Favourite gigs and related memories

[Steve Jones]

I'd be happy to have your view about the concert(s) you enjoyed the most during this period, the one(s) where you leave the place with a blissful smile on your face and bumming ears 

As a response to Bupie's question I thought I'd kick off a dedicated topic rather than clutter up the 'Now Playing' thread.  Feel free to add you own comments


Although I don't recall much in detail these days, I can certainly remember the highlights.  Robin Trower in 1976 stands out as the first gig I went to and Genesis 1980 and Jethro Tull 1978 as a couple of the best.  Other than that, to keep it brief I'll pick just a handful from the late 70s and early 80s:

Notable for consistently high standards over many years and tours were Camel, Thin Lizzy, UFO, Wishbone Ash and pre-stadium Rush.  Classic live bands that wouldn't let you down.

In a class of their own were pre-stadium Van Halen.  Even on their first assault on the UK shores as support to Black Sabbath in 1978 they were so over the top, so much more rock'n'roll, so much more, well, everything than other bands that some of us were just completely shell-shocked and dazed after the gig.  With the onslaught of MTV and Eddie-clones over the years, it's easy to forget what a quantum leap Halen were at the time.  I guess folk felt the same way about Hendrix, but I wasn't there for that one.

A couple of mentions under the 'glad I caught them' heading would be Lynyrd Skynyrd before the plane crash and T. Rex before Bolan's car accident.

Notable omissions for one of my era include:

• Led Zeppelin (never much cared for them)
• Deep Purple (mostly before my gig-going era)
• Ziggy/Aladdin Bowie (before my gig-going era)
• Queen.  Suprising, this, but I was too late for the theatre-sized Queen and I never really liked the stadium kind of concerts.

I think I'll stop there for now, otherwise I'll go on all night...

[PH]

That's not a very difficult question for me:

I've only been to four concerts.

Kino, December 2005
Ray Wilson, July 2006
Frost*, October 2006
A.C.T, March 2007

All four of them have something special.

[Bupie]

All four of them have something special.

And  ... ? It's a secret ?

I think I remember that you had the chance to speak to a legendary bass player at your fist gig, no ? 

I'll try to feed this thread when I have more time ahead. Thanks for creating it, Steve 

[PH]

And  ... ? It's a secret ?

No, but there's not much time left for me. (Wow, that sounds dramatic...)
I will write down half an A4 for you, tomorrow.

I think I remember that you had the chance to speak to a legendary bass player at your fist gig, no ? 

That's right!

[Manatee]

Well, for starters, I can mention:

The three great shows I saw at the old Forest Hills Tennis Stadium (former home of the U.S. Open) one summer in the early 80's.  I'm too senile to pinpoint the exact year now.  It's a great venue, outdoors but only a few thousand or so seats, so it's not like a large stadium show, which is usually not so great for sound quality or seeing the band.  These were:

Talking Heads - Incredible energy, David Byrne left the stage for about 15 minutes, and the members of Tom Tom Club who aren't in TH came out.  They did a few Tom Tom Club songs, and then David came back (probably in an even bigger suit, but I'm not sure on that point).  I believe this was the tour they recording Stop Making Sense on.

Peter Gabriel - At the peak of his solo greatness.  Tony Levin in the band, with gleaming head, playing the stick.  He had us riveted the whole time.  This was the tour Plays Live was recorded on.

Genesis - Post-Gabriel, of course, but a great show with several old songs from their prime, including Supper's Ready, which I never dared hope to hear live.  A rare chance to see them up close since they were doing mostly huge arena shows by then.


That same summer, also outdoors, on a pier in NYC:

Joe Jackson - As we mentioned before, this was the same tour that Bupie saw - Night and Day, I think, where the band had no regular guitar, just bass.  Hard to fathom, but they made it work.  And they did 'Is She Really Going Out With Him' a cappella.


My last semester of college in 1984:

Van Halen at the Capitol Center in Maryland (near Washington, D.C.)  - Unsurprisingly, this was the tour for 1984 and the last with the original band intact.  They put on quite a spectacle.  Highlights included each band member doing a solo for about 5 minutes each.  Eddie, of course, did things with the guitar that aren't supposed to be possible.  Michael Anthony ended up on the ground, and it looked like the bass might be playing him instead of the other way around.  Alex went to town on the drums, but I don't really recall anything that stood out about it other than it was good.  David Lee Roth essentially did a 5-minute stand-up comedy routine.  He's a lunatic, but he's funny as hell.

[Steve Jones]

David Lee Roth essentially did a 5-minute stand-up comedy routine.  He's a lunatic, but he's funny as hell.

He truly is a god amongst men

I'm thinking I should have included Rainbow's 1976 UK tour in my initial post.  Having missed seeing Blackmore (big hero of mine at the time) in Purple, this was a chance not to be missed and they didn't disappoint. Particularly awesome was the opening 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' extract launching into 'Kill the King'   Although well-known now, 'Kill the King' wasn't on any album at the time and came as a complete suprise when I was expecting stuff from 'Rainbow Rising'.  Still one of the all-time best openers IMHO

[maddox]

Oooh, lots of concerts and lots of good memories.

Will get back to you on this matter.

[Manatee]

I'm tempted to add this one:

The Police at the Hartford Civic Center in Connecticut (possibly the same summer as the other shows I mentioned) - The Synchronicity tour.  They were good and a bit silly - they took a break for tea and we got to watch them on a big screen sipping from dainty tea cups backstage.  They didn't blow me away, but then, I was never more than a casual fan of theirs.  The thing that makes this worth mentioning is that the opening/support act was R.E.M.!   This was back when they only had their EP and Murmur out.  Thus began my fanaticism for them.   

[Iggy]

Hmmmm difficult subject.

One of the first Concerts I saw was Mike Oldfield at the royal festival hall in about 1976 I'm not sure if he had played live before that tour.
Bizarrely enough Yes on the Drama tour in 81 ish was also a big favourite I was right at the front.
Yes also feature several more times I think the open your Eyes tour at the Hammersmith Apollo (It was when Mrs Iggy finally realised that Yes are a fantastic band)
Genesis at Milton Keynes (with Peter Gabriel)
Pink Floyd on the Pulse tour was also a fantastic show.
Led Zeppelin at the O2 a year or two back.
IQ legendary Xmas bash
Pure Reason Revolution at Dingwalls this year.

And finally Mrs I's personal favourite Arena at Reading last year.

Sadly I haven't seen The Who.

[Manatee]

Sadly I haven't seen The Who.

I saw them (also in the Capitol Center) on the Face Dances tour.  Kenney Jones on drums due to Keith Moon's demise. They were very good, although not mind-blowing.  One thing that struck me as odd was that the keyboard player (they had a few songs with keys) was behind the curtain/wall at the back of the stage, which I thought was kind of insulting to him.  If he's playing in the gig, he deserves to be seen IMO.  We were able to see him because we had seats at the very side of the stage.

[Steve Jones]

I which I thought was kind of insulting to him.  If he's playing in the gig, he deserves to be seen IMO.

Too right - weird!  Another band I never saw, unfortunately, although I remember being utterly blown away by the Charlton Athletic gig that was televised in the 70s.

[Steve Jones]

My gig-list from the late 70s predates computers and so is written on p-a-p-e-r.  Scary stuff when you consider I won't take a dump these days without noting it in a database

As I get fed up with digging out the folder (I can never find the bl**dy thing) I thought I should take steps to at least scan it in, if not properly database the info.  So here's Page 1 for your delectation.

There may be errors (this was transcribed from tickets originally stuck to my bedroom door at my parents many years ago) but it's pretty accurate in that I definitely saw anything on the list.  Errors seem to be ones of omission, in that I know I saw Richard Thompson on a certain tour in recent years that I never noted down, for example, as I've still got a sweatshirt.

All gigs are Birmingham England, unless otherwise noted.

[Bupie]

One thing that struck me as odd was that the keyboard player (they had a few songs with keys) was behind the curtain/wall at the back of the stage, which I thought was kind of insulting to him.

To say the least 

What did the "regular" band do during the intro of You Better You Bet that is voice and keyboards only ? (great song BTW)

So here's Page 1 for your delectation.

AC/DC and Thin Lizzy on 1976 !!!

[Steve Jones]

AC/DC and Thin Lizzy on 1976 !!!

AC/DC weren't really big at that point, although you wouldn't know it from the gig.  I paid 60 pence to get in (cheapest real concert I ever attended) and Angus flashed his willy.  Not to me personally, I hasten to add

Lizzy were on the Jailbreak tour and were awesome.  Strange to think that an awful lot of their regular live material hadn't been written at that point in time.  I was close to the stage and Phil Lynott made eye-contact with me and nodded at one point because I wasn't joining in with the clapping.  I don't suppose he remembers that (least of all because he's dead) but it made quite an impression on a 16 year old kid new to gigs.  These days I clap when I'm told the first time!

[Teunis]

I have attended 5 Toto gigs, 1 Steve Lukather (not related to Arjen Lucassen) gig, 1 Star One gig, 2 Pendragon and 2 IQ gigs.

The Toto gig in a small venue (Podium, Hardenberg) was the most memorable one. I'm not that fond of those venues with thousands of people. Also the last IQ and Pendragon were great, especially meeting the Pendragon members was  .

[PH]

I have attended 5 Toto gigs, 1 Steve Lukather (not related to Arjen Lucassen) gig, 1 Star One gig, 2 Pendragon and 2 IQ gigs.

The Toto gig in a small venue (Podium, Hardenberg) was the most memorable one. I'm not that fond of those venues with thousands of people. Also the last IQ and Pendragon were great, especially meeting the Pendragon members was  .

And is Star One related to Steve Lukather?

[PH]

By the way, I still have to write that half A4 of my experiences with the four gigs I attended.
Tomorrow.

[Teunis]

And is Star One related to Steve Lukather?

No, but there is a connection between Arjen Lucassen and Star One  .

[Nicky007]

Guess I gotta add my stuff here:

Strangely, altho Floyd are my all-time faves (now contested by DT), I never got my act together to see'm live. One reason is that they didnt seem to make stops in Cop. My brother, who's just as much of a Floyd fan as I, managed to see The Wall concert in Paris - and I sure am jealous of that.

But seeing them on a good TV playing at the London Live 8 concert was a BIG experience for me. It was just sooo moving to see'm back together again and enjoying it so much, after all the divisions they'd had. And now that Rick's gone, this will probably remain my biggest Floyd Live experience.

Another big experience was Steve Vai in Cop, in 2006 (I think). He's great live, not only a fabulous musician, but also a thrilling showman. And his buddies are always among the best.

I went to Headway in Amsterdam in 2007, mainly to see Redemption, who were my fave group at the time. They were real great, as well as Zero Hour. The whole Headway experience was uplifting, cause you were socialising, drinking beers and stuff, with some of the world's greatest musicians and most avid proggies. Sad that it stopped, cause of falling ticket sales 

There was a summer back in the 70's when I experienced Mike Oldfield thrice, once of the occasions being the Roskilde Festival. That was real big too.

And Bruce Springsteen a bit earlier, also in Cop. He and his buddies really delivered themselves fully at the time, playing three-hour concerts with all stops out. At the end, people were all over the place dancin around, on chairs, tables, up in the curtains, wherever.

Dillinger Escape Plan last year, as I told you guys about. This is probably the most intense concert I'v experienced. And these guys were also all over the place. Worth a shot, guys 

Yup, Jonesy, I also missed Zep, altho I was and still am a big fan of'm.

Queen I experienced in Cop at the time of Night, just before they became stadium. Great concert! I remember that I was especially fascinated by the wizradry that Brian was conjurin up discreetly in the background, while Freddie of course took all the kudos.

I think I'l stop for now, might add a bit later. Guess the style of this thread is loose enuff to do it this way 

Nicky.

[Nicky007]

And is Star One related to Steve Lukather?

Amazing how many sausages can come outta this sh* 

Nicky.

[The Butterfly Man]

A gig that immediately springs to mind when thinking about my favourite gigs hasn't got anything to do with prog. It's a Foo Fighters-concert on a festival (Pinkpop) I attended last year. I already had a couple of their albums at the time and they got a lot of playtime in my cd-player in the months leading up to the festival. I was really looking forward to seeing them live. When the moment finally came they didn't let me down at all. I was standing pretty much at the front and it was highly energetic. The band gave everything they had (or so it seemed to me anyway) and the crowd loved them. The setlist was really good as well. There were some moshpits going on at times and I even saw a few guys crowdsurfing. Normally I'm not really into that stuff but here it only added to the whole experience. If I had only one word to describe it, it would be 'intense'. I truly enjoyed every minute of it.

Mainly due to the great time I had at this gig I bought the remainder of their catalog. Today Foo Fighters are one of my favourite non prog-bands.

Great memories!

Tom

[aswas]

Dream  Theater 1992 in Jax Fl  at Shades  venue capacity 200. It was great
Yes in 1972-one of several but it was during the Close to the Edge Tour
ELP Atlanta
Genesis during the good years

[Iggy]

Dream  Theater 1992 in Jax Fl  at Shades  venue capacity 200. It was great
Yes in 1972-one of several but it was during the Close to the Edge Tour
ELP Atlanta
Genesis during the good years

Ah the benefit of being just a few years older  .

i would have loved to have seen yes on that tour.

[aswas]

It was a great concert . I saw them several times during that tour. It was magic. I remember that played at Jax Memorial Arena capacity 7500, there was about maybe 1500 people there. Way ahead of Jacksonvilles Bold New City of the South as it was called back then. Still is. 95% of people here don't know what prog is here

[Iggy]

It was a great concert . I saw them several times during that tour. It was magic. I remember that played at Jax Memorial Arena capacity 7500, there was about maybe 1500 people there. Way ahead of Jacksonvilles Bold New City of the South as it was called back then. Still is. 95% of people here don't know what prog is here

For your interest.

I saw Rick Wakeman do 1984 at the Hammersmith Apollo (as it was then) with Steve Harley and Chaka Khan I think. We met him in the pub before the concert (not planned) and he was having a drink with Alan White. I'm not sure when I think it was 82 or 83. I missed my last train home and had to walk the last 25 miles!