Rock Evolution – The History of Rock & Roll - 1985 - (page 203)

Mancitydoogle said:
I was at that gig too, I remember being near the front and feeling the heat off the fire cannons.Great spectacle not so sure about the music.You and I must’ve been to a high number of the same gigs back then.
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Don't spose either you or @OB1 remember how much the tickets were? I'm going to guess somewhere between £2 - £3 ?
 
threespires said:
Nooooo. I hope you're taking the piss here? I like Ure and stuck with Ultravox for a fair while post John Foxx but, after a promising first few bars, the synths on that cover are ponderous tosh and Ure's voice copes but not much more. The video however is brilliantly of it's time and Midge's hair and tash never looked better.
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He did indeed look Slick
 
Mancitydoogle said:
I was at that gig too, I remember being near the front and feeling the heat off the fire cannons.Great spectacle not so sure about the music.You and I must’ve been to a high number of the same gigs back then.
Click to expand...

I was in the circle for that gig and my eyebrows almost got singed: those fire columns were hotter than hell, talk about a firehouse (sic)! I'd not heard KISS' music at that point but I loved that too, and still do, but I get why other people don't.

We may have gone to lots of the same gigs, you'd see a lot of the same faces. I used to see the person that eventually became my best man at gigs well before actually meeting him; albeit he would ususally be with his brother and his friend who were both in my Latin set at school. One guy you'd see at so many gigs looked a bit like Ozzy Osbourne and was always taping gigs, I never knew him personally but his name was Ian and my best mate bumped into him recently; he's still got the Ozzy hair, and the tapes.

The gigs I attended in 1976 - in reverse order, with ticket prices where I still have ticket - were:

Steve Hillage
Palace Theatre (I think - don't have a ticket or recall going but must have had a reason for listing it: I did dig my old diaries out from the loft during covid to help record all my gigs on Setlist.FM; a good friend was fond of Gong)

Eddie & the Hot Rods
Free Trade Hall £1.25

Thin Lizzy
Free Trade Hall £1.50

Peter Frampton / Gary Wright
Kings Hall at Belle Vue £2.80

Dr. Feelgood
Palace Theatre

Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
Free Trade Hall £1.75

Rainbow
Free Trade Hall

KISS
Free Trade Hall

Camel
Free Trade Hall £1.65

Robin Trower /John Miles
Free Trade Hall (Got the ticket but it's signed on the back by RT and stuck on a piece of card)

I loved the FTH, best concert venue ever, the number of times I saw the front rows demolished. What was great was they would sell seats near the front but on the side more cheaply because of restricted view (due to the PAs) so we'd buy those for gigs that you knew the crowd would rush the stage and end up standing in front of the stage.

Happy days.
 
Mad Eyed Screamer said:
1976.
Ground zero for Manchester music.
Rock evolution? More revolution.
The Pistols arrived at the Lesser Free Trade Hall and as a result Buzzcocks, The Fall, Joy Division, The Frantic Elevators and The Smiths are conceived.
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Taken four days for this to be mentioned! Wilson was there too so by extension other bands conceived beyond those initial ones.

Supported by Wythenshawe's finest in Slaughter and The Dogs. I was still at primary school with what I believe was Mike Rossi's little sister, at that point.

Given the impact v size of audience (no more than 50?) it must be up there as the most creatively productive gig of all time? Way more so than the later 100 club gig.
 
Mad Eyed Screamer said:
1976.
Ground zero for Manchester music.
Rock evolution? More revolution.
The Pistols arrived at the Lesser Free Trade Hall and as a result Buzzcocks, The Fall, Joy Division, The Frantic Elevators and The Smiths are conceived.
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I'm sure we will be hearing thankfully from some these bands in the next few years.
Didn't Buzzcocks open for The Pistols the 2nd time they played the venue not long after?
Think the first is one of those York away moments where many more claim to be there than actually were
 
Out on blue 6 said:
I'm sure we will be hearing thankfully from some these bands in the next few years.
Didn't Buzzcocks open for The Pistols the 2nd time they played the venue not long after?
Think the first is one of those York away moments where many more claim to be there than actually were
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Yes Buzzcocks wanted to open at the first gig (which they promoted) but weren’t ready. That honour went to prog rockers Solstice.

At the 2nd gig, as mentioned above, Slaughter & The Dogs (1st on) and then Buzzcocks were the support.
The Dogs told Shelley and Devoto that they would produce posters for advertising the gig - and put themselves as main support band and the Buzzcocks bottom of the bill!
IMG_3897.webp
 
Mad Eyed Screamer said:
Yes I scoured the last few pages and was shocked to discover that it had been ignored.
And now I announce my arrival into the thread ;)
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I thought one or two of the existing thread participants might mention it but I did think you were my best bet if you were lurking!

As @Out on blue 6 mentioned it is a bit of a York away moment, Dave Nolan's book on it is actually called I Swear I Was There but I'm not sure I should be mentioning rival authors in your presence!

There's an interesting sliding doors question I suppose of what happens if that gig takes place somewhere else. That audience was full of Manchester archetypes of the 'this lot are shit, we could do a better job' school of confidence (and industry). Would it have been the same outcome in other cities? Possibly, but either way so much to answer for indeed.
 
OB1 said:
I was in the circle for that gig and my eyebrows almost got singed: those fire columns were hotter than hell, talk about a firehouse (sic)! I'd not heard KISS' music at that point but I loved that too, and still do, but I get why other people don't.

We may have gone to lots of the same gigs, you'd see a lot of the same faces. I used to see the person that eventually became my best man at gigs well before actually meeting him; albeit he would ususally be with his brother and his friend who were both in my Latin set at school. One guy you'd see at so many gigs looked a bit like Ozzy Osbourne and was always taping gigs, I never knew him personally but his name was Ian and my best mate bumped into him recently; he's still got the Ozzy hair, and the tapes.

The gigs I attended in 1976 - in reverse order, with ticket prices where I still have ticket - were:

Steve Hillage
Palace Theatre (I think - don't have a ticket or recall going but must have had a reason for listing it: I did dig my old diaries out from the loft during covid to help record all my gigs on Setlist.FM; a good friend was fond of Gong)

Eddie & the Hot Rods
Free Trade Hall £1.25

Thin Lizzy
Free Trade Hall £1.50

Peter Frampton / Gary Wright
Kings Hall at Belle Vue £2.80

Dr. Feelgood
Palace Theatre

Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
Free Trade Hall £1.75

Rainbow
Free Trade Hall

KISS
Free Trade Hall

Camel
Free Trade Hall £1.65

Robin Trower /John Miles
Free Trade Hall (Got the ticket but it's signed on the back by RT and stuck on a piece of card)

I loved the FTH, best concert venue ever, the number of times I saw the front rows demolished. What was great was they would sell seats near the front but on the side more cheaply because of restricted view (due to the PAs) so we'd buy those for gigs that you knew the crowd would rush the stage and end up standing in front of the stage.

Happy days.
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Frampton noticeably more expensive which is interesting.

Might be wrong on this but the success of Comes Alive has always struck me as out of kilter with his level of popularity overall both before and after and in many ways pretty much defines him, which is unusual for a live album.
 
threespires said:
Frampton noticeably more expensive which is interesting.

Might be wrong on this but the success of Comes Alive has always struck me as out of kilter with his level of popularity overall both before and after and in many ways pretty much defines him, which is unusual for a live album.
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No, Frampton’s success with “Comes Alive” was an outlier to the rest of his solo career. I guess it caught the zeitgeist, double lives were very popular in the 70’s and some bands produced better versions of their best songs on their live albums. KISS being a case in point with Alive!, which is apparently getting a special 50th anniversary edition, they have all the tapes, including some rehearsals and Eddie Kramer, who produced Alive! has just mixed them all.

Frampton had all sorts of troubles I think with the fame and fortune and could not follow up with a killer studio album, whereas KISS delivered their, IMO, best album Destroyer but also two other fine albums, produced by Eddie Kramer, and then another killer live album.

Frampton ended up playing sideman to David Bowie at one point. He did get it together and has had a solid later life career. I saw him again in this century and he did a good sold out show, promoting his very decent Thank You Mr Churchill album. I also think I saw him as part of Ringo’s All Starr Band.

The Frampton Belle Vue gig was ace, a run through Comes Alive basically.

Talking of double lives, I may well, to the dismay of many, review one on the other thread, next time out.
 
threespires said:
So maybe the equivalent of £15 today, to see a well known band at a well known venue. And Dio wasn't going to inadvertently expose to a global audience the fact you were at the gig with a woman you shouldnt have been! Those were the days.
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Well played. No close shaves back then to worry about at a venue either.
 
threespires said:
Frampton noticeably more expensive which is interesting.

Might be wrong on this but the success of Comes Alive has always struck me as out of kilter with his level of popularity overall both before and after and in many ways pretty much defines him, which is unusual for a live album.
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I don't know many artists more discovered, known and loved for their live performances than him. Which is something I really never got back in the day being too young to be a fan, but there was that Comes Alive! album of 1976 that took FM radio and the soon-to be fans that had never heard of him by storm.

I had even gone back in the 80's to listen to his original studio versions to see what the fuss was all about, and it WAS real - the live versions really kicked and the studio versions have never seen a US FM radio station to this day that I'm aware of.

I can't think of many/any? bands that get that type of sole treatment since. Sure, there's a few of Seger or Jackson Browne or Skynyrd songs that get the live treatment, but those are select few - that's the only way you'll ever hear Frampton on the radio in my experience.

Never seen him live either.
 
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Indeed "Bruce Dickinson", and Blue Oyster Cult wasn't the only band who cornered the market on this instrument in 1976.

This song was one of my favourites late in the year after my family had moved to the greater Philly area. Released in October, the line in this song of "Philly's fever made me feel alright" was one I remember latching onto in this funk-rock song.

This blues-rock band from Stafford, England actually charted higher in the US (#3) than the UK (#10) for this song. From a regional point of view, the Philly radio stations especially ate this song up, and so did I. I certainly wasn't aware that this was a UK band as the funkiness of this song sounded like something out of the overall Philly Sound going on at the time.

The cowbell as promised also was very distinct here, along with the smooth lead and distinct background vocals. I love memories of songs like this, where my childhood ears were fooled at the time. Just goes to show that good music transcends all kinds of boundaries, no matter where the origin.

Couldn't Get It Right - Climax Blues Band
 
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