list of the month...
...this month it's gigs - what are your best gigs ever - when and where were they, and what made them so good?
Also do you remember who the support were, and were they any good?
And do you have a gig of gigs?
...mine would be Fleetwood Mac at the Bluesville Club Ipswich in 1968. Forget the flabby, celeb Fleetwood Mac of the late seventies and later. Fleetwood Mac were originally a blues band formed around probably the best British blues guitarist ever - Peter Green. Their best known single from that time is Albatross - which has become a complete cliche - desperately over-played supermarket music of the worst kind. However hearing it fresh and live (before it had been released as a single), played loud, in the midst of a set of hard-driving Chicago blues was a real wonder. Peter also had a great blues voice.
Sadly Peter Green left the band having become seriously mentally ill in the early '70s as a result of which he received electro-convulsive therapy whilst in mental hospital.
He lived a reclusive life for 20 years, before going out on the road again in the 90's with a band that appeared to be simply exploiting his name. Pen and I saw him in the mid-90s at the Wheatsheaf and he was an anxious and confused figure barely able to play his guitar - his solos were taken by "Snowy" White who mostly reproduced the originals note for note from recordings. Pete, when well, was a great improvisational musician - melodic, exciting and unexpected...
Going to a good live music gig is one of the most postive things I can do - offered a choice I would rather go to gig than do almost anything else...
Sunday, January 21, 2007
picture - Eddi Reader and John McCusker at the Middlewich Folk festival in June 2005
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4 comments:
I saw a lot of heavy metal bands in the late 1970s, some good, some bad - Blue Oyster Cult, AC/DC, Rainbow, Uriah Heep, Judas Priest, UFO, Whitesnake - but the only one of them that actually enjoyed themselves was Black Sabbath.
There were a few oddities - Sparks, Supertramp - and a few that I'm glad to have seen - like the Kinks, Rolling Stones and Dr Feelgood - but they were past their best by then.
I walked out of a Patti Smith gig, and wanted to leave Dire Straits.
The best gigs I've been to, for various reasons, are (in no particular order) Laurie Anderson (five times), Kraftwerk (three times) and, early on in their career, Queen.
I forgot - there was also Glastonbury in 1990. Great experience, but I didn't like any of the bands I saw - Hothouse Flowers and The Cure are the only two I can remember.
wish I'd seen Laurie Anderson - I had her single "Oh Superman". I've never seen any metal bands live - not unless you count the live bits in "This is Spinal Tap" - tone
Tone - I will create my best gigs ever list on my blog soon - I share your view that eddi reader at Wolves and M'wich was amazing. Brian Kennedy was best for me in Burslem supporting Fairground Attraction in the 80s and for that reason I was moved by the "oldies" that he did at M'wich in 05 too.
I also loved John Martyn at the Wheatsheaf, Kate in Derby and S&B in Fleetwood because they were such an exciting discovery for us -I think their gig in Northwich was incredible too - we sat on the front row and sang along. I would also add Bellowhead at Middlewich - so exciting!
I didn't go to gigs until I met you (apart from the aforementioned in Burslem) so all of my best gigs will be ones we've shared!
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