cones is a no no and just a story started with Burlinson from johnny burnettes trio.
I would like a Mesa but cannot afford the fork lift to handle it...living on second floor valve amps proving diffcult to lug around have recently got a SS (Roland Blues artist) as a compromise.
BTW they did have the treble boosters in the past to help, Dallas Range master I think, used by Blackmore and others
Notice Blackmore always tended to stand aside from his stack to avoid getting knocked over
Just wondered how the singer could compete with the noise..
This may have helped: https://www.roger-mayer.co.uk/history.htm
Plexi on 10...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKTi8l8Yuxg
The P.A. would just handle mainly vocals and some drum mics and upto a certain size venue amps just did their thing.For lugging around house we have solid state fender and blackstar....for the rest a barn and land between us and the non marshall loving world.
Yes not much point trying to mike up a cranked marshall in medium or small place, I was playing a bit in the mid eighties and even then getting it in the ear for having my little Roland Cube 60 too loud on stage
"let the monitors do the work" was their mantra, but there was only one company with a 1000 watt PA in our area and the two guys had serious substance abuse problems, had to do some guitar solos from just memory as could not hear a thing and looked over and one was slumped unconscious over the sound desk, which usually happened towards the end of the night
An old friend of mine recommended the performance below, he was playing support on the Deep Purple 1974 Burn tour, when Purple were invited to play the notorious California Jam at a speedway track.
200 000 tickets sold maybe double that attending after the fences came down, ELP, Eagles, Purple and Sabbath amongst others playning with the now famous incident of Blackmore attacking the camera man as he filmed him and setting the stage on fire (literally) burning his hair in the process.
But despite this, available on youtube, Sabbath, never my favourite band, were metaphorically on fire with an astounding performance which had the whole audience participating, a reminder of what Ozzy could do when younger....
see below link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7V3pEGZz64
Hi Scrobs, decided to start one of my own: please feel free to join in !
https://mrmorbidcuriosity.blogspot.com/
D3, I did get to your site yesterday and left a brief comment, but was just rushing off!
Can't get to you now...
Will try later!
OK managed to link you in my sidebar after many attempts
Thanks MC!
To drag you back to the topic, did everyone watch the Enid live video? The version of Dark Hydraulic was excellent!If you didn't, get it while it's still available: https://youtu.be/ol2sdocjTXI
Dark Hydraulic is from the Sundialler album, I was promoting at the time and got a signed copy from them after they performed it at my venue. A good night, we had people even camping outside overnight. a first for our town...a bit like the people who also invaded when we put the Damned on when they were going through their "goth" phase
By the way I will be adding some more musical memories on my blog https://mrmorbidcuriosity.blogspot.com which I have just started on
That's fabulous, The J!
Especially at 7.30am!
I'll be over soon, MC!
Okey dokey sausage hunting today in St Ives (Cambridgeshire not Cornwall) nice butchers there with their own pies too
Hope its not flooded like last visit when river Ouse burst its banks
Did you find any?
We've discovered a fabulous butcher in Cranbrook, https://www.yell.com/biz/anderson-and-sons-cranbrook-838328/ who does snags without the rusk etc!
I just love 'em!
Senora O'Blene has yet to be convinced though...
I still can't find your site, MC - I'm usually thick, but even thicker at the moment...
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