Concerts Wiki

Early dates

Paddy McAloon perfomed with Tony Coyle as part of a duo and sometime trio known as “The Doubles” and also as a band at University known as the “Happy Alberts”

(As “Avalon“)

1976/1977

Avalon line up was Tony Coyle, Vocals; Paddy McAloon, Guitar; Leo McCabe, Guitar and Bass; Roy McCalvey, Bass; Johnny Darmo, Drums

Sunday Nights, Bay Hotel, Cullercoats

Prudhoe Hospital

Unknown Dates

The earliest incarnation of Prefab Sprout was Paddy and Martin McAloon, with Mick Salmon on drums

St Leonards RC School Sixth Form Dinner Dance

“Ill-matched gigs were a feature of that post-punk era. I once saw Prefab Sprout supporting NWOBHM’s Samson in Durham, and Paddy McAloon was hit on the head by a cooking apple thrown by a local rock fan whom we just knew as ‘Reggie Mental’. ‘Reggie’s down the front’ someone muttered before the gig even started. ‘Has he got his cookers with him?’ ‘Yes’ At that point, we all knew that trouble was inevitable…” – Andy Darling quoted from a comment in the Guardan online.

Honeysuckle Pub on Coatsworth Road. Gateshead

“Saw The Eastside Torpedoes with Bren Healey, Toy Dolls, Prefab Sprout”

1980

Rixy’s Nightclub, Durham City

Castle Inn, Durham

? ?, 1980 Spectro Arts Lab, Newcastle, ENG (Supporting Dem-Cox)

January 30, 1980 Brewer’s Arms, Gilesgate, ENG

February 9, 1980 University of Durham Dunelm House, ENG (supporting the Revillos)

February 16, 1980 University of Durham Dunelm House, ENG (supporting the Members)

June 29, 1980 Durham Domefest 

July 2, 1980 Brewer’s Arms, Gilesgate, ENG

October 8, 1980 Brewer’s Arms, Gilesgate, ENG

October 15, 1980 Brewer’s Arms, Gilesgate, ENG

October 22, 1980 Brewer’s Arms, Gilesgate, ENG

October 25, 1980 Kings Head, Stanley

November 4, 1980 Brewer’s Arms, Gilesgate, ENG

November 18-19, 1980 Brewer’s Arms, Gilesgate, ENG

November 25, 1980 Brewer’s Arms, Gilesgate, ENG

December 6, 1980 Langley Park St Joseph’s Parish Hall

December 11, 1980 Durham Q Ball Club

December 16, 1980 Brewer’s Arms, Gilesgate, ENG

1981

March 27th: Newcastle Spectro Arts Lab, with Green Eyed Children (later to become Hurrah!)

March 28th: Spectro Arts Lab, Newcastle, ENG

April: Tom Minney’s Party

May 7th: Newcastle Spectro Arts Lab

June 18th: Newcastle Balmbra’s, with Reptile House

July 21st: Jesmond, The Lonsdale

June 25th: Brewer’s Arms, Gilesgate Bank, Durham.

August 11th: Jesmond, The Lonsdale

September 7th: Annabels, Sunderland

October: Le Metro, Sunderland

October 24th: Green Machine Disco, Dunelm House, Durham University, supporting Punching Holes

1982

Wendy Smith started performing at live dates about February 1982

January 6th: Washington Biddick, Farm Arts Centre

August 26, 1982 Soul Kitchen, Newcastle, ENG

1983

March 17th: Night Moves, Glasgow, supporting Aztec Camera. The Kingfishers were also on the bill

March 18th: Edinburgh University, supporting Aztec Camera

March 24th: Newcastle Soul Cellar at Grey’s Club

March 31st: Newcastle Soul Cellar at Grey’s Club

April 16th: Darlington Arts Centre 

June 29th: El Hacienda, Tiffany’s, Newcastle 

Michael Salmon left the band about July 1983. A Spinal Tapesque succession of drummers followed, including Daniel James (pseudonym for Graham Lant), Steve Dolder, Louis Connolly, David Ruffy and others, with Graham Lant being employed on the Swoon recordings and some gigs around this period including El Hacienda and Liverpool Poly.

December 7, 1983 Liverpool Polytechnic, Liverpool, ENG

December 12, 1983 Monday Club, Newcastle, ENG

December 15, 1983 Sunday Drum Club, Sunderland, ENG

December 19, 1983 Odeon, Birmingham, ENG (supporting Elvis Costello and the Attractions)

December 21-22, 1983 Hammersmith Odeon, London, ENG (2 shows on the 22nd, supporting Elvis Costello and the Attractions)

1984

The “New Way of Life” Tour

January 4th: Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) with Hurrah! and the Daintees 

January 17th: Reading University, Reading, ENG

January 18th: Goldsmith College, London, ENG

January 19th: Kingston Polytechnic, London, ENG

By this time David Ruffy had joined as a regular drummer for live dates 

January 20th: Kings College, London, ENG

January 21st: Brunel University

January 25th: Hacienda, Manchester, ENG (with the Daintees)

January 27th: Birmingham University

January 28th: Alcuin (University of York) with the Daintees

February 8th: Leicester Polytechnic (Arena) with the Daintees

February 9th: London Savoy at the Boston with Hurrah! and the Daintees 

February 10th: Manchester University (announced at Hacienda gig, seems unlikely from geography of preceding and next shows)

February 11th: Portsmouth Polytechnic

February 13th: Upstairs at Erics, Bournemouth

February 24th: Night Moves, Glasgow

February 25th: Nite Club, Edinburgh 

February 26th: Dance Factory Dundee

March 17th (broadcast): Saturday Live Session 

March 1984: “Swoon” released. The lineup for successive dates included Virginia Astley of the Ravishing Beauties, with Neil Conti on drums.

UK and Ireland Tour:

April 27th: Trinity College Buttery, Dublin, IRE (supported by Hurrah!)

April 28th: Queen’s University McMordie Hall, Belfast, NI (supported by Hurrah!)

May 3rd: Hacienda, Manchester, ENG (supported by Hurrah!)

May 4th: Lancaster University, ENG (supported by Hurrah!)

May 5th: Liverpool University Mountford Hall, Liverpool, ENG (supported by Hurrah!)

May 7th: Lyceum, London, ENG (supported by Hurrah!)

May 8th: Leadmill, Sheffield, ENG (supported by Hurrah!)

May 9th: Victoria Hall, Hanley, ENG (supported by Hurrah!)

May 10th: Leeds Polytechnic, Leeds, ENG (supported by Hurrah!)

May 12th: Essex University Students’ Union (supported by Hurrah!)

May 13th: Studio, Bristol, ENG (supported by Hurrah!)

May 14th: Upstairs at Eric’s, Bournemouth, ENG (supported by Hurrah!)

May 15th: Rock City, Nottingham, ENG (supported by Hurrah!)

May 16th: Odeon, Birmingham, ENG (supported by Hurrah!)

May 17th: Mayfair, Newcastle, ENG (supported by Hurrah!)

May 19th: University Of East Anglia, Norwich, ENG (supported by Hurrah!)

German Tour:

May 21st: Cooky’s, Frankfurt

May 22nd: Luxor, Koln

May 23rd: Musiktheater Bad, Hannover

May 24th: KIR, Hamburg 

May 25th: Odeon, Munster

May 26th: Loft im Metropol, Berlin

May 27th: Alter Bahnhof, Hof, Germany

May 28th: Media-Werkstatt, Stuttgart

Festival Dates:

May 31st: Pallieterhall Lier, Belgium

June 1st: Brielpoort, Deinze, Belgium

July 27-29th: Elephant Fayre, Port Eliot Estate, Cornwall

1985

The “Great Escape” Tour:

June 1985: “Steve McQueen” released. Virginia Astley left the live lineup at this point, being replaced by Michael Graves, and Kevin Armstrong joined on guitar, leading to a much harder edged rock sound.

July 16th: Triangle Arts Centre, Birmingham

July 17th: Manchester International 

July 18th: Leeds Warehouse 

July 19th: Porterhouse, Retford

July 20th: Leadmill, Sheffield

July 21st: Underground, Croydon

July 22nd: Dominion Theatre, London 

July 27th: Saturday Live Session 

August 7th (Broadcast 23rd October): Hold Tight, Alton Towers

August 18th: John Peel Session, Maida Vale

August 23rd (Broadcast): Bliss Channel 4 

August 24th (Broadcast): Graham Bannerman Session 

Piccadilly Radio Session around this date – referenced in Acrylic Daze Fanzine.

The “Two Wheels Good” tour:

Kevin Armstrong had left the live lineup by this point but was not replaced. Wendy was absent for a considerable number of early dates, between at least October 19th and 31st. She had laryngitis. Dates where she was confirmed absent are noted below, noting she was pretty much certainly absent for the dates in between! Hurrah! were almost certainly the support throughout: noted in a couple of places were they were confirmed as playing.

UK Tour:

October 17th: Ritzy, Aberdeen

October 18th: Dundee University

October 19th: Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow (without Wendy who was sick)

October 21st: Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh (switched from Coasters, and without Wendy who was sick)

October 22nd: Newcastle City Hall (without Wendy who was sick)

October 23rd: Rock City Nottingham (without Wendy who was sick)

October 24th: Leicester University (without Wendy who was sick)

October 26th: Salford University (without Wendy who was sick)

October 27th: Liverpool Mountford Hall (without Wendy who was sick)

October 28th: Powerhouse, Birmingham (without Wendy who was sick)

October 29th: Sheffield University (without Wendy who was sick)

October 30th: Victoria Hall, Hanley

October 31st: Warwick University (without Wendy who was sick)

November 2nd: Riley Smith Hall, University of Leeds

November 3rd: Norwich LEA with Hurrah!

November 4th: Oxford (may have been rearranged to the 15th)

November 6th: Guildhall, Portsmouth

November 7th: Cardiff University with Hurrah!

November 8th: Gloucester Arts College

November 9th: Essex University

November 11th: Top Rank, Brighton

November 12th: Studio, Bristol

November 13th: Exeter

November 14th: Coliseum, St Austell, Cornwall

November 15th: Apollo, Oxford

November 16th: University of Reading 

November 18th: Hammersmith Palais 

European Tour:

December 2nd: Alabamahalle, Munich, Germany 

December 3rd: Lyon, Salle Moliere, France

December 5th: Eldorado, Paris (Moved from Le Palace)

December 6th: Rouen-Exo 7, France 

December 8th: Vredenburg Hall, Utrecht, Holland 

December 9th: Noordersingel, Borgerhout, Belgium 

December 10th (broadcast): Old Grey Whistle Test 

December 11th: Mannheim, Germany

December 12th: Frankfurt,Germany 

December 13th: Fabrik, Hamburg, Germany 

December 15th: Errol’s, Gothenburg, Sweden

December 16th: Circus, Oslo, Norway

December 18th: Ghetto, Stockholm, Sweden

1986

January 31, 1986 City Hall, Newcastle, ENG (Red Wedge Tour)

February 8, 1986 UK TV "The Tube"

February 18, 1986 Rolling Stone, Milan, ITY

February 20, 1986 Camelot, Bari, ITY

February 21, 1986 Teatrotenda Partenope, Naples, ITY

February 22, 1986 Rome, ITY

February 24, 1986 Padova, ITY

February 25, 1986 Bologna, ITY

February 26, 1986 Teatro Tenda, Florence, ITY

February 27, 1986 Teatro Colosseo, Torino, ITY (originally scheduled for the 17th, but snow prevented the equipment from arriving)

March 5, 1986 Hammersmith Odeon, London, ENG

Gary Hughes joined the line up for the Japanese dates, standing in for Michael Graves who was not available.

July 2, 1986 Kousei Nenkin Hall, Tokyo, JPN 

July 7, 1986 Osaka, JPN

1988

July 4, 1988 KCRW Interview with brief solo performance 

1989

January ?, 1989 Cannes, FRA (Midem Festival)

February 19, 1989 Brixton Academy, London, ENG (broadcast March 19th) 

March 1, 1989 (Broadcast): The Hippodrome Show 

1990

August 1990: “Jordan the Comeback” released. Joining the core band of Paddy, Martin, Wendy and Neil for the tour were Jess Bailey on keyboards, Paul Harvey on guitar, and Karlos Edwards on percussion.

UK Tour:

October 5, 1990 Guildhall, Portsmouth, ENG

October 6, 1990 AVLC, Birmingham, ENG

October 7, 1990 St. Davids Hall, Cardiff, WAL

October 9, 1990 Corn Exchange, Cambridge, ENG

October 10, 1990 St George’s Hall, Bradford, ENG

October 12, 1990 Playhouse, Edinburgh, SCOT 

October 13, 1990 Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow, SCOT

October 14, 1990 City Hall, Newcastle, ENG

October 15, 1990 City Hall, Sheffield, ENG

October 17, 1990 Apollo, Manchester, ENG

October 18, 1990 Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, ENG

October 19, 1990 Royal Court, Liverpool, ENG

October 21, 1990 Apollo, Oxford, ENG

October 22-23, 1990 HMV Hammersmith Odeon, London, ENG (with Trash Can Sinatras)

November 14, 1990 Amsterdam, NED

November 16, 1990 Nighttown, Rotterdam, NED

November 18, 1990 Modena, ITY

November 19, 1990 Teatro Olimpico, Rome, ITY

November 20, 1990 Teatro Orfeo, Milan, ITY

November 22, 1990 Montpellier, FRA

November 23, 1990 Palau d’Esports de Montjuic, Barcelona, SPA

November 24, 1990 Pabellon de Real Madrid, Madrid, SPA

November 26, 1990 Lyon, FRA

November 27-28, 1990 La Cigale, Paris, FRA

November 30, 1990 Vooruit, Gent, BEL

December 2, 1990 Copenhagen, DEN

December 4, 1990 Rockgarden, Gothenberg, SWE

December 5, 1990 Daily’s Melody, Stockholm, SWE

December 6, 1990 Kjellern Chateau Neuf, Oslo, NOR

December 8, 1990 Belfast, NI

December 9, 1990 The Point Depot, Dublin, IRE

1991

February 5, 1991: UK TV "The Late Show"). 

March 16, 1991 Le Zenith, Paris, FRA (Ricard Festival)

September 24th "An Eye on the Music" , Paddy McAloon with Jimmy Webb. Broadcast October 20th

2000

The 2000 tour saw Wendy leave the band, and a stripped down line up with Jess Bailey on keyboards joining the three remaining core members.

March 30, 2000 Royal Centre, Nottingham, ENG

March 31, 2000 Colston Hall, Bristol, ENG

April 1, 2000 University of Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, ENG

April 3, 2000 Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, SCOT

April 4, 2000 Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, ENG

April 5, 2000 Corn Exchange, Cambridge, ENG

April 6, 2000 Guildhall, Southampton, ENG

April 8, 2000 City Hall, Newcastle, ENG

April 9, 2000 Town & Country Club, Leeds, ENG

April 11, 2000 Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, ENG

April 12-13, 2000 Shepherds Bush Empire, London, ENG

April 15-16, 2000 Olympia Theatre, Dublin, IRE

June 10, 2000 Finsbury Park, London, ENG (Fleadh Festival)

2007

December: PTA Fundraiser