LED ZEPPELIN - THE PEAK HAS BEEN REACHED, MADISON SQUARE GARDENS 27-29/7/73

So, this is it. The final night of the final tour as Robert put it. 33 shows across 2 legs, with just a couple of dips at the start of the second leg thanks to Robert's shot vocal chords. Shows 31 through 33 were three SRO shows at Madison Square Gardens, famously captured in their 137 minute movie The Song Remains The Same and accompanying soundtrack(s). 

For years it's been the subject of much discussion and debate, the final word on sources, edits, misnomers and the like put together by Eddie Edwards on his remarkable www.thegardentapes.co.uk site. One thing for sure, that's not my purpose here. For me, it's the performances, the music, the nuances of what happened onstage.

FRIDAY JULY 27TH, 1973

Three days rest and Led Zeppelin arrive in New York for the final blow out of the tour. By now the media, from TV and Radio stations through rock magazines Creem and Rolling Stone all want a piece. Led Zeppelin are now in the stratosphere, the tour has been an incredible success and the addition of stage effects, a publicist and some remarkable if more 'professional' shows have seen to that. They're the hottest ticket. Cameron Crowe's 'Almost Famous' movie captures some of the essence, the near hysteria and the adulation.

Back at The Garden, Led Zeppelin kick into the 3 song blast with a solid, bottom heavy Rock And Roll and after the sound clears in Celebration Day drive the audience - already on the edge - to near hysteria with a bombastic Black Dog.

This is the one missing piece of the audio jigsaw of the three shows. The last segment of the show - from Stairway through to The Ocean - has been circulating from a soundboard source for nigh on 40 years now. The audience tape that came to light at the end of the 70's starts during The Rain Song, so the opening tracks are missing except for the brief fragments of 8mm footage.

We do know that Stairway and Dazed are the ones from the film and soundtrack and are both out of this world. The last verse of Stairway comes from the next night thanks to a mic failure from Robert. In the movie you can see Jimmy using the wah wah, confirmed on the soundboard tape. 

He's fully warmed up and ready for a wonderful Dazed And Confused, once more pushing his band mates as far as he can, coaxing some remarkable moments and time shifts in the process. 

You can hear on the audience recording of Dazed - without the small edits and drop ins on the soundtrack LP - just how dynamic and breathtaking the playing really is. Astonishing stuff.

And following that is a Stairway To Heaven to behold, with THAT solo as seen in the movie/soundtrack, as Jimmy moves mountains and takes the roof off.

Bonzo's solo is a restbite, and then we get the final blast off. The funky section really works and grinds, and the band are flying high now. The sole encore of The Ocean seals a fantastic first night.

SATURDAY JULY 28TH 1973

From now on we have complete soundboard recordings, and although this night is a bit flat and compressed, it makes for an even listening. It doesn't seem as spectacular as the previous show, maybe the buzz of being back in New York has faded a bit. But in 1973 a slightly less than 100% Led Zeppelin is still a mighty thing.

The openers bring the crowd to their feet, the blues drama of Since I've Been Loving You to their knees. The Song Remains The Same and The Rain Song are fantastic here, and just about intact and untouched in the movie. Again, Jimmy's spitfire meets jazz figures are breathless and bewildering as much as his lush melodic work is awe inspiring. Even Jonesy's mellotron work is spot on without the wandering tunings of so many other shows. 

No Quarter is simply stunning tonight, and the vast majority of the performance used in both the movie and soundtrack. We all know it by heart of course, but the syncopation is spot on and Jimmy's solo just soars and cries...

Dazed And Confused is again maintaining it's position as the centrepiece of the show, but Stairway To Heaven is fast becoming the communion of the believers, an anthemic monster that draws so many facets of Led Zeppelin together. Before it became a millstone and even a chore, it's purely spectacular. 

The finale has Jimmy out of control in Heartbreaker and Robert itching to Boogie before they bring the hammer down. The Ocean is again the only encore as the crowd bay for more and Led Zeppelin prepare for one more blast.

And we have some great cine from tonight too, covering most of the show. Finally after many years the quality of 8mm footage is getting so much better, with improving technology and getting nearer the source footage. 

SUNDAY JULY 29TH 1973

For the final show, Led Zeppelin pull out all the stops. Not as inspired at first, they seem a bit tired and weary. By Misty Mountain Hop it kicks up a notch or two and Since I've Been Loving You is masterful, a show full of drama in itself. Jonesy really comes to the fore tonight, changing a few riffs and fills more than usual, challenging the band with mood changing deftness on both keyboards and bass.

Stairway To Heaven is immense again, and the crowd love every second. As they approach the finish line it's hard to believe they were told about the robbery during Bonzo's solo. 

The playing is inspired, and after a frenzied Heartbreaker the end of Whole Lotta Love is extended for ever as Bonzo thrashes away while fire dancers cavort around the stage. With the flaming Gong as well, this is the climax to end all climaxes. If you get to hear the audience recording you'll know the reaction of the already nuts crowd after that!

Encore time is a stomping The Ocean and a long, almost regal Thank You, preceeded by a studied and almost calming John Paul Jones solo spot. The longest show of the tour ends the longest tour of the US so far. 

And again we have some great cine to accompany the audio.

I can watch an enjoy the movie endlessly. For all its' faults and edits and occasional clumsiness it's part of my rite of passage at the very least. Always loved the soundtrack album, and despite the extra tracks the remastered edition somewhat less. I listen to these 3 nights and enjoy them all, even if the moments used in the movie & soundtrack(s) are so stuck in my brain they shoot out at me a bit. Visually, we've got the 2 disk version with some wonderful extra's, plus the bootleg The First Cut with some different visuals. There's a ton of cine film too, from all nights, and some has been used by Jimmy too. 

On bootleg, only a couple of partial soundboard tapes were circulating when the last days of vinyl (first time around anyway) were being pressed so we only have some set end and encore fragments on Rock Solid's Duck Walks & Lasers compilation. On Cd it's a real minefield. Empress Valley have released at least two versions of the 'expanded and revised collectors edition' of all 3 shows individually and collectively. And there are various fan CDR edits like the Winston Remaster series. Sadly, there ill always be anew even more limited and even more expensive box set just around the corner, the trick is knowing when to stop!

Led Zeppelin ended their 9th US Tour with 3 stunning shows at one of their landmark venues. Within months the weariness, the road fever, would make subsequent tours more studied and organised affairs. Robert had a throat operation and the band got a bit older. Although some of their finest recording years were still ahead of them, this was certainly a pivotal point in Led Zeppelin's history. In many ways I agree with Luis Rey - The Peak Has Been Reached. America has been well and truly conquered, they are now superstars.

BLUE OYSTER CULT - AGENTS OF FORTUNE IN LONDON, JULY 29TH 2016

Well, it's been a long wait. 8 years since BOC last hit London, but boy was it worth it. Their 23rd show in the capital and a special anniversary show - their 4th this summer - celebrating the landmark Agents Of Fortune album. The signs were good, this was not just 'another' show, not just a gathering of the faithful. 

Selling out weeks in advance, Blue Oyster Cult were playing stunning shows across the US, from New York to California, Nevada to Michigan, with 42 shows this year before the Acadamy show in Dublin last thursday. And a nigh on 2 hour 24 track blockbuster of a show included both time honoured BOC classics and rarities including even the 'what album's this from?' Don't Turn Your Back.

The Forum was packed, and hot. From the start, faithfully performing Agents Of Fortune complete and in sequence, the crowd were great too, soaking in every note. Reaper almost raised the roof in it's unusual third in the set spot, greeted like a talismanic old friend. Following that was a brilliant ETI (always one of my faves) that had Buck wrestling with the echo and wringing every drop of drama and chaos out of the three men in black story line. 

Then came the welcome return of Albert Bouchard, plus Patti Smith's taped spoken introduction, for The Revenge Of Vera Gemini. Sinful love was powerfully rendered, and Tattoo Vampire a superb maelstrom of chaos. The finale of the elpee was over way too soon. 42 minutes and a quick pause for breath. 

If the first set was a celebration of a classic album, the second did that and more for their career, particularly as a live colossus. For the next 80 plus minutes Blue Oyster Cult gave us a master class in what they do best. Dark, brooding sci-fi tinged masterpieces mixed with impossibly commercial AOR sensibilites. Nobody does it better. The set ran

Dominance And Submission

Golden Age Of Leather

Od'd On Life Itself

Burnin' For You

Harvest Moon

The Vigil

Lips In The Hills

Buck's Boogie

Last Days Of May

Hot Rails To Hell

Godzilla

ME 262

5 Guitars/Born To Be Wild

In Thee

Cities On Flame 

Not bad, eh? It was such a joyous triumph, one of the best BOC shows I've seen in the UK and Europe over the decades. Highlights? Golden Age Of Leather is a long lost classic, thankfully restored to the live set. It does it all, from the edgy riffs to great harmony work and that dark humour, an essential ingredient. Great to hear Harvest Moon again too, love the Buck fired solo lift off in the middle.

But, possibly the highlight was The Vigil, along with The Great Sun Jester the best moment on Mirrors. A glorious Sci-fi tale of warning and hope, it was performed to perfection. One thing I do have to mention is just how good the rhythm section is, Kasim was immense and very cool with it. The backbone of the band really helps the whole thing knit together and fly. 

Last Days of May was the mid set epic, extended solo's bookmarked either side by Buck's story of a drug deal gone badly wrong. I know the book Career Of Evil is heavily influenced by and features Blue Oyster Cult, and that Stephen King is a long standing fan, but this has a hint of Tarantino about it though I guess he'd go for the gore and not the moral or subtlety.

After that it was the rush to the climax. After a frantic ME 262 came the wonderful 5 Guitars sketch, brilliant self indulgent fun. And for the first time in a long time, Born To Be Wild. Albert on second drum kit, guitar shredding and glitter everywhere! perfect.

By the time the last notes of Cities On Flame had faded we'd had it all. An exhaustive, not to say exhausting, performance. It's been way too long. Recent visits have been fleeting and it began to feel that it was all fading away, but last Friday night was a reappraisal, a renaissance and as I've already said a celebration. 

'Three thousand guitars, they seem to cry...'

**Many thanks to those who have posted up footage and pictures already. Special thanks to Anupam 'forgottenglory' bansoodeb for his great shots**

BLACK SABBATH - SABOTAGE

'Tell me people, am I going insane?'

Released on July 28th 1975, Sabotage is Black Sabbath's 6th studio album. Sometimes overlooked and underrated after Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, it is possibly their last great Ozzy fronted release. Recorded in Morgan Studios, London through the spring of 1975, it carried on the Prog tinged experimentation of SBS, with the band taking their time to embellish the sound and use the studio as much as possible.

Looking back Ozzy in particular was frustrated with the elongated recording and writing process, that each subsequent album was taking longer and longer to complete after the one day in the studio recorded virtully live approach of their debut. Tony Iommi too was concerned that it needed to be heavier than SBS, which he considered to be 'not a rock album, really'.

Having said all that, Sabotage includes one of their most copied, influential and powerful riffs. Symptom Of The Universe bursts out of the speakers after the opening Hole In The Sky and acoustic interlude Don't Start (Too Late). Even with the lighter sections, the riff is a killer and it instantly became a live favourites. After that, we get for me the perfect Metal/Prog hybrid that is Megalomania. A long brooding number that explodes with a series of angry riffs before swirling into the distance. One of my all time fave Sabbath tunes.

The second side is lighter, but does include Supertzar, a grandiose chunk of neo-classical metal complete with the London Philharmonic Choir. Instrumental and bombastic, it was destined to be the intro tape for many a tour, and a very effective one at that.

The single Am I Going Insane is typical of the throwaway ideas they were trying at the time, and closing the elpee is The Writ, an angry attack at the management that had ripped them off for millions, unusually featuring Ozzy's lyrics too.

And the sleeve didn't help. The idea itself is fine, but ever since they've been questioned and ribbed over their wardrobe. And rightly so. Like the album itself, there's an air of it'll have to do about it. Shame, because for me it's a great record that stands up to this day to repeated plays and has some fine moments. But you can tell the tiredness and anger, the frustration. Sadly it went down from there, not up. There is enough in it for me to stand alone as a classic Black Sabbath album. Go on, give it a spin now....

JIMMY PAGE & ROY HARPER - CAMBRIDGE FOLK FESTIVAL JULY 28TH 1984

"We are creatures of darkness.....bodies in Lime"

The summer of '84 was a good time. Lots of positive signs in the air, the most important to me was Jimmy was playing again. We'd had the (wonderful to me) Death Wish II soundtrack and a few jams and toe in the water moments, so I was really excited to hear he was working seriously again collaborating with old friend Roy Harper. 

After a couple of low key appearances at the May Tree Fair in Kenley near Norwich on May 6th and St Ives Hotel, Lytham St Annes on the 21st (it was Lytham where some of the recording for the forthcoming 'Jugula' elpee was done), Cambridge was altogether a different affair. Announced in advance, there was a healthy crowd piling in from the friday, even if by saturday some of the shouts were unrealistically for Zeppelin numbers.

I remember getting there on the friday, with Lol Dyer and a workmate Tony and settling down to a hazy summer evening at a relaxed Folk Festival sponsored by Guinness. Perfect. It was great to meet up with old friends and collectors alike, and we caught a friday evening set from Roy in one of the (Semi) acoustic tents as a gentle build up to the main event. By Saturday afternoon the crowd was swelling and anticipation was high. Jimmy was wandering around backstage, dressed in white and looking good.

The full electric set was great as I recall. The hour plus set began with the Harper/Gilmour Short and Sweet, and ended with The Game. In between we were treated to 3 tracks from the yet to be completed Whatever Happened To Jugula? Page/Harper elpee. Jimmy was in good form, playing the botswana brown Telecaster and wringing some lovely dissonant country edged licks from the b-bender device fitted to the guitar.

Not only was he in fine form but he seemed genuinely touched by the reception he got. It was a real pleasure to see him playing and playing well, enjoying the interraction of a live band and taking the odd risk. But the best was yet to come. That evening Roy played in the acoustic tent, and after an extended version of One Of These Days In England, Jimmy joined him for a quite astonishing version of Hangman and Same Old Rock. Sitting about 5 feet away as he tore the desperate tale of impending death to shreds was something I'll never forget. 

After the set a few celebratory pints of Guinness - in the tankards commemorating the event no less - and the day and evening were perfect. We headed home the next morning, deciding sadly not to go to Battersea where we later heard Jimmy had again played with Roy. Oh well, Cambridge was enough at the time. 

There are a couple of bootleg CD's of this, and they're well worth seeking out. Anglian TV filmed the event but despite hounding them for a few years was never able to secure even the details of what they had in the vaults....

LED ZEPPELIN - HEARTBREAKER

"From her eyes a different smile, like that of one who knows"

The ultimate bump n grind, Led Zeppelin go groinal. The perfect example of on the road writing and recording. As they started to conquer the US with their 3rd tour, the pressure was on from Atlantic to come up with a second elpee. Although eventually to be months later, Jimmy began foraging for studio time to lay down the tracks they were writing and arranging from town to town.

On May 20th & 21st they went into A & R, New York and recorded Heartbreaker. The near forensic separate multi track takes featured on Studio Magik show a variety of guitar solo and vocal takes over the rock steady rhythm section. For the time it's a revolutionary arrangement of a mutated blues sludge. 

In fact it highlights the fact the solo section was recorded - confirmed by Jimmy in interview - in a different studio across New York (possibly Atlantic) and then pieced together. The different guitar tones and lower tuning confirm this...

 As Charles Shaar Murray once put it, Jimmy produced a 'sixty ton rabbit' from out of his magic hat and Led Zeppelin jumped on it. Treating the bass through a tremolo effect adds a deep, dark undercurrent to the already just over the edge distorted grind, and over the top Robert weaves his tale of groupie woe.

As a starting point, a bass line, Jimmy's solo is short and centred around sexual thrusts of supercharged blues figures, set up for onstage expansion, wow and flash. Live he would tease Feelin' Groovy, Bouree plus jazz and classical exercises and string out the one handed solo sketch before the sludge riff and Bonzo brought the hammer down and 20,000 kids would shake and boogie.

As the opener to side two of Led Zeppelin II it fits perfectly, getting back to business after the lighter end to the first side with Thank You. And after the abrupt end we get the genius no pause for breath launch into the Yardbirds' pop of Livin' Lovin' Maid, a sign of Jimmy's clarity of thought with track listing and running order. I mean, how else could or would you sort the tracks on Led Zeppelin II ?

Live, it first appeared during the October 1969 European shows and ran as an early part of the set until the summer of 1970, when from Iceland until How The West Was Won it linked as opener with Robert's tale of gore, Immigrant Song. It was always a great live track, and there are many top versions. My personal favourite from way back is still the Berkeley 14-9-71 'Going to California' bootleg which has Jimmy showing all of his tricks and teases. 

For the next few months it was an encore, throughout Japan and Europe, before becoming the ignition point for the final blast off of Whole Lotta Love, Bonzo setting a potent beat for Led Zeppelin to grind down head for the top of the mountain. 

After that it was, sadly, returned to encore position and played sparingly. One stunning version from the 1977 US Magick Tour, the last of the 4 versions we have on tape from that year, is at the legendary Listen To This Eddie' show from the Forum on June 21st. It's final outings were as the final wrung out encore at the first Knebworth festival and three of the Over Europe 1980 shows with the final performance an outstanding one in Zurich on June 29th. 

We have some footage, plus the audio only clips of the Royal Albert Hall version on 'DVD', which also features a fabulous montage of cine and pro clips from Sydney Showgrounds on Feb 27th with the How The West Was Won soundtrack dubbed on. There are small cine clips from Tokyo 23-9-71 and Berdu 22-6-72 and of course the film clips. Of the latter clips the clearest from '75 is the LA Forum cine film from March 24th and of course the pro shot last encore from the final Earls' Court show. 

1977 saw a few live versions, and there is footage from the final New York show on June 14th. After that we have the Knebworth final encore, where there are two filmed versions, including an distant edit that was shown on the screens at Madison Square Garden during the Atlantic 40th anniversary show on May 14th 1988 where it was later performed live. 

Post Zeppelin it appeared on both the Page & Plant tours, more often during the Walking Into Clarkesdale tour, and Jimmy also played it with the Black Crowes. But, for me, the 71-72 live Led Zeppelin versions are untouchable, a band at the top of their game strutting through one of their most potent recordings.

Once again, it was never a single but was released in Italy and on a Mexican EP and Polish flexi postcard. 

SANDY PEARLMAN 1943 - 2016. In The Presence Of Another World

'We're pain, we're steel, a plot of knives, we're Transmaniacon MC'

Sandy Pearlman's introduction to most, the opening track on the self titled Blue Oyster Cult debut, recorded in the November of 1971 and unleashed On January 16th 1972. A Dark, brooding tale of Altamont, it was the perfect way to kick off the black and white period for Blue Oyster Cult. Sandy had known them long before this moment, from back in the days of Stony Brook College when he penned a collection of poems 'Imaginos'.

Looking for some musicians to put them to song, he christened them Soft White Underbelly. Along with Murray Krugman, he produced, managed and steered the band through the next 18 years until the mid 1990's. The body of work is outstanding, plus he produced other artists including Pavlov's Dog, Dictators, The Clash, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Shakin' Street and Dream Syndicate. But Blue Oyster Cult were his muse. 

Sharpening his pen with Crawdaddy magazine, his lyrical contribution alone lit up 6 of the tracks on Blue Oyster Cult, from the biker drug anthem Before The Kiss a Redcap to the prototype stadium Heavy Metal stomp of Cities on Flame with Rock And Roll. As the black and white period rolled on, Tyranny And Mutation continued the collaboration, with half of the album featuring Pearlman lyrics and collaboration while he and Krugman continued their exemplary production duties.

By the time we get to 1974 and Secret Treaties the spell is ovrwhelming and the result mesmerising. The darker more intense tracks that brought each side to their climax - Dominance And Submission/ME 262 and Flaming Telepaths/Astronomy - have Sandy's prints all over them. The band were at one with his direction as he's often credited, his vision. The biker rebel edge got them to record and release the Pearlman/Krugman produced Mars Bonfire anthem Born To Be Wild, coupled with the Patti Smith/Albert Bouchard collaboration Career Of Evil.

Sandy turned his attention to Pavlovs Dog, producing their Pampered menial debut for CBS before turning his attention back to BOC. The Gothic majesty of On Your Feet Of On Your Knees was next, a double live album, unusual and groundbreaking at the time with a perfect tongue in cheek sleeve and an incendiary track list drawn from seven multi track recorded shows throughout 1974. The success of OYFOOYK gave them the space, the rest bite, to take a breath and step back. The resultant Agents Of Fortune was a more thoughtful yet still intense collection of individual songs, and while Sandy is only annotated to have contributed to one track - E T I - his production and overall influence is palpable. 

Similarly, his work on Spectres was largely in production and influence, overseeing the burgeoning multi-platinum monster he'd helped shape and create. By now Sandy had produced a second Pavlov's Dog LP and no less than three Dictators albums. As Blue Oyster Cult explored within harmony, disharmony and sublimation he pursued his taste for loud, street and humourous Rock 'n' Roll. 

Another BOC live set, Some Enchanted Evening, although not the double set originally planned, cemented their place in the Hard Rock Hierarchy, even including a brilliant nod to their English fan base and roots with a stunning cover of We Gotta Get Outta This Place. After that, although he continued to manage the band (and briefly Black Sabbath at this point), production duties went elsewhere for BOC, and Sandy took up an invitation to produce The Clash's Give 'Em Enough Rope for CBS. 

He returned for the final CBS releases ETLive, Revolution By Night and Club Ninja, even of commercial sales and critical acclaim were slipping away. Finally, the Imaginos project saw a release, although not as Sandy or Albert Bouchard had envisioned. It closed the door on the CBS years for Blue Oyster Cult.

Sandy Pearlman carried on his vision over the coming years, moving into academia and lecturing as much as production, but he will always be remembered for his poetry, his tilt on the world and his vision that helped steer Blue Oyster Cult into the stratosphere. It would not have been the same without him. 

RORY GALLAGHER - MARQUEE, JULY 26th & 27th 1983

In 1983 the legendary Wardour Street live venue The Marquee was celebrating its' 25th Anniversary at that site. From 1968 it had seen the good and the great tread the boards on their way up the slippery ladder of rock'n' roll fame. Although not a long term Marquee veteran compared to some, I'd seen my fair share of fantastic gigs there.

With the rise of the NWOBHM I remember countless very loud and very errr 'atmospheric' nights when the alleged 400 or so capacity was certainly not adhered to, for the likes of Angel Witch (christ knows how many times!!), Sledgehammer, Samson, Diamond Head, Vardis, Limelight, Girl (again, how many times??), and many more lost in the mists of time and newcastle brown.... 

Larger bands deciding to get back to their roots included UFO, Gillan, Motorhead etc while US rockers would start here to gain a foothold and reputation in the UK, building a loud and loyal following on the way. I Remember Y & T playing to nigh on 1,000 squeezed in on two fantastic nights in the june of 1982, and the ever wonderful Twisted Sister slamming through 7 shows from that august through to the following march. Anvil too were top stuff, at a time when bands would do a warm-up before their Reading Festival appearance. 

Magnum seemed to play every week, ever ready replacements for last minute cancellations. IQ got their grounding there, opening then constantly headlining, including if I remember their own Live Aid on the same night as Wembley and JFK. I even got to tread the boards myself with Elected in the march of 86 I think... Marillion too, with the added 'bonus' of a usually very drunk Derek Dick (aka Fish) holding court like some lumbering squire into the night with Nigel, whichever DJ was manning the decks and sometimes Jack Barry completing the cast or reprobates. Good times. 

The ritual of Shades Records, then the Ship via the stage door of the club to see Lol Dyer saw me through a lot of 80's gigs.....  Later on we even got Robert Plant doing a special show, sadly restricted to 100 or so actual fans while the record company liggers stayed in the back bar trying to look cool and important. 

But I digress. Always loved Rory. Not only a great player, full of fire and invention, but also a lovely humble guy. I'd seen him before a few times by then, Reading, The Rainbow, Hammersmith.... you know the places, probably know the gigs. But this was different. His star may have been beginning to wane commercially, but live he was still a genius to me. 

Outside was chaos, the £5 tickets a hot item for both shows. Once inside, the sweating black walls and sticky floor seemed the perfect setting. And Rory did not disappoint. With long term sidekick Gerry McAvoy on bass and Brendan O'Neill on drums he powered through a fabulous set featuring both old and new material.

From the opener Bad Penny through to Philby we got great rockers like Follow Me, Brute Force & Ignorance and Shinkicker before a brief but wonderful acoustic rest bite of Leadbelly's Out On The Western Plain and a poignant Ride On Red, Ride On. Tattoo'ed Lady nodded at his earlier career before heading for home with Wayward Child and The Devil Made Me Do It.

Some of my recollections are a bit vague, but I do remember a cover of My Baby She Left Me which morphed into a brilliant version of Knock On Wood during encore time. I do recall there being a change of set for the second night - yes I went to both - but I do have to say they were both fantastic shows. Rory, as usual, gave everything, wringing every note possible (and some impossible) from that battered sweat stained Strat. 

Sometimes you don't realise how lucky you are to have seen something, to have been part of something like this, until suddenly they're not around any more. Rory Gallagher was a gentleman and a legend, one of the finest guitarists I've ever seen. 

You can keep your Steve Vai's and your Yngwie Malmsteens, Rory was the real deal. Actually this reminds me of July 85, Yngwie was playing the Marquee. We queued, and at the front a couple of large American gentlemen were vey excited and very loud in their Bruce Springsteen silky Tour Jackets. They got in first, got to the front and chanted 'bruce, bruce, bruce' constantly. 

Only when Yngwie unleashed his Swedish widdlefest did they realise this was NOT a secret Bruce gig in between his Wembley Born In The USA shows..... heh heh. If Yngwie had any sense of humour he would have murdered Born To Run.....

AC/DC - HIGHWAY TO HELL

'Season Ticket on a one way ride"

The summer of 1979 was a very exciting one for me. A Levels coming up, festivals and the upcoming delerium of Led Zeppelin at Knebworth. After all the band I'd seen and wanted too see, new releases were coming fast and furious. After the fantastic Powerage (still my fave studio elpee) and the incendiary but poorly produced and sadly truncated If You Want Blood live elpee AC/DC were on the cusp. They needed something big to take them to another level.

Trouble was brewing behind the scenes though, with Atlantic in the USA figuring a big anthemic hit would only happen by employing a big name producer to hone and mould AC/DC's sound for the masses. A predictable move, one that enraged the Young brothers at the heart of the machine, but one that would change the fortune and future of the band. 

Eddie Kramer's appointment was predictably doomed to fail from the start. The band were used to bringing in ideas and moulding them with their tried and trusted producers whereas Eddie was used to complete songs and a cohesive vision and direction. After allegedly suggesting they tried the Spencer Davis Group hit Gimme Some Lovin', Angus and Malcolm decided to pull up their tents and go home and think again. Mutt Lange was enlisted, to meld the raw power of AC/Dc with a singalong commercial edge to give them that USA breakthrough.

After false starts and much frustration, AC/DC came to London and began recording at Roundhouse Studios. The result, however traumatic and troublesome, was a collection of 10 tracks aimed to propel AC/DC into the stratosphere. Over the next 3 months they put together a multi platinum selling elpee that did just that. Sadly Bon would not reap the rewards of his hard work, his life.

Finally released on July 27th, Highway To Hell was heralded immediately as a triumph. The punch of the title track, aligned with Bon's matey and deliberately slurred lyrics, was infectious. Loved it from the moment I heard it. The underdog of Powerage was replaced by the World dominating beast that strutted over these songs. Not the King in waiting any more. Touch Too Much was the obvious single. The perfect mix of older, gritty AC/DC with new slick production and one of Bon's finest lyrical observations 'she had the face of an angel, smiling with sin, the body of venus with arms'. Genius!

It charted and stayed there. Finally, AC/DC had made it. Their gritty, nasty, warts n all rock n roll was now the mainstream. America was crying out for reasons to rock out. They hated Punk. It didn't sell records or fill arena's. For all the fake angry posturing of the Pistols, Clash etc etc, what we now see as Classic Rock ruled the airwaves, record shops and concert halls.

I do remember all the fuss and mayhem, the buzz around the band. They played with The Who at Wembley Stadium along with Nils Lofgren and The Strangers (what a bill that is...  ) and added untold thousands to their fanbase with Angus roaring around the arena on Bon's shoulders as the band roared on.

The winter tour of the UK was a complete sell out, multiple nights suddenly the norm. Seeing the Hammersmith November shows it struck me how not the audience loved the old stuff (as always) but how everyone got down to boogie even if the band weren't fully firing. From my viewpoint, Bon was struggling. Maybe the pace and lifestyle was finally becoming a problem. Who really knows.

Anyway, by December, 5 shows were added as a thank you and I remember the monday pre-Xmas Hammersmith Show as being very special. After Motorhead's Bomber Xmas gig the night before, AC/DC had to turn up the heat, and they did. I remember a stunning show with the unwavering power of old and a changed set that included It's A Long Way To The Top, complete with Bon playing the bagpipe solo on an organ at the front of the stage and doing a highland fling. Baby Please Don't Go was also dusted down that night I seem to recall!  So glad to have seen Bon's last London boogie.

Highway To Hell may have been AC/DC's step up into the top flight, a passport to the Rock Heirarchy, but for me it was when it all changed. They were one of the finest I'd seen or heard, no compromise in any way. HTH started that compromise, a more commercial stance and overdone backing vocals the very least of it. I prefer to remember the RGTC Powerage gig where they really did give blood, if you wanted it or not!