The tour took in towns in Wales that are off the normal touring expectations and ended up with 2 nights at the Town and Country Club in London.
16th November 1987 : Panyehol Leisure Centre, Gorseinon, Wales
17th November 1987 : Merthyr Tydfil Leisure Centre, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
19th November 1987 : Park Ballroom, Wormelow Tump, Wales
20th November 1987 : The Pavilion, Pontrhydfendigaid, Wales
21st November 1987 : Colwyn Bay Leisure Centre, Colwyn Bay, Wales
23rd November 1987 : Town & Country Club, Kentish Town, London NW5, England
24th November 1987 : Town & Country Club, Kentish Town, London NW5, England
Memories of the tour by Ted Archer – Originally posted to the Alarm40 facebook Group
The Celtic Folklore tour. The madness of Merthyr, a gig at a school in Gorseinon, Pontrhydfendigaid in a barn with security by farmers with pitchforks, Wormelow Tump and Colwyn Bay. Wales as no-one has ever experienced before. Unforgettable and quite wonderful. And all the Alarm friends picked up along the way. Sparkling memories
Memories of the tour by Kevin Clarke – Originally posted to the Alarm40 facebook Group
C is for Celtic Folklore Tour – November 1987. This was a 7 date tour mostly in Wales which end in two nights at the Town & Country Club in London. I was able to do all but one of them; the first date at Panyehol Leisure Centre, Gorseinon as I couldn’t get an advance ticket as it had already sold out. Earlier in the year I had passed my driving test and bought an old classic car that would get me too many Alarm concerts over the next few years. C is also for Consul 375 my old Ford that got me from South London to Wales and the venues off the beaten track on this tour. On the Celtic Folklore tour The Pavilion in Pontrhydfendigaid was one I remember as it was a small place out in the sticks. Gaz Top introduced the band and the set included Elders and Folklore and Rose Beyond the Wall. It was also the one night I couldn’t find a room in a local B&B and I ended up sleeping in the car! Wormelow Tump was at the Park Hall Ballroom while Merthyr Tydfil and Colwyn Bay where performed in the local Leisure Centre. I always enjoyed driving to Wales to see The Alarm
16th November 1987 : Panyehol Leisure Centre, Gorseinon, Wales
(Ticket via Mike Doyle)
Setlist : Shelter, Rescue Me, Absolute Reality, Newtown Jericho, Hallowed Ground, Howling Wind, Blaze of Glory, The Stand, We Are The Light, One Step Closer To Home, Permanence In Change, Presence Of Love, Knife Edge, Unsafe Building, Spirit of 76, Rain In The Summertime, Strength. (Encore) Elders & Folklore, Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke? (Encore) Sixty Eight Guns, The Bells Of Rhymney.
Review by Warren Deadman – Originally published in Eye of The Hurricane fanzine No 1 Jan 1988
The introduction by Gaz Top was as Flamboyant as ever. the lads then took to the stage in this venue which was a thousand capacity theatre, After Greenbelt we expected Newtown Jericho to open but we were wrong. Shelter burst out of the PA and what an opener it proved to be. Rescue Me and Absolute Reality followed in quick succession paving the way for Newtown Jericho. Hallowed Ground had a calming effect in the extremely crushed audience at the front. For me a highlight of the set was when Twist joined Eddie, Mike and Dave at the front for a fantastic acouistic version of The Stand followed by We Are The Light. A scorching version of One Step Closer followed and I knew that this was a performance to remember. Somewhere after that Permanence in Change, Presence of Love, Blaze of Glory and Knife Edge were all thrown in for good measure. Dave and Mike then played the opening verse of Unsafe Building leading into Spirit of 76. rain In The Summertime followed and it seems the more they play this song the better it will become. Strength signaled the end and they were gone. They returned to play a new song entitled Elders and Folklore and Where Were You Hiding? The second encore brought Sixty Eight Guns with Bells of Rhymney bringing things to a close.
(Gorseinon – Pictures by Mike Doyle’s sister)
19th November 1987 : Park Ballroom, Wormelow Tump, Wales
(Ticket via Kevin Clarke)
Setlist : Newtown Jericho, Shelter, Absolute Reality, Rain In The Summertime, Howling Wind, Blaze of Glory, Strength, The Stand, A New South Wales, One Step Closer To Home, Rescue Me, Permanence In Change, Knife Edge, Sixty Eight Guns, Unsafe Building, Spirit of 76, Elders & Folklore, Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?, Declaration / Marching On, The Bells Of Rhymney.
Full Gig available in this drop box link courtesy of Pete Cole – Gig Audio
(Wormelow Tump – Picture by Nigel Williamson)
20th November 1987 : The Pavilion, Pontrhydfendigaid, Wales
Setlist : Gaz Top introduction, Newtown Jericho, Absolute Reality, Rain In The Summertime, Howling Wind, Blaze of Glory, Strength, This Train Is Bound For Glory, A New South Wales, One Step Closer To Home, Rescue Me, Permanence In Change, Knife Edge, Sixty Eight Guns, Unsafe Building, Spirit of 76, Elders & Folklore, Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?, The Bells Of Rhymney.
Full Gig available in this drop box link courtesy of Pete Cole – Gig Audio
21st November 1987 : Colwyn Bay Leisure Centre, Colwyn Bay, Wales
Support from : First Hand Fury
Setlist : Gaz Top introduction, Newtown Jericho, Rescue Me, Absolute Reality, Rain In The Summertime, Howling Wind, Blaze of Glory, Strength, This Train Is Bound For Glory, A New South Wales, One Step Closer To Home, Shelter, Permanence In Change, Knife Edge, Sixty Eight Guns, Spirit of 76, Elders & Folklore, Deeside, Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?
Full Gig available in this drop box link courtesy of Pete Cole – Gig Audio
Fan Comment – Kevin Hughes
Never been in such a hot crowd as this gig! Came out of there soaking wet. Quite surreal as at the time I used to play 5 a side at the same place the concert was performed.
Fan Comment – Sue Quayle
Crushed on front row, roasting hot, was pulled out and had to walk across the stage, no idea what song, Gaz Top fanned me down with my programme.
Fan Comment – Peris Hatton
A local gig for local people – oi was there!!One of the reasons they had a massive following as they were one of the few bands who played in north Wales
Fan Comment – Ellen Hebson
I was there a Fab local gig for me!! I was in Llandrillo college then and also used to watch 5aside at the leisure Centre!!
Fan Comment – Jackie Bootman
I was there, 250 miles away from the Scottish Borders, but was great see the band in their home territory, after seeing them on Scottish turf
(Colwyn Bay- Pictures by Pete McCamley)
23rd November 1987 : Town & Country Club, Kentish Town, London NW5, England
Set list : Gaz Top Intro, Newtown Jericho, Rescue Me, Absolute Reality, Rain In The Summertime, Howling Wind, Blaze Of Glory, Strength, A New South Wales, One Step Closer To Home, Shelter, Permanence In Change, Knife Edge, Sixty Eight Guns, Unsafe Building, Spirit Of ’76, Elders & Folklore, Deeside, Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?, The Bells of Rhymney
24th November 1987 : Town & Country Club, Kentish Town, London NW5, England
Support from : Sex Gods, First Hand Fury and Midnight Buskers.
Review by Vincent Barnett – Originally published in Eye of The Hurricane fanzine No 1 Jan 1988
The two dates that The Alarm played at the T&C on the Celtic Folklore Tour, were the first ones i’d seen them do in London for around eighteen months, having missed the Kilburn gig on the last tour. After the reports that I received about that particular concert, I was well looking forward to finally seeing them again. However, the first night (23rd) was to me a bit of a disappointment, as it was too much like the Welsh shows that i had watched them play all week, and I couldn’t manage to get into the atmosphere of the occasion. Maybe I was just expecting too much from the show.
In contrast to the first night, the second and final show they played there was what can only be described as a superb finale to the great tour. The set that they played was totally different to any previous dates of the Celtic Folklore Tour, starting off in the same manner as the Electric Folklore Tour (part 1) with Strength, and other old favourites such as Knife Edge and Deeside. It was not simply a repeat of the Kilburn date however, as they threw in more new songs from Eye, including Presence of Love and a fully acoustic guitar / piano version of Hallowed Ground. Along the was, they managed to find time to play the acoustic part of the set as they had on the previous Welsh dates, along with their now rather commonplace way of starting Spirit of 76 with the intro to Unsafe Building at the beginning. Although they didn’t play my current personal favourite, Elders and Folklore, Dave Sharp did give us a rendition of his new song My land Your Land, which featured Mike on lead guitar. The set was long, but not so as to drag like many similar bands might, and they finished off the show with a totally unexpected rendition of Blaze of Glory, which many people, includign myself, thought they were going to drop. But they couldn’t really do that, could they?
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(Page updated 08/05/2021)