{"id":1154,"date":"2026-11-01T21:37:01","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T21:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.peterbanks.net\/archive\/?page_id=1154"},"modified":"2026-11-01T21:37:01","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T21:37:01","slug":"flash-on-the-road-gig-reviews-1972-73","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.peterbanks.net\/archive\/reading-room\/flash-on-the-road-gig-reviews-1972-73\/","title":{"rendered":"FLASH ON THE ROAD: gig reviews, 1972\u201373"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEWSPAPER REVIEWS AND PREVIEWS – 1972 and 1973<\/p>\n

\n

Flash on the road<\/h1>\n

Extracts from the contemporary press on Flash\u2019s live shows<\/h3>\n

These are short extracts from reviews and previews of Flash concerts in British and American newspapers, each with the original clipping. Printed errors are marked [sic]. For the dates, see the Flash chronology for 1971\u201372<\/a> and 1973\u201374<\/a>. Longer pieces have their own pages: the Los Angeles Free Press on the Whisky A Go Go run<\/a> and The Prospector on the break-up<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

The Banstead Herald (Banstead, Surrey) \u2013 June 8, 1972, page 18<\/h2>\n

\u201cMusic Below the Noise\u201d, signed D.R. A concert at Ebbisham Hall, Epsom, presented by Wurkshop; the date of the concert is not stated.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cTopping the bill was Flash, a new band formed by ex-Yes man Pete Banks. Loud again\u2014but this time no distorted fuzz. Clean and crisp, with nice vocals and harmonies. With a lead singer remarkably like Alice Cooper and two guitar and drum line-up they stormed their way through some great numbers including Black and White and a medley of Dancing in the Street and Heatwave.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"The<\/a>
Click the clipping to enlarge.<\/small><\/p>\n

\n

The Oshkosh Northwestern (Wisconsin) \u2013 September 5, 1972, page 14<\/h2>\n

\u201cHot music warms chilly crowd\u201d by Wilson Ruff. Free outdoor concert at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Monday, September 4, with the Brian Lee Blues Band, Blue Tale Fly and REO Speedwagon; about 4,000 attended.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cEven though the mikes weren\u2019t right the music was intense and absorbing; a kind of psychedelic jazz, loud and leading. Banks moved quick, intricate lead riffs through a complicated structure. Fantastic precision and overwhelming volume kept the crowd standing much of the time, absorbed in watching four men on a stage producng [sic] pure musical energy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"The<\/a>
Click the clipping to enlarge.<\/small><\/p>\n

\n

The Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania) \u2013 September 16, 1972, page 35<\/h2>\n

Two readers\u2019 letters about the Kutztown State College concert at Keystone Hall on Monday, September 11, with REO Speedwagon and Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Karen Nicholson (\u201cA KSC Concert . . . Some Liked It\u201d): \u201cBanks did tremendous guitar work and produced some fine feedback and a variety of sounds with his numerous foot pedals and fuzz tone controls. He had complete control of his instrument while putting everything into a fine performance.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Denny Somach of WSAN, Allentown (\u201cSome Didn\u2019t . . .\u201d): \u201cEngland\u2019s Flash was next. A splinter group of Yes, they started with \u2018Small Beginnings\u2019 which wasn\u2019t bad. After that, well, the best way to describe their performance would be to say they came on with a flash and proceeded to fizzle out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"The<\/a>
Click the clipping to enlarge.<\/small><\/p>\n

\n

The Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico) \u2013 September 1973<\/h2>\n

\u201cSix-Hour Concert Was Fun But a Bit Long\u201d by Arlene Tellez, Del Norte High School. Civic Auditorium, with Quicksilver Messenger Service, El Chicano and Blue Oyster Cult; no show date is printed.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cFlash, from England, drew a polite response from the small crowd gathered at Civic Auditorium. They were energetic and flashy but somehow they never got the crowd to its feet. Flash is much better live than on record.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

On the next album, Peter Banks is quoted: \u201cWe\u2019d like to have a double album with the first one live and the other one done in the studio.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"The<\/a>
Click the clipping to enlarge.<\/small><\/p>\n

\n

The Salt Lake Tribune (Utah) \u2013 October 4, 1973<\/h2>\n

\u201cFlash, Deodato Bands Need More Oomph\u201d by David Proctor. The Terrace, Wednesday, October 3, 1973; Flash opened for Deodato.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThey had trouble keeping time with each other, trouble producing listenable music and managed none of the special effects they base their name on.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cPeter Banks\u2019 chief ability seemed to be his talent with a synthesizer box hooked up to his guitar to produce violins-to-bagpipe sounds.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"The<\/a>
Click the clipping to enlarge.<\/small><\/p>\n

\n

The Journal Herald (Dayton, Ohio) \u2013 October 25, 1973<\/h2>\n

\u201cTwo bands display variety\u201d by Tom Scheidt. Hara Arena, \u201clast night\u201d (October 24), with Captain Beyond.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cFlash was the more musically bizarre and interesting of the two, but Beyond was more hard-dirving [sic], commercial and a bigger crowd pleaser.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cFlash changed moods constantly and weaved in and out of their ideas in a smooth, even, unforcing [sic] manner. Some of their soft passages were exquisite.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"The<\/a>
Click the clipping to enlarge.<\/small><\/p>\n

\n

The Prospector (El Paso, Texas) \u2013 November 15, 1973, page 14<\/h2>\n

\u201cAt 33 1\/3\u201d by Beth Jones, previewing the Three Dog Night concert at the El Paso Coliseum on November 16.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThough not advertised, FLASH will open the Three Dog Night Show set for 8 p.m. tomorrow in the Coliseum. Such a combination seems not only odd, but down-right bizarre . . .\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"The<\/a>
Click the clipping to enlarge.<\/small><\/p>\n

After the show the band gave the interview that appeared in The Prospector on November 29, 1973<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Newspaper names, dates and page numbers are as recorded on each clipping; where a clipping was cropped, they follow the archive\u2019s own records. Extracts are given as printed.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEWSPAPER REVIEWS AND PREVIEWS – 1972 and 1973 Flash<\/a> on the road Extracts from the contemporary press on Flash<\/a>\u2019s live shows These are short extracts from reviews and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":732,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1154","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterbanks.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterbanks.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterbanks.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterbanks.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterbanks.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1154"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterbanks.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1157,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterbanks.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1154\/revisions\/1157"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.peterbanks.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.peterbanks.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}