[Music] Stevie Wonder live at the theatre royal 1973

[Sid and the Sharknados]

In between the Strawbs and Black Sabbath

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I love the price variations.

I saw King Crimson at the Dome in 2015.
I forget exactly but it'll have cost me a damn sight more than 60p.
I'd guess more like £60, which would be about 11% inflation over 44years.
Although to be fair to Robert Fripp, I'd hope to be earning more when I'm 69 than I was at 25 as well.

 

[Eeyore]

I saw King Crimson at the Dome in 2015.
I forget exactly but it'll have cost me a damn sight more than 60p.
I'd guess more like £60, which would be about 11% inflation over 44years.
Although to be fair to Robert Fripp, I'd hope to be earning more when I'm 69 than I was at 25 as well.

I loved seeing those tickets. The inflation calculator has £1 in 1972 as £11.29 in 2023. It's hard to work out the value of this in real terms as, for example, house prices must have increased at least five times inflation.

One thing is for sure, the price of concerts has gone five times the other way. At least.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

It was a fascinating piece of detective work. The red flag was the Theatre Royal, a bizarre choice of venue for a concert for someone such as Stevie.

But it's a snapshot of how ruse.becomes reality. The Internet makes this more possible with it's linear regurgitating. There is no 'Q Source' on.this one or any clue as to why they have labelled the recording as such.

One thing is for sure, the Dome concert would have been a humdinger, and even better had it been at the time of the alleged Theatre Royal event, as he released more good stuff in between.

It's really bizarre. Why they've labelled a gig as Brighton 1973 when it appears like it never happened is beyond me. Who on the label unearthed it and thought it was worthy of release? Did they not check? Or did it genuinely happen and it's just not well documented?

But yes, any gig in that era would have been incredible.

 

[Eeyore]

It's really bizarre. Why they've labelled a gig as Brighton 1973 when it appears like it never happened is beyond me. Who on the label unearthed it and thought it was worthy of release? Did they not check? Or did it genuinely happen and it's just not well documented?

But yes, any gig in that era would have been incredible.

A further look shows that Higher Ground was not written in April 1973 so the July date seems most likely. But the fact that different dates as well as different venues are listed online show the problem. I think the recording is genuine, but unofficial.

It seems unlikely he would have popped over to the UK for one concert. He did 14 venues on his European tour in 1972. And, if it is 4th July (a significant date in the U.S) he would have sandwiched it between concerts in New York and Atlanta.

Not one to let a mystery go, I'll look up The Argus of that date next time I'm chasing disused railway stations at The Keep.

A wacky left field thought, perhaps it was placed as an England venue to avoid some kind of copyright infringement in the States.

 

[WATFORD zero]

I remember it well, here I am parked up outside

 

[Binney on acid]

One or two of my friends saw him at The Dome. I'm sure that there were no other Stevie Wonder concert appearances in Brighton at the time. Incidentally, years ago I remember seeing a bootleg of The Dome concert advertised. The quality must have been abysmal. 'Higher ground' is my ringtone. After all, we're all searching for higher ground.........

 

[marlowe]

He did, for sure, tour England in 1972 and played The Dome on January 17th. Possibly with MAC and Katie Kassoon. Now that is one concert I'd loved to be at, but mainly for the Kassoons. I loved them as a kid.

You may have unknowingly seen Katie Kissoon live if you attended any concerts by any of the following artists as she performed as their backing singer in the years indicated.....
Van Morrison (1978 and later), Elkie Brooks (1982), Eric Clapton (1986 and later), Roger Waters (since 1984), Elton John (1985), Eros Ramazzotti (1990), George Harrison (1991), Big Country (1991), Pet Shop Boys (1994), George Michael (Unplugged on MTV 1996), Robbie Williams (2000 and later), and Mark Knopfler

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Brighton Centre '84 was where I saw him as well (and remember the weird egg box stage).

Obviously a complete musical genius, but what blew me away live was how powerful his voice was

Yes, has lived long in my memory. Fabulous sound.

 

[aftershavedave]

This is a great mystery. I think it's highly unlikely that Stevie Wonder did play this concert, especially as he was playing in the US at the time. The Theatre Royal is not a "music" place either, surely he'd have played the Dome, if indeed he did. So I think this is a red herring, the real mystery is that it's been released as such

 

[Eeyore]

You may have unknowingly seen Katie Kissoon live if you attended any concerts by any of the following artists as she performed as their backing singer in the years indicated.....
Van Morrison (1978 and later), Elkie Brooks (1982), Eric Clapton (1986 and later), Roger Waters (since 1984), Elton John (1985), Eros Ramazzotti (1990), George Harrison (1991), Big Country (1991), Pet Shop Boys (1994), George Michael (Unplugged on MTV 1996), Robbie Williams (2000 and later), and Mark Knopfler

They were at their peak in the 70s. I was very young, but remember how 'Like a Butterfly' made me happy. One of my friends once said I was born ten years too late. I rather agree.

 

[BrianB]

I have doubts, piecing together various concert lists online, that this concert took place. Even less at the Theatre Royal.

On the 3rd April he played a concert in California. Then he seems to have played a random concert at The Dome, Theatre Royal and even the Odeon (!) the following day in Brighton, which seems implausible. One site claims it was 4th April 1974. There are no independent references I can find of anyone who was there.

He did, for sure, tour England in 1972 and played The Dome on January 17th. Possibly with MAC and Katie Kassoon. Now that is one concert I'd loved to be at, but mainly for the Kassoons. I loved them as a kid. But as a boy not yet turned three, I doubt my parents would have let me go. If it was Val Doonican, perhaps.

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I was at that 1972 concert , he was transforming from the 'standard Motown sound ' to something more adventurous and seemed to spend ages doodling with electronic instruments , very boring to my 16year old ears.