Metamatic Forums Socialising The Green Room Landmark gigs

...you know, those concerts that were just so exciting and amazing that you don't think anything will ever be quite the same afterwards?

Well, I thought I'd share a couple of these experiences, taken from some previous blog posts of mine...

David Bowie - Outside tour, Sheffield Arena, 3rd December 1995

1995 was a good year for music, particularly if you were a David Bowie fan.

September saw the release of Bowie's "art crimes" concept album, 1.Outside. Indeed, many fans saw the album as an art crime in itself, whilst others such as myself, were absolutely blown away by it. The sheer diversity and power of the music, combined with some of Bowie's most interesting lyrics, was unlike anything else at the time, and still stands out as unique, 15 years later. Reissues in recent years proved this, leading to reappraisals and overdue praise from critics who slammed it on it's original release.

But aside from the album being of significant artistic influence to me, it culminated in seeing Bowie live for the first time, and that concert was one of those iconic moments, scarcely to be relived.

I remember how much it was raining outside Sheffield Arena in the evening of December 3rd 1995. With Morrissey having pulled out of his mismatched support slot on the tour (fortunately for me...), a voice echoed out from the tannoy system, announcing that "David Bowie will be performing". As we made our way through the heavy rain towards the entrance of the venue, it seemed hard to believe that in just a couple of hours' time, we would be standing just a few metres away from a legend.

Bowie crept on to the stage during the odd choice of opening song, "A Small Plot of Land", and immediately all eyes were transfixed on the tall thin guy with the funny eyes, on stage in front of us. "Odd" was perhaps the best word to describe the show, as Bowie carefully avoided playing any greatest hits, settling instead for the likes of "Scary Monsters", "Moonage Daydream", "Boys Keep Swinging" and the terrific "Jump They Say". This conscious decision to avoid the commercial side to his music, made the while show all the more fascinating to the genuine Bowie geek (and undoubtedly frustrating for the old timers).

Something strange happened as I gazed in awe upon my idol - my left leg started to twitch, and soon the right one joined in the fun, as I began to dance seemingly beyond my own control.

Such amazing music and a flawless performance from Mr Bowie, alongside on-stage theatrics, made this not only a gig to remember, but one of the most exciting shows I've ever been to. The kind that when you walk out, you question whether it was real, and think about it for days (or in my case years) on end afterwards.

Gary Numan - Shepherd's Bush Empire, September 1998

It's always a treasured memory, the first time you get to see one of your musical idols play live. Today I was thinking back to my first Gary Numan gig, on his home turf of London, back in the Autumn of 1998.

Not only was it my first Numan gig, but also my first visit to London, which seemed endlessly huge to the 20-year-old me. I remember lunch consisting of a hastily grabbed McDonald's at Shepherds Bush, just near the Shepherds Bush Empire, where Mr Numan was due to appear. It was also here that the first Numanoid of the day was sighted.

Then came the realisation that the B&B that my friend and I were staying at, wasn't actually in Shepherds Bush, or anywhere close by for that matter. It was in Acton, which after an hour of walking, we realised wasn't reachable on foot! A swift Tube journey later and there we were. Time to rest and change, then head back to the Tube, which took us just about to the venue's doorstep.

Dress code for Numan gigs is generally black – all black. I realised this as I stood in the crowd in my new White shirt, feeling like a lightbulb. Despite giving my hair a side parting and making sure my earring was in place, I still felt like an outsider at some sort of exclusive club - of which it was compulsory to come sporting one of Gary's various looks. The hundreds of lookalikes was quite an unusual sight for a Numan gig novice as I was at the time. And after a little support band called Dollshead had deafened us, it was time for Numan.

The rush of adrenaline as the lights dimmed was incredible, and I recall that spine-tingling feeling as the band came onstage, all looking freshly exhumed, and starting the set with a new version of the Tubeway Army track, "Friends".

Wearing a black coat to the floor, Numan drifted on to the stage like a gothic Dalek, as we gazed in awe. And it was LOUD. But what a thrill to hear tracks like "Metal" and "Down in the Park" played live alongside tracks from Sacrifice and his new album at the time, Exile. having missed the Exile tour the previous year, this one-off show really made up for that.

However, the most surreal moment was yet to come, and that was Gary inviting a special guest on to the stage to play bass on "Cars". And on walked Martin Clunes. Seeing Clunes' wobbly, rubbery face before me, performing alongside electronic music legend Gary Numan was a sight to remember!!

By the end of the gig, we no longer felt like outsiders. The atmosphere at this show on Gary's home turf had been amazing, and out of almost all the Numan tours I've been to since then, this is the one which always stands out.

Peter Gabriel - Secret World tour, Sheffield Arena, 24th May 1993

This was not only my first ever gig, at the age of fifteen, but the one gig, which did feel like it had changed everything. Having only been into Gabriel's music for a few months, after discovering him the previous autumn, it was hard to believe that I'd soon be staring at this amazing bloke who had already become my idol. I remember sitting in art class at school, daydreaming out of the window into the sunny skies, wondering what the show would be like and what he would play.

The stage set was unique; a circular stagesat in the centre of the auditorium and was connected by a moving catwalk to a square stage at the rear, overlooked by an enormous rotating screen, which would project close-ups of Gabriel or visuals during the performance. Above the round stage was a huge dome, that would eventually lower itself over the stage during “Secret World”.

Gabriel opened the set with “Come Talk To Me”, performed from inside a red British telephone box. Other props used in the show included a life-size tree (during “Shaking the Tree”) and a specially designed head-camera, used during “Digging in the Dirt” to capture unslghtly close-up shots of Gabriel’s eyes, nose and tonsils! Gabriel performed new song "Lovetown" on the early European dates, emerging from within the stage on a bed, in a motel room setting.

The setlist comprised mostly of songs from the Us album and Shaking the Tree compilation, such as the title track, "Solsbury Hill", "Biko" and of course, "Sledgehammer".

Everything about it blew me away, and left me obsessed with every aspect of the tour for months to come, as I gradually bought up the gabriel back catalogue and discovered his music. And at the time I had no idea it would be another ten years until the next tour!!

Same Guy, Different Venue.

Hi Alex - interesting thread to start!

For me, it was being a very young 16 year old and going up to London for my first ever gig. And what a start! Gary Numan's farewell tour (the first one) - 1981!

Wembley Arena was the venue, and I was looking forward to this for weeks in advance.

What a show, in the most complete sense of the word! This wasn't just a gig, it was a full blown assault on the senses with the most amazing light show I have ever seen. I'm sure it was all standard technology, but the presentation was just superb (and I wonder what the budget was?). It was like watching a gig 20 years in the future!

Shock were support that night, and even did a little interlude during Gary's set (Trois Gymnopedies No. 1) - cue the sniggers from this little 16 year old - "is she topless??". Nash the Slash came on too. The atmosphere was amazing, and the setlist was a dream, all Gary's stuff through to Dance.

I left mesmerised, and the only regret I had was not taking up the chance to get a VHS copy of the show. There was a firm affiliated to the fan club that would dub a copy on to VHS tape for you for a fee, as long as you provided the tape! How times change? Anyway, not posessing a VHS player at the time, it seemed of fairly limited use to me (and school boy budget to consider!) so I passed on that.

Luckily, last year it came out on DVD which is a fairly good rendition of what I saw. It brought back many memories and the sleeve notes by Mr Malins really capture the atmosphere well. It was scale, on a scale never seen before! You can but the DVD here http://www.townsend-records.co.uk/sites/garynuman/ , but one warning, there are cheesy freeze frames at the end of each song. I have trained myself to look away to avoid them now!!

At the Troxy event in April, I did ask Gary about those gigs, but he brushed them off as just another (but admittedly expensive show).

Not seen anything quite like it ever since.

Musically, I have a different favourite though.

That's a really good recollection - from everything I've read about those shows, it seems they lived up to their intention of being huge and futuristic, epitomising everything that was unique and brilliant about Numan at the time.

I've got the Living Ornaments live albums, but I haven't seen the DVD - I'll get it eventually.

I think those gigs perhaps leave a slightly bitter taste for Gary because he now realises the naive mistake of "quitting" so early and the damage it did to his career and also the fact that it took him a long time to recover financially after those shows.

Good thread!

I've been thinking which of all the gigs I've seen stands out as a 'Landmark' rather than just a 'favourite' also.
As Chris said, I recognise a big difference between the two.

The first time I saw Marc Almond live would be a standout.

I was a student in Oxford, and travelled with a group of mates to see the Mambas at UEA in Norwich while in that area on a birding weekend. Autumn 1983?
Been a fan of his since Soft Cell and was keen to see a live show 'with a difference' - and what a revelation it was.
Goths, transexuals etc - all manner of bright and wonderfully "odd" people that was, at that time, out of my comfort zone and outside any experience I'd had before.

It was cabaret, camp, trashy - and ultimately 'mind-altering'.

I've been a fan ever since too, but that first gig opened my eyes to a new world of live music shows with an edge and I still look back with affection on the aghast faces of my two colleagues who just wanted to get to the pub and prepare for the River Warbler somewhre in a reedbed at dawn the next morning!!

Two other that stand out because they either changed the course of things or marked a special moment:

Howard Jones began his career while I was a student,and used to entertain us and join parties etc in the Halls of Residence. Loads of times I got involved helping pull tables together in the refectory to act as a stage for his set...
Distinctly remember the moment he announced the recording contract he had just secured and we were all very excited for him. Unfortunately, the label didn't like much of his material and wanted him to write something else as a lead / debut single.
Hence "New Song". It was exactly that, and I believe that is why he used that title...

Otherwise for me a landmark gig is (groan with predictability) John Foxx and Louis Gordon at Scala in 2003.
If it hadn't been for that show, meeting John afterwards a bit starstruck, chatting to Jage and Andreas briefly (though I didn't know their names), I would not be here now. Not a favourite gig - but it was quite surreal to be re-connecting with Foxx after twenty years since The Golden Section shows

It was a moment that altered The Shape Of Things

I should probably add my first Foxx gig to the list too as it was such an exciting thing! It was John & Louis' support slot for The Human League in 2003. I've told this story here before though. I'd been into John's music for only a couple of years; I'd bought Modern Art, Metamatic, The Garden, Shifting City, The Pleasures of Electricity and the newly released Crash and Burn. Still discovering his music and instantly obsessed by it. When it was announced that they would be supporting THL, I was more excited about that than the main act. Turns out they were better too! Poor Phil lost his voice mid-gig!!

I was in a bar opposite Sheffield City Hall before the gig, and turned around to unexpectedly find John sitting behind me. In a rare out-of-character moment, I went over and asked him if he was John Foxx... I'm not sure what I'd have done if he'd said "no..." but he was, and he was a great to talk to. We talked about his album covers.

The gig was amazing - short but perfect set list and the sound in the City Hall was outstanding. Blew me away. Just brilliant.

Been meaning to comment on this thread, interesting topic and superb recollections, but although I post in the other 'gigs thread' I don't know that I can deliver historically.

For a decade after my mid-twenties I rarely went out to any live music, due to shift-work, money, or extreme lack of shared taste with my social group, to some extent the most recent decade has actually made up for missing out on things. Curiously though, the occasions that immediately spring to mind are those times when the live music didn't work for me compared to the studio album, or the audience made me feel I'd come to the wrong show, or the people I was with didn't like the music, or it was I who reacted to the music. I go to shows on my own now, its safer!

As regards Mr Foxx, well, when I saw him in Edinburgh in 2003 after that long gap since 1983, that was probably my best chance of speaking to him, such a small audience, 40 to 50 people at most. I'd just arrived back in Edinburgh from a trip and had been met at the station, with an hour before the gig's start I hesitantly suggested that I'd like to see these 'John Foxx & Louis Gordon' persons, knowing full well that my indies-guitar loving companion hated electronic music or anything bordering on the 'arty', so all the way through the show I had to field enquiring gasps about 'those lyrics', particularly songs about 'broken furniture'! - (Underpass though was approved as 'having got something'), so, sadly to ease the shock I succumbed to pressure to evacuate the venue when it had ended. To be honest, I would've been too shy to seek out the legendary Foxx, it was a huge surprise enough having actually seen him in the flesh after 20 years, besides, I didn't think I'd ever hear from him again...

I should add David Bowie's Reality tour to the list, given that it's probably his last tour, at least of such scale.

I saw him in November 2003, in Lille, France. After waiting in freezing temperatures with my digital camera hidden in my underwear, I was let in to the security-tight venue without a single frisk. Said camera came back out at the first opportunity. All for nothing too, since every single shot came out with camera shake, despite my prime position on the very front row.

Despite not particularly liking the Reality album, Bowie and his tightest band in years played songs from all eras and albums. Nearly all the big hits and crowd pleasers and a choice selection of later works. It was a long and fantastic show, although I'd still rate the 1995 Outside tour above this. But in comparison, it was so different, almost like a different artist – evidence of the chameleon in action!

I never thought I'd get to see David live, so once was fantastic, twice - who'd have thought it?! But in hindsight, I'm proud to have seen that particular tour.