Watching the Alan Hull documentary the other evening got me thinking about music gigs I’ve been to over the years. Really there haven’t been that many. I’m very much a ‘stay at home’ type, not interested in travelling very far afield. Neither am I a musical connoisseur. Most of my contemporaries could produce lists of many pages of gigs they’ve attended. These are the ones I remember, in no particular order:
Lindisfarne (first gig)
Tom Paxton
Dubliners
Marillion
Chieftains
Eagles
Fleetwood Mac
Steeleye Span
Elkie Brooks
Joan Armatrading
Ray Davies
Van Morrison
Rolling Stones
Meat Loaf
Thin Lizzy
Unthanks
That first one, Lindisfarne, was about 1971. They were on the cusp of the big time but it was still early days for them. They played in the indoor shopping centre in central Birmingham. I recall little or nothing of the music. (The band lives on, though with only one of the original line-up.)
Thin Lizzy were in Tralee in the west of Ireland in 1980. It was the only time they played in the town I think. The legendary Chieftains played at the Opera House in Cork. There was dancing in the aisles from the opening number, the poor staff finally giving up telling people to sit back down. Elkie Brooks saw an early panicked escape by about a dozen elderly folk from the front rows as she launched her show with one of her old, raunchy and loud numbers. Biggest gig was the Stones in Parc des Princes, Paris. The very last one was a few years back, the Unthanks in Cambridge.
The best one? If I had to choose it would be the Mac in Dublin in 2009. The classic line-up of Nicks, Buckingham, Fleetwood and John McVie (missing only Christine McVie) were magnificent.
Artistes I wished I’d seen? Maybe Mott the Hoople/Ian Hunter, Rory Gallagher, Black Sabbath, Fairport Convention.
So what was your favourite ever gig?
Back On The Rock 
Wow, you’re ahead of me, Roy. By far! You actually saw all these bands live?!! The Eagles?! The Rolling Stones. I stand in awe. 😊
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Yes but they were all within easy reach of wherever I was at the time Jane. I doubt The Eagles rock up in Fredericton too often. (They were quite brilliant when I saw them in Dublin.)
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Wow, I would LOVE to have seen the Eagles. The Beach Boys came here during their 20th anniversary tour. And Leonard Cohen started his final world tour right here in Fredericton. I’ll take what I can get!
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Glad to see the Irish so well represented on your list Roy!!!
My first ‘gig’ as it were was probably Thin Lizzy – It was out in the grounds of RTE for a musical series and someone knew someone who knew someone who got myself and a few pals into it. We were very early teens and the uncoolest audience on the planet!
Best _ Has to be any Bruce Springsteen – I’ve seen him here 4 times. On my wish list is to see him somewhere out of Ireland some day!
And you can’t go wrong with a Christy Moore gig! (He’s not on your list!!!)
We loved the Eagles in Dublin – and the Stones.
Biggest disappointments were Bowie in Slane 1987 and Bob Dylan here in 2019.
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Hi Marie, yes I could have got tickets for Springsteen and U2 at Croke Park in my Dublin days I guess – they were huge occasions weren’t they? We must have been at the same Eagles gig at the RDS? I’ll never forget Joe Walsh’s playing on Hotel California.
Disappointment? Meat Loaf in Cork I think but that was mainly because the acoustics at the Marquee were so poor.
I feel privileged to have seen the Stones at their best. They laid on a special trip to see them, Jersey to Paris, amazing 🙂
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Forgot about U2!
First saw them in Leixlip in 1980 supporting The Police… little did we know that day what a huge band they’d become…
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Darts, 1st gig Behans Jersey, um 74?
Bob Dylan- 1977, 1st real gig
Pink Floyd x2
David Bowie x2
Dire Straits, with Princess Diana, my distant cousin, and Prince Charles , in the audience
ZZ Top
Bruce Springsteen x 2
Elton John
Neil Diamond
Eric Clapton
Queen at Knebworth 1986, Freddie Mercury’s last gig, with Status Quo and Big Country
Live Aid….. 1985
Inglorious
Glen Hughes
Laurence Jones
The Stranglers
The Jam
The Australian Pink Floyd
Um…
Too many to focus on the best.
Bowie has shaped Rock Music
Would like to have seen
Neil Young
The Doors
ELO
Supertramp
YES
The Band
SAHB
Wishbone Ash
Deep Purple
Led Zeppelin
Next to see is Joe Bonamassa
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Of course I have forgotten to see these greats
The Who
Fleetwood Mac
The Eagles
Genesis
Rainbow
Black Sabbath
There are numerous
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Finally, how could I forget my last gig in Cologne with my sister Liz at the beginning of Feb 2020, just before lockdown. The Hu, the awesome Mongolian heavy rock band. Check them out!
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I used to listen to Genesis but I’m not sure they were the best live band. Black Sabbath were starting out around the Birmingham clubs when I was 17-ish but never got to see them.
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Impressive! A pretty comprehensive talent list there. I’m envious. I’d love to have seen Elton John in his wilder days. Clapton with Cream. And like you – ELO (Jeff Lynne lived just up the road from me) and the Zep.
Joe Bonamassa absolutely, he’s mesmeric.
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God, you are old…😉 My favorite old one was the Police at Strathclyde Uni. Recently it was Pitbull at our town’s amphitheater.
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You have an amphitheatre? Covered? Must be brilliant.
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Part of it is covered. The Plebeians must sit on the grass and be bitten to death by mosquitoes or die of heat stroke…🦟 It is an amazing venue for a small town and usually free if you dare to sit on the grass!
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We only have the Rolling Stones in common but it’s quite a list, Roy:). My fave is a recent concert–Lenny Kravitz. I saw him the Sept before COVID hit and he was amazing–not just his music but the outlook on life he shares in his concerts. (Oh, and he’s not too hard on the eyes, either:).
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I’ll give him a listen Kristine, I think I might take to someone like him. Like books there are so many great musicians and such limited time available.
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Have a listen to his greatest hits, Roy. I bet you’ll like him.
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You can’t sit still to the Chieftains! One of my favourites.
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Yes, great entertainers as well as being faithful to their music. Sad about poor Paddy Moloney, they’ll never be quite the same again.
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Yes, very sad and true.
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I went to quite a lot of gigs when I was a teenager and in my early twenties. Embarrassingly, the first was Wham! at Whitley Bay ice rink in 1984, when I was 13! The best was Iggy Pop on the day I left school in 1987. I was standing at the front, with him right there in front of me and he sang to me at one point…..With all kinds in between – The Cure, Alice Cooper, The Mission and more recently Erasure and Pink. I still remember that it used to cost about £5 to go and see a band at Newcastle City Hall, so I find today’s prices ridiculous! However, I have given in and bought tickets to see Adam Ant in February….
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Adam Ant’s still around? I’d certainly go and see him. We tend not to get the top bands these days, even pre-Covid. Promotors have to take a big risk when booking bands without a major venue and a fickle public.
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I’m a bit nervous about going in case it shatters my image of him from my youth – he’s in his 60s now 🙂
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In my experience it will be great Andrea. And Adam plus his audience will have grown older together and he’ll bring back great memories. Whilst technology has robbed artistes of one income stream it’s meant that many of our musical idols live on, performing as well as ever, if not better. They are much more accessible these days and happy to still be able to strut their stuff.
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The prices of tickets never cease to amaze me.
I don’t recall ever having paid more than £25/30, but I am talking 80’s.
Ah…. nostalgia.
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To be fair it’s the main income stream of bands these days when their music is so easily and freely available.
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Roy, alas I haven’t seen any of these although my husband has seen some live at gigs! My earliest music event was to see ‘Bucks Fizz’ live in London as a young girl – I thought I’d gone to heaven! My favourite would be between ‘Lord of the Dance’ and ‘Fairground Attraction’, though Tom Jones was a lot of laughs. Art Garfunkel in Stockholm was a washout – let’s just say he could barely stand let alone sing and was only on stage for 20 minutes, which was a relief! An interesting post of musical reflections! Hope you’re all doing okay in Jersey.
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