Nona Hendryx was the support for Gabriel’s two sold-out gigs on Tyneside. She was from the trio Labelle, who had a worldwide smash hit with ‘Lady Marmalade‘ in 1974 but I knew nothing else about her and as a result I paid little attention to her performance and can remember nothing at all of it. I can’t even remember which night I attended and as my old original ticket was chucked away in my ‘Bands Books‘ in the 1980s, I really can’t confirm one or the other.
My girlfriend – now my wife – lived in Birtley, just south of Newcastle, so we came back from college in Doncaster and stayed overnight to catch the gig.
Setlist: unknown
The ‘Car’ tour
Peter Gabriel (piano, flute, tambourine, vocals) / Sid McGinnis (guitars) / Tony Levin (bass, stick, tuba, vocals) / Jerry Marotta (drums) / Bayette (keyboards)
I honestly can’t remember which night I attended and my old original ticket was chucked away in my ‘Bands Books‘ in the 1980s.
This gig was part of the first tour that Gabriel ever did as a solo act, so it was a bit of a coup. I know that at the time I wore a denim waistcoat and I asked my girlfriend to stitch ‘peter gabriel’ into the back of it in red thread with yellow edging in exactly the same typeface on the album sleeve and it looked great. I distinctly remember him singing from one of the boxes and then playing ‘Here Comes The Flood‘ unaccompanied on the piano.
A brilliant gig which was enthusiastically received by all the folks there.
Setlist: Here Comes the Flood (intro); Slowburn; Moribund the Burgermeister; Modern Love; Indigo; Humdrum; White Shadow; I Heard It Through the Grapevine; Excuse Me; Waiting for the Big One; Solsbury Hill; Down the Dolce Vita; On the Air; All Day and All of the Night; Here Comes the Flood (unaccompanied piano solo); Back in N.Y.C.
Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, 24th September 1977
I have an official tour programme – click to see inside!
…with a pull-out poster in the middle…
…and I used to have an official badge
And here is a very old tin pin-badge that I have. I suspect that it was produced at some point after this gig/tour and I’m certain that it is unofficial because all of the official badges and programmes sold at gigs were, quite frankly, bizarre.
Gigs'n'Stuff 