Click here for a complete list of entries in the series “the first 23 gigs I can remember going to”. 7. Test Dept, Hackney Empire, 23/1/87 We’d come down to London to go to a Julian Cope gig in Westminster but it was sold out (perhaps unsurprisingly as it was around the time of “World Shut …
Click here for a complete list of entries in the series “the first 23 gigs I can remember going to”. 6) Marillion, Aylesbury Civic Centre 28/12/86 This was an Xmas fan club gig, in the band’s home town. Yes, I was in the Marillion fan club as well. Jesus. Probably only for a year though, if that …
Click here for a complete list of entries in the series “the first 23 gigs I can remember going to”. 4) Ultravox, Wembley Arena 5/11/86 Barrel-scraping time. This was Ultravox well after their peak, touring an album (U-Vox) that even their die-hard fans regard as rubbish. I had mixed feelings about going to the gig but …
Click here for a complete list of entries in the series “the first 23 gigs I can remember going to”. 2) Midge Ure Wembley Arena 23/12/85 Back to the Arena, two days before Xmas. I had another school friend who was a big Ultravox fan. He used to regularly curse Joe Dolce whose accordion-bothering “Shaddap You …
Click here for a complete list of entries in the series “the first 23 gigs I can remember going to”. So (deep breath) here is the first installment as promised… 1) Howard Jones, Wembley Arena, 17/4/85 My first ever gig, at the tender age of 15. Me and some mates from school. We were all very …
An occasional series of posts in which any semblance of my credibility is blown out of the water. As die-hard anti-capitalists, it’s curious how often music bloggers end up stuck in the rut of expanding their cultural capital. Yes yes, you saw it first, you know more, you have more records, you have a better …
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Warrior in woolworths Humble he may seem Behind his serville innocence He plots and he schemes Woolworths, one of the UK’s longest running high street general stores, has recently gone into administration. This has heralded much discussion of the guts being ripped out of the “traditional British High Street” – discussions which are underlined with …
Any minute now there will be an avalanche of nostalgia about acid house. Maybe there is already, but I am watching the wrong telly and reading the wrong magazines. 20 years is long enough for people to have jettisoned their revolutionary zeal and/or hedonism and Made A Career Out Of It. “Yes of course we …
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History is made at night: In Defence of Disco – Richard Dyer An interesting response to the focus on rock music, punk, folk, etc in 70s left circles. Beyond the Implode: “POPIST!” – a violent story for younger children. A salutary lesson in what happens if you: a) take that trajectory too far b) spend …
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