Being an avid gig-goer and music fanatic, I was interested to find out just who has played inside the four walls of our university. In this three-part series, I’ve delved back through 55 years of amazing music, taking in artists from Manchester legends The Smiths and New Order, to the heavy rock gurus Black Sabbath and Motörhead. I’m starting my timeline in the 1960s and 1970s, along with some of my favourite tracks!
THE HOLLIES – 1965
The Hollies in 1965
Born in Manchester, and pioneers in harmonic vocals, The Hollies became one of the biggest British pop/rock bands of the 60’s. They played Salford in 1965, the same year this photograph was taken and when they were right in their prime. Hits include ‘Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)’, ‘The Air That I Breathe’, and ‘He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother’.
My favourite track: Bus Stop – (Top of the Pops 1966)
THE WHO – 1968
The Who in 1974
I just can’t believe The Who once played our university! One of the greatest bands of all time IMO, selling over 100 million records across the world, the band played Salford in 1968, coinciding with the release of the hit single ‘My Generation’. The Who have been a major contributor to the music culture scene in Britain since their album Quadrophenia, documenting the life and times of young mod Jimmy, and 60’s mod culture.
My favourite tracks: I’m The Face (The High Numbers), Baba O’Riley (The Who)
BLACK SABBATH – 1970
Black Sabbath in 1970 on TOTP
Heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath formed in 1968, just two years before they played Salford. With lead vocalist and master of doom metal, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath helped to shape and define metal as a genre, being one of the biggest influences in music of all time. Their popularity was sparked by an appearance on John Peel’s radio show ‘Top Gear‘, followed by their album Black Sabbath which was released on Friday 13th (spooooky – I expected nothing else from Ozzy) February 1970, reaching number 8 in the UK Albums Chart.
My favourite track: Electric Funeral – (Black Sabbath)
STATUS QUO – 1972
Status Quo in 1978
Opening Live Aid in 1985 with hit ‘Rockin’ All Over The World’, Status Quo have more chart hits than any other rock band. You’ll definitely have heard quite a few of their tunes, without necessarily knowing it was them. Their music is a healthy balance between psychedelic and boogie rock, resulting in a consistent popularity to this day. They even have their own beer brand! Status Quo played Salford in 1972 with the tour of their album Dog Of Two Head.
My favourite track: Pictures Of Matchstick Men (Status Quo)
HAWKWIND – 1976
Hawkwind
Hawkwind are one of the first ever space rock bands with their science fiction lyrics and psychedelic themes, and have also been largely considered as an influential pronto-punk band. There has been over 40 members and contributors to Hawkwind over the years, from 1969 to the present, with Dave Brock remaining the only original member of the band. Motörhead’s Ian (Lemmy) Kilmister was also once a member, and was in fact in the band when they played Salford in 1976. Motörhead themselves also played the university later on in 1977.
My favourite track: Hurry on Sundown (Hawkwind)
Which artists played Salford in the 1980s? Part 2 coming soon!
Found your site while looking for old photos of the University. I was at Salford from 1969 to 1972 and attended the following gigs.
8th October 1969 Scaffold. Remember the hit Lilly The Pink and one of the band members was Paul McCartney’s brother, Mike McGear.
10th October 1969 the Line up was Family, Climax Blues Band, The Entire Sioux Nation and Factotum.
7th November 1969 Howlin’ Wolf. A great legend of a blues man and I still can’t believe I had the opportunity to see him live.
Hi Brian, thanks for getting in touch. Great to hear of all the gigs you have been to! You may find our archive of old photographs to your interest: http://usir.salford.ac.uk/view/archive_collections/uniphotocoll.html.
No mention of Blondie who played Maxwell in 1978. There is a great B&W photo of Debbie Harry wrapped in the gig poster online
Dear All,
I am an Italian rock fan of English rock band FREE, internationally famous for their hit “All Right Now” of 1970.
I know FREE played in Salford – University 3rd October 1969 also on the bill EAST OF EDEN. Anyone of you has any additional memories about this gig ? Thanks
All The Best,
Alessandro Borri
Bologna
ITALY
I was there 1974 to 1978 and was part of the Ents team that put on all the gigs. So many great bands that played there in that time – we were probably the number 1 Uni gig at that time. Bands that I remember:
10CC
Steeleye Span
ELO
Dr Hook and the Medicine Show
Heart
Wishbone Ash
Leo Sayer
Osibisa
Todd Rundgren’s Utopia
Mud
Blondie
Boomtown Rats
The Stiffs tour (at the Apollo – Lene Lovich, Wreckless Eric, Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Elvis Costello & The Attractions and Ian Dury & The Blockheads)
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
Thin Lizzy
Argent
Barclay James Harvest
Climax Blues band
Sweet
The Kinks
Focus
Curved Air
Motorhead
and Dr Feelgood
and of course Paul McCartney and Wings played there on their University tour in 1972 but that was before my time
Hi Alasdair, glad you enjoyed my blog! We’d be really interested in hearing your story about Maxwell Hall. Please get in touch on social-media@salford.ac.uk and a member of the Alumni team may be able to edit up your story for the next volume of the Alumni Magazine. We love hearing about past Salford experiences! – India
Thank god for that list Alasdair thought i was going mad, i saw th Boomtown Rats but could find no evidence they were there. Also saw B Bop Deluxe as well as many on your list.
Hi Kathy. I forgot Be Bop Deluxe. Will never forget the Boomtown Rats gig, with everyone pogoing the floor of the hall/ceiling of the bar was lifting slightly off the pillars. I was terrified the place was going to collapse but i guess we had good engineers at Salford 🙂
Alasdair, I was at Salford 1975 to 1978 and saw many of the bands listed. I also recall Andy Fairweather Low, Sailor, Arbre, and Ultravox played the Union bar! I seem to think Al Stewart as well.
Hi – sorry just seen this. I tend to rely on notifications for replies to things and didn’t see any re this so Ive just found your response. I’ll drop a line to social media as suggested
Alasdair
Hi Kathy and Shaun – yes remember Be Bop Deluxe now and Sailor, Al Stewart Andy Fairweather-Low (i ran round Manchester trying to get some modification for him pre show). I don’t remember Ultravox but do recall the Rich Kids which was built around Glenn matlock (post Pistols) and Midge Are (pre Ultravox). Other names that have come to mind – the Osibisa, Todd Rundgren and Utopia, Fox, Budgie, The enid (several times), Little River Band (also several times) and Jack Bruce
Who was the support act for The Kinks in 1975 ? Was it Blondie? I was at the show and seem to think it was.
I was there from 74-78 and remember many of these bands playing at Salford. A friend of mine saw Dr Hook in the laundrette whilst they were on tour :-). Rock and roll!. In my mind I thought that Sweet were booked but didn’t turn up? Loved 10cc, Steelye Span and Barclay James Harvest! Did Fairport Convention come as well or did I go into Manchester to see them?
Hi Wendy. I think that you are right that Sweet were due to play but cancelled at short notice (it may even have been the Rag Ball). In my memory they did come back and play at a later date but my memory may be playing tricks
I was there from 1972 to 1976 and yes I saw Fairport Convention. It sticks in my mind as some idiot threw a plastic pint pot and it hit Sandy Denny which almost resulted in the band walking off.
Hi India
I was at Salford from 1974-77 and was in the same Ents Team as Alasdair. I have ‘fond’ memories of lugging Sailor’s huge Nickleodeon on and off the stage in Maxwell. Sailor refused to play unless they headlined. They were supported by Jack the Lad, a Geordie folk rock outfit originally formed by 3 members of Lindisfarne when they split. I spent Sailor’s set with the Jack the Lad boys downing bottles of Newcastle Brown in the ‘circle’ in Maxwell Hall – great days.
Being part of Ents usually entailed me lugging gear on and off stages – but you did get to meet the bands and road crew. Steeleye Span’s road crew had recently returned from Pink Floyd’s USA Tour so had some great stories about that.
To add to Alasdair’s list I think Jack the Lad played a couple of times and also I vaguely remember West Country outfit Stackridge playing.
Also many happy memories of dodging Manchester’s finest whilst leaping in and out of the Ents van flyposting around Manchester and Salford. If you’ve ever seen BBC Drama ‘Life on Mars’ it’s a fairly accurate depiction of the local constabulary in the mid-70’s!
Hi Martin,
Thank you for your comment. It’s been so interesting reading about your experiences at Maxwell Hall – the blog was put together in hopes to encourage conversations such as these and it’s great to see. I have passed your comment to our alumni team on alumni@salford.ac.uk if they should want to contact you about an interview to record your experiences for their site.
Best,
India
Glad you enjoyed my ramblings. I’m just amazed I can remember so much at my age!!!
Only saw one gig at Salford University. Man in 1976 with pals from Pendleton College. It was Man’s farewell tour. They stayed at The Racecourse Hotel on Littleton Rd. I wonder if it was a University recommend.
I was at Salford Uni 1975-8, and fondly recall many of the gigs already listed, as well as the Little River Band during my Fresher’s week, Ian Dury & the Blockheads playing in the Uni Bar, and Hot Chocolate in the Maxwell Hall.
With the likes of Queen, Supertramp or Frampton playing local venues such as the Free Trade Hall, Ardwick Apollo, and Belle Vue, the Ents team at Salford did a terrific job in attracting excellent quality acts, and contributed greatly to my three years in Manchester. Thanks.
Hi Nick, thank you for your comment. Glad you enjoyed the blog! We love hearing graduate stories of Maxwell Hall – India
I was at Salford Uni 1975-8, and fondly recall many of the gigs already listed, as well as the Little River Band during my Fresher’s week, Ian Dury & the Blockheads playing in the Uni Bar, and Hot Chocolate in the Maxwell Hall.
With the likes of Queen, Supertramp or Frampton playing local venues such as the Free Trade Hall, Ardwick Apollo, and Belle Vue, the Ents team at Salford did a terrific job in attracting excellent quality acts, and contributed greatly to my three years in Manchester. Thanks.
Hi Nick, thank you for your comment. Glad you enjoyed the blog! We love hearing about previous graduates stories of Maxwell Hall – India
No-one’s mentioned John Martyn yet, who played in 1975 (?) with the added bonus of a slightly the worse-for-wear Paul Kossoff. I also saw Robin Trower quite early on in my time (1973-76), for the bargain price of 25p! Bebop Deluxe, who someone has already mentioned, in 1975, were 50p. All of these were wonderful gigs, amazing that such great acts were brought to Salford – kudos to the Ents people!
Also saw 10CC, Cockney Rebel, Zal Cleminson’s band which he formed after Alex’s death, no doubt plenty of others that are now lost in the mists of time and lost brain cells!
Nice to read this blog.
I was at Salford 77-80 and saw so e great bands. Big shout out to the Ents Cmttee; great job.
Little River Band
Blondie – missed last few songs because last bus to Victoria was at 11!
Ian Dury
Tom Robinson
Lene Lovich
But… I inexplicably missed The Jam…for some reason I felt £2.50 was too expensive – I’ve neither forgotten nor forgiven myself for that aberration!
John Martyn with Paul Kossoff played in Salford University 15 February 1975
Does anyone remember a gig in 1971 at Salford Tech, or possibly 1972 with a band I remember being called Iron Maiden? The current band of that name started in 1975, so was there another band before that? My boyfriend at the time was at Salford and was roadie for the gig. I really need a list of the gigs for those years to check if my memory is correct!
Just stumbled across this while trying to track down the dates that the Enid played Salford Uni. They were there first as a support band then as the main act at a later date.
I was at Salford from 1977-81 and saw quite a few bands live in the Maxwell Hall and in the Student Union. As part of the team running Salford University Radio, SUR, in the Clock Tower at the racecourse I got to interview a couple of the bands for the station. Being head of music for a year helped there a little. Best interview was with the Climax Blues Band.The 15-20 minutes I taped was not too great I just wish I could have recorded the couple of hours after that 🙂
Other names to add to the list of people who played there would include:
B.A. Robertson
Toyah
Judy Tzuke
I was at UMIST 72-73 but went to gigs at all the venues in Mcr/Salford. I remember seeing Thin Lizzie in a small room (was it a bar?) at Salford University. Phil Lynott and the band did a great performance but my memory is that very few people were there to see them. Does anyone else remember this?
Rob
On a sandwich course 70-75. Argent were in the Maxwell somewhere in the early seventies. Remember seeing Dane Gillespie in the students union. Everyone went looking for David Bowie in the crowd.
Malcolm Donnelly – I can’t remember who supported The Kinks but it definitely wasn’t Blondie. They did memorably perform at Maxwell Hall but it was as headliners
Jim Davis I remember the Dana Gillespie gig in the union bar though not as well as I thought I did. In my head Bowie was playing sax in the band unannounced and unheralded. Many years later I came across Dana’s contact details and actually wrote to her to ask her if it was him. Got a lovely reply but sadly confirmed a false memory as although she and David were good friends he never played in her band.
I was studying at Hollings College, Manchester in 1975 and I saw Osibisa at Salford Uni then. I remember that they turned up about an hour late with no announcements prior to their arrival. With no seating, the crowd were getting restless and threatened to turn ugly. They breezed in without apology and got straight into it. After the first number, everything was forgiven. There sheer exuberance and exciting stage presence was enough to win over the audience
Steeleye Span?
Dec 1978 – Saw Chris Rea supporting Lindisfarne. So good, we went to Leeds Uni to see him again next day.
My memory says Supercharge (with Albie Donnelly), Ultravox and Suzi Quatro played what may have been the Freshers Ball in either 78 or 79. Suzi turned up late and although she opened with Devil Gate Drive (or similar), 80% of the audience had left and the rest drifted off during the set.
Climax Blues Band with 20 minute solos by Pete Haycock ! Blondie was the wackiest with it being announced on Picaddilly radio that there were spaces left and locals descended on Maxwell in their hordes.
Great memories. I was there from 1974 to 1977. I remember working with Alisdair. Shows that spring to mind that were not on his list: Andy Fairweather Low, Steeleye Span and John Martyn with Paul Kossoff