Metamatic Forums Socialising The Green Room Landmark gigs

Nice thread which I've only just spotted...

I've been fairly selective in live concerts over the years, and have rarely been disppointed by my choices but one or two in particular stand out for various reasons:

Japan : Lancaster University 1983
- their 'farewell' tour, tickets were more expensive than usual (all of £8.00 I seem to remember), but it was worth every penny. Great sound and they were great live - Mick Karn moving around the stage like some clockwork mannequin, Jansen palying the drums effortlessly with his headphones on (he must have been one of the first to have done that) and of course Sylvian crooning away in baggy trousers. Magical.

China Crisis - Lancaster Sugar House, Spring 1983
- very intimate gig, in a student club, only a handful of people there to see the band - still a two piece, but it was very memorable. "Tragedy and Mystery" tour so they'd already been on TOTP and in Smash Hits and NME - even more of a thrill to meet them afterwards at the bar. Very down to earth guys, as they still are. Very scouse. Support: Howard Jones!


Depeche Mode - Bologna, 1984
- Some Great Reward tour, great to see them after being a fan since the beginning. Gahan had a great stage presence and was already doing a lot of strutting up and down getting the crowd going. Also first 'date' with Mrs MemberD!


John Foxx & Louis Gordon - Cento, Italy 2007
Had to mention this one, not least because it was what got me back into Foxx and his music, and I relaised I had a lot of catching up to do, having had only a passing interest in the man since The Garden. very special too as I got to meet the man (and Louis) backstage afterwards and have a short chat, totally surreal experience.


also memorable (but less so): Echo & the Bunnymen (1983 - loads of "smoke" about), Ultravox (Brighton, 1984), Gary Numan (Warriors tour - made me realise it was *definitely* the end of the road for him and me!), David Sylvian & Robert Fripp (1992?), Ryuichi Sakamoto (2009), Depeche Mode (2009 - memorable in a 'negative' way, didn't do much for me and I decided that stadium concerts were not for me).

This is a great story - I love it.

With regards to lead vs support, I had a similar experience with a gig at Wembley - Erasure with Heaven 17. Heaven 17 stole the show for me, and was going to go home but hung around anyway - I do like Erasure btw. The main band weren't bad - actually they were very good, but I went to see the support, and they were better!!!

Oooh - another good story.

Lead vs support...?

I saw Culture Club in the early days, completely outclassing the main act - A Flock Of Seagulls. Hardly surprising I guess, but Boy George was an "unknown" then.

People in Sheffield still talk of the time OMD booked the Sheffield Arena as part of their "Liberator" tour circa 1993-4. With hundreds of tickets unsold, Andy McCluskey called up Gary Numan asking him to do a support slot (as a return favour from when OMD supported Numan back in 1980). Numan agreed, the tickets were sold and by all accounts, not only did Numan blow OMD off stage but two thirds of the audience got up and left as soon as Numan had finished!

mmm.. "Liberator" . .lean times indeed for OMD and fans.. and Gary was planning his comeback, n'est-ce pas?