My "main inspirer" NILS LOFGREN and his band played in Newcastle (known locally as "The Toon") at the Opera House on Saturday November 10th, 2001. This page is for all you Nils fans out there who love the man and his music. None of these photos are for sale, but if you want to use any for your own personal use or on a non-commercial website then contact me via the enquiry form (a credit or link to this page would be appreciated) or simply e-mail me at jeff@theviewfinder.co.uk

Nils wrote "Keith Don't Go" as his personal tribute to Keith Richards as a fan, well this webpage is the only way I can pay tribute to Nils (not quite in the same league though !). So thanks for coming over Nils, especially under the current circumstances and return as often as you can ! Most of all thanks for your music, which has given me more hours of pleasure than anything else in life !

NILS regularly alternated between Acoustic and Electric guitars early on. Playing keyboards on "Heaven's Answer To Blue" and "The Sun Hasn't Set..", after which it was back to the Electric guitars with a vengeance.

The rest of the band were:

WADE MATTHEWS on bass

BUCK BROWN on keyboards & guitar

TIMM BIERY on drums.

SETLIST

• PUTTIN' OUT FIRES

• DADDY DREAM

• TOO MANY MILES

• DRIFTIN' MAN

• YOU

• MOON TEARS

• LOVE YOU MOST

• CRY TOUGH

• LIKE RAIN

• VALENTINE

• HEAVEN'S ANSWER TO BLUE

• THE SUN HASN'T SET ON THIS BOY YET

• ROCK 'N' ROLL CROOK

• GIRL IN MOTION

• MESSAGE

• GUN AND RUN

• NO MERCY

• STAR SPANGLED BANNER

• IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND

• I CAME TO DANCE

• SHINE SILENTLY

Thanks to the guy on the sound desk for the setlist (right) & to Nils for signing it.
Thanks to Huw for asking Nils what the numbers are. They are the settings for his fade pedal.

Nils playing slide guitar on Cry Tough.

This was Nils first tour in the UK since Autumn 1998 when he was doing his Acoustic Live tour and was accompanied only by brother Tom. It was a while before that,'95 or '96, that he last toured with a band on the "Damaged Goods" tour over here. The band on this tour gave probably the best "Electric" performance from Nils that I have seen over the last 25 years. The sound was spot on at the Opera House too. In the past Nils' guitar has often been "lost" in some of the louder numbers, but this time the volume was still loud, but Nils playing was much more to the fore - after all that's what we are all going along to hear. So, well done to whoever was responsible for the sound mix and thanks for letting me have your Setlist.

Thanks to the rest of the band, Wade and Timm,Buck too (sorry had to get the Timbuktu bit in somewhere!), for brilliantly aiding and abetting our Rock 'n' Roll Crook (we know you're innocent !). The unique Wade Matthews always adds something else on bass. Along with Timm on drums, they started off a great version of Gun and Run. Buck did a great job filling the part that Tom Lofgren usually takes on keyboards and guitar.

As for Nils, his voice simply gets better and better, his guitar playing was astounding. How can so much talent and such a big heart be crammed into such a small package ! His songwriting continues to go from strength to strength as can be heard on his new album Break Away Angel. One day he will get the recognition he deserves, not just known as a sidekick to Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen & Ringo Starr.

Check out the new album, it's available through his official website
www.nilslofgren.com

Nils with Buck

Buck and Wade

Unfortunately after the first few numbers they were stopping people taking any more photos, hence no shot of Timm. You can just see his head on the shot of Nils playing slide guitar on Cry Tough if you look closely !

To pinch a line from the current Starsailor CD "Love Is Here" (see I do listen to other stuff)

"Thank goodness for the good souls that make life better...
....if it wasn't for the good souls life would not matter"

NILS, YOU'RE AT THE TOP OF THE LIST OF THOSE GOOD SOULS !

Two years ago I was unexpectedly made redundant. With too much time on my hands, listening to Nils tracks, like "Believe", "Some Must Dream" and "The Sun Hasn't Set On This Boy Yet" helped me stay positive and turn things around.

I couldn't have done it on my own so -
thanks to the following GOOD SOULS who have made my life better:

My family GILL, LAURA and ANDREW.
MAM and DAD    JOAN and DENNIS.
GRAHAM, LIZ & NICK.    SUSAN, MALCOLM, RICHARD & CHRIS.

ASH JOHNSON for things too numerous to mention
KATHRYN, COLIN, CLAIRE & ROB.
ROBIN, SUSAN & ROSS.
BAS & EVERYONE AT M.P.S.
JILL FOUNTAIN for her enthusiasm, encouragement & being a "breath of fresh air"
SIMON & HELEN, BILL & RACHEL for having faith in my ability.
MIKE O'SHAUGHNESSY for his generosity & restoring my faith in people.
LINDA at the official Nils Lofgren website
TIM LAWSON (check out his extensive Nils website)
HUW PARRY (check out his Nils website)


Thanks again to Nils, Wade, Timm, Buck and all the crew for coming to the UK, also to their families for "lending" them to us, at a time when they would have preferred them to be back home in the USA.