2021
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It was September 2021 when I finally managed to leave Irish shores again with a proper road trip that started off with a Champions League match at Old Trafford on the Wednesday (when I got a great picture of Ronaldo’s 95th minute winner!), Genesis in Newcastle on the Thursday, St Helens v Leeds in the Rugby league playoffs on the Friday, Bennett’s Superbikes at a wet Donington Park on the Saturday, Steve Hackett in Nottingham that evening, Sale Sharks v Exeter Chiefs Rugby Union on Sunday, with Roger Taylor at Manchester Academy that evening. That’s 3 gigs and 3 sporting events across 4 days, with great pictures at all of them. I was back with a bang!
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Index
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Genesis
The Last Domino
Utilita Arena, Newcastle
30 September 2021
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It’s Thursday, so that must make it Newcastle. That's the way it was starting to feel as I was juggling events on a spreadsheet. This was definitely the messiest road trip to date involving a lot of driving and numerous hotels.
I had been due to see Genesis a couple of weeks earlier in Dublin but Covid restrictions in Ireland put paid to that and they never re-arranged that gig. Equally a few days after the Newcastle gig someone within the entourage went down with Covid meaning they could not fulfil some of the later dates on the tour. They did manage to fit in their postponed London gigs during the following March.
6 weeks before this gig I had undergone knee replacement surgery, meaning I was on crutches as I approached the entrance. That meant I avoided the metal detectors but had to show the bridge camera to security. They were not happy with it and I played the “are you going to make me go back on crutches to put this in the car” line. I said I had checked their terms and conditions and that this type of camera was not banned. I knew I was holding people up in the “assistance” queue and I asked them to get a supervisor, who duly waved me through with no further question!
The sight of Phil Collins struggling across the stage with a walking stick made me feel better using crutches to get to my seat. Collins did the singing, his son Nic played the drums. Mike Rutherford showed us his guitar talents, and Tony Banks sat almost motionless at his keyboard with his eyes closed for the vast majority of the show. All in all, a band I am happy to have seen, but maybe their reputation was built with two others who left the band more than 4 decades before this final tour.
Steve Hackett
Seconds Out & More
Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham
2 October 2021
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And one of those two was playing in Nottingham 2 days later. Steve Hackett had an excellent band and played some of his own stuff as well as celebrating the Genesis live album, Seconds Out.
And they put on a great performance. I think this band was much better at the Genesis stuff than the 3 remaining members of the band had put on 2 days previously. As a guitarist he was on top of his game, and he had surrounded himself with talented artists.
For some reason I thought I had a good seat in the stalls, near the stage, I was actually upstairs in the Circle and some distance away from the stage. I had only brought the smaller Sony compact camera and the lighting was not as good as I had experienced at most other gigs (well to the extent it was illuminating Hackett anyway) meaning these are not the best photos, but still an improvement on the pre-digital technology.
Roger Taylor
Insider Tour
Manchester Academy 1
3 October 2021
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Back to Manchester and the all-standing Academy venue. This was going to test my new knee. I made do with one crutch, otherwise I would have had no hands left over to hold the camera! The crutch also got me out of the main queue and in via another entrance with no queue, meaning I could get a decent enough position assuming my knee held up over 3 hours or so.
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Yes it was uncomfortable, and eventually I just had to move further back, but fortunately everyone was very well behaved and I still got some great photos, albeit largely restricted to using only one hand to get them.
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The Manfreds
The Sage, Gateshead
1 December 2021
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Another jam-packed road trip. A drive up from Wexford to Dublin to get the early ferry over to Holyhead, then a drive up to Gateshead, staying in a hotel I had used back in 2019 during the cricket World Cup. I was then heading into the centre of Gateshead, finding a car park adjacent to the theatre. Knowing I was possibly pushing it time-wise I then went straight into the theatre taking my place in the middle of the front row.
Within 2 minutes the Manfreds were on playing their first song. That meant a bit of fumbling to get the cameras set up but assuming no intervention by the powers that be I was pretty much guaranteed to get some great photos. In fact from the front row it was quite easy to keep the camera on my lap and still get some great pictures.
On this occasion they had Georgie Fame as a guest and they played one or two of his numbers along with many of their own hits from the 60s. Unfortunately guitarist Tom McGuinness was missing due to illness—he was due to be the oldest performer I had seen on stage with his 80th birthday the following day.
I was due to drive back to Manchester the following day (the Thursday), to firstly have an hour on the velodrome (but my knee was not up to that) and then to Old Trafford for a match against Arsenal. Then I was driving down to Cardiff on the Friday for the next gig.
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Sons of the Seventies
The Tramshed, Cardiff
3 December 2021
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A tribute act covering 70s classic Glam and Rock bands such as AC/DC, Deep Purple, the Sweet and Mark Bolan.
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Slade
The Tramshed, Cardiff
3 December 2021
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The first act I had taken a camera to back in 1982 was Slade. That was the “classic” lineup of Noddy Holder, Jim Lea, Dave Hill and Don Powell. Arguably the biggest and best of the Glam Rockers. I had seen that version at least 4 times during the 1980s. Holder and Lea had “retired” in 1992, and Don Powell had been “sacked” by Hill in 2020, leaving Dave as the only original band member. But they had many great, stomping songs, mainly from the 1970s, that they continue to play. The “replacements” can never be the same as the originals, but Slade is for Christmas—every Christmas, and now the pandemic was over they were back again. I will always enjoy hearing those songs, although I accept there may be fewer opportunities to see them with some remaining connection to the original lineup.
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Squeeze
Utilita Arena, Sheffield
4 December 2021
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I had a ticket for Squeeze and Madness in Dublin for 29 November but all the uncertainties over lockdowns and travel restrictions had resulted in that gig being postponed. They were still touring in Britain though and I was uncertain whether they would make a special trip to Ireland after this tour to fulfil their commitments in Dublin and Belfast. I had a spare slot in the calendar after my trip to Cardiff for Slade the previous evening and picked up a ticket for the Squeeze/Madness gig in Sheffield. Early in the queue and once I had my wrist band for the standing area I quickly found myself very close to the stage, on the right hand side as I looked.
They did actually make the special trip to Ireland in August 2022 and I made sure I was slightly to the other side of the stage that time to try and get a slightly different perspective (and indeed photos from a different angle). Squeeze were excellent. They could almost have been considered joint headliners, although their setlist was quite a bit shorter than the one put on by Madness, but they had a very good back catalogue to dip into.
Madness
Utilita Arena, Sheffield
4 December 2021
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The main act of the evening. They filled a very big stage and had extensive props. Like Squeeze they had a great back catalogue and were not going to disappoint.
Lindisfarne
The Old Fire Station, Carlisle
7 December 2021
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So far this trip had included the Manfreds in Gateshead on the Wednesday, a match at Old Trafford on the Thursday, Slade in Cardiff on the Friday, Squeeze and Madness in Sheffield on the Saturday, and another match at Old Trafford on the Sunday afternoon. After that match it was up the M6 to Carlisle for Lindisfarne. Legends in the North East, and particularly Newcastle during the 1970s. There had been quite a few personnel changes forced by death and retirement, and only one original, Rod Clements, remained, In addition they had the son-in-law of the main driving force behind the original Lindisfarne Alan Hull, in Dave Hull-Denholm. Maybe a far cry from their heyday, but they had some decent songs to fall back on. There were no seat numbers—basically it was open seating and it was quite late when I arrived from that match earlier in the day. I walked straight into a small theatre, and there was a single vacant seat on the front row, making my choice of location very straightforward,
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After Lindisfarne in Carlisle on the Sunday I was due to go to Stoke on Trent on the Monday for the Darkness, and then to Bradford on the Tuesday for the Bootleg Beatles and back to Old Trafford on the Wednesday for a Champions League match. However the Omicron variant of Covid 19 was taking hold and I was concerned about being stranded in England if I did catch it. I therefore re-arranged my ferry and travelled back to Ireland on the Monday afternoon.
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