A few mentions in this thread of The Pogues have brought back memories of getting repeatedly knocked down and trampled on at a Pogues gig at Portsmouth Guildhall, whilst a bunch of old, grey-haired, beardy anarchists shouted at the crowd between each tune to "riot", and an extremely drunk Shane MacGowan spent most of the set trying to stay standing up, never mind actually getting the microphone to his lips and trying to remember the words
Not a "favourite" gig, but a memorable one, certainly.
@drcongo, good call for Thunders, I have a vague memory of watching him at the 100 Club and thinking how wrecked he looked. I love his wailing guitar, which was such a trademark sound of the New York Dolls, been listening to them a lot recently, great songs and much underrated.
@Steve_Peart I think there might be a fair bit of overlap in our tastes, judging by your earlier post. @M3G Were you at the Damned gig at Oxford Apollo in 86? That was a memorable night for sure.
Its quite sad to say that this generation don't have the live music opportunities some more mature Gasroomers did. On a Friday or Saturday night we could go to the Well Head, The Micky Star, The Nags Head, The Hop Pole in Aylesbury etc etc. It seems now that most concerts are MEGA EVENTS where you have little or no chance of tickets. Admittedly most of the pub acts we saw weren't brilliant, maybe I should have paid more attention to the names in case I could post a brag that I once saw .... before they were famous.
@Right_in_the_Middle no-one mentioned music snobbery, or indeed belittled anyone else's picks before you brought up the subject, but if you get your music via mainstream mediums you are by definition limiting your choices and thus knowledge. It's very easy to hear new, interesting music nowadays - even a couple of hours in the company of the excellent Marc Riley on 6Music will bring a world of great noise into your home.
@MindlessDrugHoover I'm pretty happy with the music I listen to. I even quite enjoyed the One Manchester concert at the weekend despite not really having a desire to listen more to many of the acts. The music snobbery you quite rightly said I mentioned first interests me.
Do people giving these non mainstream answers do so to seem cool different. If the lie detector was in use would the real answer be Drake or James Blunt? How much influence does peer pressure and acting have on answers like this. I sometimes ask at interview the song that would be sum you up. It gives some interesting answers even if its not the answer that interests me most.
Finally why do Coldplay sell so many records and gig tickets yet seem to be consistantly slagged off by people in social and mainstream media? Music snobbery, peer pressure or are they really that bad? I've always enjoyed seeing them
I don't know the answer to the Coldplay question - I like a couple of their songs and have no animosity to them, nor any great love. As for Drake or James Blunt - neither for me. Don't like either.
It was your vague suggestion that people list more obscure acts because they're trying to appear cool that irked. I love what I love because on some level it resonates with me. Some of those acts are very well known - REM, Blondie, Radiohead, OMD - many, if not most, are not - check out Arbouretum, Lonelady, Mark Lanegan, Marsheaux, Arabrot, John Grant, Josefin Ohrn - nothing to do with wanting to be cool. I'm a long way past that stage in life.
I've seen James Blunt in concert. I thought he was very good. No such thing as inherently bad music just personal taste.
Does HW still have bands playing in pubs on weekend nights. I've been gone a long time now. Maybe I am still lucky, still will be a choice of five or six locally every night down here - most not very good in truth but better than nothing at all and every now and then, a gem is uncovered.
First Gig - Nazareth at Hammersmith
Most recent gig - Slowdive at Oxford O2 last week
Best gig - hmmm. Difficult one as it's about the event sometimes and not the performance. Pink Floyd, Queen etc were awesome, but I had great nights at Hazel O'Connor and Bowling for Soup too.
James Blunt? Not a fan of his music, but his Twitter feed makes up for it
Coldplay are perfectly fine, and I quite like Drake. But surely not even James Blunt's favourite music is James Blunt.
I'm not sure if horror movies are your kind of thing but there is a very good joke in the great and grisly film Green Room about what the members of an American punk band say their favourite music is in interviews, with the truth revealed later in the film.
@drcongo No i didnt manage that one. But I have always caught them every few years ever since. The 79 gig was special as I had purchased the brilliant Machine Gun Etiquette album released a few weeks before. Simply fell in love with them during that period.
But did manage to see the Angelic Upstarts, Peter and The Test Tube Babies, The Toydolls, UK Subs and few more last Saturday at NorthWest Calling in Manchester.
Abandoned railway stations: There is a warren of tunnels and rooms beneath Kings Cross so large even London Underground hasn't mapped them all some of the largest are over four storeys high many were built during WW2 and sealed as they were left in 1945.
@drcongo, @M3G, sadly I never got to see the Damned but I still remember the sheer excitement of playing New Rose for the first time, the first British punk record I think in Oct '76. The glorious intro still makes the hairs on my neck stand up.
Glad I started this thread! Most of my gigs/festivals are of the jazz variety, including some pretty esoteric stuff. But I did dance to the pop strains of Brian Poole and the Tremeloes at the Kodak Sports and Social Centre in Wealdstone about 55 years ago!
@M3G: 'Strewth! That scared the living daylights out of me and the dog. I feel like the "lovely boy" in "It ain't 'alf 'ot ".
Actually, thinking back, this was one of my favourites back in the day. Sorry don't know how to put the youtube thingy on here so just posted the link.
Oh, just done it, but don't know how!
@micra
I saw the Tremeloes including Chesney Hawkes at the Bell and Mast in Downley in the early 90's.
It was before Chesney had his brief spell of fame, his father Chip Hawkes was a member of the Tremeloes.
Cant say i was over impressed.
Saw Hawkwind at Northampton Roadmenders last month. Good gig: no Silver Machine - they rarely play that live - but a selection of stuff from early 70's through to their latest release this year.
@ChasHarps said:
micra
I saw the Tremeloes including Chesney Hawkes at the Bell and Mast in Downley in the early 90's.
It was before Chesney had his brief spell of fame, his father Chip Hawkes was a member of the Tremeloes.
Cant say i was over impressed.
@ChasHarps said:
micra
I saw the Tremeloes including Chesney Hawkes at the Bell and Mast in Downley in the early 90's.
It was before Chesney had his brief spell of fame, his father Chip Hawkes was a member of the Tremeloes.
Cant say i was over impressed.
Bit tame and bland of course compared with some of the punk/thrash metal outfits mentioned on this thread.
I collected a fairly catholic range of recorded music in the 'seventies, including Genesis (particularly liked Trick of the Tail), Bowie, Allman Brothers, Cream and, whisper it, Fleetwood Mac in their original incarnation with Peter Green.
But jazz and classical were predominant
Fave Album - Pop Will Eat Itself - This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This!
Best Gig - Faith No More - Brixton Academy April 1990
Fave Abandoned Dog Track - Catford
@micra nothing wrong with your choices mirror my own although I'd have gone with Selling England for the Genesis album and add Yes Floyd and King Crimson to prog it up. Peter Greens Mac were a very different and imo better band to the 80s incarnation.
Since the 70s my favourite records have included XTC, The Stranglers,The Cure, Kate Bush, AC/DC, Radiohead and Gorillaz.
@Morris_Ital: Love Kate Bush. AC/DC probably too loud live (for this sensitive soul) but have enjoyed them and other heavy metal bands on Sky Arts and BBC4. In 1963 I bought The Freewheeling Bob Dylan LP and still have it (plus the CD version). Got all the Cat Stevens LPs later in the '70s.
PS Not greatly into Nirvana but heard a couple of numbers on TV some months ago and they really rocked.
And finally (for now) I experienced one of those musical awakening moments as a civilian in the sergeants' mess in RAF Uxbridge around 1960 when someone put a recording of Walking Shoes by the Gerry Mulligan Quartet on the jukebox. Wonderful baritone sax.
@Chris said:
Seeing as both Take That and Nirvana have been mentioned:
>
I've never seen that before it's truly haunting what else is out there? a Steps cover of Black Hole Sun, S club Seven knocking out a couple of Stone temple Pilots tracks. The internet can be a dark place.
AGGGGGGHHHHHHH I will never be able to unsee that Take That video. I had almost reconciled myself that Barlow et al (except Jason) were a bunch of tax dodging hypocrites but this is beyond anything.
Comments
A few mentions in this thread of The Pogues have brought back memories of getting repeatedly knocked down and trampled on at a Pogues gig at Portsmouth Guildhall, whilst a bunch of old, grey-haired, beardy anarchists shouted at the crowd between each tune to "riot", and an extremely drunk Shane MacGowan spent most of the set trying to stay standing up, never mind actually getting the microphone to his lips and trying to remember the words
Not a "favourite" gig, but a memorable one, certainly.
@drcongo, good call for Thunders, I have a vague memory of watching him at the 100 Club and thinking how wrecked he looked. I love his wailing guitar, which was such a trademark sound of the New York Dolls, been listening to them a lot recently, great songs and much underrated.
Album would be 'Casual sex in the Cineplex'
By the Sultans of Ping FC.
James at Brixton. Or Basically James playing anywhere.
@Steve_Peart I think there might be a fair bit of overlap in our tastes, judging by your earlier post.
@M3G Were you at the Damned gig at Oxford Apollo in 86? That was a memorable night for sure.
Its quite sad to say that this generation don't have the live music opportunities some more mature Gasroomers did. On a Friday or Saturday night we could go to the Well Head, The Micky Star, The Nags Head, The Hop Pole in Aylesbury etc etc. It seems now that most concerts are MEGA EVENTS where you have little or no chance of tickets. Admittedly most of the pub acts we saw weren't brilliant, maybe I should have paid more attention to the names in case I could post a brag that I once saw .... before they were famous.
@Right_in_the_Middle no-one mentioned music snobbery, or indeed belittled anyone else's picks before you brought up the subject, but if you get your music via mainstream mediums you are by definition limiting your choices and thus knowledge. It's very easy to hear new, interesting music nowadays - even a couple of hours in the company of the excellent Marc Riley on 6Music will bring a world of great noise into your home.
@MindlessDrugHoover I'm pretty happy with the music I listen to. I even quite enjoyed the One Manchester concert at the weekend despite not really having a desire to listen more to many of the acts. The music snobbery you quite rightly said I mentioned first interests me.
Do people giving these non mainstream answers do so to seem cool different. If the lie detector was in use would the real answer be Drake or James Blunt? How much influence does peer pressure and acting have on answers like this. I sometimes ask at interview the song that would be sum you up. It gives some interesting answers even if its not the answer that interests me most.
Finally why do Coldplay sell so many records and gig tickets yet seem to be consistantly slagged off by people in social and mainstream media? Music snobbery, peer pressure or are they really that bad? I've always enjoyed seeing them
I don't know the answer to the Coldplay question - I like a couple of their songs and have no animosity to them, nor any great love. As for Drake or James Blunt - neither for me. Don't like either.
It was your vague suggestion that people list more obscure acts because they're trying to appear cool that irked. I love what I love because on some level it resonates with me. Some of those acts are very well known - REM, Blondie, Radiohead, OMD - many, if not most, are not - check out Arbouretum, Lonelady, Mark Lanegan, Marsheaux, Arabrot, John Grant, Josefin Ohrn - nothing to do with wanting to be cool. I'm a long way past that stage in life.
I've seen James Blunt in concert. I thought he was very good. No such thing as inherently bad music just personal taste.
Does HW still have bands playing in pubs on weekend nights. I've been gone a long time now. Maybe I am still lucky, still will be a choice of five or six locally every night down here - most not very good in truth but better than nothing at all and every now and then, a gem is uncovered.
First Gig - Nazareth at Hammersmith
Most recent gig - Slowdive at Oxford O2 last week
Best gig - hmmm. Difficult one as it's about the event sometimes and not the performance. Pink Floyd, Queen etc were awesome, but I had great nights at Hazel O'Connor and Bowling for Soup too.
James Blunt? Not a fan of his music, but his Twitter feed makes up for it
@Right_in_the_Middle
Coldplay are perfectly fine, and I quite like Drake. But surely not even James Blunt's favourite music is James Blunt.
I'm not sure if horror movies are your kind of thing but there is a very good joke in the great and grisly film Green Room about what the members of an American punk band say their favourite music is in interviews, with the truth revealed later in the film.
@drcongo No i didnt manage that one. But I have always caught them every few years ever since. The 79 gig was special as I had purchased the brilliant Machine Gun Etiquette album released a few weeks before. Simply fell in love with them during that period.
But did manage to see the Angelic Upstarts, Peter and The Test Tube Babies, The Toydolls, UK Subs and few more last Saturday at NorthWest Calling in Manchester.
Anyway here is that classic full album.
Abandoned railway stations: There is a warren of tunnels and rooms beneath Kings Cross so large even London Underground hasn't mapped them all some of the largest are over four storeys high many were built during WW2 and sealed as they were left in 1945.
Can I have an abandoned theme park instead?
Six Flags New Orleans
@drcongo, @M3G, sadly I never got to see the Damned but I still remember the sheer excitement of playing New Rose for the first time, the first British punk record I think in Oct '76. The glorious intro still makes the hairs on my neck stand up.
Glad I started this thread! Most of my gigs/festivals are of the jazz variety, including some pretty esoteric stuff. But I did dance to the pop strains of Brian Poole and the Tremeloes at the Kodak Sports and Social Centre in Wealdstone about 55 years ago!
@M3G: 'Strewth! That scared the living daylights out of me and the dog. I feel like the "lovely boy" in "It ain't 'alf 'ot ".
I'm pretty sure I saw Alisha's Attic at a festival once, whose lineup included Brian Poole's daughter Karen Poole.
Actually, thinking back, this was one of my favourites back in the day. Sorry don't know how to put the youtube thingy on here so just posted the link.
Oh, just done it, but don't know how!
@micra
I saw the Tremeloes including Chesney Hawkes at the Bell and Mast in Downley in the early 90's.
It was before Chesney had his brief spell of fame, his father Chip Hawkes was a member of the Tremeloes.
Cant say i was over impressed.
Saw Hawkwind at Northampton Roadmenders last month. Good gig: no Silver Machine - they rarely play that live - but a selection of stuff from early 70's through to their latest release this year.
I guess it was the one and only time you saw him
Comedy Klaxon !!
Bit tame and bland of course compared with some of the punk/thrash metal outfits mentioned on this thread.
I collected a fairly catholic range of recorded music in the 'seventies, including Genesis (particularly liked Trick of the Tail), Bowie, Allman Brothers, Cream and, whisper it, Fleetwood Mac in their original incarnation with Peter Green.
But jazz and classical were predominant
Fave Album - Pop Will Eat Itself - This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This!
Best Gig - Faith No More - Brixton Academy April 1990
Fave Abandoned Dog Track - Catford
@micra nothing wrong with your choices mirror my own although I'd have gone with Selling England for the Genesis album and add Yes Floyd and King Crimson to prog it up. Peter Greens Mac were a very different and imo better band to the 80s incarnation.
Since the 70s my favourite records have included XTC, The Stranglers,The Cure, Kate Bush, AC/DC, Radiohead and Gorillaz.
@Morris_Ital: Love Kate Bush. AC/DC probably too loud live (for this sensitive soul) but have enjoyed them and other heavy metal bands on Sky Arts and BBC4. In 1963 I bought The Freewheeling Bob Dylan LP and still have it (plus the CD version). Got all the Cat Stevens LPs later in the '70s.
PS Not greatly into Nirvana but heard a couple of numbers on TV some months ago and they really rocked.
And finally (for now) I experienced one of those musical awakening moments as a civilian in the sergeants' mess in RAF Uxbridge around 1960 when someone put a recording of Walking Shoes by the Gerry Mulligan Quartet on the jukebox. Wonderful baritone sax.
Seeing as both Take That and Nirvana have been mentioned:
>
I've never seen that before it's truly haunting what else is out there? a Steps cover of Black Hole Sun, S club Seven knocking out a couple of Stone temple Pilots tracks. The internet can be a dark place.
AGGGGGGHHHHHHH I will never be able to unsee that Take That video. I had almost reconciled myself that Barlow et al (except Jason) were a bunch of tax dodging hypocrites but this is beyond anything.
Here you go, the most ill conceived cover version of all time...