Read an aticle on how Artistes go for Stadiums rather than arenas.
JEEZ!
Newcastle City Hall! Small, but STOMPING!
Was never really into Concert stuff... but
Rush, Wishbone Ash, Van Halen, Tangerine Dream, UFO, others? V long time ago and not sure WHAT!
But 'atmosphere'... all getting 'into' it!
Went to Stones at St. James Park... several years later... some had Stomping good Time... down on the ground!
But me and other guy... up on seats. Could not SEE anything but screens...why bother?
Foot Tapping and Clapping... but that was it!
If something like Glastonbury... Mud and sh*t? Long range!
Cannot See the point!
I've stopped going arena gigs a long time ago. Manchester Apollo is just about the maximum size limit I would go to now, if at all. Pubs and townhall type municipal venues are much better.
We lost our best local rock band venue to the lockdown :( , never re-opened.
I remember going to a Bon Jovi gig at an outdoor football stadium, they'd fenced off an area in front of the stage, pointing like a V into the crowd, for VIP guests apparently, which sort of crushed the fans outwards, and the ground sloped away at the edges, so we couldn't see owt over the taller people, but the wind blew most of the sound away anyway. Luckily I didn't pay for them tickets, they were given to us from someone who couldn't go at last minute.
Colne Blues fest just the road from me this August has some cracking headliners, Aynsley Lister, Xander & the Peace Pirates, Elles Bailey, but not sure I'll even make that one yet.
Pretty much stopped going to live music once the kids were born until after my ex and I split.
But I think the last live gig I went to was Good Charlotte at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange, years ago.
So much good live music here, I really ought to make more effort.
As for Glasto and similar, my son's stories from Glastonbury are enough to put me off forever!
One of the best gigs I ever saw was Die Krupps at Camden Underworld a long, long time ago. Amazingly they are still going.
I've never been to a rock concert as such although I have experienced live music, mostly on holiday in such exotic places as Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Nassau, Kissimmee, Puerto Santiago. None of this living in a tent stuff.
I almost met Blondie backstage once, does that count?
I saw the Stones at St James, UfO at City Hall (front row for that) but best place was the Mayfair, packed and hot.
Slept on the steps of City Hall once to get Judas Priest/ Iron Maiden tickets only to find they had been on sale the day before. Such is youth.
Now, might not have 'Power' of indoor... but would have loved this... back in the day... and 'oldies'...but
I present to You... Wishbone Ash!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NyCsUH4a2s
Plenty of 'better' recordings... but 'arse in the grass'... can you see better for 'oldies' Rock?
Follow the feed!
Sometimes wonder about 'Backing track... just don't think so!
I watched Blondie from the front row ... that's got to be almost as close as almost meeting them backstage :)
Top concerts for me have to be Hawkwind (half deaf for days afterwards!), Blondie, Queen, the two Leonard Cohen concerts I've seen, Fleetwood Mac, Steeleye Span, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Yamato (taiko drummers).
My tastes are ... eclectic :)
Another vote for Hawkwind.
Can't recall which Band... at city Hall... but one of them... guy started to P*ss about with a Bullwhip... and brought down a speaker! LOL !!! :)
Incidental. But have seen old 'City Hall' concert tickets done up as beer mats... coffee table inserts! Laugh or Die! :o ;D
Once, 'Blue tacked on Bedroom wall !
Hi
Last 'gig' I went to was last November to see Bellowhead at the Forum Bath:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy5A3lgUBRs (and yes there is a track to do with the ACW)!
As for Glastonbury, I just go int othe back garden, its seven and a half miles away! :o
Cheers Paul
Really good live experiences were Hawkwind, Jethro Tull, The Beat, Marillion (back in the day with Fish on vocals) and (when I was very, VERY, young) Bob Marley!
Quote from: sunjester on 03 April 2023, 02:04:51 PMReally good live experiences were Hawkwind, Jethro Tull, The Beat, Marillion (back in the day with Fish on vocals) and (when I was very, VERY, young) Bob Marley!
Fish was a rare visitor to our club one day. He signed our visitor book as Derek Dick.
Yes i have seen the beer mat with the stubs.
Still have all the old ticket stubs from various concerts, tempted to do that myself.
Best concert experience was the Queen section at Live Aid.
They could have played for the rest of the concert as far as i was concerned.
Saw them again at St James Park strangely not quite as good.
Saw Iron Maiden at the Ruskin Arms in 1982 or 83. One of my fellow apprentices was friends with Clive Burr the then drummer, the gig was Tickets only. Released 24 hours in advance. My mate got given 4. After the set they just mingled in the bar.
One of the best gigs I've been to recently was Machinehead. They were doing a big arena tour that didn't include Scotland but uncle Rob loves coming to Scotland so during a break in the schedule, they put in 5 dates across small clubs in Scotland, probably a max of a couple of hundred people. (places like the Liquid rooms in Edinburgh) Intimate gig.
I've only done a few but in quite different venues. We did Queen at Metro Arena in Newcastle (few thousand), Foo Fighters in the Stadium of Light in Sunderland (55,000 people) and the Levellers in York Barbican (few hundred). Enjoyed all three thoroughly.
Sadly I'm rather inexperienced in live events compared to Adele, who travelled the country in her teens and has seen some really cool acts like Bob Dylan, Sex Pistols, Iggy Pop and dozens of others I can't remember.
I haven't been to a live event in decades. I think the last time was to see Steeleye Span with my wife not long after we got married in 1981. Never was much for the big open air pop concerts. I have an aversion to chemical toilets, mud and tents.
At the old Guildford Civic Hall......
Status Quo (twice)
Wishbone Ash
Mott the Hoople
Rick Wakeman
Hawkwind
Gillan
10cc
Groundhogs
Genesis
Uriah Heep
Iron Maiden (Pre Bruce Dickinson)
Eric Clapton
Chaz & Dave
Pink Floyd (Earls Court)
Yes (twice) Empire Pool, Wembley (?)
Boston (Rainbow)
(I'm sure I've forgotten some from the Guildford Civic Hall !)
Last 'gig' was a Queen Tribute band, (Mercury ?) about 20 years ago
I never saw as many concerts as I would have liked to, and most I saw were in the period from the mid-80s to early 90s. Only saw two bands in the last decade - Hawkwind up in Manchester on their 50th anniversary tour in 2019 (excellent) and Bonny Light Horsemen at the Union Chapel in London in February of this year (my eldest son treated me) - also v v good.
Back when I was young and almost single I saw the Michael Schenker Group, Black Sabbath (post Dio), Dio twice, Hawkwind 5 times (ahem), Jethro Tull, Rainbow, The Enid, Dumpy's Rusty nuts (double ahem), Marillion (on their Script tour, with Peter Hammill from VdGG as support), and Fairport Convention umpteen times (I also went four times to their Cropredy Festival where I caught quite a few other, generally rather niche, bands - but that included the superlative John Martyn playing an acoustic set with Danny Thompson).
Later on I caught Victoria Williams, the Jayhawks, Son Volt, David Crosby (RIP) with CPR, Bob Weir with Ratdog, Kate Rusby, David Swarbrick (with Eliza Carthy), Neil Young (and others, including Teenage Fanclub and Pearl Jam) at a London Fleadh, Richard Thompson (possibly 3 or 4 times, in various configurations), Roy Harper, King Crimson and - again too often (far too often) - the Cosmic Charlies (who were then the country's premier Grateful Dead cover band).
Looking back, a lot of these are a bit of a blur; but I remember well the phenomenal charisma of Fish with Marillion; the extraordinary affection poured out in a lovely small north London venue to Victoria Williams; David Crosby's voice still being magnificent despite his age; and the volcanic noise fest of Neil Young's inimitable guitar playing during Like a Hurricane and Down by the River.
Greatest regret? Not catching the Grateful Dead either in London 1990 or in Boston in September i995 (I had tickets, but Jerry died a month before: they were long past their prime but I just wanted do experience the THING that was a Grateful Dead concert). Sad old hippy, I know...
Quote from: Techno 3 on 04 April 2023, 07:52:23 AM....
Groundhogs
The Groundhogs was one of the bands I would have liked to have seen.
Saw such diverse acts as 10cc, The Baker Gurvitz Army and Steeleye Span for nothing courtesy of a flatmate who worked in the box office of the Usher Hall in Edinburgh.
Only 2 for me - Thin Lizzy at Liverpool empire, and Linard Skinard, Meat Loaf, White Snake at Donington.
Not much for me - Mott the Hoople, Roxy Music and Argent, all at Sheffield City Hall.
Cheers,
Geoff ;)
Argent !
That's one I forgot from the Civic Hall.
The Groundhogs were great, Flaming pig. Abiding memory from that gig was calling them back for a second encore. They were completely knackered when they left the stage..
I forgot about the Spinners which we saw in Salisbury around the same time as Steeleye Span but I'm not sure if they count as rock or pop. On reflection we went all the way to Stafford to see the Moody Blues at about the same time, if I remember right. They were massive at the time and had just come back from a tour in the US. When I think about it, the Spinners were probably the last live performance we went to. They were doing a tour round BAOR as I remember and were booked by the Sergeants Mess in Rheindahlen. That would be in the late 1980s. Lost interest in music generally about that time.
Seen relatively few bands in my time.
Saw David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen many years ago, both at The Wembley Arena (although I think it must have been the Empire Pool back then.
Rainbow and Paul Kossoff's Back Street Crawler at the Rainbow, Finsbury Park.
More recently Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes and George Thorogood at the Shepherds Bush Empire.
I've also seen a band called Kossoff...the Band Plays On a couple of times. They play the music of Free and BSC; as they are fronted by the former BSC lead singer I'm not sure you can call them a 'tribute band'. They also have a brilliant guitarist who Simon Kirke (ex Free) said he would want in the line-up should Free ever reform.
Mainly I hear opera these days; ENO at the Coliseum or English Touring Opera and Scottish Opera at the Hackney Empire, but the Bowie, Alex Harvey and Stones CDs still come out on a regular basis. Shame I never saw Alex, he is said to have been very good.