100+ bands I've seen live

An homage...

This post is an homage to a post on the blog of my friend Sean McManus.

I love music. I have been to many gigs. It's my regret that I never kept a record of who I've seen and when.

When I first started going to gigs - aged 14 - I thought my memory would never let me down. Ha!

It's going to take me ages to compile and accurate, comprehensive list, so consider this a work in progress.

Note that some of these were support bands whom I didn't see out of choice! Others were bands that my friends were in (Visor, The Charles, Paseo Malanga), and these were among some of the best gigs ever.

So desperate was I to see The Charles at an over-18s venue when I was 16, I sat on a wall outside the venue while the gig played inside. That seems mad now. I should have just gone in, but I was crippled by shyness at that age. These days, I go to gigs alone all the time and think nothing of it. Back then, I was far too scared!

When I was 17/18 I frequented The Crypt in Deptford with my friends in the band Magic Moments At Twilight Time, who would often play there. The Crypt played psychedelia and was always getting busted. I met lovely guys there, one of whom I had a brief thing with that involved seeing him at gigs beyond The Crypt. I was a very naive, shy, inexperienced 17-year-old with absolutely no idea about how to handle the advances of attractive men (I would usually ignore them and look at the ground, paralysed by fear). What I wouldn't give to turn the clock back to 1988, damn it. I am an idiot.

Two such instances:

31 March 1989, The Crypt, Deptford, headline band The Five Young Cannibals. I met a gorgeous guy called Del who had something to do with a band called The Bugs. I was supposed to hook up with him the following week but couldn't get transport and then the Crypt was closed down. Never saw him again. Grr!

23 December 1988, Motorhead, Hammersmith Odeon. I was there with my 'boyfriend' (loosest use of term) 'Andy' who was an Australian I'd met at The Crypt some weeks previously. He spent most of the gig at the bar and left me to get the last train home on my own (I finished with him after that, agreed to go out with him one more time (cos he begged), never heard from him again). At Embankment station I discovered the Northern Line was closed and had only minutes to get to Waterloo to catch my train back to Camberley. I must have looked alarmed as a gorgeous gothic guy (I had a big thing for goths at the time) came up to me and said I should get the Bakerloo Line with him and all would be well (which it was and I caught my train). We chatted on the short tube journey (he was with a mate, they were both about my age, 17). He lived in the next town over from mine and would be getting a different train to me, but told me to hop on his if I missed my own. I had to run off to get my train. It's my great regret that I didn't give him my number. Never bumped into him again, alas, but since that night I've never gone anywhere without bits of paper with my number on them!

In general I would say that the most boring gigs are those that are only happening to fulfil a record company obligation to promote an album. Some sets at 'festivals' have been pretty awful too. The best have been gigs by bands that my friends are in, gigs by bands that were on the brink of making it, or recent reunion gigs by bands I loved when I was a teen.

I've seen Nick Cave, Marc Almond and Peter Murphy (solo and with their bands) the most and still love them with a passion.

The best gigs I've been to are Iggy Pop's, though a couple of gigs by Acid Mothers Temple really stand out.

My favourite London venues are the Royal Festival Hall, Shepherds Bush Empire, Hackney Ocean and the Jazz Cafe.

I've gone to many by myself, though have pleasant memories of having my face snogged off at others (not necessarily by someone I knew).

A Wonder Stuff gig in 1988 was the most insane by far. Wonder Suff gigs were always the most ecstatic and sociable (by which I mean, other fans actually talk to you, pick you up off the floor, look out for you, try to get off with you - these are all the things I want at a gig!). Alas, four legs of the eight-legged groove machine have since passed away.

I was most disappointed by Radiohead (too far away, no atmosphere). And fans at a Stone Roses gig were so aggressive I left before the gig started.

The most joyful gigs have included the Psychedelic Furs. I've been in deep love with Richard Butler since I first saw the Furs when I was 16. He took my hand during the instrumental break in 'Heaven' in 1991, when I was right at the front (I had bruises on my stomach the next day from being bent over the barrier!). He smiled at me for so long I had to break eye contact because I felt embarrassed (I had dreams about him for years afterwards). In 2005, they reformed and I was down the front again. This time he shook my hand and at the end he leaned into the crowd and I put my arms around his waist and up the back of his shirt. It was wonderful!

These memories are in part what inspire me to put on parties with live bands for people with MS. When you have MS, gigs are a difficult environment. But getting drunk, getting down and getting off are three of the greatest things about growing up. My friend Robsa said to me that it's important to do stuff so that you have memories to enjoy when you're old. I think he's so right about that. Don't regret stuff you didn't do...

(List updated 12 June 2009)

65 Days of Static (1)
A-Ha (3)
ABC (2)
Acid Mothers Temple (3)
The Alarm (1)
All About Eve (2)
The Almighty (1)
Marc Almond (3)
Another Level (1)
Archie Bronson Project (1)
Aswad (1)
Aztec Camera (1)
Batfish Boys (1)
Bauhaus (3)
Bhundu Boys (1)
Cilla Black (1)
David R Black (1)
Bleach (1)
The Blockheads (1)
Blondie (1)
The Bluetones (2)
Bluetrain (1)
David Bowie (1)
Boy George (1)
Burning Leaves (1)
Bush (1)
Butthole Surfers (2)
Buzzcocks (2)
John Cale (1)
Elizabeth Carthy (1)
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds (14+)
The Charles (4)
Chatshow (1)
China Crisis (1)
Cho (1)
Christ and Satan (1)
Claytown Troupe (3)
Jarvis Cocker (1)
BJ Cole (1)
The Corrs (1)
Elvis Costello (2)
Crazyhead (2)
The Cribs (1)
The Cult (3)
Culture Club (2)
The Cure (3)
The Damned (3)
Deacon Blue (1)
Dead Guitars (1)
Death Angel (1)
Depeche Mode (3)
Dirty Three (3)
Dr Feelgood (1)
Easyworld (1)
Eddy and the Hotrods (1)
Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster (1)
Erasure (1)
Esser (1)
The Fall (1)
Bryan Ferry (1)
Five Young Cannibals (1)
David Ford (1)
Gavin Friday (2)
Gaye Bykers on Acid (1)
Gene Loves Jezebel (1)
Girl Talk (2)
Godspeed (1)
Goldfrapp (1)
Gong (2)
Greed (2)
Tony Hadley (1)
The Hair (1)
Happy Mondays (1)
Hard-fi (1)
PJ Harvey (3)
Head of David (2)
Heaven 17 (1)
Here and Now (1)
Hipster (1)
Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra (1)
House of Love (1)
Howling Bells (1)
Human League (3)
Billy Idol (2)
INXS (1)
Joe Jackson (1)
Jamiroquai (1)
Jazz Train (1)
Jesus Jones (3)
Howard Jones (2)
Kaiser Chiefs (1)
Kick (1)
L7 (1)
Loop (2)
The Lurkers (1)
Magic Moments at Twilight Time (6)
Manic Street Preachers (2)
Barry Manilow (1)
Marion (1)
Mega City Four (2)
The Men They Couldn't Hang (1)
Mighty Lemondrops (1)
Eric Mingus (1)
Kylie Minogue (2)
The Mission (5)
Moho Pack (1)
Momento Mori (1)
The Monkees (1)
Morrissey (2)
Van Morrison (1)
Motorhead (1)
Peter Murphy (2)
My Bloody Valentine (1)
Nasty Rox Inc (1)
Nearly Dan (2)
Ned's Atomic Dustbin (1)
Nocturnal Madmen (1)
Norton Money (1)
Gary Numan (1)
Shane McGowan (1)
Mary Margaret O'Hara (1)
OMD (1)
Only Ones (1)
The Others (1)
Peaches (2)
Pearl Jam (1)
Paseo Malanga (3)
Paul Green School of Rock All-Stars (1)
Pet Shop Boys (1)
Placebo (4)
Iggy Pop (2)
Pop Will Eat Itself (3)
Primal Scream (2)
Prince (1)
Psychedelic Furs (4)
Radiohead (1)
Rage Against the Machine (1)
Redhouse (1)
Sean Redmond (1)
Lou Reed (1)
Reptile House (1)
Revolution 9 (1)
Ride (2)
Rumble Strips (1)
Rush (1)
Salad From Atlantis (1)
Screaming Marionettes (1)
Sex Pistols (2)
Sisters of Murphy (1)
Soft Cell (3)
Spacemen 3 (1)
Duke Special (4)
Shelleyan Orphan (1)
Skin Games (1)
Slack Bladder (2)
Smalltown Elephants (1)
Soup Dragons (2)
Spinal Tap (1)
Stiff Little Fingers (1)
Stooges (1)
Subkicks (1)
Suede (1)
Sugarcubes (1)
Swans (1)
David Sylvian (3)
June Tabor (1)
Tackhead (1)
Tears For Fears (1)
That Petrol Emotion (1)
That Uncertain Feeling (1)
Theatre of Hate (1)
Then Jerico (2)
The Tindersticks (1)
Tout Le Monde (1)
Trip Makers (1)
Nick Turner's Fantastic Allstars (1)
Ultravox (1)
Underneath What (1)
Suzanne Vega (1)
The Visionaries (1)
Visor (5+)
Voice of the Beehive (2)
Voodoo Child (1)
Martha Wainwright (1)
Ward Brothers (1)
Weezer (1)
Robbie Williams (1)
Without Thought (1)
Stevie Wonder (1)
Wonder Stuff (7)
World Domination Enterprises (2)

(and many more support bands the names of which I never bothered to find out)