Details announced for the funeral of the Sunderland legend who brought music giants to Wearside
The funeral of a Sunderland music legend will be held later this month.
Final respects will be paid to Geoff Docherty when his funeral service takes place at Sunderland Crematorium on April 17.
Afterwards, people can gather to remember Geoff with informal drinks at The Peacock pub in Sunderland.
Geoff, who packed out venues such as the Bay Hotel and the Locarno, will forever be remembered as the man who brought Pink Floyd, The Who, Led Zeppelin and Tyrannosaurus Rex to Sunderland in the ’60s and ’70s.
Geoff’s story is a wonderful one of success. He carved a niche for himself as a music promoter in the 1960s after seeing six years service in the Fleet Air Arm.
He became a club doorman before turning to music promotion, with the Bay Hotel, in South Bents.
Family were the first band Geoff booked to play at the Bay, on January 6, 1969, with tickets costing six shillings each. Then came Free a week later.
Tyrannosaurus Rex played at the Bay Hotel in June 1969 and at Sunderland’s Locarno ballroom in November of the same year.
Radio One DJ John Peel, another great friend of Geoff’s, once declared the Rod Stewart and the Faces 1973 gig at the Locarno as his all-time favourite.
Geoff, who died last month, also booked names such as David Bowie and Mott the Hoople.
He was also the manager of a band from South Shields called Beckett who he first heard playing at Annabel’s in Sunderland.
Friends have remembered him as ‘the catalyst for a life-long love of music for thousands of people.’
The funeral will be held at Sunderland Crematorium, starting at 2.30pm on April 17.