Geoff Docherty’s rock and roll lifestyle and his career in the music industry were brought vividly to life in his best selling book. A Promoter's Tale
Geoff Docherty’s rock and roll lifestyle and his career in the music industry were brought vividly to life in his best selling book. A Promoter's Tale
From 1969 to 1974 the best rock bands of their era came to the North East and played their rock n' roll to some of the most enthusiastic audiences they were to ever witnessed
The man who brought these bands to the region was Geoff Docherty
He promoted them all - The Who, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Yes, Free, Rod Stewart, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, The Nice, Tyrannosaurus Rex and scores more. Sometimes they were on the way up, sometimes they were already big, and sometimes they didn't show at all.
In excerpts from the documentary "The Sunderland scene", Geoff recalls some of his finest moments Steven Poole of the Guardian newspaper said about Geoff's book
"Docherty brought rock music to the north-east. During the late 1960s and early 70s, he promoted gigs featuring Eric Clapton, Free, Pink Floyd, the Small Faces, David Bowie and other legends. The story of his progression from doorman at Sunderland's Bay Hotel to purveyor of aural delight for the region's youth is punctuated with bracing descriptions of fist-fights, but while you might not want to get into a punch-up with Docherty, he is a charming narrator, with an honest admiration for the musicians he meets and a wry eye for the mores of the era, as when he spies the "Sunderland Groupies" hanging around before a Traffic gig. "I was confident Steve [Winwood] would go down well, and even if he didn't, I was sure Debbie would." It's also nice to hear of a band who "had blown their first advance on a huge slab of Moroccan hash". A sincere and funny tribute to a pre-corporate age."
Supported by North East England Investment Centre, UK Trade & Investment, Sorted PR