But it certainly does help, its funny that you only discover
that as you indeed do get old.
This is the blog I have been threatening people with and its
just as well as I have been playing tons of music both old and new, music has
helped, as I’m definitely on an up trajectory, lets see how long before I crash
and burn, so let’s go back in the mists of time to a time when Judas Priest was
starting their ever upward climb to success.
I have seen Judas Priest every time that they have played in
Newcastle since the stained class tour in 1978, damn I feel old, who knew that
would happen, they always had good support bands, the sign of a great band is
that it takes out any band, it just makes you up your game, and they always
brought their A game. Some of the support bands including Iron Maiden, City
Hall and Mayfair, white heat although I don’t remember any of their songs I did
watch them, Quiet Riot, Accept who were great for the first two songs then they
got Udo Dirkschneider’s microphone switched on LOL ,Queensryche who were
dreadful, a band I thought I would have loved (the first EP yes then less with
each passing album) and they were terrible every time I saw them, at the arena I
had no option as I was on the guest list and it would have been churlish to
spend all of their set in the bar, Bonfire, Annihilator, they are the ones I remembered.
I have met them a few times usually at my former place of
work, I did try to go to see them at a signing at Volume Records however it
helps if you turn up on the right day, D’OH! All of them were lovely even KK
Downing who played the rock star to the hilt, me and a friend had some inside
information for the painkiller tour as to what hotel they were staying in, so
we waited all day outside and we thought we had been sold a puppy as they didn’t
turn up, well they did but after the gig not before D’oh! I nearly broke my
neck to meet Rob Halford, he ducked into a coffee shop at my former place of
work and sat and laughed as he and a friend watched my antics as I searched for
him he had been on the first floor and I was on the ground floor, he had seen
my reaction when I had spotted him and he knew I was going to give chase, at
least I amused him for thirty minutes (in a non-sexual manner LOL)it was a time
before mobile phones and he was shocked that I didn’t even want his autograph I
just wanted to thank him for the gigs I had seen, he was a down earth bloke and
a true gent.
I was suffering a massive hay fever splurge on the Ram it Down
tour ,it was so bad a friend had the bootleg of the gig for the support band
and all you can hear between songs is me sneezing that was a fun gig….NOT! and I
was in the balcony and the bootleg was recorded in front of the mixing desk
downstairs, The best opening I saw was when they had Accept opening for them,
they opened with Solar Angels from the Point of Entry album and I thought the
album was a tad poppy, live Solar Angels was amazing and then KK and Glen came
upon towers from behind screens great effect, but it was only used for the opening, must have cost a fortune for
20 seconds, I enjoyed it. My favourite drummer will always be Les Binks who
stayed outside the city hall for more than hour to chat to fans, Dave Holland
was ok but got annoyed that we only ever wanted to talk about Trapeze, and
Scott Travis is simply a machine and a nice guy, I never got to see them with
Ripper but I love both studio albums with him and again I have seen him out of
the band but another gent and a true fan of priest their music and their fans.
I’m sure at one of the gigs I lusted after my (now) wife I simply
can’t remember the tour it was on and I cant find the ticket to confirm (we tell
the same tale and we both look at each other and are amazed) it. I nearly had
to walk home (15 miles) from the Painkiller tour, thankfully someone who I vaguely
knew took pity as they passed me and got me to Gimpsville, I only had to walk a
mile from the town centre to where I was living at the time, I soon moved to
Heaton as it made more sense. I remember Halford nearly being dragged into the
audience when he cracked his whip above the audience’s heads at the city hall, I
bet he never did that again and yes he lost the whip, my brother had a great
tape of the bands sound checking that he lifted from the sound desk from the Mayfair,
again years before tape to tape facilities and he was trusting and lent to a person I always thought was
shifty and he never got the tape back, we both stopped trusting people at that
point!
I think its funny that its nearly 10 years since they last played
in Newcastle I know they were meant to support Ozzy but the tour kept getting
pushed back further and further I doubt I will ever get to see them again, but
you never know, mind you the state of my knees and now I have an issue with my
hip, all tied in with my knees, so there you go I can keep a promise, a
historical (not hysterical) one, the blog has been doing nice numbers sometimes
good even but not what they have done in the past, and I can live with that, I may
start doing it on a more regular pace as my mood is lifted after I do one, I might
do the odd musical review one as well nothing major just some little blurbs who
knows what tomorrow brings, I certainly don’t !
So onwards to the next one and I haven’t decided what it
will be, or even when it will be, it all depends on my mood for the day, I have
a couple gestating, just not sure if they are where I wish to go, I might go
totally native we will just have to wait and see, so as always watch the skies
for incoming, please keep spreading the disease as people are still “discovering”
the blog so I must be doing something right, I simply don’t know what it is, so
until the next time…………………..Toodles!
And for once no the name game is not in play, you don’t have
to be thick to work it out…..or do you?
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