Given that it’s unlikely that any of us are likely to be seeing anything other than a bastardised socially distanced form of live music any time soon, what are the past gigs you went to that you’d most like to see again?
Please also feel free to include details of your first – and worst – concerts, too if you feel the need.
Hendrix, Pink Floyd, and (apparently) the Move in ’67. Only this time I’d be aware of what was happening.
Not the Beatles in ’64, though.
Spooky Tooth and Pink Floyd at Middle Earth, ditto. Dylan and Janis Joplin at the Albert. Stones in Hyde Park, only this time they wouldn’t be rubbish. Beatles, but with no girls in the audience, chiz.
First concert: Billy Fury, Duffy Power, Georgie Fame and the rest of the Larry Parnes mob at the Southend Odeon, 1960-ish.
Worst: Dylan at the Hammersmith Odeon, 1990.
I saw the Hendrix package tour.
Has to be the Carter Family gig at the Mean Fiddler where Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Johnny Cash and not forgetting, Joe Brown joined them.
As far as standard shows are concerned, The Waitresses gig at the Venue in London would be a nice stop on the time machine.
…and since the Chris Frantz bio, I guess the only way I’m ever going to see Talking Heads again would be by jumping back in the TM.
I can’t help thinking that, should the technology ever exist, this wouldn’t really make the best use of it!
My best 3 gigs ever:
Sex Pistols Cromer Links Pavilion 24/12/77
Talking Heads Wembley Arena 1982
Chucho Valdes Queen Elizabeth Hall early 2000s.
I would happily see Talking Heads and Chucho again and I would love to be as thrilled and excited by a gig as I was by the Pistols. That was all part of being a teenager. I don’t think it would do it for me today but back then it was a brilliant experience.
3 of the very best: The Waterboys-Concert Hall, Toronto, Fisherman’s Blues Tour, October 11th, 1989, Loudon Wainwright-El Mocambo, Toronto, 1977, Liverpool Scene, Magic Village, Manchester, 1968……………first concert: Manfred Mann, The Caravelles and Marty Wilde, Blackpool South Pier, 1965………..Worst concert, Feb 1971, Free Trade Hall, Manchester… the Charisma Records Six Bob Ticket tour….Lindisfarne were brilliant, Genesis were awful and to top it off the “headliners” Van Der Graf Generator were totally dire……lesson learned: “rock” gigs were usually awful
I would like revisit the Stones et al at Knebworth with more stamina and Dylan et al at Blackbushe with less booze.
Pink Floyd at Knebworth. With the Spitfire doing the victory roll over the stage and the sun going down as they struck up Shine on you crazy diamond. Not necessarily the best but the most evocative.
Following that I would like to see the 1974 Steely Dan gig that was cancelled because Donald Fagen had laryngitis or the band didn’t like British food depending which story you want to believe.
I had never looked forward to a gig so much – it was more than 30 years before I go to see them.
I had tickets for the Dan in 1974 as well. Never seen them.
You forgot to check if there was gas in the car.
Another cancelled gig – I had a ticket for The Clash at The Liberty in Balham in early 1980. Topper Headon hurt his hand (that was the official excuse anyway) a week before, and the gig was postponed for five months. In the intervening time, The Liberty went into liquidation and closed permanently. Never bothered to try and get my money back. True, it re-opened as a bingo hall much later, but I doubt that Joe n’ the boys would have fancied that.
Another cancelled gig – I had a ticket for The Clash at The Liberty in Balham in early 1980. Topper Headon hurt his hand (that was the official excuse anyway) a week before, and the gig was postponed for five months. In the intervening time, The Liberty went into liquidation and closed permanently. Never bothered to try and get my money back. True, it re-opened as a bingo hall much later, but I doubt that Joe n’ the boys would have fancied that.
I’d like to see the Man gig I apparently went to in 1976 but have no recollection of, though the Ted Nugent gig I went to in 1979 and also can’t remember can stay lost.
I was lucky to get tickets for the Stones at the Astoria in London in 2003, wouldn’t love to repeat that one.
Also a particular favourite of mine was my only visit to King Tuts in Glasgow in 2005 to see Kasey Chambers.
Free at Liverpool Stadium – 1971
Worst has to be Lou Reed at the Royal Albert Hall, in I think 2000.
The Picnic (a.k.a. Blackbushe).
Edwyn Collins’ comeback gig at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in 2008, with Roddy Frame as musical director on lead guitar.
Jason and The Scorchers at the Garage – about 2010, I think.
The Pretenders (with JHS and PF)- Hammersmith Odeon – My first ever gig, 1980
Geno Washington and The Ram Jam Band – Aberdeen Beach Ballroom circa 1883. I hated Soul, only went cos I fancied Deborah Diack and she loved Soul. Best forty five minutes of my life (and the concert wasn’t bad either).
Worst concerts were the year I pretended I really dug Jazz. Went everywhere, saw everyone. All awful but Lol Coxhill at Pizza Express plumbed depths unknown to even Captain Nemo.
Ar least you got to meet Prince Andrew.
Ah, that was the sweaty guy at the next table!
Sweaty? Take back that treason, you varlet!
You’re still thinking about being in the swe-aty club with Geno and his pals.
No, Randy Ad was conspicuous by the fact he was the only guy at gig who wasn’t sweating
Having had his pre gig meal at that Pizza place in Woking with his kids.
Salif Kieta, Coutances, 1996. Magical. The guitarist was a smiling genius and Salif was beatific. I don’t actually remember much about it, though I was sober as a judge. It was just somewhere else, somewhere very very good.
Just looking forward to the next Wilco gig whenever that is, they take the roof off every night.
What I think is the best gig I have seen is Bruce Springsteen and the E St Band, Stafford 1981. At the time I had seen few gigs so would maybe like to see it again to see if it was as good as I remember it (based on Wembley 81 release it probably is). Other more recent candidate would be David Byrne’s last tour, but I saw 2 shows so I am good.
Worst gig was probably Simple Minds Hammersmith Odeon 83(?) Already going through the motions just a year after releasing a masterpiece.
Fonda 500 at the Portland Arms, about 12 years ago, supported by The Pony Collaboration. First time I’d seen the (local) support and was blown away. Then F500 came on and I fell in love a bit (a lot) with Sandra Bullock-lookee-likee bassist Bod.
And my 50th birthday bash. I sat in on bass with TPC for the encore but had learned the song from an old CD. First problem: I couldn’t hear myself on stage and… Second problem: they now performed it in a different key. Third problem: the strap slipped off my shoulder after the first verse. To avoid dropping Mark’s lovely Jazz on the floor, I threw myself down and caught it. Since my head was now nearly at floor level, I could hear myself properly. I now play like crap. I wish I’d had a rehearsal…
Dr Feelgood at Liverpool University in 1975. Mainly because I was 16 and would love to be 16 again. The gig was amazing, completely discombulating the audience who were all long-haired hippies.
The best gig I’ve witnessed is Chic on my sixtieth birthday at Castlefields Bowl, Manchester. The outdoor venue, the crowd, the vibe, the weather, the performance were perfect. The worst is Chic a year later in Liverpool Echo Arena. The sound was awful echoing around and hurting my ears. Didn’t stay long. I’ve never been to a good gig at that venue.
Loved Chic last year. If we are going for worst sound that would be The Buzzcocks for me in the Opera House in Toronto in 2010. Fantastic performance but I couldn’t take the volume or the distortion and also left early. Special mention to Pete Townshend’s distorted guitar sound in 1981 when seeing The Who at Deeside Leisure Centre. Couldn’t hear properly for a week and I think my hearing may have been permanently damaged. Cheers Pete!
Loudest for me probably Alabama 3 at the Institute 3 in Digbeth, I until then not realising they had a 3rd subterranean cavern. Most of the audience had the sense to take their hearing aids out.
“The worst is Chic a year later in Liverpool Echo Arena. The sound was awful echoing around and hurting my ears.”
The clue’s in the name, Echo Arena. I’m here all week etc
Loudest for me was The Beastie Boys at The ICA about 2005. Worst sound was Springsteen at Earls Court around 1999. My wife still moans about it. Great show ruined by the PA or the venue acoustics, depending on your point of view.
Earls Court was always awful, an arena plunked down in the middle of a much bigger echoey space. However I saw 2 nights of Bruce at the time and the sound was very dependent on where you were seated. Generally an awful venue though
It is, of course, named after the Liverpool Echo newspaper but the architect took it literally and designed an arena that echoes horribly.
Leonard Cohen at Birmingham Odeon in late December 1979. Both Jennifer Warnes and a very young Sharon Robinson in the heavenly choir. Raffi Hakopian on violin. It was snowing that night and it was like going to church: the atmosphere was electric with reverence and anticipation. The show concluded with a selection of Christmas Carols including Silent Night.
Bruce Springsteen at the NEC in July 1981. Last night of the European Tour. Crap seats at the back so we memorised the position of two empties near the front and stole into them at the interval. It was hands down the greatest rock show I ever saw.
David Bowie and the Spiders From Mars at Kingston Polytechnic May 1972. Angela Bowie was down the front dancing with us youngsters. A unique setlist too. Support were the JSD Band who were also amazing. Bowie described them as “the best band we ever played with.”
I was at the Bruce show at the nec but it was in June (the 8th). Great night butte show he did at the much smaller Manchester Apollo three weeks before shaded it for me.
Best gig I ever saw was The Beach Boys at Wembley on mid-summer’s day in 1975 (supporting Elton john). Closely followed by Neil and the Horse at Hammersmith Odeon in March 76 and Van M at the Dominion Theatre in Spring 82 or 83 (the inarticulate speech of the heart tour)
Saw that Van concert in 83 – a great counterpoint to the dross in Melbourne a few years later.
Saw Van at the Dominion twice, once in 82 and another in 84. Great shows, this was the first one.
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/van-morrison/1982/dominion-theatre-london-england-73f72685.html
Re: “David Bowie and the Spiders From Mars at Kingston Polytechnic May 1972. Angela Bowie was down the front dancing with us youngsters.”
Respect!
1. Blimey, Artery – I think you might win this thread – unless Kaisfatdad turns up with the story of how he saw the Wailers in a pub in Hammersmith in May 1973!
2. if you were all up the front dancing and having a great time with Angie Bowie, it sounds like it was a case of “Funky Kingston”.
Errr … I’m here all week. Try the chicken!
“He saw the Wailers in a pub” – Bunny had a light and bitter, Bob had lager and blackcurrant, Peter had Double Diamond. The lack of salt and vinegar Golden Wonder caused brief iration.
“Peter had Double Diamond”
You’re talking absolute Tosh, Moosey.
Why, was he more of a Watneys man?
Trophy, if memory serves me well. With a dash.
I like sport. It has a start and an end.
Kick-off 3.00 p.m.; Umpire calls “play” at 11.00 a.m.
Football finishes at 4.55, cricket at 6.30.
You know where you are.
Gigs … hmm … always a problem for me, unless it’s (ironically) a punkish kinda thing in a pub.
The two best – The Kinks (who we followed around London when they couldn’t give tickets away) in Kentish Town on the 25th Anniversary of “You Really Got Me.” Effortlessly the best gig I ever saw them play because, to semi-quote the song, “all of the Davies family were there!” They knew that, and they played their hearts out. My mate was at university and had been given tomatoes from his dad’s allotment to take back that night, took them in a plastic bag to the gig, started dancing very strangely and … well, I apologise to the staff of the Forum for the mess left.
And Linda Perhacs at Cecil Sharp House, wonderful concert – and I also found out (too late) that the most beautiful girls in the world frequent folk clubs … ho-hum.
The gig I’d really want to go to –
Hyde Park 1968 – Marc, The Pink Floyd, The Jethro Tull and Roy Harper – before the great unwashed lumped on. Peel’s favourite ever outdoor concert. I think only about 10,000/15,000 were there and it was on the same day as the Floyd’s 2nd album was released and a week before the first Tyrannosaurus Rex album. The most experienced act on the bill was probably Harper.
Oh … and re: the 68 Hyde Park concert … it was free. Gratis. No charge.
Football finishes at 4.55? Lot of injury time
Nope.
90 mins takes us to 4.30.
Minimum 10 mins h-t.
Ref adds on 30 seconds for each of the now considerable substitutions (6 or so) and then there’s injury time at the end of each half (1 or 2 in the 1st half, 4 or 5 in the 2nd). Ref wipes his arse a few times.
You win … 4.54.
You’ve never been to a game?
A dodger AND never been to a football match?
Save your poumd, don’t buy a lottery ticket!
In my experience, “slightly” more dependable than guessing how long it takes a raaawwwkkk ssstttaaaaaaarrrrrrrr to snort coke up his hooter and lower himself to take the stage.
When I went to games they ended at 4.40. More of a rugby man if it actually comes to going through turnstiles.And I didn’t dodge anything.
Cant believe they don’t stop the clock in football. They even kept it running during mid half drinks breaks this summer. Absolutely ridiculous.
Watching Premier League I would say that without serious injuries there is normally 2 mins added first half and 3 or 4 second.
I often wonder if football should adopt rugby-style timekeeping where the ref can concentrate on the game. The clock is stopped during injuries and so on – and a hooter goes off at full time. Play continues until the ball goes out of play – the winning side will usually kick it into touch but if it’s tight, you’ll have a really tense period of play where the attacking side has to do something. England’s World Cup win in 2003 was a good example of this. If this was in football, the attacking players including the goalie would move to the centre and the defending team would probably crowd en masse in front of the goal. Cool!
They really need an official clock which is what I was getting at. Football is fairly unique in this respect, there is also a stadium clock used in basketball, ice hockey, American football etc.
Rugby differs in that ball must be out of play for the game to end, the game also cannot end on a penalty/free kick. This can end up with farcical situations like a few years ago when France played Wales in Paris where the game continued for 20 extra minutes until France finally got their pushover try to win the game.
I would like to time travel to the Manchester Apollo for The Jam on the Sound Affects tour to see if it could strike me as it did when I was 15.
Ry Cooder and David Lindley at Hammersmith Odeon in ‘91. Just the pair of them being quite splendid.
First was Straits in ‘80 at Newcastle City Hall. They were very very loud and no one believes me.
Worst was Kiss at Wembley Arena in ‘96. I’d just split with my then beloved and was drifting about the place with my face tripping me. A lovely pal wanted to cheer me up Just for a night. so got ahold of a couple of tickets to go and see the ridiculous goons. I wasn’t in the mood and they were fucking shit anyway. Awful night.
A mate of mine saw Dire Straits supporting Talking Heads in Brighton In 1977 or 78 – iirc correctly he said it was less than a quid to get in.
Yes, I saw a concert on that Dire Straits/Talking Heads tour, and I know quite a few other Afterworders did, too.
I was at the St. Albans Civic Hall gig on 3 Feb 1978.
I still have the ticket stub. £1.75 to get in.
Dire Straits were really good.
Talking Heads were MONSTER.
“I still have the ticket stub” – like that’s a big deal on the Afterword.
Oooh I saw that Folder/Lindley show in Paris in a tiny venue. Wonderful.
Thomas Dolby solo with Henry the computer. Arbroath Smokies nightclub December 1981. Fabulous it was.
Talking Heads- Stop making Sense tour -full staging San Francisco. Stunning. Saw it stone cold sober and straight. Next time I’d load up a bit on the drink and drugs.
Worst show Australian veteran soul singer Renee Geyer with a big band at one of the top concert hall venues with ticket prices to match. Long meandering intros, introducing musicians but not remembering their names, deciding to lie on stage head propped up by forearm. After 40 minutes the show woundup. People thought it was intermission but no that was it. Plenty of messages of support for Renee subsequently but not a word of apology to the punters.
The other low point was Van in Melbourne – reportedly his worst concert ever. Another 45 minutes, back to the audience, desultory, sullen, remote etc etc. He’d broken up with his girlfriend just before the tour and forced to do it contractually. May have been the first appearance of the big clock on stage.
First gig of international acts Deep Purple, Free, Manfred Mann’s earth Band. In Rock era, Free split after the tour. Il liked the Earth band the most.
Wow. Stop making sense tour. 🎩
Never got to see the Heads to my eternal bitterness. Never heard of Rene Geyer (doesn’t sound like I’m missing much).
Missed out on seeing D Byrne in Dublin on his apparently amazing last tour. Happily, is now available in the Next Best Thing Dept as a Spike Lee movie.
1. Gig I’d like to go back to: Muddy Waters at Alexandra Palace 12 July 1980. Nothing will ever match it.
2. Worst: Morrissey at Solnahallen, Stockholm. 3 December 1997. I have never listened to a Morrissey record since.
3. Loudest. I don’t really know. Richard Hell and the Voidoids were loud. The Gang of Four were loud. Massive Attack were ribcage-shakingly loud.
Massive Attack in the huge Manchester MEN Arena made a hell of a racket. I bet you could hear them in Liverpool.
Loud? I’ve seen My Bloody Valentine mate.
And one song by Motörhead, twice. (The rest of the gigs I heard from a concrete bunker twenty feet below the stage, which gave the optimum listening experience)
It’s the gigs I didn’t see I’d want to go to. Though I’d like to go back to Pixies on my 27th birthday – but inevitably that’s because of a girl more than the gig (which was really good – it’s the one the BBC recorded)
It would probably be either Kate Bush at the Hammersmith Odeon in 2014 or Sigur Ros at Fort Canning Park Singapore in 2012……
Kate Bush……because, well firstly it was Kate Bush and secondly it took 35 years to happen and it’s never likely to happen again (she won’t even release the BluRay !). We flew over from Singapore for a week (luckily it coincided with school holidays) just to see.
Sigur Ros….. just because it was one of those concerts where everything just comes together to create the perfect evening. It had been raining all day but stopped just before the concert which’s was in a relatively small outdoor venue (about 5000 capacity ?). The band were on top form, the crowd lapping it up and then just as the encore of Ekki Mukk started, the heavens opened and there was a massive downpour and thunderstorm (and being in the tropics it was proper rain). This just added to the overall atmosphere of the concert and know one cared about being drenched – it was almost like having the best ever special effects. Sublime and memorable.
Yes, Kate Bush of course, but that one was recent enough for it to remain strong in the memory, and no visual document, but there is an audio one.
The ones that come mind? Julian Cope at the Hammersmith Palais when he broke the mic stand and slashed his chest with it, utterly thrilling. REM at the Caricoa Club in Worthing because NO ONE came to Worthing ever. Elliot Smith at the Concord 2 in Brighton because it’s Elliot Smith. Flaming Lips in Brighton a few years ago because the euphoria lasted a week.
To be honest, based on the trouble I’ve had with them over the past few years and the pain I am getting every time I bite on the right hand side, if I had the chance of giving up teeth to relive a gig, or giving up a gig to have a full set of undamaged teeth you can take just about any gig I’ve been to!
The gig I’d choose to relive would probably be Pulp at Wembley Arena in 96. They were excellent, but that’s not the reason. Edwyn Collins was good too, but that’s not the reason either. It’s the second support band that me and my mate had never heard of so went back to the bar after one number and stayed there. Lawrence has since become one of my favourite artists, but when I actually saw him play, as Denim, I turned my back on him. What a ruddy idiot!
I came across a website some time ago that had a list of all the artists that played at a number of different festivals. I went to the first and the third V festivals at Chelmsford. The first one I saw some ace bands and had a great time. But the third one was a nightmare, as we went with a friend of my then better half and her boyfriend and she was bloody high maintenance and basically dictated who we went to see, and she liked some rubbish. My missus wouldn’t stand up to her, I didn’t want to leave my missus and not be able to find her again, so I ended up stuck watching rubbish like Catatonia! i did, at least, manage to sneak off and watch James Brown when the girls went back to their tents. The next day the weather was miserable, her mate had spent all her money and wanted to go home, and as they were driving us the missus wanted us to go too, so I missed The Charlatans, who I really was looking forward to see most. So it would be good to go back to that one and see who I wanted to see, but it would also be good to go back to either of them armed with hindsight, as some great acts played some of the smaller tents who went on to better things, including a certain Ms Ellis-Bextor with her band theaudience.
Similarly, as I’ve mentioned repeatedly on here, I missed Bowie’s Glastonbury set as Mrs F’s lift was preggars and bailed on the Sunday morning. So I had to drive her home on Sunday evening, because she hadn’t booked Monday off work.
I really hope her meeting on Monday morning was more important than seeing Bowie in the flesh, but I doubt it was.
3 that I have seen and would like to see again – as they’re not making them anymore
The Specials with Jerry Dammers – Hammersmith Palais August 1979 – the week Gangsters went into the charts, supported by the Selecter and Linton Kwesi Johnson – the atmosphere was electric, everybody in the whole venue dancing. I was 15.
The Birthday Party – London Victoria, The Venue 1982 – just before they decamped to Berlin. Wild, sarcastic inciendiary twisted punk blues.
Leonard Cohen – Glastonbury 2008 – The best gig I have ever seen. A religious experience, surrounded by grown men crying.
3 I missed
Buzzcocks/Joy Division – Oxford New Theater, Autumn 1979. A bunch of my schoolfriends went to this gig with a local coach company. Me, being a bit too cool for my own good and having seen the Buzzcocks the previous year decided to give it a miss. They all came back raving about the Joy Divs.
The Crass – The Greyhound, Swindon, October 1979. Once again my friends and my sister went along to this. I gave it a miss as the NME had given them a bad review. My older sister who was a witness to the original first wave of punk and had become disillusioned by spring 1978 after witnessing moronic violence at a Sham 69 gig, came back raving about how they fulfilled the original spirit of punk.
AC/DC – Swindon Oasis, April 1978 – just found out the other year that AC/DC played my local sports hall in 1978. This one completely passed me by. I heard High Voltage in 1976 and it seemed exciting but the arrival of punk made them seem old hat. I started to gradually and incrementally get them over the subsequent years.
First gig – Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames – Wyvern Theatre, Swindon 1975. Taken by an older sister (a different one), decidedly unfashionable and uncool at the time, pretty cool now I have to say.
Worst – Can’t really think of any one worst concert although I did find the slew of goth bands what played my local venue in the mid 80’s – Danse Society, Sex Gang Children pretty trying.
Two Kirsty MacColl gigs the year she died. The first, at the Town & Country, I missed all of except the encore as I was stuck at Dublin airport. The second, I declined an invitation to be on the guest list at Shepherds Bush Empire as my wife was heavily pregnant. A few weeks later, she was gone.
Roxy Music – July 1972 – Kensington Court Club, Newport, South Wales.
Was it the best concert I ever saw? Who knows! I do know that it was the most memorable though, and therefore the one I would most like to see again. I would like to just stand at the back and enjoy the – what was then – very different music and stage clothes. I would also like to see that tall streak of long-haired, loon-panted, hopeless 17-year old with his life ahead of himself that was me back then once more… and probably go over and slap him and tell him to get a grip.
I can’t particularly remember any bad gigs, especially from years ago when they were all pretty exciting no matter who was playing. I will, however, make an exception for The Kinks in the early 1970s (as noted elsewhere by H.P. Saucecraft). Jeez: I was even wearing a badge that said “I Like The Kinks”… which I did until then.
Life Stinks, as Pere Ubu observed.
I’m not sure if I would *actually* want to re-live any gig (the past being a different country & all that) but ones that stand out are the ones that in the memory are 100% perfect, so it would be interesting- to put it mildly- to see how they would measure up. With that caveat I’d opt for Culture at the Albany Empire, Deptford (1983/4)- backed by the Soul Defenders, they were magnificent & close to a religious experience. I’d also go for Kid Creole & The Coconuts at the Lyceum circa 1982. Beyond brilliant & changed the way I saw & felt about music. They were huge, colourful, sexy, incredibly tight & they wanted the audience to have FUN! Any vestiges of po-faced ‘seriousness’ about music I held, died as a result of that gig & I’m eternally grateful.
My other one would be Curtis Mayfield at Leeds Irish Centre in about 1987. A small venue & a very stripped down band ( horn parts had to be done on keyboards) but he was sublime & almost saint like in his beautiful charisma. It was a privilege to be there.
My eternal regret is turning up 2 opportunities to see Leonard Cohen on his last tours. I have the live recordings etc, but it ain’t the same, is it?
Oh yes, Kid Creole at their peak. I saw them a couple of times at Friars Aylesbury. I’m not sure really how they did it but it was like a party night both times.
I share your gratitude to Kid Creole for the 1982 Lyceum gigs. As you say it was beyond brilliant. It opened my mind to so many different genres that went into the mix that made his sound.
I’m chuffed my reaction chimed to an extent with others.
The penny dropped about how exiting those big ensemble bands with tons of horns must have been for folks as far back as the 30s & 40s, almost as if a Cab Calloway black & white short had come to life in glorious 3D technicolour & hi- fi sound. Kid Creole’s recorded stuff isn’t a huge quality legacy, but boy those shows really were something else.
Don’t know about giving my eye teeth to relive a gig. Nothing I’ve been to and enjoyed ranks high enough to want to re-live the experience.
Misty In Roots at Acklam Hall, underneath The Westway in London W10, was very enjoyable. The Passions were the support and we got in on their guestlist.
Fela Kuti at Glastonbury was pretty sensational, as were King Sunny Ade & his African Beats the year before. Early ’80s but not sure of the exact years. A very good time was pretty much guaranteed at Glasto in those days. I’d travel over from West Wales with a group of friends from there and also meet up with friends who came down from Watford every year. Splifftastic.
The only relatively-recent concerts that I regret missing are Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets pair of warmup gigs at The Half Moon in Putney. Too slow on the uptake and the tickets went really fast. I was very disappointed. Also twice had tickets for Carla Bley Trio concerts which were then cancelled due to illness.
A lot of knowledge of ‘istory there, making you cabbage-free.
It’s an illustration of the subjectivity of memory that I remember those Glastonbury gigs quite differently, Mike. King Sunny Ade still ranks as one the best gigs I’ve ever attended (right down the front, danced non stop for hours), I literally had face ache from grinning with joy, but the vibe for Fela the following year didn’t come close.
My recollection is of a rather perfunctory performance (technically impeccable of course), but almost surly in its lack of warmth & engagement.
I remain a big Sunny Ade fan & saw him again, but it took me a long time to come round to the whole Afrobeat thing. Crudely put, I felt ‘ if he can’t be bothered, neither can I.’
I feel the OP is going it some to assume we have eye-teeth to give.
NUUUUURRRSE!
I’m not religious but two gigs made me understand what going to a gospel church must be like.
The Fat Lady Sings at Dingwalls, around the time of the release of their second album. I met a young lady in the audience, which helped. It didn’t last, and neither did the Fatties.
The Blue Nile at the Palladium in 1996. The audience was full of grown men weeping.
So it was all over for The Fat Lady Sings before the fat lady sings?
I was talking to someone on the phone at work a few weeks ago while walking and I was about to use that expression just as someone who fits that description walked close by. I said something like “we will only know it’s over when …er…(lady comes within earshot) er…it actually ends” .
I tend to use the expression “Old Shitface” at work, everyone knows who it is. Except Old Shitface.
In the 80s there was a bafflingly well-paid senior manager colleague whose nickname was “Benny” due to him being a bit of a thicko, generally.
When there was a change in the floor plan for the office – the plans were circulated for feedback. Without really thinking, his desk was marked “Benny”.
“Who is Benny?” he said. A quick-thinking colleague pointed out that it was actually “Penny” – a temp who has been working here for a few months.
He was satisfied with this explanation- crosses out “Benny“ and put his name on there. He said that Penny will have to find another desk space elsewhere – that’s his decision and that’s the end of it.
There was no Penny.
Thinking about it, that’s the only time I ever pulled at a gig. There might be a thread there.
Possibly because a mosh pit is not the best place to chat to a young lady, and most of the gigs I went to had a mosh pit (with me in the middle of it). A TFLS gig was a much more sedate affair.
She had emerald eyes, copper curls and lived in Greenwich, which I found was a PITA to get to from Cambridge. So I gave her the heave-ho. What on earth was I thinking? If I had a time machine, I’d go back and give the 24-year-old me a good talking to.
“Do you fall on people from a great height often?”