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kevin
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Username: Kevin

Post Number: 60
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 06:22 am:   

Joy Division - 1979 Glasgow Apollo. Just after Unknown Pleasures had been released, and just before Transmission was released
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Peter Collins
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Username: Tyroneshoelaces

Post Number: 47
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 10:07 am:   

There's two here, for different reasons. Killing Joke at Manchester University in about 1982 - never sure about their recorded output, but they were a fantastic live band. And Hawkwind (yes, I know) in about 1977 or 78, because poor old support band Doll by Doll got beaten up live on stage by Hawkwind fans who took exception to them. The safety curtain at the Hammersmith Odeon went down on mayhem on stage, rising about two minutes later to a completely clear stage - not sure what happened in the end.
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Andrew Kerr
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Username: Andrew_k

Post Number: 21
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 12:26 pm:   

The Joy Division gig would have been the support slot for the Buzzcocks, Kevin?

In terms of enjoyment at the time, mine would still be Macca and his Wings at the Glasgow Apollo (what a dump, but what a venue!)in '75. A real live Beatle and a Glaswegian audience. Can't say that I could possibly listen to much of his solo output today, but it was my first ever gig and possibly still my favourite.

Also Orange Juice in Glasgow 1984. Posted this on the Edwyn site "It was after the Big Hit, Malcolm and David had left the group and the theatre was not even full. Edwyn bounced onto the stage, looked visibly crestfallen at the fact that his (adopted) home town hadn't turned out in force. And then seemed to think 'Sod it. We're STILL going to have a real good time together'. There followed much mirth, much sadness (Dying Day dedicated to the loss of a hamster) and the new 'Salmon Fishing in New York' played twice 'cos it was so good. Zeke almost fell off his drum stool at Edwyn's antics. On the train home to Edinburgh my friend said that the gig had been better than sex, at which point his girlfriend hit him. I was still openly smiling at the memories of the evening 3 days later. People at my work worried about me"

And also Nectarine No.9 at the Cas Rock in Edinburgh. And Abdullah Ibrahim at the Queens Hall in Edinburgh. And the Gobs first night in Melbourne in '86 (a club, rather than the Uni). And an Israeli jazz group 'Third World Love' in the village hall of Trémolat in the Dordogne a few months ago.

And the worst? Or should that be a new thread? U2 at Tiffanys in Glasgow in '82(?). Having loved the first LP and their first gig, this one remains the only gig that I have walked out of. Red carpet on the stage, waving white flags and a bottle of champagne from Jim (praying mantis)Kerr. Yuch! Maybe I was more precious about music then?
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Duncan Hurwood
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Username: Duncan_h

Post Number: 30
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 01:43 pm:   

The concert that's meant the most to me was Mike Scott, in the accoustic tent at Glastonbury 1995. I wouldn't suggest it was the best concert in the world ever, but it's my favourite.
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kevin
Member
Username: Kevin

Post Number: 61
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 03:22 pm:   

yes andrew, support to buzzcocks. it was strange to see the hall empty so quickly after joy divisions set. my mate and i watched the buzzcocks for approx 15 mins and thought sod it, lets go - nothing could match the intensity of the 30 mins we had just watched beforehand
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abigail law
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Username: Abigail

Post Number: 24
Registered: 06-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 03:57 pm:   

one of the best gigs I ever saw was the muttonbirds in a small bar in napier, new zealand about ten years ago. they played for about three hours and blew everyone away.

another was the happy mondays, cambridge corn exchange around 1990. I also saw a fantastic orbital gig there.

sonic youth/pavement at the brixton academy about the same time was awsome too.

worst? u2 as well, wembley stadium around the time of achtung baby. vile place, vile people, vile band. don't ask me why the fuck i went...

oh yes, another good one was ride at the cambridge sea cadets hall some time in the early ninties, just after they'd released their first ep.
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gareth w
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Username: Gareth

Post Number: 21
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 04:02 pm:   

(1) Mercury Rev at Shepherds Bush Empire on the ‘All is Dream’ tour. They were in another league that night. Unlikely to be bettered.
(2) The Libertines. Forget the year but it was at the London ICA before the first album came out and before they lost the plot. 30 minutes of the most powerful music I’ve ever heard.
(3) The House of Love when they played 3 gigs in a night in London, probably 1991-ish. The final one was in their local pub for 250 of the fan club. Met the band and slept in Trafalgar Square. Bliss.
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Kurt Stephan
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Username: Slothbert

Post Number: 113
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 05:36 pm:   

The ones that stand out for me:

(1) Talking Heads/(English) Beat, The Warfield, San Francisco, '80 (Remain in Light tour). Two great bands, great crowd, great vibe.

(2) PJ Harvey, Showbox, Seattle, '04. I'd never seen her before. Mesmerizing.

(3) Lou Reed/Feelies, Berkeley Community Theater, '89. The New York tour--Lou had a great band and a then-hot album, and the Feelies were the perfect opening act. Only disappointment: Lou didn't join them for their cover of "What Goes On."

(4) Go-Betweens at the Triple Door and Gang of Four at the Showbox, both in a three-week span in Seattle '05. I finally got to see these bands live!
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jerry hann
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Username: Jerry_h

Post Number: 41
Registered: 07-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 10:28 pm:   

Elvis Costello Solo at Royal Festival Hall with T-Bone Burnett ( support) late 80's,ther are alot of other great costello gigs but I wont bore you
Ron Sexsmith at the adelphi Pub in Preston late 90's
Tom Waits -Dominion theatre London at time of Raindogs
Triffids-1988 ish at Euston Theatre
I have to say that The Go-BetweensI saw n the late 80's in London and played a short set and left very disappointed, having seen them do an in house acoustic set at HMV in oxford street earlies that year.
Butch Hancock and Jimmy Dale Gilmore at Borderline in London 1990 (ish)
Billy Bragg ( many great gigs) but my favourite was at the Captains Cabin in 1984
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Geoff Holmes
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Username: Geoff

Post Number: 37
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 10:40 pm:   

Favourite gigs are like favourite albums and songs, except that you can only revist them with your memory. McCartney in '93 would, songwise, be the best I've attended - Lady Madonna, Penny Lane etc - a Beatle doing Beatles songs note for note...magic! Being part of the audience that sang the harmonies and refrains of Byrds songs and made Roger McGuinn beam was GREAT!!!
The Go Betweens with Ups and Downs and Died Pretty at the old Piggery at Byron Bay in '86(?) was great. Brian Wilson doing "Smile" sent shivers down the spine during "the bicycle rider" piano bit...........too many, too hard!!
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Randy Adams
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Username: Randy_adams

Post Number: 126
Registered: 03-2005
Posted on Friday, January 13, 2006 - 02:06 am:   

I have a crappy memory for dates and specific facts, but I will never have trouble remembering the Go Betweens in London at the Barbican in 2004. That will remain one of my favorite live concert experiences. I invested a lot in being there and I was truly rewarded.

Aside from that, I loved Lloyd Cole & the Negatives at the Roxy on Sunset Strip. I don't remember if that was 2001 or 2002. Jill Sobule was in the band at the time and she served as the opening act.

The double header of Luxuria and the Fall while Brix was still in them at the Anson Ford Theatre in Los Angeles was really something. I think that was in 1989.

I've mentioned Gene Clark's show at the Cinegrill shortly before his death elsewhere on this bulletin board.

Does anyone here remember Human Sexual Response? I saw them give a fantastic show at the Country Club (I think) in the San Fernando Valley in maybe about 1981 or so. It was right around the release of their disappointing second album, whenever that was.

Disappointments include the Cocteau Twins and Nick Cave. The Cocteaus relied heavily on pre-recorded sound whereas I'd been hoping to hear them do stripped down versions of their songs showcasing Elizabeth Fraser's unearthly singing. Cave was just too melodramatic to be taken seriously. I think both of these shows occurred around 1989 or so. Perhaps it is a coincidence that they both happened at the Wiltern Theater.
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kevin
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Username: Kevin

Post Number: 62
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Friday, January 13, 2006 - 04:04 am:   

Randy, a small piece of rock n roll trivia for you. the Cocteau Twins are from my home town. I knew them on a casual basis, hung out in the same pubs/parties etc before they went down to London. The original bassist,Will Heggie, who played on the first album and a few EPs is married to my sister
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Pádraig Collins
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Username: Pádraig_collins

Post Number: 114
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Friday, January 13, 2006 - 06:17 am:   

Good thread Kevin. In no particular order, here are the standouts I can recall right now.

Billy Bragg at the Feile festival, Thurles 1991. He was on at 12.15 in the afternoon and was poptastic. It was at the time of the brilliant Don't Try This At Home album. He also surprised me by being really funny. After a lefty spiel about the evils of capitalism that no-one was really listening to he asked if we'd understood all that. The 150 or so of us in the stadium at the time all said yeah, unenthusiastically. He said "Good, then go and knock over the coca-cola stand".

The Go-Betweens in Dublin, 1997. Two nights of heaven.

The Waterboys, three times in three venues on two continents in six weeks in late 1989. First in Boston. Brilliant show. Then in Los Angeles (at the Wiltern Randy - not all shows there are jinxed! And, despite the song title, that night it was raining in Southern California). Incredible gig. And then, best of all, in Croom Village Hall, six miles from my own home village in south west Ireland. An awesome live band when on form.

Nick Cave in Dublin at the Olympia Theatre in 2001 and in The Enmore in Sydney in 2004. The former was almost like a 'greatest hits' package; the latter was both more contemporary and more obscure. Sorry Randy, I love the Cave melodrama.

Rocket From The Crypt in Dublin, 1996 or 1997. A thousand miles an hour of relentless guitar and horn riffage. I'd love to see them live again.

The Stone Rose at the Feile festival in Cork, 1995. One of the last ever gigs (maybe the last) before John Squire left. Absolutely awesome.

Alejandro Escovedo and friends in Austin, Texas, March 2001. A magnificent, 13 member southern country soul orchestra. I was celebrating St Patrick's day one day early and was drunk as a sailor on shore leave.

Brian Wilson at The Point in Dublin, February 2002. Pet Sounds live! And so much more too. What's not to love?

Fishbone and Violent Femmes playing together at Selena's, Coogee Beach, Sydney, February 1992. Both were superb and most of Fishbone joined the Femmes for an encore. Fishbone singer Angelo climbed the speaker stack, jumped over to the balcony, walked right by me up to the bar and bought a beer. How unbelievably cool! I was awestruck!

Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello in The Point, Dublin, 1994 (I think). Elvis just showed up, unbilled, and played on his own, acoustically, for an hour before Bob. That was the night I became an Elvis Costello fan. I had seen him live before that and even had one of his albums but I did not 'get' him til this show. Indoor Fireworks was so powerful. It really felt like indoor fireworks. Bob was in mighty form, really happy and smiley. All Along The Watchtower stood out (done in the Hendrix style of course). Elvis, Van, Carole King and Bono came on to sing backing vocals on something in the encore. Bob playfully pushed Carole when they were leaving the stage; she fell down some steps and broke her arm. I read that later, it's not that you could see it from the venue floor.

R.E.M. at Slane Castle, 1995. Don't let anyone tell you that a band can't reach into 80,000 hearts at once. They did.

Pixies, National Stadium (a lot less fancy that it sounds - it was a small boxing venue), Dublin 1990. Unbelievably, the bouncers tried to make us sit down on the school room-type seats! They gave up pretty quickly.

Leaonard Cohen, National Stadium, Dublin 1988. We did not get up from our school room-type seats! We listened intently and, occasionally, laughed heartily with a great entertainer.

Big Star, Red Box, Dublin 2001. What had previously only existed on CD for me became a living, breathing, wonderful thing.

Pavement, the Rock Garden, Dublin 1994. The day that Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain came out. I went from college into the city to buy the album. Went home and played it twice and then went back in for the brilliant gig.

Other bands that have been remarkble live include: The Chills (Sydney 1992); The Bats (Sydney 2003); The Beastie Boys (Sydney 1992 and Dublin 1994); Nirvana (Sydney 1992); Sonic Youth (Cork 1991); Pete Yorn (Austin 2001); Doctor Millar (Dublin, twice in 2001); Fatima Mansions (Dublin in 1993 and 1994); Young Gods (Dublin, 1994 and 1995).
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Jerry Clark
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Username: Jerry

Post Number: 124
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Friday, January 13, 2006 - 12:35 pm:   

Depeche Mode at Wembley '93 was special for me, a very economical performance, even by their standards, nothing was wasted apart from Dave Gahan.
I didn't realise it at the time but he actually thought he was Jesus, a bit like The Life Of Dave, he's not the new messiah, he's frontman for an electropop combo.
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Andrew Kerr
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Username: Andrew_k

Post Number: 22
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Friday, January 13, 2006 - 06:14 pm:   

Kevin,
So you are from Grangemouth/Falkirk? Did you know the Hotel International? I went to uni with the owners' son (Gardiner Dick) and I remember him telling me great stories about the bands that had played there. The Cocteaus used to practice there as well and Gardiner's dad was on the point of giving them money to go away, cause he coldn't stand such a horrible racket. Years later I showed him a video from the OGWT and he couldn't believe it was the same 'wee Lizzie'!
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kevin
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Username: Kevin

Post Number: 63
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Friday, January 13, 2006 - 06:32 pm:   

yes andrew, grangemouth. The Nash as the hotel was known is no more, Echo and the Bunnymen and Josef K were amongst other bands who played there. the promoter of most gigs that came to grangemouth was brian guthrie - robin guthries brother
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Matt Ellis
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Username: Matt_ellis

Post Number: 38
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Friday, January 13, 2006 - 11:29 pm:   

I'm delighted to see two people mention Mike Scott/The Waterboys. I'm off to see them in London next month. Their gig in Brixton in 2001 was probably my favourite gig. I'd only just 'discovered' them two months prior when I bought a copy of 'This Is The Sea' via an HMV Bargin Bin! To my amazement they played nearly the whole of that album. Mike Scott seemed to give everything and more and was very gracious and genuinely touched by the audience.

And at the risk of boring people...my two other most memorable gigs:

Kerbdog at Middlesbrough Arena 1995
obscure Irish three piece band the critics loved. I remember standing against the front barrier of the stage going nuts, deserted by my non-plussed friends. Precisely zero people were standing next to me at the front. On the night we didn't even realise a live band were playing but Kerbdog blew my mind. I went on to see them four times (re-named Wilt) until they split.

Smaller at The London Borderline 2005
Another obscure band. As much as I loathe Oasis, Smaller's claim to fame is that Oasis's 'Digsy's Diner" refers to Smallers singer Digsy. Also Noel Gallagher guested on a Smaller album track. I'd waited patiently since 1996 to see a rare Smaller gig. By his own account Digsy was "Fooking knackered" as he had driven himself that morning from his native Liverpool to London to perform with an entirely new backing band! I managed to steal a set list (for the first time at any gig) off the bass amp! the attendance was about 25.

Just to be negative for a moment - I walked away from seeing The Fall at Kentish Town Forum in 1991. I'd much prefer to hear them recorded.
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tbowed
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Username: Chameleonz

Post Number: 18
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Saturday, January 14, 2006 - 06:09 am:   

U2 at the grapvine arts center in dublin.
right before boy was recorded.my band opened for them
they were mind boggling.
since then though...........
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spence
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Username: Spence

Post Number: 49
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Sunday, January 15, 2006 - 07:09 pm:   

3 gigs for me that I recall be very inspirational...

I think they are my favourites due to me having some sort of peronal involvement/link with them all.

The Go Betweens at Wolverhampton Polytechnic, Talulah period 1987. It was the night when it was a Ł1 in and 50p a pint in a plastic glass, They were awesome. I was 18, and the whole place had an air of expectation, The Go Bees were pretty much at their peak I think, the place was small, and we didn't really have this type of group in Wolverhampton, that often, and boy they delivered. It was Robert's silver fox look at the time. Although it looked blonde to me. The main thing I remember the gig for was not just the songs, it was when Robert started wandering and he came down off the stage and wandered around, lead still in amp, and I happened to be right in front of him whilst he delicately gave us some lead break I think from a Fender Jazzmaster. I have the set list somewhere. The actual sound of the band was amazing, really shit hot PA, guitars shimmering around the place whilst the boys delivered their poerty with ease.

Another great gig was Howard Devoto's Luxuria Birmingham, 1987, Burberries. The great man played about 5 Magazine songs, and as I never saw them live and loved them so much this was a gig to cherish. He was/is just a great front man. There is no one else like the man, he is a true one off. Noko from Apollo 440 on guitar and Howard worked well together. The Luxuria stuff worked brilliantly live, much better than on record. However the Luxuria stuff was much better than the record Jerky versions of the dream, Devoto's 1st solo outing, that was piss poor. Mainly down to the session style of musicianship, very bland. And to top the gig, after he played the encore Parade, he ran down the front and gave us all a high five - I really had been touche dby the hand of God!

The Blue Aeroplanes Birmingham Burberries Feb '90. It was the Swagger (their first major label aobum featuring Michael Stipe - just being re-released now) tour, they'd just finished supporting REM on the Green tour, they went from an acomplished amateur style band to a slick powerful machine. It was special for 2 reasons. One was that my group at the time were supporting them, and they were fast becoming heroes of mine, so I was chuffed for that reason. Secondly and more mportantly they were just absolutely teriffic. Every song hit you like a Boeing 747! The were a mixed bag, one minute it was like Faiport Convention with 20 guitarists running around (their stage prescence was amazing!), then the more subtle songs which a lot of the time were quiet/loud were like The Velvet Underground. There was so much to see t this gig, they looked really cool, they played cool, and ended with a 15 minute version of Tom Verlaine's Breaking in my heart, of which they reproduced live much more faithfully than the original, their version which they always ended the set with was like Lou Reed fronting Television rather than Big Tom! I Seem to remember we grabebd some guitars too and went up there with them, although there was no room on the stage, people were standing in the crowd, roadies, playing along with the tune - AMAZING!! I'll never forget it. I later worked with Caroline Trettine who played in the group on her last album.

And finally, Aztec Camera. I was 14 (very young and very stupid! and very, very excited) it was at Birmingham Aston University. It was being filmed for Whistle Test. They were just amazing. their first album (High land hard rain) was the benchmark at the time, and at that time Orange Juice were still alive, the GoBetweens were around and the whole night was really the closest thing I could get to the Postcard Recordsesque period, my pal Malcolm Ross was even playing with them that night (ex Josef K and Orange Juice). they just oozed originality. They were effortless. It was Roddy's guitar sparring with Malcolm that caught my eye. The band were tight and it was a really sticky hot atmosphere. We could send letters a track that was very acoustic on the single on Postcard ended up like Neil Young's Cortez the killer from Weld! They blew me away, all my heroes up there on one stage, Dave Ruffy from the Ruts for Chrissake!!

Them were 3 great gigs.

Sorry if I have bored you with my descriptions, but it is hard to piut these things into words is it not!!?
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Pádraig Collins
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Username: Pádraig_collins

Post Number: 118
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Sunday, January 15, 2006 - 11:43 pm:   

Not boring at all Spence; a joy to read in fact. Especially as you have reminded me that I saw Blue Aeroplanes live in 1990 too and they were incredible. It was in Boston and they were supporting The Church, whom they completely blew away. Three years later, in Dublin, I saw a band called Strangelove completely blow away Radiohead (only Pablo Honey was out at this stage).

I was talking to one of the guitarists from Strangelove after the gig and told him that the last time I had seen the support blow away the headliner so brilliantly was Blue Aeroplanes in Boston. I said this not knowing the fella I was saying it too was in Blues Aeroplanes then, as was another member of Strangelove. It was quite an amazing coincidence.

I bought a couple of Strangelove 12" EPs after that but the records never lived up to their live performance.
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Randy Adams
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Username: Randy_adams

Post Number: 129
Registered: 03-2005
Posted on Sunday, January 15, 2006 - 11:48 pm:   

Great descriptions, Spence. Always glad to hear a Howard Devoto report.
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TROU
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Username: Trou

Post Number: 10
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Monday, January 16, 2006 - 09:57 am:   

Yes, a concert of Howard Devoto should be fine...

I've got beautiful souvenirs of a lot of gigs I saw in Lüxor, a 'little' venue in Koln (Germany). REM, Sundays, They might be giants etc. and of course all the concerts that the Gobs have made there (especially during the Liberty Belle tour).

I'm remembering also a fantastic Marc Almond concert in Ličge (Belgium), just before the release of 'Stories of Johnny'.
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Paul Wright
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Username: Wallaby

Post Number: 4
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Monday, January 16, 2006 - 02:11 pm:   

Like everyone, a bunch rather than one...
The Go-betweens in Leeds, drinking in the pub beforehand next to them, accidentally insulting them and then walking to the gig with them. I have been advised I was lucky not to be punched.
The Pixies in Newcastle 1989
The Au Pairs/The Beat in 1980 - the second gig I ever went to, and still one of the top handful - saw the Beat in Bradford before Christas and they were great again, though Rankin now has son sharing vocals.
Andy Kershaw presents The Clash in Leeds
Newest one is Beck in Manchester about 2000 - wasn't expecting him to be brilliant, but what a fantastic show.

Worst - An Emotional Fish (obsure Irish band) supported by a brilliant Cranberries who blew them away (they turned out odd though).
Most disapointing was probably the Smiths who were blown away by support band The Red Guitars.

Weirdest gig was probably spending the whole of an Eagles gig in a corporate hospitality box discussing the Go-Betweens with an Aussie mate of Lindy's who was over to run the Manchester Commonwealth Games.
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Randy Adams
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Username: Randy_adams

Post Number: 131
Registered: 03-2005
Posted on Monday, January 16, 2006 - 04:12 pm:   

Discussing the GoBees is probably the best way to make an Eagles concert tolerable. Don't leave us hanging Paul, what was the accidental insult?
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Simon Withers
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Username: Sfwithers

Post Number: 7
Registered: 08-2005
Posted on Monday, January 16, 2006 - 04:26 pm:   

Various ones spring to mind...

REM supported by the Blue Aeroplanes at the Newport Centre, South Wales, on the Green world tour.

The Cure at Glastonbury during a rain-soaked evening in 1986.

The Cult, Bristol Studio, mid-80s. Awesome sound from a three-piece.

Go-Betweens, Night of Miracles, Enmore Theatre, Sydney, 1988. And the Barbican gig, 2004.

Crowded House, Bristol Bierkeller, 1991. They started late, after Tim Finn had walked out of the band earlier that evening, after recording Top of the Pops. As a result the band were massively fired-up.

I'm sure others will spring to mind. As an earlier poster says, Hawkwind have usually been entertaining.

Worst? Probably Marillion (no surprise there, really), though the Smiths were pretty poor at Glastonbury and Toyah at the Bath Pavilion...
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M. Mark Burgess
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Username: Fortysomething

Post Number: 59
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Tuesday, January 17, 2006 - 02:33 am:   

Mine was probably The Kinks at The Brady Theater here in Tulsa in 1979. Unbelievable energy for a (then) 15 year old band. Dave was on fire, ripping off solo after solo and as I remember they did five separate encores, including a suite from Village Green. My friend and I waited outside in the snow after the show with about forty other people to talk to them when they left. After about an hour, a solitary figure emerged and quickly entered one of the vehicles without a word to anyone. Several of us realized that it had been Dave but he didn't respond to requests to reappear. Afew minutes later Ray appeared and was immediately the center of attention, talking about the show (he said they had one of their rare smokin' nights and couldn't stop playing!) and signing autos. I still have the copy of Preservation act1 that he signed. We went home in a daze and I've never forgotten that special night. Second best would have to be Richard Thompson at the Beverly Theater in L.A. in 1985. Lucinda Williams opened (she was working as a cashier at Moby Disc records in the Valley at the time). Towards the end of R.T.'s set, someone yelled for Fairport numbers and a few minutes later Jerry Donohue came out and traded riffs with him on a couple of instrumental chestnuts. For those of you not familiar with Jerry, he is an excellent and underrated guitarist but he was clearly having a hard time keeping up with Richard on Dirty Linen. Worst ever would have to be Kiss in 1978 in Tulsa. When Peter Criss came out to do Beth with a backing track, some idiot threw a beer bottle and broke his bass drum. He stopped and yelled "Fuck you, we're never coming back" and left the stage to boos. They did come back the next year. No, I didn't particularly like Kiss as I was there to see the support acts (Robin Trower and Uriah Heep) It must have been a bad night for drum kits because Heep's drummer (Lee Kerslake) broke his bass drum halfway through the set but they sailed right on with several off-the-cuff acoustic numbers. Weird night. Excellent thread.
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Michael Bachman
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Username: Michael_bachman

Post Number: 27
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Tuesday, January 17, 2006 - 05:31 pm:   

I saw Talking Heads in May of 1983, that was a great show. They ran out of songs to do and ended up doing "Burning Down The House" twice!

I got to see Peter Green with Fleetwood Mac in March of 1971. Black Sabbath opened, but I went because of Peter Green. This was just after Jeremy Spencer was abducted by the Children of God, and Peter who left the band in 1970, came back to finish the tour. First gig ever.

Bob Dylan and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Summer of 1986. Bob was in great form.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse/Sonic Youth, February of 1991. Another great one.
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Paul Wright
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Username: Wallaby

Post Number: 6
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Wednesday, January 18, 2006 - 01:01 pm:   

The insult? I'd dragged a bunch of my mates along and over several beers was trying to get them recognise the genius that was about to be displayed in front of them. However, in the interest of balance I felt I had to point out that they were not the best looking band in the world. In fact, they were not good looking at all. Almost as bad as everthing but the girl. Who are of course friends of theirs. And in fact that girl at the next table looks like Tracey Thorn. And in fact (I was beginning to sober up quick at that point) the rest of the people at the next table look like The GBs.... oh shit.

My mates chatted away with them on the way to the gig, but I kept my big, drunk, mouth shut.
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Randy Adams
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Username: Randy_adams

Post Number: 134
Registered: 03-2005
Posted on Wednesday, January 18, 2006 - 04:27 pm:   

Ouch. That's very funny. At least you didn't make Aussie jokes.
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Adam Sanderson
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Username: Adam_sanderson

Post Number: 8
Registered: 09-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 19, 2006 - 10:09 am:   

Some "snap" moments here;
Joy Division - 1979 supporting Buzzcocks. Just after Unknown Pleasures had been released, and just before Transmission was released, but Aberdeen Capitol, not Glasgow Apollo.
Ramones supported by Talking Heads and Television supported by Blondie, Glasgow Apollo, 1978
Patti Smith supported by Pop Group, Edinburgh, 78, (I think).
Tom Waits -Dominion theatre London, at time of Raindogs, I think it was 1985?
Triffids London Town, and Country club.
Wire LSE, London Chairs Missing tour 1978
Too many others to list.
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Peter Collins
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Username: Tyroneshoelaces

Post Number: 53
Registered: 05-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 19, 2006 - 11:02 am:   

Just remembered seeing Talking Heads in Hammersmith at the end of the seventies, or in the early 80s. Third on the bill were an unknown band called U2, with the mighty A Certain Ratio above them at second. We all know what became of ACR, but whatever happened to U2?
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jerry hann
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Username: Jerry_h

Post Number: 44
Registered: 07-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 19, 2006 - 01:44 pm:   

Yeah Great Tom Waits gig at the Dominion they were only 2-3 nights but tickets were selling for over 100 pounds on the door as I remember. I also saw him a few years later at the Hammersmith Apollo but the thrill was not quite the same as the first time in 1985

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