Treasures From The Attic No.1 : The night Creedence played Manchester

During lockdown I've been raiding my keepsake boxes in the attic and running a brief series on my Facebook page. As the UK enters Lockdown 3.0 I thought I'd share them with a wider audience by reviving my long-rested blog.

So here we go... The most exciting gig of my life. It was September 1, 1971, the night a 16 year old fanboy got to see his rock and roll idols live for the first, and sadly final, time.

Although I grew up with The Who and The Kinks, my obsession was Creedence Clearwater Revival. Early in the year I’d written to them, pleading with them to play Manchester.

They wrote back a lovely letter thanking me for my support and enclosing a folder full of CCR goodies and, when the UK dates were announced, there was just Manchester Free Trade Hall and London’s Royal Albert Hall.

By now a trio after the departure of Tom Fogerty, they played two sets on the same night, both only about an hour long and I saw the late 9pm show, a performance I can never forget packed with short sweet CCR classics.

Here's the short, sharp and sweet setlist...

Born On The Bayou

Green River

Door To Door

Bad Moon Rising

Proud Mary

Fortunate Son

Who'll Stop the Rain

Sweet Hitch-Hiker

Travelin' Band

Keep On Chooglin'

Not the best gig I've seen - contenders for that include Zeppelin, Lucinda Williams, The Who, Bowie, The Prayerboat, Ian McNabb and more - but the most exciting.

Poignant too because it turned out to be the farewell tour. Like Elvis they’d rarely played the UK and they called it a day the year later.

Here are a couple of reviews of the gig.

I’ve seen John Fogerty three times since, and interviewed Stu Cook when he launched Creedence Clearwater Revisited but it could never be the same again.