discussion Your Finest Evening of Live Music...

[Allen Dewire]

Hi Good People,

I wanted to post an update tonight and have been listening to music all day while playing at the table. Put 320 songs into my music program in the shuffle mode, and one song really threw me into a flashback to the 80's, and a truly fantastic evening of outstanding live music. It was a song from Simple Minds called "Alive and Kicking", from their Album "Once Upon A Time". I lived in Berlin and on Monday, 20 January, 1986, I went to their concert in the Eisporthalle with my girlfriend. Simple Minds with, singer Robin Clark on backup vocals, put on a show that I will never forget, ever!!! They played so well and just like you were listening to the album. It was so fantastic and the best (over) 2 1/2 hours of entertainment. After the concert ended, we took the shuttle bus to the U-Bahn station at Theodor Heuss Platz to go home. We heard some music coming out of a pub there and decided to check it out. We went inside and there was a small group playing some Jazz and variations on the stage. Absolutely phenomenal music from this group too!!! The next thing we knew, it was almost 4 AM and I had to get up at 5.30 AM for work. Not much sleep was had, but the live musical experience this night was well worth it and unforgettable...

I've been to many concerts in my life and I'm sure many of you have too. I'm just curious to know what your most memorable evening of live music was??? Not 2-3 day festivals or the like, just a good evening concert and/or live music in a club...Thanks all...

Prost & Rockin' On!!!
Allen

 

[Andy T]

There have been so many but related to the Simple Minds theme, seeing The Pretenders in a little pub called the Black Swan (Mucky Duck to locals) was pretty special.

AC/DC at Wembley a few years ago was epic but my most memorable has to be Bruce Springsteen at Bramhall Lane football ground in 1988

He played 2 nights but I couldn't get tickets for either so on the Saturday I parked my Land Rover pick up as close as I could to the venue and sat in the back listening to the show. Towards the end a security guard that had seen me throughout the night approached and told me that a few extra tickets would be on sale the next morning.

So at 6am I duly queued up at the box office and managed to secure some tickets for myself, a mate and his wife for the Sunday performance.

Such a memorable night, and the whole crowd singing along to Hungry Heart will be etched in my brain forever.

 

[PaulinKendal]

Graham Parker and The Rumour at the Roundhouse, Camden.

Alternatively, two kora players at the Pagoda, Kew Gardens. (Might've been Dembo Konte and Kausu Kuyateh, but I really don't know).

Or even Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan at WOMAD.

(The last two were in the afternoon, so might not count).

This is impossible to answer really, isn't it?!

 

[Jim R]

Runrig at Stirling Castle and The Proclaimers at the Celtic Festival on the Isle of Lewis.

 

[The Smythe Meister]

Yep, definitely a tricky one!!
My stand out has to be Def Leppard on their "Pyromania" tour at the Colston Hall,(Bristol),in '83... AWESOME!!.....
..... That was back when they were a proper rock band

 

[Niho]

For me, Killing Joke @ Brighton Uni 1983... lost a monkey boot in the ruckkins and was deaf for two days after......
Then there was Live Aid @ Wembley........ Queen...... say no more

 

[Tim Marlow]

Kinks at reading festival in 1981. Simply marvellous. I was right at the front, a mate and I stayed there all day to make sure we were….. Four encores, three of which were unscripted. Ray Davies came out on his own for the third one, looked straight at me (or so I thought at the time) and played an acoustic version of Waterloo Sunset that gave me absolute frisson as it felt he was playing it just for me. It was one of those moments you get occasionally at gigs where everything and everyone else just melts away and it’s just you and the performer. The fourth encore was then called for, Ray came straight back out, and the rest of the band followed him a minute or so later, half dressed and part showered….
During the set the pit in front of the stage was filled with members of the previous acts watching the band. The previous band, Nine below zero, finished thier set ten minutes early so they could change and watch the Kinks…. Most incongruous was the mayor of Reading, in full regalia, black tricorn hat, red coat, and big old dangly chain of office, jumping around and singing with the rest of us and punching the air to “Low budget”.

Second one, Salisbury Cathedral 1990 Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under conductor Simon Rattle. The climax of the concert was Beethoven’s ninth symphony. The power generated by the sublime final “Ode to joy” chorus literally caused me to have an out of body experience. I kid you not children, I seemed to surge up to the rafters of the cathedral and was looking down on the punters. I do not understand it at all, just that it happened.

Oh, and Motorheads Ace of Spades tour was pretty good as well

 

[Dave Ward]

The Pretenders in a little pub called the Black Swan (Mucky Duck to locals)

Oh , yes, the Mucky Duck was a regular Friday night visit - the late 70's, early 80's was a great time for live music in Sheffield. I saw Blondie at the Studenys' Union, just about the time they were breaking through.
Most memorable live music night? The Macc Lads at a club near Worksop, not necessarily for the music, but the atmosphere and the fights that kept on breaking out!
Dave

 

[Jon Heptonstall]

Hawkwind put on a great show.Wolverhampton Civic Hall 1980.The whole sound was a big mind blast with added Ginger Baker.
Rory Gallagher anywhere was always fun.
Another one that sticks out was Hugh Masekela playing in Bridgetown,Barbados just because of the whole friendship vibe.

 

[stona]

Hawkwind put on a great show.Wolverhampton Civic Hall 1980.The whole sound was a big mind blast with added Ginger Baker.
Rory Gallagher anywhere was always fun.
Another one that sticks out was Hugh Masekela playing in Bridgetown,Barbados just because of the whole friendship vibe.

I was still playing in 1980, but had started moonlighting behind the stage to augment my all too irregular income. I'm almost certain that I worked on that Hawkwind tour, if it was the one with Patrice Warrener and his laser. Also Lloyd-Langton on guitar. The laser was far from familiar (or reliable) technology then, and local council jobsworths were scared to death of the supposed 'death ray'!

 

[stona]

Yep, definitely a tricky one!!
My stand out has to be Def Leppard on their "Pyromania" tour at the Colston Hall,(Bristol),in '83... AWESOME!!.....
..... That was back when they were a proper rock band

I was there, behind the stage or possibly running a follow spot! I did all the Pyromania tour, including the US, which was...errr...memorable. I will never forget the hill on which the trucks were loaded and unloaded, one at a time, outside the Colston Hall. I think that will all change when the renamed venue eventually re-opens.

 

[Allen Dewire]

Wow, thanks guys!!! It doesn't matter whether it was afternoon or evening, as long as it was a memorable event to you.

Tim, in Berlin on New Years day, The Berliner Philharmonic, under the direction of Herbert von Karajan, did Beethoven's 9th Symphony. I always wanted to go, but winning the lottery was easier than getting tickets. They sold out in about 2 minutes every year, so I ended up buying a CD of their performance...

Another one of mine was the Rolling Stones in Olympic Stadium, Berlin in 1990. my ex was 9 months pregnant, so I brought a clap stool and a big chunk of foam for her to sit on if she got tired. The folks were so kind and moved off to the sides a bit, so she could see the stage while sitting.......Me!!!.....I was hoping my son would pop out into the world during the concert. He didn't though...He came a few weeks later in the hospital. Bummer, but a great concert and a fine afternoon all the same....

Please keep it coming if you want. I know many of us here love music and like Dave Ward, the atmosphere? in the venue...

Prost
Allen

 

[Dave Ward]

Not a concert, but a musical 'moment' - I was in Birmingham ( doing a course at Birmingham Poly ) in hte late 80's, going to the library at lunchtime - I could hear a Choir - I came round a corner to Chamberlain Square - and there was the Red Army Choir..................All strapping fellers in their immaculate uniforms - although they were singing in Russian, it made the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention! Quite a surprise - they were powerful!
Dave

 

[Jon Heptonstall]

I was still playing in 1980, but had started moonlighting behind the stage to augment my all too irregular income. I'm almost certain that I worked on that Hawkwind tour, if it was the one with Patrice Warrener and his laser. Also Lloyd-Langton on guitar. The laser was far from familiar (or reliable) technology then, and local council jobsworths were scared to death of the supposed 'death ray'!

Huw was playing along with Harvey Bainbridge,Dave and Tim Blake.That was the Levitation tour.
I would have liked to have seen Tim with Gong but that was before my time.

 

[Allen Dewire]

Wow, that must have been incredible Dave!!! Hope you're feeling better too my friend...

 

[Gern]

Only ever been to one concert. That was Melanie Safka who did a UK tour - must have been 20-25 years ago now.

 

[The Smythe Meister]

I was there, behind the stage or possibly running a follow spot! I did all the Pyromania tour, including the US, which was...errr...memorable. I will never forget the hill on which the trucks were loaded and unloaded, one at a time, outside the Colston Hall. I think that will all change when the renamed venue eventually re-opens.

Blimey.... I bet you could tell some stories!!
I do remember the access to Colston Hall being somewhat "tight" all round... and that was just for the queing crowd.... must've been an absolute pain in the arse unloading stuff!!

 

[stona]

Blimey.... I bet you could tell some stories!!
I do remember the access to Colston Hall being somewhat "tight" all round... and that was just for the queing crowd.... must've been an absolute pain in the arse unloading stuff!!

Blimey.... I bet you could tell some stories!!
I do remember the access to Colston Hall being somewhat "tight" all round... and that was just for the queing crowd.... must've been an absolute pain in the arse unloading stuff!!

Yep. The truck(s) were unloaded on what felt like a 1:5 hill. It wasn't but it was steep enough to make life interesting. Everything was pushed into the hall and along a corridor (or through the hall) all the way to the front of the stage, then up a ramp onto the stage. Space was 'limited' particularly for storage. There was a small area near the load in door and then empty cases ended up adorning one side of the backstage corridors. It was always a bit of a mess, even with just one truck. The real problem was when bands turned up with three or four! You can get a lot of 'stuff' into three forty-five foot trailers!

The whole place is being redone, so we'll see if they make a mess of that...or not. I've pretty much stopped touring now, so I'll probably never know

 

[Dave Ward]

Wow, that must have been incredible Dave!!

Not the sort of thing you expect to see ( and hear ) on a Midlands street - they were on tour & the TV cameras were getting a sample ( It was the Russian National Anthem, as well )
Hand is now aching more - I'll be breaking out the Ibuprofen for tonight!
Dave

 

[davecov]

I have been to many concerts over the years and saw The Jam, Sham 69, Ultravox, Tubeway Army, The Stranglers, Japan, Billy Idol, China Crisis, Spandau Ballet, Simple Minds, Dexys Midnight Runners, The Specials, Heaven 17, Ian Hunter, Ian Dury, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Jean-Michel Jarre, Snow Patrol, OMD, Soft Cell and some others I can't recall at the moment. Two concerts that stand out were Kid Creole and the Coconuts which was spectacular and lasted three hours and the 2005 Live8 concert at Murrayfield where James Brown gave a stunning performance and over-ran his set by about half an hour.

Now I am in my Sixties, my memories have faded and I don't get to gigs much now. The last concert I went to was Richard Hawley, one of my favourite artists. It was in 2019 at the iconic Barrowlands in Glasgow and even now I get goosebumps when playing his music and reliving that night.

Dave