The Alarm around 1990. First ever gig and it was very bouncy.
The Levellers - Town & country club (Forum). Watched them from the balcony instead of being in the mosh pit. The enery they produced was amazing.
Morrisey - First solo tour after the Smiths split.

The Crimea (formerly the crockets)

In the Coopers arms in Aberystwyth.

September 2005

Almost forgot
Pretenders:
#1: 1987 cardiff arms park supporting U2 (the alarm also on the bill) Chrissie Hynde does things with a microphone that make a 17yr old from the midlands look at her differently...
#2: 2006 Cornbury music festival- radio2-tastic! Pimms tent and all. Went mainly cos a friend's brother now playing bass with pretenders- Chrissie Hynde reminds a 30something dad of 2 that she still has it!
#3: Latitude 2009. Yep she's still hot!
And now my kids like her too!

Paul weller last year on my 40th which was followed by an invite to the aftershow party

Al Green, Fairfields Hall Croydon, 1999.
Utter genius. Started as a 'that'd be nice to go to' and ended as 'I want to die, right now, so that this memory won't ever fade'.

My first proper 'solo' gig has to be the best really - I went to Sheffield City Hall to see Def Leppard in about 1987 and it was amazing. I was 15, travelled there on a coach from Doncaster (on my own!) and it was just fantastic. My ears were ringing for days afterwards.
And I think this was when there were no seats at the front, so you could stand up front, right mext to the stage. Wow.

Honorary mentions go to The Pixies, also at Sheffield City Hall in 1990ish - it was a last minute decision because a friend ended up with a spare ticket. It was AMAZING.
Also Jack E Mcauley/Poormouth at the Half Moon in Putney - a proper bouncy folk gig. I think we may have been slightly alcohol fuelled but it was fantastic.

Like albums impossible to pick one.
The Jam in 79 Portsmouth Guildhall
Oasis 94? Wedgewood Rooms
Bauhuas Southampton (8?)
Underworld Creamfields (0?)
Regular Fries Wedgewood room
Orbital Post Guildhall
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Club Foot London
Wonderstuff - Portsmouth Guildhall
Eat - Portsmouth Guildhall
Black Grape - Wedgewood Rooms
LCD Soundsystem - Brighton Concorde
!!! - Brighton Concorde
Sex Pistols - 100 Club 77 😉

Forgot Pixies - 88 Brighton

Difficult but... top 3 would be:

House of Love at Newcastle Riverside ca 1987/88. Strobetastic
Sugarcubes - Newcastle Poly ca 1988/89. Late on stage because (according to Bjork) 'I was shitting' but fantastic experience
Pixies - Newcastle Uni June 1990 - the day i finished my finals.

Green day American idiot tour

Lamb at Koko in Camden a couple of months ago.

Happy Mondays at Roadmender Northampton a couple of years ago.

UNKLE at Glastonbury 1995.

Thin Lizzy at the Glasgow Apollo for the Jailbreak tour.

Very much a product of its time tho - doubt I would enjoy it so much now

Fat Freddy's Drop, Norwich UEA last December

Toss up between
Curved Air at Guildford Civic Centre around 1974
Springsteen Born in the USA tour on 4th July 1985 Wembley Stadium

Tricky, there've been a few contenders.
Carter at Brixton Academy 2007 - their first tour since splitting, 10 years earlier.
Pixies at Brixton Academy 2004: similarly, first tour since splitting.
REM in West Virginia in a college stadium.
The Shins at Kentish Town Forum, 2007(?).

Ozric Tenatacles, somewhere in a field in 1989.

Iron Maiden on the Beast on the Road tour in Bradford (just because it was my first at the tender age of 14).

But stand-outs for me are Queen at Maine Road, The Prodigy at the Leeds festival and Electric 6 at Leeds Uni.

Foo Fighters at Wembley stadium for me it was immense.

Got be either the past three iorn maiden album tours or motley crüe

AC/DC were very good at the Marquee, reckon about 78 ish,another memorable gig was Ted Nugent at the Hammersmith Odeon same sort of p[eriod

But my favourite was the Scorpions at Reading as a late stand in for Thin Lizzy, they really rocked

Leonard Cohen, preston Guild Hall 1979
Derek and the Dominoes, Manchester Free Trade hall 1970 (or 71?)
Rory Gallagher - anywhere!
Incredible String Band - Free Trade Hall 1971
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention - Manchester Apollo 1970
Richard Thompson's 1000 years of popular music - Sage Centre Gateshead 2008

Any Megadog event or Orbital at Glasto 1994

Interesting to see so many saying Pixies. V jealous of those who got to see them at smaller venues in their prime. I saw them recently at the SECC and they were still amazing though.

[i]Interesting to see so many saying Pixies[/i]
3 times matey! Oct 88 T&C, [url= http://www.pixiesmusic.com/live_92.php ]Apr 89[/url] Brighton (the BEST - small venue), Oct 90 Portsmouth

Meatloaf, Manchester apollo, 1989 - Bat out of Hell 10th anniversary world tour, back when he could still belt 'em out. He's also there for my worst ever gig in that old station, about 5 or 6 years later - flat floor so couldn't see, plus horrible acoustics

Living colour, Manchester academy 3, 2005 or so. the room was jumping, small venue with an electrifying band. They're playing again in a couple of weeks but I can't afford to go 🙁

Easy.

The Sisters Of Mercy + New Model Army + Skeletal Family, Huddersfield Town Hall, c1983/4

Danzig- '91 bizzarre festival in germany, didn't expect much but he ****in raawked!
the datsuns at aucklnd uni student union last november, proper rock n roll band.

2nd Leonard Cohen, preston Guild Hall 1979....amazing

Gene Vincent Liverpool Poly

The complete Bath Festival 1970...Byrds, Cnned Heat, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Johnny Winter, Frank Zappa, Fairport Convention, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, John Mayall etc

now thats a concert!

Bruce Springstein, Bramhall Lane, Sheffield, 'bout 1989. Manics at manchester 1997, 10,000 Maniacs, Sheffield Poly, late 80's. Eee, those were the days.....

Mika was fab at Latitude last year as were Wild Beasts.

Royksopp a couple of weeks back at Shepherds Bush
King of Convenience a few months back in Bexhill on Sea
Sigur Ros last year at Ally Pally and again at Hammersmith 5 or so years back
Notable mention to Atlas Sound on Sunday at Cargo for being a nice bloke and doing a good job despite jetlag and the late hour

All recent-ish but all really excellent

I had my 8yr old on my shoulders for the whole of mika and we jumped up and down for an hour my neck hurt!

Alice Cooper on the "Raise Your Fist and Yell" tour

Ozzy Osbourne, Manchester Ritz Ballroom, 198?. Awesome!!!

Lemon Jelly at Kenwood House, 2005 I think.

Crash Test Dummies at the Manchester Apollo - 1995.

Eff knows waht happened to them cos they are now sh1t3

I thought the best band at latitude this year were the gossip- by a long way.

[img] [/img]

Sisters of Mercy (leeds uni)
Southern Death Cult (Warehouse, leeds)
Dead Kennedys (leeds Uni)
Death Cult (Dortmunder, Leeds)

Loads of others, but these are the ones which stand out in my memory.

Faaaaar to many great gigs over the years, really, to pick a best, but Thin Lizzy were always great, saw them five or six times, Yes were good on the Close To The Edge Tour, Fleetwood Mac were fantastic, and there have been loads of excellent gigs in recent years, one of the very best, and one that will stay with me was Metric at the Thekla in Bristol recently. Stunning gig, Emily has just [i]so[/i] much energy packed into a little body. Killing Joke at the Beirkeller in Bristol was also memorable for the insanity of the moshpit, with me walking away with a leather jacket soaked clean through with sweat, and me an unhealthy shade of deep red 'cos of the heat.

grateful dead, last brtish tour

In date order.

U2 - Pop tour, Belfast

Red Hot Chillies - V fest, 02/03 can't remember the exact year

Nine Inch Nails at the O2 earlier this year.

Keef Hartley Band, Kingston Hotel 1968.

Isle of Wight Festival, 1970 (Hendrix, J.Tull, Family, Rory Gallagher, Free, Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis, The Who, Tiny Tim, John Sebastian, etc etc etc)

The Faces, QE Hall 1969.

Pink Floyd, Knebworth 1975

Anti-Nazi League march, Victoria Park 1979 (The Clash, X-Ray Spex, Elvis Costello).

John Stevens Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Half Moon, Putney 1979.

All the gigs I played at the Marquee and the Paradiso (Amsterdam) in the '80s. Every single one.

Billy Cobham Trio (QE Hall, South Bank) 2002.

Green Day's recent tour in Birmingham at teh end of last month.
Adam and the Ants in Southampton late summer 81 the support band 'Gods Toys' stole the show for me. Look them up on Youtube.

in no particular order:

Violent Femmes, Manchester International
Motorhead, Deeside (seen them at Mcr Apollo too but they always seemed louder at Deeside)
Thin Lizzy, Apollo

plenty of excellent stuff since (much of it probably better musically) but my best gig would be picked from those three.

Blackpool empress ballroom around 1993, haggled with the touts outside and did a deal to see Ride and The Charlatans on a double bill. Ride were rather impressive (Going Blank Again era) so much so we thought the Charlatans were going to die on their arses. Oh yea of little faith, they blew the place apart. Great night out.

Other good ones:
Wedding Present at Preston Poly when they were doing a single a month for a year
Mudhoney twice in a week whilst touring My Brother the Cow
Julian Cope various times

haven't been to a gig for ages 🙁

muse wembley 2010!!

hmmm zootv popmart vertigo or 360?? One of the above probably vertigo manchester with athlete as support.

other great gigs, pretenders newport ? 95, INXS get out of the house tour at cardiff uni was mad, REM at the arms paaaaark too many to list

Blur at Southend this summer.

Prefab Sprout Jordan tour Portsmouth 1990.

Thompson Twins Into the Gap tour Southampton Guamont

slimtubing - Member
Danzig- '91 bizzarre festival in germany, didn't expect much but he ****in raawked!

I was there! Went for New Model Army, but missed a lot of the other bands due tositting outside drinking foul lager. Great festival though.

REM @ Madison Square Garden
Prince @ The O2
Galaxy 2 Galaxy/ Los Hermanos @ TITP
Daft Punk @ Rockness

Bloody 'eck, Mr Whoppit - you must be older than me! IOW must have been amazing!

Beastie Boys / Run DMC @ Brixton Academy 86 or 87

Stiff Little Fingers @ Kilburn National 87? (1st Reunion tour)

Or most recently Specials @ Brixton this year.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers @ Leeds Uni '89
Got grief off the missus as I had a spare ticket and didn't think of taking her (we were just mates then)

The Meteors @ Leeds Astoria '86
Absolutly mental , spent the entire gig in the 'phsycobilly' equivalent of a mosh pit , got my glasses knocked off in the 2nd song and a bouncer gave them back to me on the way out , he saw it happen and kept an eye out for me (great big pointy quiff unmissable)

Motorhead @ Bradford St Georges Hall '80
My first ever gig (10) went with my dad and uncle and all 3 of us were headbanging over the balcony 😆

The Blue Areoplanes Reading Festival 1991, brought the tent down, literally.

Tow Waits Edinburgh Playhouse 2008 Magical!

Rem/10,000 Maniacs Hammersmith Odeon 1986?, rem popped back out after most of the crowd left to do an acoustic set with the lights up.

House of Love Edinburgh Small club 198? free tape at the door and a pint with Guy Chadwick afterwards.

Radiohead @ Paradiso Amsterdam 1997? not a big fan but teh sound quality at this gig was crystal clear well impressed.

Air @ Fruitmarket Glasgow, they brought the Funk and left the trip hop at home, top gig

Glastonbury 1989 1st Time, went as a lager lout came back a hippy, big shock to the parents.

Now did someone mention Megadog, that realy was something else, we didnae have stuff like that in Scotland so it was a bit of an eye opener going to the Rocket in North London for that, people were skinning up on the bar!

Undertones, Rock Garden, Middlesbrough, 1978ish or much later on the last pre-breakup tour in the BierKeller, Newcastle, maybe 1992?

10000 Maniacs, Nottingham 1997?

Clash, Mbro Town Hall

Misty in Roots, anytime I've seen them.

Smiths were good, with James supporting, Nottm 1985?

Spear of Destiny, Hanley 1985? Some fantastic gigs that tour.

U2, probably War tour, saw about six shows, Newcastle was probably the pick.

Faith No More, Newcastle 1992ish

Gin Blossoms, London 1989?
Could be loads more, I've been lucky. Who to see next though?

Hawkwind Leeds Uni '74 - bonkers
Rolling Stones - Leicester '75 - we were on telly, being at the front of the que and , er, bunking off school.
The Who - Charlton footy ground '75.
The Clash, The Damned, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, Sex Pistols - Leeds Poly - Anarchy in the UK '76 Tour
The Triffids - Warehouse '83
REM - Warehouse '84 (the band I was 'managing' at the time supported them)
Big Black - ? '85 - Leeds Poly - loudest gig EVER!
and many,many others.

Hawkwind Leeds Uni '74

I am envious!

The Cramps supported by The Stingrays at Newcastle Mayfair 1986.

Bevis Frond and Walkingseeds. The Dome, Tufnell Park? North London at any rate. errr. 1989? 1990? Not sure as I was doing a lot of acid roundabout then. It was awesome though.

Brain of Morbius. Deptford Free Festival. 1995ish. Very funnu

Rush at Brum Odeon 1980 - last day at school too boot.

U2 in Cork in 1997, Zoo tour and back in '87 on the Joshua Tree tour.

A couple of Yes gigs, Union Tour in the round in 80's and at the NIA with a Symphony orchestra back in 2004(ish.

Springsteen at Bramall Lane '88.

Hootie and the Blowfish - Wolverhampton Civic Hall.

Oh yes, forgot about Hawkwind, Stonehenge, Summer Solstice 1984.

All a bit hazy.

Agreed with whoever mentioned Megadogs, the first few at Manchester Academy were just incredible nights out.
Also Faith No More this summer at a sweatbox in Edinburgh, sounded even better than when I saw them the first time around.

Prodigy Glastonbury 1995 was pretty good. Saying that the whole festival was shit hot.

Carter - early 90s (30 Something tour). An absolute riot

Always regretted not seeing the Pogues when they were at their best

Too many to list really, it's my 30th year of gig-going this year. Highlights that spring to mind are Radiohead (can't pick a best gig from the 18 times I've seen them so far) Tom Waits in Dublin, Flaming Lips in Manchester, Prince @ Earl's Court, Bjork @ Brixton (1991 ?), Happy Mondays (Brixton), Grandaddy (Oxford Zodiac), Felice Brothers (Mcr), Primal Scream (best was on the Xtrminator tour, Zodiac) etc etc

Saw Taj Mahal, an old blues guy, playing at the Glasgow Fruitmarket about 10 years ago. Small gig, seated and he just totally had everyone in the palm of his hand. The atmosphere was electric. I'll remember that one 'till I die.

I was lucky enough to see Gil Scot Heron a few years back. It was just him and his piano. This was just before all his problems with drugs/hiv started.
James Brown and George Clinton were on the same bill at the same time. We ran back and forth between the two tents.
Fugazi sometime around 94/95? in Germany
Billy Bragg...seen him a load of times(even took my mum!)
Roy Ayers at Ronny Scott's when one of the Temptations turned up.
Neil Young with Sonic Youth opening up.
Also seen Lee Scratch Perry loads of times...probably the best was at Finsbury Park with the Mad Proffesor
Aba Shanti I at the much missed Blue Note Club
Coldcut at Southbank
I also got to see the wonderful Ornette Coleman at the Meltdown festival this year.
Fat Freddy's Drop... seen them a few times
The list goes on and on

Live Aid.

I saw Van Morrison by accident at the point dublin in 1999ish. had gone on £5 ryanair flights, while there saw he was playing so got tix from a branch of HMV. decent tickets downstirs near the front. Met some yanks who had come all the way fro the US specially, booked months in advance, and their tickets were way way way up at the back.
Did we fell smug? Only a little bit.
Van the man was underwhelming actually.

Sigur Ros at Brixton, 2005
Plastikman, Tribal Gathering 1995
Beth Gibbons and Rustin Man, Glastonbury 2003
Autechre, Glastonbury 1995
Stars, ULU, 2006

john_drummer - Member
Easy.

The Sisters Of Mercy + New Model Army + Skeletal Family, Huddersfield Town Hall, c1983/4

That was Sunday 14th October 1984, John.

The Chameleons, supported by Salvation - Leeds Warehouse 8th September 1986. Two fantastic live bands.

Husker Du Stow Hill Labour Club in Newport.

Metallica at the Lyceum only London show for Ride the Lightening, people offering £100 outside Torme and Tank supporting utter bedlam. ears still ringing at Christmas.

Stones in Hyde Park 1969
Talking Heads Manchester University 1978
Thomas Mapfumo Harare 1983
Crash Test Dummies Melbourne 1992
Ginger Pig Band Northampton 2009

ZZ Top at Newcastle City Hall in 1984 (I think - it was the Eliminator tour) a tad cheesy but in a cool way.

Best was probably Weller at Oxford Apollo on the Wildwood tour - absolutely superb, but very very loud.

Prodigy - Bug Jam 1993 ish
Deacon Blue - Guernsey 2002
Stiff Little Fingers - Guernsey 2002 (they were supporting the Stanglers who were rubbish and nearly got booed off stage)

docrobster, i was there at that Ride gig and yes it was up with the best, or when I saw them at the Leadmill a little later.....

Went to many a gig in Sheffield around that time, many who I had never heard of... one of the best was Dr Phibes and the House of Wax Equations at Sheff 2 in old Sheff Poly Union.... or Levellers with Murphys at 50p a pint!!

In date order:
Buzzcocks/Subway Sect (Love Bites tour '78) - they say the first time always stays with you...
The Smiths (around the time of the first album)
Win (85 or 86)
Elvin Jones (80-sometime)
Dinosaur Jr ('88)
Lampchop
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy ('05)
(and that's not including The Jam, Sonic Youth, Pixies, Rapeman, Killdozer, The Cure, My Bloody Valentine, etc. 😉 )

Chemical Brothers Glastonbury 20000.

I think everyone in Glastonbury was there at the mainstage that night....

The Chameleons - Manchester Academy June 3rd 2000

James Brown, Toulouse.

If only for the utterly delectable young lady I was with at the time. Hmmmm.

Little Angels - Any of their gigs, but that last one at the Albert Hall? 😥 Beautiful. "I ain't gonna cry..."

Oh, and I went to a simply stunning private recital at Coutts by Sir Thomas Allen. Simply beautiful voice, and when he broke in to some traditional songs from the North East, it was sublime. Great to hear a baritone like that.

Quicksand - borderline '94ish
Kyuss - Astoria 2 '94/95
RATM - Camden underworld
Slayer - every time i see them
Ministry / Helmet - Brixton acadamy
God Machine - pheonix festival
Faith no more - Windsor old trout and every other time i saw them.
Seaweed / bivouac - Gloucester town hall
Rancid - big day out Sydney '95
Frankie Stubbs solo show supporting snuff - New cross venue
Corrosion of conformity / soundgarden - Bristol bierkellar
Clutch - some tiny pub in Salisbury
Seafood - Joiners southampton
Mudhoney / hole - astoria 91

Too many more that i can barely remember

Metallica..O2 last year one off gig to launch their new album Death Magnetic...Awesome!!!!

Faith No More at the International in Manchester (first tour with Patton as singer).
Bad Brains (also at the International in the same year)
Sisters of Mercy (Black October tour Hanley) my first ever live gig.
Alien Sex Fiend (Tin Can Club Birmingham)a truly mad night.
Hüsker Dü (Powerhouse Birmingham)
The Young Gods (Birmingham but forgot the name of the venue)
The Cardiacs (Oxford)
Gaye Bykers on Acid (Telford)
New Model Army+Red Lorry Yellow Lorry+Ghost Dance (Telford)
Motorhead (Brixton Academy)
Fields of the Nephilim (Town and Country Club Kentish Town)
Massive Attack (Dresden) mainly because got to hang out backstage and empty their bar. 😀

Biffy Clyro - Last Monday in Birmingham Never Felt so much energy from a band ever Great atmosphere.

The Cure 16th Dec 1996

Finsbury Park 1991, Wedding Present, Henry Rollins Band, New Model Army, The Mission.

Oh I forgot.
Primal Scream (Finsbury Park). Didn't go to the gig but the after show party was something else! 😈