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Gigs 'n' Tours

robbeal

Hyper Poster
So, gigs, most people have been to one, quite a few have been to more, and expect there's quite a few people on here who've been to lots. Might as well discuss them then. What's the best gig you've been to? Are there any you look back on fondly for any reasons? Let us all know!
 

Titan

Mega Poster
Ive actually mixed more gigs than Ive just went to. My dads a 'sound man'. All the equipment is in a good ole volkswagen van, when hes called for a gig we just drive to it, set up all the stuff, sound check, do the gig, disassemble, get pay check, and there you go. We've done alot of random stuff, some guy named donovan, some band named Hot Tuna, not the heaviest of stuff. I havnt really been to many concerts to listen to the music. Ive seen some blue grass shows, an Iron Maiden gig last summer, seen some chiors (my moms usually singing), and thats it!
 

tks

Strata Poster
My favourite would be System of a Down last June.

It was a completely last minute decision (2 nites before) and i'm so glad I went. The atmosphere was amazing and even though i'm not a fan of all their music it was just so much fun.

Apart from being absolutely crushed when BYOB came on that is... We were standing, very close to the front.. :D
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
blimey.. .where to begin

favourite gig.. so many to choose from!

do i choose my first ever 'proper' Metal gig - Bruce Dickinson on the Chemical Wedding tour, at Glasgow G2... turning up on the door with no ticket, after only finding out about it that day, and drawing a tenner from the cash machine and getting a sausage supper... for ?1.50 only to find tickets where ?9! but getting in as the guy on the desk took pitty on me -

spending the rest of the night crushed against the barrior, but not loosing my center position. My hearing returned a few days later.

our a couple of years later back at the Garage (upstairs to G2) for Soulfly with Glassjaw and One Minute Silence supporting.... Again down the front in the 'pit' most of the gig, bruised and bashed... coming out soaked in sweat, with a huge grin...

Or Blaze @ the Cathouse on the main tour in 2000... second time seeing them but since the first gig in Sheffield i got to know the band well, ending sitting in the backstage area supping pints and chatting till they where ready to go on, and again down the front... when the band where really hungry for the music, Blaze with a fire to prove himself after Maiden.

Theres the gig i cant remember - Raging Speedhorn - a band i didnt like, but a lass i fancied at the time asked me if i was going... so i said yes. Anyways... meeting up with her and more of our mates - Glasgow has this kind of metal scene where everyone knew everyone else in a kind of seven degrees of seperation thing... so kind of knew alot of people through a lot of other people.. anyways, i was skint as my loan cheque for the term hadnt arrived so everyone was buying me bottles of Newcastle Broon... so come Speedhorns headline, i, well, lets say i had a bit of a sway on... and we where stood at the side of the crowd, and her b/f said to me 'how'd you fancy rushing the stage when 'horn come on?' 'ok' says i... last thing i remember of that gig is charging when they started playing... and much banging of heads and moshing for the rest of the gig

Saxon gigs have always been great ones... very much a party between the fans and the band.

the strangest thing tho... non of the Maiden gigs i have been to have ever got into the 'top gigs i remember' I do much prefer small club gigs... now ive seen maiden, what Bercy - Paris '99, Earls Court 00 + the 3 UK tour shows (they where good for the fan aspect Paris and the Tour i was on the Fan Club tour - several coach loads of fans travelling together + getting backstage afterwards at glasgow as my mate was friend with 'Bulldog' - One of Maiden's tour crew) but the gigs wherent 'stand out' gigs. Shepards Bush '00 was ok, but again the meet up before was excellent, but the gig was 'ok' but i was crushed so much... couldnt move! wasnt the usual good crowd atmosphere you normally get at a metal gig. Brixton was spoilt by my g/f at the time storming off 'cos the crowd was pushing'. and the last 2 maiden gigs were Manchester and Birmingham NEC on the Dance of Death tour... sound was atrocious at Manchester - so much treble it hurt.. but then Manchester MEN is crap for accoutics.



for stoner fun, Marshan - Mates of mine always were good. and Hawkwind are.. well... theres only one Hawkwind, and their gigs are surreal

that'll do for now me thinks
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
I havent been to many, only 8 concerts, but its more than quite a few people I know. Thats quite suprizing, id say....

My first concert was Slipknot with Fear Factory and Chimaira. It was an amazing night, I will never forget it. The venue was TINY, it was amazing. I think that place was like 500 people tops, and the concert wasnt even sold out. How they sold out an arena a few months later when they toured with Shadows Fall and Lamb of God ill never know.

My 2nd concert was HIM, I was in the balcony in the 3rd row. The place they played at was pretty small, as well, and the balcony gets within 25 feet of the stage, so almost all of the floor is covered by it. It was a great show, except that we couldnt hear Ville's low notes cause the mic was obviously not set up properly.

My next concert was at the same place, but this time it was Mudvayne with American Head Charge and Bloodsimple. It was a pretty good show. Mudvayne were relentless, they really knew how to get the crowd going. The pit was crazy, I was quite sore the next day, but it was fun as hell.

Then it was Ozzfest. Me and my friend skipped all of the 2nd stage simply because I wanted to see all of In Flames set. It turned out they got only 20 minutes on the main stage and played a total of 4 songs. What a disappointment. The rest was pretty damn good, though, with the exception of Iron Maiden which I wasnt feeling too much.


My friend wanted to go to the Green Day concert, so since he had tagged along with me for Ozzfest, I went with him. Suprizingly, I actually enjoyed myself. I was thinking it was going to be a bunch of 11 year olds, scenester ass holes, and parents, but suprizingly it wasnt that bad, at least in the pit. It was funny as hell, though, because when Flogging Molly came on, a decent sized pit broke out as soon as they started playing. When that happened, the idiotic parents and pussy scene kids ran the hell back. I swear to god I moved up at least 20 feet after that first song, haha. After Flogging Molly played, I overheard some, get this, dressed up, full make up and hair done mother with her daughter, in the god damn pit, bitching to her daughter on how everyone was pushing. I looked over to her and said 'Look bitch, this is a pit, what the **** did you expect? Its a rock show, you should of bought seats if you didnt want to deal with pushing, idiot.' She just looked at me in this how-dare-you glare, and said 'well I have never heard such rude comments in my life, you should be ashamed of yourself.' So I told her, '**** off you ****ing bitch, rot in hell, I dont like arrogant pieces of **** like you, just hope I dont see you when Jimmy Eat World starts.' and looked away. I dont know what she did, but she didnt say anything or bother me again.

The next concert was System of a Down. It was an unforgettable show, except that I had god damn seats instead of pit tickets. I was quite lucky, actually. I originally had tickets in the farthest back section of the arena, but I ended up selling those to some kid that wanted to go really badly, and I got tickets in the section nearest to the stage, for face value, too. I dont know how, but ticketmaster actually had a pair of tickets in that section after the entire show was suppsosedly sold out. The Mars Volta played as well, and they were effing awesome.

Last month I saw Disturbed at the same place I saw HIM and Mudvayne. It was a great show, although I was disappointed because Dave, the lead singer, had a cold and couldnt scream or sing like he normally does. They also cut the setlist down by 15 minutes, but I guess I should be greatful, since they cancelled their show in Sacramento the next night.

Most recently, only a little more than a week ago, actually, I saw In Flames. Thank god, too, after being so disappointed from only seeing them for 20 minutes at Ozzfest, seeing them in a tiny venue (1000 max, id say) headlining was amazing. They even played some songs from their very old album, Lunar Strain, I was impressed as hell. They put on such a good show, I loved every minute of it. What I didnt like, though, was Trivium. Besides their cover of Walk by Pantera that they played, I totally hated them. I dont know why, I just couldnt get into them. Devildriver and Zao were awesome, though.

Wow, that is quite a long post....
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
The best show i ever went to was at the Troubador (sp?). Youth Group was headlining, a sweet little indie band from Australia. They were great, but the reason i loved this show most was because of the opening band. Gliss. Nobody was there yet so it was just my friends and I and this little photographer lady. They started playing and nothing but sweet love came to my ears. It was great. They had some amazing songs, and I recorded a couple with my friends camera. After them Patrick Park played who was pretty good. Then a band called the red west who were pretty sweet. Finally Youth group came outand played for a bit. By then it was totally packed by I was sitting on the edge of the stage the entire time. :)
 

Ben

CF Legend
I've been to a grand total of one gig. It was Meatloaf in 2003 (I think it was 03 anyway) in Birmingham. It was excellent but dragged at the end.

I don't like gigs, they cost loads and they'd mainly bore me.
 

AeRo

Hyper Poster
Mmmm....where to begin?

I used to go to loads of concerts when I was living around Edinburgh....around 2 a week - mostly new bands.

In terms of my favourite concerts, these are the ones whioch were most memorable:

Harry Chapin - Was lucky enough to see him a few times..... 3-4 hours performance with a 15 minute interval - incredibly energised performance.

John Prine - Have seen most of his visits to this country, amazing guy, and congratulations to him on his Grammy the other night for best contemporary folk album - beating the Likes of Ry Cooder and Bruce Springsteen.

Iris Dement - Saw her when she was supporting John Prine - wonderful songwriter with an amazing voice. Helped her carry her guitar across to the hotel :angel:

Ry Cooder - Lucky enough to have seen him once, want to see him again. He was playing with David Lindley, his daughter and Ry's son. Just an awesome master of the stringed instrument!

Jean Michel Jarre - Saw him at London Docklands....crap night with the rain but superb entertainment. I reall was to see him again! :D

Elton John - Only seen him once many years ago, but he was pretty good.

Billy Joel - again only seen him once and he was terrific.

Meat Loaf - Meh one of the worst concerts ever - was like watching a pub singer - he really is nothing without Steinmans direction.

Paul Simon - I saw the Born at the Right Time tour in Glasgow. He was first rate and I would love to see him again.

Don McLean - Saw him twice and he is a great songwriter and performer. One of the few who go on stage alone for the whole evening. The second time I saw him he was rather jaded and past his best.

Big Country - Being a local badn to me, Stuart Adamson hails from my home town of Dunfermline I saw them a few times. A good night out but not one of my favourite bands.

Billy Connolly - Seen him a few times....not much to say except he is always funny as fook!

Proclaimers - They come from Fife, they are great entertainment and I have seen them a few times now.

I think that covers the main people I have seen. People I still want to see are Randy Newman, Radiohead and probably a few of the newer bands.
 

robbeal

Hyper Poster
First gig I went to was Oasis in 2000. Playing at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton, it was a 6 hour job, because they were supported by Johnny Marr's Healers and the Happy Mondays, who were both quite good actually. The Oasis gig itself was great, but I think it kinda lost something being in such a big venue.

The year after, I saw Green Day at the MEN. That was a great lively gig, nice and enjoyable, as Billie Joe's a cracking showhost, and I was going through my Green Day phase at that time anyway. Support from the Bouncing Souls was pretty decent too.

Saw Feeder a few months later in '02 at Manchester Academy. Good to see a band like Feeder in a relatively small venue, but I wasn't feeling too well that night, and spent most of the night leaning against the back wall. Plus, they were supported by Mark B & Blade :lol:

In '01, I went to the V Festival too, the highlight of that being I got to see the Chili Peppers play, bloody awesome too. They played nearly a 3hr set.

Around this point I went to see The Levellers too, and that surprised me, because it was a very good, atmospheric gig. Playing at Warrington Parr Hall, we had seats, but meh, that doesn't bother me, and their music, which is often quite celtic-tinged, just made the atmosphere very remberable.

2003 was a good year, as I went to the Leeds Festival, saw the Music live for the the first time, which ended up with me falling in love with that band. Also saw decent performances from The Cooper Temple Clause and Less Than Jake. Later on in the year, I saw Stereophonics & the All-American Rejects too. Stereophonics' show was cracking, and some of the encore was really brilliant. Supported by the man from my hometown, the Charlatans' Tim Burgess.

Since then i've only been to one gig, and that was to see the Music again, just over a year ago. They provided a bloody awesome live show once again, with so much energy. By this point though, album 2 had come out, and other than Freedom Fighters and Welcome To The North, that album didn't hold up quite as well on stage.

Next gig planned is the Subways in April, should be a good 'un.
 

Dave

CF Legend
Well im not a big giggin person, id love to be, just i don't seem to get the tickets in time.

Ive been to these gigs:

- Muse (Earls Court 2004)
- The Subways
- The Dynamics x2
- Supergrass
- Blur

I think thats who ive seen live, i might be seeing Nine Black Alps next sunday (19th) as my friend can't go and is giving me a ticket, will only go if someone else i know is going as id be on my ownseome
 

robbeal

Hyper Poster
^Dave, go! NBA will be an awesome live band, i've just missed out on tickets to go see them in Liverpool!
 

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Best gig I've ever been to was Pink Floyd down at Earls Court. It's the one that the Pulse Album was recordedc from. Awesome gig and it just went on and on and on, getting bigger and birghter and more spectacular all the time.

Everthing was superb. The performance was immense, and all the effects and integration of the lighting, inflatable pigs, lasers, the works. Stunning! I think each show cost something like ?1,000,000 to put on. It bankrupted Pink Floyd, which is why they only tour now every ten years or so (they're overdue, bastards!).

I'd have loved to have seen Jarre at Docklands AeRo, you swine! His shows look great, but unless you're there, you really are missing out.

Other than that, I've seen loads of great gigs down at the Wulfrun/Civic in Wolverhampton. It's a smallisj venue for bands on their way to the big time, or on their way back down from it. Garbage were excellent there just after the release of their first album, and I saw The Stranglers there too and they were actually fantastic (and I'm not a fan).

Leeds 2004 was great from what I can remember of it. Highlights being Auf Der Maur, White Stripes and Offspring.

I saw the Levellers the same year as you Rob, only in Stoke... They were alright I suppose...

Erm... I'm thinking now and I've seen so many bands it's unreal. I used to drive the uni mini-bus and my payment for taking people was a free ticket to the gig. The 1996 Maralyn Manson tour was the best, but only because we got there and he'd cancelled! Result! :p

If you ever want to go to an atmospheric gig, I recommend New Model Army. Their gigs are just full of heaving fans going mental. It's a mad atmosphere and not like anything else you'll ever experience.

I've seen a couple of good bands in Stafford too. All about Eve did an acoustic set ther ewhich was good, really warm and cosy with lots of audience interaction. I also went to see Steeyleye Span there, and though I'm no lover of English Folk music, they were actually superb, and didn't do "the hat song" :)

Enough yet? Other great gigs include The Mission, Machine Head, Type-o Negative, Depeche Mode, Sting and Aerosmith.

Not so good ones include Megadeth and erm... That;s about it really! :)

[Edit] Joe Satriani goes into not so good list too. an hour and a half of guitar solo... Really dry, no atmosphere and the NEC full of guitar snobs... :p Stuart Hamm on the other hand, what a bassist... Stunning performance!
 

Martyn

Giga Poster
Living where I lived, and liking the music I like meant it was very hard to go and see anyone I really liked.
Last July I went to Global Gathering and saw a load of awesome DJs; Above and Beyond, Markus Schulz, Mauro Picotto, Tiesto, Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk.
Because DJs tend to perform in clubs, it was always hard to get to see anyone when I was living in Ipswich, because the nearest clubs that would accomodate anyone I liked would be in London.
Now, I live a lot closer to Birmingham, so I'm sure I'll head down to Godskitchen at some point to get to see some more!
I reckon I'll be going to Global Gathering again this year aswell.
 

AeRo

Hyper Poster
furie said:
I'd have loved to have seen Jarre at Docklands AeRo, you swine! His shows look great, but unless you're there, you really are missing out.

Yeah, sponsored by the Daily Mirror and Mr Maxwell :shock:

The dvd Jarre in China comes pretty close to the 'being there' experience. Maybe no fireworks but all the rest is there, recored in DD and DTS 5.1 surround. It is worth a watch if you get the chance :rockout3:
 

The Claw

Hyper Poster
brainwash said:
I havent been to many, only 8 concerts,

That's 8 times as many concerts that I've been to lol!

Anyway, if you haven't figured it out because you're either lazy or bad at maths I've only been to one concert. Back in 2004 I saw the Eagles at their Farewell Tour I (and I suspect they'll be more to come since they put a I at the end of it). It's been my only live experience of something like this so I found it to be insanely good (or even extremely insanely good when everyone was bumped about 10 seats to the front I was no more than 7 rows away from the stage oora!).

Oh and now for something random:

brainwash said:
Wow, that is quite a long post....

I've seen longer from you, lol!
 

Lain

Giga Poster
Hmm

Hell is for Heroes - they were good, but not my cup of tea, had a laugh though.

JJ72 - same as above, only not as good.

Dragonforce supported by Edguy - Dragonforce were amazing, but what suprised me was that Edguy, a band I'd never heard of completely blew them away. This was a great gig.

Reel Big Fish supported by Zebrahead - Zebrahead aren't my thing at all, but nevertheless, they were very good, and I enjoyed myself muchly, but Reel Big Fish were absolutely amazing, if you haven't, you must go see them!
I especially liked the part where they played Enter Sandman \m/

:lol:
 

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
^ Reel Big Fish were good on the morning (dunno which) at Leeds. I'm not a big fan, but they're good performers and the music is really upbeat and fun! :)
 

robbeal

Hyper Poster
furie said:
Stuart Hamm on the other hand, what a bassist... Stunning performance!

Man i'd love to watch Stu Hamm play. I actually mean 'watch' too, because quite how he gets sounds like that out of a bass guitar is beyond me at times. I can play the beginning of his version of Moonlight Sonata, but after a while it just gets silly!
 

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
robbeal said:
Man i'd love to watch Stu Hamm play. I actually mean 'watch' too, because quite how he gets sounds like that out of a bass guitar is beyond me at times. I can play the beginning of his version of Moonlight Sonata, but after a while it just gets silly!

Six strings ! He uses it like a guitar and plays chords! I'm sure it's a physical impossibility, but he manages it somehow... Anyway, I like talented guitarists, but let's face it, they're ten a penny. However, a true genius is whjen you see somebody like him play an instrument like a bass and make it sound so awesome. It's a difficult instrument to play really well, and he's a maestro!
 

Harvey

Hyper Poster
Iron Maidens set at the 2005 Leeds festival was great, it was one of the last dates of "The Early Days" tour, showcasing their first four albums (all written before I was born).

As usual Maiden put on a terrific show, great lighting, set pieces and plenty of pyro, coupled with some GREAT songs that dont get played as often these days (Revelations, Phantom of the Opera and Murders in the Rue Morgue stand out), it was a top notch gig. I've seen Maiden perform four times, and this was definatly the best performance yet.

It was a completely last minute decision (2 nites before) and i'm so glad I went. The atmosphere was amazing and even though i'm not a fan of all their music it was just so much fun.

Agreed, I saw them at Leeds in 2003 and Manchester in 2005, the same tour as you, they ROCKED! We had a guy whos really bad on his feet with us, so we were in the seats, but I still danced like a mad 'un, good times! :)
 
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