Me; apart from Hawkwind at the Treforest Polytechnic in 1979 (”Shot down in the night”) as it was my 1st gig and I can still taste the dry ice, I think it has to be Queen at St James’ Park 1986 – simply unbelievable.
We were right at the front of a huge crowd, Freddie was just perfection in lycra, the songs, the atmosphere pure party time – we even missed support band Status Quo as our bus broke down on way (there is a God) – it was simply pure musical genius. Whenever I watch their shows from Wembley on the same tour I feel the goose pimples sprouting on the back of my neck – great gig, must be my best ever.
So what about you? Would love to know your best gig
“we even missed support band Status Quo as our bus broke down on way (there is a God)” that made me chuckle.
Alas, I was not so lucky. My best friend Nina bought a couple of tickets for a Status Quo concert in Wembley in the 80s for my birthday. To this day I have no idea why (laughing dog will attest to my total indifference to any band containing more than one member with long, greasy hair).
But I feigned delight (as best friends do) and gamely went along. Oh my Lord. Three hours of utter, uttter sh1te. A single, three hour song. Or so it felt. Even frequently trips to the outside for loo breaks, smoke breaks, beer breaks, anything breaks failed to break up the tedium. I’ve never been so glad to get out of a venue in my life.
Other best and worst gigs
#2 Phil Collins
My eldest brother bought tickets to see him, again in Wembley. At the last minute he couldn’t make it so
blackmailedpersuaded me into buying them from him. I didn’t mind going, I quite like his music but we had the Worst. Seats. In. The House. Really. We were sat at the very, very back of the gods, facing the opposite wall and with the very back wall of the building on our right hand side. To see the stage required contorting the neck at a very unnatural angle and we suffered back and neck pain for weeks afterward as a result. Apparently it was a great gig. Can’t confirm or deny I’m afraid.#3 Stevie Wonder
Brussels in the 80s. The support act was a now famous but then unknown female singer and I’m racking my brains trying to remember who. Will report back.
To be continued…
AC/DC in USA
I have never liked hard rock or whatever you call it but I was in New York this summer at a friend’s house that had tickets so I went – it was a smart move. This was my first show AC/DC Show so I had to buy my red “devil horns” that light up but it was such a great night my friends and I was really had a blast.
First support band were The Answer who put on a good show. These guys are from Northern Ireland and have a bluesy hard rock feel to them. I would say to definitely check them out not normally my type of music but good will buy the CD soon I think. Now the second band, Anvil, well let’s just say I was not very impressed – old men playing old music.
Now the main show – On stage was the biggest TV screen right behind the center of the stage and two perfectly sized screens on the sides of the stage for the audience to view. The lighting system in the shape of a rugby ball was overhead was the most spectacular lighting system I have ever seen.). The show starts off with a video depicting Angus as a devil riding a train that is out of control with lots of pretty women all over the place. As the film continues, Angus has to make a decision to jump off the train and as he does: BOOM!!! AC/DC explodes onto the stage with “Rock and Roll Train.” – Fantastic opening the best ever. They play so I’m told later “Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be” then “Back in Black.” But it’s all fab In a word- “Wow”- everyone going ape as both singer and lead guitar walk down the runway and generally go mental. The rest of the show is simply awesome with the band finishing with two encores “Highway to Hell” and “For Those About to Rock.” I’m telling you right now if there had been a roof on Giants Stadium, it would have been blown off by the “21 Gun Salute.” After the song, there was a fire work display that was spectacular and unfortunately that was the signal that the end had come but what a night – thank you AC/DC
Set List:
1. Rock and Roll Train
2. Hell Ain’t a Bad Place To Be
3. Back in Black
4. Big Jack
5. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
6. Shot Down in Flames
7. Thunderstruck
8. Black Ice
9. The Jack
10. Hells Bells
11. Shoot to Thrill
12. War Machine
13. Dog Eat Dog
14. Anything Goes
15. You Shook Me All Night Long
16. TNT
17. Whole Lotta Rosie
18. Let There Be Rock
Guitar solo
19. Highway to Hell (Encore)
20. For Those About to Rock (Encore)
Liefste zus I thoufght this was for best gig your two gigs do not look like best gigs in fact they look like the worst gigs possible – you should have seen AC/DC
I can’t quite make out Sin Again if this was your first ever show, or your first hard rock show. Whatever it was, seems like a good one. I considered going to Dublin to see the same show but in the end I never bothered because, to tell you the truth i went off of them some years ago, they became a bit too predictable for me. I did see them many, many years ago, long before they became the massive act they are these days. They played in a small theatre (with Bon Scott for those of you who remember him). That was also a great night.
I also seen Anvil a long time ago, as support to Motorhead if I remember correctly. Although I never really rated them as a band, they were a lot of fun to watch and even in those days they didn’t take themselves too seriously.
The Answer appear to be the latest band with high hopes. I have heard a few tracks of theirs and they do sound promising, I am just hoping that they don’t go and do a Def Leppard on us and become all commercial in an attempt to break the charts. Only time will tell. They play here (Southern Ireland) quite regularly so I will probably go and see them sometime.
I’m glad you enjoyed the show. When it comes to the hard rock bands, its not unusual for the gigs to be so much better than the CDs so you really should try and catch a few more when you get the chance.
By the way, the red flashing horns aren’t obligatory.
MR SP
You are quite correct first hard rock gig and so must be my best. I have not seen to many live gigs as my job means I move around the world Middle East, North Africa which means that I dont have have much of a chance to see gigs no problem pay is good
You live in Ireland then and work for Amazon what do you do?
Yes the Laughing Dog told me that there aren’t that many gigs worth going to over there, but at least you have the sun and some fantastic food so that’s some compensation. I spent a bit of time in North Africa (Morocco) ages ago and I know that there is hardly ever anything there either.
Where I live (Cork) there isn’t really many gigs either, although each summer they erect a massive tent and put on some good acts. In the last year or two we’ve had the likes of Neil Young, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Eric Clapton, Chickenfoot and a few years ago, before I got here they had Roger Waters.
Dublin is less than an hour’s flight away and all the big acts play there but I haven’t actually gone to any gigs there yet. Also, we can reach the UK in about an hour so I am just biding my time and checking the listings. I considered going over to London to see Porcupine Tree but its too awkward getting time off work for that one. I will be going to Edinburgh to see Gong in a couple of months though.
Whilst I am quite happy working for Amazon, I can’t really say what job I do. You have to realise that sometimes the work can be quite sensitive and I’m not really at liberty to discuss it.
A bit of good news. As I said, here in Cork there isn’t really that many concerts worth going to. But I’ve just popped into town and picked up tickets for Peter Green in three weeks time.
I know it won’t be the greatest gig ever attended, but there’s nothing wrong with a night of the Blues with an old master is there?
You’re lucky, the big news here is England v Brazil coming to Doha in November to play football – give me a break – would you pay over 200 quid for the privilege? No, nor me
Enjoy Peter Green
Nope wouldn’t do for me. I firmly believe that football can only be enjoyed with your feet up on a stool, a nice glass of your favourite tipple (or suitable alternative) in your hand, TV volume muted and some decent music playing.
And just think – that 200 quid could buy you another 20 CDs to go with it.
Let’s get this conversation back on topic. Somewhere else on here, maybe under the Colour Haze discussion I mentioned some of the great gigs I have been to. It’s just too difficult to pick out one favourite. Instead I would like to share my memories of one of the best festivals I have been to.
2002 wasn’t a particularly good year for, too much ugly stuff going on. So to get away from it all, I packed up the Piglet and we headed off to Canterbury for the second (and last) Canterbury Fayre.
I didn’t really expect too much from it, but boy was I ever so wrong. Its really difficult to pick a highlight as the entire weekend was simply awesome. Look at the line up:
Kevin Ayers
Space Ritual
Ozric Tentacles
Fish
Mostly Autumn
Muffin Men (Frank Zappa’s backing band)
The Electric Prunes
All About Eve
21st Century Schizoid Band (as close to King Crimson as you’ll get these days)
Jack Bruce
Karnataka
Man
Arthur Brown
The Oyster Band
The Pretty Things
Love (with Arthur Lee)
The Damned
The Stranglers
And I’m going to have to let you digest that for a while because Mrs Pig is calling from the pub. I was going to tell you all about it just now but that will have to wait, apparently I have beer waiting so I’ll carry on later.
Mr SP hope you enjoy your pint
I cant wait to read review you will have to explain to me how The Damned and The Stranglers were playing at a Folkie festival. I was once a big fan of the men in black seen them live twice will write review for you
Mr LD do you know how to get tickets for the footie have heard that they are QAR 1500 is this true? I would love to go
OK let’s make a start on this. Mr SA asks how The Damned and The Stranglers ended up playing at a folk festival. I don’t think it was really a folk festival although there was a few folkie types on the line-up. The Damned I will explain later on, The Stranglers I honestly don’t have clue about.
So, off we go, an hours flight to London, another hour getting to Faversham from London and another hour waiting for the bus to the festival site and we arrived to a monsoon. You have to understand that this wasn’t just a summer shower, no no, this was a full blown tropical monsoon. Somehow we managed to get the tent up and dried off as well as we could and decided to wait it out. Eventually the rain subsided and then it was time to explore our surroundings. So we wndered down to the arena area, only to find that already on stage and battling through the elements was a rather whimsical Kevin Ayers.
Now I have admired Mr Ayers ever since his Soft Machine and Gong days so this was a real treat as an opener for me. Due to the weather and the early stage of the day, the crowd was rather small, maybe 300 -400. Did this make any difference? Not to the esteemed artist it didn’t. As the sun came out we were treated to a fantastic set of oldies and a few newer numbers; Clarence in Wonderland, Girl On a Swing, my own favourite, Lady Rachel, Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes, they were all there.My only disappointment was that later on I was told that I had missed Song From The Bottom Of A Well, but nevertheless, a great set.
For me, one of the best things about smaller festivals is that with only one stage, you aren’t left with the agonising choice of which bands to watch and what ones to give a miss. And so it was here, there’s about a half hour between bands whilst the stage is reorganised so that gives time to grab some food and explore the local brews before the next band comes on. And at this point I would like to say that the food on offer was excellent and the local scrumpy was pure bliss.
So suitably refreshed we headed back in time to catch Space Ritual coming on. Now I am not going to get into a discussion on the Nik Turner v Dave Brock situation here save to say that I am in the camp that just wish they would sort things out between themselves, share a few beers, shake hands and start playing together again. Both bands are fantastic on record and especially live. This time it was Nik’s band and they didn’t let us down, not that they ever have.
One of the good things about SR is that they will play the old tracks that Hawkwind hardly ever play any more. So the set started with a 14 minute version of Born to Go! Absolutely out of this world, and with Terry Ollis on fine form on the drum stool this was just thumping. Within seconds the crowd, which had now grown to about a thousand or so were going ballistic. And that was just the opener remember. All the early classics got a run out: Brainstorm, Watching the Grass Grow, Sonic Attack, Down Through the NIght. hey even managed to squeeze in Nik’s own Sonic Savages in its early form. Nik was in great form, dressed up in his weird monster outfit for most of the set, Jackie Windmill was on the bongos and added those wonderful backing vocals and distinctive tones on the likes of Orgone Accumulator. Thomas Crimble just played out of his skin for the whole set. To me and Junior SP the set just seemed too short, but we were having such a great time they could have played all weekend and it still wouldn’t have been long enough. The set was recorded and part of it appeared on Greasy Truckers Party 2002/3.
And so that set ended and we turned to each other and said that things couldn’t get much better. But hey, it was only early Friday evening and we still had a whole weekend to go!
OK, a short sustenance break then we find ourselves right at the front of the stage for Ozric Tentacles. I don’t know how well you guys know the Ozrics (and Mr SA if you don’t know them you should hold your head in shame). I happen to know them rather well having seen them quite a few times before then (and since) and I have most of their CDs. Junior however at that stage didn’t know them too well. At that time he liked something to sing along to (Hawkwind, Tull, King Crimson) so he hadn’t really paid that much attention to them. He knows better now! They were quite simply stunning that night. Never before or since had I seen them playing so tightly or so fluently as they did that night. The beat was infectious and hypnotic to say the least. It could be that the crowd, which had grown considerably by now, were feeling the effects of the aforementioned apple brew. If so, bring it on! This was an awesome performance. The interaction between the band and the audience was as if everyone was the best of old buddies with everyone else. As the sun went down and the light faded we went through Sploosh, Pyramidion and Kick Mule, the light show went into overdrive and everything was right with the world.
Back to the front of the stage for Friday’s closer – Fish. I loved early Marillion and hadn’t seen Fish since those glory days. Marillion in 1982 on the Fugazi tour. A long titime had passed since then, but the years just rolled passed as he went into Script, He Knows You Know, Forgotten Sons, Fugazi and finished up with Market Square Heroes. I have to admit that by the time this et finished i was feeling the worse for wear after such a long day, and the Piglet was totally done in and had to be carried back to bed. But we went to bed happy that night. We had only been there 12 hours but already we had a whole gang of lovely new friends, we had seeen four outstanding bands and sampled plenty of amazing food and drink. All we needed now was a good sleep and we would see if Saturday could come even close to matching our first day. The story will continue later as I think the boss wants me to do some work now for a change.
Hi Sin
No sorry only heard what you have – if Qtel are sponsoring then maybe I’ll be able to help.
Will let you know
Fantastic review – thanks Spacey
Do you know I have never been to a festival!!!! Shame on me I know – hope to rectify this next year in Europe
Looking forward to next instalment.
So Saturday morning dawns with the sun blazing brightly overhead. I could just feel that this was going to be an unforgettable day. LD has said he has never been to a festival which means he has missed out on the delights of festie breakfasts. Typically the choice is between Pot Noodles or greasy burgers. Not this time though, we found excellent home made muesli with natural yoghurt and fresh fruit. Just what we needed to set us up for the day.
First on the line up for the day, and another excellent opener – Mostly Autumn. They haven’t been mentioned on these pages yet so I don’t know if you people know of them. If not, get digging. How best to describe them? The ’70′s influence is obvious, think early Genesis or Floyd, and throw in a hefty dollop of folk inspired violin work. All in all a nice chilled way to kick off the day. Again, this set was recorded and the entire set was included with early editions of their next CD, Passengers. It was quite a short set, only about 50 minutes but highly enjoyable all the same when combined with a nice summer day and the obligatory flagon of scrumpy.
Then the day took a strange twist. Apparently The Muffin Men came on next, but by that time I had retired for re-fuelling and Junior decided he wanted to explore the kids area. Not too much of a problem, after all we had half an hour between sets. Problem was, as I was sitting quietly recharging, who should I find sitting next to me but the entire Space Ritual gang, minus Nik Turner who had headed off to Wales for a gig. Well, well, chance meeting or what so of course I had to engage them in conversation. Which turned into more scrumpy, etc. Then Junior at some point returned and found out who I was sitting with. Never one to miss out on meeting his heroes he had to get Jackie Windmill to teach him the basics of bongo playing. Which left me the opportunity to fill up with more scrumpy.
I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed or not, but when you’re in the mood, a flagon of scrumpy and good conversation don’t really last that long. I could hear The Muffin Men in the background, but to be honest, with approximately 3 gallons of scrumpy inside me by this time I don’t really remember too much of what they were like. I was told later on that they were good, and I have no reason to think otherwise, but I never even seen them yet, only heard the occassional howl of guitar through the haze.
So this session rolled on and on. Junior learned to play the bongos and I (and the band) made full appreciation of the apple nectar. But hold on – wait a minute, didn’t we come here to see some bands? Time to head back to the arena to catch the next act. Except that our session lasted longer than expected and by the time we were back at the arena we had managed to miss the next band altogether. Bummer! But a blessing in disguise so I’m told because we missed the horrendous MoR of Diesel Park West. Which meant next up were the awesome Electric Prunes. Now, I know for a fact that Mr SA will not know the Prunes, not sure if the Dog will, so a bit of history for you: The Electric Prunes emerged from the San Fransisco garage scene in the mid ’60′s. They quickly became known as outright freaks who could play a mean tune when they wanted to. But that total knob end David Axelrod somehow managed to take them over, fired all the original members and turned into some poor relation to the proper band. Then gave them a truly awful dirge to play on the movie Easy Rider and just had time to coalesce them into making the worst album in their history before everyone realised that they were by now a joke and they were best forgotten about.
And that’s the way it stayed for the next 35 years. Until this glorious day when the original line up decided that it might be fun to get back together for old time’s sake and play a few gigs to see what happened. So me and Junior Piglet were treated to their first gig in 35 years. And what a treat it was. Probably for me this was the highlight of the weekend (maybe even the year). They were simply stunning, as if they had never been away. I know that garage rock more or less disappeared about 30 years ago. You probably know this too. Fortunately, The Electric Prunes don’t. To actually hear tracks like I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night), Ain’t It Hard, Try Me On For Size being played less than 10 feet from you was a semi religious experience. Again, this set was recorded and sections of it appear on the subsequent live DVD, Rewired. I don’t know if I will ever get the chance to see them again. If I do, I refuse to believe that it could be any better than what we seen that day.
By the time they had finished, we really needed something a little bit more chilled, and we got All About Eve. Another very good band which I hadn’t seen for quite some time, maybe about 10 years or so. I think that they had lost some of the ethereal qualities their earlier recordings had, nevertheless, after The Prunes it was what we needed. So we lazed in the early evening sun, drunk more scrumpy and regained our strength for….
21st Century Schizoid band. Think of them as King Crimson early line up without Fripp. Was there a classsic they didn’t play? Nope, they were all there. They appeared to go through the entire Court of the Crimson King, Lark’s Tongues in Aspic and Islands. I know they didn’t, they simply didn’t have time for that but it appeared as if they did. By the time they finished, predictably enough with 21st Century Schizoid Man, the crowd were eating from their hands, Junior SP was in raptures, and I was flat on my back having accepted that maybe 5 gallons of local brew was pushing it a bit.
Which was a bit of a shame because we still had Jack Bruce to get through. How I managed to see his set I will never know, but see it I did. I had been a bit concerned that as I don’t really know that many of his post Cream releases I might get a bit lost. No problem, the set list included such classics as Sunshine Of Your Love, White Room, Politician and even a rather rocking version of Theme For An Imaginary Western. This set was also released as a DVD and some day I am going to have to pick it up to see how much I actually remember.
And so (I’m told) the evening performances ended on a high note. I have rather vague memories of attending some kind of party with the Space Ritual crowd and loads of other festival goers, of finally seeing my bed just as the sun was rising and I know that at some point I crashed head first down a ditch somewhere. Excellent, still another day of this to go!
Excellent reviews thank you Spacey – can’t imagine how the last day will top this though
Waiting with baited
I’m not sure that the last day will top the Saturday Mr Dog, we’ll have to wait and see as I haven’t had time to write it up yet.
Meanwhile, I have put a couple of videos of the Peter Green gig on Youtube why not have a look?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByQsRXrXUz0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4-bNot_Q_0
While you’re there you can also get a quick look of my Spanish friend Paco busking very late one night in town. It also includes a brief guest appearance by non other than Mrs Spacepig:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utwMer2fjNw
Better be quick though, she’s nagging me to remove it.
Hi Mrs Spacepig – you can remove now
Good videos – how close where you to the stage?
Did you enjoy?
How close to the stage? Oh approximately 3 inches. But you have to remember that this wasn’t a large venue by any means. It is actually more of a pub than a gig venue. I did tell you I like the smaller venues didn’t I? Total capacity was about 500 at the most.
As for enjoying it! Well, the sound mix was horrendous, Peter’s vocals could hardly be heard and he never played Green Manalishi or Man of the World.
But this was made up for by a stonking version of Oh Well which started whilst I was refuelling at the bar so I never managed to record it. The crowd were great fun, the support act was a local guy playing some great early Blues and the beer flowed all night.
So all in all, yes, a great night.
I have put a few more vids on youtube and I still have a few more to go yet so might be worthwhile having a quick look.