Music is moonlight in the gloomy night of life – Jean Paul Richter

As part of my way of getting through the stay-at-home requirements of covid-19, I am playing through all my classical music. It’s a way for me to connect to some music I’ve not listened to in a while, but also to get reminders of great concerts as I listen. (I have just been reminiscing about seeing a performance of Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde in 1990, with Cleo Laine singing the part of the Voice of God!)

But alongside classical music, I am passionate about so much other music too. For the last four decades I have sought out loads of live music and a couple of years ago found myself reflecting on the range of artists who I had also seen live at some point over the years. Here’s a list – updated – of all the ones I can remember. (I’m sure there are more, and certainly there are some festival performers I – and the musical world – have forgotten totally.) I’ve star-rated them; where I’ve seen the act more the once the ratings are in order of appearances. It’s too big an ask to identify dates for them all, though I do have a fair few programmes, ticket stubs and other memorabilia relating to lots of the gigs. And the website https://www.setlist.fm/ is an absolute treasure trove to spark memories. I’ve added some additional commentary as part of this update.

As a result of this retrospective on live music, I feel privileged to have seen many of the acts. Quite a few no longer perform or have disbanded. And far too many of the performers have died.

The three big live music regrets I have are:

1. Not going to see Led Zeppelin at Knebworth in 1979
2. Not seeing Bob Marley on his Uprising tour in 1980
3. Choosing to see Teardrop Explodes instead of Stiff Little Fingers in 1983 (Julian Cope hated the rest of the band by then, was touring only for contractual reasons, wouldn’t play his hits. And Stiff Little Fingers split that year)

There’s a clear rock leaning in this list, with very little that might be called punk or pop. I was a late engager with punk, and much pop, disco and funk just doesn’t connect for me (though I know others with the reverse musical preferences to mine).

And there are many gigs that I remember as being just fantastic nights of entertainment, hence so many four- and five-star ratings. And one or two turkeys as well as a few that just weren’t memorable.

Here’s the list – if anyone reading it can remember any I’ve forgotten, let me know!

Daevid Allen ****

I loved Daevid Allen and his full-on hippie presence. He always struck me from what I saw and read about him as being just a lovely person. This solo gig culminated in him doing Gong’s ‘You Are I And I Am You’ whilst stepping into the audience sharing in a massive communal hug! (A fond memory in the midst of the social distancing regime we are in as I write this update!)

Tori Amos ****

While I wish I’d seen Tori Amos on earlier tours, in this concert, 2nd November, 2011, she was accompanied by a quartet of strings and oboe. She did play my two favourite tracks, ‘Leather’ and ‘Big Wheel’. The Royal Albert Hall show was in the same week PJ Harvey played the same venue (yes, I was there too) and I had a hope one or other might have guested at the other’s, but it wasn’t to be.

Joan Armatrading ***

This was a 50th birthday gift for my best friend. He is a big fan, and it was particularly emotional for him as his love of Joan Armatrading went back to a long-term partner who died many years ago. There were tears.

Jeff Beck ***

My abiding memory of this gig is that Jeff Beck’s guests included Roger Waters (the drive for me going at all, to be honest), and that the guy I went with insisted we try and crash the afterstage party by boldly going through the artists’ entrance at the Festival Hall… which we did, and actually got into the party! Didn’t meet Roger or Jeff though, and left quite quickly as we were obvious interlopers.

Big Country ***

Reading Rock Festival 1983… I wasn’t a big fan, though they went down well.

Black Sabbath **

(Ian Gillan on vocals – awful)

Reading Rock Festival 1983 again – The rest of the band were good, but Gillan seemed very under-rehearsed and I remember him singing ‘War Pigs’ at half-speed. They finished with a rather clumsy ‘Smoke On The Water’.

Carla Bley ****

First jazz gig I ever went to, and really went in the vague hope that Nick Mason (Pink Floyd’s drummer, with whom Bley had collaborated on the ‘Fictitious Sports’ album, might be playing. He wasn’t.) But I really enjoyed the band which was exceptionally tight, and they had a lot of fun with their music, which I liked too.

Blue Oyster Cult ***

My overriding memory is of a twenty-minute drum solo and a three-guitarists-plus-bass posturing a la ‘Spinal Tap’. The music was good though.

David Bowie *****

It was the ‘Serious Moonlight Tour’, 1983. I had hitchhiked from Hull to Edinburgh (therein lies a very different tale) for the 28th June show. It was a stand-out stadium show with a great sound system and video screens. And the setlist on that tour was magnificent, spanning much of his outstanding back catalogue. I have a radio broadcast vinyl bootleg from one of the Montreal shows.

Billy Bragg ****

This is going back a long time too. I was on a political demo (possibly CND, but I’m really just guessing) and Bragg is the only performer I remember. It was just him and his guitar, and I loved the rough directness of his performance.

Chris de Burgh ***; **

(I know, I know)

The only artist I saw with my sister (whose tastes are very different to mine). First gig was fine; second was over-schmalzy for me.

Kate Bush *****

(Yes, I got to see one of her Before then Dawn Hammersmith shows!)

Kate. Bush. LIVE!

I remember the hassle of getting the tickets. We were on a weekend break at a lovely, rural spa retreat that had such poor wi-fi that there was just one room in their whole sprawling complex that had a reasonable signal. I was on two devices connecting to the website having tried to calculate a date – 20th September, 2014 – which might be slightly less obvious for demand overload. The show itself was utterly uplifting. Her band was really tight. The set list was built around two concepts – the first half culminated with ‘The Ninth Wave’ – the full second side of the ‘Hounds Of Love’ album. The second half focused on ‘A Sky Of Honey’ – the second CD of ‘Aerial’. From the opening of ‘Lily’, Kate Bush leading some of her band on stage, her clad in black and barefoot, and with an introductory “Good evening!” through to the uplifting last encore of ‘Cloudbusting’ it was an utter joy. I laughed and cried.

David Byrne *****

I had no idea of what to expect from this concert in Nottingham on 1st November 2018, but any expectations I might have had would have been blown away within minutes. His band of ten or so musicians all ‘wore’ their instruments – including the keyboardists and all the percussionists. The band seemed to enjoy every minute, as did David Byrne himself. And his setlist included no less than nine Talking Heads covers (a band I’d never got to see) and it was astounding.

Camel ****

I do have a soft spot for these old-school proggers. I don’t remember much about the show, but I do remember loving it at the time.

Nick Cave ****

(Eclectic set, most of which was by audience demand)

What an intelligent, musical, downright dangerous performer Cave is! Whether by accident or design, after a couple of shout outs from the audience which he clearly liked, he just chucked the setlist and basically played what the audience wanted, as long as the band could get their chops around it. Warren Ellis’ violin/viola playing was often the perfect foil to Cave’s theatrical performance.

Eric Clapton ***

Wembley Stadium – not a good venue for all but a handful of performers – was a bit of a disappointment tbh. He was, of course, exceptionally good in his guitar work, but wasn’t mindblowing or particularly memorable. Also on the bill was Elton John. I think they alternated who headlined stadium by stadium. I struggled to connect with the performance as it was very much just on big TV screens.

Alice Cooper *****; *****

The first gig was on his ‘Special Forces’ album tour – one of my favourite Cooper albums. Then on the 1986 ‘Return Of The Nightmare’ outing for ‘Constrictor’. I loved both shows – lots of tongue-in-cheek theatrics, of course, but a real performer. I’ve got bootlegs from both tours (one cassette, one vinyl) and my memories of good sets and performances hold up.

Julian Cope *****; ****; ****

I love this man! His solo output since Teardrop Explodes is so eclectic. The first gig – ‘An Audience With The Cope’, 17th November 2000 –  had him with his face painted blue and him wearing seven-inch platform soled boots… The second gig was in the intimate setting of Leicester’s The Princess Charlotte. The third was a solo outing rather than the stripped down bands of other tours. I was due to add an extra Cope one at the beginning of March, but it got cancelled because he was unwell and then not rearranged because of covid-19.

The Cramps *****

A memorable gig for a number of reasons, but mainly because a good friend of mine who had spent the previous 12+months in Stoke Mandeville being treated for his spinal injury and subsequent tetraplegia, was having his first weekend in his new home. We both loved The Cramps, so why not? Well, in the mid-90s ( 25th February 1995 to be precise) Brixton Academy’s idea of wheelchair access was four burly bouncers lifting my mate in his wheelchair up the steps. The whole show was being bootlegged by a guy next to us with a big recorder in a bag. And the room felt like it was a fraction away from full-scale riot most of the night. We had a ball!

Deep Freeze Mice ****

(Let me wallow in a bit of self-indulgence here)

Not exactly a household name, but in the 80s they were a part of Leicester’s indie scene. I became a bit of a fan, not least having met them when picking up a recording from their house (it was a compilation cassette of some live bits they called ‘Blonde On Blonde’ [!]) – the band leader, Alan Jenkins, had Zappa, Beefheart and Schoenberg in his record collection like me! In the summer of 84 I got to record with them. Alan wanted a side long improvisation which I played cello on. It is on the album ‘I Love You Little Bobo With Your Delicate Golden Lions’, is side 2, or ‘Yellow’, and is on Spotify as ‘Untitled’: https://open.spotify.com/track/1rgHQNnDxZzoDFFqOLjfhp I’m quietly proud of it, but don’t personally know anyone who has managed to listen to the full 24 minutes 59 seconds of it. Two years later I did another session with Alan and one other musician that made its way on to their ‘Neuron Music’ 12″ single (an album with side one being the track ‘Neuron Music’ plus some covers of their songs by other bands.) ‘Blue Moon’ was the whole of side 2 and it included some sampling and me playing some percussion as well as cello. The last minute or so is an improvised “nice” bit; me and Alan’s acoustic guitar. It was evidently included in the digital version of the ‘Hang On Constance, Let Me Hear The News’ album: https://open.spotify.com/track/11yIorNX5yW2648fl9Ah67 I only saw them play live once – pretty un-together, but they – and I – enjoyed it.

Divine **

(Lots of miming, but somehow that fitted)

Hull University, back in the day. Maybe rather than miming I should call it lip-synching, as it was quite classy.

Bob Dylan **

(Had his back to the audience for most of the show)

This show, in 1987, was one of those Dylan is notorious for – very little effort to connect with the audience, and many songs unrecognisable: a big disappointment. His “backing band” was Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. More on them later.

Eels *****; ***; *****; ****, *****

Oh the wonderful Eels! Built around the work of Mark Oliver Everett – Mr E – each version of Eels has been different. The first was (another) glorious Royal Albert Hall show. Full band plus string quartet. E mentioned it towards the end of his book ‘Things The Grandchildren Should Know’ as a highlight of his performing career. The third outing was in Glasgow – 26th June 2006 – with a stripped down band in metal mode – the show began with about ten minutes of guitar feedback from off-stage and took tracks at great pace. The last showing was recently in Nottingham where he had the tightest version of the band yet and they seemed to love the show. A great, witty songwriter with a life of overcoming adversity.

The Enid ****

Another quite strange prog rock outfit, The Enid. Keyboardist, composer, and very occasional singer Robert John Godfrey and Francis Lickorish did a set at that 1983 Reading Rock Festival. Somewhat bizarre as they are quite orchestral in sound, but went down well with the crowd. 

Eurythmics *****

(Small venue just after they’d hit stardom)

I saw them in Hull – I can’t remember the name of the venue – but it was just after they got real chart success. I remember them playing some older stuff I didn’t know and I think every track off ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)’. Seeing them in such an intimate setting added to the feeling I was seeing a phenomenon about to take off. 

David Gilmour *****, *****

In 2001 the Festival Hall’s Meltdown Festival was curated by the wonderful Robert Wyatt, of Soft Machine fame. He had managed to get David Gilmour to do two nights! The last time I’d seen Gilmour was with Pink Floyd in 1994, so it became a “must see”. It is captured on the (masterfully titled) ‘David Gilmour In Concert’ DVD, and was a wonderfully thought-out set. Pink Floyd classics going back to 1970 were intermingled with a Syd Barrett solo song and various covers including Bizet’s ‘Je Crois Entendre Encore’, Richard Thompson’s ‘Dimming Of The Day’, and, lastly, a lovely rendition of ‘Hushabye Mountain’ from ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’! Two (of many) highlights in this often acoustic set were Gilmour and Wyatt duetting on ‘Comfortably Numb’, and Richard Wright of Pink Floyd coming out to sing and play on ‘Breakthrough’. Another night inspiring tears of joy!

The second outing was lucky. He’d announced a tour for his ‘Rattle That Lock’ album, and all the shows clashed with pre-booked holidays abroad. But I got an online alert that he’d added one extra date, before all the others, as a practice run before getting on the road. It was in Brighton and I got tickets. In the event, the show pre-dated the album’s release, so meant it was a magical evening of songs no-one had ever heard, with a rich spattering of his solo work and Pink Floyd classics. David Gilmour seemed relaxed and his band were clearly well-rehearsed, as evidenced by the high quality bootleg I’ve got of the show. One memory is of the couple a few rows behind us having a blistering row a few minutes before the show got underway. She was obviously very, very drunk and had lost the plot about something. He was trying to calm her down, but then got into the “You’re always like this! You go too far!” territory. She was still yelling at him as Gilmour got going… by the end of the first number, she was being dragged out, cursing anyone she could, with her partner grudgingly following, clearly having weighed up the pros and cons of staying and watching the show or being with her!

Gong *****; ****

I’ve already described the wonderful Daevid Allen, but seeing Gong twice was pretty special too. The first gig was the Gongmaison incarnation. I don’t remember much about the gig other than Daevid Allen wore a big hat and the set was perfect. The second gig was weird. It was in a pub venue in north London and the band were very late getting started. By then the audience, which seemed to include a lot of bikers, was feeling decidedly leery to me and I got very panicked by the whole thing.

Steve Hackett ***

This gig was at Leicester University many moons ago. I remember him doing some Genesis covers midst his solo work, and a highlight was ‘Clocks – The Angel Of Mons’ from the ‘Spectral Mornings’ album.

Roy Harper ****; ****

(I know, but these gigs pre-dated all the court allegations)

The first of my Roy Harper gigs was in Hull – same venue as the Eurthymics – on his ‘Work Of Heart’ tour. I remember a good gig with a strong band. The second was a solo outing I can’t remember where. He was much more acoustic then, and I remember him starting his second set  very uncertainly, stopping, and explaining that he’d had a “rather large” spliff during the interval. 

PJ Harvey *****; *****; *****; *****; *****, *****, *****, *****; *****, *****, ***** , *****

(Includes poetry readings, and two gigs in New York!)

Ah, PJ Harvey.

I first got into PJ Harvey when a work colleague gave me a tape copy of  her ‘Dry’ album, and I’ve loved everything she’s done since. She’s a wonderful genius, always looking for new aspects of her music. Yes, every one of the twelve times I’ve seen her were five star events. The first gig was one of her two Somerset House gigs. The venue set up a stage in their courtyard and it was a balmy summer evening. She opened with ‘To Bring You My Love’ and it was immense! During the third song she was so energetic she fell – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO5wtoWRxqQ – was she going to be able to continue? Yup. She gave a rip-roaring performance. My personal highlight was her doing one of my favourite tracks, ‘Plants And Rags’. It felt like she’d put together the setlist just for me! I have a bootleg of the concert.

Another highlight gig was seeing her, 7th October, 2006, doing a solo set as part of that year’s the ‘New Yorker’ festival. Following an interview by Hilton Als, she gave a great set built around tracks from the yet to be released ‘White Chalk’ album. The gig included a performance of a track she didn’t record and only played three times live, ‘Bitter Little Bird’. (This performance of the song at Hay-on-Wye was the same set up as the New York gig: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x43ffa ) That gig was the first of many where I worked hard to be on the front row for her shows. I have a bootleg of the concert.

I saw her later on the more formal ‘White Chalk’ tour on 29th September 2007 – a solo set at the Festival Hall.

Her 30th October, 2011 ‘Let England Shake’ gig at the Royal Albert Hall was the second time I saw her on that tour, after being at her London Troxy show on 27th February. The Troxy gig was only the second of the tour (the first had been in Paris on 14th and I have a bootleg of that, as well as of the Troxy gig). She’d augmented the band with a horn players. Mick Harvey also got to get a go on the famous organ for one number!

In 2015 PJ Harvey recorded ‘The Hope Six Demolition Project’ as an art installation at Somerset House. She had a studio built with two walls of one way glass – she and her band mates couldn’t see out, but small groups of visitors could look in. The tickets were hard to get (only 3,000), but I managed to go. There was an understanding that the 45 minutes of observation wouldn’t necessarily have any music being played – it was about experiencing watching an artist at work. The set up was brilliant: I was literally feet from her and her band. And lucky for me, she was in the early stages of recording ‘Chain Of Keys’. During the time I was there she laid down three different versions of the track, with three radically different vocals. It was amazing to see. Her first performance of tracks from the forthcoming album was combined with a poetry reading at the Festival Hall. She and photographer Seamus Murphy, with whom she’d done research travelogues with to inform the songs on the album, were interviewed, and she interspersed the interviews with a combination of her new poetry and ten new songs, all never heard in public before, including ‘Homo Sappy Blues’ which didn’t make it on to the album and she only ever played live twice! I have a bootleg of the songs she performed.

On the subsequent ‘The Hope Six Demolition Project’ I saw her four times (London’s Field Day Festival, Wolverhampton, New York, and Edinburgh on 7th August, 2017).

In 2017 I saw her at another poetry reading, and actually had a conversation with her at the book signing afterwards! I told her I had been a follower of hers since Dry – she said “That’s a long time!” – and complimented her on the new poems. She explained more about how she was trying to do something different with the new work. I also referenced seeing her at the ‘New Yorker’ festival in 2006, when she was interviewed by Hilton Als. As she remembered that event, she reflected that the conversation with Hilton also looked at how she writes and her approach to creating work. She laughed when I said I had a bootleg of the event, and she said “I’d like to hear that!” And she signed my book with “Good to meet you”….. I know that people sometimes worry about meeting their heroes, but this was a wonderful encounter.

(I’ve just checked, and realise I have seven bootlegs of different PJ Harvey gigs I was at….)

Hawkwind ***** This was my first ever gig – Leicester Demontfort Hall, 23rd October 1978! It was technically the Hawklords incarnation. Live music! I’d been to some classical concerts (and had actually played at the Demontfort Hall through the excellent Leicestershire Schools music programme in one of its orchestras), but I’d never experienced music so loud, in such a heaving throng of people all sharing the same enjoyment. I was hooked. I recently got given a bootleg recording from that tour and it did transport me back.

The Housemartins ***

A bit of an oddity, this, as I never saw them in a “proper” concert I was at Hull University at the same time as some of the band and remember being on a local demo (another one) and Paul Heaton and Stan Cullimore did a few numbers for the protestors.

Neil Innes ****

I used to love ‘The Innes Book Of Records’ on TV and have the vinyl album of songs from the series. I also have a soft spot for The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and The Rutles. It was a kind of “evening with…” show, and it was him on his own. The gig went on for over three hours, with songs from all his different projects. He sounded genuinely pleased that we were all staying until the end, though in all honesty, the quality of his performance was such that I couldn’t have left.

Jethro Tull *****; *****; ****; ***

Hmm, interesting to see the trend here. The first time I saw this great prog-folk was them headlining the Theakston Festival in 1982. It was on the back of their ‘Broadsword And The Beast’ album, and they were still a ridiculously big band globally (they’ve sold something like 60 million albums). My recollection is of muddy fields, murky weather (but searching online it seems it was very sunny) and Theakston ale. The first act on stage was Marillion. More of them later. I loved the Tull show and the double cassette bootleg I have demonstrates they were on good form. 

The second show was on the back of their electronic album ‘Under Wraps’. I remember Ian Anderson describing it as “not that good really”, though the gig was fun. I’ve got a cassette bootleg of that tour too.

The third outing was an acoustic set which became a live album, ‘A Little Light Music’. It was an okay gig – a little tame compared to the earlier shows.

The last show was in support of their ‘J-Tull.Dot.Com’ album. It was very much built around Ian Anderson and Martin Barre, but Ian Anderson still performing in his tights was a bit much for my wife (!)

Elton John ***

Elton John was a bit of a disappointment, partly because of it being the Wembley Stadium setting (as mentioned when remembering Eric Clapton). I also had a recollection of recording from the radio his 1979 Moscow show – just him and percussionist Ray Cooper – and had high hopes. One of the problems with big venues that are then using video screens is that, the further back you are, the greater the delay between the video and the sound. This show – 26th June 1992 – was very susceptible to this and I get tired quickly watching someone on screen looking like they’re badly lip-synching. Sadly that was the case with Elton John.

Kerfuffle *****

Kerfuffle were a ridiculously good young folk band that included accordion player and vocalist, Hannah James, and fiddle player, Sam Sweeney – both of whom have since become part of the UK’s folk scene. I saw them at Festival of the Peak in 2003 because Sam’s (and his brother, Tom’s, also in the band) dad was a friend. My recollection is that Kerfuffle had won a local folk contest that gave them the opening slot on the programme, well-ahead of headliners, Lindisfarne (see later). They were a fun, confident band, playing their own compositions, and at the time Sam was just 14!

Lindisfarne ****; ***

Both times I saw Lindisfarne were when they were on line-ups I attended for a different performer. The first time I saw them was at the 1982 Theakston Festival. I really enjoyed them then, though don’t really know their music other than remembering hits from the 70s. The second time was when they headlined the Festival of the Peak. I remember it getting bitterly cold by the time they began, and really only stuck it out because we were with friends. Nothing particularly memorable from their set for me.

Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul *****

Back to the 1983 Reading Rock Festival for Little Steven. I remember a blistering 30 minute set with barely a pause for breath after each number. This appearance was a little before Steve Van Zandt pulled together an impressive line up to record his anti-Apartheid song ‘Sun City’, including Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Bruce Springsteen, Run DMC, George Clinton, Lou Reed, and Joey Ramone!

Marillion *; ***

Back to the Theakston Festival in 1982, and Marillion were the first band up on the Friday. I’d vaguely heard of them, like most of the crowd I think, but they had a hard core of fans at the front of the stage willing them on. They were plagued with poor sound equipment, and lead singer Fish’s heavily made up face seemed both quirky and a bit of a Genesis rip off (as was much of their musical sound). I saw them again a year later at the Reading Rock Festival, where they were second top of the Saturday night bill. Their set list hadn’t changed massively, but their sound and reputation had grown a lot.

Ralph McTell ***

Ralph McTell headlined the first night of the Theakston Festival. I know I saw him. I remember enjoying it. I remember nothing of detail about it at all!

Liza Minnelli ***; *****; *****

Ah, Liza with a zee! Three very different concerts.

The first, in 2002, was a Royal Festival Hall spectacular dubbed ‘Liza’s back!’ and presented as being “created” by David Gest. The sense of being in the room with a superstar diva was palpable, though the decision to have her miming whilst dancing (to be far, doing both at the same time was not really an option) was not the best.

Her 2008 show in Nottingham was very different and a triumph. Yes, she played a strong set of her classics, but the second half was mainly given over to reproducing a 1940s nightclub act made famous by her godmother, Kay Thompson. Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall was packed with loyal fans, probably 90% gay men, and one memory is of Liza talking about her mother, Judy Garland, telling of the night she got the call telling her that “Momma” had died. She paused theatrically with the emotion of it… “The night I got that dreadful call telling me momma had died… I was devastated…” And a voice behind us gasped loudly: “You were devastated?!”

The third Liza show was back at the Royal Albert Hall, 29th June 2011 , and was a much stronger show than the one 11 years earlier. It was very much her show and was totally built around her singing. No dancing this time, just in full diva mode commanding the audience. It was a spectacular evening.

Van Morrison ***

I don’t remember exactly when I saw Van Morrison, but likely early 2000s. I know it was in Oxford, and he was less grumpy than I’d been expecting, though not exactly engaged with the audience.

Motorhead ****

This was on their ‘Bomber’ tour and was… loud. Two memories from this gig: they were supported by Saxon, and I ended up grabbing the drummer’s towel that he flung out into the crowd as they left the stage (I think I still have it); and that Motorhead were so loud there were flakes of plaster coming off the Demontfort Hall ceiling. When I got home, my parents were watching the news and I sat there with a loud hissing and ringing in my ears and realised I couldn’t hear the TV at all. I also remember a friend of mine reckoning that his dad, a doctor, had been called out to see lead singer Lemmy that night and diagnosed laryngitis – though whether that was true I can’t say, and how you’d diagnose laryngitis on a voice like that, I don’t know.

Ozric Tentacles ****

I am a hippie at heart! Seeing the Ozrics live was great! 9th December, 1994. The crowd was a blissed out mosh pit, and the band just swirled around us. I hadn’t seen as much tie dye and smelled so much patchouli oil in years!

Dolly Parton **** Dolly Parton in Manchester in (I think) 2008 was a fun riot. Ever the savvy marketeer, her merchandising was extensive, and there were thousands of pink glittery stetsons on display. Dolly’s patter is well-worn (“It costs a lot of money to look this cheap”), but well-meaning, and her musicianship was astounding. This tour leaned heavily on her bluegrass work, including ‘Little Sparrow’, which begins a capella and was particularly moving.    

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers ***

I mentioned Tom Petty in relation to the Bob Dylan set where he and The Heartbreakers were Dylan’s band for his set. My recollection of the show was that Tom Petty did a short set, which then pretty much blew away the later Dylan set, despite them doing their best with Dylan’s performance.

Pink Floyd *****; *****; ****; *****

The mighty Pink Floyd.

I first saw Pink Floyd on 6th August 1980 at Earls Court for one of only 31 performances of ‘The Wall’. It stands as one my top few gig experiences. The outrageous concept of performing no back catalogue material and just doing the album (albeit with a rendition of ‘What Shall We Do Now?’ – a track that had to be omitted from the vinyl album release due to the time limitations of the double album format, though that decision came after the sleeves had been designed and my vinyl copy has the lyrics on one of the inner sleeves – and an instrumental filler, ‘The Last Few Bricks’, performed as the roadies finished building a wall the full width of the massive stage, concealing the band!) The sound in the cavernous arena was amazing – a genuine “surround sound” with sound effects from all around the space. Visual effects included giant Gerald Scarfe puppets, a flaming plane crashing from the back of the arena into the wall, and their inflatable pig from the previous ‘In The Flesh’ tour supporting the ‘Animals’ album. There were the obligatory fireworks, and some mischievous things too, like the opening number ‘In The Flesh?’ being led by the supplementary musicians, including guitarist Snowy White, wearing masks to look like the members of Pink Floyd before revealing the band behind them at the end of the number. Gilmour’s soaring guitar solo in ‘Comfortably Numb’ was performed on top of the wall and was probably the highlight amongst so many. An official live recording wasn’t released until 2000, though I had a vinyl bootleg long before then.

The next Pink Floyd outing was the ‘A Momentary Lapse Of Reason’ tour which included Wembley Arena in 1988. I was there on 6th August (the anniversary of my first Floyd gig!). I loved the show. It was the first post-Roger Waters tour and the initial American leg had been accompanied by a string of legal actions by Waters attempting to get the shows stopped. There was a more extensively augmented band than previously, but the theatrics remained as audacious as ever. The lighting rigs appeared to be free moving robots, David Gilmour’s guitar shot lasers into the night sky, there was even a pig (though technically a boar, as Waters owned the copyright to the original inflatable and refused permission to use it). The tour was immense and I saw them a second time later on – 8th July 1989 –  at the then new Docklands Arena on the ‘Another Lapse’ tour. I remember getting my hands on a bootleg of one of the first shows a couple of weeks after it had been performed. The setlists and the band were great – when you could hear them over the incessant whooping of the Canadian crowd. (Don’t get me started on whooping through concerts! When did that become a thing?)

The last time I saw Pink Floyd was their ‘The Division Bell’ tour, back in Earls Court, 21st October, 1994. Somewhat bizarrely, the band had negotiated a sponsorship deal with Volkswagen; a decision David Gilmour reportedly felt so guilty about he donated his cut to charity. The shows were phenomenal and the pyrotechnics and theatrics were massively improved on the previous tour just because technology had moved on so much. This show was captured on the ‘Pulse’ album and DVD. 

The Pretenders ***

The Pretenders were on the same bill as U2 for their 1987 ‘Joshua Tree’ tour, and I saw them at a stadium in Leeds. This was not a good stadium experience – too far away from the stage, the sound system not brilliant and all in all not great. The Pretenders were quite fun though.  

Prince ***; ***** 

Confession time: I’m not a particularly big Prince fan. I don’t “get” funk much, and he is a real embodiment of it. But I recognise that he was an outstanding musician and particularly like his rock guitar work. (If you need any convincing, try this supergroup performance of ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ from the 2004 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame where Prince blows everyone else off the stage with his playing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SFNW5F8K9Y )

My wife, however, is a bit of a Prince super-fan and saw him many, many times. I got us tickets to one of his 21-night stint at London’s O2 on 6th September 2007, and also for the possible aftershow concert. (Prince had a reputation for doing aftershow sets, and the O2 had one of its smaller rooms set aside for possible aftershows, though it was clear buying a ticket didn’t guarantee there would be an aftershow, and indeed he only did 12 aftershow gigs across the 21 nights.) For the main arena show we were very close to the stage, which was in the middle of the arena – certainly close enough to see Prince in detail. He and his band were impressively tight in their performance and, whilst I don’t remember much of the setlist, I know he leapt around his back catalogue, taking the band with him at every stage. (Turns out the band had learned 200 songs that he could call for at any given time.)

After the show had finished we raced to the queue for the Indigo room where the aftershow would be if there was one. There hadn’t been the previous night. And sure enough, at 1.00 in the morning we were let in to this smaller room – nothing glitzy, just a dark room with a smallish stage. He came on with his full band and basically played until after 4.00 in the morning, and the set was ridiculously rock-oriented, almost as if he knew I was in the room! He opened with ‘Honkey Tonk Women’, and also included a cover of Kylie’s ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’!     

The Q-Tips *

The Q-Tips – a Paul Young-led band before his solo career – supported The Who on their ‘Face Dances’ tour (more of which later). I knew nothing of them, except for their novelty song ‘Toast’. They didn’t inspire me in this set either.

Suzi Quatro ***

Another Reading Rock Festival performance. I remember she was in her trademark black leather jumpsuit and did all the hits. What’s not to like about that?

Eddi Reader *****; *****; ****; ****, **

Eddi Reader represents a connection to my wife’s Scottishness. Most of the shows were excellent, often with the cream of Scottish folk players accompanying her (John McCusker, Boo Hewerdine, Aly Bain, Phil Cunningham etc.), and her redefining the songs of Rabbie Burns have been a delight to see many times.

The last show was a bit bizarre, being held in a long-unused shell of a cinema in Matlock Bath. There is a local group working to bring it back to its former glory, and this was an early attempt to show its potential. The vast room was still very murky, the seating all plastic chairs, and the cold October night in 2014 was not warmed by the array of calor gas heaters around the room. Like most of the audience, Eddi Reader performed most of the show in her coat (a long trenchcoat). Her set was built around songs from a new, almost light jazz album, and that, combined with the numbing cold, led for a less engaged show than usual.

John Scofield **

I was a latecomer to jazz, though have spent the last twenty years catching up and learning about it. (The ‘Ken Burns’ Jazz’ miniseries was a wonderful introduction to jazz for me, spread across a 10-DVD collection.) My recollection of this gig is that for pretty much every number, I was with it for a couple of bars, then lost for 90% of the music, and collected up again for the last couple of bars!

Andy Sheppard ****

A lovely gig, in a small village church.

Jane Siberry **

Jane Siberry produced some great, quirky albums in the 80s and I had been looking forward massively to seeing her live. The concert was a bit of a disappointment given her setlist; literally just one song from the six albums I had at the time. Artistically she would have a rationale for that, of course (Kate Bush went no further back than ‘Hounds Of Love’ in her most recent shows), but it made it more difficult for me to connect with the music.

Siouxsie & The Banshees *****

Another Birmingham Odeon gig, this 1981 show was amazing. My first punk gig and an audience of fabulous freaks (and me). There was a sense of exciting danger throughout the show, and Siouxsie and the band were outstanding.

Sky ***

For a few years in the early 80s, this odd supergroup charted with its performances of classical work as well as their own compositions. Classical guitarist John Williams teamed up with Herbie Flowers (who played with David Bowie and Lou Reed amongst many others), Kevin Peek, Tristan Fry (a classical percussionist who had a career as a session musician, including for The Beatles), and Francis Monkman (known to me for his work with Curved Air). This live show in Leicester is one I took my mum too (!) and was a real mix of classical work with a few rock numbers thrown in. (And Herbie Flowers getting his tuba out for a novelty number, reminding me that he had been responsible for writing 1970’s chart hit ‘Grandad’ for Clive Dunn… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC5fqzKxau8

Jimmy Somerville ***

This was a lovely little charity gig Jimmy Somerville did at one of a series of annual conferences for HIV trainers that I was involved in organising. It was a stripped back set up, though I think he had The Communards’ backing singers Caroline Buckley and Sally Herbert there; they went on to form the band Banderas.

Spiritualised ***

Another hazy memory gig (though perhaps appropriately so given the band’s reputation). It was a good gig – not great in my book, as some of the extended electric noodlings that Jason Pierce and his crew got into seemed to get a bit self-indulgent. I was there with a massive fan who was ecstatic at the inclusion of an old Spacemen 3 number.

Bruce Springsteen *****

One of the few artists I’ve seen who could genuinely hold a stadium crowd, this was the ‘Born In The USA’ tour and Wembley stadium on a summer night. He is such a blisteringly exuberant performer with class musicians around him, it was three hours of rip-roaring rock n roll.

The Stranglers *****; ***; ****

All three times I saw them were in the original Hugh Cornwell incarnation.

The first time was in a sweaty room at Leeds University – 7th February 1983 – as part of the ‘Feline’ tour. It was a great night – very fast and loud.

The second was the well-trodden Reading Rock Festival – they were fun and played a good, but short set (as festival setlists often are). The final outing was on their ‘Aural Sculpture’ tour and getting to the end of Hugh Cornwell’s time with them. It was a good gig, but their more recent work (of which there was a quite a bit) was quite poppy, and didn’t always hold up with the classics. They did have the audacity to open with one of their biggest tracks, ‘No More Heroes’ though!

Teardrop Explodes ****; *

Two very different concert experiences delivered by Julian Cope’s breakthrough band. The first was very early in their career, maybe even as far back as 1979, when they were pretty much the fun, clean cut, pop band that had arrived in the charts. The second was a dreadful outing at Hull University (as mentioned at the top of this piece), made all the worse by knowing Stiff Little Fingers were knocking it out of the park at Hull’s Town Hall at the same time.

Thin Lizzy ***

Another of the headliners at Reading Rock Festival, Thin Lizzy were good fun, with the band on good form. I wasn’t that familiar with their music, aside from the big hits.

Tina C *****; ****

Tina C is a character played by Christopher Green and is described as “a faux country singer”. I first saw her in a very odd setting – a fundraising gig for my good friend who got a spinal injury from a hang-gliding accident (see The Cramps). The performance was outrageous and fun. The second time round was another fun night, and I remember meeting Christopher afterwards when he was signing CDs and chatting with him about my friend.

Toyah ****

I have 15 Toyah albums – feels a bit of guilty secret given that she was so ripe for parody decades ago, but I do love her and her music. And her husband is Robert Fripp of King Crimson and The League Of Crafty Guitarists, both of whom I’ve also got lots of music by. A few years ago, on a visit to a shopping mall in Derby, I discovered she was performing there. I loitered and, sure enough, on a small stage near the food hall, there she was! It was a short set focused on the hits, but she was great!

U2 *

That Leeds stadium gig mentioned when I saw The Pretenders. Oh dear. What a tedious evening it turned out to be. U2 are a band whose music I think I should like more than I do. I have a lot of it, but don’t go to it often. This gig should have warned me off.

UFO ***

(More Spinal Tap than Spinal Tap)

One of my early gigs – I did like their brand of heavy metal, almost camp, but they took it seriously. The amount of spandex was something to behold.

Tom Waits *****

Yup, I got to see him in his 23rd November 2004 Hammersmith Apollo show – his only show in the UK in 17 years. It was spectacular. He is an amazing performer and he didn’t disappoint, from his trademark “Good evenin'” right on through. Here’s a grainy YouTube clip from the show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXHIsirQoiM

Two other stories about this gig. First, I was barely a week out of surgery on an extruded disc in my spine that had required being operated on; but that wasn’t going to stop me going to such a sought-after gig.

Second, my mate of The Cramps fame is a massive Tom Waits fan, and when I got through to the box office I tried to get wheelchair space tickets, but the precious (and very limited) few had already been sold. I subsequently was moaning about this on a fansite and another fan got in touch and sent me a two-CD bootleg of the whole gig for my mate (which he got for Christmas, once I’d copied it for myself).  

The Waterboys ***

I remember enjoying the night, but not a lot of detail other than lead singer Mike Scott making snide comments about ex-band member Karl Wallinger.

Roger Waters *****; *****; ***

At the same time Pink Floyd were on their multi-million pound world tour in 1984, post-Waters, he was out on the road for his ‘Pros And Cons Of Hitchhiking’ tour. Ending up in smaller venues than he’d originally hoped, for this was still a big theatrical tour. I was really excited about seeing him, and had tickets in the eleventh row (Boris Becker was two rows behind me) for his 22nd June show. He also had Eric Clapton touring with him, though evidently by the end of it, Clapton had had enough. The set was eclectic, including opening with ‘Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun’, and a full performance of the new album, as well as loads of classics from the Pink Floyd catalogue. The stage setting included three giant screens across the stage, on which some great art and visuals were projected. The two bootlegs of the tour I have stand up well.

The second outing was the ‘Radio KAOS’ tour, which was another spectacular. I think Waters was a bit less angry about the Pink Floyd situation, and knocked out another great show, including the artifice of it being hosted by a (real) rock radio DJ and included phone ins from a couple of booths in the auditorium (to complement the “phone ins” during the set from character Billy). Again, the bootleg of the show – 22nd November 1987, the night I was there – holds up strongly.

The third time was on his ‘Flickering Light’ tour, which seemed a bit “going through the motions” to me. But maybe that was just a reflection of how amazing his previous tours had been. I’ve not bothered with his ‘The Wall’ performances either, preferring to stick with my Pink Floyd memories.  

The Who ****

The 1981 ‘Face Dances’ tour was the chance I got to see The Who – including John Entwistle – and it was great. Leicester’s Granby Halls (long since gone) was a bit of a shed, but the band were great.

Wishbone Ash **

I vaguely remember the gig, but am not a big fan and didn’t know the music.

Neil Young And Crazy Horse *****

This was a great night. 2nd June 1987. A strong, long set in an arena gig in Birmingham, jam-packed with all the big numbers.

Dweezil Zappa ****

This gig was special as I was there with a dear friend, John, who died soon after. “The Dweeze” was on good form, and the band were tight, managing to get their chops around Frank Zappa’s music (it was part of the ‘Zappa Plays Zappa’ tour).

Frank Zappa *****

Seeing Frank Zappa had been on my wish lish for years, and I finally got the chance in 1998 when he toured ‘Broadway The Hard Way’. Zappa’s bands were notoriously well-rehearsed and had to be able to jump to any of hundreds of numbers, much like Prince’s crew. The setlist was eclectic, including lots of Mothers Of Invention numbers, and some of my favourite Zappa track including ‘Peaches En Regalia’. There were also a number of cover versions, including ‘Stairway To Heaven’, ‘I Am The Walrus’, and, to finish the evening off, ‘Bolero’.

In 2013, I went to a (very rare) performance of Zappa’s ‘200 Motels’ (the orchestral version). It was bittersweet, as the seat next to me was supposed to have been New York John’s, but he had died six months earlier.  

So that’s some musical memories.

I know there are many other gigs I was at an just don’t remember them. I know I saw loads of artists at festivals but don’t recall their sets. And there were a few near misses. I hope this brought back gig memories for others too.