First ever gig/concert

So we’ve had, favourite music video and first album, so what about first gig/concert. Not your local pub band but your first major artist.
So aged 18 on Saturday 26th of May 1974 I went to what was then the Empire Pool Wembley to see Status Quo with special guests Montrose.
So I expect to hear of some really big acts, especially from some of you oldies out there (older than me that is, I’m a young 65). I was too young to catch the Beatles although my two older sisters did at Walthamstow Granada.

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Was a late-starter as far as concerts go. I never got to go to any as a youngster, had to wait until I was working my first decent wages, so first proper gig I went to was Katie Melua in 2008 in Glasgow- treated my mum to a night out. Was a great night :blush: Seen loads of brilliant artists through work, though; Deacon Blue, Simple Minds, Texas, Annie Lennox, KT Tunstall, Beverley Knight, Macy Gray :thinking: Was due to go to some gigs last year but :woman_shrugging: Was also meant to take mum to see Céline Dion for her birthday next month too so will just have to wait & see what the future holds. I miss live music/theatre so much :confused:

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Mine was on 29th August 1987. The Who’s That Girl Tour at the Parc de Sceaux.
A concert that almost didn’t happen…
The mayor of Sceaux was concerned about the 130000 tickets put on sale, so he refused to allow the show to go ahead.
Madonna met the then French president Jacques Chirac and asked him to override the mayor’s decision, which he did.
I was 15 and lived 10 hours away from Paris, a city I had never been to.
So it became an adventure.
I was lucky to get there early, waited on the grass all afternoon, managed an hour near the stage, but halfway through I had to retreat towards the middle, as the crowd was moving in waves.
I remember the buzz in the air, the smells of summer, the castle behind us, the sea of people, Live to Tell making all the couples kiss, and the incredible energy coming from the stage, along with the political and social messages.
Then, having waited in vain for a metro, I had to walk back to Gare de Lyon, without a map, at 2am.
I could go on (I did go on…), but to sum up, that day changed me.
And Madonna never stopped.

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OK then, same venue (Empire Pool) a couple of years earlier,

Was amazing!

Barrie

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Magnum Def Leopard Blackburn St Georges hall, think it was 82,

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Derek and The Dominoes on 6 August 1970 at Penthouse club in Scarborough . I sat about 15 feet away from Clapton and it was a sensational introduction to live music . I say this despite loathing Layla, the most overrated album in history . Thankfully , the man once known as God played blues all night .

And the last gig I saw was the best live performance (and in any genre) I have ever seen - David Byrne’s American Utopia in Leeds on 22 October 2018 .Utterly perfect .

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Wolverhampton Civic Hall.
Mott The Hoople and the warm up band was none other than Queen.
What a night!

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Slade at Sheffield city hall, my they were loud🙄

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A touch later than you Daveya def leppard in the round, nec Birmingham 1988 hysteria album .With some great older stuff :ok_hand:

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Hawkwind in 1972 at the HardRock in Manchester. They had a dancer called Stacia. Quite a shock for a 13 year old! (Google is your friend)

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Bad Company in 1974 at the Winter Gardens in Bournemouth. I was 18 and had left school earlier that year. I’d just started my first job so was flush with cash. It was a great night with a few school mates. I’d always wanted to see FREE but never got to see them, so the Bad Co. concert was the next best thing. The band did a few FREE numbers like The Stealer and The HIghway Song - happy days.

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Also Status Quo at the NEC with my dad who at 79 is still a big fan, think it was around 1982. Remember coming outside and a lorry went past and I couldn’t hear it as had gone deaf from the noise😀

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Smashing thread everyone.
My first major concert was seeing Madonna at Wembley on a beautiful warm summers evening back in the day.
What a fabulous and memorable experience.

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Summer 1959 aged 10, George Formby at Windmill Theatre, Great Yarmouth.
Followed by Lonnie Donegan in Panto same year!

Beat that!

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October 1975 Lewisham Odeon Black Sabbath , god I could not hear properly for nearly a week ! :grin:

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The Supremes in Lewisham, early 70s

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Wishbone Ash, Liverpool Empire 1972, I think…it was in a different life…

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Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell Tour - Poole Arts Centre - 1980 - they had cauldrons either side of the stage with what looked like real flames shooting out of them!!!
Closely followed by Status Quo at what is now the Mayflower in Southampton - I have see Quo many more times since then too!!
In 1982 I saved up to go to Monsters of Rock at Castle Donington with a friend - which was brilliant - except for having to sleep in Nottingham coach station one night, because the ‘connection bus’ from Donington didn’t actually connect correctly with our coach to come home!!!

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It would have been Status Quo,but seen them so many times,can’t remember where. Possibly Hammersmith. Much prefer the original line up over anything post mid 80s,but still kept on seeing them. Got tickets for John Coghlans Quo for a gig in Cardiff in April. (The original drummer)
Hopefully that will go ahead. Took the NB there to see him just after buying it 4 years ago

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Ha ha :blush:. I saw Hawkwind with Stacia the dancer :wink:, funnily enough supporting The Quo at Cardiff Castle 1976. A bit too far away though to see all of her assets. :flushed:

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