The Mini Festival Tour of August 1976
Aug 12, 2022 13:58:47 GMT
Post by Admin on Aug 12, 2022 13:58:47 GMT
A hitherto unknown VdGG recording has just surfaced. Sean (not Kelly): "So here is an 'alleged' recording from VdGG in Amsterdam dated August 7th 1976. I recall buying the 2CD recording in London in 2005, the details are a bit hazy after all these years but I had returned to the RFH the next day after the VdGG reunion concert hoping to scrounge an RFH poster of the event. No luck as the box office was closed but an older gentleman standing nearby asked us if we were VdGG fans and pulled out a bootleg CD from his shoulder bag. He claimed to have kept the recording all these years and only transferred it to CD when he learned of the reunion concert. He claimed he was part of the crew in 1976 which I considered very doubtful at the time."
The CD contains some interesting information that only a member of the band or crew could have known. But before we get to that, here is some gig history. The Box has the following for that period:
Mini Festival Tour:
5 Aug 76 Netherlands, Amsterdam, Paradiso
6 Aug 76 France, Arles Forum Musicale, Les Arenes
7 Aug 76 France, Orange?
These were the dates that first appeared on the Live List but only Arles was known for sure because there was supporting information. Then in late 2019 we were provided with a poster and photos from a gig that took place in Luxembourg on the 5th August 76. This rather upset the original list but luckily in June 2020 someone put a poster up for sale on Ebay relating to a gig at the Paradiso on the 7th August 76.
So the "Mini Festival Tour" became:
05 AUG 76 Luxembourg, Schwebsange, Hall du Vin
06 AUG 76 France, Arles, Les Arenes, Forum Musical
07 AUG 76 Netherlands, Amsterdam, Paradiso
www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/vdgglive.htm#jul76
From The Book you will know that in 75/76 there was a short period when the band flew to gigs in private planes and these, no doubt, were those gigs. HB: "This could be when Gordian hired us a Piper Dove from Biggin Hill to fly there. On one occasion Gordian arranged a genuine vintage Rolls Royce to pick us up from the French aerodrome."
There is also a story in The Book, related by HB, about an exploding Thermos flask. HB: "The flight would have been between Arles & Amsterdam. Schiphol was definitely where the ambulance picked up me & Rod directly from the plane on the tarmac." After returning to Letchworth in the UK, HB recalls "visiting the medical centre down the road trying to explain what had happened to my shoulder. I've often tried to place that but this makes total sense. So '76 definitely. (Imagine their look of horror that I'd survived a plane crash or something...)"
The newly surfaced CD cover (made by the person who produced and sold the CD) features two small propeller planes; a de Havilland Heron, and a Dove. The tour had been dubbed the "Heron and Dove tour" by the CD seller, who was almost certainly Mike Farady. Jim: "Mike Farady was at the RFH show, I talked to him at the bar for a while at the after-gig party upstairs (we'd had a bit of a correspondence for months before that gig so it was nice to actually meet in person), and his name is the first one listed for the crew in the liner notes." I (Phil) also recall meeting him at the after show party having been introduced by Jim.
The sleeve also tells us that the Heron pilot was Roger Brown and the Dove pilot Dickie Bird.
The tracks on the CD are:
1. The Undercover Man
2. Arrow
3. Still Life
4. La Rossa
5. Childlike Faith in Childhood's End
6. Meurglys III
7. The Sleepwalkers
(The recording may not be complete)
For reference, the Arles show set was:
1. The Undercover Man
2. Arrow
3. Still Life
4. Childlike Faith in Childhood's End
5. Meurglys III
6. Gog
7. The Sleepwalkers
8. Pilgrims
The CD contains some interesting information that only a member of the band or crew could have known. But before we get to that, here is some gig history. The Box has the following for that period:
Mini Festival Tour:
5 Aug 76 Netherlands, Amsterdam, Paradiso
6 Aug 76 France, Arles Forum Musicale, Les Arenes
7 Aug 76 France, Orange?
These were the dates that first appeared on the Live List but only Arles was known for sure because there was supporting information. Then in late 2019 we were provided with a poster and photos from a gig that took place in Luxembourg on the 5th August 76. This rather upset the original list but luckily in June 2020 someone put a poster up for sale on Ebay relating to a gig at the Paradiso on the 7th August 76.
So the "Mini Festival Tour" became:
05 AUG 76 Luxembourg, Schwebsange, Hall du Vin
06 AUG 76 France, Arles, Les Arenes, Forum Musical
07 AUG 76 Netherlands, Amsterdam, Paradiso
www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/vdgglive.htm#jul76
From The Book you will know that in 75/76 there was a short period when the band flew to gigs in private planes and these, no doubt, were those gigs. HB: "This could be when Gordian hired us a Piper Dove from Biggin Hill to fly there. On one occasion Gordian arranged a genuine vintage Rolls Royce to pick us up from the French aerodrome."
There is also a story in The Book, related by HB, about an exploding Thermos flask. HB: "The flight would have been between Arles & Amsterdam. Schiphol was definitely where the ambulance picked up me & Rod directly from the plane on the tarmac." After returning to Letchworth in the UK, HB recalls "visiting the medical centre down the road trying to explain what had happened to my shoulder. I've often tried to place that but this makes total sense. So '76 definitely. (Imagine their look of horror that I'd survived a plane crash or something...)"
The newly surfaced CD cover (made by the person who produced and sold the CD) features two small propeller planes; a de Havilland Heron, and a Dove. The tour had been dubbed the "Heron and Dove tour" by the CD seller, who was almost certainly Mike Farady. Jim: "Mike Farady was at the RFH show, I talked to him at the bar for a while at the after-gig party upstairs (we'd had a bit of a correspondence for months before that gig so it was nice to actually meet in person), and his name is the first one listed for the crew in the liner notes." I (Phil) also recall meeting him at the after show party having been introduced by Jim.
The sleeve also tells us that the Heron pilot was Roger Brown and the Dove pilot Dickie Bird.
The tracks on the CD are:
1. The Undercover Man
2. Arrow
3. Still Life
4. La Rossa
5. Childlike Faith in Childhood's End
6. Meurglys III
7. The Sleepwalkers
(The recording may not be complete)
For reference, the Arles show set was:
1. The Undercover Man
2. Arrow
3. Still Life
4. Childlike Faith in Childhood's End
5. Meurglys III
6. Gog
7. The Sleepwalkers
8. Pilgrims
