My first concert was at The Hammersmith Odeon on the 14th December 1973, 2nd Show. Queen were the support act and the headliners were Mott the Hoople. The concert ran late and the management tried to force Mott off stage, the safety curtain came down, but the keyboard was pushed underneath to stop it, Overend Watts bass was grabbed by the audience and broken in two and Ian Hunter swung a punch at the Odeons manager. A really memorable first ever concert, with Queen showing they were to become superstars.
The Guess Who at the Hamilton Forum arena in Ontario Canada, sometime in 1971. Memorable because it was the first.
Way back last century, at Glasgow Odeon, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and a new, young band called The Rolling Stones, all on the same bill âŚneed I say more?
Either Hawkwind or Slade at the Playhouse in Edinburgh in 1972. The latter had two support acts - Suzi Quattro and Thin Lizzy!
Summer '89, Pink Floyd, Docklands Arena. We were 8th or so row from the front, slightly left of centre. Dave Gilmour was right in front of us. Phenomenal.
The Melody Maker poll concert at the Oval cricket ground in September 1972. ELP headlined with Genesis and Wishbone Ash supporting. I think Focus and Argent were also there but cannot remember them.
A great bar band Remus Down Boulevard at the Canning town bridge house. Little Dave was a great lead guitarâŚDennis Stratton on the other lead went on to Iron MaidenâŚRDB still play now and again i believe. Biggest act i saw at a pub was Dire Straits before they made it big, they performed at the Angel pub, Islington.
Led Zeppelin, Aberystwyth Kings Hall, Wales on 16th January, 1973. I was 17 years old at the time. Donât remember much about it lol!
First âproperâ gig was Lindisfarne ,Newcastle City Hall ,1972. Only years later did I find out that I had missed out on seeing Genesis as support.They couldnât make the Saturday night, which was the first of two consecutive evenings, so we were treated to Stackridge who were ok in their own right and went down a storm.I now wonder what 15 year old me would have made of Mr Gabriel and his foxâs head
Taste, Electric Garden, Glasgow May 1970, Beggars Opera in support. Great year for gigs as a youngster, quickly followed by Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Free and Ten Years After
Ok first one was Lindisfarne way back in time just as @AlanP mentioned
I used to work with Ray Laidlaw, and still bump into him from time to time, excellent foot stamping shows in the good old days âŚ
Also the reunion Christmas concerts were unmissable , fantastic nights.Even for a Middlesbrough fan , chanting "Away the Lads " pre encore was quite spine tingling
Keef Hartley Big Band at Sheffield Cit Hall - anyone remember them? Miller Anderson great guitarist. I think Keef has sadly passed away now.
14 years old and went to see Alice Cooper - Empire Pool Wembley Sept 1975 Welcome to my Nighmare Tour support Heavy Metal Kids. In the afternoon on the same day went to see the film (just opened in Leicester Sq) Tommy by the Who.
Followed in June 1976 at the same venue David Bowie on the Station to Staion Tour support was the Luis Bunuel film Un Chien Anadolu.
It was Saturday, 19th March 1977 and I was 14. The band was Pink Floyd.
My cousin G was 12 years older than me and my mum let me go with him as it was a weekend and she thought he would look after me/keep me out of trouble.
The gig was the last of a five-night residency by the Floyd at the old Empire Pool, Wembley (now Wembley Arena).
They played all of Animals first half, all of Wish You Were Here second half, with âMoneyâ as the encore. The Floydâs amazing quad sound, their lights and effects, indeed their sheer bigness, were all pretty mindblowing to a 14 year old, of course, and it was the first time I had ever seen (and smelt) people smoking dope âin the fleshâ so to speak - the air was blue with it!
It was 23 July, 1976 at Shea Stadium in Flushing, NY - saw Rory Gallagher, Robin Trower, and Jethro TullâŚon the Too Old To Rock âNâ Roll: Too Young Too Die tour.
And speaking of too young, I was too young to appreciate the great Rory Gallagher, who if I could be transported back in time and only pick one of those bands to see again that day, I would choose his set without question!
Not sure if it was my first, but 1972 or '73, in Savanah, Georgia, Earth, Wind & Fire was the lead act followed by Foghat which was one fine show. Went with the focus on Foghat, then Earth, Wind & Fire lit the concert hall up with a phenomenal performance! Foghat was fantastic but I did end up going out and buying a couple of EWF albums after that show.
One of the most memorable experiences was taking my daughter and two nephews to their first concert at the Starplex in Dallas, Texas in 1993 or '94 to see Tom Petty and Heartbreakers! A fantastic show made even better to see the 14 &15 year olds taking it all in and having a blast!
1976 Glasgow Apollo went to see Nils Lofgren, Tom Petty was support act, had never heard of him, blew Nils off the stage
I saw several Starplex shows in Dallas when it was at Park Central in 1980s - including David Sanborn. The office where I worked was right by the venue off Coit Rd and we could park in our own controlled entry lot and walk over to the show.
Deep Purple at the Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London. I thought from memory it was late 1970, but searching gig lists the only one I can find was 30th April 1971*.
Suggested by a school friend who had been to gigs before, I was the tender age of 16. The gig was memorable for oh so many reasons!
Primarily memorable of course simply because it was first live gig I went to. Wow! The sound. The sound level. The atmosphere. This is how rock music should sound! (note to self for hifi). Discovering headbanging. The interesting smelling smoke(!). The projector lightshow. Of the performance I particularly remember Wring that neck, a number I knew from album recording, introduced as one where they all did solos. It hooked me on live gigs, and I couldnât wait for more.
No memory of support band.
The tickets said no cameras. I decided to sneak one in, so made myself a belt bag to house my folding Zeis Ikon rollfilm bellows camera and risk it. Glad I did! I loaded the camera with Kodak Royal-X 1250ASA B&W film (colour was expensive in those days). Just 12 shots - yielding one good one. Processed in my schoolâs darkroom and enlarged enough to get the small image to fill a postcard size print I had this wonderful grainy moody shot of Ritchie, playing what may have been a Gibson (I didnât know much about guitars, but it wasnât a Strat as he played every other time I saw them). Very sadly I lost it in the midst of time.
*If that date I found was correct, it was only 2 weeks later I saw Pink Floyd playing Atom Heart Mother at the Crystal Palace Garden Party, supported by Mountain and the Faces - but I wouldnât have expected to have been able to become aware and get tickets in that short time, so I do wonder if there was an earlier Roundhouse gig missed in the gig list I checked. It was the time of In Rock, and before the Fireball tour, to which I also went.