Bristol Times: Seeing Stars in February 1974. The week when the Carpenters and Electric Light Orchestra both played Bristol Colston Hall.
As February 1974 came to an end the city's fans could have no gripes about the music on offer – ELO, The Carpenters or our very own Stackridge, all on stage at the Colston Hall.
"Charming, polished and unexpectedly loud, the long awaited Carpenters show was finally unveiled last night," wrote an impressed Chris Newton.
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"And their swooning lyrics and rich, super harmonies did not disappoint their hosts of admirers.
"Richard and Karen went to plenty of trouble to reproduce the sounds which have made them famous with a formidable stack of sound equipment and a highly vocal five-man backing group.
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"Out in front, on her own, most of the time, Karen launched powerfully into a string of their hits, while Richard blended in tuneful keyboard backing and vocals.
"Karen also spent several numbers behind her drum kit, very happily bashing out the rhythms as Richard stepped up for one solo song.
" She made a great impression with her wonderful voice, although had she stayed in one place, and sung straight to the audience, it would have been even more appreciated."
James Belsey, there for the Post, was less impressed by what the West Midlands-based band the Electric Light Orchestra had to offer.
"ELO, who have given two outstanding concerts in Bristol in the last two years, barely scraped through this one," he said.
"The sound system was rotten, all muzzy edges and lost instruments and the band weren't really playing to their usual form.
"The band salvaged their reputation with a last-minute burst of rock and roll, cellos pumping and guitars roaring and enough acrobatics to please the most jaded audience.
"Now it may have been enough to please the customers in the hall but it wasn't really enough to add anything to their reputation as an original, creative unit.
"Jeff Lynne put over some solid vocals and hard driving guitar with firm backing from his cellist and pianist but somewhere along the line the sound balance went astray leaving ELO's new violinist lost at key moments."
But there were no complaints from the same reviewer about Stackridge, saying: "The music was funny, then serious, gentle, then riotously stomping but, above all, completely original."
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