Bad Company – Newcastle City Hall 1st March 1979

Johnny was a schoolboy when he heard his first Beatles song
‘Love Me Do’ I think it was and from there it didn’t take him long

Got himself a guitar, used to play every night
Now he’s in a rock and roll outfit and everything’s all right

Growing up when I did Bad Company were big news – their albums Bad Company and Straight Shooter were always being played at someone’s house and songs like Can’t get enough, Good Lovin gone bad and Feel like making love were played regularly at the Mayfair on a Friday night – a venue where their predecessors Free had recorded part of their live album years before. So we were really looking forward to seeing them.

In the end though I found them rather dull live! I seem to recall that every song went off on an extended instrumental break in the middle and while that sort of thing is ok usually I just wanted to hear the tracks as I knew them especially the ones listed above!

It turns out I wasn’t alone in this as I got talking to rock journalist Phil Sutcliffe a few weeks later while I was waiting to go backstage after a Joan Armatrading gig and he said that he had been bored by them too!

Photographs taken by me at the gig and the setlist was something like:

Bad Company
Good Lovin’ Gone Bad
Burnin’ Sky
Gone, Gone, Gone
Shooting Star
Rhythm Machine
Ready for Love
Simple Man
Run With the Pack
She Brings Me Love
Evil Wind [with Drum Solo]
Honey Child
Rock Steady
Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy
Live for the Music
Movin’ On

Can’t Get Enough
Feel Like Makin’ Love