50 gigs that changed music. (non)

glenmorangie said:
Surprised that the 1969 IOW Festival has not been included. Headline act was Bob Dylan and included the Moody Blues and Joe Cocker. 150000 turned up and the " sights and smells" were something to behold ! When you think that Woodstock " only" attracted 400000-then that is an incredible audience for a tiny Island and became the forerunner of so many British Festivals.
I went to the first festival in1968 which was headlined by Jefferson Airplane- entrance fee £ 1.25 !
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IOW 1970 - Hendrix, The Doors, The Who etc.
estimated attendance was 650,000
was a hell of a 4 days.

And it’s always fun to drop in my first ever concert.
The Beatles - The Gaumont, Westover Rd, August 1963
 
One band not mentioned, the clash, saw them at village bowl and Poole arts centre. At the village bowl they walked off as people were spitting, don't really blame them
 
stanthevan said:
There were some amazing gigs at the Village. Stand outs for me were The Stranglers, the first time I ever saw punks.
Live Stiffs. Wreckless Eric and Lene Lovich being the stars.
Human League. Before they went MOR with the women, we even had a slide show.
Man.......in quadrophonic!
Gary Glitter, let's not go there!
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That stranglers gig, I think they were supported by the skids, if I recall correctly. I remember buying their ep after that in red vinyl
 
CherryBare said:
That stranglers gig, I think they were supported by the skids, if I recall correctly. I remember buying their ep after that in red vinyl
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They certainly were, my first gig, September 78. Remember the Stranglers had an HA chapter road crewing for them. A couple of the lovely angels spent the whole of the Stranglers gig staring at and giving the middle finger salute to the audience!
 
Here's a fascinating report from BBC Nationwide back in June 1973, at the height of Bowie Mania - includes footage from the Winter Gardens concert, and also the Brighton show, which I went to.

Lots of shots of fans going to the Bournemouth concert, wonder if anyone recognises themselves here ?

 
davidwhitehead said:
Here's a fascinating report from BBC Nationwide back in June 1973, at the height of Bowie Mania - includes footage from the Winter Gardens concert, and also the Brighton show, which I went to.

Lots of shots of fans going to the Bournemouth concert, wonder if anyone recognises themselves here ?

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Thanks David, a great piece of reporting, very much of it's time and the B.B.C. back then. I don't think the reporter was very enamoured of "Beat performers" earning a half a million pounds a year. I think a lot of people could remember Space Oddity as well. : )
Mick Ronson coming off stage, already got a fag going and carrying his own guitar back to the changing room : )


Ps what a great way to "waste" time youtube is, now find myself watching Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder : )
 
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table said:
Thanks David, a great piece of reporting, very much of it's time and the B.B.C. back then. I don't think the reporter was very enamoured of "Beat performers" earning a half a million pounds a year. I think a lot of people could remember Space Oddity as well. : )
Mick Ronson coming off stage, already got a fag going and carrying his own guitar back to the changing room : )


Ps what a great way to "waste" time youtube is, now find myself watching Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder : )
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Ah, Taj Mahal. Saw him at the Victoria Palace in 79 or 80. Wonderful evening. Tables set out cabaret style. Next table had Pete Townsend and folk on it. He went onstage later and was er… very much the worse for wear.

Taj was brilliant.
 
CherryBare said:
That stranglers gig, I think they were supported by the skids, if I recall correctly. I remember buying their ep after that in red vinyl
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Saw Stranglers at PAC because some mates were into them(others of us were more two tone /Madness).
For some reason they thought a song and dance man (along with top hat and tails and cane) was the perfect support act.Remember him singing 'Dedicated follower of fashion'
And they wonder why he left the stage absolutely covered in spit.
 
Johnny Comelately said:
Bizarrely, the only one from their list that I saw the tour of was The Shamen at The Opera House some time before their big hit singles. There was barely anyone in the audience, maybe 50 people at most, no support and they turned up very late did about 20 minutes and walked off. We complained and asked for our money back but the manager said they'd played so no refunds, which is presumably why they did the 20 minutes.
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I was there too - thought it was longer than 20 minutes
 
wayneofafcb said:
Two Tone tour Buddy Holly Pistols out of the Guardian list of ones I'd be bothered to see.

Locally would have loved to have seen Rockpile and Ramones that have been mentioned. Favourite local gig probably The Jam in 82 at Arts Centre
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Rockpile at the Arts Centre was my first gig - day before my chemistry o-level - which I promptly slept through!
 
Mossy1 said:
Saw Stranglers at PAC because some mates were into them(others of us were more two tone /Madness).
For some reason they thought a song and dance man (along with top hat and tails and cane) was the perfect support act.Remember him singing 'Dedicated follower of fashion'
And they wonder why he left the stage absolutely covered in spit.
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The Stranglers often had dodgy support acts.

At the BIC they were supported by a (very bad) ventriloquist.
At Wembley Arena the supports included three people who bounced up and down (I think they were in a New Order video - True Faith?) and Keith Allen in a studded jockstrap reciting fairly obscene poetry.

Xmal Deutschland also supported - but they were bloody good!
 
punkrockcherry said:
The Stranglers often had dodgy support acts.

At the BIC they were supported by a (very bad) ventriloquist.
At Wembley Arena the supports included three people who bounced up and down (I think they were in a New Order video - True Faith?) and Keith Allen in a studded jockstrap reciting fairly obscene poetry.

Xmal Deutschland also supported - but they were bloody good!
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Not forgetting the HA road crew I mentioned earlier Ian.
I thank you.
 
punkrockcherry said:
I was there too - thought it was longer than 20 minutes
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Might have been but it can't have been that much longer as I remember how surprised we were when they walked off and didn't come back. We were very p#ssed off which is why we asked for a refund. I did have the first album, Drop, which was sort of acid rock so I'm wondering now whether it was an earlier gig as that album came out in 1987.
 
Johnny Comelately said:
Might have been but it can't have been that much longer as I remember how surprised we were when they walked off and didn't come back. We were very p#ssed off which is why we asked for a refund. I did have the first album, Drop, which was sort of acid rock so I'm wondering now whether it was an earlier gig as that album came out in 1987.
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Probably just PRC being pedantic and it was 21 minutes. :grinning:
 
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