Musical Concerts or live gigs you have been to see

[johnh]

In 1958 I went to Leeds Odeon on the Headrow to see Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Petersen trio and a few other jazz greats who I can't now remember, but probably will when I awake at 2.30 am.

Woah !



My mum and dad caught Ella on that tour at the Gaumont in Southampton.
It was with The Duke Ellington Orchestra.

Incredible !
I would love to have seen her. The greatest singer of all time IMHO.



(Ella, I mean, not my mum - though she wasn't bad at All Things Bright And Beautiful)

Thanks Rigger, Duke Ellington it was (couldn't remember if it was his orchestra or Count Basie!)

[johnh]

Ok you serious music lovers can have a chuckle at my poor attempt, not really my thing but
Genesis (more than once)
Michael Jackson - absolutely brilliant show!
Paul Young
Kim Wilde
& wait for it The 3 Degrees ( the group, not Regis , Batson & Cunningham )

I once saw the 3 Degrees at a concert in Monaco. Also on the bill was Tom O'Connor. (1990's). A few years ago I bumped into Tom O'Connor at our golf club where a charity event was being held. I told him about the event in Monaco and he told me that not one of the 3 degrees was an original. They were all 'stand-ins',

[Davycc]

Ok you serious music lovers can have a chuckle at my poor attempt, not really my thing but
Genesis (more than once)
Michael Jackson - absolutely brilliant show!
Paul Young
Kim Wilde
& wait for it The 3 Degrees ( the group, not Regis , Batson & Cunningham )

I once saw the 3 Degrees at a concert in Monaco. Also on the bill was Tom O'Connor. (1990's). A few years ago I bumped into Tom O'Connor at our golf club where a charity event was being held. I told him about the event in Monaco and he told me that not one of the 3 degrees was an original. They were all 'stand-ins',

They fooled you though John, so Forinhight and looks the general Celsius was they were dead ringers!

[Sniffer]

Christ, this might take a while and will probably need multiple visits as I try to remember them all, but selected highlights off the top of my head include :

The Smiths - Meat Is Murder tour, Portsmouth 1985ish
Level 42 - Shepton Mallet Cattle Market, Dorset early 90s - King on a highwire and it was the original line-up - cracking live

Lowlights :
Stones - Wembley Stadium, 1990 ..

I saw The Smiths on the same tour at Bristol Hippodrome.
Shepton Mallet is in Somerset.
Saw the Stones last year at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. They were F-ing brilliant but I know what you mean about stadium gigs. You don't know whether to try to focus on the stage 3 miles away or just watch the screens. It's the same problem with big festivals - which I love - but at least you can worm your way closer to the stage at them.

[Sniffer]

Honestly I saw nothing in the 80's or early 90's just a period where i lost interest in music, other things took over my life.

Weird, isn't it? I'm about 6 years younger than you, judging from your post, and it was the 90s and early 2000s that went missing musically.

[Wigan White]

Having a few beers in Leeds city centre at the moment and will post my list of musical concerts or live gigs after tomorrow, so I can add the Kaiser Chiefs to the list.

[Sniffer]

First gig was The Kinks in about 1980. The Colston Hall was almost empty (this was Come Dancing era Kinks) and I got right down the front, leaning on the edge of the stage. I touched Ray Davies' foot and he looked down at me as if I was dirt and, possibly, psychotic and I loved him for it. Best gig ever. Great support from Jody Street. Were all gigs this intimate? Sadly no.
Next gig was Teardrop Explodes - joyful psych/pop wonderfulness and the beginning of a musical love affair with Julian Cope.
I think Stiff Little Fingers was next - brilliant. Ozzy Osbourne - not really my thing but that gig was awesome. It was Randy Rhodes', Ozzy's guitarist's, last gig before he died. That fact meant nothing to me, I'm afraid, but I have one friend who was due to see him a few days later in Scotland who hates me for it. Not sure if the order is correct but also mixed in amongst them was Rick Wakeman. He seems a decent bloke but his music went over my head. Awful.
To be continued also.....

[Selby White]

Honestly I saw nothing in the 80's or early 90's just a period where i lost interest in music, other things took over my life.

Weird, isn't it? I'm about 6 years younger than you, judging from your post, and it was the 90s and early 2000s that went missing musically.

Born 1958 but look much younger

[SelmaBamaMan]

Best one was the Grateful Dead in the 1970s not only for the music but because my 5 year old son begged to go for his 6th birthday and he danced throughout the show.

Other great ones were: Muddy Waters in a small nightclub near Pittsburgh, PA, sitting less than 15 feet from the stage (close enough to see the white powder on the harmonica player’s sleeve). Early 1980s. Talking Heads in the same city around the same time performing in an old 1930s movie theatre that was built with acoustics in mind. Kinks in the same venue. John Cougar in the same venue. Asleep At The Wheel, infamous for their song “My Baby Thinks She’s A Train.” in the same small nightclub. B.B. King in Tallahassee, Florida in 1970-1971 a friend opened a backstage window so I could crawl through it and I heard the concert from the first row – I had no money and was eating Milkbone dry dog food at the time. Tennessee Red, an old blues man, at the Trailways Bus Station in Tallahassee, Florida in the late 1960s to 1971. He played Delta Blues and Piedmont Blues for me several times with stories in between songs.

Those are the best.

[cheffy007]

Jeez where to start.
I had a ticket for Led Zeppelin at Knebworth in 79, caught chicken pox 3 days before and my mum wouldn’t let me go in case I infected 1000’s. I was 13. Little did we anticipate that John Bonham would die the following year and Zep would be no more.
My first gig was a Canadian 3 piece called Triumph who I saw at Birmingham Odeon in 1980 on their only British tour. At the same venue I saw Motorhead, AC/DC, Saxon, April Wine, Ted Nugent, Scorpions, Whitesnake, Alice Cooper, Bauhaus, the Cure, the Mission, Sammy Hagar, then when I could drive I had to take my little sister to see Tears for Fears, Nik Kershaw, China Crises and Go West.
Saw Bowie twice, Queen 3 times, Pink Floyd at Earls Court on the Wall tour and several times after, Bruce Springsteen on every show of his Born in the USA tour in 84,and every show was different, saw U2 in 81 with 30 other people at Kidderminster Town Hall and they shook hands with all of us and thanked us for coming. Saw them on every other tour since except the last two as I don’t need the politics. Love bands in small venues, Half Man Half Biscuit, Starsailor, JJ72, Supergrass, Oasis (Shepard’s Bush Empire), White Stripes at the London Astoria, Inxs, Simple Minds, Dinosaur Jr, Stone Roses, Happy Monday’s, Ian Dury, the Clash.
Must be others I’ve missed, love live music, it was easy to get tickets back in the day and cheap. Can’t afford to go these days except for HMHB as they are only £20 a ticket. Going to see Rick Wakeman at Sevenoaks School (where I’m head chef) in July and been promised a meet and great and a beer after the show, so looking forward to that.
So as the saying goes, I may be old, but at least I got to see all the good bands.