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AYRESOME VIEWS
Further to Barry Norman’s letter about the 1978 Cleveland International Jazz Festival (at Middlesbrough FC) in Uncut Take 317, I spotted a 2018 web posting on the festival by co-promoter Andy Hudson which has some great behind-the-scenes info…
The Middlesbrough FC chairman refused to allow fans onto the hallowed turf at Ayresome Park, so the stage and sound was assembled by veterans of Pink Floyd and Stones shows as fans were 70 metres away from the stage; Ella Fitzgerald looking mystified at being interviewed by the BBC in a back alley of the terraced houses outside of the ground; and Buddy Rich punching a hole straight through a Portacabin wall after his subsequent gig was missed because of disruption getting to the ’Boro event. One of the shows – there were five shows over three days – attracted 120,000 fans. But the festival lost money and was never repeated.
As a survivor of Bath 1970 and the rain-sodden Bickershaw 1972 festival as well as some terrific onedayers and one-nighters – as well as dreadful chaotic events held miles from nowhere with ‘catering’ by a hot dog van – the editor’s thoughts on reintroducing Uncut’s Snapshot feature, where readers can send in their stories of festivals gone by, is definitely a worthy idea, especially the era before glamping, corporate, mega ticket prices and mainstream media events. Where do I start..?