Best/worst gigs, famous bands seen when they were playing pubs etc

[Lootman]

Best: Bridge School Benefit concert, Mountain View, California, 1996: Neil Young, David Bowie, Pearl Jam, Patti Smith, Pete Townsend. All acoustic!

Also, The Who and The Stones at the Liverpool Empire, 1970. Pink Floyd at Knebworth, 1975.

The worst will be long forgotten.

[NomoneyNohoney]

Best ever gig:

Courtesy of a Geordie girlfriend, I had recently discovered Lindisfarne. They were at the Oval, along with the Faces, and the Who. Loved rocking out to them all at an open-air concert, enlivened by being in the second row. Between the front row and the stage was a couple of metres of grass, where two Hells Angels decided to shag with their girlfriends, oblivious to the onlookers. A guy who was tripping tried to push through the crowd, and walk directly across the Angels while they were engaged in sexy time. The crowd had to rescue the guy from the ensuing wrath and take him to a medical tent for sorting out.

2nd best ever gig


Lived on the Isle of Sheppey and the local school had a concert by Jake Thackray. We’d seen him on “That’s Life” so paid our 50p a ticket admission, and had a lively couple of hours solid entertainment. Jake sat on a wooden chair on the stage, just him, guitar and microphone and he told stories and sang folkey songs. Afterwards chatted with anyone that wanted to talk to him. A lovely evening of great simple entertainment: RIP Jake.



Most disappointing gig: Lindisfarne at a small theatre in Reigate. No atmosphere, whole evening was flat and dull, sours my memories of a great group.



Biggest (most famous) band you have seen live:
Pink Floyd at Wembley


Biggest (most famous) band you didn’t see live:
Rolling Stones at Wembley. Bought a couple of tickets for a couple of pounds each ( this was long ago!) and wasn’t enthusiastic about seeing them. Would rather have had the cash.
Drove to Wembley and while queueing to park the car, sold the tickets to a tout for £20,00 each. Bought my parents a Chinese meal and also treated myself to a Taste Album, “On the boards.”


Famous band you saw when they were 'up and coming': Newcastle City Hall, the Groundhogs, featuring a singer called Billy Connolly.


Worked as occasional roadie for a group of friends who had formed a band. We gigged at a pub in Leytonstone along with a blues band called Fleetwood Mac. Incredibly loud, 'won' one of their amplifiers when packing our stuff away.

Gigged at the Wake Arms in Epping, along with a group called America, who debuted their new song, “A Horse With No Name.” Laughed at them for trying to copy Crosby Stills and Nash, knew the song was rubbish and they’d never get anywhere…

Gigged at the Marquee Club, which was very evocative, thinking who else had played in there.








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[Lootman]

Biggest (most famous) band you didn’t see live:

Rolling Stones at Wembley. Bought a couple of tickets for a couple of pounds each ( this was long ago!) and wasn’t enthusiastic about seeing them. Would rather have had the cash.

One of the interesting things back then was that the cost of a ticket for a live show was less than the cost of a LP.

So for instance when Pink Floyd played at my Uni, you could buy a ticket for 10 bob (50p). You could buy a Floyd album for about 30 bob. I went but my friend said he'd rather put the money towards the cost of buying their album.

Seems like very odd logic now when recorded music is almost free and you can blow hundreds of quid on a big name show, but that is how it was.

Another great show: The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, somewhere in London, around 1974.

[AleisterCrowley]

Just realised I asked the original question , so better stick my own answers in 'shortly' (still thinking...)
This year I have seen no live bands at all - probably the first time since ~1980
how very bloody miserable

[PinkDalek]

Famous band you saw when they were 'up and coming': Newcastle City Hall, the Groundhogs, featuring a singer called Billy Connolly.

That part caught my eye as I knew of the Groundhogs but not of the Billy Connolly*** (if that’s who you mean) being a singer with them. Was he guesting or something?


*** Looks like his band was The Humblebums https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEx_HF6QLVI

[NomoneyNohoney]

Oh damn, isn't it annoying when memory lets you down? You are of course right, thanks for the fact-checking.

[PinkDalek]

Not at all, you’ve caused me to listen to some Groundhogs tracks which I haven’t heard for years!

[NomoneyNohoney]

S'funny that - I'm listening to Gerry Rafferty now

[AleisterCrowley]

Sudden urge to listen to 'Get it right next time'
Or the Baker Street guitar solo

[NomoneyNohoney]

Shome mishtake surely - don't you mean the Baker Street saxophone solo?

[bungeejumper]

Between the front row and the stage was a couple of metres of grass, where two Hells Angels decided to shag with their girlfriends, oblivious to the onlookers. A guy who was tripping tried to push through the crowd, and walk directly across the Angels while they were engaged in sexy time. The crowd had to rescue the guy from the ensuing wrath and take him to a medical tent for sorting out.

LOL, can't match that, but I had my own narrow squeak when I went to see The Who at Dunstable Civic. I hadn't really thought about my mode of transport - but as soon as I got there I realised my error. The car park was absolutely full of Lambrettas, and just one motorbike. Mine.

Brilliant concert, with Keith Moon on particularly lunatic form that night. But as the band were getting into their final couple of numbers, I realised I'd better not hang around. Made an early exit, slid quietly out into the darkness of the car park, fired up the bike (it was not a quiet machine....), and immediately gunned it out of the place with all the lights off so that nobody would know where I was until it was too late to catch me. Really quite glad to have survived that experience.

BJ

[monabri]

The Jam played in a big tent in Saddleworth in 79. I'd heard of them...just. It was only a few miles from home at the time so I think we caught the bus.

Walked out of a Hawkwind gig at Manchester Apollo... ( free tickets from a friend who couldn't go but had tickets). We were sat at the back with a view obscured by a large pillar. We were next to the mixing desk. Couldn't see the stage properly ....thought the band were tuning up but it became apparent that the "noise" was actually track 1. After a while we decided that HW wasn't our cup of tea. To make matters worse, we had been "escorted" to the front of the audience by a couple of bouncers after we commented to the mixing desks guys that we couldn't see the band. Next minute we had a couple of bouncers parting the waves for us.

Spent a night outside Leeds ( Free Trade Hall..?..I can't remember how I actually got to Leeds? ) to ensure we got Genesis tickets in case they were sold out. Slept on the pavement with mates. Hardly anyone turned up to buy tickets so we could have just sauntered up any time and not bothered to queue. I seem to remember the hall being a strange shape ( L shape) and the sound wasn't brilliant neither.

[chris]

Worst gig - 2 contenders here:
Rainbow at the Brighton Conference Centre in the late 70s. They played a 40 minute set and pushed off. No encore or anything. chairs ripped out and thrown etc. Haven't really played their music since!
Yes at the same venue, a couple of years later. The Buggles had just joined and one of them who was doing the vocals was trying to emulate Jon Anderson without the vocal range and was appalling. I can remember them getting booed for playing video killed the radio star (not a bad song but inappropriate in a Yes concert). My loathing for the Buggles means that I can't even be bothered to look up the vocalist's name!

Best gig Springsteen - I saw him twice on the River tour and at Brighton was at the front by Clarence Clemons who was an amazing sax player. He had great rapport with the audience and when he asked the audience what they wanted (Jungleland), he said they couldn't play it that night but in the second gig I went to it was on the set.

Best Sound quality - I was surprised by an earlier comment on a Rush gig, as the 2112 gig i went to in Brighton had the best sound quality I had ever heard at a gig. Their sound engineers were excellent. Beautifully mixed and clear as a bell.

Saw Led Zep at Knebworth with a group of us 6th formers trying to control our stoned economics teacher waving a flag on a massive flagpole and hitting everyone.

Don't see many acts these days but always see Steve Hackett when he is playing nearby and saw a really excellent gig by Deacon Blue a couple of years ago where they got everyone on their feet by the end (a hard feat in the Nottingham Concert Hall).

[AleisterCrowley]

Shome mishtake surely - don't you mean the Baker Street saxophone solo?

No, definitely the Hugh Burns guitar solo. It's a classic.
The sax solo (Raph Ravenscroft not Bob Holness) is good too
Trivia fact: Raph Ravenscroft's dad,a writer on the occult, sued James Herbert for copyright infringement

[airbus330]

This is my favourite thread on TLF.
Just realised that it is coming up a year since I have been to see any live music. What a rubbish year 2020 is.

[AleisterCrowley]

Well, I hope you buy the original poster a beer, I hear the lockdown is getting him down a bit

I saw the last bit of a pub singer/guitarist in July. Not much prior to that. Last major band was the Levellers in August 2019 ...

[airbus330]

Perhaps I should buy him a small parcel of SONG shares?

[AleisterCrowley]

I'm sure he'd welcome anything other than jazz CDs-particularly those by Phil Minton

[MaraMan]

Have enjoyed reading this thread. Here's my pretty standard list:

Best (or at least most memorable): It's a tie: Kraftwerk, London Lyceum June 1981 & Rush, Brighton Centre 1980

Biggest: Paul McCartney & Wings, Earls Court 1983. Pink Floyd, Earls Court Earls Court 1984. Bob Dylan. Eric Clapton.......etc

Most disappointing: R.E.M and The Ramones - who could barely be bothered to play at a soaked Milton Keynes Bowl in June 1985. Also The Moody Blues about 5 years ago, spoiled by ignorant roadies shouting a conversation at each other on the mixing desk for the entire show. Sorry one more; Robert Plant at Glasto 2004 when he refused to do any Led Zep numbers.

Best live: I really enjoyed Rachid Taha at Glastonbury 2004 and of course many others.

"up and coming" Famous Band: U2 London 1982 (War Tour - not sure if that qualifies)

Biggest Surprise: Meeting Paul Weller in a hotel bar in Osaka and sort of meeting Lemmy Motorhead and several other rock gods backstage at the Reading Rock Festival in 1982.

Missed: Several but regret I could have had tickets for Kate Bush in 1979 and Live Aid

Latest: Joe Bonamassa in Brighton a couple of years ago.

[NomoneyNohoney]

[quote="The sax solo (Raph Ravenscroft not Bob Holness) is good too
Trivia fact: Raph Ravenscroft's dad,a writer on the occult, sued James Herbert for copyright infringement[/quote]

Well done for that casual mention of Bob Holness - I'd forgotten that claim!