The sad sight of the long-closed Top Rank Suite in Reading being demolished.

It was the venue for my very first gig, Hawkwind on their Levitation tour, with Ginger Baker on drums, and NWOBHM power trio Vardis as the support.

Another memorable gig was Gillan and Budgie a few months later. Gillan are one of those bands music history seems to have forgotten; though their albums were often patchy and always sounded rushed, they really came in to their own live. And at that gig Budgie’s performance was closer to that of a co-headliner than a support.

Those were the days.