DURING the Covid lockdown I raided my keepsake boxes in the attic and revisited some of the music memorabilia on my Facebook page. Four years on, I thought I’d share them in my blog.

And this one’s very special. The most exciting gig of my life. It was September 1, 1971, the night a 16-year-old fanboy got to see his rock and roll idols live for the first, and sadly final, time.

Although I grew up with The Who and The Kinks, my obsession was Creedence Clearwater Revival. I couldn’t get enough of them and, early in the year, I’d written to them, pleading with them to play Manchester.

They wrote back a lovely letter thanking me for my support and enclosing a folder full of CCR goodies including this autographed band photo, press releases and limited edition fan club items.

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Best of all, when the UK dates were finally announced, there it was! There were just two gigs, one at London’s Royal Albert Hall and the other at … Manchester Free Trade Hall!

By now a trio after the departure of Tom Fogerty, they played two sets on the same night, both only about an hour long. I saw the late 9pm show, a performance I can never forget, packed with CCR classics.

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Here’s the short, sharp and sweet setlist…

Born On The Bayou

Green River

Door To Door

Bad Moon Rising

Proud Mary

Fortunate Son

Who’ll Stop the Rain

Sweet Hitch-Hiker

Travelin’ Band

Keep On Chooglin’

Not the best gig I’ve seen – contenders for that include Led Zeppelin, Lucinda Williams, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie and Queen – but certainly the most exciting.

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Poignant, too, because it turned out to be the band’s farewell tour. Like Elvis, they’d rarely played the UK – and they called it a day the year later.

Here are a couple of reviews of the gig.

I’ve seen John Fogerty three times since, and interviewed Stu Cook when he launched Creedence Clearwater Revisited but it could never be quite the same again.

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