The guitarist made up and dressed as a harlequin seems to have been pumping out a solo forever. The rain was making its presence felt at Stoke City FC’s Victoria Ground stadium on May 17, 1975. So too were some bad-tempered people in the crowd as they waited for prog giants Yes to arrive on stage for their headline set. In the meantime, though, they were being regaled by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band playing a massively elongated version of fan favourite Vambo.
“Too much! No applause!” Harvey himself shouts, as many wonder where he’s been for the past five minutes. “No fucking applause!” he repeats, before turning his attention to a violent contingent in the field below him. “Hey, c**ts! C**ts! You – I’m talking about you, cracker baby! If you don’t stop that right now, I’m gonna come down and kick fuck out the lot of ya! Nobody fights or causes destruction at our concerts.’”
