Nazareth and Deborah Bonham Newcastle Academy 20 Feb 2010
My first Nazareth encounter was at the Lincoln Great Western Festval in 1972. They came on early on the Saturday morning to a crowd just waking up. At that time they had just released their second album Exercises. I can’t honestly remember a lot about their set that day, except that they seemed pretty good and played a great version of Morning Dew. I saw them around a dozen times in the 70s, witnessing some great shows at Sunderland Locarno, Newcastle Mayfair and City Hall (supporting Deep Purple on one occasion and headlining a few times) and at the Buxton festival in 1973. My last Naz gig of that era was 1981. I lost track of them for around 20 years, and saw them again a few years ago at Newcastle Arena. That recent gig revived my interest in the band; they still rocked just as much as they did all those years ago.
So tonight I’m back with my mates Will and Norm to see Naz again; some 38 (ouch!) years since standing in that field somewhere in Lincolnshire. Tongights venue is the Necastle Academy, and the support is the Deborah Bonham Band (sister of John). When we arrive Deborah and her band are already on stage. They have some pretty good rock songs, and her vocals are excellent, she reminds me of Maggie Bell. We get a great suprise for the last couple of songs when she is joined on stage by her nephew Jason Bonham who takes the drum stool; they treat us to a great version of Rock n Roll as their last song.
After a short wait Nazareth take the stage. The current version of the band features two original members: Dan McCafferty on vocals and Peter Agnew on bass. The drum stool is now taken by Peter’s son Lee Agnew who replaced original drummer Darrel Sweet, who sadly passed away a few years ago; and the guitar slot is more than ably filled by Jimmy Murrison who has been with the band since 1994. Nazareth are one band who seem even better these days than they used to. The sound is clear and loud, and Dan McCafferty’s vocals are as strong as they were in the 70s; which is pretty amazing given the way in which he screams the words out in an effortless manner. Pete Agnew commands the right hand side of the stage, with the same grin on his face, and Jimmy’s guitar playing is excellent. The set is a mixture of old and new (they latest album came out in 2008 and is called Newz), and features favourites such as Bad Bad Boy, My White Bicycle, Shanghai’d In Shanghai, Hair Of The Dog, and Love Hurts. They finish with Broken Down Angel which gets everyone singing along. For a few minutes I thougt that we weren’t going to get an encore as its after the 10pm curfew that the Academy has on a Saturday night, but they come back and do a three song encore including the great Razamanaz and This Flight Tonight. We all agree that they can still cut the mustard; great stuff and time for the chip shop.
setlist: Telegram, Turn On Your Receiver, Miss Misery, Bad Bad Boy, The Gathering, My White Bicycle, Hearts Grown Cold, Shanghai’d In Shanghai, Hair Of The Dog, Holiday, Love Hurts,nBroken Down Angel
encores: See Me, Razamanaz, This Flight Tonight
Nazareth website: http://nazarethdirect.co.uk
Deborah Bonham website: www.deborahbonham.com
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