1978

	DATES
	1978
	1st January		The Ramones, The Rezillos, Generation X

	2nd -
	7th January		“Stars in Wonderland” with Lulu, Ted Rogers, Bernie Clifton, Lesley Judd, The Wurzels, Berni Flint, Mud, Roy Castle, The Barron Knights, Stu Francis & Geofrey Bishop’s New Edition, Keith Chegwin, Ed "Stewpot" Stewart
	5th February		Nese Karaboctek

	6th/
	7th February		Gilbert O’Sullivan Rehearsals

	8th February		Supercharge, 29th & Dearborn

	11th February		Squeeze

			These two concerts were held in the upper foyer of the theatre

	6th March		Graham Bonnet Filming

	7th March		Dicky Betts & The Great Southern, Lee Fardon & The Legionairres
	11th March		Spirit, Alternative TV, The Police
	18th March		Gordon Giltrap
	29th March		Thin Lizzy
	31st March		Chick Corea

	1st –
	4th April		Patti Smith, Tapper Zukie and the Intimidators, The Subway Sect
			Chris Brazier reviewed in the Melody Maker At London's Rainbow on Saturday night the Patti Smith Group gave another devastating performance, which left a packed audience demanding, and getting, a second encore at a quarter past midnight after a show that had lasted over two hours. Response to Patti was instant as she entered to the circling organ, which prefaces "Privilege," a strange little figure in an oversize bowler hat, shaking a crook and a toy sheep as she spat out "The Lord is my shepherd." Her voice was gloriously resonant, and the new Easter album (only that record's most dispensable track, "Ghost Dance," omitted) sounded even stronger live. "Space Monkey," particularly, was much more convincingly raunchy (it helps being able to make out the lyrics); and "25th Floor’s volcanic density was made for live performance, providing the justification at last for Patti's defiantly amateur (in both senses of the word) guitar playing. The show reached an inevitable peak about three-quarters of the way through with the startling grandeur of "Because the Night," the Springsteen collaboration, which is set fair for the upper reaches of the singles chart - no surprise given its heroic ring, its irresistible immediacy. And it was a triumph as much for the band as for the lady herself. All the misguided charges of incompetence are way behind them now, and they're being pushed even further forward. Lenny Kaye even takes over vocals for a competent version of "The Kids Are Alright," and Patti is becoming more the lead singer with a group than the all-shouldering high priestess she was at the cataclysmic Roundhouse gig two years ago. Which is fine in itself, but it's also where my reservations about the gig start to trickle in. For a start, this is a different Patti Smith from the lady I came to know and love. She's certainly very tired after the European tour, but it was the same near the start of the tour in Berlin - she has none of the bounding excess of energy, the sheer childlike exuberance that used to crackle through her performance. She often stands stock-still or goes through stagecraft motions where before she'd leap up and down excitedly. It reduces her power slightly, even though we have no right to expect anything other than such a development. But hand in hand with that is a drastic reduction in her communication with the audience - she seemed unable to think of anything more to say than "I'm really happy to be here," and sparingly now does she spin into one of those spontaneous poetry-stabs for which she is famous. The couple of times she started improvising fell embarrassingly flat, as at the end of "We Three" (which eventually resolved itself into the "tick/tock, f*** the clock" intro to "Time Is On My Side" that we first saw at the Roundhouse) or worse, when she hushed the band up suddenly during "Land" as if she was about to come up with something really momentous, then could think of nothing and resorted to shouting in childish exasperation. And besides, after "Because the Night" things started to disintegrate, partly I think, due to her exhaustion, but more because of an interminable edition of "Radio Ethiopia" which still leaves this boy cringing and even angry at its ridiculous self-indulgence and always will do so. I was forced to laugh, though, when Ivan Kral, laughing, hit on the riff to "Whole Lotta Love" midway through, then turned to see Lenny Kaye, shaking his head disapprovingly, and immediately broke into a (presumably approved) free-form run. After that even the quintessential and best-loved Patti Smith pieces, "Gloria" and "Land," couldn't lift me again. She makes mistakes, but part of her charm is her courageous readiness to go out on a limb. I'm still right under her spell, and it looks like she's at last becoming the star she's always deserved to be. Preceding her were Tapper Zukie and the Intimidators, who doubtless play fine reggae but whom I found incomprehensible and tedious; and Subway Sect. A big break which they seized with the best performance I've yet seen from them - with their twisted guitar-sound and tortured lyrical style they really are progressing quickly down the trail behind the most prominent New Yorkers they admire so much.





	8th April		The Damned, Prof & The Profettes, Johnny Moped,The Soft Boys, Better Looking
			Although the band had officially split, they reformed for a farewell gig. Dave Vanian had left to join The Doctors of Madness, Rat Scabies had formed The White Cats, Lu & Jon Moss had a project call The Edge, Brian James formed Tanz Der Youth, Captain Sensible was playing with Johnny Moped and with The Softies. Rat Scabies was in the crowd and invited by Captain Sensible to join the band on stage to play a second drum kit - for half the set & the encore, Rat Scabies & Jon Moss drummed together. Additionally, Lol Coxhill joined them to play on a long version of You Know.


	14th April		Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, Band of Joy


	21st April		Dave Swarbrick with members of Fairport Convention, Beryl and Roger Marriott from his days in a Birmingham ceilidh band - and Peter Bellamy.
			“I remember that the atmosphere on that day was very sombre, Sandy Denny who Dave had played with in Fairport Convention had fallen down some stairs a month earlier and had died that day from a brain haemorrhage”

	27th April		Foreigner

	7th/ 8th May		Jethro Tull

	9th/
	10th May		Average White Band
	15th May		UK, The Fabulous Poodles
	22nd-
	26th May		Heatwave Rehearsals

	27th May		John Otway & Wild Willie Barrett, The Smirks

	31st May		Harry Chapin

	19th June		Thin Lizzy, Horslips

	21st-
	23rd June		Jefferson Starship Rehearsals
	1st July		The Enid, 90° Inclusive
	4th July		A Rock Opera
	28th July		Culture
	29th July		Cliff Richard Rehearsals

	15th -
	18th August		Filming of the film "Yanks"

	27th August		Eartha Kitt
			Filming of a Spanish orange juice commercial

	28th August		Keith Hudson, Militant Barry, Black Slate

	11th September		Boxing - Lenny McLean Vs Ray Shaw
	24th September		The Tennessee Farm Band
			“In the late 1960s, Stephen Gaskin made a name for himself teaching a weekly class on the meaning of the psychedelic experience in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury District. At the start of the 70s, he led a hippie exodus to Tennessee, where he created "The Farm," just about the only successful hippie commune still standing.
	25th September		The Witness Musical with Barry McGuire

	27th-
	30th September		The Grateful Dead (Cancelled)
			Richard Ames their tour manager recalls "I was working for The Dead for half a year, just back from setting them up with the production for their shows in Egypt, they cancelled the whole European tour I had set up including these shows at The Rainbow"
	1st October		Brand X, Peter Hammill

	3rd October		John McLaughlin “One Truth Band”
	7th-
	14th October		The Moody Blues Rehearsals
	21st October		Smokie
	22nd October		Van Halen, Bram Tchaikovsky’s Battleaxe
			Van Halen's very first world tour as a headlining band, just after the release of their first album. This tour featured what must have been the band's best-ever line-up. Just show's how new they were in this country at that time...They couldn't even spell their name correctly on the ticket!
	24th October		Steel Pulse, China Street
	26th/
	27th October		Jeff Beck Rehearsals
			Jeff Beck together with Stanley Clarke, Tony Hymas and Simon Phillips rehearsing for a tour of Japan

	10th November		Isaac Hayes with The Hot Buttered Soul Singers, Edwin Star

	16th November		Mighty Sparrow
	17th November		Showaddywaddy, Rosetta Stone
	18th November		Barbara Dickson
	19th November		Jerry lee Lewis, Duane Eddy

	22nd November		Third World
	25th November		Dillinger, Zabandis
	28th/
	29th November		Olivia Newton-John, Labi Saffre
			The outside of the building is covered in black vinyl for this event!

	2nd December		Mike Harding, Hedgehog Pie
	3rd December		Olivia Newton-John, Labie Saffre

	4th December		Boxing - Lenny McLean Vs Cliff Fields

	6th/7th
	December		Peter Tosh, Matumbi
	8th December		Muddy Walters
	9th December		Child, Playboy
	11th December		Taj Mahal
	14th/15th
	December		The Boomtown Rats, The Vipers



	16th December		Tappa Zukie, Cygnus
	17th December		The Boomtown Rats, The Vipers
	20th December		Adam & The Ants, Raped, UK Subs, The Pack, The Memories, Bitch
	25th/26th
	December		PIL, Lou’s, Basement 5, Linton Kwesi Johnson
			First gigs with Johnny’s "new" band

	27th December		Sham 69, The Records, Merger, The Invaders, Johnny Rubbish
			Sham’s line up included Steve Jones & Paul Cook



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			Copyright © Rick Burton 2011