With the country still in the midst of lockdown and no sign of any live music in the foreseeable future if at all this year I thought I would take the opportunity to look back in the archives, sounds posh I know but it’s just an spreadsheet, and revisit gigs I attended on this day down the years. I will keep this going until I can attend my first gig again in person so hopefully this also brings back memories for my gig going chums who have joined me on this great musical journey down the years.
We are now in June which like May is typically a very busy month for gigs being part of the usual album release cycle and there’s a few today for my trip along memory lane for you down the years.
1985 Deep Purple, Knebworth, England
Rain, rain, rain, rain and more rain. Of course, it’s an outdoor festival in June in the UK. It’s a great rock/metal line-up for the reunion of the classic MKII line-up of one the greatest heavy rock bands of all time.
First up for us I think but forgive me if running order is not right was Mountain who were famous briefly for playing the theme tune of Weekend World, Nantucket Sleighride. It’s good enough to start the day. We then have UFO who were an OK New Wave of British Heavy Metal band in the eighties. Followed by Blackfoot who I was a big fan of with their bluesy southern rock with their Skynyrd influences.
Onto Meat Loaf. If ever there was a wrong act on the wrong stage playing to the wrong audience then this was it. I had seen him a few months back at the Odeon and he was excellent but tonight he isn’t rock or metal enough for most of the audience. It didn’t help that he had broken his leg and was in a plaster cast and so was less than mobile. This led to most of his set being a game of dodge the bottle. The aerial assault on his person made the blitz look like kite flying. The other difference being that the bottles were full of not to put too finer a point, piss. Several hours in and the toilets being a route march away in the ever increasing quagmire, the main options to relieve oneself was a: where you stood or b: into a bottle and then hurling that in any direction. Most of the late afternoon, evening was indeed a game of dodge the bottle anywhere you stood. Sadly, Mr Loaf was at a distinct disadvantage on what I’m sure he will attest being a performance that he will not remember fondly.
Main support The Scorpions up next and they delivered a classic heavy metal set which at least gave us all some rest bite from the bottle attack. They were excellent and the crowd loved it.
Finally, Purple are on. The rain had abated to just torrential and the roadies spent twenty minutes to try and dry the stage and pleas to the fans to not throw bottles.
There are a handful of tracks from their comeback album but of course we are all here to experience those classic tracks for their heyday such as ‘Space Truckin’, ‘Speed King’, ‘Black Knight’, ‘Highway Star’, ‘Lazy’ and of course ‘Smoke on the Water’. Weirdly Blackmore couldn’t resist putting a Rainbow track into the set but we forgive him that.
It is of course brilliant and was it worth the horribleness of the rest of the day standing around for hours in the wet and cold. Yes is the definitive answer just to have seen the legendary line-up of this band.
The fun of course didn’t end there. We made a hasty retreat as soon as the set closes to try and beat the exodus from the car park. Ha ha ha ha ha. All of the car parks are like the Somme. Its makes Glastonbury look like a summer meadow. No car could get out of their spot without at least human aid with ten people pushing you out or waiting for mechanical assistance. I have no idea what time we actually escaped the grounds but it was probably at least 3.00am and by the time we got home the sun was coming out for the morning.
A long eventful day but something I’ll never forget.
1989 REM, Wembley Arena, London
This would have been the Green tour and this saw REM starting to play really large arenas. Throwing Muses were support with the wonderful Tanya Donnelly on vocals.
Looking now at the set list it takes in thirty songs including a Drivin n Cryin cover to boot. Obviously most of ‘Green’ is played but there’s a good selection of tracks from across their back catalogue at the time. We didn’t have great seats if I remember rightly but it didn’t detract from the performance itself.
Not as good as the first time I saw them and indeed the last time at a fantastic show at Brixton Academy but still a great show
2004, Neal Casal, the Borderline, London
I don’t think I can add anything more to my previous reviews of Neal Casal at the Borderline. A great singer songwriter who will be sadly missed
2008 Aynsley Lister, Half Moon, London
There’s a new breed of young British blues singer guitarists and Lister is right up with the best of them. I love the Half Moon. It’s steeped in history, does good beer and rarely have I seen a bad gig. No issues tonight either with a fine set of the blues.
2015, Fleetwood Mac, O2 Arena, London
I wrote about this gig at the time here and it all stands true. A bit like the Purple gig this was an opportunity to see the classic Mac line-up with the main protagonists kissing and making up for a brief spell so was not going to miss this. A real five star gig with all the classics being covered. Given the current state of affairs with the band another reunion with them all together seems unlikely.
That’s it for today’s trip down memory lane. Here’s hoping we can get to some form of normality soon. Support your small local venues and smaller artists in these difficult times, stay safe and keep on rockin y’all.