Originally Posted by THD
My mum had to phone up the number from the B&W posters plastered around Battersea (see attached photo) to find the details as I was too scared -I hated using the phone . I went with my best friend Dave we were both enthusiastic young guitar players,aged 16 , in our own band We might even have gone on his Honda 125 We were a bit apprehensive ,as local grammar school boys ,that there might be trouble ie a fight might break out or at least I was- My fears were groundless The gig was in a hall at the back half of Battersea town Hall (Now the Battersea Arts Centre) The band hadn't arrived. Need Your Love So Bad was playing on a Dansette type record player ! The crowd was building up, and a couple other school friends had arrived At some point Fleetwood Mac arrived. Mick was very ,very tall .I'd read on the sleeve notes of Mr Wonderful that he was 6 ft 6, and seen him on TV, but that was sitting down behind a kit .Seeing him in the flesh for the first time was startling! Danny was wearing a green Harris tweed Jacket (Now how come I remember this, but not what anyone else was wearing ?) He'd only recently joined the band They got on stage and played brilliantly I can only remember two specific numbers Albatross and Stop messin' Round, and Jeremy did his slide numbers( but no parodies .) and was brilliant I was concentrating on what he did with his slide , how he did it ! Before the Dustbin Album, w,hich I borrowed of a mate I'd never heard a slide guitar (that I was aware of ) It said on the notes Slide Guitar ,so when I first heard it it blew my mind! It was like my first kiss ,the first Indian meal ,So exotic! How did he get that sound out of a guitar ?Then you saw them on TV Oh that's it- a metal tube on his finger , but it still doesn't sound right when I try! Then a clue in the magazine Beat Instrumental -you have to tune your guitar a different way Ah that's it ! And when he wasn't performing his numbers, Jeremy would slope off and quietly sit behind a speaker cab at the side of the stage ! I feel they might have done Jigsaw puzzle Blues but it's a vague feeling Stop messin' Round had a really extended guitar break in which, for several verses, Peter just played the same two notes, but with devastating effect , like he was teasing us This is difficult to explain in words, but the song begins with the guitar phrase dee dur dee dur dee If you can imagine him playing just the two notes dur dee over and over for four verses (OK I don't know how many in reality) but varying the syncopation then you've got the idea ,and then he returned into a solo of more varied phrases . Somehow I think this was the last number they did The climax of the night I learned two great lessons from this : that you can keep it incredibly simple ,but have a devastating effect. It was incredibly exciting .And that what the rhythm section do here is vital- they built it up to more a more overpowering level without this it would have been nothing
I wish now I'd waited behind to meet them leaving, but I was too timid and there was school tomorrow I don't remember what Peter was wearing, or what he said other than it one point" Let's try that thing in G minor !" But I do remember he made a profound impression on me , and made me feel I'd like to play the guitar in such a way that moves people in way he moved me ,as no doubt did thousands of young players who saw them live .
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