Entertainment For Lively Minds
What were the iconic gigs
Posted by pedr0 on 25 January 2012 - 12:54pm.
& were you there? The old adage that everyone who claims to have seen Bob Marley at the Lyceum wouldn't fit into Wembley Stadium. Myself I did see Springsteen in 75, Tom Waits at the Dominion & the Roy Harper Valentine gig. Also the Naughty Rhythmns tour. I also went to see the Sex Pistols at the 100 club as I was intrigued by the bands name. I left after 10 minutes so probably don't count. How about you? Little Feat with the Doobies? Live Stiffs?
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For me...
The Stone Roses at Blackpool, Ally Pally and Spike Island
The Manics last gig with Richey at the Astoria
The Roses gigs were promoted and meant to be "events" which in reality meant that, aside Blackpool, they could never live up to the hype. Spike Island was a particular disaster. Don't let anyone ever tell you it was a "Great Day". It was shite. Beginning to end. The Manics gig was strange. One of those gigs that had a strong whiff of violence in the air from the get go.
Had the ticket stubs of the Roses gigs affixed to a huge Ally Pally gig poster that I, ahem, liberated from a bill sticker outside the old Red Lion in Brentford. Mum took the posters down and put them in the bin when I left home. It still raises tensions when discussed 20 years down the line...!
Spike Island
Legend has it that several members of the audience passed out, the vigorous moshing that greeted the Roses having caused years of toxic dust to become airborne.
Yep...
Plus 30,000 people tramping around previously undisturbed fields that nearby ICI had coated with chemicals for 30 preceding years. A local, unfenced, canal network spanned by portable bridges that the Army would have second thoughts about being safe and one water tap to serve the entire site with roughly half the crowd off their boxes on various chemical stimulants. Gary Clail's On U Sound System and some whimiscal nonsense (possibly AR Kane) as the only support for an all dayer.
Well done Gareth Evans!
That Manics Gig
Was the first gig I ever went to. I seem to remember them taking ages to come on and the crowd getting a bit edgy and then proceeding to play an absolutely extraordinary set.
I've read since they'd been having problems with the sound (it was deafening, my ears weren't right for a couple of days afterwards) but it stands up as one of the most brutal, but vital things I've seen. At the time, no-one watching knew how significant it would turn out to be.
Sound at the Astoria
Always difficult to get a decent mix. The stage was landscape rather than potrait, if that makes sense. Most bands got round this with sheer volume.
Silver Seas at the O2 Islington
Will be up there with The Pistols at the Lesser Free Trade Hall and Dylan at the "Albert Hall" (actually the 'big' Free Trade Hall).
According to Danny Baker.
It was good though.
A few
Oasis at Wembley in 2000 - the infamous second night
Blur at Glastonbury in 2009
Radiohead at Glastonbury in 1997
Pink Floyd
doing "The Wall" at Earl's Court in '80 (I think). Generally regarded as "iconic".
I hitched it from Scotland. Definitely one of my formative experiences.
Ramones
supported by Talking Heads in Glasgow (Strathclyde Union) in '77.
I don't know how many of this lot can be called 'iconic' -
maybe none of them - but they all seemed pretty special to me at the time.
Genesis at Earl's Court, June 1977
Blackbushe Picnic, 1978 (a few other people were there, too)
Muddy Waters - Alexandra Palace, 1980 (I think)
Tom Waits - Dominion Theatre, London, 1985
Talking Heads, St.Albans Civic Hall, February 1978
Echo & the Bunnymen 2-set club show, Manchester International, 1985
Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Union Chapel, Islington, 1996?
Elliott Smith, Studion, Stockholm, June 1998
Keith Jarrett, Konserthuset, Stockholm, 1993 and 2001
Jeff Buckley, Gino's Stockholm, mid-nineties?
David Bowie, Earls Court, 1978
XTC and Yachts, Rainbow Theatre London, 1979
Gil Scott-Heron, Studio, Bristol, 1986
Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, Hammy Odeon, London, 1978
The Associates, Hacienda, Manchester, 1984
Some more iconic Glasgow gigs...
... Buzzcocks/Joy Division at the Apollo, 1979
New Order at Eglinton Toll Plaza 1981, The Fall and the Scars, same venue, same year
Orange Juice/Fire Engines at the Roseland Ballroom, 1981 again.
I wasn't any of them (I don't think)
But I did see, on the same bill, the first gigs by Simple Minds and Orange Juice. Steel Pulse were top of the bill and there was another act whose name escapes me. This would have been the start of 1978 in Satellite City, above The Apollo.
The Minds had just lost John Malarkey and changed their name from Johnny & The Self Abusers. They were just awesome. Great tunes (really!) and some moody violin from Charlie Burchill.
Orange Juice were called Nu-Sonics and were, well, shite. Few could have predicted great things from that first gig.
as said
Led Zeppelin, earls Court, 1975
Clash 'White Riot' tour, 1977
Black sabbath supported by Van halen - london, 1978
Tom Petty and the heartbreakers, marquee 1978
Bowie, Earls Court, 1978
Dylan Earls Court, 1978
Clash, Specials, Suicide - Music Machine, london 1978
Dire Straits and talking heads, Brighton 1979
The Cure / Siouxie and the banshees (Robert smith in both bands) - Brighton 1979
Glastonbury 1979 (last 'obscure' glasters before it sold out)
AC/DC and The pirates (one of Bon scott's last gigs) 1979
Bob Marley - brighton - 1980 - one of his last gigs - dull
Genesis and Peter Gabriel - Milton Keynes (1983)
and more, and more
Six of the Best
*gentle nudge"
Gabacabriel, as it was also known, was 1982. But, yes, we'll have that as an iconic gig - probably the only one I've attended, but I'm pretty content with the rest, sub-iconic as it may be.
Reading Festival - Nirvana
Not once but twice which generally impresses people. The headline act yes when he came on in a wheelchair, hospital get-up etc - but a couple of years before they were halfway down the bill, either before or after Les Negresses Vertes and our general reaction was 'what racket was that' while drinking beer in the sunshine.
Einsturzende Neubauten at The Hacienda when they drilled into the stage, showered audience with concrete mix etc.
Clash at Brixton Academy for 'Arthur Scargill's Birthday Party' one of last times the gang was all there
Orb allnighter, Primal Scream and George Clinton at Brixton
Echo and the Bunnymen Crystal Day at St George's Hall Liverpool, though we missed the breakfast and ferry trip.
and more, more more.
Nirvana's first appearance was 1991
the year before they headlined, and they were on immediately before Chapterhouse, if I remember right.
I was in about four rows of people going mad down the front, with general indifference behind. That was the second time I saw them, after Nottingham Polytechnic in October 1990. The third and last time was at Rock City in December 91.
Me...
I was at the Manics gig that the OP speaks of.
I would say Daft Punk in Hyde Park 2007 has achieved iconic status now, and I was at that.
As an aside, I was also at Robbie Williams' first solo gig, as it was at my university (East Anglia). It was before Angels had gone big, he was still in his Fat Elvis period and his solo album looked like it was going to flop. The show was pretty good. He did get his knob out at least twice.
Iconic?
A grumpy old pedant writes:
Sorry to piss on the bonfire but can anyone actually tell me what "iconic" means? It seems to have seeped into the language as a synonym for "classic" (itself over-used) or more accurately a lazy way of saying "a bit famous". It really sets my teeth on edge when not used in relation to a Greek Orthodox representation of a religious subject.
Sorry, grump over, you can all tell me to fuck off now...
An old git writes...
...although I believe I may have posted something along these lines before:
Dylan, Albert Hall '66
Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Roundhouse '68
Cream Farewell, Albert Hall '68
Janis Joplin, Albert Hall '69
Beatles, Southend Odeon '63 (twice)
Rolling Stones, Hyde Park '69
Bath Festival, '70 (Led Zep, Zappa/Mothers, Santana, Byrds, Dr John, Pink Floyd, etc etc.
Pink Floyd, Middle Earth, '68
Everly Brothers, Crickets, Bo Diddle, Rolling Stones, Southend Odeon '63
John Lee Hooker, Flamingo, ?'64
Crikey
You win.
Why thank you...
...bet nobody else saw Bo Diddle, anyway.
You lucky, lucky ...
Any chance of a few musings on some of these?
Iconic?
Elton John/Beach Boys/Eagles at Wembley.
Oasis at Knebworth.
Pulp at Glastonbury.
Orbital at Glastonbury.
Queen in Hyde Park.
Led Zep at Earls Court.
The Who at Charlton.
Howard Jones-Aylesbury Friars ...
...was the first, perhaps best written off as a false start. Other highlights for me amongst many since then (guessing the dates a bit)
Stone Roses at the Hacienda 89 (and Blackpool 90)
Happy Mondays at the Hacienda 89 ((2 nights, Hillsborough benefit)
New Order Birmingham Tower Ballroom 86
(Happy Mondays supporting)
New Order GMex 89
The Smiths Brixton 86 (last full UK gig)
Elvis Costello Royalty Theatre 86 (solo) and Royal Albert Hall (Attractions and the spinning songbook)
The Style Council Oxford 85-ish
Paul Weller Royal Albert Hall 2009 (with Bruce Foxton as guest)
Oasis Maine Road
Blur Hyde Park
Simon & Garfunkel Hyde Park
Bruce Springsteen-Emirates
Primal Screamadelica-Olympia
Never seen David Bowie, who is the "act" I most wish I had, but maybe that's another thread...
Funny you should mention Bob Marley...
Lancaster University April 28th 1973, I think it was only his second ever gig in the UK. I remember the university being bombarded with leaflets explaining about this newfangled reggae music and this band. Catch a Fire had just been released. Very few people at the time seemed to know about this music. I was lucky, having been steeped in Ska, Bluebeat and Reggae thanks to the local youth club which had been dominated by skinheads - which was occasionally a tad tricky as I rode a motorbike! Anyway, the Great Hall at Lancaster Uni was half empty and I had a great time.
Two at the Marquee
A couple of gigs at the Marquee that really stand out from my youth are Dire Straits around the time of 'Sultans of Swing' release, standing behind Charlie Gillet. We thought they were a Punk Band!
and Q-Tips , Paul Young on top form with Eddie Floyd coming on for 'Raise Your Hands' for the encore.
Two Nights
I remember reading about that Q-Tips gig, probably in NME the week after. I used to go and see Q-Tips a lot and on that occasion they played two nights at the Marquee. I went to the other one! Bah!
Keith Jarrett - the Köln Concert
A while back there was a discussion on this board about Keith Jarrett.
One person from the Massive - I'm afraid I can't remember who - mentioned that he'd actually been present at the Cologne Opera House on 24 January 1975 to see the legendary concert.
My mind was completely blown.
Liar!
No, not that gig. This bloke is clearly a pathological liar as NOONE has been to so many classic gigs.
http://whatsheonaboutnow.blogspot.com/2011/11/50-remarkable-gigs-i-went-...
Bingo Hand Job at The Borderline, 1991...
Otherwise known as R.E.M.
Pretty bloody legendary.
Wailers @ Lyceum, etc.
I desperately wanted to see the Wailers, but couldn't get tix for love or money. Went down there anyway, stood out front and after it was over sauntered in and took a deep breath of the unmistakable vibe that something great happened in there.
-Derek & the Dominos, Lyceum
-Blind Faith, Hyde Park
-Hendrix, Albert Hall
-Janis Joplin, Albert Hall
-Mothers of Invention, Albert Hall
-Clash, 1st or 2nd ever U.S. show, Temple Beautiful, San Francisco, unadvertised benefit
-Springsteen, Winterland
-Dylan, Isle of Wight
-Fela Kuti, Greek Theatre, L.A.
New Order...
... Blackpool, can't even remember the venue - 1982. I was only reminded that I went to this gig recently (it can't of been that iconic!). The high point was meeting Will Sergeant (Bunnymen) in the toilets. Setlist:-
Procession
Ceremony
586
Truth
We All Stand
Hurt
Everything's Gone Green
Age of Consent
Ultraviolence