Cranes, Newcastle Riverside, 01 Jun 93

I'd managed to see Cranes play as support to The Cure three times during 1992, and with the release of their "forever" album in 1993 I was finally able to see a show of their own. The venue at Newcastle was "The Riverside" - sadly no longer in use. The gig was promoted as a double bill, with shoe-gazers slowdive: a decent combination indeed.

I managed to get a copy of the set-list from the sound desk ~ "adrift" had been used to close the support set with the cure, and has an amazing build up of noise and the song comes to a close!

The Cure, Newcastle Mayfair, 22 Apr 92: Press 2

Another trawl through my cuttings archive, and another cutting releating to the cure's show at Newcastle...

Click the image to enlarge to a readable version

Interpol, Newcastle O2, 25 Nov 10

Interpol put on a great show at Newcastle on Nov 25, 2010... albeit heavily backlit ~ hence arty photographs!

Edit this setlist | More Interpol setlists

The Cure, Newcastle Mayfair, 22 Apr 92: Press

Here are the scans of Melody Maker - a review of the first couple of wish tour shows. That "wannabe" on page 2, 2nd from left... is me & the better half! If you click the images they will open to a larger size, and hopefully will have readable text...

Here's what one of the local newspapers had to say when the tour date at Newcastle was announced...

And finally, here are a couple more photographs of RS, outside of the Mayfair prior to the show...

Happy days!

The Cure, Newcastle Mayfair, 22 Apr 92

It was a case of right place, right time on 22 April 1992...

In 1989 the sucess of the album "disintegration" made the cure one of the most popular stadium / arena bands of the time, so it was great delight that the release of 1992s' "wish" album was initially promoted with a small UK "club" tour.

Towns and cities were announced via a video broadcast at HMV stores throughout the UK when the first single "high" was released, and thankfully, Newcastle was listed for a gig the following month...

Tickets went on sale the following week, so it was an early start for me to queue for tickets (no internet pre-sale then!). Got there just after 06.00 to find a hundred of others already there...

So the 22nd arrived and the missus and I headed to the venue early afternoon to soak up the atmosphere and try and meet the band as they arrived.

We hung around the stage doors for what seemed quite a while, and by mid-afternoon some folk went back to the main entrance to try and secure a place near the front of the queue - the Mayfair (RIP) was an all-standing venue, so you had to be quick to get a place at the front.

We opted to stay near the stage door...



Porl Thompson - note arm in sling! - Porl had a bike accident just before the tour was due to start...



Perry Bamonte - the guy having his records signed had a sisters of mercy t-shirt on... Perry was telling him off!



Simon Gallup



Robert Smith

Although we had missed drummer Boris Williams arrival (we caught sight of him just as he snuck around the trucks into the venue), the rest of the group were great with the fans, spending time to chat and sign various items. Robert in particular stayed and for what seemed like an age ~  I was too dumbstruck to ask anything of worth, though the missus enquired if they would play the "hanging garden", to which Robert politely informed us that they would be trying "the figurehead" instead (We ended up waiting until 2008 to hear the hanging garden live!)

Back in the queue excitement rose as the afternoon progressed, and we were even paid a visit by the then cure manager, Chris Parry. Chris, like the band, was very chatty and even brought some tickets out for the sold out show.

Doors opened as dusk descended and we all piled in ~ our early arrival had secured a front row position, stage left infront of where Porl would be standing, and we enjoyed the show immensely. Here's what we heard (courtesy of http://www.cure-concerts.de/)

open, high, pictures of you, lullaby, from the edge of the deep green sea, just like heaven, apart, a night like this, friday i’m in love, inbetween days, the walk, let's go to bed, doing the unstuck, fascination street, never enough, cut, end,

E1: the figurehead, charlotte sometimes, boys don't cry,

E2: a strange day, a forest

 

All photographs taken on a disposable 35mm camera - infact, it was dropped on the floor during the concert and we were lucky to retrieve it in one piece afterwards!

The show was reviewed by the formed musical journal "melody maker" - and me and the missus managed to get our photograph in,having been stopped by the journalist looking for people with RS influenced hair... maybe I'll scan it next time I get the scrap-book out of the loft!

White Lies, Newcastle O2, 17 Feb 11

Despite the efforts of an over jobsworth security bloke, I still managed a few images of white lies at Newcastle on Thursday. Promoting their second album, Ritual, white lies continue to grow as a live band with a very powerful performance.  

Chapel Club, The Cluny, 12 Feb 11

With the recent release of their mighty debut album "Palace", Chapel Club sold out The Cluny on Saturday night - and a fine set it was too... with most of the album played and a few from their preceding ep "five trees".

Support came from David's Lyre - enjoyed after a few pints of Beacon Fire and a Chili from the bar.

Chapel Club have a great sound - cross echo and the bunnymen/morrissey and you'll be pretty close.

The Wedding Present, Newcastle O2, 04 Dec 10

In December 2010 I saw the current Wedding Present line up performing the whole of the classic 1989 Bizarro album and a few other songs on a very cold winter night.

21 years on and the songs still sounded great. Got to the front, so it was tricky to fit Mr Gedge in at times, and limited lighting meant that black and white images looked better...

The Joy Formidable, Newcastle O2, 08 Feb 11

I only heard The Joy Formidable a few weeks ago on the radio and was struck how much they sounded like Belly. An up-coming gig at Newcastle's O2 was a snip at a ten pounds, so that's where we headed on the 8th. Good support from Airship and The Chapman Family too...

The gig was upstairs at the O2 "2" - a small capacity room, all the better for pics...

The Everchanging Spectrum Of A Lie

Popinjay

Austere

The Magnifying Glass

Greyhounds in the Slips

The Greatest Light Is the Greatest Shade

While the Flies

Cradle

Chapter 2

Whirring

A Heavy Abacus

The Cult, Newcastle O2, 27 Jan 11

First gig of 2011 ~ nice mix of old and new material from Astbury and Co...

 Everyman and Woman Is A Star
Rain
Horse Nation
Sweet Soul Sister
White
Saints Are Down
Dirty Little Rockstar
Nirvana
Ghost Dance
(Ian's South Dakota film)
Embers
War
Go West
Wild Flower
Until The Light Takes Us
She Sells Sanctuary
Love Removal Machine

Rise
Spiritwalker
Break on Through (To The Other Side)