First live band you ever saw

[Lofty]

Mine was The Dave Clark Five on Five 'O'Clock Club (Ollie Beak anyone?) which was a kid's TV thing way back when. I also saw Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Titch doing Xanadu, complete with whip on Crackerjack.

But the first proper band I ever saw live were Johnny Johnson & The Bandwagon in Margate when I was 15 or 16. Met a couple of birds that night, let's just say it was a memorable night all round.

Those were the days alright!

[sweet waffle]

My first gig was Linkin Park at Rock City in Nottingham. They were first class.

[Scott]

My first gig was Linkin Park at Rock City in Nottingham. They were first class.

You don't know how old that makes me feel.

Mine was Johnny Winter and Bobby "Blue" Bland. 1976

[BlueBeard]

I remember seeing loads of music on the box in the 60's, but the one that sticks in the mind is Jimi Hendrix on the Lulu show. He started off playing Hey Joe (I think), then suddenly stopped and said something like "That's enough of this rubbish, we're gonna play a tribute to Cream", and went straight into "Sunshine Of Your Love". This didn't go down at all well with the TV people, and they unplugged Hendrix's equipment. A mate of mine had a copy of this on a bootleg album in the 70's, and when he turned it up really loud you could hear the TV people fighting with the roadies - great stuff!

The first gig I ever went to was at Sutton Granada, where about a dozen of us went to see Rod Stewart & The Faces performing just before Christmas 1973 - a brilliant night. Strange coincidence, Lofty, I also met a bird that night and ended up having a memorable evening :unsure: What made it even more memorable was after the gig there was a big ruck outside between Chelsea & Crystal Palace fans - no prizes for guessing who won :lol:

[bonetti]

Hard to believe, but it was Pink Floyd at the Albert Hall in 1969, long before they 'sold out' but sadly after Syd Barratt had left.

Confirms what an old git I really am

[bjd]

Echo & The Bunnymen at the Crawley Leisure Center September 29th, 1984. I was 9 years old and the babysitter took me!

Was right at the front on the far left side by the barrier and all i can recall is seeing Ian Mcculloughs ciggy smoke and spiked hair in the shadows.

Still havent met anyone with a cooler first gig when they were under double figures!

Sadly my coolness is somewhat tarred by my second gig, which was Bucks Fizz with my parents a month or two later..

Edited August 4, 2009 by bjd

[bonetti]

Echo & The Bunnymen at the Crawley Leisure Center September 29th, 1984. I was 9 years old and the babysitter took me!

I would be really ashamed of that -

going to watch a group of Scousers?

[Eggy McMuffin]

The Young Knives supported by Lightspeed Champion, Ungdomskulen (or something like that) and Ida Maria (although I missed that bit). Was quality, Lightspeed is a legend... decided to make a song last 11 minutes by just sticking in the Star Wars Imperial March randomly.

[Tim]

Ash, right the the start when they'd just released 1977, with 3 Colours Red as support band, who were so good I went back to the Astoria a week later to see them headline.

[Lofty]

I remember seeing loads of music on the box in the 60's, but the one that sticks in the mind is Jimi Hendrix on the Lulu show

Uh huh, but what I meant was I actually went to 5 '0' Clock Club and Crackerjack at the TV studios in Wembley and Shepherds Bush respectively. I'm really showiing my age by mentioning Ollie Beak, who was this owl puppet with a partner called Fred Barker. Who was a dog. Described as the first puppets with attitude, the presenters Muriel Young and Wally Wally Whyton used to ad lib like mad. For example:

Once, when Ollie Beak arrived carrying a balloon and declaring, "I've been to the Chelsea Owls' Ball," Muriel Young replied: "I didn't know owls had balls.

And on another occasion Jon Pertwee had just song a folk song, and as the song finished Ollie said to Fred how nice it was to hear a song from an 'old folker', resulting in the inevitable complaints from the Mary Whitehouse types of the day.

Ollie Beak & Fred Barker:

Edit: I think I should have written that Johnny Johnson was the first proper concert I saw, not the first proper band. Might have been a bit clearer!

Edited August 4, 2009 by Lofty

[clubhappy]

Went to see Bryan Ferry in Dublin in 1985, the whole gig was new material, sh*te.

[dkw]

first gig was pop will eat itself in wolverhampton. mental night, mental band, ended up playing cards with them until about 5 in the morning in my mates house.

[bjd]

first gig was pop will eat itself in wolverhampton. mental night, mental band, ended up playing cards with them until about 5 in the morning in my mates house.

i saw the Poppies in wolverhampton at the civic hall, must have been 1990, easter time i think.

good band for their time , i listened to 'this is the day' the other week - have to say it hasnt aged well!!!

[dkw]

i saw the Poppies in wolverhampton at the civic hall, must have been 1990, easter time i think.

good band for their time , i listened to 'this is the day' the other week - have to say it hasnt aged well!!!

oh dear, that could well have been the same one i went to. i was about 17 so it will have been around 90, but i remember being later in the year than that. used to love them, good blokes too.

[BlueBeard]

Uh huh, but what I meant was I actually went to 5 '0' Clock Club and Crackerjack at the TV studios in Wembley and Shepherds Bush respectively.

Ah, right, my mistake!

Thinking about it that way, I remember my parents taking me to the London Palladium one night in the mid 60's, when Cilla Black and Jimmy Tarbuck were starring - must have been scousers night.

I can remember seeing Olly Beak on the box too :unsure:

[The Moos]

Haven't seen a band yet, but I've seen some artists live.

My first one was Tina Turner when she was in Stockholm 1996 (think it was that year). I was 12 years old back then.

Boy what a consert. It was amazing. Turner must have been 57 then and she performed like she was in her twenties. She rocked!

And when she sang "The Best" I cried. It was just so amazingly brilliant.

I was going to go and see her last consert here but the tickets were too expensive. The cheapest ones - the ones that give you a seat where you hardly see anything - cost more than the best tickets for bands like Metallica.

But I hope she comes back again (doubt it since she is getting a bit old) and if she does I will buy a ticket for the best seats, no matter how expensive they are.

[g3.7]

green day, wembley, 2001 I think... possibly 2002.

[PloKoon13]

Head>>Fake at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

[moi]

AGH I feel ancient! I saw the Rolling Stones live in Dundee in 1962. They were amazing! So was Dave Berry who was a supporting act.

My greatest regret is never having seen Bruce Springsteen live. (well, greatest regret in the music sense - I do have other regrets!)

[Lofty]

The Stones in 1962 ... wow. Around that time, like Bluebeard my parents would have taken me to see a show while on holiday, usually down in Devon or Cornwall.

Thankfully I was never subjected to a Scourser's Night, but I do remember seeing Susan Maughan (canny wee lass), who I think was on the bill at the Tommy Cooper show. We also went to see Max Bygraves and (I think) Bob Monkhouse among others. For some reason Susan Maughan is the only singer I can remember from way back then. But I strongly suspect that Frank Ifield might have featured somewhere.

[geezer]

My first 'band' live? Watching the Black & White Minstrels from the side of the stage at the Victoria Palace in London in the mid 60's. The old man was in the show along with Leslie Crowther. The main singers were Dai Francis and Tony Mercer plus a woman called Margo Henderson. All seemed innocent fun at the time.

[wicksy]

Hard to believe, but it was Pink Floyd at the Albert Hall in 1969, long before they 'sold out' but sadly after Syd Barratt had left.

Confirms what an old git I really am

Being nearly as old a git, my first gig was also the FLOYD. At Wembley Empire Pool circa 1974.

[mad_mac]

Think the first I went to was, a huge outdoor Celtic (as in the type of people, not the sh*t football team from Glasgow's east end) gig at Loch Lomond. Massive outdoor venue headlined by Runrig. My mum and dad took me. It was good, nice big festival and a bunch of drunk, singing Scotsmen.

At the end there was a Fog that decended on the place and we were all walking back to our cars. It was eery, but very ool. All you could make out was shaddows, lights, flags, and everyone was leaving the place singing "Flower of Scotland."

First one I went to on my own was probably a rave when I was 15, if that counts. After that, i've lost count as to who I saw when.

[rahul]

My first was Opeth in 2006 when they were on a world tour and performed in our college cultural fest. God you guys have really seen some classic stuff live.

[bjd]

oh dear, that could well have been the same one i went to. i was about 17 so it will have been around 90, but i remember being later in the year than that. used to love them, good blokes too.

thinking about it a bit more it could have been later in the year, in fact it couldve been early 91 maybe too ?

obviously i dont recall too much of it because it was so long ago but i remember it being mayhem down the front and there being lots of green lasers, also for some reason i recall the second song they played was 'wise up sucker'. afterwards we went into brum and i went to my first ever club (i was 15 after all), upstairs at edwards no 8, friday night indie night. a place i was to go for many years. so in that respect it was an important evening for me!