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For me, my best gig has to be Thin Lizzy at the Marquee in the early 70's. A rumour went round that Gary Moore (then of Skid Row) was filling in for Eric Bell who was ill. I later heard there was around 900 people there in a club that was only supposed to hold around 300. Fantastic atmosphere.
A close second was seeing a then unknown Clannad performing in the foyer of Wandsworth Town Hall to an audience of no more than around 20.
Worst gig has to be Devo at the then Hammersmith Odeon that a friend persuaded me to take my girlfriend to. Spent most of the concert watching them on a screen before they finally graced us with their presence on stage for a whole 20 minutes! What a pile of crap they were too.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 14:01 - Apr 8 with 2941 views
A surprisingly (for me) great performance was when I went to see Joe Cocker headlining at Crystal Palace and the Beach Boys were second on the bill ahead of Melanie Safka. I really liked Joe Cocker art the time and had been a fan of Melanie since she first broke onto the scene but as far as I was concerned the Beach Boys would be boppy surf pop which had some recognisable songs... Wrong!!!! it was a proper rock & roll set based on their surfing hits, tightly executed and, TBH, was the best act of the day. As an aside, I once saw The Who, Elton John, Manfred Mann, Patto & America at the Chalk Farm Roundhouse in an all day event starting around lunch time for............ 50p.
The grass is always greener.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 14:03 - Apr 8 with 2934 views
Best ...U2 Elevation Tour at Manchester and Porcupine Tree final gig at Royal Albert Hall and The Silencers Railway Club Inverness all memorable in special ways
Worst like a few others on here Van Morrison at the Bishopstock Blues festival in Devon I had driven 600 miles to attend He walked off after 30mins complaining of the sound, tosser never bought any of his stuff
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 14:06 - Apr 8 with 2927 views
I think the worst was Tangerine Dream at the Hammersmith Odeon in the late 80s. The gig started superbly, with waves of blue light spreading out across the audience accompanied by a hypnotic, pulsating electronic beat but the gig soon descended into a middle of the road AORfest, complete with pointless solos, including a sax solo (what?). It was hard to believe it was the same band that had seamlessly blended haunting soundscapes, engaging lead lines and innovative effects on masterpieces like "Tangram". Oh, and it looked suspiciously like they weren't actually playing their instruments at times...
The best was probably Kings X at - cough - The Woughton Centre in Milton Keynes, in the early 90s. Three hugely talented Texan rockers playing in a sports hall in a soulless English New Town: Surely a recipe for disaster? But no, it was a triumph, with a couple of hundred delirious fans providing raucous support to a band putting in a very energetic and committed performance. Their songs always felt different to me after that night.
"Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1."
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 14:19 - Apr 8 with 2895 views
Best was Dire Straits at Knebworth 1992... perfect.
Worst was when I went to see Tapau at the Hammersmith Odean (around 88?) with a girl I was dating the the time. She really liked them for some reason. They came on stage, played one tune and then Carol Decker said "Ive never played a bad concert in my life and I dont intend to start doing so now", at which point she stormed off stage. Turns out she had a throat infection so the concert was cancelled. Everyone got the chance to see them 6 months later when the concert was reorganised.... Fortunately by that time I'd stopped dating the girl & couldnt be bothered to watch a band i didnt really like with someone I wasnt talking to anymore... never mind :)
[Post edited 8 Apr 2020 23:50]
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 15:57 - Apr 8 with 2844 views
Best and worst gigs you've attended on 14:03 - Apr 8 by onlyrinmoray
Best ...U2 Elevation Tour at Manchester and Porcupine Tree final gig at Royal Albert Hall and The Silencers Railway Club Inverness all memorable in special ways
Worst like a few others on here Van Morrison at the Bishopstock Blues festival in Devon I had driven 600 miles to attend He walked off after 30mins complaining of the sound, tosser never bought any of his stuff
My first proper job after Uni was in the Civil Service in Chancery Lane where I worked for a while with Cha Burns. He was in the process of forming Fingerprintz at the time and I saw their first gig in a room above a pub in Putney.
Porcupine Tree - one of the only bands post 1975 that I've actually liked!
[Post edited 8 Apr 2020 16:00]
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 17:08 - Apr 8 with 2801 views
Runners up - Dire Straits - (Wembley Arena 1985) Steve Earle & the Dukes (Town & Country Club 1988) Thin Lizzy (Hammersmith Odeon - late 70s)
Worst - Prince (O2 2007) Came on about 21.50 and only played until 23.05, performing shortened versions of most of his hits. A friend went a different night, the same tour, where he played for almost 3 hours. I think it depended on his mood.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 17:09 - Apr 8 with 2801 views
Best gig admittedly a short set was killers at Glastonbury the first time.
Best gig moment was (bear with me) 21st Century Doors at Wembley Stadium in 03. Morrison was dead before I was born so obviously never saw the original, and while the reformed version was never going to be as good, this gig had a fantastic moment. After the set and encore were over the lights come on and everyone started leaving, arena was probably 3/4 empty but we were hanging around still. Then they burst back on stage and kick into Soul Kitchen and I look round from rushing to the front to see crowds of people pouring through the doors to get back in. Awesome moment.
Worst gig and least rock and roll moment was Maroon 5 (I know). At one point they stopped so Levine could ask the audience to stop pushing so much because there were young fans. Which, fair enough, but not exactly rock and roll.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 17:41 - Apr 8 with 2780 views
Best and worst gigs you've attended on 15:57 - Apr 8 by QPRSteve
My first proper job after Uni was in the Civil Service in Chancery Lane where I worked for a while with Cha Burns. He was in the process of forming Fingerprintz at the time and I saw their first gig in a room above a pub in Putney.
Porcupine Tree - one of the only bands post 1975 that I've actually liked!
[Post edited 8 Apr 2020 16:00]
"Porcupine Tree - one of the only bands post 1975 that I've actually liked!"
I saw them in the backroom of a pub in Windsor, before they hit the big time and around the time of their "Voyage 34" EP. It was a decent gig but I had no inkling of how their music was going to develop. I went to that gig having heard the track "Up the downstair" on Mark and Lard's radio show. It's still a great song, in my humble opinion.
Now, i wonder if I still have that "Voyage 34" T-shirt?
"Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1."
Best by a distance, The Pogues at Brixton Academy, Paddy's Day 1988. Eye of the storm moment really, but it was sensational. They really were a great live band, even their Christmas shows at the Academy in recent years were great fun. Though always much better in smaller venues.
Honourable mention for James (again), Mumford & Sons at Amsterdam Ziggo Dome (a great weekend all round), early Elvis Costello concerts at Hammersmith, The Stranglers (still good), and PiL,
And the worst by a distance, Steve Harley at Tottenham Court Road (I think) in his "comeback tour" around 1990, in the early days of relationship with my later to be wife. Utter utter dogs. Only concert I've ever left early.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 18:11 - Apr 8 with 2759 views
Used to love the anarcho punk gigs, heady mixture of politics and punk.
Henry Rollins is a great front man.
Levellers at buff on the level many moons ago, playing 'england my home' while an electrical storm came in off the sea. Amazing.
Worst wouldn't be about the bands, but the fans. Broken Bones at the fulham greyhound in the 80's, i got in to it with some skins. Ouch. I did lay one spark out though, so it wasn't a complete write off!
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 19:01 - Apr 8 with 2725 views
Best and worst gigs you've attended on 16:53 - Apr 7 by BlackCrowe
Best is impossible to keep down to just one. i could probably manage five.
Worst is easy. M People at Wembley. i didn't want to go anyway as i really didn't like them, but felt obliged to as a client invited me - utter banal crap, with an audience to match (apols to any M People fans reading this).
Oh well if others are listing honourable runners up then i'll do my 5 best
Ramones - Lyceum c.'83 Rolling Stones - Astoria, c.'03 Led Zep - O2 '07 Neil Young - Desert Trip, Ca. '16 Prince - Roundhouse '14
And that is not definitive how could i not include Burning Spear, Ravi Shankar, black crowes, james brown, David Byrne, Aswad at carnival etc etc
Best and worst gigs you've attended on 17:47 - Apr 8 by WatfordR
Best by a distance, The Pogues at Brixton Academy, Paddy's Day 1988. Eye of the storm moment really, but it was sensational. They really were a great live band, even their Christmas shows at the Academy in recent years were great fun. Though always much better in smaller venues.
Honourable mention for James (again), Mumford & Sons at Amsterdam Ziggo Dome (a great weekend all round), early Elvis Costello concerts at Hammersmith, The Stranglers (still good), and PiL,
And the worst by a distance, Steve Harley at Tottenham Court Road (I think) in his "comeback tour" around 1990, in the early days of relationship with my later to be wife. Utter utter dogs. Only concert I've ever left early.
I saw the Pogues at the Mean Fiddler in Harlesden about 1984. I went to the loo when I arrived and it was full of dossers in their coats swigging white wine out of two litre bottles. Half an hour later, they were on stage.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 22:19 - Apr 8 with 2621 views
Best and worst gigs you've attended on 22:03 - Apr 8 by MrSheen
I saw the Pogues at the Mean Fiddler in Harlesden about 1984. I went to the loo when I arrived and it was full of dossers in their coats swigging white wine out of two litre bottles. Half an hour later, they were on stage.
😀
Saw them headline at the Fleadh at Finsbury Park a year or two later. Shane came careering on stage and fortunately caught the microphone stand as he was hurtling past. I think he lasted about one and a half songs before he got hooked.
Nevertheless I’ll stand by my assertion that they were a fabulous live band. Even in latter years, part of the pleasure of being there was knowing you were going to give Shane a helping hand with the lyrics! As a band they were real tight - musically!! - and I’ve rarely not enjoyed the occasions I saw them.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 22:32 - Apr 8 with 2611 views
Best and worst gigs you've attended on 22:19 - Apr 8 by WatfordR
😀
Saw them headline at the Fleadh at Finsbury Park a year or two later. Shane came careering on stage and fortunately caught the microphone stand as he was hurtling past. I think he lasted about one and a half songs before he got hooked.
Nevertheless I’ll stand by my assertion that they were a fabulous live band. Even in latter years, part of the pleasure of being there was knowing you were going to give Shane a helping hand with the lyrics! As a band they were real tight - musically!! - and I’ve rarely not enjoyed the occasions I saw them.
They were brilliant that night, I think because they were only getting started and were keen to prove themselves. I saw them a few years later in Brixton, and while the crowd adored them it was all a bit greatest hits. All those years on the lash couldn’t have helped either.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 22:51 - Apr 8 with 2602 views
Best and worst gigs you've attended on 14:06 - Apr 8 by R_from_afar
I think the worst was Tangerine Dream at the Hammersmith Odeon in the late 80s. The gig started superbly, with waves of blue light spreading out across the audience accompanied by a hypnotic, pulsating electronic beat but the gig soon descended into a middle of the road AORfest, complete with pointless solos, including a sax solo (what?). It was hard to believe it was the same band that had seamlessly blended haunting soundscapes, engaging lead lines and innovative effects on masterpieces like "Tangram". Oh, and it looked suspiciously like they weren't actually playing their instruments at times...
The best was probably Kings X at - cough - The Woughton Centre in Milton Keynes, in the early 90s. Three hugely talented Texan rockers playing in a sports hall in a soulless English New Town: Surely a recipe for disaster? But no, it was a triumph, with a couple of hundred delirious fans providing raucous support to a band putting in a very energetic and committed performance. Their songs always felt different to me after that night.
I saw Kings X at the Marquee in '88 - fantastic gig, I was only there because my mate was deputy editor of Metal Hammer at the time and she had a plus one....
Best and worst gigs you've attended on 08:04 - Apr 9 by PunteR
Best gig probably knebworth Oasis. Worst gig was about a year ago at Sandy primary school. Although my son Archie on bass was a highlight.
Oh god, you’ve given me a flashback to Bananas in Pyjamas at Fairfield Halls in Croydon. Cacophonous screaming, kids running in all directions, ice cream on every surface. I’m sure everybody else’s family was just as bad.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 13:32 - Apr 9 with 2435 views
Best and worst gigs you've attended on 22:51 - Apr 8 by hubble
I saw Kings X at the Marquee in '88 - fantastic gig, I was only there because my mate was deputy editor of Metal Hammer at the time and she had a plus one....
I think I first came across them when I heard this amazing rock song being played in Our Price in Camberley in 1989. Not that that comment dates me one bit .
"Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1."
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 16:59 - Apr 10 with 2348 views
The who at Wembley arena, late 1990s, I think. Only Keith moon missing. Awesome. A very close second was the foo fighters at reading. Oasis were headlining straight after. We and the rest of the audience had nothing left after that. They were off the scale that night and it pissed down while they were on.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 17:28 - Apr 10 with 2328 views
Best and worst gigs you've attended on 17:24 - Apr 7 by charmr
Brilliant idea for a thread
Up there is the Idles here in Baltimore not that long ago, blew me away. Immense Rock and Roll show.
Most disappointing was the smiths at Brixton Academy. Think it was one of their last gigs before Johnny pulled the plug. Makes sense now
Honorable mention, James also at Brixton Academy. The band couldn’t start playing their next song(s) because the audience wouldn’t stop cheering and clapping after they finished their Previous song. Hairs on the back of the neck stuff.
[Post edited 7 Apr 2020 17:28]
I remember that james gig at Brixton academy. Not an overly huge fan but they were shit hot that night..
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 17:40 - Apr 10 with 2313 views
You're must have caught Van the man on a bad night Brian. Foo fighters for me at reading. Oasis headlined . They blew them of the stage that night. Queen at Slane back in the eighties. They were dreadful . It sounded like a bad two hour sound check. I did see Eric bell performing regularly at the Archway tavern with Johhny fieghan from the magnificent Horseslips!!
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 17:42 - Apr 10 with 2312 views
Best and worst gigs you've attended on 17:42 - Apr 10 by stowmarketrange
Was that the one about 5 years ago?I was there that for a gig around then,but I mainly went to see star sailor supporting them.
You must be a lot younger than me Stow. I'm talking 20 years ago. A great venue by the way. Brixton. Saw The the at the same venue not long after that .
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