He opens with Independence Day solo and then plays what seems, from memory, like 4 hours of classic rock with The E Street Band.

Happy days.

but I snuck into Club for Heroes - Rusty Egan/Steve Strange - when I was about 14/15. And the things I saw...

Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion? Not even close, mate

Was it any good? Well, it was a laugh, but I was with a couple of friends whose company I enjoyed. Otherwise it might have been a bit tedius. The support bands were rubbish and the Stone Roses were perfunctory till the last 4 songs - Fools Gold and the closing 3 songs from the first album, during which they were sublime.
We were not too far from the stage, and but for the last 4 songs, no one around us was dancing except us.

a truly wonderful evening with R.E.M. (for it was they) at their musical peak. Made all the more special by the fact that in the afternoon Michael Stipe had jumped out of the back of a van and sat on the pavement outside the venue talking with fans.

... I was at the first Donnington Monsters of Rock Festival, which for a kid of 14 was brilliant.
Not so much legendary, but the first of its kind.

As a, perhaps younger boardmember, none that have entered history quite yet, but here are 2 I was present at which might get a footnote one day:

-Morrissey, M.E.N. Arena, May 22nd 2004.
This was the "big" gig for his return with You Are The Quarry(though he'd done a few quieter tours in the intervening years).
-Leonard Cohen, Glastonbury 2008
Can't help but feel this will be seen as a something in the future.

Perhaps not what you're looking for... as you were.

an afternoon at The Burrell Art Gallery in Pollock Country Park, Glasgow - Grand Prix era

Late, greats and never see their like again oh no no no:
Roy Orbison at the old Mean Fiddler
Tammy Wynette at the RFH
Stevie Ray Vaughan at the Hammersmith Palais
Celia Cruz & Tito Puente at the Hammersmith Palais
Ella Fitzgerald at the Grosvenor House Hotel

Legendary, and you should have been there:
Bruce Springsteen, The River tour, Wembley Arena
Fleetwood Mac, Rumours tour, Belle Vue, Manchester
Bob Dylan, Street Legal tour, Earls Court

Legendary, but you didn't miss much:
The Clash at the Rainbow
David Bowie, Heroes tour, at Earls Court

Not exactly legendary as such, but notable one-offs nonetheless:
Elvis Costello & the Confederates, King of America tour, at the Albert Hall
The Neville Brothers, first UK tour, at the old Mean Fiddler
Mink DeVille, first UK tour, at the Rainbow
K.D. Lang & The Reclines, first UK tour, at Dingwalls

.... Dr Feelgood, the Kursaal, Southend. 15 years old. Changed my life. Forever.

Nicked from another site but...

"Opened in 1898 as the Palace Theatre, seating 1,800 over two tiers. Films introduced in 1911. Interior rebuilt 1931, 2,000 seats. Ballroom from 1959, and nightclub since 1976."

Aberdeen.

By 1981 it was used for gigs on a standing room only basis, ground floor, no balconies, so there can only have been a few hundred people in there to see Thin Lizzy play one of a handful of small warm up gigs prefacing a major UK tour, midsummer. They may also have played Inverness and Irvine?

Added piquancy that the Palace was where my mum met my dad in the late 1950s.

Anyway, as a 19 year old, and Live & Dangerous having been one of my favourite albums of all time back then, this was a classic Lizzy lineup in a smallish space and may still stand as the best gig I've ever seen in terms of how fitting it was at the time...

I also saw Thin Lizzy in Belfast Kings Hall.It was my 1st concert .The Smiths in the Ulster Hall was probably the best gig I was at,although dont know if it has legendry status. Bragging rights in our house goes to my wife who seen Nirvana in Dublin.

If only....

See "Imaginary Bands" thread for details!

Mott The Hoople at Liverpool Stadium in 1973.

However my mother took me to see Slim Whitman at Liverpool Empire, the year before. All I can remember is yodelling.

My dad was a jammy beggar, he was a Cavern goer and saw The Beatles and everyone important in the Sixties.

Add to that, he worked on a ship that meant he spent a lot of time in Hamburg.

He even stumbled across Queen in 1970 at St Helens Tech College, I think this was in the days before John Deacon joined.

Manchester Free Trade Hall 21st April 1972. Just before the release of Ziggy Stardust, hall very empty. Think Mark Radcliffe claims he was there but don't remember him...

at Finsbury Park Astoria 1963 - could hardly hear them for the girls screaming, but it was brilliant. (This one always seems to be missing from lists of their gigs -included Freddy and The Dreamers, Tommy Quigley, Cilla Black and the Fourmost. Now if only my elder sister had only kept the programme (a delightful purple and yellow job IIRC).........

The Stones at Hyde Park, Got there late - miles from the stage, Battered Ornaments and Third Ear Band were tedious, Family OK, King Crimson sounded great. Stones sounded great to my young ears (although the bits I have seen on TV seem a bit rough). Glad I was there. Nearest I got to a 'festival' experience in 60s.

Springsteen at Hammersmith Odeon (1st UK Gig). I thought it was brilliant. The band apparently less so, though having got the DVD a year or 2 ago, it bears out my recollections.

The Monkees at Wembley - a bit disappointed by the number of session musicans on stage - it was OK'ish.

1st Stiff Tour (Birmingham Town Hall) - was heroic. Believe it or not I was tempted not to stay for the Blockheads because I was so disappointed the previous time I had seen Kilburn & The High Roads. Glad I stayed - they were blinding.

Bowie, Roxy Music and Lloyd Watson(winner of MM Folk Rock Comp.) at the Rainbow 1972. This was the famous gig with the scaffolding and Lyndsey Kemp Mime Troupe performing around the band - a surprise, but he carried it off. I wasn't so impressed with Roxy Music, but from where I was sitting (RHS Row B), their sound mix was dire as was the 2nd support. Legndary? Yes.

U2: I was 15 when I saw their famous New Year's Eve 1989 show in Dublin, the one where Bono said "we have to go away and dream it all up again". U2 haters, start your engines...

The Graceland tour had Paul Simon, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and I think I was a bit young to appreciate the non-Paul Simon bits.

Sparks' comeback show at the Shepherd's Bush Emoire in 1994, with guest Bernard Butler. Q said it was legendary a few year back.

August 3, 1983, the first performance by Prince introducing his new band The Revolution. It was at First Avenue in Minneapolis and the concert was a benefit for the Minnesota Dance Theater.

It was the first time I'd ever seen the little guy perform live, and he was stunning, as was the band. The second side of the Purple Rain album comes from that performance, tho I believe there were some overdubs involved.

I saw him again several times after that but never in such an intimate setting and never as inspired and transcendent as he was that night.

Hammersmith 1989.

I think it was only announced with about a week's notice, and in those pre-internet days I only found out about it the day before. So I got a great ticket from a tout, fourth row of the stalls, and I'm very glad I did. Neil was on a roll on the back of Freedom, and with the Berlin wall just having just come down, Rocking in the Free World was already a bit of an anthem.

Well, it was wonderful. Neil was completely solo acoustic (with just occasional help from roadie Larry Cragg), but this wasn't some sedate, sitting on a stool, gig. He prowled the stage, staring intensely at the audience, thrashing his guitar, and I remember the whole gig being incredibly powerful.

Last English gig with the classic line up before lead guitarist Bernard Butler walked out on the band, and the first gig they'd done up north since winning the Mercury prize the year before. We'd queued up all day on the memorably chilly seafront with all manner of girls-in-suits and boys-in-makeup; a healthy dose of post-Grunge/Baggy androgyny! Band tensions hadn't been helped by a recent interview with Bernard on his own in VOX, given just after his father had died, wherein he'd slagged off the other members. He was behaving very oddly but it didn't affect his playing. Altogether they were on blistering, spectacular, heartbreaking form, debuting songs from their upcoming (and best) album Dog Man Star against the backdrop of the best looking veues in the country, the home of Come Dancing! Dramatically enough Radio 1 were there to document the whole thing and thus provide a soundboard recording bootleg which attests to the sheer Beatlefuckingmania going on in the crowd throughout.
It was their favourite gig ever by all accounts.

It all seemed such a shame what happened after.

after a year trekking through west africa

i lobbed in london and bought a bunch of concert tickets for the next few months.

the Gabriel gig was at the odeon i think - the one where you sit down.It was the end of world tour and the the first show in london. Sound lighting and performance superb- had the scaffolding to climb on.

Crowd knew every word to every song. Quite a contrast to the bands in African bars.

at at intimate soiree with Nirvana at the Reading Festival in 1992. They were at the peak of their powers, the crowd were all there to see them and they were rubbish. Really really dull. Public Enemy the night before blew them away - I remember the crowd thinning out throughout their set until I gave up after an hour.

Beatles at Southend Odeon (twice, once with Roy Orbison headlining), Everly Brothers/Crickets/Bo Diddley/Stones at Southend Odeon, Howlin Wolf/Sonny Boy Williamson at the Fairfield Halls Croydon, John Lee Hooker at the Flamingo, Dylan/Band at Albert Hall, Doors/Jefferson Airplane at Roundhouse, Janis Joplin at Albert Hall, Cream farewell at Albert Hall, Pink Floyd at UFO, Stones in Hyde Park (I thought they were terrible), Led Zeppelin at Albert Hall, Frank Zappa at the Festival Hall, Ike & Tina Turner at the Festival Hall, Byrds acoustic/Zappa/Led Zep/Santana/Floyd doing Atom Heart Mother etc at the Bath Festival. Not sure what happened after that - the gigs got smaller maybe, and there were marriage and children. Things that stick out from later years were J J Cale at the Hammersmith Odeon, Neville Bros at the Forum, and K D Lang/Lyle Lovett also at the Forum. Recent candidate for legendary status: Vampire Weekend/Raconteurs at the Eden Project.

21st December 1994 at the London Astoria. One of those that was probably just another gig at the time, but gained more significance afterwards. All I can remember was:

1) They came on really late

2) They were deafening.

3) I was shitting myself because it was the first gig I'd been to and not being the most muscular chap at the time, I thought I was going to get flattened.

4) Everything got smashed at the end.

5) How tremendous it was.

I've seen them 3 or 4 times since, but that's still the best gig I've seen them play.

Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard on the Rock n Roll Legends Tour in (I think) '98ish.

Three old men who were absolutely fantastic.

In addition, you could see Chuck's purple pants through his white flares every time he did the duck walk.

Maybe I should start a thread of "have you seen a rock n roll legend's pants?".

It was their first Australian tour following the death of Bon Scott. The venue was (and is) a beautiful, alcohol free, outdoors site in the middle of parkland. A place more suitable for Christmas Carols or a string quartet than a hard-rock gig.

The show itself was probably identical to every other show that tour. They played all of Back in Black, Angus dropped his pants etc. It was the aftermath that became legendary.

The show ended around midnight and stone sober we left the gated area into the near pitch black parkland only to be surrounded by 10,000, or 20,000, or more, blind drunk AC/DC fans who'd been eavesdropping, drinking in the park. Unbeknownst to us we'd just walked into a full-scale riot.

It was chaos, a massive brawl with no beginning or end. Right in front of me people were jumping out of trees onto strangers heads.

We got out of there somehow and got to Flinders St Station only to find the show had run overtime and the last trains had already left for the night. That's when I started worrying. The few taxi's visible were being used as trampolines. Policemen were standing off to the side watching the carnage. I couldn't blame them. They were outnumbered by about 40,000 people. We got home...about four hours later.

It was literally front page news the next day. Concerts were banned there for decades.

That was Friday night, by all accounts the Saturday night gig was worse.

I have managed, by chance and circumstance to see some of those shows seen as some sort of cultural milestone, like the Stones at Knebworth, Blackbushe, Rock against Racism Finsbury Park Costello and Roundhouse Stranglers, as well a clutch of Glastonbury's, a Reading, a Phoenix. However my fondest memories are of much smaller events, the various folk and related festivals that have unearthed wonderful acts.

Stone Roses – Maysfield Leisure Centre Belfast. Does that count? Tiny venue - I always thought it was a warm up for Spike Island, but it may have come just after. Someone will know ...

Springsteen at Slane in 1985 – beautiful summer’s day and playing to what was then his biggest ever audience.

U2 in Dublin on home leg of the Achtung Zooropa tour – spectacular and utterly brilliant. Rubbish both before and after obviously. (Have I mentioned before just how over-rated ‘The Joshua Tree’ is?)

Frank Sinatra on his last UK tour with Liza Minmelli & Sammy Davis Jnr in support – not exactly classic but I wouldn't have missed it. Sammy was great too.

Stone Roses - Spike Is, ICA, La Cigalle, Blackpool.

REM - Lyceum (83/84) for Reckoning but best at Brixton Acad in 2002ish.

AC/DC- Hammi Odeon 79/80 (Bon Scott's last tour, for Highway to Hell)

Pink Floyd - at Earl's Court when seating collapsed.

James supported by Radiohead. James supported by Coldplay. Not classics but good ticket stubs...

Belle & Sebastian - doing ...Sinister at the Barbican.

but some how seem to have missed legendary ones. I look hopefuly at the lists in magazine but even bands I've seen it was another night on the tour which was "legendary" (I went to the only none riot JAMC gig) I suspect the press have to be there for it to be a legend.

notable gigs however

I saw Pixies play 3-4 times on their first big tour of Britain and they were truly excellent.

we went to see Public enemy on their first tour of britain in 1988 in Brixton which was incredibly thrilling.

New Order the Mondays and the Inspirals in Mnachester in 1990 ? which was a great night.

Oh and we saw CUD play a bandstand in park in wakefield which was one of the most fun stage invasions ever.

Nirvana at Reading '92 - brilliant
Pavement's last ever gig at Brixton Academy - fantastic
Prince at the Koko 2 years ago - amazing
Spiritualized at the Phoenix festival doing ladies & gentlemen with Dr John, Gospel choir, etc.
Leonard Cohen at the Albert Hall last year
Neil Young at Hammersmith last year
Macca at Camden Electic Ballroom 2 (?) years ago - went in cynical but when he played Blackbird a few feet away I was weeping salty tears
Portishead / Massive Attack / Robert Plant / The Coral at Bristol Academy tsunami charity gig - PHENOMENAL

London pub-rock boozer. Any Trouble were playing.
I remember also queing for the rumoured appearance of the Rolling Stones at Dingwalls: we got Rocket 88, without even Charlie, but I believe Ian Stewart was still alive.
Also for Led Zep, rumoured to be at the Marquee: we got the Pretty Things, newly signed to Swansong.
Hey ho......

Hammersmith Odean 1981. My first proper concert (not including Cliff And The Shadows with my mum and sister when I was about 10). It was their only UK show. I was in row 8 standing next to Tommy Vance. They were absolutely amazing. I've seen hundreds and hundreds of shows since but very few have come close to this for pure excitement.

And now for something completely different. In 1986 about a week before playing in front of 77,000 people at Wembley Wham! played 2 nights at Brixton Academy as a warm up for Wham - The Final. I think it was a charity event for "Help A London Child". They were absolutely brilliant. My favourite moment was when a girl behind me said "I don't think he's really playing that" whilst looking at Andrew Ridgeley miming playing the guitar. I turned to her and said "I think it has to be plugged in"

Infamous for a bit of flag waving from Morrissey.
Perfectly innocent flag waving in my humble opinion.
It was only the lack of any comment from Morrissey after that fanned the flames.

We left before Madness played.
Not a very nice atmosphere that day.
Haven't been to a festival since.

I saw Jeff Buckley at the Sin-E a few times, happened to be working down the street at the time

1974, a beautiful summer's day and off to Wembley for the "first" farewell tour by CSN&Y. Also on the bill were The Band, Joni Mitchell, Tom Scott's LA Express. Utterly wonderful and not surpassed since by any gig I have been to although U2 in Paris came pretty close.

Michael Stipe, in his bleached Christophe Lambert-in-Subway period, comes on and for the first half barely looks at the audience, dragging his foot behind as if it had died on him. We had no idea what was going on but my, it was mesmerising.
Meanwhile the band are giving it absolutely loads, with Peter Buck in particular in spinning dervish mode, but you hardly dare take your eyes off Stipe.

Eventually he shakes off what ever is plagueing him and comes roaring out of the traps, before becoming more of the genial guy at the encores.

That is until some fool throws a firework on to the stage. My sister and I are right at the front, beside this thing spitting away, and with us holding our faces. Stipe moves real quick , stomps it, and throws one the dirtiest looks I have ever seen at a section of the audience.

I heard later that he had some sort of food-poisoning and he was sweating it out on stage. Don't know how true that story was, but whatever caused it this REM gig is the one that is remembered. (I saw Prefab Sprout the same week. Can't remember a single thing.)

Little Feat at the Rainbow - if memory serves it was a Sunday matinee supporting the Doobie Brothers. The band got the most amazing reception and seemed overwhelmed, I don't think they'd realised just how much they were loved in the UK. I'm sure that most of the audience, including us were there for Lowell & the Feat rather than the Doobies.

Elvis Costello in Plymouth shortly before My Aim Is True came out, must have been a very early Attractions gig. Also saw The Pistols at the same venue (Woods?), and the very legendary Can.

NY in Manchester last year was special.

Miles Davis at the Royal Festival Hall (mid 80's) - a lot of the set came from You're Under Arrest and the band included John Scofield and Daryll Jones

Ones that got away - Eno era Roxie Music at the Plymouth Guildhall, and Ramones / Talking Heads a few years later, again
in Plymouth. Hey Ho.

A transcendent performance that had practically assumed legendary status by the following day when the glowing reviews started to appear. The fact that it took place during a Biblical downpour only added to the feeling that it was truly special. Their version of Pyramid Song that evening was one of the single greatest pieces of music I've ever heard or ever will hear.

Queued for hours for a bus. Camped overnight with my girlfriend and then spent all the next day sitting cramped on the grass waiting for the show while she firmly came out with full-blown chicken pox and by early evening was covered in spots and feeling terrible. I chivalrously suggested we leave so she could get home and be treated (not sure how serious I was though) but she gamely battled on but slept through most of it. Married her in the end. Good job the DVD came out 20 years later so she could see what she missed!

can you provide details please?
i've never heard an eye witness report.

is that my first gig was the Stones in Hyde Park. I was 4. I have an image of the butterflies but that's about it.

Spike Island was quite weird, the supports were AWFUL, and Ian Brown addressed about 5 words to the crowd and I was quite bored overall.

I have a hazy recollection of a Biba party in the early 70s on the roof garden in Kensington and I think Mungo Jerry might have been there...

Of course some gigs mean so much more at the time.....whether it was band on their first trip to the UK, or a "secret" show that made getting the tickets a real effort, or a new band that ended up being enormous

The Jam in 1977.....on the In the City tour
Black Sabbath / Van Halen at Hammersmith in 1978
UFO at Hammersmith in 1978
Whitesnake at the Lyceum in 1978
Gillan at the Rainbow in 1979 - with Blackmore for the encores
Michael Schenker Group at Hammersmith - with Randy Rhoads 1980
ZZ Top at Leeds Uni in 1982
Diamond Head in Hull in 1983
Rory Gallagher at York Uni in 1983
Motley Crue / Cinderella at the Dominion in London - Shout at the Devil tour 1983
FM / White Sister at the Astoria, in 1987
Giant at the Marquee.....late 1980s
Mr Big at the Marquee - sweat pouring down the walls
The first ever Gods of AOR in Milton Keynes
Shadowking at the Astoria in London in 1991.....then a few weeks later....Foreigner at the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando...the re-formed first gig.
Rolling Stones at the Enmore (club gig) in Sydney - 2005 - with Angus & Malcom Young for the encores
Kings of Leon at the Enmore in Sydney in 2006 - before they were famous
Skindred in Camberley, May 2008

the next one will be the final Thunder gig ever...20 years on....July 12th at Hammersmith.

Some years ago I was talking on the train (London/Brighton) to an young American acquaintance who was a Stones fetishist.

At the time there was an article in Mojo about the Hyde Park concert and I told him I had been there. I got one of those "yeah yeah" looks. He didnt believe me. So we chatted on and I looked at the various photos.

"So where were you sitting" he asked, clearly not believing
"Around here" I said pointing, then to my great surprise I spotted myself!
"Actually thats where I was sitting because thats me"

There I was in full hippy gear, the delight at proving him wrong outweighed the embarrassment at the outfit.

Good moment.

A different take on this issue. I worked with a young rock fan years ago and one day he asked me what the Doors were like live.

"No idea, never saw them" says I
"Thought you were at the IOW in 1970"
"Yup"
"They played, you must have seen them"

Quick bit of research (actually slow, no internet!) and bugger me, I saw the Doors. I still have no memory of this - asleep? stoned?

Anyone else slept through a great gig?

March 1997

The whole place was jumping by the end.

At the Hammy O in 1987, the Franks Wild Years tour, and the band immortalised in the "Big Time" movie.

One thing I remember is the constant back and forth from members of the audience - and the fact that some people talked to the person next to them for the whole show.

At the time, it was the most money I'd ever paid for a gig ticket.

"Sit down, and shut the fuck up...!!"

I saw Portishead at Glastonbury 1995 in the Acoustic tent.

Did anyone else here make it in? The entire festival tried!

I heard that the monumental delay in starting was due to Portishead themselves being unable to reach the tent.

It was swelteringly hot, and in an attempt to appease the impatient hordes, poor Evan Dando did a well intentioned but badly timed impromptu acoustic set, and got savagely booed off!

1. Springsteen 4/7/85
2 Clapton - 'Rock against Racism' founding gig at Birmingham Odeon.
3. Clapton and Ronnie Lane at the Drum & Monkey near Minsterly, Shropshire.
4. Hall & Oates Civic Hall Wolverhampton 1976.
5. PF Sloan Bluebird Cafe, Nashville 2005
6. The Beatles 'LOVE' show at The Mirage in Las Vegas.
7. Springsteen Seeger Sessions Band NEC, Birmingham.
8. Marvin Gaye Bingley Hall, Broad Street, Birmingham.
9. Neil Young with Booker T & The MG's Finsbury Park, London 1993.
10. REM Newport Leisure Centre 1988

Not sure if is is legendary but it has stayed with me and was second only to Bruce at Wembley 4/7/85.

If you want to listen then here it is..

http://www.archive.org/details/ryanadams2002-11-11

I was at the legendary Joy Division gig at the Derby Hall in Bury in 1980. The one at which Ian Curtis had certain health problems. I don't think it was the last gig they played though but certainly one of them.

To be honest I'd not heard much of Joy Division before then. They weren't many gis in Bury in those days so I went to everything. They played a couple of numbers and things fell apart very quickly. I took one look at the skinheads starting a ruck (one of whom was my cousin - not seen hin since thank god) and went off to the Two Tubs.

Was it legendary? In hindsight, yes. At the time I thought JD were crap. Still do.

Nirvana - TJs in Newport - where Kurt got it together with Courtney Love for the first time as Hole were in support.

Manics - Moles Club Bath around the time of the first album.

Suede - Moles club Bath

Radiohead - South Park Oxford - Just wonderful

Nine Inch Nails - Bristol Beirkeller on their first UK tour - every item of musical equipment smashed by band and crowd

The Cure - Wembly Arena on The Prayer Tour where they played for nearly four hours.

Nick Cave - Hammersmith in the early 90s for the NME charity show week. Special guest Shane McGowan and brought out Roland S Howard for some old Birthday Party songs.

The Pixies - Birmingham 1988 the day that "Dolittle" entered the charts at number 8.

The "Meeting People Is Easy" DVD/Film,a lot of it was in relation to 2 consecutive nights they did at Zeleste in Barcelona. I was at both.
Claim to fame gig wise is I was at Minor Threat's last ever gig with Trouble Funk in Washington. A seriously strange experience.But both bands were brilliant

But I saw Cowboy Junkies joined by onstage by the great Garth Hudson at the Bearsville Theater a couple of years ago. God that was good.

Nirvana at Reading Festival 1992. Not all that good. Very windy and very wet. Sound was awful and band weren't much better.

Radiohead at Glastonbury, Saturday night, 1997. Stayed in my tent though as i'm a diabetic and had mistakenly taken too much insulin. Spent the night eating apple pies to get my blood sugar level up, no alcohol either. Very weird night.

Best one tho, Led Zeppelin at the O2 in 2007. My mate won via the lottery entry. 135 quid well spent. Best gig i've ever been too. Support acts were shocking though. Foreigner and Chris Squire doing a bass solo. Purlease!!!!

I attended the reunion gig - Six Of the Best - in Milton Keynes in October 1982.

It poured down with rain all day, and being soaked to the skin is my abiding memory.

I was a callow giddy 19-year-old Canadian tourist, in London for the first time, staying at a B&B in gloriously seedy Argyle Square, Kings Cross. Two mates and I, enamored of all things reggae (what a thrill to watch Top of the Pops for the first time and see Ghost Town at #1!), excitedly secured tickets to see the hottest post-Marley act, with the godlike Sly & Robbie as rhythm section. Venturing on the Victoria Line to the wilds of Finsbury Park and exiting that long winding pedestrian tunnel, so redolent for us of Joy Division portraits by Anton Corbijn, we were soon greeted by a sight I'm not likely ever to forget: police on horseback ranged as far as the eye could see down Seven Sisters Road. This was, after all, in the near aftermath of the Brixton uprising, the Southall riot, and similar events around the country, not to mention the death of Bob Marley, which at that time was widely spoken of as some sort of covert assassination. We, three wide-eyed white colonials, perhaps hadn't fully grappled with the implications of going to see a militant band of Rastas at such a time, though I like to think we would have gone regardless. In any case, we couldn't help but notice, as we joined the long line outside under the somewhat menacing gaze of all those mounted coppers, that we were literally the only white people there--not counting, of course, the hundreds of white police. I was aware of the Rainbow's mythology mainly through the prism of Ziggy Stardust and Eric Clapton and PIL; here, clearly, was something quite different.

Of the show itself I retain only scattered impressions: the gut punch of my first exposure to concert-volume reggae bass frequencies; the huge roars that went up when Duckie Simpson removed his hat and let his cascading dreadlocks fall, and when Sly played a short but electrifying drum solo; the shock of being literally picked up from behind by the armpits, placed on the stage side of the pit barrier, and turning around to see the rastaman who'd done it smiling at me, having safely removed me from the crush and created more space for himself; the blend of shame and relief I felt at realizing that I was under no threat at all, that I in fact felt far safer here than I had at a largely skinhead-attended Bad Manners show at the same venue a few nights before.

Finally, as some of the Word massive may know, a young man was killed at the Rainbow that night, a fact of which I was quite unaware until I saw the banner headlines in the papers over breakfast the next morning. Little did I know that these headlines reached as far as Canada, where my parents, as parents will, worried themselves sick. It took years before I had the heart to tell them that I had been at that show that night.

at the Islington Academy in 2007.

Don't scoff as the line-up did include John Otway, Tenpole Tudor and Splodgenessabounds but the beneift gig for Paul Fox of the Ruts was probably one of the most emotional gigs I've been to.

He had terminal cancer and everyone knew he didn't have long to go but he played a blinding show - Henry Rollins filled in for Malcolm Owen and did a remarkable job but Foxy was awesome. He really must have been one of the most underated guitarists to come out of the Punk years, so atmospheric and versatile. It was such a joy to hear those classic Ruts songs played live after so many years.

The gig was great, sets by The Damned, UK Subs, TV Smith, Tom Robinson and then Misty In Roots a reminder that The Ruts were one of the very few white bands incorporating a decent stab at reggae into their music.

Very emotional and sad night but also extremely uplifting - as with the story of Arthur Kane from the New York Dolls, at least he got a final chance to do something he loved right at the end.

In front of about twenty people.

Went up from Wellington in the train, stayed at my grandma's house (I was 16), got the bus to the gig - basically a football field, everyone sitting on the ground in hippie fashion

We saw the black limos arrive backstage, suddenly they were on, whipping out Immigrant Song at deafening volume. After 30 secs the lights went out, they kept playing and after a couple of minutes the lights came on again.

I heard years later that they'd blown the entire South Auckland power grid, must have been a common occurrence as they obviously had their own generator

playing Daft Punk to the rock kids etc

Orbital Glastonbury 1994
It was as awesome as they speak

Ok. It's not up there with most of the hallowed gigs on this thread, but The Stone Roses at Michael Eavis' late summer Pilton Party (the marquee bash for idle locals, of which I was then one) was unspeakably exciting for a young and impressionable me, mainly because they weren't even on the bill. They'd had to pull out of Glastonbury proper a couple of months before (John Squire collar-bone) - this was, as I understand, a form of recompense. In any case, it was their first live performance in (five?) years, and most of the crowd were clueless until nominal headliners Dodgy announced on-stage what was to follow. They started with the first three songs from the debut album. My little Melody Maker-fuelled indie brain nearly exploded. No Reni, mind.

On another note, my first gig coughapartfromEltonJohnatWembleycough was the Madstock where Morrissey was bottled off. I've read several pieces over the years claiming the crowd reaction was due to some kind of objection to the skinhead backdrop/ Union Flag. From where I was standing (spotty, squashed and befuddled somewhere near the front), it was just a load of very pissed blokes thinking it funny to throw stuff at the quiffy miserablist in the shiny jacket. There's not much of a fanbase crossover between Last Boat to Cairo and How Soon Is Now, when you think about it.

Sorry. I've rambled.

Sex Pistols at Cromer Links Pavilion, Xmas eve 1977.
Which was, I think, their penultimate gig in the UK before splitting.

The Damned and The Adverts, July 1st 1977 at West Runton Pavilion.

Should add a bit of colour...Steve Jones gave me a can of beer which I still have ...unopened, but he would give me his black and red horizontally striped mohair jumper "... what do think I am, fucking Oxfam?..."

Backstage with the Adverts...my mate Adrian had a hug with Gaye Advert...he was besotted with her.

I cannot believe the crap bands and gigs that leute are posting ...Steve Earle????? Genesis??? Coldplay???? Bloody Hell

monday night @ heaven
queued up all afternoon

god knows what year 81/2?

at Nottingham, for i believe was the Computer World tour. Me and my mates were right at the front, and managed to get a play of the mini keyboard that they passed around during one of the songs, think they still do that now?

Dead Kennedys at Manchester Poly, not sure what tour and even what year. Just remember being really nervous before going in, then absolutely elated when I left

Led Zep - 1971 - National Boxing Stadium Dublin(capacity approx 3,000.
Got seats in front of speakers. After a while noticed empty seats centre stage approx 5 rows back.
What a gig. Cannot remember set, but think I remember Stairway... which had not been realesed at that point.

Van Morrison - Rainbow - 1973. I know that it was shown on BBC TV/Stereo radion. Anyone know of any plans to release on DVD.

Great if not classic:
The Who at the Ovel - 1972 - I think (great summers day out) support included Rod and the Faces.

Ry Cooder - Circa 1988 - National Boxing Stadium Dublin - Full size band all the classic suspects - a night of great music.

Steve Earle + Del McClory Band - Circa 2000 - Opera House Cork -
Great acoustic music all gathered round one big fat mike. Stood forward to take solos.

Lastly Laughing Lenny - 2008 - Kings hospital grounds Dublin. Went no expectations. 70 yearold plus doing the pension tour. Voice probably shot. Open air. 45 mins at best. But had to be done. The gap between expectations and delivery was cosmin in the positive. Everyone has read the reviews.

Next topic should be the bummer gigs.

Forgot:
Elvis Costello & Attractions supporting Dylan Nolan Park Kilkenny - 2001 - + most of Attractions. 45 mins of focused maximum rock. - Breathless. My mate queued for loo and missed most of set.

I was lucky enough to be there the night the Who recorded Live at Leeds.

As for its legendary status, I refer you to the album. Now that the concert has been released in its entirety, I think I still prefer the original seven-track release.

What might astonish modern gig-goers is the fact that we sat down on the floor all the way through the concert. We sat and we listened. Perhaps people stood up for the encores, but if they did I don't recall it.

... because there was little else to do, I just went to see every band that came to town. That included some classics:

- Joy Division supporting Buzzcocks. Amazing, both.
- Orange Juice and Aztec Camera
- Richard Hell supporting The Jam. We ripped up the seats in the Capitol cinema. I think the Dickies were bottom of the bill.
- The Mekons supporting Stiff Little Fingers.
- The Smiths in their early prime
- The Fall at the Music Hall, playing to about 50 people with a broken PA system
- Gang of Four with Pere Ubu and Delta 5. Gang of 4! And Pere Ubu!!
- the night the original line-up of Siouxsie and the Banshees split up and, instead of playing their set, Siouxsie and Steve played a 20 minute improvised version of the Lord's Prayer with support act The Cure. And then gave us our money back!

Those were the days, my friend.

Billed as teh Thamesmen, Spinal Tap took to the tiny stage at The Borderline on a Tuesday lunchtime to do an acoustic set. At the same time they were auditioning drummers. I remember Rat Scabies and Gilson Lavis (I think) getting up and playing along to greats like Big Bottom.
I also remember standing next to Robin Williams at the bar trying to get served. Best lunchtime gig ever.

Also Pete Townshend at Brixton Academy with Dave Gilmour on Guitar, Simon Phillips on Drums, Pino Paladino on Bass. Rabbit on Piano and The Tower of Poweer Horns (87?)

Red Hot Chilli Peppers first ever gig in London at The Moonlight in 88 (?)

Rolling Stones warm up gig at The Enmore in Sydney.

Foo Fighters at Sydney Uni and The Metro. Also saw INXS there too. Marvellous.

George Martin at THe Sydney Opera House doing a one off of Beatles songs and also playing the Pepperland Suite.

But the best ever..Ian Dury and the Blockheads at The Lyceum. (79 or 80?).

And many more...

I was there about 100 yards away from the stage. Not sure if it is considered a classic, but it was a great show.

Neil Young. Time Fades Away. 1973. Liverpool Empire.

An absolute stinker. Lightened only by the Eagles as support (it was a long time ago).

My favourite moment was when a local wag called out as NY was introducing the band "Who's the fucking Indian?". A reference to the weird stage set and a life sized model of a native american.

I've seen a few duff gigs since but this one takes the biscuit.

Just before the Milton Keynes gig so I didn't see Peter Gabriel singing. However I was sitting just about next to him in the audience so I heard him singing along to Suppers Ready. Went with a friend from school - sadly not going out with her - whose father was a director of Charisma. Sounds very southern middle class and poncy doesn't it? Sorry. She was lovely and I'm sure is and it was a wonderful friendly vibe at the show.

Just a few off the top of my head...

The Beatles - Hammersmith Odeon, Jan '65
The Who & Jimi Hendrix - Savile Theatre, Jan '67
The Who, Bonzos & Tull - Marquee, April '68
The Who, Hendrix, Doors etc - Isle of Wight '70
The Who over 200 other times, mostly with Moonie
Jimi Hendrix - Albert Hall (twice), Savile Theatre (twice)
Rolling Stones Rock'n'Roll Circus (with Lennon, Clapton, Who etc)
Stones - Hyde Park, Lyceum ('69), Earls Court & many others
Blind Faith - Hyde Park (was at most gigs there)
Led Zep - Albert Hall, Ally Pally, Knebworth
Fleetwood Mac (with Peter Green) - Klooks Kleek, Lyceum
Cream - Albert Hall (twice)
Derek & The Dominoes - Lyceum
Macca/Who etc - Concerts for Kampuchea '79
Wings - Hammersmith Odeon, Wembley Arena
Macca - Mean Fiddler, Cliffs Pavilion, most others
George Harrison - Albert Hall 1992
Bruce Springsteen - Hammersmith Odeon 1975, Wembley
Bob Dylan - Roundhouse 2009
The Band - Albert Hall
Steely Dan - Rainbow
Live Aid - Wembley Stadium
CSNY - Wembley Stadium
Elton John, Beach Boys, Eagles - Wembley Stadium
Nelson Mandela concert - Wembley Stadium
Beach Boys, The Who, Yes - Crystal Palace
Pink Floyd - Regent St Poly, Hyde Park, Rainbow, Knebworth
Allman Brothers - Knebworth, Hammersmith Odeon
Sex Pistols - 100 Club, July '76
The Faces & New York Dolls - Wembley Arena
New York Dolls - 100 Club 2009
Ultravox (with John Foxx) - Marquee
The Police - Music Machine, Marquee, Rainbow
The Tubes - Hammersmith Odeon
Elvis Costello - The Nashville, Cafe de Paris
Ian Dury & Blockheads - Dingwalls, The Venue
Sheryl Crow - Kashmir Klub, Marylebone
Jack Bruce & John McLaughlin - Country Club, Belsize Park
Chuck Berry - 100 Club, Dunstable Civic, Festival Hall etc
Chuck, Jerry Lee, Little Richard etc - London Rock'n'Roll Show
Bill Haley & The Comets - some college in East London
The Rutles - 100 Club
Cliff & The Shadows - Palladium
Frank Sinatra - Albert Hall, Festival Hall

And many, many others. Think you get my drift...

This one was a classic, with Gabriel in full regalia:

Johnny Winter supported by Genesis - Watford Town Hall, 1971

in Billy Smart's tent on Clapham Common, 1978 I think?

the best ever, tho - Leonard Cohen Glastonbury 08, the sun going down over the Pyramid stage and the Tor in the background and everyone singing along to Hallelujah............

Bruce Springsteen first Hammersmith show
CSNY Wembley
Live Aid
Live 8
Led Zep at Knebworth
Led Zep at O2
Streisand at O2
Sex Pistols (with Glen) in 76
Sex Pistols (with Sid) in 77
Abba
The Who many times
The Floyd many times

www.vintagerock.wordpress.com

Peter

At short notice it was announced that Blur would play the Glasgow Barrowlands as part of their 'Sugary tea '93' tour in conjunction with Radio1. There was only a couple of hundered people there and the night was compered by the wonderful Annie Nightingale. Blur were amazing and had a stge set that looked like a living room [standard lamps and everything]. However, at the end of the evening we were all talking about the amazing vocals of the guy fronting the support band, who happened to be Radiohead. Whatever happened to them?

.............it was fabulous. Best performance i've ever been too and i've been to quite a few. Plants voice isnt as high so some songs were in a lower key, but it didnt matter. Amazing show!!

Also, Nirvana at Reading Festival 1992. Not great. Pouring with rain, windy, mud. Not a great performance yet its always held in high esteem. It was all a bit 'meh' to me.

...did anyone here ever see Quintessence (1969-72)?

Certainly, Godon, you might have (they supported the Who at the Oval - in 1971, it was!).

As for me, I doubt I've ever been to any gig thast qualifies as legendary in the sense the original poster suggests (ie recognised as such the world over etc). That said, I still get hairs standing up on the back of my neck just thinking about the time I saw Anne Briggs & Bert Jansch perform two songs together - performing them together for the first and only time ever, despite having written/arranged them together 27 years earlier - in an empty room on Edinburgh's Royal Mile in 1992 for a TV documentary. Only a part of one song was used, as I recall. But I was sitting cross legged on the floor, tolerated hanger-on, throughout and it was magical. There was just me, them and maybe three film crew people. Wow....

Saw the great man,in a magnificent return to live performance in a set that covered the whole of Pets Sounds and most BB classics.
Only decided to try and get tickets at last minute, rang RFH box office without much hope. Was offered front row seats, as they were still unsure what stage would be used and i was warned it might be a restricted view from that position.
Rolled up on the night and to my utter joy the stage was only two foot high, giving an up close and personal view of Brian and assorted WonderMints.
Muso press had been full of the usual Manchild/StageFright/Drug Addled/Wasted Genius twaddle. What we got was a two hour show full of music to laugh, cry and surf to. And as an added bonus i had a better seat than Paul McCartney and various other Legends who had turned up to see if Brian still had it.