Ramones Newcastle City Hall 28th September 1978 and 29th January 1980

Ramones Newcastle City Hall 28th September 1978 and 29th January 1980
I have already written about the first time I saw the Ramones, which was at Newcastle City Hall in 1977. For completeness, and as I come towards the end of acts whose names begin with the letter “R”, I am including an entry on a couple of other times that I saw the band. The Ramones returned to the City Hall in 1978 and 1980. By 1978 Tommy Ramone had left the band, his drum stool being filled by Marky Ramone. Their music had also developed a little further. Although most of their songs remained the very fast short crash bam bop slabs of pure rock ‘n’ roll, they were starting to venture further into pure pop, and their albums also includes, shock horror, some slower songs and even some, dare I say it?, ballads. However, their live shows remained largely unchanged. A night with the Ramones was guaranteed to be a night of fun with Da Brudders playing a set of lots of short hectic songs all in quick succession, and Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee up front singing and playing like there was no tomorrow. Both of these concerts were great fun. Support for the 1978 tour was the excellent vocalist Snips, who had previously fronted Sharks with Andy Fraser. The 1980 show was opened by The Boys, who were one of the first and legendary punk bands; a three piece featuring Casino Steel, Matt Dangerfield and Honest John Plain.
Setlist from the 1980 show: Blitzkrieg Bop; Teenage Lobotomy; Rockaway Beach; I Don’t Want You; Go Mental; Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment; Rock ‘N’ Roll High School; I Wanna Be Sedated; Do You Remember Rock ‘N’ Roll Radio?; She’s the One; I’m Against It; Sheena Is a Punk Rocker; This Ain’t Havana; Commando Baby, I Love You; I’m Affected; Surfin’ Bird; Cretin Hop; All the Way; Judy Is a Punk; California Sun; I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With You; Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World; Pinhead; Do You Wanna Dance?; Suzy Is a Headbanger; Let’s Dance; Chinese Rock; Beat on the Brat