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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 21:32 - Mar 13 with 2534 views
Best and worst gigs you've attended on 18:43 - Apr 7 by ted_hendrix
I've got numerous best gigs but the one that stands out (just) was the band Free early Seventies, they were fcing awesome as was the late Paul Kossoff their guitarist, he 'owned' his fretboard and could hold a note, bend it, trill it for as long as he saw fit, a true blues guitarist. None of the following gigs disappointed and all stood out; ZZ Top (Brixton Academy) Hawkwind (Reading Top Rank) AC/DC (Wembley Stadium) Ten Years After (Reading Uni) Rolling Stones (Wembley & Twickers). Ray Davies (one man show) had a backing band and he/they sang all of the Kinks songs, in between songs though Ray would tell stories about the Kinks, it wasn't what I was expecting but turned out to be a brilliant evening. (Who the fck don't love the legendary Kinks?) special mention for Dave Gilmour and Joe Walsh who I saw at the Strat Pack Wembley arena).
Worst Gigs.
Velvet Revolver at the Hammersmith Apollo, disappointing sound and all round gig, happy enough to have seen Slash live but the gig was a huge let down. Bob Dylan, I'm a massive fan of his but his gig at Wembley Arena wasn't that great, his backing band were bloody good but Dylan himself seemed to be going through the motions and you kind of felt he didn't want to be there. Clannad or Enya or whatever they are called at Readings Hexagon, bit of a family get together at a gig so I went to 'keep the peace' After sitting through the first two songs of someone warbling about trees and dolphins I walked out. Each to their own and all that but it was agony. Plenty of verbals from the Missus on the way home which sounded much better than the gig.
Would have loved to see Free in their prime. Was just a year or two too young so it was just the albums and a few bootleg tapes for me. Still love their music.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 21:47 - Mar 13 with 2510 views
I’ve seen The Cure many times over the last 35 years, always great. Elbow and James similar.
My two worst gigs by a country mile, Stone Roses at Wembley, they were clearly disinterested, Ian Brown had long since had lost his voice, just awful walked out. Also, Maroon 5 Wembley Arena, barely spoke to the audience, played their formulaic crap set and only at the very end, when they were filming a video for what was to be their new single, did they bother to interact with the audience as they wanted to film the crowd all hyped up. Utter rubbish, didn’t help that I can’t stand the band I suppose.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 10:25 - Mar 14 with 2392 views
Most unexpectedly loud was The Proclaimers concert...can't remember the London venue but it was packed, and never have two men with a guitar and tambourine made such a sound...great night.
A couple of Pogues concerts from the same era also rank right up there (Brixton Acadamy Paddys Day 88 was mentioned), and anything that Billy Bragg did into to the late 80's was fantastic. Love it when the crowd harmonises with the singer...
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 14:00 - Mar 14 with 2307 views
Best: Guns n Roses Wembley Stadium 1992 Worst: Guns n Roses Milton Keynes Bowl 1993
Seen GnR loads of times but by 93 they'd been on the road for almost 3 years straight and were clearly phoning it in. I think Izzy had left by that point and they were just so disappointing.
They also played Wembley in 91 (all part of the same tour) but in 92 they had Soundgarden and Faith No More supporting which was a very decent line up. Me and my mates ended up in the Wembley Tandoori afterwards even though that meant no way of getting home. Ah to be young and not giving a sh*t!
Glory hunter, me
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 15:28 - Mar 14 with 2267 views
Best: Roundhouse Chalk Farm 1971. The Who topped the bill and were imperious but 2nd on the bill was Elton John, Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson & Bernie Taupin. Worst: Toss up between Magic Micheal, supporting Hawkwind, who was thrown off the stage by security once the crowd stated booing him and his response was to set fire to the stage or Airborne (winners of some tv talent show) at the Hamborough Tavern Southall who sparked a pitched battle inside the pub when the regulars started telling them to shut the fück up and get out and the bands response was for the bass player to unhook his guitar strap and smash the bass into someone's face.
The grass is always greener.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 16:51 - Mar 14 with 2200 views
Best and worst gigs you've attended on 14:00 - Mar 14 by NewYorkRanger
Best: Guns n Roses Wembley Stadium 1992 Worst: Guns n Roses Milton Keynes Bowl 1993
Seen GnR loads of times but by 93 they'd been on the road for almost 3 years straight and were clearly phoning it in. I think Izzy had left by that point and they were just so disappointing.
They also played Wembley in 91 (all part of the same tour) but in 92 they had Soundgarden and Faith No More supporting which was a very decent line up. Me and my mates ended up in the Wembley Tandoori afterwards even though that meant no way of getting home. Ah to be young and not giving a sh*t!
I think that 91 gig was the one where (the relatively unknown) Nine Inch Nails supported them. They sold something like 4 shirts and got a chorus of boos throughout their entire set.
I'd have rather seen NIN myself.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 22:50 - Mar 18 with 2073 views
Went to see Amy Winehouse at Festival City Dubai, 13th Feb 2011 - VIP section (Valentines gift for my wife) Amy, well she kept walking off stage & was clearly distressed. Very pissed probably. It was truly awful. Except for 1 song, "You know I'm No Good", it was an awful concert - that 1 song though - wow.
She died less than 4 months later. It was her 2nd last concert and she was booed off stage.
Best & worst concert I ever went to.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 15:45 - Jun 24 with 1479 views
Resurrecting an old thread rather than starting a new one.
Went to The Sphere in Vegas to see the latest iteration of the Grateful Dead on Saturday, wow.
That place is absolutely incredible. I enjoy the Grateful Dead when I hear their music but really don't know many of their songs, the wife is a big fan though. Despite not knowing any songs, that's still a top 3 gig all time for me, they put on a good show and The Sphere is unlike any other place I've ever been and they were perfect for that venue.
Best.....The Mahavishnu Orchestra at The Rainbow (finsbury Park Astoria) 1973. The worst....Went to the Roundhouse,Chalk Farm expecting to see Johnny Winter but T.Rex turned up instead.
Just got back from Coldplay at Groupama stadium in Lyon. Whatever you think of their music they know how to put on a show. I don't think I'd ever been to a gig where virtually everybody sang every song. Bearing in mind, 50,000+ were French, that's some recognition
Janelle Monae was the support. Just another shout diva, I'm afraid.
[Post edited 24 Jun 19:22]
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the Earth all one's lifetime." (Mark Twain)
Find me on twitter @derbyhoop and now on Bluesky
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 19:43 - Jun 24 with 1200 views
Best - Prince 1986 - Parade tour at Wembley Arena - Unbelievable show.
Worst - MC Hammer 1991 - Wembley Arena - Girlfriend at the time had free tickets so we went. There was about 50 people on stage and you couldn't tell who was who. For all I know he might not have been there.
Smells like a trout farm in here
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 19:48 - Jun 24 with 1197 views
Too add to this thread I have been revisiting bands of my youth touring over the past couple of years. Depeche Mode at Twickenham for the Memento Mori tour. First tour after death of Fletch, was really unsure how they would be - answer very very good, only downside was it being at Twickenham which has to be one of the worst venues in the UK to get to and from. Also was lucky enough to see ABC at the Royal Albert Hall with South London Philharmonic Orchestra, that was also extremely good and Martin Fry's voice is as golden as ever. Worst recent gig Secret Affair (supported by Squire) at 229 by Great Portland Street station. OK, bit of a mod guilty pleasure but one that was sobering when I realised I had last seen both bands 40 years ago. This time around both were pretty competent at what they did, but there sound system seemed to be way too loud for the smallish size of the venue. Pre gig warm up DJ managed to deafen me and then Squire and Secret Affair followed in a similar vein. Possibly a sign of getting old I guess, but left before the end of the concert as my ears just couldnt take the level of volume. Sure both bands would be fine in slightly bigger venue or smaller PA.
Never knowingly understood
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 20:08 - Jun 24 with 1181 views
The Clash at the Coliseum Harlesden March 77. Saw them a dozen or more times but that was the best, life changing, earth shattering, a great night to be 17. London really was burning.
Worst probably the great Al Green at the Royal Albert Hall. Spent the whole night handing out flowers to the Laydeez, did a lot of god bothering then did a quick medley of all those glorious songs.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 22:21 - Jun 24 with 1088 views
Not sure if it was the best, but in terms of raw energy and atmosphere, Television at the Roxy in West Hollywood in 1978 was amazing. Richard Lloyd had to replace guitar strings after almost every song.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 02:22 - Jun 25 with 986 views
Maze at Hammersmith around 1987/88, comparable to beating WBA at Highbury 1982.
Dr Feelgood at Hammersmith 1975. Thin Lizzy with Robbo. Elton John mid 70's.
Worst were Olivia Newton John, not her fault maybe but her set list was very country based and we partly went for non musical reasons, lol. Whitney Houston at Wembley around 1987, wonderful voice but way to much talking and preaching between songs.
[Post edited 25 Jun 2:28]
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 02:33 - Jun 25 with 983 views
Best and worst gigs you've attended on 19:10 - Apr 7 by WrightUp5hit___
Best: Jeff Beck (with Tim Bogart and Carmine Appice) at Imperial college around 1973. Awestruck teenager watches rock god with awesome backing tear it up.
Who knows how good it was but good enough for me to be talking about it nearly fifty years later
Worst: George Benson at the Royal Albert Hall just last year. Not due to the artist but the audience. George started the set playing some wondrous instrumentals from his back catalogue (people forget how sublime he is as a guitarist) but then he started trying to sing and the voice just wasn't there. He apologised that he had picked up a throat infection. that didn't go down well with part of the audience who were barracking that they had paid to hear the hits. Lots started walking out George tried a few more instrumentals (again superb guitar playing) but the idiot part of the audience just didn't get it and carried on heckling. Show stopped, embarassing.
London audiences can be so tough.
Wow! Wow! It's the audience not knowing the artist.
In the mid 80's George played for a week at Wembley Arena and our tickets were for the last night. A few people at my work went before me and they all said the first 15 minutes were boring but then it was a good show. We went along, the house lights went down and George opened with a brilliant version of Affirmation, highlight of the night for me.
Luther also played Wembley for a week but you can bet 75% of the audience only owned the Give Me the Reason album.
[Post edited 25 Jun 2:53]
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 02:56 - Jun 25 with 980 views
Best and worst gigs you've attended on 02:33 - Jun 25 by rbee
Wow! Wow! It's the audience not knowing the artist.
In the mid 80's George played for a week at Wembley Arena and our tickets were for the last night. A few people at my work went before me and they all said the first 15 minutes were boring but then it was a good show. We went along, the house lights went down and George opened with a brilliant version of Affirmation, highlight of the night for me.
Luther also played Wembley for a week but you can bet 75% of the audience only owned the Give Me the Reason album.
[Post edited 25 Jun 2:53]
What a shame. I went to the Albert Hall show the year before and he was still great. This was the show that had been delayed for 2 years because of Covid. At 79 years old (at the time) he still had it. Audience were on their feet most of the time.
I also went to the Kisses in the Moonlight tour at Wembley Arena in 86. Remember it as a great show. I stewarded the Luther shows and escorted him (with others) to the centre stage. He was a massive fella then. About 6' 3' and had put weight back on.
Through a mate we were able to steward shows in the mid to late eighties at Wembley Arena. Not much health and safety back then. Quick run through on exists and point of contacts and that was it. Pound meal voucher as well. We did all of the Soul shows mostly and they were easy to steward. It was when we did one of the Bros shows and INXS that it felt like work. Funniest night was when we did the Bobby Brown concert and he fell off the stage. I think he saw me laugh.
Smells like a trout farm in here
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 03:10 - Jun 25 with 963 views
When I saw Luther in the round at Wembley mid 80's he was really slim, poor fella had his demons. Saw his first London concert in 1982 at The Dominion and the last at Wembley, gutted I missed The Albert Hall shows.
Were there many soul shows at Wembley then? I saw EWF a few times there, Kool once. I was watching a documentary about Shalamar, who I saw at The Dominion, and apparantly they played Wembley Stadium just before they split, Jody and Howard really hated each other.
Those days of no security at concerts were such fun! Take your seats at Hammersmith and The Rainbow and when the house lights went down you ran down to the front. Saw Abba at Wembley in 1980 and we took a stroll from the back to the front, so glad we did.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 03:43 - Jun 25 with 953 views
Best would be The Cure. Perhaps to the horror of other Cure fans, it happened in 2016 (rather than The Prayer Tour or the early post-punk days). First night in Chicago, that being June 10. Played a lot of my favorite deeper cuts, did four encores, 30-some songs total. I was right up front by Simon, who inspired me to pick up a bass long ago.
Worst: Well, I’ve seen worse than what I’m about to say, but considering expectations, it has to be The War on Drugs. Adam was in shambles; he spent most of the show channeling Ric Flair, endlessly shouting “Woooooo!” (prompting the audience to mockingly shout it back at him.Toward the end of the set, he challenged the venue’s sound guy to fisticuffs; I think the crowd wanted Sound Guy to accept. It’s kinda funny, I suppose, but I’d have preferred a focused show.
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 04:28 - Jun 25 with 941 views
Best and worst gigs you've attended on 03:10 - Jun 25 by rbee
When I saw Luther in the round at Wembley mid 80's he was really slim, poor fella had his demons. Saw his first London concert in 1982 at The Dominion and the last at Wembley, gutted I missed The Albert Hall shows.
Were there many soul shows at Wembley then? I saw EWF a few times there, Kool once. I was watching a documentary about Shalamar, who I saw at The Dominion, and apparantly they played Wembley Stadium just before they split, Jody and Howard really hated each other.
Those days of no security at concerts were such fun! Take your seats at Hammersmith and The Rainbow and when the house lights went down you ran down to the front. Saw Abba at Wembley in 1980 and we took a stroll from the back to the front, so glad we did.
More Soul shows than you would think.
We did Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Alexander O'Neal, Luther Vandross and Bobby Brown from memory.
Smells like a trout farm in here
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 04:36 - Jun 25 with 931 views
What was Diana like? I saw the Funk Brothers. I saw Dionne Warwick on a regional tour but she only had a drummer and two keyboard players with her and she wrapped up all of her big hits in a five minute medley.
[Post edited 25 Jun 5:44]
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Best and worst gigs you've attended on 08:16 - Jun 25 with 845 views
best Spritiualized 1997 London Astoria - I was 11 years old, a real music head, went alone as my folks were quite trusting of my whereabouts.... mind blown.... set the course of deep music love.
worst - One of the band I play in gigs in Belgium, just an absolute disaster, wrong type of venue for us, wrong audience, wrong day a Saturday night when loads of young folks were out and then to top it off, the Belgian police losing their shit with us when we were loading the gear into our van.
I don't think anything will be the worst gig than that.
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