My one and only Be-Bop gig was september 1976 Colston Hall bristol supported by Burlesque, who were terrible. Still have remnants of the programme which I dismemberd to pin on my bedroom wall. I don't recall the setlist but remember that my favourite Maid In Heaven wasn't played 😪.
I was amazed to see the poster for the 1974 tour in the Axe Victim box set included my home town of Barnstaple in devon, a venue called the Civic which I was totally unaware of. I wasn't a Be-Bop fan at that time as I'd never heard any of their music but if I'd been aware of the Civic I would have been a regular, maybe Bill can confirm if the gig actually happened.
I have to be honest and say that I didn't like the direction of the majority of Drastic Plastic and Bill's solo career either, the new wave didn't excite me at all, but Be-Bop were and have remained my favourite band ever and Bill's guitar playing at that time is unparalleled, the Percy Shelley of the electric six string.
I saw Be Bop in Erie, Pennsylvania around 1976. Just recall the set was too short... Could never understand how they were billed with Kiss and Blue Oyster Cult. Glad I saw them!
too young and not a student so missed Sat Jan 24 1976 University of Strathclyde in Glasgow which i wanted to attend...so had to wait until 26th September 1976 Glasgow Apollo to finally see them..a short run of warm gigs i think before the full tour in 1977 when i saw them again on 4 February 1977. Big memory is Bill's guitar getting a standing ovation when it was placed on a stand in front of the Apollo's famous red velvet curtains before the gig started. !! Saw Be bop one more time 7 February 1978.. (and saw the be bop and beyond years later..)
Unfortunately I was at school when Be Bop toured. When Red Noise hit the road it was a bloody awful winter in 1979 which but a block on my travel plans. However have managed to see Bill a few times since. Definitely fond memories.
Hi Bill. How did you find players to audition for Be Bop. Were you given names? I'm sure you didn't stick a note on the greengrocer's window...but, then again. How did you find Charlie?
We advertised in the 'Melody Maker' newspaper, which, in those days, was a little more musician oriented that it eventually became.
Charlie responded to the advert, (though I think Andy may have been mentioned to me a little later by someone else as he'd been in a band called 'Mother's Pride' in Sheffield when he'd studied at University there.
I'm afraid the finer details have become a little lost in the mists of time, mainly because my career has been so prolific and ongoing since those old '70s days. There's been a tremendous amount of 'water under the bridge' since then you know...😉
I never got to see BeBop, I regret to say.I was too young when they were doing gigs like the Staging Post [which I could get a bus to & played there myself later], too poor during the mid 70s & then too busy playing in my own band by the late 70s.It's a thing I truly regret.
I've had Axe Victim, Futurama & Sunburst since the vinyl was still warm, but never got to actually see them live. I even had a friend at one time who "nearly got Andy Clark's gig".
I've met Bill on a few occasions & we have chatted briefly. He wouldn't ever remember - at best I would be "that mate of D P Crick" [which I hope is sufficiently opaque that only Bill [or DP] would know to whom I am referring.
I did once meet a.k.a. Nick Chatterton-Dew in a pub in Armley, some 20 years later. That was an odd encounter, but a fun night out. I had to dig the album out when I got home to check if it had really been him. I think it was. I did get to see Steve Harley doing a 'retro' tour [late 80s/early 90s maybe?] with his 'original' band, so I did get to see a part of it, in effect.
Interesting that you said you had a friend who "nearly got Andy Clark's gig." In the early '70's, after I'd split the first line up of the band, (after 'Axe Victim,) and put together the classic line up that went on to define the band's career, I recall we did audition one or two keyboard players before settling on Andy for the job. I'm wondering who this friend of your's might have been. Do you recall his name?
Andy came in at a fairly early stage so if your friend auditioned prior to me hiring Andy, he must be quite a bit older than yourself as you mentioned you were a little young in those days. 😉..
Thank you for the reply. Yeah, I would probably have been about 11 when you were playing the Staging Post ;)
This would have been about 1980 or so when the conversation took place. I really don't recall any detail except the vague 'nearly played for BeBop' element of it. The friend was Dave Cass & he was a fair bit older than me, but idk by how much. I originally knew him from the Leeds Music College in the mid-late 70's, he was a student, I was a school-boy part-timer. He later worked in a music shop in Bingley [of all places] where I bought my Rhodes Chroma [which is what nails the year for me] & later did something in instrument hire. I've not seen him in nearly 40 years, now.
btw, did you know Crick's got the old band going again, new album & everything. Gigs are all on hold due to covid, of course. http://www.fiat-lux.co.uk We still manage to get to see each other occasionally, xmas, birthdays etc. though I've been based in London the past 30 years.
With respect to the above interview, I have to say that Simon didn't have any lyric input to my songs. I think Charlie was 'riffing' quite a bit with that statement! 😉
OK, I’m going to be ashamed to admit this, but my very first and only Be Bop Deluxe show? I passed out during it! It was Ram Jam/Be Bop Deluxe/Robin Trower at the Omni in Atlanta (Bill will remember the Peachtree Plaza). I had great floor seats and was already a fan of Sunburst Finish. The girl I was with had given me a couple of pills from her parent’s medicine cabinet and then there was a gram of hash. First thing I remember is Ram Jam and then smoking the hash and then next thing waking up during Robin Trower. Ye gads! Where the hell was Be Bop? Have been kicking myself since and searching my memory banks if any remnant of the Be Bop show exits. Sadly, nothing has surfaced. Insult to injury a friend I met later on told me the show was awesome. At any rate, I confessed this to Bill at Nelsonica 10, which was a make-good long overdue. Probably a lesson to be learned here!
My first experience of Be Bop Deluxe was on 8 March 1975 at Ewell Tech (near Epsom, Surrey - now called NESCOT) in between Strife and the mighty Groundhogs. I was 18 and still at school. I vividly remember the gulls at the end of ‘Sister Seagull’ and how smartly dressed the band were compared to others of the period. It was a great local venue at that time - I’d also seen Amon Duul II, Henry Cow and Hatfield and the North in previous years. Apparently, cartoonist Frank Hampson, who drew the Dan Dare comic strips had been a technician at the college. Other bands to have performed there included Nick Drake, King Crimson, Cream, Led Zeppelin (as The "New" Yardbirds), The Nice, Comus opening for Deep Purple (my sister had the poster), Black Sabbath opening for Caravan, Genesis and Queen opening for Kevin Ayers (!) and even The Beatles apparently.
I think we may have played something from 'DrasticPlastic' as that album was the closest in style to 'Red Noise.' Can't recall if Charlie and Simon were there or not, but if they were it was a lovely, generous and supportive gesture from them.
Is my memory shot, or at Drury Lane, did Red Noise play a Be Bop song as an encore? I seem to remember Bill saying that the promoters told them they had to. (Harvey Goldsmith I think). I was a bit naughty and might have mentioned that I was there early and walked into Drury Lane to hear the sound check.
Thanks for confirming Superenigmatix.Don’t remember the “suckers“ but there was a bit of negativity towards the music from where I was, so maybe that was something to do with it.
Bill said Ian Dury was boring at the Sheffield Gig as well and said Drastic Plastic “of all things” Before Possesion, Maybr he was under some pressure from the promoters at the Red Noise Gigs.
'Suckers?' Why on Earth would I say that? Those who have followed my career closely know that I have nothing but respect for my fans. Perhaps you misheard it or are mixing me up with someone else? I seem to remember John Lydon once being reported as saying to his audience, "ever felt like you've been had?" Or something along those lines...
By the way, the live Rocketeers album ripped me off. I never saw a penny in royalties from that. If you bought it the money you paid went into the pockets of shysters, none of it went to me. If there was a 'sucker' anywhere it was myself for falling for an old school exploitive trick hoisted by the company who released the album and DVD. Getting the band together and the music mixed for the DVD, (and the album they later put out,) personally cost me a couple of thousand pounds, money that I never got back. Nor did the promised TV broadcast of the gig ever happen, though I've heard the company sold it to China for broadcast over there. Someone made quite a lot of profit from that project, but it certainly was not the artists.
I am not mistaken about the comment; perhaps you will allow me to expand on it a little more as to why it has always stayed with me. At the time I was an apprentice, poorly paid and practically broke, I didn't drive and getting to and from the gig was a fairly big issue for me. I had bought everything that Be Bop had released, right from Axe Victim, and, even though I was disappointed that Be Bop was no more, I thought that the Red Noise Sound on Sound album and vibe was great, so much so that I even had my hair cut to match yours. My old-school works foreman at the time was pleased with the haircut (very smart) but I was not getting a great response from my mates regarding the album, the exception being the lad I went to the gig with. This situation wasn't exclusive to the Red Noise album - I was a massive Roxy Music fan also and my mates were not keen on them either - all of which has since changed - now that they are older (and wiser?) they listen to Be Bop, Red Noise and Roxy as though they have always done so. It perhaps shows how ahead of its time the Sound on Sound album was. So, having been a long-term fan, being really into the SOS album and the Red Noise vibe, having the cost and issues getting to the gig etc, hearing the "suckers" comment shocked and disappointed me, that is how I remember it so well. However, another post has mentioned that the music wasn't received all that well at the gig; I don't remember that, but, if it wasn't, then there may have been some frustration on yours / the bands part - maybe that was the basis for the comment. I can remember it as clearly as if it were yesterday though.
Re: the incident of the drumstick hitting my mate on the head - having come into contact with it, he didn't manage to pick it up - someone else grabbed it first, which he still comments on to this day. It is the only gig that I have attended where drumsticks were thrown into the audience - was that another sign of frustration too? As most of the concerts that I go to now are given by large orchestras , I hope the person on Timpani doesn't take up the practice.
Sorry to hear about the issues regarding the Rocketeers album etc. It is a good piece of work and really nice to see and hear after all this time.
One more thing if I may - I now find myself as one of the older members of a rock / blues band who have as their main guitarist a slip of a lad who can play guitar like I could only dream of. I have introduced him to your music - Crying To The Sky, Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape (from the Live In The Air Age alum), The October Man from the Rocketeers album - and more - and he is hooked.
I have always liked your music and still spread the word whenever I can.
I didn't get to see Be Bop live but I did see Red Noise at Birmingham - and they did play Superenigmatix. Two things have stayed with me since that night; one was the drummer throwing his drumsticks into the audience at the end of the concert - one of them hitting my mate on the head; the second was Bill referring to the audience as "Suckers". The suckers comment has never left me and I have wondered many times over the years what Bill really thought of his fans. Despite this and staying with Bill through to Chimera, rating him as a class act on the guitar, and really enjoying the live Rocketeers album, I have always had doubts about catching Bill live again.
Yes indeed. '75 I believe. BeBop Deluxe opened for Johnny Winter at The Allen Theater in Cleveland, OH. I still remember how impressive the length version of 'Life in the Air Age'.
My first Be Bop concert was at Eastfield school, Lightcliffe. Saw every tour after that. Last one at Leeds Grand Theatre on the Drastic Plastic Tour. They did all of the album except for Elec Language and Visions. The Encore was Forbidden Lovers and Blazing Apostles and that was that!
I saw Red Noise at Birmingham and the set list was pretty much as the BBC concert, but I’m sure they played Superenigmatix as well. Hopefully the live concert will be available soon.
I had a copy of the lost film, but the quality was terrible. I also think that Bill put a copy of one track on this site on videos. My copy was video and really bad, but it was a full concert.
When Bill returned to the Calderone headlining later on I was working at WLIR radio which was around the corner from the venue and I was responsible for the Hospitality for the show, food, drink...I believe Bill requested a little wine, cheese , fruit for the band. I remember the band being a fine bunch of chaps, very respectful!!!
My first BeBop show was 12-9-76??? Bill opening for Rory Gallagher at the Calderone Concert Hall LI NY. That was a tough Rory crowd, they usually were, but Bill put on a fine performance and we saw every tour Bill did after that. I made a recording of the show and I still have the cassette somewhere!!!
I'm utterly envious reading these posts as I never saw Be Bop Deluxe live. However, aged about eleven, I did see Global Village, I believe, when they played Clarence Park back in 1969. It was all by chance as I'd been to the fair. I was one of the kids who went up on stage and I got the drummer's autograph, who, I remember, was very polite to me, and appeared pleased to be asked for his autograph, despite the stage being mobbed.
I also saw Be Bop Deluxe in concert on television about 1978-ish. I've looked for mention of the concert but never have tracked it down. I have a feeling it may only have been screened by Yorkshire Television in the region they then covered. Sadly, I caught just the tail end of the programme, having just returned from the pub, but I remember 'Sister Seagull' being part of the set and the band played to an audience in what looked like a TV studio, rather than a theatre or similar concert venue.
The old site says that it was at DeMontford Hall, Leicester. I thought that rang a bell. Not a BBD bell though. Part of the original Genesis Live from 1973 was recorded there. Small world heh?
I'd been looking for the date I first saw BBD, which I recall being on a Saturday in Hertford approx June 1975. I found the post about tour dates, on the old forum, which ends with a discussion about Saturday June 14 1975. Perfect Monster seems to resolve this by giving a link to an advert for the entire Futurama tour, that shows Oxford Poly for that date. The discussion concerned the fact that there was a BBC concert broadcast on that day of the band playing Golders Green Hippodrome.
The curious thing is that I remember that when I went to see them, I heard the concert on the radio in the pub beforehand. I say "curious" because it seems unlikely I went to Oxford, which was a long way from where I lived at the time, when they were playing at Victoria Palace in London the next day, which would have been much more convenient. Yet apart from that it ties up perfectly with the idea that the broadcast was a recording that aired on the day of another gig, i.e. the one I went to. Hertford is not on the advertised tour schedule at all. Could the venue have been changed from Oxford to Hertford after the advert was published?
Incidentally I'd like to take this opportunity to apologise to Bill for my behaviour at that gig, because my other memory of it is standing right at the front directly beneath him, very earnestly giving him "full attention" and "shining with bright eyes" at the key moment during "Axe Victim". I will never forget his pained expression, I guess it happened at every gig that some idiotic teenager gave him this treatment!
Also saw them at Bracknell Sports Centre on 29/1/77, probably the same gig as Major Snagg.
Always liked a bit of blues in those days! (And, those of you who have kept up with my music will know that the blues still emerges from time to time in my more recent recordings.) 😉
Our first BBD show was the show with Ted Nugent and Rush. I think that we went to the first night only. That was November 26 1976. (We missed the April 10 1976 (Golden Earring/Slade) because we were travelling.) I wish that there was a bootleg of that one. BBD played Red House. Oh yes they did! When Ted Nugent came on stage, he said, mockingly, ' How 'bout them Be Bop Deluxe' or something to that effect. Anyway, we enjoyed the show. Especially BBD and Rush.
Modern Music Tour.. 1977/8 ...I think? It was at Bracknell Sports Centre. Support act was The Steve Gibbons Band. The Sports Centre wasn't actually the best of venues...a bit echoey and slightly impersonal. A great show none the less. Obviously I don't still have the admission ticket after all these years, -:)
I may have written about this on the previous board. Or the board before that. I won a record via a trivia question on the radio and was given the album Sunburst Finish. 2 tickets to the show were included. I want to say first US tour. Big pink barn of a coliseum in Spokane Washington. I have bought everything since. Have not regretted it for a moment. Even after I sobered up and turned my back on that previous chapter of my life by discarding all sorts of reminders, I kept Bill and the songs in my heart.
I first saw Be Bop at The Hammersmith Odeon, 26 February 1978, absolutely fabulous gig.
The big thing I remember (and I think I'm remembering correctly) is that they didn't play anything pre Drastic Plastic with the exception of Forbidden Lovers. I'm sure Bill said something about a 'London audience' being able to cope with just the new songs. I hope someone else was at the gig and remembers this!
My first Bill Nelson concert was the Red Noise Tour, 1981 at the Whiskey in Los Angeles. I don't have a ticket, but I got to interview Bill for KSPC FM. I will never forget watching Bill walking around the pool (kings row hotel, in West Hollywood, I think) listening to his Walkman with headphones! That was the first time I ever saw a Walkman!
I really ought to have mentioned, to those who may be interested but didn't know, Steve Gibbons is now 77 years old (soon to be 78) and continues to tour and perform with his band in the UK and around Europe, and still sounds really good too!...here's a recent performance from last month (10/05/19)..
My only Be Bop gig was on that tour in early 1977. Can't remember the date, but it was at the Caird Hall in Dundee.
Would have liked to have seen the Steve Gibbons Band, but they were unable to appear. The story that went round was that they had got into a fight the night before, in Aberdeen, and someone was injured. I have no idea if that was true.
A local band had been drafted in as support, at very short notice. I remember nothing about them except that one of their songs had the beguiling chorus "I love you like the shithouse door". Sophisticated art rock at its finest.
I remember my first Be Bop gig. I went with my friend Mark to see Cockney Rebel with Be Bop Deluxe as support at Tiffanys in Hull in 1974. We were both underage but managed to get in. I have vivid memories of Rob Bryan staring at the audience for most of the time Be Bop were playing, and someone getting on the stage before they appeared to ask if anyone had some hairspray Be Bop could 'borrow'. I bought Axe Victim shortly after a memorable night. In the taxi home, the driver had 'Midnight at the Oasis' by Maria Muldaur on the radio. I have loved this song ever since.
Typical...Sod's law really, when I was putting the above tour program and ticket stub away, I had a quick rummage through a bit more memorabilia and found the ticket from my first Be-Bop gig, inside another tour program.
So, this was my first Be-Bop gig, Thurs 20th Jan 1977:
Actually, this was the second time I saw Be-Bop Deluxe...The first time was opening night of the Modern Music tour on 20th January 1977, at Sheffield City Hall, but I couldn't find the ticket stub....Steve Gibbons Band were supporting act on the tour...needless to say, it was simply amazing.
I was lucky enough to see Be-Bop Deluxe several times, including on the Drastic Plastic tour and every concert just blew me away...I've never known a happier, more 'in to it', or more satisfied crowd from the hundreds of gigs I've been to over the years, than those who were at the Be-Bop shows I went to..When something happens like that, it stays with you forever.
I still have quite a lot of memorabilia I bought at these concerts, and photos I took myself from both tours, and signed tour programmes from the whole band...and one or two stories.
They were great days...I was 16 at the time.
By the way, the Steve Gibbons Band were very good on this tour and had an album out about a year or so later called 'Down In The Bunker', which really is very good...I listened to it not so long ago and it has stood the test of time and still sounds fresh...recommended.
My one and only Be-Bop gig was september 1976 Colston Hall bristol supported by Burlesque, who were terrible. Still have remnants of the programme which I dismemberd to pin on my bedroom wall. I don't recall the setlist but remember that my favourite Maid In Heaven wasn't played 😪.
I was amazed to see the poster for the 1974 tour in the Axe Victim box set included my home town of Barnstaple in devon, a venue called the Civic which I was totally unaware of. I wasn't a Be-Bop fan at that time as I'd never heard any of their music but if I'd been aware of the Civic I would have been a regular, maybe Bill can confirm if the gig actually happened.
I have to be honest and say that I didn't like the direction of the majority of Drastic Plastic and Bill's solo career either, the new wave didn't excite me at all, but Be-Bop were and have remained my favourite band ever and Bill's guitar playing at that time is unparalleled, the Percy Shelley of the electric six string.
I saw Be Bop in Erie, Pennsylvania around 1976. Just recall the set was too short... Could never understand how they were billed with Kiss and Blue Oyster Cult. Glad I saw them!
too young and not a student so missed Sat Jan 24 1976 University of Strathclyde in Glasgow which i wanted to attend...so had to wait until 26th September 1976 Glasgow Apollo to finally see them..a short run of warm gigs i think before the full tour in 1977 when i saw them again on 4 February 1977. Big memory is Bill's guitar getting a standing ovation when it was placed on a stand in front of the Apollo's famous red velvet curtains before the gig started. !! Saw Be bop one more time 7 February 1978.. (and saw the be bop and beyond years later..)
All gigs between 1976 - 78.
Newcastle Mayfair - Sunburst Finish tour. Newcastle City Hall - Modern Music tour. Newcastle City Hall - Live in the Air Age tour.
Newcastle City Hall - Drastic Plastic tour
Sept 1977 - Opening for REO
April 1978 - Patti Smith opened
My homage to Red Noise.
Unfortunately I was at school when Be Bop toured. When Red Noise hit the road it was a bloody awful winter in 1979 which but a block on my travel plans. However have managed to see Bill a few times since. Definitely fond memories.
Hi Bill. How did you find players to audition for Be Bop. Were you given names? I'm sure you didn't stick a note on the greengrocer's window...but, then again. How did you find Charlie?
I never got to see BeBop, I regret to say. I was too young when they were doing gigs like the Staging Post [which I could get a bus to & played there myself later], too poor during the mid 70s & then too busy playing in my own band by the late 70s. It's a thing I truly regret.
I've had Axe Victim, Futurama & Sunburst since the vinyl was still warm, but never got to actually see them live. I even had a friend at one time who "nearly got Andy Clark's gig".
I've met Bill on a few occasions & we have chatted briefly. He wouldn't ever remember - at best I would be "that mate of D P Crick" [which I hope is sufficiently opaque that only Bill [or DP] would know to whom I am referring.
I did once meet a.k.a. Nick Chatterton-Dew in a pub in Armley, some 20 years later. That was an odd encounter, but a fun night out. I had to dig the album out when I got home to check if it had really been him. I think it was. I did get to see Steve Harley doing a 'retro' tour [late 80s/early 90s maybe?] with his 'original' band, so I did get to see a part of it, in effect.
It's from the book in the new Axe Victim set. My partner works for cherry red so have had the privilege of seeing it a little early
Interesting....that's a photograph of the notebook I kept at the time, with the band's bookings and stuff in. Where did you photograph it?
My first Be Bop gig and my first ever gig
Sound International interview with Charlie and Simon from 1978
http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/the-rhythm-section/8788
Just to be clear that wasn’t my first BBD gig.
i wasn’t there for the Sex Pistols either....
Huddersfield Ivanhoe club!
sounds like a happening place😀
Gigs from 1975
Good story, Michael. That must indeed have been a painful thing to have forced yourself to admit on these pages!
OK, I’m going to be ashamed to admit this, but my very first and only Be Bop Deluxe show? I passed out during it! It was Ram Jam/Be Bop Deluxe/Robin Trower at the Omni in Atlanta (Bill will remember the Peachtree Plaza). I had great floor seats and was already a fan of Sunburst Finish. The girl I was with had given me a couple of pills from her parent’s medicine cabinet and then there was a gram of hash. First thing I remember is Ram Jam and then smoking the hash and then next thing waking up during Robin Trower. Ye gads! Where the hell was Be Bop? Have been kicking myself since and searching my memory banks if any remnant of the Be Bop show exits. Sadly, nothing has surfaced. Insult to injury a friend I met later on told me the show was awesome. At any rate, I confessed this to Bill at Nelsonica 10, which was a make-good long overdue. Probably a lesson to be learned here!
My first experience of Be Bop Deluxe was on 8 March 1975 at Ewell Tech (near Epsom, Surrey - now called NESCOT) in between Strife and the mighty Groundhogs. I was 18 and still at school. I vividly remember the gulls at the end of ‘Sister Seagull’ and how smartly dressed the band were compared to others of the period. It was a great local venue at that time - I’d also seen Amon Duul II, Henry Cow and Hatfield and the North in previous years. Apparently, cartoonist Frank Hampson, who drew the Dan Dare comic strips had been a technician at the college. Other bands to have performed there included Nick Drake, King Crimson, Cream, Led Zeppelin (as The "New" Yardbirds), The Nice, Comus opening for Deep Purple (my sister had the poster), Black Sabbath opening for Caravan, Genesis and Queen opening for Kevin Ayers (!) and even The Beatles apparently.
I think we may have played something from 'DrasticPlastic' as that album was the closest in style to 'Red Noise.' Can't recall if Charlie and Simon were there or not, but if they were it was a lovely, generous and supportive gesture from them.
Re my last comment, I also think Bill mentioned that Charlie and Simon were there.
Is my memory shot, or at Drury Lane, did Red Noise play a Be Bop song as an encore? I seem to remember Bill saying that the promoters told them they had to. (Harvey Goldsmith I think). I was a bit naughty and might have mentioned that I was there early and walked into Drury Lane to hear the sound check.
Thanks for confirming Superenigmatix.Don’t remember the “suckers“ but there was a bit of negativity towards the music from where I was, so maybe that was something to do with it.
Bill said Ian Dury was boring at the Sheffield Gig as well and said Drastic Plastic “of all things” Before Possesion, Maybr he was under some pressure from the promoters at the Red Noise Gigs.
I didn't get to see Be Bop live but I did see Red Noise at Birmingham - and they did play Superenigmatix. Two things have stayed with me since that night; one was the drummer throwing his drumsticks into the audience at the end of the concert - one of them hitting my mate on the head; the second was Bill referring to the audience as "Suckers". The suckers comment has never left me and I have wondered many times over the years what Bill really thought of his fans. Despite this and staying with Bill through to Chimera, rating him as a class act on the guitar, and really enjoying the live Rocketeers album, I have always had doubts about catching Bill live again.
Be Bop Deluxe and Cheap Trick at the Cleveland Music Hall Sept. 25th, 1977.
Stunning show from Bill and the boys.
Yes indeed. '75 I believe. BeBop Deluxe opened for Johnny Winter at The Allen Theater in Cleveland, OH. I still remember how impressive the length version of 'Life in the Air Age'.
My first Be Bop concert was at Eastfield school, Lightcliffe. Saw every tour after that. Last one at Leeds Grand Theatre on the Drastic Plastic Tour. They did all of the album except for Elec Language and Visions. The Encore was Forbidden Lovers and Blazing Apostles and that was that!
I saw Red Noise at Birmingham and the set list was pretty much as the BBC concert, but I’m sure they played Superenigmatix as well. Hopefully the live concert will be available soon.
I had a copy of the lost film, but the quality was terrible. I also think that Bill put a copy of one track on this site on videos. My copy was video and really bad, but it was a full concert.
Someone on this site must still have a copy.
When Bill returned to the Calderone headlining later on I was working at WLIR radio which was around the corner from the venue and I was responsible for the Hospitality for the show, food, drink...I believe Bill requested a little wine, cheese , fruit for the band. I remember the band being a fine bunch of chaps, very respectful!!!
My first BeBop show was 12-9-76??? Bill opening for Rory Gallagher at the Calderone Concert Hall LI NY. That was a tough Rory crowd, they usually were, but Bill put on a fine performance and we saw every tour Bill did after that. I made a recording of the show and I still have the cassette somewhere!!!
I'm utterly envious reading these posts as I never saw Be Bop Deluxe live. However, aged about eleven, I did see Global Village, I believe, when they played Clarence Park back in 1969. It was all by chance as I'd been to the fair. I was one of the kids who went up on stage and I got the drummer's autograph, who, I remember, was very polite to me, and appeared pleased to be asked for his autograph, despite the stage being mobbed.
I also saw Be Bop Deluxe in concert on television about 1978-ish. I've looked for mention of the concert but never have tracked it down. I have a feeling it may only have been screened by Yorkshire Television in the region they then covered. Sadly, I caught just the tail end of the programme, having just returned from the pub, but I remember 'Sister Seagull' being part of the set and the band played to an audience in what looked like a TV studio, rather than a theatre or similar concert venue.
The old site says that it was at DeMontford Hall, Leicester. I thought that rang a bell. Not a BBD bell though. Part of the original Genesis Live from 1973 was recorded there. Small world heh?
I'd been looking for the date I first saw BBD, which I recall being on a Saturday in Hertford approx June 1975. I found the post about tour dates, on the old forum, which ends with a discussion about Saturday June 14 1975. Perfect Monster seems to resolve this by giving a link to an advert for the entire Futurama tour, that shows Oxford Poly for that date. The discussion concerned the fact that there was a BBC concert broadcast on that day of the band playing Golders Green Hippodrome.
The curious thing is that I remember that when I went to see them, I heard the concert on the radio in the pub beforehand. I say "curious" because it seems unlikely I went to Oxford, which was a long way from where I lived at the time, when they were playing at Victoria Palace in London the next day, which would have been much more convenient. Yet apart from that it ties up perfectly with the idea that the broadcast was a recording that aired on the day of another gig, i.e. the one I went to. Hertford is not on the advertised tour schedule at all. Could the venue have been changed from Oxford to Hertford after the advert was published?
Incidentally I'd like to take this opportunity to apologise to Bill for my behaviour at that gig, because my other memory of it is standing right at the front directly beneath him, very earnestly giving him "full attention" and "shining with bright eyes" at the key moment during "Axe Victim". I will never forget his pained expression, I guess it happened at every gig that some idiotic teenager gave him this treatment!
Also saw them at Bracknell Sports Centre on 29/1/77, probably the same gig as Major Snagg.
Always liked a bit of blues in those days! (And, those of you who have kept up with my music will know that the blues still emerges from time to time in my more recent recordings.) 😉
Our first BBD show was the show with Ted Nugent and Rush. I think that we went to the first night only. That was November 26 1976. (We missed the April 10 1976 (Golden Earring/Slade) because we were travelling.) I wish that there was a bootleg of that one. BBD played Red House. Oh yes they did! When Ted Nugent came on stage, he said, mockingly, ' How 'bout them Be Bop Deluxe' or something to that effect. Anyway, we enjoyed the show. Especially BBD and Rush.
Sunburst Finish tour at Colston Hall Bristol.i remember Bill had a very cool silver jacket..I am pretty sure the support was John Cooper Clarke...
Modern Music Tour.. 1977/8 ...I think? It was at Bracknell Sports Centre. Support act was The Steve Gibbons Band. The Sports Centre wasn't actually the best of venues...a bit echoey and slightly impersonal. A great show none the less. Obviously I don't still have the admission ticket after all these years, -:)
I may have written about this on the previous board. Or the board before that. I won a record via a trivia question on the radio and was given the album Sunburst Finish. 2 tickets to the show were included. I want to say first US tour. Big pink barn of a coliseum in Spokane Washington. I have bought everything since. Have not regretted it for a moment. Even after I sobered up and turned my back on that previous chapter of my life by discarding all sorts of reminders, I kept Bill and the songs in my heart.
Red Noise play Be Bop Deluxe live at Sheffield City Hall.
'Possession' 13th March 1979..
..Bill's voice sounds great
Setlist for this gig:
Don’t Touch Me (I’m Electric)
Furniture Music
Stop/Go/Stop
The Atom Age
Possession
Substitute Flesh
A Better Home in the Phantom Zone
Radar in My Heart
Art/Empire/Industry
Revolt Into Style
Stay Young
I first saw Be Bop at The Hammersmith Odeon, 26 February 1978, absolutely fabulous gig.
The big thing I remember (and I think I'm remembering correctly) is that they didn't play anything pre Drastic Plastic with the exception of Forbidden Lovers. I'm sure Bill said something about a 'London audience' being able to cope with just the new songs. I hope someone else was at the gig and remembers this!
My first Bill Nelson concert was the Red Noise Tour, 1981 at the Whiskey in Los Angeles. I don't have a ticket, but I got to interview Bill for KSPC FM. I will never forget watching Bill walking around the pool (kings row hotel, in West Hollywood, I think) listening to his Walkman with headphones! That was the first time I ever saw a Walkman!
I really ought to have mentioned, to those who may be interested but didn't know, Steve Gibbons is now 77 years old (soon to be 78) and continues to tour and perform with his band in the UK and around Europe, and still sounds really good too!...here's a recent performance from last month (10/05/19)..
My only Be Bop gig was on that tour in early 1977. Can't remember the date, but it was at the Caird Hall in Dundee.
Would have liked to have seen the Steve Gibbons Band, but they were unable to appear. The story that went round was that they had got into a fight the night before, in Aberdeen, and someone was injured. I have no idea if that was true.
A local band had been drafted in as support, at very short notice. I remember nothing about them except that one of their songs had the beguiling chorus "I love you like the shithouse door". Sophisticated art rock at its finest.
I remember my first Be Bop gig. I went with my friend Mark to see Cockney Rebel with Be Bop Deluxe as support at Tiffanys in Hull in 1974. We were both underage but managed to get in. I have vivid memories of Rob Bryan staring at the audience for most of the time Be Bop were playing, and someone getting on the stage before they appeared to ask if anyone had some hairspray Be Bop could 'borrow'. I bought Axe Victim shortly after a memorable night. In the taxi home, the driver had 'Midnight at the Oasis' by Maria Muldaur on the radio. I have loved this song ever since.
Typical...Sod's law really, when I was putting the above tour program and ticket stub away, I had a quick rummage through a bit more memorabilia and found the ticket from my first Be-Bop gig, inside another tour program.
So, this was my first Be-Bop gig, Thurs 20th Jan 1977:
Actually, this was the second time I saw Be-Bop Deluxe...The first time was opening night of the Modern Music tour on 20th January 1977, at Sheffield City Hall, but I couldn't find the ticket stub....Steve Gibbons Band were supporting act on the tour...needless to say, it was simply amazing.
I was lucky enough to see Be-Bop Deluxe several times, including on the Drastic Plastic tour and every concert just blew me away...I've never known a happier, more 'in to it', or more satisfied crowd from the hundreds of gigs I've been to over the years, than those who were at the Be-Bop shows I went to..When something happens like that, it stays with you forever.
I still have quite a lot of memorabilia I bought at these concerts, and photos I took myself from both tours, and signed tour programmes from the whole band...and one or two stories.
They were great days...I was 16 at the time.
By the way, the Steve Gibbons Band were very good on this tour and had an album out about a year or so later called 'Down In The Bunker', which really is very good...I listened to it not so long ago and it has stood the test of time and still sounds fresh...recommended.