Some classic rock up north

We were visiting friends in the north of England over the weekend. This was arranged around a fun gig we booked to see and then another came up so we went to that as well.

The first was at Durham cathedral. Not a natural venue for a rock gig. They have a series events called Concerts by Candlelight with various types of music. We went to one featuring David Bowie tribute act David Live. The cloisters in this picture were used for filming some scenes of Harry Potter.

We were right at the back, so the view was not great. I think the only candles were at the front of the stage, so we could not really see them. This must be a challenging venue to get the sound right, but they did a good job. Listening to rock in that environment has a different vibe, but music is my religion really. They did some interesting tunes including Heart's Filthy Lesson and Little Wonder that I have not heard from other tribute acts. The pianist was good at the Mike Garson style and I think the guitarist had a thing for Stevie Ray Vaughn which suited the songs he originally played on. The singer did a reasonable job of sounding like David. We really enjoyed it and most people were up and dancing at the end as they finished with Ziggy Stardust and Suffragette City. It was just odd having the cathedral staff wandering around in red gowns like teachers at an old school.

The next day we were in Whitley Bay where my dad spent some summers in his youth as his family was from around there. He says he sold ice creams by the Spanish City.

The gig was in the Playhouse Theatre just up the road. This was a nice venue that probably seats about a thousand people.

The show was Toyah Wilcox and Robert Fripp. They have been married for 37 years (as she kept telling up) and during COVID they made lots of videos playing various cover songs. They have now taken this on the road. Toyah was big in the punk era with a few big hits. They played some of those. Robert has been the core of King Crimson for over fifty years as well as playing with lots of people, including David Bowie.

This is like what we experienced, on a smaller scale. I liked that they finished the first half with Kashmir by Led Zeppelin and started the second with Enter Sandman by Metallica. They did not play any King Crimson songs, but we had Fashion and Heroes by Bowie. That was our second version of Heroes over the weekend.

On the merchandise stand they had the usual shirts, but also lots of signed items including calendars. I have too many t-shirts as it is, but I was taken with this sheet signed by Robert. It says "Music is the cup which holds the wine of silence". This will take pride of place on my study/studio wall.

We did a lot of driving over the weekend. It has been tiring, but great fun.

Rock on!