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Slade, Status Quo, Lindisfarne and Caravan 1973

Status Quo 1973

This was Status Quo’s first trek to Australia and New Zealand. It would become a regular trip during the 1970s but on this, their first tour, Quo played as support band to the UK glam rockers ‘Slade’. Quo would return to Australia within the year. The support act was Blackfeather.

Jands sound system was put to the test by Slade’s operator who took one look at the mixer and said “I don’t use the meters (or any of the other controls) just push all the faders to the top“. After the first show the DBX160 limiters were moved from the mix position to backstage and set to protect the speaker system!

All photos © Jands Pty Limited. Click to enlarge

Tour Dates 1973

27 January – Auckland, (NZ) Hamilton Racecourse
28 January – Sydney, Randwick Racecourse
29 January – Brisbane, Lang Park Oval
31 January – Perth, Subiaco Oval
3 February – Adelaide, Wayville Showgrounds
4 February – Melbourne, Showgrounds

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48 responses to “Slade, Status Quo, Lindisfarne and Caravan 1973”

  1. phil bowden says:

    My first concert:))

  2. janet j says:

    my first too!

  3. Philip Letchford says:

    The Subiaco concert was my first and best aged 14,very loud-they had a sound-shell behind the stage facing the main stand and my hearing took days to get better.The concert was far better to me than the Rolling Stones a month later at the WACA,one of the reasons for this was the volume was turned down for the Stones because of complaints after the Slade concert even though the Stones concert was in daytime

  4. Ian Hutch says:

    This was my first concert as well [Randwick] There was suppose to be about 8 bands on but because of the rain they cut it down to just Blackfeather being the only locals…does anyone remember what the full line up of bands was originally?

  5. steve says:

    Wouldn’t be surprised if Greg Quill and Country Radio were sheduled – they were supports at just about every concert i went to.

  6. Vikki says:

    Thank you for posting this. I was only 13 when Slade came to Sydney and they were my favourite band. Being so young my Mum wouldn’t let me go to the concert. I was really upset I missed out. Slade really rocked back in those days. Now I can see what I missed out on. lol Thanx again.

  7. Debra says:

    This was one of my first concerts too…jumped the fence at Wayville Showground, so gratifying:)

  8. marian says:

    my first concert, i got squashed at the entrance gate, my friends grabbed my arm and dragged me in. there was the 3 of us (girls). The support band was Black feather a favourite local band. It rained a lot but we danced our socks off. i remember wearing a coloured singlet over a white shirt and the colour ran into my shirt because we got so wet. it must have been dangerous on the stage. such a great day.

  9. david says:

    are these pics melbourne showgrounds

  10. DavidM says:

    We’re pretty sure these photos are from the Brisbane concert. 4IP was a Brisbane radio station and you can see one of their banners at the back of the stage.

  11. Simon says:

    Can you list all the bands who played at the Melbourne show? Slade, Quo and Lindisfarne are as far as my memory takes me. A great day, but very wet!

  12. DavidM says:

    The full lineup was: Slade, Lindisfarne, Status Quo and Caravan. In Melbourne the support acts were Country Radio and Buffalo

    The Milesago website includes this information:
    In Melbourne, the outdoor concert was marred by heavy rain, which began at midday and continued until evening, despite the fact that Melbourne was in the grip of a a drought at the time. Because of this, the order of performance was changed with Caravan appearing first, then Lindisfarne, then Slade and finally Status Quo. Normally Slade, the headliners, would have appeared last, but they were moved forward in the bill because of the rain.

  13. Steve says:

    Yes this was the Brisbane concert, it was hot and loud. Status Quo was not as polished as an act on stage as Slade was, I think the temperature got to them, the afternoon sun was a bit of a killer to those on stage.

  14. Phil says:

    Quo sadly missed the Adelaide date due to a band member injuring his hand. Not sure what the background was but there appears to be a picture of said hand on the inside sleeve of “On The Level”

  15. Phil says:

    Yes, I was at the Adelaide concert and Status Quo did not play because of the hand injury. Slade were unbelievable and Lindisfarne rocked. Still love their music now.

  16. Micky P says:

    Simon…I have a recollection of Ted Mulry (TMG) also playing @ Melbourne gig.

  17. Trevor says:

    I was there in melbourne it rained for seven hours , I was sixteen and cheesecloth tops where the fashion. Apart from the music which was great

  18. Richi Whitten says:

    The 40 second b&w film clip is Sydney show at Randwick racecourse. Sound is from Slade alive album. Pretty sure Caravan as support was a Peter Frampton project. Lindisfarne got the mood going then rain clouds threatened so they put Slade on. They kicked arse then the sharpies started punchin on in front of stage. Noddy settled it down. A bunch of the bovver boys jumped up on stage for one song. This footage is on net from GTK the ABC TV. A bit of rain as it got dark & people started leaving. Status Quo came on & Rick Parfitts 12 bar blues of “Juniors Wailing” got most people back, rain stopped & QUO kinda stole the show ending with Roadhouse Blues & ByeBye Johnny as encore. I have amateur pics of Slade that I will get to post later.

  19. Martin West says:

    That was my first concert. Hamilton Racecourse NZ. I lived 30 miles away and hitch hiked there, a fantastic day

  20. Steve says:

    My first concert too. 15 years old and still rememember cheese cloth tops as well!

  21. How good was that concert”…..so many memories of Slade, Elton John, Lindasfarne, etc…remember joints being passed across rows constantly. You could not do it now. Those days were so good, so free and innocent. Pity our kids can’t enjoy that …..

  22. Tony_M_1956 says:

    Melbourne 1973. I was so looking forward to seeing Slade at the “Showgrounds.” The Showgrounds was then used for Horse Trotting races and had a border of crushed shell grit. It rained and rained on the day of the concert, and I was wearing a heavy fireman’s coat which soaked up the rain and weighed a ton. The concert was held during the day, which unlike a night concert, looked flat, but the music was fine. Status Quo was quite a highlight as well. The early seventies were a riot, with the smell of lit joints in the air. Every one was happy. Those were the days.

  23. Michele says:

    My first concert as well I was 12 went with my friend and her big sister who was supposed to look after us!!! So cool best concert ever till this day! Bottles of brandy, joints etc but all was cool no drama best ever wish it was like it today

  24. John says:

    My second concert my first was Led Zeppelin at Subiaco oval a year earlier..Both brilliant.

  25. John says:

    This was my second concert my first was Led Zeppelin at Subiaco oval a year earlier..Both brilliant.

  26. Jennifer Jones says:

    I remember that it rained for hours and my cheesecloth top was drenched!
    Loved Slade and Status Quo.
    I also remember arriving home very late, bedraggled and wet, but happy!

  27. Knackers says:

    I was there, cannot remember the rain, remember the bovver boys with their haircuts (my girlfriend had a disagreement with one of their girls at the ladies toilet, my girlfriend sorted her out!), Slade were ok as were Status Quo, but Lindisfarne had the place jumping, everyone was dancing, took their minds off fighting.

  28. anton jones says:

    Such a great concert … it started quietly with lindisfarne … then blew up with status quo ( are you ready dave… ) and noddy holder ( could not take my eyes off the boots) … sat on someone’s shoulders … epic memories … less than dix months later status quo were the headliners.

  29. Debbie says:

    My first concert. Melbourne showgrounds 1973. I was only 16 but remember it like it was yesterday. Singing, screaming and dancing in the rain. Great memories

  30. Kevin Dowman says:

    I was part of the promotional team, got a call about 11pm the night before the Hamilton show, it was raining: Could I please put a roof over the stage? A long range forecast had been for fine weather. Never rains in Jan ha ha. One of the backers owned a transport company ,large truck trailers were used to create the stage,stacked pallets to place dozens of very large speakers on. Scaffolding erected along the back and down one side to hang equipment on etc. Being so late on a Friday night, those days every business was closed and people well gone, even the transport owner, no cell phones then. Its great to have mates ,mid night door knocking, I soon had a copable team and a simple plan. Look at what you have got and what you need to do. A large power pole was located behind the stables, we dug a deep hole, heaved the pole in and with three or four rain soaked mates, stood it up as it slid it into the hole ,no crane handy those nights! It formed the anchor on the opposite the scaffold. We held the pole with a wire strained to a dead man dug into a deep trench and all rammed tight, as was the pole. As I say mates are great, good friends owned a horse stud, one o’clock in the morning had me knocking on their door, I come away with their roll of black silage polythene and some wide tape, fence wire and wire strainer.
    We proceeded to run the wire, anchored off the back scaffold to the pole, across the front to the side scaffold. laced several runs of wire between and strained tight. We then rolled out the polyethene, cutting into length and joining with the tape making up a cover for the whole roof. Alas we ran out of tape.by now it was daylight, drizzling rain and the wind blowing of course. Someone was sent on a mission to get tape, no Saturday shops opened in those days!! He got back about nine am. We proceeded with our mission, people were arriving. TO stop the wind and rain from wrecking our cover we had to carefully tape and roll the cover out all at the same time. I think it was five strips of 12 ft {60FT} to cover 48ft wide roof and sides. About 40 ft deep.
    WE began to roll out our roof ,the wind was cruel it, the cover flapped violently. We tried to wire over the top, no good ,we tried placing timber on top with limited success, while working from the top ,the cover some how appeared to be settling down even with heavy wind gusts. I climbed down onto the stage to find the Roadeys were underneath, taping the wire to the cover, god bless those boys!!! saved the day,
    CONCERTS ON , WHAT A DAY. the BANDS were really building now as was the wind. Ops!!! the pole is really taking all the pressure as the wind lifting the roof. Its giving way. Panic stations, there were people all around it . CONCERTS FULL BLAST NOW. Great valve speakers blasting out the most sound being heard for the first time in the southern hemisphere (12000 watts per channel} I believe. We worked feverishly through those great sounds putting in a second dead man. Cant remember the order of play, I think BLACK FEATHER ,CARAVAN ,LINDERSFARM, STATUS QUO and SLADE, who came on just as the sky’s cleared and the sun came out. WHAT A Fantastic time.
    I toured with groups an experience I will never forget, my main task was getting in the refreshments. Loved that job!!!

  31. Michelle Headlam says:

    Memorable.Melbourne Showgrounds.

  32. Michael says:

    Like above for many, this was my first concert by myself. 15 at the time and I travelled from Rye (Mornington Peninsula) to the showgrounds and met Jonathan at the Gate. We were about 4 – 6 people back from the front and had an absolutely fantastic day. What great memories! Although I had Status Quo and Slade records, Lindersfarm were just as good for me.

  33. Gayle Winter says:

    My first concert and we only went for Slade. It rained and Slade got held up and I remember rioting until Slade came out. We had a lot of fun. I was thirteen and it was a great day

  34. Paul Martin says:

    Yes I was at the Brisbane concert and Status Quo played last as they were the head-line act when the tour was booked. In between the gig being set up and the tour arriving in Australia, Slade became huge thanks to three hits in 1972 but they still played support. When they finished everyone was drained through the sheer power of the show and doubted whether Status Quo could follow and keep the crowd; they did and were just as loud, fabulous and exciting. We all went away shaking our heads as to how gas two bands could be on the same afternoon. Times were different then; the concert was BYO and we took our 6 month old daughter. What a blast.

  35. Phil says:

    Wow. I was at the Adelaide concert. Loved Slade (especially Dave Hill’s antics off the speakers in platforms) and Lindisfarne. Was really disappointed to miss Status Quo but hey…. Saw Lez Zeppelin the year before on their tour at Memorial Drive. Fence got pushed over if I remember.
    What a time to see live music!

  36. Peter says:

    At the 1973 Slade concert at Randwick we were like drowned rats waiting for what seemed like hours for the stage to dry enough for bands to play. There was a massive fruit fight, everyone tossing oranges and apples at each other, all in good fun. I was on the top level of the grandstand pelting fruit on the people below. Blackfeather, then Lindisfarne, and because we had waited so long they decided to put Slade on next. A lot of Sydney sharpies were there and of course started a fight, Noddy on stage directed the police to them. When Slade left a New Zealand band I hadn’t heard of came on and we decided to stay around cause we were still pretty wound up by Slade. This group we better than Slade at getting you n bouncing – who were they? Status Quo.

  37. john arnold says:

    Slade ,73 , YES, Free as well , over the fence at Wayville , Luved it

  38. Michael Hudson says:

    thx Kevin Dowman (#30 above) for the inside story on Hamilton NZ and what sounds like a very Kiwi fix it with no.8 wire” job details! Hamilton is 2 hrs south of Auckland actually (so event was not in Auckland) and the event was actually held on the local Te Rapa race course. The bands played on basically something like a flat bed truck so it was a bit agricultural in terms of setup. Basically a daylight gig as no lights etc and sunset late at that time of year. Given it is 47 years ago now cannot remember the rain. I was somewhat into Slade at the time and the platform shoes and glam of 1973 are now but a memory. Status Quo did get people excited but I was more interested in Lindisfarne and Caravan. For the time this was a very good Best of British bill. And to think only 3 weeks before (elsewhere on this site 6-8Jan.) the first real NZ major weekend rock fest at Ngaruawahia (never repeated), mostly local but with Black Sabbath & Fairport Convention.

  39. john cotter says:

    Sydney there was no N/Z band, again pretty sure no Blackfeather unless they played at the beginning in the rain.. The other bands were Caravan & Lindisfarne.
    Lindisfarne introduced Quo with… “hi ho hi ho here come the Status Quo.

  40. Peter J says:

    Soaked Melbourne Showgrounds. Great memories of my first concert at 15. Took a cute chick in on the train from eastern suburbs. She sat on my shoulders for much of the day, pushing my platform shoes well into the mud. Got absolutely drenched but had great time. All bands were great but recall Slade, after lengthy delay starting and impatient crowd, were many decibels above the others…..and all for only $5 a ticket.

  41. Suzie q says:

    In the rain in Melbourne. My first concert too. I was 16.

  42. Con Vaitsas says:

    Was only 49 years ago last week that I saw them at Randwick racecourse and it had been raining and the show running late, so Caravan and Lindisfarne came on and then instead of Status Quo, Slade came out where they gave a rocking concert, after they finished, some in the audience started to leave believing Status Quo were an old band having last had a hit nearly 6 years earlier so back then that was considered a long time, unlike today.
    Status Quo came on stage as the last band and they blew away Slade in music and pure rock n roll.
    The next time they toured her Status Quo headlined all future concerts.

  43. John Matthews says:

    Greetings, have just dragged out my old copy of Lindisfarne’s Fog on the Tyne and given it a whirl on the turntable. Have been considering and playing many of those UK folkish bands of late and consequently found this site. I too was at the Melbourne Showgrounds concert, a month or so off turning 17. Was with some older friends who were too cool for Slade (although happy to listen to them). I only knew vaguely about Lindisfarne then but the one thing I recall was the number of encores they received. The crowd and we included, were more than happy to have them stay and play on, which must have annoyed the hard core Slade fans. I wonder if Lindiisfarne have happy memories of the reception they received. Thanks to all for the interesting comments.

  44. Clinton Morgan says:

    I too was very young at 13. Luckily my big brother and my sister’s boyfriend thought it would be a good experience for me to tag along. I was completely blown away. Slade were a very polished act. Noddy Holder knew how to charm the crowd. There was one moment when the music faded right down to barely a whisper. It evoked a mood of suspense. Noddy was standing at the microphone for what seemed ten or twenty seconds. He then burped very loudly directly into the mic. Being 13 years of age, this was one of the cleverest and funniest moments of my life. Later, when I purchased a copy of the live album, it transpired that this was a regular part of the act. The same thing occurred on Slade Live the album. Status Quo also delivered their rocking brand of driving blues with their signature long hair flowing from their heads standing three abreast centre front of stage. I do remember my ears ringing for a day or two afterwards. All in all it was an amazing introduction to big concert entertainment for me. I was mesmerised by the glitz and glamour of Slade. It was kind of magical for me to see the human side of the popular songs on the radio of that time.

  45. stephen harrop says:

    My first concert, at the Hordern pavillion. Starting with Mother Eart (i think) followed by Caravan and finally Slade. Caravan were by far the best band but no one was listening, they all wanted Slade

  46. Anonymous says:

    Well times certainly moved on. This coming weekend marks 50 years since that fabulous & rather wet day at the Showgrounds in Melbourne. Such fine memories, pretty sure we arrived at the Showgrounds on a red rattler. It was like an early big day out show in a way. Many bands, I’d love to know how much we paid for the tickets, I seem to recall we bought our tickets in late ‘72, so I’d guess we were very eager in seeing such a line up. My memory tells me Buffalo, County Radio, Caravan, Lindisfarne, Slade & the Status Quo, in that order, could be wrong of course, 50 years ago is a long time ?.
    I don’t think I’ve ever seen any footage of that wet Melbourne day, nor photographs, or perhaps I saw some in Go Set at the time. But obviously there’s definitely a little footage of the Randwick Sydney show, that captures a little of the magic. Although every band performance was great, I kind’a think Lindisfarne stole the day. Fine memories 50 years on.

  47. Anon says:

    Good ol’ days
    Remember it with great passion. Very , very wet but very , very happy
    Caught the tram back to Footscray from the Melbourne Showgrounds Ascot Vale , to Dads Dinkum Pie shop. We ate and dried out and warmed up still buzzing from the fun we had enjoyed
    15 years old . First concert. Best memories !!

  48. Paul says:

    Just over 50 years ago we smoked joints and listened to some amazing music from Slade, Status Quo, Buffalo and Country Radio. I agree with a previous comment that Lindisfarne stole the show. We came away with ears nearly bleeding, but loved every minute of that rain soaked day. Amazing to think how big Slade and Quo were but we paid an absolute pittance for the experience.

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