My own blog reminds me that it was in October 2013 that I last saw Steven Wilson at this very same venue. On that occasion he was promoting his great album 'The Raven That Refused to Sing...And Other Stories'. I decided there and then that if the opportunity presented itself, I would return to see him perform live again. This decision was reinforced by the fact that he is currently promoting the even more ambitious work 'Hand. Cannot. Erase' which was one of my favourite albums of 2015.
Once again upon entering Newcastle's City Hall on Saturday evening, I was transported back to my teenage years when I was a regular at that venue, seeing the likes of Jethro Tull, Family, Terry Reid, Savoy Brown, Ginger Baker's Airforce and Yes. The venue still retains a certain aura for me and although I cannot claim to be a regular visitor these days, I am always enthralled to enter, take my seat and just soak up the atmosphere of the place.
The show began as last time out with a video showing on the giant screen at the back of the stage. Slowly the band took to the stage in pairs and launched into the opening of the album 'Hand. Cannot. Erase'. They then performed the album in it's entirety before taking a 15 minute break.
When they returned we were treated to a selection of older songs including three from Wilson's most recent project 'Four & a Half' which as he explained is a mini album of songs which didn't fit into any of his past projects. He went on to say that he hates the term mini album but explained that it was only 37 minutes long, which just happened to be the average length of an full album when he was growing up. He also during the evening made reference to David Bowie who of course has a great song 'Lazarus' on his current album. By way of tribute, Wilson performed his own song of the same title.
I won't document the whole setlist here, as there are other ways for you to find such information. However I should mention particular highlights for me which included 'My Book of Regrets' and the Porcupine Tree song 'Don't Hate Me'.
Throughout the whole show, the performances were superb as one would expect from such a fine set of musicians. I am loathe to single out any individual but I was particularly impressed with Nick Beggs who played bass guitar, Chapman Stick, keyboards and sang backing vocals. And yes, it is the same Nick Beggs who hit number one in 1983 as part of Kajagoogoo.
To finish, Wilson performed another Porcupine Tree song, 'The Sound of Muzak' followed by what he regards as his finest song, 'The Raven that Refused to Sing'. I wholeheartedly agree with him. It was a great ending to a great night.
On Saturday evening I paid an all too rare visit to Newcastle City Hall. As I attended many of my first concerts at that venue, it was something of a homecoming for me, as it was indeed for the Newcastle based folk band, The Unthanks.
If the name is unfamiliar to you, then perhaps you have an aversion to folky type music sung in a northern dialect. If so, may I suggest you give a listen to the wonderful new album 'Mount The Air'. Also a flick through various press reports and internet sites will reveal that among The Unthanks legions of followers are, Ryan Adams, Martin Freeman, Elvis Costello, Colin Firth, Robert Wyatt, Nick Hornby, Ade Edmondson and members of Radiohead. A pretty diverse collection I think you will agree.
The support act who opened both parts of the show were a Stockton-on-Tees based trio who call themselves the Young'uns. I first caught them live exactly two years ago when they ably supported Anais Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer. On this occasion they performed all of their songs unaccompanied and totally captivated the audience with their vocal harmonies and their witty in between song chatter.
The Unthank sisters, Rachel and Becky eventually took centre stage and were surrounded by a very capable bunch of backing musicians. Strangely in these times, with the exception of the electric bass, there was not a guitar to be seen. Instead, the band weave their magic with drums, piano, harmonium, a string quartet and a young lady who performed wonders on trumpet and flugelhorn. Focusing mainly on the current album, they ended the first set with the absolutely awesome 10 minute title track. I have always loved the acoustics of the City Hall and it was a perfect setting to replicate the wonderful sound the band achieve on this superb album.
The second set was a little more eclectic featuring songs by Antony Hegerty, Robert Wyatt and ending with a great version of King Crimson's 'Starless' before the band returned to encore with a reprise of the end section of 'Mount The Air'.
If I have one complaint about the performance, it concerned the amount of chatter. While it was always engaging and allowed the natural personality of the girls to come across, it also affected the overall flow of the songs and in my view, interrupted the dramatic effect of their wonderful music. However, that is merely a small personal viewpoint.
Clearly the girls were overawed at this homecoming reception. This was their first performance at the City Hall. I hope it will not be their last.
On Friday 18 October, I set off for the Newcastle City Hall with fairly mixed feelings as I was attending this concert at the expense of seeing These New Puritans who were playing just across the River Tyne at The Sage, Gateshead. Two of my favourite finds this year, and they both have to be playing in my area on the same night. That's what we call sod's law in these parts.
Anyway the tickets for Steven Wilson were obtained long before I knew anything about These New Puritans, so off I went looking forward to seeing live performances of songs from one of the best albums of the year, 'The Raven That Refused To Sing... and Other Stories'. I was not to be disappointed as the band played almost everything from that album. (Only 'Pin Drop' was omitted).
It is always something of a thrill entering the City Hall as it was one of the first major venues I ever attended back when I was a slip of a lad. I have lost count of the number of times I have been there but regrettably these days visits are something of a rare occurrence simply because they tend to feature very few artists that interest me.
Soon after taking our seats, a film was projected onto the rear curtain and as the main character of the film (a street busker) strummed his guitar, the sound was replaced by that of Wilson himself strumming his own acoustic guitar and ambling barefoot onto the stage.
He was eventually joined by the other five members of his band and soon they were pumping out the opening bass riff of 'Luminol' which opens the aforementioned album.
The recent songs were broken up by a couple from Wilson's previous album, 'Grace For Drowning' as well as a brand new song which is currently named 'Soundtrack to Decline' but the title like the song was being road tested and is therefore subject to change.
Throughout I was struck by the quality of the musicianship as the band successfully recreated the complex rhythms produced on record. In this respect I was put in mind of when I went to see King Crimson, Genesis and Yes in the early 1970's and the use of film and projected images also recalled the visual attributes of the aforementioned master of prog-rock.
After a little over two hours, the band ended with an encore of 'Radioactive Toy' from the first Porcupine Tree album and the band took their bows and left, leaving us to take one more look around this wonderful venue and venture out into the night.
The full setlist consisted of:
Trains
Luminol
Postcard
The Holy drinker
Drive Home
Soundtrack to Decline
The Watchmaker
Index
Sectarian
Harmony Korine
Raider 2
The Raven That refused To Sing
Radioactive Toy
I'm currently enjoying sunshine, walks, fine scenery and the occasional ice cold cerveza in Spain but thought I'd share this little item with you.
As you will know if you have read earlier posts, I have been particularly impressed by two albums this year. They are 'The Raven That Refused To Sing and Other Stories' by Steven Wilson and 'Field of Reeds' by These New Puritans.
Back in March I learned that Wilson was playing at one of my all time favourite venues, Newcastle City Hall on Friday 18 October. I wasted no time in purchasing my ticket.
Now, I have discovered that These New Puritans are commencing a UK tour and will be playing The Sage in Gateshead on......
Yes, you guessed it - Friday 18 October!
I mean what are the chances of that?
They are also playing in Leeds on Wednesday 16 October so I may just have to hop in the car and drive there. The things we do eh?
Anyway as they say here in Spain, hasta luego.
It is with some relief that I can now update my posting dated 24 November 2012 in which I reported on the possible closure of Newcastle City Hall. A petition against the proposal to close this iconic venue was raised by the North East Music History Society and they obtained about 11,000 signatures resulting in an announcement that the venue is not to close after all.
The leaders of Newcastle City Council are now in talks with the management at Newcastle Theatre Royal (another fine, historic building) with the intention of allowing the theatre management to take over the running of the City Hall.
While the future of the City Hall is not yet assured, at least we know it has been given a stay of execution and with further support can surely continue to provide the north east of England with a number of fine cultural events for many years to come.
Well done to all the wonderful people who have worked so hard to secure this result.
Now it's on with the show!
Opened to the public in 1927, Newcastle City Hall is an iconic building which has hosted many great concerts by some of the finest recording artists in the world. To me personally it played a huge part in the development of my love of music. Graduating from listening to music on the radio, through taping episodes of Top of The Pops directly from the TV, to buying my very first vinyl records, the next logical step was to go to see live acts performing. Initially this was done at small 'dancehall' venues but eventually I began attending larger concerts and that all began at Newcastle City Hall.
It would be impossible for me to even begin to list all of the artists I have seen there over the years but suffice to say that the place holds a very special place in my heart. It should also be mentioned that there have been a number of live albums recorded in that venue, most notably, 'Pictures at an Exhibition' by Emerson, Lake & Palmer (March 1971), 'No Sleep 'til Hammersmith' by Motorhead and 'Slade on Stage' by Slade both in 1981. Of course it was also the scene of the regular Lindisfarne Christmas concerts and was a venue that they themselves played 132 times. In July this year, a plaque was unveiled on the wall of this historic building, commemorating the late Lindisfarne leader Alan Hull.
Now I hear that as part of the local council budget cuts, Newcastle City Council are considering closing the venue and selling the building off for redevelopment.
To close this venue would be a travesty and I have just signed an online petition to try to prevent this from happening. If you feel like I do, regardless of where you live, please get online and do likewise.
Here is a link to the petition:
http://www.change.org/petitions/newcastle-city-council-save-newcastle-city-hall
Thanks for taking the time to read this and please support this worthy cause.
The show began as last time out with a video showing on the giant screen at the back of the stage. Slowly the band took to the stage in pairs and launched into the opening of the album 'Hand. Cannot. Erase'. They then performed the album in it's entirety before taking a 15 minute break.
