I’ve generally adopted a rule of thumb for live gigs – the bigger the crowd, the more disappointing the experience. The other golden rule is never expect your favourite tunes to be performed as you’d want to hear them – that way, you’ll never be disappointed.
Having said that, some of the most memorable live gigs I’ve seen have been by the following bands:
The Style Council (mainly because I’d “taken a trip” beforehand)
The Church (deafening – no wonder Kilbey has severe tinnitus)
The Cruel Sea
TISM (once, at the much loved Trade Union Club in 1989)
Blur
The Dandy Warhols
The Prodigy
Dr Feelgood (three times)
Honourable mentions – the Moffs, the Happy Hate Me Nots. Seen many times in pubs across good ol’ Surry Hills.
Venues are often a very important factor in whether or not a gig is enjoyable. Don’t know how many of you ever had the pleasure of seeing a gig at Selina’s in Coogee, but my goodness, it was an experience and not necessarily in a good way. The Prodigy gig for example, was in January (’97?) and by the time we left, the auditorium would have been about 45 degrees, complemented by 93.1% humidity. We were so stuffed we actually blundered across to the beach and utilised the showers there (probably around midnight). There is nothing quite like catching a taxi from Coogee to Newtown at 12:30am on a Sunday morning wearing soaking wet black Levi’s drainpipes.
The most disappointing gig? Gil Scott-Heron, 1995. Did not play any of his signature tunes, instead he bemused the audience by solely playing the tracks from his latest album, none of which I (and presumably most of the audience) had ever heard before.
The other side of live performances are studio gigs, where the songs will often most closely resemble their original recording. I thoroughly recommend Cats have a look through the catalogue of “Later … With Jools Holland” if you’re interested in catching some absolute classics performed live by just about any artist of any note since 1992.
Anyway, enough self-indulgence from me – here’s the two intro songs.
Simple Minds – Glittering Prize, Newcastle 1982 (definitive line up)
INXS – Never tear us apart, Later Archive (1994)
Let’s see some interesting and obscure gigs posted in the comments, Cats!
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