Rock Promoter Geoff Docherty.

Michael Wale records more episodes in the colourful life of one time Sunderland rock concert promoter Geoff Docherty.

Geoff Docherty spent six years in the Fleet Air Arm, before returning to civvies life in Sunderland where, because of his service training he always wore a suit and tie, and he retained his fitness, which was to lead him towards the job of rock promoter.

He is a small man, and remembers :' There were these hard cases at the Beach Club, in South Shields. One gut in particular who ruled. They offered me outside and I went and fought. I beat him, and after that I got respect and they kept offering me jobs as a bouncer at £2 a night, which was good money in the late sixties. But I knew what I wanted to do, and that was to present rock bands'.

And that is exactly what he did, as he records in his book A Promoter's Tale. Rock at the Sharp End (Omnibus. £7.99p), which sold out its first printing.

He started in the 800 capacity Bay Hotel in Sunderland, before moving on to the 3,000 capacity Locarno , which he re-named for his rock nights as Filmore North, before ending up in Newcastle's Mayfair venue.

He recalls his favourite nights :' Country Joe and the Fish at the Bay. Free, Rod Stewart and the Faces at the Filmore North. Rod was young then and he had equalled The Beatles record by topping both the album and singles charts in the same week in America and England.

' I'd discovered Free really. I booked them first for £35 a night at The Bay, and by the time I was booking groups into Filmore North, I was paying them £1,500 a night. But when Paul Kossof died from drugs at the age of 25, that was that'.

It took him two years of continuous effort to book another group though, Led Zeppelin. Geoff explains :'I booked them for £75 to appear The Bay, and everyone in Sunderland was teasing me about whether I had really got Led Zeppelin or not, because they were very well known. Then two days before they due on I had a call from their manager Peter Grant who said they would not be appearing because they were in America. Well, every time I was in London I'd drop into their office. Peter Grant was usually not there, because he was abroad, but the girls in the office got to like me, and always gave me tea and biscuits, and in the end Peter Grant called me in one day and said I'd got them, and at the original fee. By then of course they were a really big group. He also gave me the right to sell posters of the band, which no-one else was allowed to do. In fact when they appeared at the City Hall in Newcastle for me, I was outside selling my posters and I was grabbed by this big roadie who marched me into meet Peter. Imagine the roadie's embarrassment when Peter told him to give me back all the posters, because he had let me sell them'.

This episode what a one man band Geoff Docherty remained. He also did all his own fly posting in the middle of the morning ! It is illegal to fly post, and many people have been taken to court in the past. But as with everything he did Geoff had style :' I always paid people on the nail in cash, and I always put up my own posters. I chose the best sites owned by the biggest ad agency in the North East. I'd put my ad neatly down in one corner. In the end they called me in and offered me a deal. 75 per cent off to go legit and advertise on their sites. I did the deal. I'd always admired Ralph Nader for taking on the car industry in America, and here I had taken on the ad world and won'.

So what happened to all his profits. To this day he lives in a council flat in Sunderland :' I went into managing bands. I had a great group called Becket For several reasons they didn't make it, although they were good. I lost a lot of money'.

Now there are rumours that his book will be filmed, and he has just written his first novel.

Have your say...

I picked this book up in a secondhand bookshop in Berlin and its helped me a lot to get to know the music industry and learn about promoting. However, what you actually get from this book is that Geoff was a decent, honest and caring person and that above all else meant alot to the punters that came to the gigs, it meant he was successful because he was respected for his honesty and integrity. He had a tough life, but he didnt care, he got through it and did the best he could. A really good read! How can i get hold of him for a chat?

blair hughes

It is a great book and he lives in Sunderland North east uk. I went to many of those concerts mentioned in the book and they were fantastic. Many people are very grateful to Geoff for promoting so many groups and concerts in the far north of england, Miya Johnson

Miya Heather bruce Johnson