The Sensational ALEX HARVEY Band

United Kingdom Tour Dates

1972-73

23/6/72 London Lyceum (Alex) I think this is the gig where the band first see Alex perform; either that or it's the band's first gig. Too early by my reckoning!
11/12/72 Dumfries
13/12 Caledonian Hotel, Inverness
14/12 Glasgow Art College
15/12 Strathclyde Uni
16/12 Dunfermline Kinema
17/12 Paisley Watermill
20/12 Weymouth Grammar School
23/12 Bellshill, YMCA
12/1/73 London Thames Poly. Guessing year of this tour - might be 74
13/1 ChichesterBishop Otter College
14/1 Chiswick Chevalier Lodge Club
18/1 London Marquee
Roger St Pierre review in NME: "the Fantastic (sic) Alex Harvey Band gave entertainment rather than a technical display of musical prowess - and that, after all, is what live rock should be all about. Evil is the best word to describe the demonic stage presence of Harvey himself... Harvey came closer than anyone I've seen before to the brash womanising evoked by the Chicago blues greats - he did it more effectively even than Jagger. Vocally, Harvey may be limited; as a guitar player he's even more so but in terms of sheer stage presence there are very few who can match this elder statesman..."
19/1 Skegness Festival Pavilion
20/1 Nottingham College
22/1 Manchester Hardrock
25/1 Northampton Fantasia
26/1 Newcastle Poly
27/1 Bolton Inst of Tech
3/2/73 Preston Guildhall
4/2/73 Hemel Hempstead Pavilion, supp Atomic Rooster (certain date) tickets 70p adv, 80p door
8/2 Northwich Memorial Hall
9/2 Brixton Sundown
10/2/73 Stevenage Education Ctr
15/2 Cardiff College
16/2 Brighton Poly
17/2 Bristol St Mathias College
18/2 Finchley Torrington
19/2 Sutton-in-Ashfield Golden Diamond
22/2 Birmingham Tech
23/2 Mile End Sundown
8/4/73 Finchley, Torrington

13/4/73 Glasgow Tech
14/4/73 St Andrew's Uni
18/4/73 Manchester Stoneground admission 40p
21/4/73 Glasgow Uni
29/6/73 Northampton Molton College
30/6 Manchester Stoneground
1/7/73 London Earl's Court, w Slade
**Three-week Tour supporting Slade roundabout here
?/?/73 Pauline Cooper writes on the SAHB Yahoo! Groups: "... Buxton Festival (First time S.A.H.B performed Crazy Horses in public) Among the bands who performed that day were Chuck Berry, Nazareth, Edgar Broughton Band, Canned Heat) It rained heavily all day, but when the boys took the stage the rain stopped, not to start again until they had left the stage. Roy Wood and Wizard were supposed to perform, but Roy Wood only walked on the stage and walked off directly. The weather was too bad to perform he said, but it didn't stop anyone else performing."
25/8/73 Reading fest
18/9/73 London Marquee
Ray Telford review in Sounds: "That Alex and the band have gathered together over the past months a sizeable collection of die-hard fans is no wandering from the truth, and the fact that Harvey is now regarded with ag reat deal less suspicion than he was previously is in ample evidence. The set opened with a manic version of Crazy Horses which Harvey delivers with a strange menace, the same kind of bitter sweet inflections he seems to inject into everything he does. For the occasion Big Bud's Brass augmented the basic AHB five piece. Their inclusion added a lot of punch, especially on Sly Stone's Dance to the Music... Zal Cleminson has become even more pointed and direct in style and pianist Hugh McKenna has improved immeasurably on all counts, the maintstream jazz instrumentals in which McKenna takes all the leads being an excellent example of his understanding. The Harvey Band are undoubtedly among the best live acts currently doing the rounds, and the end is still far from sight."
8/11/73 Warwick Uni
9/11 Manchester Stoneground
11/11 Ayr Pavilion
12/11 Falkirk Town Hall
13/11 Perth Salvation Hotel
14/11 Hamilton Town Hall
17/11 Northampton County Cricket Club
18/11 Southport Floral Hall
19/11 Derby King's Hall
20/11 Hull City Hall
22/11 Middlesborough Town Hall
23/11 Newcastle Poly
24/11 Hemel Hempstead Pavilion
25/11 Birmingham Barbarella's
26/11 Reading Town Hall
27/11 Hanley Victoria Hall
28/11 Barnsley Civic Hall
29/11 Liverpool St George's Hall
30/11 Edinburgh Uni

1973 (cont'd);1974

1/12/73 Cromer Links Pavilion
2/12 Croydon Greyhound
3/12 Wolverhampton Civic Hall
5/12 Blackburn King George's Hall
8/12 Dagenham Roundhouse
9/12 Plymouth Guild Hall
10/12 Barry Memorial Hall
11/12 Salisbury City Hall
12/12 Sheffield City Hall
13/12 Huddersfield Poly
14/12 Chatham Central Hall
15/12 Cambridge Corn Exchange
21/12 Harrogate Royal Hall
11/2/74 Empire Ballroom, Leicester Square
Martin Hayman review in Sounds: "SAHB lurched a little nearer that elusive goal of stardom in their much-feted Valentine Ball in Leicester Square's sleazy Empire Ballroom... the band are an unsettling experience. I got the impression Alex Harvey will try anything - anything - to get the audience off. Like a Scottish Iggy Stooge, perhaps, he's so anarchic, so reckless that you wonder sometimes whether he's not a little deranged. The crowd, surprisingly vociferous and betraying that Harvey has an extremely strong grassroots following, were like a football crowd: the atmosphere was raucous, talkative and sceptical even of their hero.Next was among their favourites, connecting well, though the string quartet's accompaniment got a bit lost along the way. The Troggs earlier achieved neither perfection or connection and even the appearance of the London Scottish Regiment's pipes and drums only lifted temporarily a mood of confusion and boredom innappropriate to a Valentine's Ball. A mood which was not lifted until the appearance of the definitely Sensational Alex Harvey Band."
16/2/74 Chelmsford, Mid-Essex Tech * Guessing year of this tour - could be 73
17/2 Bristol, St Mathias College
18/2 Finchley, Torrington (same time last year?)
19/2 Birmingham Town Hall* *supp Mott the Hoople
21/2 Falkirk Town Hall*
22/2 Glasgow, Greens Playhouse*
24/2 Edinburgh Empire*
25/2 Newcastle City Hall*
27/2 Radio Medway
2/3/74 Newcastle Mayfair
3/3 Halifax Clarence Club
?/?/74
Pauline Cooper writes on the SAHB : "... Manchester Umist (Manchester University). Two bands that I can remember supported the lads were Beckett and String Driven Thing."
6/3 Hull Intercontinental
7/3 London Marquee
8/3 Glamorgan Poly
9/3 St Albans College
10/3 Birmingham Newman College
15/3 Liverpool Cavern
16/3 Burton-on-Trent, 76 Club
17/3 Chester College
22/3 Sunderland Locarno
23/3 Harrogate College
24/3 Nottingham College
27/3 Stoke, Changes Club
30/3 Southgate, Badgers Club
26/5/74 Glasgow Apollo
27/5/74 Edinburgh
9th May 1974 Leeds Town Hall
Simon Orrell review: "Almost a year ago the SAHB came to Leeds as support group to Slade. They played to packed audience of teenyboppers on that day and unnecessarily shocked many of them with their bizarre, over-suggestive and at times degrading act. But at Leeds Town Hall last Thursday they showed just how a band can mature in 12 months both visually and musically. The 39-year-old Glaswegian has with him a band of immense talent. The extraordinary-looking Zal Cleminson on lead guitar is horrific. If he wasn't such a capable musician he would probably be appearing somewhere with Christopher Lee. [Alex] has some new ideas on his new album, CanÕt Get Enough, and indeed the song of that title is a revelation in itself. Harvey puts so much effort into his act yet doesn't seem to break into a sweat. A nice little ditty about his childhood hero, Sgt Fury is an experiment that has proved very successful. I wonder now whether the band might try to widen its musical field. Incidentally their stage props are quite good. An old fashioned streetlamp lights up a wall which Harvey duly scrawls on with a can of spray paint - all good stuff."
10th Sheffield City Hall
11th Liverpool Stadium
12th Preston Guild Hall
13th Swansea Top Rank
15th Brighton Top Rank
16th Hanley Victoria Hall
17th Newcastle Mayfair Ballroom
18th Nottingham University
19th Guildford Civic Hall
22nd Perth City Hall
25th Dundee Caird Hall
26th Glasgow Apollo
27th Edinburgh Caley Cinema
28th Manchester Free Trade Hall
29th Birmingham Town Hall
30th Bristol Colston Hall
31st Hull City Hall
1st June 1974 Leicester Polytechnic
3rd Wolverhampton Civic Hall
7th London Rainbow

1974 (cont'd); 1975-76

8th Southend Kursal
9th Norwich Theatre Royal
(The above dates, beginning with 9/5/74, were provided by members of the SAHB Yahoo! Groups.)
20/7/74 Knebworth Fest
Allman Bros Band, Van Morrison, Doobie Bros, Mahavishnu Orchestra, SAHB, Tim Buckley. Tickets £2.75adv, £3 gate
23/8/74 Reading Fest
18/9/74 London Marquee
3/10/74 Leicester, de Montford Hall
4/10 Birmingham Town Hall
6/10 London Palladium
Allan Jones review: "The act becomes more precisely manic at every occasion, and swept with impeccable logic through a frenzied Faith Healer, a classic opening number, to the Hot City Symphony sequence, taking in numbers from the new album, to a staggering climax. Next was the first highlight, with Zal cradling his guitar like a jaded whore before the whole band comes sweeping in behind Alex in a furious cluster of crescendos. Sgt Fury with the Palladium stage lights adding that final touch of insane chowbiz burlesque, and Zal and Chris Glen doing their tiller girl routine was a complete gas. One sense that the violent implications are all too real in the context of Alex's vision. They tread a dangerous line between militant anarchy and utopian pacifism, underlined with a kind of relentless humour that somehow balances the inherent paradox of their situation. The Framed routine is relentlessly violent, then Alex will introduce Anthem as a hymn for peace. It veers from being a threat to being a call for peace, and as a climax is unbeatable. The Alex Harvey Band are gonna take the world apart one day."
8/10 Portsmouth Guildhall
9/10 Sheffield City Hall
10/10 Bradford, St George's  Hall
From Mike Forrest: "Throbbing intro of Faith Healer......................... Alex strides menacingly to centre front halfway through the classic opening song a fight breaks out and the two mosh pit pioneers roll directly under the front centre stage. A small gap appears, Alex realises what's happening and lifts his hand. The Band as one stop immediately; Alex beckons the House lights up and glares down from the stage at the still prone combatants. 'No one fights at my fucking concerts... I'll come down there and kick the fuck out of you both... Now shake hands'. The now petrified blokes touch palms half heartedly to much applause, the lights go down and SAHB kick ass again. Without doubt the best live band in the world 1973-1976.
11/10/74 Lancaster Uni
12/10 York Uni
13/10 Glasgow Apollo
14/10 Edinburgh Usher Hall
16/10 Manchester Palace
18/10 Newscastle Mayfair
19/10 Southend Kursaal
then Euro tour w Deep Purple
8/11/74 Band leave for US tour
** Press receptions in Boston, Philly and NY; then band play Trenton, NJ; first US gig (finished with ÔAnthemÕ, encored with ÔSchoolÕs OutÕ then ÔJumping Jack FlashÕ; next night band perform first-ever live broadcast on NY radio station WQIV FM - Electric Lady Studios (broadcast in quad sound!) Band will play a week at The Whiskey (?) and stay in US till mid-December.
11/12/74 Northampton, PA, USA Roxy Theatre Tickets $3.50
end/12/74 The band return from the US tour, with Impossible Dream in the US top 100.
13/3/75 Northhampton, PA, USA Roxy Theatre
1/5/75 Newcastle City Hall
2/5 Edinburgh Usher Hall
3/5 Dundee Caird Hall
4/5 Glasgow Apollo
7/5 Liverpool Empire
8/5 Bradford St George's Hall
10/5 Leeds Uni
11/5 Preston Guildhall
12/5 Manchester Free Trade Hall
13/5 Sheffield City Hall
15/5 Birmingham Odeon
16/5 Portsmouth Guildhall
17/5 Southend Kursaal
20/5 Leicester de Montford Hall
21/5 Watford Town Hall
22/5 Cardiff Capitol
23/5 Bristol Colston Hall
24/5 Hammersmith Odeon
Delilah & Soul in Chains recorded live at this gig. The tour sold out some venues three weeks in advance.
17/5/75 Stoke City FC, supp Yes Tickets £2.50. Also playing: Ace and Gryphon
22/12/75 Hammersmith Odeon
23/12/75 Hammersmith Odeon
24/12/75 Hammersmith Odeon (added due to demand)
31/12/75 Glasgow Apollo
2/1/76 Glasgow Apollo
3/1/76 Glasgow Apollo (added due to demand)
14/2/76 Porterhouse, Retford, Notts
30/4/76 Ipswich Gaumont Tickets for this tour £1.25 - £2.50
1/5/76 Southend Kursaal *also listed as Bracknell
2/5 Coventry Theatre

1976 (cont'd

3/5 Oxford New Theatre
5/5 Hull ABC Theatre
6,7/5 Newcastle City Hall
8/5 Leeds Uni
9,10/5 Manchester Free Trade Ctr
10/5/75 QPR FC, supp Yes
11/5 Liverpool Empire
12/5 Preston Guildhall
15/5 Bracknell Sports Centre *also listed as Southend
16/5 Stoke, Trentham Gardens
17,18/5 Bristol, Colston Hall
20/5 Southampton Gaumont
21/5 Bournemouth Winter Gardens
22/5 Leicester de Montford Hall
23/5 Wolverhampton Civic Hall
24,25/5 Birmingham Odeon
26,27/5 Sheffield City Hall
28/5 Edinburgh Odeon
1/6/76 Portsmouth Guildhall
2/6 Eastbourne Congress Theatre
3/6 Taunton Odeon
24,25/5/76 Birmingham Odeon, w supp Pat Travers
28/5/76 Edinburgh Odeon (only Scottish date on tour)
29/5/76 Edinburgh Odeon (added due to demand - were there more?)
Who Boot the Boot In (Who, SAHB, Little Feat, Outlaws):
31/5/76 Charlton Athletic FC, London
5/6/76 Celtic Park, Glasgow
Scottish press report SAHB blow the Who offstage. English press doesn't! Alex has boasted he's got about 400 cousins in the audience... and congratulates the crowd on their behaviour, noting the English crowd at Charlton last week were a bit violent.
12/6/76 Swansea FC, Wales

1976 (cont'd); 1977

4/7/76 Turku festival, Finland
Sunday Mail quotes Alex as saying although Chuck Berry's playing, SAHB are actually headlining, although Alex will let Chuck go on last...
3/10/76 Cirque, Brussels
4/10/76 Hamburg
Alex performs as Hitler in Hamburg; he says it doesn't worry him, although he's more apprehensive about doing it in Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Berlin. But he will anyway.
12/10/76 Sweden
Alex collapses near the beginning of the show but manages to carry on. Later he has a more serious collapse. The tour is cancelled and Alex is flown home under sedation; his agent says: "Alex is suffering from exhaustion and his doctor is seeing him every day."
SAHBWA:
26/1/77 Derby, King's Hall
27/1 Carlisle Market Hall
28/1 Edinburgh University
29/1 Glasgow, Strathclyde Uni
30/1 Aberdeen Music Hall
31/1 Glasgow Tiffany's
2/2/77 Leeds Uni
3/2 Liverpool Uni
4/2 Durham Uni
5/2 Lancaster Uni
6/2 Redcar, Coatham Bowl
7/2 Hull, Tiffany's
8/2 Manchester, Electric Circus
9/2 Cardiff Top Rank
11/2 Cambridge Corn Exchange
12/2 Southend Kursaal
13/2 Southampton Top Rank
15/2 Portsmouth Locarno
16/2 Birmingham Uni
17/2 Hanley Victoria Hall
18/2 Newcastle Mayfair (La Verne review)
19/2 Sheffield Uni
20/2 Bristol Locarno
23/2 London Marquee
24/2 London Marquee
25/2 Uxbridge, Brunel Uni
26/2 Bracknell Sports Centre (Barry Flatman review)
27/2 Dunstable Civic Hall
28/2 Swansea Top Rank
SAHBWA
7/4/77 Rainbow Theatre, London (w Krazy Kat)
xx/8/77 Reading Fest - SAHB's last live appearance