Every Gig I ever Went to

A Personal History. Part 1

Music has always been incredibly important to me. As a pre-teen in the North West - it was an important escape for me and a promise of the future I was going to fashion for myself. It was exciting, frightening, electric, and alive. I listened to John Peel on a tiny transistor radio under the blankets when I was 12. Radio City and Radio 1 were my life. When punk came along I was only 11 but remember so many things as if they were yesterday - experienced mostly through the filter of TV, the trashy right-wing papers my parents bought and the records my friends borrowed from their big brothers. Going out to see a band in real life was my one ambition. Loitering about in Woolies record department and taping off the radio wasn’t enough.

I have very clear memories of every gig I’ve ever been to (there are a lot) and for most of them, I still have ticket stubs or some other precious relic. I’ve been planning on cataloguing them for a while (I have a cunning plan here, there is something I want to do with them) - so here goes.

Part 1 - Kicking off

The first gig I ever went to wasn’t my first choice. Heavy metal and prog rock were the big things in my school and my mate Joseph bought tickets to see a band called Samson on Colwyn Bay Pier. His dad had agreed to drive us over (about 40 minutes) and I’d been given permission to go by my folks.

It was May 8th - 1980.

Saxon were just another heavy metal band but I was interested because there had been quite a lot of buzz about their lead singer - some guy called Bruce Dickenson who went on to bigger things shortly afterwards. ()I read everything I could, Sounds, Melody Maker, NME, something called SuperPop that came out on the same day) The gig was OK, for the first time. There were about 30 people in the audience and Joseph wore a pair of patchwork flares he’d bought from ‘Alf Roberts Gents Outfitters’ in Shotton (sale rail - £4). I was 14. I only ever went to Colwyn Bay Pier once again in 2002 to see Morrissey. It was falling apart by then.

Bit of a gap after that - I was tall and looked older but wasn’t getting into clubs or bars easily until I was about 17. I also needed to get to Chester or Liverpool to see anyone worth mentioning. The only real venue was Deeside Leisure Centre in Queensferry which had the space for big events. Bob Marley played there and the French exchange student staying with us went. I didn’t bother - we hated each other on sight, I was glad to be away from him for a night. That was July 12th 1980. Another big gig was Blondie - I was desperate to go and a huge fan but my parents were starting to get very difficult and stopped me. (My folks had A LOT of problems) That was January 6th 1980. The Leisure centre had a roller disco and on Tuesday Nights it was an unnder 18s Ska night. I loved it, you could buy shandy from a vending machine and smuggle spirits in, I used to pretend to smoke to look hard (it worked) and I fell in love with the music.

Deeside Leisure Centre back in the 80’s

The only band I really wanted to see but could never make it happen were The Pale Fountains - but I made up for that 25 years later

As I was getting older and took less and less notice of my parents, I started getting out more. A couple of favourite venues were Angels in Chester (I was supposed to be 21 and a member, but nobody else was) where I saw lots of nameless post-punk pre-new-romantic student bands, and one evening accidentally caught Divine on a whistlestop promotion tour for ‘Shoot Your Shot’. I got a signed copy that was stolen a couple of years later by one of my parent’s friends (a suspiciously macho X army type whose party trick was swallowing a whole chicken drumstick, bone and all, make of that what you will) There was also a gay club called Olivers who had the usual Hi Energy disco circuit so I saw everyone from Hazell Dean to Mari Wilson.

I was spending more time in Liverpool and Manchester saw Dead or Alive, a few times in the evening and made a nuisance of myself during the day by regularly loitering in Probe Records where Pete Burns and his Wife worked. I also saw a number of nameless post-punk bands at a place called The Berlin Club in Manchester and most of the local bands including The Fall and James - more than once. (I eventually saw The Fall 32 times)

Probe Records when it was in the ‘old’ building which later became a Ted Baker and then a posh restaurant for footballers. I think it’s closed now.

The Berin Club, Manchester.

I was just gearing up to leave home at this point and focussed on London, and my parents had moved to Wrexham which made it much harder to get anywhere under my own steam. My mate Danny had a band but they left no impression and the parties he threw for the gigs were always better (usually in abandoned farmhouses). When I eventually managed to leave home the first gig I went to was the Camberwell Freshers Ball with Desmond Dekker as the main attraction. I also managed to see The Smiths for the first time (12th March - 1984 - Hammersmith Palais) and Lloyd Cole with the Blow Monkeys and Del Amitri - Hammersmith again, December 13 1984.

I had a few abortive attempts to see bands I really liked (a theme that continued) including spending about 6 hours trying to get to Kingston Polytechnic to see Everything But The Girl playing in the bar (it’s not listed anywhere online but it did happen) I ended up getting totally lost on Kingston hill after a bus driver decided I looked suspicious.

At that time - I was mostly wrapped up in college and although I saw quite a few pub bands and went to several Red Wedge events - nothing much sticks in my mind. My friend’s sister was going out with one of Haircut 100 and that was exciting enough.

I went to a crazy gig in Crystal Palace that I have had to check up on to make sure it happened - Pete Townshend, Spear of Destiny (who I saw a few times, but more about that later) and Dame Vera Lynn (1985) but probably my favourite gig from that time was Marc Almond (and the Willing Sinners) - Croydon Fairfield Hall - 4th November 1984. I was briefly homeless and living in. a hostel in Crown Dale at the top of Streatham Hill, I was under the impression at the time that Croydon would be within walking distance. It wasn’t. The hostel backed onto a hospice and every morning I’d see a dead body being wheeled out the back door. Another big night out for me was at The Batcave when it was in Fouberts Place off Carnaby Street. Last time I was there (about 1985) someone filmed me on a cine camera all night. I often wonder what happened to that film. Many years later when I was working for Nicole Farhi I suddenly realised (during a meeting) that I was sitting in the same spot as I had that night (The Nicole Farhi Offices were in the refurbished venue).

The Batcave. Neither of these guys are me. Probably

I also went to Heaven a few times and one memorable occasion I accidentally went to the record company review showcase for Sigue Sigue Sputnik. They were terrible (It’s not listed as a gig anywhere - it was just an industry event, some time in1985). A few years ago I was at an event in Hastings and Martin Degvill appeared. He had just moved down here and opened a short-lived fashion store (Hastings is full of 80’s casualties). He was very drunk and beckoned me over, whispering in my ear “I’m going to slit your throat and drink your blood” I think security took care of him after that. He had a reputation anyway.

Sigue Sigue Sputnik at about the time I saw

After I finished Camberwell I don’t think I went to a single gig during the time I was at RCA. I did go to a few club nights with entertainment and bands in South London, but nothing interesting or memorable - usually some bad drag and a proto-boy band trying to get the gay audiences excited while their managers sneered at them.

Next instalment. Falling in Love with The Smiths and breaking up with Morrissey.