George's Gig Diary - 1980's

Fantasic comedy band, the best thing that came out of punk rock. Most of the show was taken up by banter between audience and the two villians of the piece, Scabies and Sensible, who just stood at the front of the stage drinking and trading insults. The singer, Vanian, just walked off and left them to it. The music? Great pop songs, which left thier punk days far behind. This was the year before Happy Talk and the star Sensible, so the band had nothing to lose. The League were fab too, great fun.

Number Of The Beast tour. In fact, this was the first London gig with new boy vocalist Bruce Bruce. :) I think he did OK, I had seen Bruce in Sampson and thought him a great talent. Powerful gig, they really tried hard to make it work. Later, the aftershow party upstairs. I didnt have a ticket, but as usual we just walked in, and the band would greet us with that "Oh no, it's them again" look. This was the last time I said good luck to Harris & Co, and sent them on their merry way to superstardom! I was quite proud to see them blossom from that pub band all those years ago. A lovely free bar ensued, and after an hour, old singer Dianno walked in! Would there be a punch up? No, it seemed all amicable. Fantastic night, especially the pie and chips afterwards!

Special Forces tour. First time I saw Vince, he was on another solo tour, and hit London for first time in 7 years. Thin drug riddled guy with big false teeth, going thru his japanese whore phase. It was majestic to see my icon, maybe hero worship for a few songs. Not many props. New songs were bad. And then... hey.. I really miss the ALICE COOPER BAND. The guys he sacked so he could go solo. That was what I really wanted to see, not this solo tour. At the end, Vince took the knitting needles out of his hair, which dropped to his waist. "Did you think I'd cut it?" He said, to fun effect. I didnt care. Where were Bruce, Buxton, Dunaway, and Smith?

90125 Tour. Maybe the most boring Yes gig I ever went to. Although to give them credit, they were riding high on a No 1 USA single, so I guess it was an important tour, but the band tried to upgrade all their arrangments, which I'm afraid I found quite a failure. Not even my photos were any good. Maybe I should have upgraded my instamatic...

Only a couple of years before he died, it was great to see Phil close up in a small unpacked little pub. And what an icon he was, standing there before us. Looking a bit puffed up, a tad drowsy, but still fantastic. Played a superb sweaty set, and the punters were in awe of this true rock hero. What a loss he was to the world.

Unforgettable Fire tour. A bit boring, i'm afraid, long before U2 experimented with a sonic light and video display, they insisted on black minimalist. Dark Stage, low lights... Most of the crowd waited and hoped for a Blood Red Sky set which they didnt get. It all seemed rather sleepy. Otherwise, the band left us with '40', which everyone sang on their way to the tube station. Marvellous.

Poor old Connolly. Sacked from the Sweet, and already, by this stage, looking slightly ill. His hands were shaking and he couldnt hold up this jug of water. Oh no! And yet it was great to see him gigging at last. I guess it was a shame for Sweet fans though. We would have all rather seen the band carry on as the original line up forever. But here Brian was, yet another solo act doing the rounds. I was dancing!!!

Ride The Lightning tour. There was a hell of a buzz about Metallica, mostly, as usual, provided by the metallists bible Kerrappp. Inevitably, the bar area there was full of said rag's journalists all viewing their proteges. Sorry to say that the supports were boring, so I left and went next door, which in those days was quite a happening pub. Later to return to see a Metallica thrash gig, which was great fun. This was the era that I would gain an interest in any speed thrash type band, in contrast to my more subtler likes.

This was a blisteringly great Monsters Of Rock festival, with a magnificent line up. And what an interesting social occasion, as everyone from London seemed to have gone the 160 miles oop north to this racetrack wasteland. AC/DC, by now committing worldwide domination, were perfectly suited to the largest gigs, their songs now being giagantic and all consuming. Back with the flat capped geordie now on Vocals, they were on the top level of their game, and it really really worked - They were glorious. Back down the bill, the Crue I remember as being rather glamourous at the time. Van Halen were at their peak too, with Roth still the OTT front man. Quietly making an appearance on the bill, was Ozzy. So late that his name wasnt even on the T-shirts, but they found room for him mid bill, and it was marvellous, even in full sunlight. Something else to watch Ozzy command the biggest of audiences, and he would raise his hands as ever with peace signs, and you would look back at the crowd and everyone to the back would be copying him. Nobody else that day could have that sort of spell. What with Ozzy's banter and those songs, it was quite a surprise to see him usurp everyone and be the talking point of the pubs for weeks afterwards, where all agreed he had the best reaction of the day. It surely was captivating, believe me, and made the concert for me. Strange end to concert day though, was when I got to the car park, and the van had gone! They had left without me. Blimey. Amazingly enough, the first car I asked for a lift agreed, and we passed the rogue van on the motorway! What rotters, thought I, but at least I was back home before them!

This was a exciting gig, no matter what you might have read. Years before U2's collosal concerts of light and sound and TV screens, it was all done by the Sputniks, and they did quite a good job on a low budget. Maybe the music was a bit cheap, but the ideas were good, and colourful, and creative. Lots of audio/ visual samples and effects. But it was mainly the show that was good, and the imagery. A sort of development of the psychedelic which led to the all-out Hawkwind light show, and this was the next step. It's amazing how most stage sets nowadays look like this one did back in good old 1986...

Constrictor tour. First big stage show in UK since 1975, but this time it was less caberet and more horror, which made up to some degree for the loss of the original band. It was only when Alice left the stage during certain musical interludes did you realise that there was actually no-one from the original Alice Cooper Band on stage at all, just a bunch of session guys, like a tribute band, and it felt like there was no point in watching. This would only work for me if the old band were there, and so this left a bad taste. Shame really.

My introduction to hardcore music, and what fun it was! I'd heard some material, read 'Maximum Rock N'Roll', and heard about these sunday afternoon sessions at dear old Omfugs. This was like thrash metal but extra violent on the songs and on the dancefloor. Extreme left wing lyrics and ghastly alternative dress, it made for quite a show, with more guts and pain than punk ever had. I wuz hooked! Some poor skinhead stage dived onto his face, so the music stopped and he was carried away, 2 songs later, the same guy, absolutely covered in blood, was up on stage again, and this time was caught by the crowd, thankfully. What a brilliant afternoon. Three nutty psychotic bands for $3, and it was a shame I couldnt have attended every sunday!

Invisible Touch tour. I very pleasant and warm evening. Definitley the centre of the world that night. Happiness for myself and thousands of others. Preceeded by a documentary of the band, with videos etc. Oh yes, and that singer Paul Young, who I found to be terribly boring. Sorry, Paul!!

A splended stage-diving evening at the Clarendon, Hammersmith, a sorely missed venue on the circuit, now sadly bulldozed to dust. And it was there that I had my first taste of hardcore on UK soil, thanks to the great MDC, which stood for Millions of Dead Cops. How cute. Anyway, they were on the cutting edge of hardcore music entertainment, and this gig was absolutely brilliant and exciting and the music was so bloody violent. Like punk, but no spitting. More like alternative goth and squatter punk. More refined, if you like. More well read. Er... and loads of stage diving. One of my fave MDC songs was 'Corporate DeathBurger' about McDonalds, was performed with precision. A time when lefty politics had a bit of sense. Support band were Civilised Society?, the question mark being part of the name. The were like a hardcore goth band fronted by a sort of alternative Kylie & Jason. So brilliant I bought their album. What a sweaty night that was!!!

Joshua Tree tour. Still no lightshow, no TV screens, no props. I think this was the last tour before U2 turned every show into an epic. At one point in this gig, Bono said to the crowd "Hey.. we dont need no video screens" and the crowd whooped in overcool appreciation. Like hell they didnt need them.. In a massive USA stadium you couldnt tell who was on stage unless you were actually on it! Never before would a gianormous set of screens been more welcome as at this gig. Even the lights were minimal. Good set though. Actually, the american audience are so noisy, and they make any gig more exciting, even though they insist on eating hot dogs throughout the performance. Oh yes, nice weather, and as at all USA gigs there was a car park, er, parking lot party before and after the concert. Yeoewwwww!!!

Who are the Stupids? They were a big part of scene of hardcore music in London during the eighties. The Clarendon was a brilliant venue, standing where the Hammersmith bus station and shops are now. Upstairs at the Clarendon, a wonderful huge venue with sweat running down the walls, with the occasional Klub Foot night, with loads of bands in succession. Support tonight included Napalm Death, who did a song lasting a second!

Miserable weather, so it was such a good idea that I took the bike and a tent. During the day, the wind got worse, and one of the (cheap) video screens blew down, leaving one swaying in the breeze. At one point, there was a rush for the stage, and we were swept along. Why? Guns N'Roses were on, and there was such a buzz about this new band. I only recognised a few numbers, but they certainly looked cool. Later on, Kiss were on, and were jolly good indeed. And then my dear old Maiden. Seventh Son tour. I had never missed a tour, and I thought this was one of the better albums. Quite a good set, and it was great to see them at the very top, after all these years of seeing them. There they were, 100,000 people, and on the biggest stage. Marvellous. Ah, the comforts of a tent, and cheese sandwiches! This was a landmark gig for Maiden, as they were never the same again. Probably the first time the press was to drag them down for their efforts, and Maiden unusually reacted by regressing their act and recordings. Shame, because I liked the direction, and never imagined Maiden would be told what to do.

What a surprise this gig was. I had a thing about hardcore music, ie, a genre of output mainly done by gangs of american skinheads, including Henry Rollins. But it was all mostly fast, aggressive, fun, violent. And FNM were always mentioned, so I thought I'd try them out, and wandered into an empty Marquee, hoping it wouldnt be that bad! It's quite rare for me to find some band I like purely by chance, but this was that occassion. It was only when they played their first song at this gig, did I realise that they were more a melodic progressive and rather marvellous rock band. Fronted by some wild mohican clad punk named Chuck, they certainly were colourful, and did a brilliant rendition of Sab's War Pigs on the night. Bispectacled Jim Martin had the perfect guitar sound, even though tonight he had forgotten his glasses. I was an instant convert!!!

Yes, under the guise of AWBH, thanks to the fact that they'd sold on the rights to the name. Nice seats, nice atmos, and interesting songs. Never as good as a greatest hits set, but couldnt complain. Certainly better than the 1984 debacle.