So where did my gig journey start I hear you ask? Back in the mists of time, 15th December 1983 to be precise Jimmy attended his first gig. I was 15 years old, 9 stone dripping wet, constant bouts of tonsillitis, John McEnroe haircut, all in all a bit of a catch!
It was a very cold Thursday night when myself and Tony Miller trogged down to Withytrees to pick up the bus for the 20 mile ride to Lancaster. We met Paul Hutton and his mates who lived near Lancaster. The bus took an age to arrive at the University campus.
Lancaster University as a gig venue was an enigma as due to its the sizeable capacity of the Great Hall (1350) and its accessible location from the M6, it attracted a remarkably high calibre of artists between 1969 and 1985. The attached article relates to a book written by the promoter Barry Lucas whose roster included the Who, T Rex, Queen, Roxy Music and the Ramones amongst others and tells the tale of just missing out on the Rolling Stones gracing the stage.
The university has expanded exponentially since my visit and my brother in law Phil who is currently employed there tells me there are now three distinct campuses.
We landed early and caught up with the others in attendance and begin to queue up and as if by magic out of one of the student’s windows came the familiar intro of ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ at high volume – you may recognise the tune!
When the doors opened like innocent young fools we scarpered straight to the front and stayed there for the duration of the gig. I have no real recollection of the layout of the venue due to our static location.
Now, everyone recalls their first gig however the first band could easily be the support of the band you have come to see, in our case this was Raid the North who my review at the time cuttingly but not very eloquently declared them as ‘Heavy Metal crap’.
A time later, Slade arrived on stage and were louder and infinitely better than expected. I realised instantly I had found my vocation in life. The place seemed to become rather busier and my scrawny frame was literally pinned against the stage due to what was another fabulous discovery – ‘the moshpit’! This is an area of the crowd that I have frequented as a regular occurrence at many subsequent gigs. Their bombastic presence and performance left me equally elated and drained by the end.
We stumbled into the night and caught the last bus home and then regaled the colourful tale to our school friends the next day – my gig journey had started in style!
Now, it is your turn and I want to hear about your first gigs – comments very welcome
Merry Christmas to you all and I will post my next update in 2020.