The post by @Chrisf has been a lot of fun. Remarkable the breadth of shows the difference of opinion on the same shows. I think David Byrne’s American Utopia might be the most cited as the best show but it was a wide spread.
Anyway, the band you wished you had seen – from The Beatles on a wide range of names. But how many were actually a realistic proposition? Was seeing the Beatles ever on? I wish I had seen Keith Jarrett in a band setting but they never toured in Oz and weren’t touring in places I was visiting when I was overseas. So no, never really on.
No, the real regret is when you were there, they were there and you either chose not to go or circumstances intervened. @Jaygee is a classic example .Van’s Caledonia Soul Orchestra are in Birmingham on the TLTSN tour. He is of a concert going age, he knows they are in town he coulia gone, shoulda gone but didn’t. That’s regret with a capital R.
So give us your regrets. I’m still deciding on mine.
Ok 3 for me.
Shane MacGowan St Patrick’s Day. Town and Country I think. 1983. Could have been a rat arsed shambles but it’s a regret
U2 Zooropa tour. Sydney. My wife at the time wanted to go I was snooty. You could hear the show from our inner city backyard. Awkward. To make matters worse they dialled up a fave of mine Lou Reed.
Clapton avec Derek Trucks play Layla album in full. Seen Eric twice. Ordinary both times. This tour wasn’t.
3 from me also – ones that immediately come to mind (so I guess actually regrets as I remembered them straight away). I’m sure there’s more that I will think of later…..
Albert King / Burnley Blues Festival (I think), early 90s
– can’t actually find anything about this on the net (there’s something that says he played Colne in 1993, but I thought he died in 1992 !). Anyway, I recall seeing this advertised and I was based in Manchester at the time, so it would have been easy. As a huge blues fan (and Albert King long being a favourite), I can’t for the life of me remember why I didn’t go. He died shortly afterwards.
Queen / Magic Tour, Maine Road, 1986
– I had been a massive Queen fan growing up and was at Uni in Manchester at the time. I think a combination of lack of funds and partially an attitude that now I was a ‘proper student’ I shouldn’t go and see Queen, stopped me going (I did go for a curry in Rusholme just down the road so was nearby !). Freddie Mercury’s last ever tour and generally viewed as being superb.
Genesis / Reunion Tour 2007
– had seen Genesis on the three previous tours and we were over in the UK those weeks, so I planned to go. I recall them playing Manchester and Twickenham and was planning on the Twickenham concert as we were staying with family in Oxfordshire. However they swapped the dates and the Twickenham gig was now on my son’s (then 6) birthday so I skipped – oh well. I refused to go to the recent reunion concerts as I wanted to remember them in their prime, not with Phil Collins immobilised (that said they were apparently really good)
Saw Albert in Oz. Mid size venue, old school. Band came on in dinner suits small amps , a good 20 minutes warm up. Albert comes on not the friendliest guy but that guitar tone sure was sweet.
Re: Queen tour – I saw that tour at Knebworth and yes, I’m with the general view. It was superb. Of course, we had no idea at the time that it would be Queen’s last ever concert with Fred.
In 1974 I was living in London and spending all my spare cash on concerts. Coming from New Zealand, where in the early 70s overseas acts rarely toured (the exception being Led Zeppelin, who added a NZ date to their Australian tour in 1972 because Jimmy Page had enjoyed himself in NZ with The Yardbirds) – it was quite a thrill for my teenage self to be able to buy the current (not 3 month old) edition of the NME and buy tickets for a gig. I would go to my hero bands, like ELP and Procol Harum, and bands I’d never heard of, like Henry Cow, as well as going to hear classical music that I’d never heard performed live, a lot of Mahler, Bach’s Mass in B minor etc etc
Then Steely Dan came to town. I wasn’t really into them at the time, I’d heard the singles, didn’t have the albums, and I think I’d exhausted both my finances and frankly my capacity to hear another concert.
Fast forward to a couple of years later, back in NZ and absolutely doting on Pretzel Logic and Katy Lied and catching up on the first 2 albums – and kicking myself for not hearing Steely Dan live.
A few decades later I’d heard them twice within maybe 5 years in Sydney.
Yeah that’s another one Steely Dan / Steve Winwood double bill What was I thinking?
Yeah that was one I saw in Sydney. I think SW joined SD for Pretzel Logic
You’re not helping !
Ha! Sorry – why do I keep apologising to you here? Just having a nice reminisce – anyway you started it!
I saw that in Birmingham in ?2019? – last time i saw the Dan, so no Walt, but all the same … definitive double bill. Unless Boz scaggs could do a solo set then join Steely Dan as the new Walt, and the Dan do “Lowdown”: I can dream. I suspect Don is now in quiet retirement.
Yes, I saw this at Wembley Arena – terrific night. Interestingly, SW did hardly any solo stuff, concentrating on Traffic, Blind Faith and Spencer Davis Group songs.
Most expensive ticket I ever bought (MCR) but worth it.
No change from that posted on the other thread. I could have gone to Ali Farka Toure if I’d prioritised my taking of leave, but it would have need a couple of days for a gig in that London, and I only got nine individual days of leave per year on those days.
I do keep a Word file of all that I have seen at festivals. Every now and then, I return to the list and the programme and see some bad choices of which stage to head to. My one and only Green Man in 2007 saw me miss Battles, Fernhill, King Creosote and a newbie Rachel Unthank. I just didn’t know any better back then. 2009 Cambridge I went to see Los Lobos instead of Lau. Ouch! But I think I’ve made up for it since.
I was offered a ticket for The Jam’s last but one gig at Guildford Civic Hall in 1982. It would also have been my first gig. Can’t fully remember why I didn’t take up the offer but I suspect it might have been lack of funds, I was only 15 and was probably between paper rounds or something. Yeah, ouch!
Van der Graaf at Queen Margaret Union in Glasgow, 1977. I’d had a nasty bout of chicken pox about a week before (never had it as a small child) and, although I was clear of the spots, I was really wiped out. I was going to make the effort to go, then thought “nah, I’ll see them next time…” Of course, they split up in 1978 and didn’t reform until 2005.
John Martyn at Henry Afrikas in Glasgow, 1983. This was broadcast live on Radio Clyde, so I had a decision to make: trust my parents to tape it for me and go to the gig; or stay at home and tape it myself. I chose the latter. Admittedly I had a very high quality off-air cassette recording for many years (one of his best gigs ever IMHO, with Alan Thomson and Jeff Allen). But I do regret not going and trying to get in, especially since the whole gig is now available on YT (audio only).
My main regret also involved Van Der Graaf Generator, who were playing in Hemel Hempstead on December 18, 1975. I was visiting the UK during this time and had seen loads of concerts – but VDGG would have been the ultimate. Weather and the vagaries of London’s public transport at the time posed a problem, though, and so I unwisely opted out. Reviews of the concert say it was a blinder. Luckily I saw the band with David Jackson when they reformed 30 years later.
I lived in London for 36 years, so I could have seen everybody. But The Band played The Albert in 1971. I had tickets, but the then other half insisted on some tomfool expedition to a Scottish island. Like a moron I went along with it, then married her and got divorced in short order. I don’t quite recognise myself in the early 70s.
Also: Laughing Len in Brisbane. Couldn’t get it together – and the venue is shit – and that was my last chance.
Yep he toured twice in a few years. Didnt go twice. Twice a fool.
I have mentioned frequently the Beach Boys at Wembley, supporting Elton John, as being a big and lasting regret. Especially when others confirm what a good day it was.
Neil Young in somewhere outside in London, backed by Booker T. Another where I “could” have gone, as in friends were going, but I turned it down for reasons unremembered.
John Martyn in Brum, on his last tour; @stevet had alerted me to it, but I had something “better” to do.
The Cure gig recently, at Koko in London, where they premiered Songs of a Lost World. Mainly as a small venue, the Cure being a band I have never seen, now put off by the size of the venue they more usually play. Same issue with U2.
I saw that Neil Young/Booker T tour at the Glasgow SECC. I must say: I had my doubts, being a stout Crazy Horse type, and had to be talked into it by my then girlfriend (she was more of a Booker T fan than a Neil Young type).
But it was great, I was glad I went. And Teenage Fanclub as support? Huzzah!
Saw The Cure on their last tour from the last row of the First Direct Arena in Leeds – and it was surprisingly good sound and visuals.
Not a great fan of enormodomes either, but they can work.
I think Leeds Arena works better as the stage is on the long side and although you’re still far back you’re not as far back as if the stage is along the short side.
Three spring to mind.
Manchester 1977 – wandered past the Apollo theatre and they were opening the doors as the tickets for Jackson Browne’s tour came on sale – the Running on Empty tour. Did I nip in and grab front row seats? No, I couldn’t be arsed. Idiot!
Oxford, 1978 – AC/DC in a pub in town. Did I go? No. Couldn’t be arsed to get the bus in. Idiot!
Paris 2001. Diana Krall records her magnificent live album at the Olympia. This time I could I have been arsed except I had no interest in DK then and didn’t know it was on or I’m sure I would have done. I was certainly there anyway as I lived there.
AC DC Powerage and Let There Be Rock released around then.
Bon and the boys in their prime . Yep @Twang you fucked up.
I really did!
Diana Krall live in Paris? (…swoons…)
I lived in Manchester in ’77 and I’m amazed I missed this concert given my JB fanboy status!
Many, many years later, on 24 October 2004, my wife and I went to The Lowry in Salford Quays to see Paul Carrack (who was tremendous). We decided to spend a couple of days reminiscing in Manchester. I knew that JB was appearing that evening (25th) at The Bridgewater Hall and that it was sold out but “by chance” we were standing outside the Hall when I suggested we pop in to see if they had any returns. After an eye-roll from her we found ourselves at the ticket office where a lovely lady said “yes we do – we have 2 returns in row E and 2 in row G! Result.
It was a solo gig where he had around 15 guitars in a rack to the side and took requests from the audience. Maybe he “pretended” to take requests, but he did fluff one or two songs so maybe not. It was a wonderful gig.
I saw that solo show in Paris. Completely agree, excellent gig. A drunk lady in the audience shouted “you’re Jackson Browne” to some amusement. JB looked up and said “thank you, sometimes I do wonder”.
Not a music thing but I really regret not seeing Ricky Jay when he was in London doing a close-up card magic show some years ago at, I think, The Old Vic. I remember trying to persuade my friend, who was capable of throwing a wet blanket over pretty much anything, to accompany me but he was predictably unenthusiastic. Somehow the momentum was lost and I never ended up going.
Cluster playing their Grosses Wasser album at a swimming pool in Sunderland. I think this event was a special commission as part of a local festival or something. I’d been a big Cluster fan for some years and this was a real one-off so I have no idea why I didn’t go to this – it’s hardly like they were playing here every other week or something.
The Pet Shop Boys performing their soundtrack to Battleship Potemkin at the shipyards in Walker on Tyneside. I believe I might actually have had a ticket for this but couldn’t be arsed to make the 20 minute drive.
The PSB Potemkin thing is coming out on a BFI blu-ray soon.
I was at the Swan Hunter event…it was very atmospheric and quite, quite surreal. And they didn’t even do Wallsend Girls…😉
I was there too. We arrived early and were standing for hours before everything started. Left before the end as I couldn’t feel my feet, although I did enjoy the film. Seem to remember Tim Healy did the introduction.
Why aye, it was properly brass monkey weather.
Colin? Is that you? Fauxgeordie hasn’t blogged here for ages, y’kna, I mean, you know.
It can get decidedly chilly by the Tyne, at a festival outside the Sage (or whatever it’s called now) you could see the sea haar rolling in.
When it reached you the temperature dropped suddenly and it was indeed brass monkeys. It had been quite a pleasant day up to then.
Joy Division supporting the Buzzcocks at the Hemel Hempstead Pavilion, 5 November 1979.
I think I had some important exam at school the next morning, so I thought it best I didn’t go.
“Nah, I’ll see them next time…” was my reasoning…
I was also going to see the Buzzcocks at Leicester, De Montfort Hall, with Joy Division supporting on a Monday night in 1979. I went out on the Sunday evening and had too much to drink, felt crap all day at work and told my friend I couldn’t make it. I watched the film Control recently and thought of what might have been. Oh well.
I confirm you missed a treat. They rotated the headline act on that tour but both were equally brilliant in their unique ways.
After Richard and Linda’s “tour from hell” (which I knew or had heard anything about) they were due to play Barnsley. My girlfriend at the time didn’t want to go and as I’d refused to see Jethro Tull with her earlier, I thought I’d better not push it to go see them.
IIRC that was their last ever show together.
Much earlier than the Tour from Hell, I saw them at Drury Lane, supported by (or supporting, I forget) The Bothy Band. November 1978, I would guess
Also, a year or two later, at London Victoria’s The Venue, by then between labels, Joe Boyd yet to pick up Shoot Out The Lights.
I’d seen them earlier in fact this year is my 50th anniversary, it was the fact it was their last ever concert.
They didn’t appear on stage together until RT’s 70th at the RAH the friend who I was with who’s ten years younger than me remarked it was the first time he’d ever seen them on stage together.
That’ll learn me!
Richard and Linda did reunite on stage together earlier than that, in June 2010 for the Kate McGarrigle celebration at the Royal Festival Hall (part of RT’s Meltdown season).
Thanks alas I never made it to that, that’s another I’d like to have seen then.
I was offered work backstage at Knebworth when Pink Floyd played in 1975. Nah….bit busy, sorry….grrrr.
I was working for British Airways and had been involved in some tiresome negotiations with some very humourless people for BA to be involved in promoting the soon-to-open EuroDisney resort. As a thank you, the marketing department offered me and the junior lawyer involved two free passes to spend a night in the Hotel Cheyenne and the following day in the resort a few days before the official opening. It’s absolutely not the kind of thing I would ever enjoy but it was a nice gesture and I said yes.
Within days, I had a call from a mate to say he’d snapped up tickets to see George Harrison at the Albert Hall that day, the only date George played in the UK in my lifetime that I could have attended. I am a lifelong Beatle fan and especially a fan of George’s solo material. I was distraught to have to say no but didn’t feel I could back out of the EuroDisney jolly without causing offence and disappointing the junior lawyer involved.
So I went to EuroDisney and hated every minute, from the surly French staff at the Hotel Cheyenne who all managed to say the compulsory “Howdy” with the same contemptuous sneer to the moment when I was the next person to board the Big Thunder Mountain ride – after queuing for over an hour – and they announced that it was being withdrawn from service due to a technical fault.
I’m lucky enough to have very few regrets in my life. Missing that concert is very high on the list.
If you are going to have regrets make them good ones.
That’s a good un.
2 for me.
Prefab Sprout supporting Paul Brady in Belfast, 1984. I’d heard Swoon, and fell in love immediately, but knew nothing about this gig until after it had happened.
XTC at Queen’s University, Belfast in 1979. I’d already missed them playing at The Pound in Belfast the previous year, so made sure I got a ticket for this one. Unfortunately by the day of the gig I was suffering from a dose of flu, so had to leave before the gig started. They never played Belfast again.
Neil Young at The Apollo, Manchester, March 11, 2008
I was very ill and gave my ticket to a friend
It was my only chance of seeing Shakey play in a small venue instead of the usual aerodromes/field where I’ve seen him several times before and since
Would it help you if I told you it was brilliant??? I’ve never bothered to see him again because I know it couldn’t touch that show.
I was at that one too, my first NY show, though not my last.
May 1994. Rob was the first of us to get his driving license and we’d sometimes go the 30 odd miles in his mum’s Fiesta, to Birmingham to see a gig.
Rob had just got a new 12″ single by some band on Creation, which I quite liked, but not especially so. He offered to drive us to Brum, to the Jug of Ale to see them play, but me, Simon and Matt couldn’t be bothered. Ah well, we made the right choice, as no one ever heard of Oasis again
My usual answer to this is Jeff Buckley in a small bar in Wolverhampton. I said “No, I’ll wait until he has another album out and more songs to play.”
Jeff Buckley. I loved Grace, and he played the Cambridge Junction on the Wednesday night, the week of Glastonbury.
My future Best Man lived in Camberley and we both had the Thursday off to attend Ladies’ Day at Ascot races. I thought I’d drive down on Weds night and catch Jeff at Glastonbury.
I won 600 quid on the first race and lost most of it on the rest. We went for beers and a curry next to the station, I went for a slash, my homing instinct kicked in and I got on the wrong train (heading for London). I sobered up a bit at Waterloo, remembered I was staying at his, I’d missed the last train to Camberley, so I got one to Aldershot instead. I had 60 quid cash left in my pocket. Got in a taxi. “How much to Camberley?” “That’ll be 60 quid, mate”.
Hungover on Friday morning, I drove to Pilton and got into the festival at lunchtime, walked down the hill towards the Pyramid stage to hear “Please put your hands together for Jeff Buckley.” F***, I’d missed him. I went off to the Acoustic stage for a sulk.
It turned out I hadn’t missed Jeff, I’d missed him singing BVs on Everything But The Girl’s final song, and Jeff and band were due to play an hour or two later.
Oh well, I’ll see him next time.
Sorry to piss on your chips but you really don’t need to know I went to see JB at The Garage in London on his first UK visit. It was quite incredible (not just saying that with hindsight) it was REALLY incredible, so moving and one of the best nights of my life. It was obvious that night that this guy was going to be huge, I saw folks openly crying in the audience at the emotion of it all, it was just fantastic, sorry.
I blame the poppadoms. It can’t possibly have been all that beer…
Jeff’s set was broadcast on Radio 6 years later and I recorded it. He was very good.
Oh man, that is awesome. I’ve heard a ton of bootlegs of those early shows, would have killed to be at one of them. We really were robbed of something special.
@gardener Buckley was support act that night upstairs at The Garage. I had a couple of mates who were going to see the headline act, Scottish Americana group The Lost Soul Band. My mates were initially thrilled to see a huge crowd had turned up, then bemused as to why everyone left after the support finished.
McCartney at The O2 a few months ago. I have a contact who can “help” with O2 tickets but didn’t feel I could ask. Next time I saw him he said, “Oh yeah, we had loads of comps left, couldn’t get rid of them.”
Kirsty MacColl at Shepherds Bush Empire. I’d seen her at The Fleadh and also, after an agonising flight dedbacle at Dublin, just caught the encore at the T&C. I knew her half sister a bit through work who offered to get us on the guest list but my wife was pregnant so I declined. She was dead a few months later.
The Pogues at The Sir George Robey. I was living downstairs from a very switched on, cute girl who used to go to their early gigs, before anyone had really heard of them. They sounded intriguing and terrifying in equal measures plus it was a long way to go, even if she’d asked me if I wanted to go, which she didn’t and I didn’t ask to tag along.
This is one I did go to…but I also didn’t. Let me explain…
This is in Wellington NZ, early 2000s. I caught up with an old friend who was in the area and we met in a pub. Presently, a couple of young guys started to set up their gear very close to us and it became apparent that they were about to perform some songs in the area where we sat. A small crowd gathered around us, clearly to watch them play – and we decided to move away and sit at a quieter table at the other end of the pub to continue our conversation.
It was Flight of the Conchords.
I’ve probably told this one before, but…Peter Gabriel at Earls Court on June 28th 1987. In a frenzy of excitement but very little forward-thinking I sent for the tickets for me and a mate, including an SAE (them were t’days!) out of my dole money. Incredibly, the tickets arrived, but as the date came almost upon us, for one reason or another we hadn’t given any thought about how to get back and the consequent need for overnight accommodation, so allied to the reality that we were both pretty skint…we just didn’t bother going.
And OF COURSE that was the date that Kate Bush decided to rock up and duet with him on Don’t Give Up – Kate being at the zenith of her post-HOL prominence, and my absolute obsession at the time…Grrrrrr!
But, dear reader, I had the last laugh – oh yes! Saw both Kate (twice) and Peter (ironically celebrating the same album, So) in 2014.
1970, London. Mate who was “in the biz” said “Eric C has just started a new band, The Dominos or something, they’ve played a few gigs so far but some big concerts coming up. Private gig next Sunday, Mick and John and everybody will be there. Wanna come?” I thought about it for three seconds. “Sure”, I casually replied.
Meet Up with girlfriend who excitedly says “I’ve got box tickets for James Taylor at the Palladium next Sunday! Everybody says Joni Mitchell will join him on stage. Isn’t that great?”
Guess which concert I went to ? (Which actually was pretty good apart from that West Coast drippy hippy vibe everywhere). Whilst J&J hugged and kissed, was I thinking of sitting next to rock royalty watching Eric Clapton? You betcha.
I would definitely say you saw the better of the two gigs there, hippy dippy or otherwise.
Bjorn Again, LA2, 26th March 1994.
It was the only Bjorn Again gig in reasonable distance of home that I’d missed in six months or so of seeing them at least once a week. But I started the day in the Italian Alps on the 3am transfer coach to Geneva airport. Got home in plenty of time but went for an afternoon nap and slept through until about 10pm.
It was the gig that was recorded for the Live Album. It sounds like a fantastic gig, which would have been even better had I been there in person.
I can’t remember the year but I went to see some local band in a Milton Keynes pub (who turned out to be pretty bloody poor) after being pressured by friends that it would be “much more fun” than going to see Lambchop at The Stables supported by Sufjan Stevens, nooooooooooo….
I had a ticket to see Be Bop Deluxe at Leicester De Montford Hall in 1978, my dad saw it, grabbed it off me AND TORE IT UP!! He claimed I was too young to go (I wasn’t, I was 15 and had been to several gigs by that age including Queen, Split Enz and several others) but dad was an alcoholic and a bit of a complete bastard at times and this was one of those times.
What a shit of a thing to do.
I think I told this story on the old WORD blog – so here it is again.
The Beatles. In 1966 my aunt gave me a ticket to see the Beatles on their german „Blitz Tour“. I was ten years old and on the evening decided to join my dad for the local cinema instead to see the latest Lex Barker movie. Auntie assured me that we could see the Fabs „next year“… Oh yeah.
My brother still has the unused ticket, framed, on his living room wall.
Ouch!
British band tours West Germany under the heading »Bravo Beatles Blitz Tournee«.
Don’t mention the war, indeed. 😉
Well it’s not like the Erics didn’t know who Beatle Band were…
I remember being in two minds about going to see the Pretenders play the SFX in Dublin in the mid 90s. It was pelting down with rain and I didn’t fancy getting drenched waiting for the bus in and home so I decided against it. Turns out the support on the night were two new bands at the time – World Party and Big Audio Dynamite. I really regret missing that line up and it was at least 10 years later when I eventually saw a less vital Pretenders live.
A friend had 4 rickets to Live Aid.
We also had 4 tickets to Dire Straits at Wembley Arena on the same day.
We opted for the latter assuming that if Live Aid was going to be any good we could watch some of it on the TV before we saw Dire Straits. So the Live Aid tickets were sold.
At least Sting was there for his bit!
Big Mistake!
I really regret not arranging a London trip for Tom Petty at Hyde Park a few years back. I never saw him play and me and mate talked about going to that, but never sorted it out.
More generally, I have frequently winced at the thought of the acts I could have seen but didn’t. Living in London’s suburbia in the 60s I had all of those brilliant venues like the Marquee, Les Cousins, the 101, Ronnie Scotts etc, all just a tube ride away. I was 18 in 1968 and doing A levels, so cash would have been an issue I suppose, and then I left London for college in 1969. I did get to see some brilliant stuff obviously (Tull in a pub in Leytonstone, Collosseum, Taste, Cream and the like), but if only I’d made more of an effort….a bit like my A levels really.
In early November 2011 I had a ticket to see Jackie Leven at Kitchen Garden Cafe. The concert was cancelled due to illness. Within a week he had passed away. It would have been my second time of seeing him and I regret not seeing him again before this fateful gig.
This rankles almost as much as missing Jeff Buckley – as recounted in the other list.
In September 1984 I bought my first flat (absolutely unthinkable for a local government employee these days). Money was tight and I had an overdraft which I overspent on.
I was summoned by my bank manager who roasted me for my fecklessness, making not so veiled threats about what would happen if I didn’t rein in my spending. To be fair to myself a lot of it had been unavoidable, though I thought it better not to mention that I had travelled to Rotterdam to see Everton beat Rapid Vienna in the European Cup Winners’ Cup Final (which as I recall in total accounted for less then £100 of my overspend) a few weeks earlier.
On July 4th I was at work when a couple of friends approached. They had decided to go to Wembley that night to see Bruce Springsteen.
The plan was to buy tickets off touts. With my bank manager’s words still ringing in my ears I regretfully declined. It was inconceivable.
About eight to ten of them went off on this gloriously hot summer’s day.
You can therefore imagine how pissed off I was the next morning when I found out what happened.
They came out of Wembley Park tube and found themselves surrounded by touts desperate to unload tickets. The touts had massively overestimated demand – it’s possible that their greed in buying as many tickets as they could had resulted in the extra date being added.
My friends paid fifty pence per ticket – £0.50 – to see Bruce and the band.
I could have ventured fifty pence without worrying about my bank manager.
I’m still annoyed.
The only time I got to see Warren Zevon was at the Town and Country Club on the Learning to Flinch Tour in Sept 1991 or 1992.
Having got a ticket from one of the legalized touts on Shaftsbury Avenue, I got there quite early and repaired to a nearby pub for a drink. I ended up sitting next to and striking up a conversation with a bloke who it turned out was an illegal ticket tout. While I wish I could remember all he told me about the ins and outs of the touting business, the one piece of advice that’s stuck with me was to hold off buying until the gig you want to see starts and excess tickets are offloaded for next to nothing.
I was at that Warren Zevon gig too.
That takes a but of nerve. Miss the start, gotta fight for a position and what if it sells out while you are waiting?
I’ve done a lot of Glastonburys, and inevitably I’ve seen some great performances and some shit ones. But there’s one in particular that, to quote the OP, I most regret missing out on. And that’s because it was the one which didn’t happen, because the silly guitarist broke his collarbone pissing about on a mountain bike, and consequently they didn’t show up. Even without Reni, I was dying to hear them play live. Some other band took their place, mind. And they were pretty good.
I saw them a couple of months later headlining a festival in Ireland. I mean, they were alright, but compared to what you got with Pulp truly in their moment (I remember listening to that live on the radio and then coming downstairs to watch it all over again – with a couple of bits left out – on tv). I think I’d sooner have seen the SBTDH with the restored lineup on the comeback shows..
Tackhead rolled their truck into the an embankment on the way to hour gig. Still managed to turn up some 2 hours later which was sporting of them. Fortunately we had 2 extra hours of Adrian Sherwood’s dub mix to fill in the time.
Bicycles eh?
We went to see Kelly Joe Phelps at the old Leicester Phoenix on 12th November 2003 supported by Adrian Legg – a dream bill for guitarists.
My unreliable memory tells me that it was left to Kelly Joe to start his set early by informing the audience that Adrian had fallen off his bike that afternoon and couldn’t make the gig! One guy was so incensed that he stood up and lurched his way out whilst shouting abuse at the stage! Kelly Joe seemed bemused but sanguine and played a blistering set, but without any of his trademark slide guitar.
When we left the gig, we passed by the back of the hall on the way to the car park and KJ was resting on the back of his van whilst loading out. We exchanged pleasantries and I asked him why he wasn’t playing slide at that time (which was hugely disappointing to me). “Just not feeling it, man” he said. Fair enough.
Double gutted there!
I had a ticket to see Nirvana at Newcastle Riverside, which was their first UK gig. At the last minute, my ‘friend’ phoned to say there was a change of plan and we were going to see some local indie band in Sunderland instead. I kept the unused ticket for years before throwing it away. I regret that too.
Throwing that ticket away.
Oh dear.
I know. No idea what I was thinking.
Whatever it was, it was wrong.
Yep
I regret missing Nirvana at the Riverside. And Oasis (when they famously had a fight with the audience).
God I loved that place.
I know exactly what you mean paulwright. It was a very special place. I was at the Oasis gig. Managed to keep the ticket (and t shirt) from that one.
It’s not a huge regret but my mates saying “oh god not another bloody Irish band you are trying to drag us along to” is why I never saw U2 at Leeds Uni…