The Guardian’s Music Blog invites people to nominate their top gigs of all time. Predictably for the Guardian, most of those listed by their hand-picked pundits in the linked article are the predictable tiresomely overrated suspects like bloody Morrissey.
Like some other commenters, I can’t restrict it to just one gig. My gig going career seems to fit into two periods, in the early to mid 80s, and the last 2-3 years, with only a handful of shows in the years in between. Nowadays I tend to shun stadium extravaganzas for smaller club gigs where you can actually see the band’s faces.
I’ve chosen three from each era.
Back in the 80s:
Iron Maiden at the Reading Festival in 1980. Back when they were raw and hungry, still with their original singer Paul Di’anno. They combined the pure energy of punk with the precision and complexity of rock in a way nobody else was doing at the time. They would soon go on to conquer the world; this was one of the very last gigs they ever played when they weren’t top of the bill.
Pink Floyd doing The Wall at Earls Court in 1981. Nothing I’ve seen since has rivalled it for sheer spectacle, although Rammstein have come close.
Gillan and Budgie at the Top Rank, Reading, 1982. Gillan were one of those bands that shouldn’t be judged by their cheesy singles and patchy albums; you really had to seem them live to appreciate them. All the band were both great musicians and real characters, and they played with a tremendous amount of energy. Great as Gillan were, the Welsh power trio Budgie (one of the most underrated British bands of the era) gave them a close run for their money.
And more recently:
The reformed Van Der Graaf Generator at Manchester Bridgewater Hall, 2005. Amazing to hear such a massive sound from just four guys. Were they this good in their 70s heyday?
IQ at the Mean Fiddler, London, 2006. IQ don’t play live very much in their home country, because their brand of full-blown symphonic prog-rock remains deeply unfashionable. It’s our loss. Damn the fashion police!
Mostly Autumn, Crewe Limelight, 2006. While some of their shows in the earlier part of the year were a bit hit and miss, by the end of the year they were firing on all cylinders. Their Xmas shows at Crewe are always good, this one was an absolute blinder.
So much for the theory that your experiences from the ages 15-25 form the most vivid memories of your life. Those last two gigs are both within the last six weeks.
In your gigs from the first era I agree with Floyd and the Gillan/Budgie gig. If Nightwing, who were also on the bill, hadn’t dropped out, it would have been even better.
It’s a shame I only got to see Maiden when they played Reading the next time on the Number of the Beast Tour. It was all precise, formulaic and sterile by then.
However, I think the last night Thin Lizzy played Hammersmith Odeon tops the lot. Complete with Gary Moore, Brian Robertson and Eric Bell.
I’ve seen Skinny Puppy live, once, during their Too Dark Park tour – it was, in a word, overwhelming.
The biggest gig of all was Iron Maiden at Rock in Rio!
‘Biggest’ and ‘Best’ aren’t the same thing, except to a Texan
I saw Floyd on the “Dark Side Of The Moon” tour and they’re certainly up there in my top gigs. Maiden I’ve seen twice, most recently doing “A Matter Of Life And Death” live; good as that was, I preferred their looser approach on the “Brave New World” tour.
Now I need to think of my own favourites….