Saturday, June 11, 2005

Concert meme

As Profgrrrrrl remarks, there's a concert meme going around, so here's my contribution with a list of concerts I've seen more or less in chronological order listed under the place I saw them. You won't find anything even vaguely up to date here because it has been many years since I last clutched an overpriced ticket and stood in line to be frisked.

Penicuik
The Corries (of Flower of Scotland fame)

Edinburgh
Elton John (this was circa 1979 and I think it was touted as his farewell tour. He sang "Don't go Breaking My Heart" without Kiki Dee)
Police (Fanastic concert. Sting wore a boiler suit)
Thin Lizzy (At that time my very favourite band. I loved Phil Lynott. I probably still would if he wasn't dead)
Ultravox (Vienna had just come out and Midge Ure had played with Thin Lizzy, but I still didn't enjoy it)
Gary Glitter (A Freshers' week freebie)
The Who (Brilliant)
Uriah Heep (hardly anyone there)
Elvis Costello (in a village hall somewhere outside Edinburgh (Wast Calder?), a massive loudspeaker fell on the audience)
Bruce Springsteen (a very long concert)

PĂ©rigueux
Silly Wizard (My first year in France and this Scottish folk group turned up in my provinical town.)
Hubert Felix Thiefaine (first French concert, I'd never heard of him)
Charlelie Couture (second French concert, I'd never heard of him either)

Metz
Luther Allison (first Blues concert)

Nancy
Marillion (another Scottish group seen in France)

Bordeaux and environs
Eurythmics (loved Annie Lennox's attitude (yes, another Scot))
Celtas Cortas (loud and Spanish!)
Magma (crap)
Jagger (Mick's brother) (can' t remember his first name, says it all)
Sting (brilliant, especially his rendering of "Ne me Quitte pas")
Buckwheat Zydeco (first zydeco concert)
Paul Personne (free on the Place Saint-Michel)
Paul Young (also free on the Place Saint-Michel)
Fabulous Troubadours (fast and furious rapping in French with a Toulouse accent. I left before the main band, Massilia Sound System, came on)
Jacques Dutronc (I remember a song about sleeping pills and an interview with a journalist in the middle)
Al Jarreau (outside at Fort Medoc, dodgy sound system)
G. Love and Special Sauce (can't remember a thing about it)
Kevin Coyne (laconic Englishman)
Marva Wright and the BMWs (one of many great blues concerts experienced at the now defunct "Cricketers")
Leon Redbone (he asked everyone to stop smoking)
Jean-Jacques Milteau (brillaint harmonicist)
Linton Kwesi Johnson (frankly better listened to at home)
Jacques Higelin X2 ( first time in La Rochelle someone set fire to my cotton blouse by mistake)
Miles Davies (at the Andernos Jazz Festival. The bench I was standing on collapsed.)

I'm sure I've forgotten a lot of "gigs" as we used to call them in our incredibly hip and trendy way. I wonder what happened to my ticket collection. I wonder what happened to my youth.

1 comment:

Ms Mac said...

I'm pretty sure I could on my fingers the amount of concerts I've been to.

There was Simple Minds in Glasgow (Excellent),
Jean Michele Jarre in London (also Excellent)
Wendy Matthews in Sydney (OKish)
The Beach Boys in Sydney (Open Air with the wind blowing the sound out to sea. Couldn't hear a note but it was a good day with friends)
Joe Cocker in Sydney (Most Excellent)
Do Ben Elton and Clive James in Sydney count?
and last but by no means least, Robbie Williams in Melbourne (Most definitely Excellent)

Counted back that would make it 8.
How sad.

Oh and I saw Bros in a nightclub before they became famous!

Confinement

Being confined indoors most of the day, just the four of us, is reminding me of the days when my children were wee and most of our weekends ...