When did you first hear Roy/Nick?

[HarperPR]

Would be interesting to hear how people first got to hear of the two Harpers. Say hellooo and share your first experience too.

[Travellerman]

Roy... On the Old Grey Whistle Test circa 1985 and then in concert at the Town and Country Club in October 1988. That was a good gig as it was also the first time I saw Nick (and Tony Franklin played Bass). Quite an introduction :D

[HarperPR]

Ah, the fretless one. I like him!

[Barry]

1976 I had just left school and a mate introduced me to Roy via FB&B and HQ, I couldn't believe how good he was and the 2 differing styles. His music has been a constant comfort in my life ever since. Nick I first heard opening for Roy in Brighton.

[scotpaulabear]

Nick: My story's been told before - first saw the boy with Squeeze at Glasgow Barrowlands in November 1996, but missed his solo set, and it wasn't until 2 weeks later when I saw him solo in Reading. And I haven't been quite right since. :D

Roy: Though I heard "Have a Cigar" a million times in my college dorm, I always thought it was Roger Waters singing :blushing: and I never knew who was the Harper referenced in "Hats Off" until I read Hammer of the Gods even then I wasn't paying much attention. When I finally saw Roy live when my friend Jan promoted his and Nick's Edinburgh gig in 1999, I was quite pleased to find out more about Nick's dad who everyone was talking about. :D Thank you to Big Chris for giving me Stormcock about 5 years ago, the first Roy album I had!

[aspwatterson]

My sister (4 years my senior) sat at his feet at Hyde Park 1 festival in the mid-sixties and was over-awed by 'I hate the White Man' and kept on and on about him so my ears *****ed up. She then got married in secret to the future road manager of The Clash who introduced me to His Highness and some illicit strong sustances at the age of fourteen and I've never looked back.. although these days have considerably chilled down and become 'comfortably numb' just with a spliff or two and a cup of tea. Ian Croppers might disagree with this considering my Clonakilty performance but I'll reiterate that I was on a jaunty holiday at the time! Excuses! The first time we saw Roy live was in the late sixties somewhere in Portsmouth and we all ended up chatting to him behind stage afterwards and could not believe how normal and approachable he was. The first time I met Nick was when he accompanied Roy to Llantwit Major [beautiful venue in a castle - Atlantic College for international students- overlooking the River Severn] about 7 years ago and likewise found him very gregarious like his dad.

Will definitely be following his Feb 2008 tour this time if money permits. Shame I missed him in Portsmouth recently....


andi

[Kenny_Wisdom]

It's in my blog - "Memory of a Free Festival".

[SHAUN I]

I first heard about Roy through a friend, I was a bit of a beatnick type hippy at the time (1982/3) and was into Floyd, Gong, Neil Young etc. Then I listened to Sophisticated Beggar and the rest is history as they say.
First heard Nick when playing with Roy and again was impressed with his individual style nd sound...

[fickle_Witch]

for me i had cousins that used to listen to roy in the late 70's and early 80's and when i heard it again when going through a boyfriends music in '92 was right back there and loving it. then downloaded some nick tracks from kazzaa and got right into his music too, saw him just over 3 years ago and battled morning (evening?) sickness and early pregnancy tiredness to get there and was worth every uncomfortable second!

amor mundi

hatty :)

[Marcie]

I think I mentioned this elsewhere on the forum but for the record, I first heard about Roy in '71 via the Led Zep III album. That song had always been my favourite, and Led Zep III remains my favourite Zep album.

I first started to buy his records in 1979 when I had been in a shop looking for Van der Graaf Generator records, and the proprietor suggested I check Roy out.

I first became aware of Nick at that time, since his name appeared on the Lifemask album, credited for "distraction". I saw him perform with Roy in 1992 in Tel Aviv, but really got into his music in November of 2006, when I discovered his MySpace page.

[pd]

I've talked about this before too. But, I was 16 or 17 years old (forget exactly) and had 2 firm friends, Simon and Duncan. We used to go round each others houses to drink homebrew beer, play Dungeons and Dragons, listen to music, make music (we had a so-called band called Driftwood, I was on bass), and even occasionally do some homework (we were at the same 6th form college).

Duncan's cousin had just got a copy of Work of Heart and we listened to it. Wasn't too taken with it, but we were intrigued by the Zep 3 and Floyd connections. Duncan got a copy of Unknown Soldier and the pieces started to fall into place. At that point Simon went to a record fair or 2nd hand shop, and got hold of Flat Baroque. That was an epiphany. I got a tape of that and wore it out. Wonderful. We got a very expensive vinyl copy of Flashes from the Archives, which was also out of print at the time, and loved it.

Time passed and of course the albums all eventually came out on Awareness, I had all the vinyl and of course bought it all again on CD. Countless gigs followed, particularly when I was a student (in London and Newcastle) and then when I worked at London University. During this time Nick started to emerge, first doing some backing guitar for Roy (and playing on James Varda's album, and Jugula), then eventually writing and performing his own material. I appear to have been at Nicks first real solo gig, judging from what he said on the podcast I did, at Zarathustra's.

Eventually I came to the attention of "the management", by my well-intended but probably overzealous communications with Andy Ware and Darren Crisp, the latter becoming a very good friend. Eventually of course I got to know Roy as well, and Tracy, and feel very fortunate to be able to call them friends.

I ended up doing all this "fan" stuff for purely selfish reasons; I want Roy to continue to perform and record for as long as possible, and if I am able to sustain that by keeping him in the spotlight for his current and future fans, I will. I also found over the years that this was a great way to get to know other "sane" people with similar outlooks on life as I, and I think that is very precious.

[Shaun Woods]

I first heard Roy, in a flat, ripped off my tits.. I couldnt see 2 feet in front of me...

I think it was WHTJ... Yes it was.. He was one of my main influences to playing the guitar...

Hmpfhh....

[Shane]

i got a cassette version of sophisticated beggar and because it was called Legend (and because i didnt know much about RH) i figured it was a greatest hits compilation and that all his albums sounded much the same. i was curious to hear him as i was a huge pink floyd fan at the time. next i got ghengis smith, descendants of smith and burn the world.

[Craig_Powers]

I first heard Lifemask in the mid 70's and was certainly aware of Roy when One of Those Day's was released. I was in my early teens and listening to Folk, Rock, Progessive (a phrase from the past) due to my older brother.

In the late 70's / 80's it seemed hard to get Roy's albums (perhaps it was because of his fall out with EMI?). I bought Unknown Soldier when it came out and then others following, including Jugula. I have most of his stuff on Vinyl.

I first saw Roy at St. Helens (as mentioned on the other thread re: Nick @ St.Helens Citadel) in probably about '84. I saw him a few other places in the same time frame, e.g. Manchester International.

I still have a vinyl copy of Born in Captivity that I bought after the '84 St.H gig.

After that I lost touch with tours until I got on the internet in about '94. I started watching Roy live again about 1996.

I bought the full Roy back catalogue on CD in late 90's to replace the vinyl. I bought all of them it in one hit and his manager Darren rang me up apologising for delays in shipment of one of the CDs. I though 'wow, that’s service', but it reflects that this is a close community, and definitely not commercial or mainstream.

Nick would sometimes accompany him and we watched them both at Southport Arts Centre a few times.

At this stage I didn't like Nick's stuff at all. In fact I'll go further...I really hated it! It was a bit too 'trash' for my ear. The turning point was at the Lowry, perhaps in 2000/2001. Nick was supporting Roy and his set just blew me away. I hadn't seen him for perhaps 2 years. He did quite a bit of stuff that became the double live album, and I was hooked. There was so much more variety of material, it was different to what I heard c. 1996.

Since then I've tried to watch Nick on every tour at least 2 or 3 times.

I haven't seen Roy since the 'Guitars against Landmines' gig at the Lowry. 2002? That was a good gig too. John Paul-Jones, Bill W & the Rhythm Kings & Roy, plus others.

Craig Powers
aged 45 1/2

[pd]

Hi Craig, and welcome to stormcock!

Darren's a star, isn't he. I've known him for many years now and can't think of a kinder-hearted and more honest person.

[Craig_Powers]

Re: Darren. He certainly is. It has been crucial that Roy has good management and enthusaitic people doing publicity, website etc to maintain his career and let him focus on the music. He's had some bad deals over the years.

Looking forward to seeing him live again.

[bigchris]

Well I got into Roy, completely by accident !!

Twas in 1984 ... when my musical tastes were a bit dubious to say the least ... but luckily I did like Simon & Garfunkel ... which was enough to have a conversation with a lad in my class at Barnsley Tech ( Paul Gaunt - if anyone reading this knows him .. I haven't seen him in years .. and I know he had a nasty bike accident a few years back ... please wish him well ).

Paul asked me if I'd ever heard of a musician called Michael Chapman... I hadn't .. so he lent me a tape ... now this tape was on it's own .. no box and not even any writing on the label. As soon as I played the first track ... I was blown away ... I had never heard anything like it before .... and the following tracks were all just amazing. I must have listened to that tape 50 times, before I gave it back to him.

Paul then asked me what I thought of it. Well I said "as there wasn't any track listing ... I can only guess what the names of the songs are ... and the first track probably called 'One of those Days in England' was brilliant !!" ... No Paul said ... that's not Michael Chapman ... you've been listening to the wrong side of the tape !! "So who was I listening to then ?" .... "Oh that's Roy Harper" .... "Who ?" I said .... and the rest as they say is history !!

If history has come to an end ... and Roy has really retired .. then last year was a special year to stop ... I saw his 4 days at the 100 Club, followed by 2 in Tokyo ... 4 on his UK tour ... then one in my fave pub ( De-Barras ) and then to finish off the year in style, the Royal Albert Hall gig ... what a superb year of Roy gigs !!

As for his son .... well listen to the Nick Harper podcast for how I got into him !!

Cheers,

Big Chris

[HarperPR]

Oh, go on, give us a clue - ?!

[Uriel]

I mentioned the first time I saw Nick on the old harperspace.co.uk board and it's repeated in the extended review of the recent Leeds gig. There's a few more details here:

I'm possibly a bit unusual in that I'd never heard of Roy before seeing Nick so the family connection meant nothing. All I knew before seeing Nick for the first time was the "virtuoso guitarist" description in the Greenbelt 03 programme. Within the week I'd got the entire back catalogue on CDs. I've seen a lot of gigs but it's the only time I've ever gone out and immediately bought more than a couple of the CDs afterwards.

My first Roy gig was in Sheffield last year. I'd torn a muscle in my back a few days before, playing football, and the rest of my back went into spasm. I was bored one evening, to say the least.

Remembering Roy's gig was happening (after the supposed start time) I phoned up to see if tickets were still available. They were and a support act was playing - so there was still a chance. I hobbled to the car and got down into the city centre. Then, doing my best Quasimodo impression, shuffled awkwardly across from the car park to the venue. I was in agony but it was worth going. Arriving just in time to see Roy start, I was pleased to hear him do some of my favourites of his, such as When an old cricketer leaves the crease and ten hours of sunset.

[HarperPR]

Was it meant to end there, Uriel? I was just getting into that story!

[Uriel]

I'm sure there was more. Memory's fuzzy. It was a while ago or might just have been the prescription painkillers...

Glad I saw Roy when I did. I hadn't heard he was thinking of finishing touring for the time being until he said so at the gig.

[Green Man]

First saw both Nick & Roy at the Rhythm Festival in 2006, with my good buddy Fenlander (Phil).

What a baptism of fire that was! :w00t:

Phil and I can briefly be seen jigging along to Aeroplane (I'm the good-looking one in the shades lol - he's the one with the beard) on the recent Love Is Music Harpic DVD.

I think we both went with the intention of seing Roy perform Stormcock and taking in the festival vibe. Despite Roy playing a blinding set, it was Nick's afternoon turn which blew us away. Fantastic!

[jonah]

When I was a nipper I was (and still am) lucky to have an uncle who was determined to see me raised on a diet of good music. Thus, he loaned various selections from his vast collection of vinyl. these included Flat Baroque, Lifemask and other such Roy gems. I was instantly hooked. These records coupled with tales of Roy gigs from the past, things like all the power failing at one gig so Roy had the audience join him on stage so they could hear, left me begging for more.

I first saw Roy and Nick live in about 92 at the Parr Hall Warrington. As I was an impressionable youngster the sight of the pair of them playing mesmerising music and steadily destroying their brain cells as they played was a fascinating spectacle. The fact that Roy was complaining that the spliffs being thrown at him were nowhere near strong enough was hilarious. I was comatose just from passive intake.

I then managed to follow Roy whenever he made it to the north West on tour and followed Nick along with it.

[just jane]

Ahh the Parr Hall, I saw Roy and Nick there several times. Roy never did like the menthol tabaco that always appeared there.

[arthurprecarious]

First became aware of Roy when HQ was released. He took about full page adverts in the NME saying that he couldn't understand why he wasn't more popular and how fantastic "HQ" was. I thought - he's a cocky git!! Bought "HQ" and I couldn't understand why he wasn't more popular!! - Still can't either!! Seen him a number of times over the years - first with BlackSheep, then solo, then the Roy Harper Band in Sheffield circa 1983 when he mooned the audience!! Seen him in Bradford around 1979 when he was so stoned he only played about 4 songs (with Andy Roberts) - I walked 20 miles home after missing train - hitched - no luck "Please gimme a lift man!!" Saw him with Nick around 1990 when they did all of "Stormcock". Saw them in Whitley Bay around 4 years ago when they went of at the end singing "Bring Me Sunshine" and doing the Morecambe and Wise routine!!!

Seen Nick a couple of times solo - much as though I like him - I prefer Roy

[KarinB]

As a Squeeze fan I first heard of Nick through Squeeze. At first, I was quite annoyed that this other person was standing in between Glenn and Chris and I thought he (Nick) was going to cause the end of Difford and Tilbrook so I shunned him. I seen him play with Squeeze but still took no notice and it wasn't until ???? - not sure of the year but hopefully someone will remind me - that me and my hubby decided to go and see what all the fuss that Glenn was making of him was about so we went to the Dome at Whitley Bay and he blew us away. Because of the 'dome' the accoustics were absolutely fantastic and seeing him standing on the tables was awesome.
That was the start of the addicition.

Roy - I had never heard of him until I found out more about Nick.

[SHAUN I]

It's interesting to see how others first got into the Harpers' music, I was reading some blogs on the net and came across this!

http://patrickmaginty.blogspot.com/

[Marcie]

Very amusing blog, Shaun. Although if Roy would have given me the same FU look as this guy thought he did him, it wouldn't have boded with me very well...

[p.e.todd@btinternet.com]

First saw both Nick & Roy at the Rhythm Festival in 2006, with my good buddy Fenlander (Phil).

What a baptism of fire that was! :w00t:

Phil and I can briefly be seen jigging along to Aeroplane (I'm the good-looking one in the shades lol - he's the one with the beard) on the recent Love Is Music Harpic DVD.

I think we both went with the intention of seing Roy perform Stormcock and taking in the festival vibe. Despite Roy playing a blinding set, it was Nick's afternoon turn which blew us away. Fantastic!

Umm yeah thats my recollection of the day too.
I don't remember jigging along to Aeroplane myself but I was a bit the worse for drink.....:p

[Cozmik]

The first time I ever heard Roy, was singing on Floyd's, Have a cigar, when I was about ten years old? I have an uncle who is 7yrs older than me, and I use to spend a lot of time listening to everything he was into back in the 70's.
The first time I saw Roy was playing at Glastonbury, back in the early 80's. He punched Ginger Baker! And that endeared Roy, to me even more!

The first time I heard Nick, was about 10-11 years back?
I play guitar, and a musician friend of mine, lent me a copy of LATEOTK, which blew my mind; and made me wanna give up playing on the spot!
The first time I got to see him play was when he touring the Harperspace album.

[Alan Jones]

First became aware of Roy when HQ was released. He took about full page adverts in the NME saying that he couldn't understand why he wasn't more popular and how fantastic "HQ" was. I thought - he's a cocky git!! Bought "HQ" and I couldn't understand why he wasn't more popular!! - Still can't either!! Seen him a number of times over the years - first with BlackSheep, then solo, then the Roy Harper Band in Sheffield circa 1983 when he mooned the audience!! Seen him in Bradford around 1979 when he was so stoned he only played about 4 songs (with Andy Roberts) - I walked 20 miles home after missing train - hitched - no luck "Please gimme a lift man!!" Saw him with Nick around 1990 when they did all of "Stormcock". Saw them in Whitley Bay around 4 years ago when they went of at the end singing "Bring Me Sunshine" and doing the Morecambe and Wise routine!!!

Seen Nick a couple of times solo - much as though I like him - I prefer Roy

I was at that Bradford gig too, and I walked home to Huddersfield after missing the last bus. I don't remember how stoned they were, and I thought they played more than four songs, but it was a real treat for me because after seven years of Harper gig-going I finally got to see him play "Same Old Rock".

The first time I ever heard him, though, must have been on a tape one of my friends had made from one of his "Top Gear" sessions - something from "Folkjokeopus" or maybe "Midspring Dithering" which my mates used to like because of the line "And goofing around isn't all so unsound as it seems". Or maybe it was "Nobody needs any money" on the "Rock Machine Turns You On" sampler... it's hard to remember so far back through the mists of time..

[sughosh]

Roy - somewhere around '94-'95...I knew this chap who ran a small cassette shop and as a side-business recorded albums for you...I found one in his catalog labelled "Roy Harper & Led Zeppelin". Got him to record that for me ...turned out to be "Jugula". Was rather perturbed by it then (I was around 17), but later met a guy who was seriously into Roy's music..lent him my copy of Jugula and got to listen to Sophisticated Beggar and McGoohan's Blues in the bargain. Liked em both, but it wasn't till the early 2000s that I could actually get hold of any of Roy's stuff. So I've been a serious fan for probably around 6 years.

Nick.. sometime last year..downloaded "Double Life" out of curiosity... now the proud owner of probably the only copy in India :biggrin:

[scotpaulabear]

Roy - somewhere around '94-'95...I knew this chap who ran a small cassette shop and as a side-business recorded albums for you...I found one in his catalog labelled "Roy Harper & Led Zeppelin". Got him to record that for me ...turned out to be "Jugula". Was rather perturbed by it then (I was around 17), but later met a guy who was seriously into Roy's music..lent him my copy of Jugula and got to listen to Sophisticated Beggar and McGoohan's Blues in the bargain. Liked em both, but it wasn't till the early 2000s that I could actually get hold of any of Roy's stuff. So I've been a serious fan for probably around 6 years.

Nick.. sometime last year..downloaded "Double Life" out of curiosity... now the proud owner of probably the only copy in India :biggrin:

Welcome Sughosh! I knew it, I've read your blog :biggrin: http://endlesswire.blogspot.com/

[sughosh]

Thanks for the welcome Paula! I'd joined this community long before starting that blog, but somehow bever posted :biggrin:

[Smith]

I know people you lot up there in the rarified world of the Northern Hemisphere think NZ is 10 yrs behind the times ( as though that were a bad thing ), but in the early 70's we really were.

We had virtually no music press apart from NME and Melody Maker which arrived basically 3 months late and it was pretty bloody hard to get hold of albums which werent mainstream. So when I read an article by Ian Anderson ( this would be about 72, just before the British press turned on him ), in which he raved about Roy Harper, I just had to investigate.

It took me months to find a Harper album - Come Out Fighting Ghenghis Smith. Not brilliant, I thought, but promising. After a couple of years scouring import bins and second hand record emporiums, I had was right up to date and have remained so ever since.

Ive seen him play only twice. In 82 he toured NZ in a camper van, playing all sorts of out of the way places. His Auckland gig coincided with a Dylan gig at the local enormodome, who arrived in a private plane with various hollywood hangers on - Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty. Roys was a brilliant gig, but the audience was tiny ( in number, not size ).

Saw him again in London a few years later at the 100 Club and sadly had to leave before the show finished. I'll never forget walking up the stairs and out onto Oxford St, to the orgasmic groans of 20th Century Man...

I have Nicks "Seed" album, but have yet to investigate further, despite the ease with which you can buy any sort of music these days. Its a good album, time to get more, methinks!

Anyway, when its focussed, Roys music is unsurpassable. Pure genius.


Cheers
Smith

[Barry]

If you can, get Nick's Double Life, his live performance is very different to his studio output, and if you get the chance to see him, don't miss it!

[Smith]

Double Life and the Love is Music DVD duly purchased this very morning .....

cheers

[pd]

Double Life is brilliant. When it first came out I used to commute into London by train every day, and I can still remember playing it on the ipod and grinning from ear to ear on the journey. The other commuters probably thought I was insane...

[p.e.todd@btinternet.com]

Double Life and the Love is Music DVD duly purchased this very morning .....

cheers

I'm sure I don't need to say this but hope you enjoy both.

[mrwalrusno9]

Listening to 'wish you where here' sleeve notes back in 88. Bemused about the name Roy harper on vocals. A few weeks later, I was going through the bargain bucket at our price records, came across, ' in between every line' from then on I was hooked.

[Mistlethrush]

First heard Roy about 1982 at a friends house, they had 'Come Out fighting Ghengis Smith' playing in the background I was completely hooked from then on. I had seen his name mention before; as 'Mrwalrusno9' mentioned, on Floyd's Wish You Were Here. As for seeing them:

Roy: 1984 at The Band on the Wall, Manchester. I have a pound note which he signed and placed a bubble next to the Queen's mouth saying "Hello", he's signed once more since.

Nick: 1994 UMIST Underground Bar, Manchester. Apparently he opened the session for Roy's gig but we missed that as we were late. When he did come on I was totally taken aback.

Nick has also signed the 'Pound Note' a couple of times too!!:wink:

[rusinurbe]

'Hells angels' on a 'Harvest' sampler album (around 1985) i just had to go and find the album that it cam off of opened my eyes up to a whole new world.
:m22:

[Hector]

Would be interesting to hear how people first got to hear of the two Harpers. Say hellooo and share your first experience too.

Roy -1969 at Stevenage College of Further Education Students Union supporting Free. Following this bought Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith and then Folkjokeopus............etc. Next saw RH in the 90's 3 times at Hitchin Folk Club.

Hector

[riceyboy]

Heard Roy for the first time round about 1995 through a mate. Saw Roy a few times after that and heard rumours of a strange little halfling called Nick.

Then in 1999 I saw Roy and Nick together on stage in Edinburgh (The Pleasance i think) and was amazed at how different yet similar they were. Since then i've seen Roy a few more times and been to about 8 - 10 Nick gigs.

A strange case of the pupil surpassing the master i reckon!

[HarperPR]

Hello ricey. Maybe this is a good time to up your quotient of Nick gigs! Hope you can make one or two of the 36 upcoming.

[aspwatterson]

A strange case of the pupil surpassing the master i reckon!

I disagree! How do you surpass the unsurpassable? Mind you Nick is coming up with some amazing stuff. Even though we thought Roy had covered most subjects in the past pretty comprehensively Nick is showing his versatility innovatively.Rather than compare, treat each artist as just different. Or are we all guilty of the need to always compare them just because they are related? Would we listen to Nick with new ears for instance if we didn't know his dad's work? On Nick's recent live recording I received from last year's tour he even sounds like his dad when speaking between songs in my mind. You can detect the Roy way of spontaneously mulling over serious subjects with insight and humour. In visual accordance with his paths of thinking and almost know what he's going to say next. Also he's brilliant at communing with the audience which is certainly an innate gift inherited from God [Roy]!

chrs
andi :m2:webradio

[riceyboy]

Hello ricey. Maybe this is a good time to up your quotient of Nick gigs! Hope you can make one or two of the 36 upcoming.


Tickets already sorted for Classic Grand, Glasgow. Thinking about the ABC2 gig, the soundproofing from above aint all it could be........who am i kidding, i'll be there!

[aspwatterson]

http://patrickmaginty.blogspot.com/
Vid on there now....

andi :m2:

[scotpaulabear]

Tickets already sorted for Classic Grand, Glasgow. Thinking about the ABC2 gig, the soundproofing from above aint all it could be........who am i kidding, i'll be there!

There's no gig on upstairs yet (oh god remember Sons & Daughters haha), you may be in luck - wouldn't it be great if Nick had the marquee all to himself :biggrin:

I remember that '99 gig at the Pleasance - ten years, good lord! Got the poster from it hanging in my hallway... Big D and I took turns watching the merch desk and running in to see a song LOL. "God Has Got a Girlfriend"!! :D

[riceyboy]

Sons & Daughters, that's it! I couldn't for the life of me remember the name of the mob upstairs.

[Swandive]

My dad brought me up on Roy Harper, so there's no way I could pinpoint the first time I heard him. I recognise his voice like I do those of my parents. I caught him at the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen a couple of year ago, which was extraordinary. As for Nick, my dad bought Double Life as soon as it was out, and I fell for it instantly and proceeded to buy the rest of Nick's albums and to convert many a friend, which isn't exactly difficult.

[Dollina Tube]

First saw him at Robert Plant gig Glasgow in 2002. What a wonderful night that was. My dad was going through a massive 8 hour operation that day to remove an enormous tumour and we were unsure whether he was going to pull through. About an hour before the gig we were told that he had been rushed back into surgery and his condition was critical.

We drove at break neck speed to be with him in his final hour. On arriving at hospital, we discovered that the nurse had gave us dud information and that his surgery was over and had went according to plan - he was unconcious and in intensive care. Mum insisted we went to the concert after such a fraught time, we needed it. They promised they would phone if his condition deterioted. We went off rather reluctantly. On arriving at the gig, I checked my phone every two minutes and just before the "support" came on, I got a call to say dad had opened his eyes and mangaed to talk a few words. I was so happy as paralysis was a real threat. At that point of great relief, Nick walked on stage and in my giddy headed state, he BLEW MY MIND! It was a perfect first way to see him live.

He puts so much feeling into what he does, its scary.

I saw him again the other night at the Glasgows Celtic conections festival club. When he started to play, I welled up, having not heard him again since that emotional night in 2002. Sadly, folk didn't really realise his brilliance as most of the crowd were young folkies and the ones who would have known who he was, had long since gone home.

NICK, THANK YOU for giving a soundtrack to a very anxious day in my life. My dad is still here too:D (I was the one who shook your hand at the end of your set the other night and stared perhaps a little too intensely as you played!!!):biggrin:

[pete c]

what a brilliant story, worthy of inclusion in any magazine, especially this one....

http://www.stormcock.net/vb/showthread.php?t=886

seriously, please let me know if it's OK to use it

Thanks
Pete

[scotpaulabear]

That's a lovely story (so glad to hear your dad is okay!), and lovely to meet you on here :biggrin: Was at the festy club the other night, it was pretty cool to see Nick at 4am entrancing the teen dance squad! :thumbup:

[Dollina Tube]

Yeah, the teenybops kinda bopped around for a while then pissed off to the bar. Loved the "Kissed a girl" bit when they all came thundering back down only for him to slip down another alley and disappear into obscurity again!!:wink:

My partner didn't quite get was he was all about but I think I may have to get myself an album or two and relive that awesome performance at the Barras.<happyhappyjoyjoysmiley>:seeya:

Yeah no objections to my comments being used.:biggrin:

www.freewebs.com/dollina/ (http://www.freewebs.com/dollina/)

[Dollina Tube]

Hmm...thought I'd posted something last night - its not here?!?

Anyhow, really funny seeing all the kids the other night not quite knowing how to react to him until he played a few bars of "Kissed a girl" song and they all went mental just in time for him to slip back into obscurity again:biggrin::biggrin:

PS don't mind if my comments are used if any mag comes out.:seeya:

[t0nt0b0b]

Just wanted to say hi - also, just registered too so this is the second post!!! Saw Nick last night and was astounded - superlatives are used way too frequently but this guy is amazing. Watched 'Love is Music' a couple of months ago (Christmas prezzie from father-in-law!) and managed to get a seat at the Glee - lets just say we (my wife is a newbie fan too!) will be bolstering our music collection somewhat! :D

[HarperPR]

If you're in the West Mids, don't forget he's playing Robin2 in Bilston on April 29!

[t0nt0b0b]

Yeah, we spotted this one too! We might go, even though it's a 'school' night and we live 80 miles away!

[dim]

to paraphrase jim morrisson..

"i dont actually remember, it must have happened in one of my blackouts"

[HarperPR]

to paraphrase jim morrisson..

"i dont actually remember, it must have happened in one of my blackouts"

What did????:confused1:

[dim]

tofu? ?

[JohnH]

I first saw Roy Harper at the Waterson's farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall probably in 1968. When I went to work the next working day I said to my music loving friend 'I have seen the English Bob Dylan'. We went to a nearby record shop at lunchtime and listened to a few tracks from Come Out Fighting. I was sold so was the album to me and we both became lifelong fans at that moment. The first time I actually met Roy was in 1977. In 1974 I emigrated to Australia and by 1976 became a (mature age) student. On a return visit to England at the end of 1976 a Uni friend, Stuart Coupe who later became a major rock journalist in Australia, teed up an interview with Roy at Abbey Road studios at the launch of the Bullinamingvase album. It was a great experience, though one I have only limited memory of due to over indulgence in the album launch celebrations . A trap for new rock journalists!

[stevietak]

Theres this guy from Birkenhead. www.myspace.com/lotzieweaver . I love his stuff, but then he played some of Roys stuff too. Wow, like he's amazing. But saying that so is that Lotzie guy. Oh yeah and Roys kinda cute too.
Nick: My story's been told before - first saw the boy with Squeeze at Glasgow Barrowlands in November 1996, but missed his solo set, and it wasn't until 2 weeks later when I saw him solo in Reading. And I haven't been quite right since. :D

Roy: Though I heard "Have a Cigar" a million times in my college dorm, I always thought it was Roger Waters singing :blushing: and I never knew who was the Harper referenced in "Hats Off" until I read Hammer of the Gods even then I wasn't paying much attention. When I finally saw Roy live when my friend Jan promoted his and Nick's Edinburgh gig in 1999, I was quite pleased to find out more about Nick's dad who everyone was talking about. :D Thank you to Big Chris for giving me Stormcock about 5 years ago, the first Roy album I had!