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Unsung Forum » Sensational Gigs? |
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thesweetcheat 6218 posts |
Aug 21, 2013, 23:29
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Another one, despite being plagued (and ultimately curtailed) by equipment failures was Disco Inferno at Leeds Uni Harvey Milk Bar 1994-ish. Can't have been more than 50 people in the audience. A criminally underrated band.
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Charlie2300 412 posts |
Aug 22, 2013, 02:26
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Here's a few other goodies; dates and venues will be very sketchy! Magma - Live in Bobino Theatre, Paris 27 and 30 May 1981: Got into Magma circa '79 and somehow got to hear about these gigs. I was at college, pretty much penniless and I just took off for Paris in the hope that I might get tickets over there! Madness, pure mania in full effect. How I got there and how I survived are a complete mystery to me. What I do remember is seeing Magma, a huge ensemble of shit hot musicians in bizarre costumes chanting away in an alien language about another world with the whole spectacle founded upon music based upon an epic jazz-orientated Space Opera. Staggering. Cabaret Voltaire - sometime in the early '80's, somewhere in London. Mallinder playing a monster funk bass to that sparse electronic sound that the cabs excelled at. The show was seriously psychedelic - all colour wheels and those oil projector things. I was mesmerised. No idea what they played - it wasn't like that! Death In June - a controversial one. Dubious boys with some of the nastiest most repulsive lyrics ever recorded. Such is the power of tracks like "We Drive East" and "Heaven Street" that some of their albums are tucked away in the den. I'm a leftie, so the prospect of actually seeing DIJ in the flesh was intimidating. When? About '05?, a special gig in London which brought the two main men from DIJ back together for a one off rendition of "The Guilty Have No Past" album. Mega-intense and mainlining on adrenaline as I wasn't about to take any shit from some neo-fascist in the crowd. We got out alive and DIJ were very disturbing. Futurama Festival - I believe it was the first one in '81; an alternative festival and it was staged at an ice-rink somewhere in deepest Wales. They put carpet tiles down on the ice surface itself and that was where we all got to hang out. Really strange 'cos the cold came right through the carpet, but nobody really cared. A proper party. PIL played; I hadn't heard any PIL to that time and was simply overwhelmed. That 1st album live is a monster.
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hallgeraet 96 posts |
Aug 22, 2013, 02:30
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Circa 1988 I saw Bill Laswell's Last Exit twice in Germany and those gigs will remain in my memory forever. I never witnessed such an unleashed force since. Musicality and intensity at the highest level. Totally brilliant in your face free rock (with a little bit of jazz). Sharrock was a real shaman, the interplay between him and Brötzmann was unreal.
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Kid Calamity 9048 posts |
Aug 22, 2013, 16:55
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Post of the week!
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thesweetcheat 6218 posts |
Aug 22, 2013, 18:28
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Charlie2300 wrote: Futurama Festival - I believe it was the first one in '81; an alternative festival and it was staged at an ice-rink somewhere in deepest Wales. They put carpet tiles down on the ice surface itself and that was where we all got to hang out. Really strange 'cos the cold came right through the carpet, but nobody really cared. A proper party. PIL played; I hadn't heard any PIL to that time and was simply overwhelmed. That 1st album live is a monster. Very jealous of this, although the first one was in 1979 in Leeds, with a line-up to die or kill for: https://www.songkick.com/festivals/25141-futurama/id/2605261-futurama
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keith a 9574 posts |
Aug 22, 2013, 22:36
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Charlie2300 wrote: Futurama Festival - I believe it was the first one in '81; an alternative festival and it was staged at an ice-rink somewhere in deepest Wales. They put carpet tiles down on the ice surface itself and that was where we all got to hang out. Really strange 'cos the cold came right through the carpet, but nobody really cared. A proper party. PIL played; I hadn't heard any PIL to that time and was simply overwhelmed. That 1st album live is a monster. Not sure how to break this to you, Charlie, but I think your memories playing tricks with you. PiL did play an earlier Futurama ('79 I think), but they didn't play at the one in Deeside (1982) New Order headlined the Saturday night (missed that!) and The Damned on the Sunday with Dead Or Alive, Nico, Southern Death Cult, Danse Society also on the bill (I was there that night!) Here's the poster! https://ssl.sk-static.com/images/media/img/col4/20100102-183742-474244.jpg You're right about the mats over the ice rink though - the cold soon came through the mats and your feet felt like blocks of ice. They had a lot of gigs there back then (I saw a number of bands there - The Jam, The Police, ABC, Bob Marley, Rainbow), all with the mats over the ice. I remember that some people were trying to sleep on the ice at Futurama, in sleeping nags on top of those freezing mats. Rather them than me!
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keith a 9574 posts |
Aug 22, 2013, 23:36
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Most of the gigs I saw when I was 13-14 blew me away (Uriah Heep - gulp!, Sparks, Quo, etc), with the exception of The Faces who were disappointing. After that I'd have to mention the following... T.Rex (Manchester Apollo, 1977) I'd finally seen Bolan the year before, but this one was awesome with the leaner looking Marc alternating between hits and Dandy In The Underworld tracks that I'd not heard till that night. The Damned (Smartyz, Chester 1979) One of a number of great Damned gigs I saw but I think I'd choose this one as my fave. Post-Bryan James leaving, pre-Machine Gun Etiquette release, live and loud in a smallish venue. Teardrop Explodes / Echo & the Bunnymen (Art Centre, Chester 1979) The start of a love affair. The Bunnymen were ace and I wondered how the Teardrops would follow them, but they did - and more. Saw them both together not long afterwards in Erics but this was miles better. Also seen some awesome Cope solo gigs, too many to list here, but will give a mention to the one in the Slade Rooms , Wolverhampton a few years back. That really was a good one! Bob Marley & the Wailers (Deeside Leisure Centre, 1980) A very chilled out affair. There would be only a handful of BM gigs after this and within a year he was gone. The Smiths (Bangor Uni, 1983) Tiny venue a short time before This Charming Man led to success beckoning. I was right at the front as Moz swung those gladioli around! Loop (Manchester Boardwalk, 1987) One of my fave groups of that time in a tiny club. A swirling cacophony! Siouxsie & the Banshees / Suicide (Liverpool Royal Court, 1988) The Banshees put on a great theatrical show. Suicide, back from nowhere with new material, were awesome though only a few of us scattered here and there thought so, as our cheers were almost drowned by booing, abuse and, well there's no other word for it, hatred. Hairs on yer neck time! Happy Mondays (Manchester International, 1989) Great bass playing pumping out out those rhythms. And Bez didn't let up all night! Revolting Cocks (Manchester International, 1991) They soundchecked as they went so the first few numbers were a bit ropey but then they got it sorted and wham! Chants of Luc Van Akker over those beats stick in my mind! Brian Wilson (Festival Hall, London 2002) There was a long period when imagining that you would see BW in the flesh seemed somewhat fanciful - I had even wished for it one New years Party! So this felt like a real occasion and the love in the audience was almost tangible. Wire (Brighton Concorde, 2002) Again I've seen lots of great Wire gigs, but this one was pretty ferocious! The Nightingales (The Albert, Shrewsbury 2004) The first time I'd seen them post-reformation, where they mixed some of the old faves with new stuff. Robert Lloyd left the rest playing at the end as he walked through the crowd to make his way to the bar. They were still playing as he supped! The one last year at Shrewsbury was ace, too. Gang Of Four (Manchester Academy, 2005) I liked GO4 but wouldn't class myself as a major fan, but they put on a great show on this comeback. Gill's guitar slashing was awesome, King's movements impressive. Caribou (Talbot, Wrexham 2005) Some of this was so fab that it sent shivers down my back. Dan Snaith's occasional drumming was as powerful as you could imagine. Faust (Hendre Hall, Bangor 2005) Electric power tools, a marching band and some great Kosmische riffs. Also saw great gigs by The Raveonettes, Television and Pere Ubu that year, but I've got to try and keep the list down a bit!) Wild Swans (Static, Liverpool 2009) Their first two comeback gigs (I went both nights!) Another one where you could feel the love! Low (Manchester Club Academy, 2011) The opening Nothing But Heart was truly immense. It started with Sparhawk playing alone and sounding almost like Hendrix's take on Star Spangled Banner, before the rest of the band joined in. Up and up it built, with Sparhawk straining all kinds of sinews as he repeated that ‘nothing but heart’ line whilst Mimi sang angelically along. One of the best things I've ever seen live. Iggy Pop (Chester Rocks 2011) I'd seen Iggy a couple of times before and they were both ace, but I think I'd have to choose this as my fave and that's coming from someone who doesn't really do outdoor gigs too often. It was mainly Raw Power stuff with the Ig owning the stage like very few performers can - “I’m 123 years old so I can sing the fucking blues” he said before launching into a fabulous I Need Somebody. Bo Ningen (Chester Compass, 2012) I knew next to nothing about them except they were Japanese and they were supposed to be good live. The description 'Japanese experimental acid punks' made them sound worthy of checking out and thank god I did. They blew me away! I'm gonna stop there!
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dave clarkson 2988 posts |
Aug 22, 2013, 23:55
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Was at that Revolting cocks international gig too. We were waiting for them to unleash the herd of cattle into the audience but didn't happen. Still, good gig. Think it was a Saturday night gig. Cant remember if there was a support group - can you?
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keith a 9574 posts |
Aug 23, 2013, 00:10
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dave clarkson wrote: Was at that Revolting cocks international gig too. We were waiting for them to unleash the herd of cattle into the audience but didn't happen. Still, good gig. Think it was a Saturday night gig. Cant remember if there was a support group - can you? Yes, we were looking forward ti the cattle,too! I don't think there was a support group. I don't remember seeing one anyway (and I haven't listed one in my sad old gitt gig list!!)
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Charlie2300 412 posts |
Aug 23, 2013, 03:31
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keith a wrote: Charlie2300 wrote: Futurama Festival - I believe it was the first one in '81; an alternative festival and it was staged at an ice-rink somewhere in deepest Wales. They put carpet tiles down on the ice surface itself and that was where we all got to hang out. Really strange 'cos the cold came right through the carpet, but nobody really cared. A proper party. PIL played; I hadn't heard any PIL to that time and was simply overwhelmed. That 1st album live is a monster. Not sure how to break this to you, Charlie, but I think your memories playing tricks with you. PiL did play an earlier Futurama ('79 I think), but they didn't play at the one in Deeside (1982) New Order headlined the Saturday night (missed that!) and The Damned on the Sunday with Dead Or Alive, Nico, Southern Death Cult, Danse Society also on the bill (I was there that night!) Here's the poster! https://ssl.sk-static.com/images/media/img/col4/20100102-183742-474244.jpg You're right about the mats over the ice rink though - the cold soon came through the mats and your feet felt like blocks of ice. They had a lot of gigs there back then (I saw a number of bands there - The Jam, The Police, ABC, Bob Marley, Rainbow), all with the mats over the ice. I remember that some people were trying to sleep on the ice at Futurama, in sleeping nags on top of those freezing mats. Rather them than me! By God you're right mate; it just goes to show what tricks your memory can play on you. I was absolutely convinced that I saw PIL at Deeside....and they weren't there at all! Must have seen them some other time (no idea when). New Order I did see; after that, mushrooms were involved and I was lost on another plane for a good while. I collapsed underneath my Afghan by a bin outside the venue until a cop woke me up....which was more than a little disconcerting. How can you have memories of something that didn't happen? Am I living in the Twilight Zone?!
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