Wings at Manchester Hardrock: 16th and 17th of May 1973
A long time before the advent of stadium tours – the Hardrock was a modest venue with a low roof, with a capacity for around 3,000 music fans. It was also short-lived, closing in 1975 after opening in ’72. However, it is fondly remembered by Mancunians of a certain age. Despite its modest size, the Hardrock hosted some of the biggest names in pop. A teenage Morrisey from The Smiths lived just down the road, on Kings Road. One commentator relates:
Led Zep, Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, Don Mclean, Wings…just before it closed and worst of all Chuck Berry, scheduled on stage at 9:30, arrived at 11 and did 30 minutes followed by a hail of bottles!
In later years, the venue became the B&Q hardware store and now lies sadly abandoned, covered with barbed wire and graffiti.
Wings’ Concerts
Wings played two nights at the Hardrock on the 16th and 17th of May 1976 as part of their 1973 British tour. Manchester was the fifth destination in a tour that had begun five days earlier in Bristol.
These early Wings concerts were nothing like the famed 1975-6 world tour. McCartney was still fond of the spontaneous “pub rock” approach and hired the pub rock band Brisnsley Schwarz to open each night. He also hired a juggling duo who worked with a poodle to entertain the fans before Brinsley Schwarz – which seems a positively bizarre choice for a rock concert!
Red Rose Speedway had been released just days earlier (4th of May 1976) and gigs showcased several songs from the new album – as well as Live and Let Die; a month before the film’s release in June 1973.
Audio Recording
Fortunately, we can hear the 16th of May concert by means of a very good audience tape. The opening number is Soily:
When the Night
After Big Barn Bed, Wings perform When the Night from Red Rose Speedway. Although it’s a committed performance, it is clear that guitars are not perfectly in tune:
Live and Let Die
This was the first tour to feature performances of Live and Let Die. Fans would have heard this song for the very first time only six days earlier, on the 10th of May 1973, if they had watched the TV special James Paul McCartney. And before the days of VHS video recorders, they would have only heard the song that one time – but I imagine many fans hooked up an audio line to their TV sets to make an audio cassette of the show.
See what you think of this very early performance:
Roy Matthews’ Recollections
Roy Matthews attended both gigs, on the 16th and 17th of May. He shares his recollections of the concerts in Wings Live. Here is an extract from his account. You will notice that Roy makes reference to Andy Peebles, who went on to interview John Lennon two days before his untimely death:
This Author
It is interesting to note that in May 1973, I was one-and-a-half years old, living only a mile away from the Hardrock in Stretford, Manchester: more more concerned with the toys at the end of my play-pen than an ex-Beatle being in close proximity!
It seems strange that, forty-seven years later, I’m preserving memories of the concert for future generations in my book Wings Live.
Wings Live
You can read Roy’s full account and trace Wings’ performing history in the 1970s in my new book, Wings Live. Here is the link for the shop. Click on “Read More”.
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