Went to numerous two-tone gigs in the late 70's early 80's which usually ended in brawls between NF/BNP skins & left wing skinheads, the worst were The Selector because of how political Pauline Black was in her chat between songs, plus she would often deliberately goad the NF skins.
I actually saw them 4 times* in the 70s and each time I was left slightly disappointed. Could never put my finger on why but live they just didn’t seem to be as good as many of their contemporaries that I saw.
With one staggering exception. Janie Jones live is pretty much the best song/experience I have ever seen by any band/artist. Still sends shivers down my spine thinking of it.
*Full disclosure. One of those gigs (Brixton I think) was somewhat hazy to to a rather long pre-gig afternoon drinking Youngs Winter Warmer
The Rolling Stones were still very impressive when I saw them in 2013. Can't think of many bands at all I've been left genuinely disappointed by, but the Strokes were certainly one.
By the way, while we're waiting for @OxfordBlue, does anyone else play live themselves (or has played live in the past), and are there are interesting experiences, or particular covers you like to play live?
Wouldn't have thought the Beautiful South could be grim but they seemed to resent being there at a rescheduled gig down south when Utd were playing a big game at the same time and stunk the place out.
Chilli Peppers at the barn that was Earls court pretty sub standard too
Best Gig - probably Jethro Tull at The Albert Hall, with 9 Below Zero at The Marquee, Alabama 3 at Shephards Bush Empire & Emilie Autumn at the Electric Ballroom close runners up
Worst Gigs - Good Charlotte at Brixton Academy - sound guys seemed more interested in their recording than the sound for the audience & the band seemed bored & The Specials at Margate Winter Gardens - Terry Hall was awful and spent most of the gig alternating between insulting & ignoring the audience
Sorry, I hadn't been paying too close attention to this thread. I saw I'd been tagged but didn't realise I was holding up the whole process!
Three songs is so incredibly difficult for anyone I think, but especially those with more eclectic tastes. My main love is punk, but I also love folk, drum and bass, hip hop, ambient and everything in-between...
An incredibly nostalgic track. Most of their back catalogue doesn't do much for me, but as a kid, my dad would always play this in the car during long, hot summers. Reminds me of driving around the country rounds just outside Thame, the smell freshly cut grass, barbecue and pub garden beer floating through the windows.
One of the UK's most criminally underrated folk acts in my opinion. But he is slowly getting more respect and coverage. While he is often political, I prefer his songs that manage to sincerely focus on the big philosophical questions while remaining light hearted.
Likely to have the least mass appeal of the three by some margin in the Gasroom.
I remember hearing this on Radio 1's Lock Up, which was a late night punk and metal show. I was just getting into punk through the big label bands at the time - Green Day, Offspring, etc.
But this came on and I'd just never heard anything like it. It opened up a whole new world of fast, aggressive, gruff American punk that I've adored ever since.
Right....if I answered this in half an hour would probably be different let alone tomorrow or next week:
1) Unfinished Sympathy - Massive Attack : this piece of music never fails to amaze me. There is so much going on that every time you listen to it it feels as though you are listening to it for the first time. It's almost impossible to describe to someone who's never heard it, you just need to make them listen to it. It's as close to perfect as you'll find and I'm delighted that Phil uses it regularly on the forever excellent Ringing the Blues podcast.
2) World in Motion - New Order : I'm not claiming it's the greatest record ever made but it really transports me back in time and I can feel like I felt back then. Full of optimism, youthful naivety and unperturbed by worries that tend to weigh us down the older we get. Football has obviously played a massive part in my life, from childhood to middle age and this record harks back to a time where it felt like England and Wycombe were on the brink of something very special.
3) Philosophy - Ben Folds Five : bit of a self indulgent pick, but it just reminds me of my time at University and the friends I met there
There you go. Was very close to picking Air on a G String by Bach, but that's almost beyond classification. Few years ago How Soon Is Now would have been there as well but Morrissey is just a bit too problematic for me these days.
Right, I'll hand the baton on to my old sparring partner @DevC .....try not to pick 3 songs about accounting Dev (😉)
I once got talked into going to see UB40 at Wembley arena by some friends... most bored I've ever been at a concert, few hours of my life I'll never get back
@eric_plant Love your description of World in Motion, it really resonates with me. I was 16 when that came out and the world really was changing. Berlin wall was gone, Nelson Mandela had been released and this song seemed to capture the wave of optimism young people felt at the time. Didn't last of course, but it was great time to be young and full of hope!
It was also a gateway for me to discover the wonders of New Order and then Joy Division.
PUP I quite like - The Dream Is Over was decent - I also had a phase where I was really into FIDLAR, whose average fan is probably a fair bit younger than me these days but put on some seriously sweaty shows.
I did my first (and only) stage dive seeing them at Heaven, where security eventually gave up and just let people storm the stage. Probably lucky no one got hurt in hindsight...
As a classically trained pianist, I played keys (and droned some backing vocals) in a shoegaze/post-rock band for a few years in the mid-00s. We had as much success as 4 or 5 desperately uncool indie kids could have expected with our limited collective talent. Highlights included John Peel playing us a couple of times on his Radio One show accompanied by some very nice words about us (acknowledging the fairly sizeable asterisk beside anything Peel related), supporting the very charming Futureheads at Mansfield Town Mill, a highly complimentary Steve Lamacq coming down to see us play the Dublin Castle in Camden, and playing our final ever gig at an extremely hedonistic small festival in Devon simply because our bassist shared a name with the organiser. We enjoyed playing a 7 minute cover of Stop The Cavalry by Jona Lewie (usually at the appropriate time of year) and sometimes dropped in our butchering of JX's There's Nothing I Won't Do.
Comments
If this is anything to go by, they were a riot live.
Love that live album, some good natured piss taking of some of the less interested in the crowd.
Went to numerous two-tone gigs in the late 70's early 80's which usually ended in brawls between NF/BNP skins & left wing skinheads, the worst were The Selector because of how political Pauline Black was in her chat between songs, plus she would often deliberately goad the NF skins.
I actually saw them 4 times* in the 70s and each time I was left slightly disappointed. Could never put my finger on why but live they just didn’t seem to be as good as many of their contemporaries that I saw.
With one staggering exception. Janie Jones live is pretty much the best song/experience I have ever seen by any band/artist. Still sends shivers down my spine thinking of it.
*Full disclosure. One of those gigs (Brixton I think) was somewhat hazy to to a rather long pre-gig afternoon drinking Youngs Winter Warmer
The Rolling Stones were still very impressive when I saw them in 2013. Can't think of many bands at all I've been left genuinely disappointed by, but the Strokes were certainly one.
The only gig I have ever walked out of is Bob Dylan circa 2009-2011. Absolutely ear-grindingly awful, and I was a huge Dylan fan growing up.
By the way, while we're waiting for @OxfordBlue, does anyone else play live themselves (or has played live in the past), and are there are interesting experiences, or particular covers you like to play live?
Does karaoke count...?
Yeah, that sounds like a pretty common Dylan experience from what I've heard
I walked out of Motley Crue at Hammy Odeon. They were godawful.
Thankfully I had gone to see the support act... Cheap Trick
Sure!
I saw System of a Down in Brixton once and they were awful.
Wouldn't have thought the Beautiful South could be grim but they seemed to resent being there at a rescheduled gig down south when Utd were playing a big game at the same time and stunk the place out.
Chilli Peppers at the barn that was Earls court pretty sub standard too
Earls Court was a horrible venue for music.
Best Gig - probably Jethro Tull at The Albert Hall, with 9 Below Zero at The Marquee, Alabama 3 at Shephards Bush Empire & Emilie Autumn at the Electric Ballroom close runners up
Worst Gigs - Good Charlotte at Brixton Academy - sound guys seemed more interested in their recording than the sound for the audience & the band seemed bored & The Specials at Margate Winter Gardens - Terry Hall was awful and spent most of the gig alternating between insulting & ignoring the audience
Sorry, I hadn't been paying too close attention to this thread. I saw I'd been tagged but didn't realise I was holding up the whole process!
Three songs is so incredibly difficult for anyone I think, but especially those with more eclectic tastes. My main love is punk, but I also love folk, drum and bass, hip hop, ambient and everything in-between...
1) The Kinks - Sunny Afternoon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-cLaPUOtzU
An incredibly nostalgic track. Most of their back catalogue doesn't do much for me, but as a kid, my dad would always play this in the car during long, hot summers. Reminds me of driving around the country rounds just outside Thame, the smell freshly cut grass, barbecue and pub garden beer floating through the windows.
2) Will Varley - From Halcyon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXVFvfFrUso
One of the UK's most criminally underrated folk acts in my opinion. But he is slowly getting more respect and coverage. While he is often political, I prefer his songs that manage to sincerely focus on the big philosophical questions while remaining light hearted.
3) The Lawrence Arms - On with the Show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoojWkPuggU
Likely to have the least mass appeal of the three by some margin in the Gasroom.
I remember hearing this on Radio 1's Lock Up, which was a late night punk and metal show. I was just getting into punk through the big label bands at the time - Green Day, Offspring, etc.
But this came on and I'd just never heard anything like it. It opened up a whole new world of fast, aggressive, gruff American punk that I've adored ever since.
I nominate @eric_plant
That comment was filled with toxicity :)
Oh lord....let me get my thinking cap on
Right....if I answered this in half an hour would probably be different let alone tomorrow or next week:
1) Unfinished Sympathy - Massive Attack : this piece of music never fails to amaze me. There is so much going on that every time you listen to it it feels as though you are listening to it for the first time. It's almost impossible to describe to someone who's never heard it, you just need to make them listen to it. It's as close to perfect as you'll find and I'm delighted that Phil uses it regularly on the forever excellent Ringing the Blues podcast.
2) World in Motion - New Order : I'm not claiming it's the greatest record ever made but it really transports me back in time and I can feel like I felt back then. Full of optimism, youthful naivety and unperturbed by worries that tend to weigh us down the older we get. Football has obviously played a massive part in my life, from childhood to middle age and this record harks back to a time where it felt like England and Wycombe were on the brink of something very special.
3) Philosophy - Ben Folds Five : bit of a self indulgent pick, but it just reminds me of my time at University and the friends I met there
There you go. Was very close to picking Air on a G String by Bach, but that's almost beyond classification. Few years ago How Soon Is Now would have been there as well but Morrissey is just a bit too problematic for me these days.
Right, I'll hand the baton on to my old sparring partner @DevC .....try not to pick 3 songs about accounting Dev (😉)
I once got talked into going to see UB40 at Wembley arena by some friends... most bored I've ever been at a concert, few hours of my life I'll never get back
@OxfordBlue Your third pick is right up my alley. Are you into Black Flag by any chance?
Black Flag are one of those bands I should like but don't. I respect their contribution to the scene greatly, but never quite clicked for me.
The subgenre I most like is semi-seriously known as Orgcore, due to the bands being popular on punknews.org in the early 2000s.
Check out Leatherface, PUP, Hot Water Music, Dillinger Four, Kid Dynamite & The Menzingers, if you're not familiar with them already.
@eric_plant Love your description of World in Motion, it really resonates with me. I was 16 when that came out and the world really was changing. Berlin wall was gone, Nelson Mandela had been released and this song seemed to capture the wave of optimism young people felt at the time. Didn't last of course, but it was great time to be young and full of hope!
It was also a gateway for me to discover the wonders of New Order and then Joy Division.
PUP I quite like - The Dream Is Over was decent - I also had a phase where I was really into FIDLAR, whose average fan is probably a fair bit younger than me these days but put on some seriously sweaty shows.
Yeah, some FIDLAR tunes are great but I feel a little bit older than their target audience these days.
I did my first (and only) stage dive seeing them at Heaven, where security eventually gave up and just let people storm the stage. Probably lucky no one got hurt in hindsight...
As a classically trained pianist, I played keys (and droned some backing vocals) in a shoegaze/post-rock band for a few years in the mid-00s. We had as much success as 4 or 5 desperately uncool indie kids could have expected with our limited collective talent. Highlights included John Peel playing us a couple of times on his Radio One show accompanied by some very nice words about us (acknowledging the fairly sizeable asterisk beside anything Peel related), supporting the very charming Futureheads at Mansfield Town Mill, a highly complimentary Steve Lamacq coming down to see us play the Dublin Castle in Camden, and playing our final ever gig at an extremely hedonistic small festival in Devon simply because our bassist shared a name with the organiser. We enjoyed playing a 7 minute cover of Stop The Cavalry by Jona Lewie (usually at the appropriate time of year) and sometimes dropped in our butchering of JX's There's Nothing I Won't Do.
You can't post all that without telling us the name of the band @YorkExile
To name the band would be to all but reveal my identity.
Fair enough