Saturday, May 30, 2015

It's Written All Over My Face...


A discussion ensued in the pub last night about a recent post that was on Facebook where people were asked to name their first gig, last gig, favourite gig and next gig. As I am not on Facebook last night was the first I had heard of it. First, last and next gigs were straightforward enough. For me it was The Cramps, Hinds and Patti Smith. I struggled, however, to get favourite down to about a dozen but will try and narrow it down for a future post. Someone at the table had Hawkwind as his first gig, so the less said about that the better.

Obviously, we then added on our own gig related questions, one of which was which band would you like to have seen live that you didn't get to see. There were a few rules, primarily that we couldn't go for a gig where we couldn't possibly have been there. For example I couldn't opt for The Pistols at Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall as I was barely out of short trousers at the time.

I have mentioned a few times previously on Spools how lucky we are in Glasgow to get so many bands playing here and how fortunate I have been over the years to get to see so many of my heroes. But there is one band that I have never seen that I could have seen as they were still performing live when I started going to gigs.

Without any doubt whatsover, The Smiths would be in any rundown of my favourite bands and yet I never got to see them live. Why I don't really know, as from the first time I heard them on Peel I was hooked and I own pretty much everything they have ever recorded. It is the one gaping hole in my gigging history, so I will just have to make do with listening to some of the greatest music recorded by any band ever.

I could have picked any number of tracks tonight but am going to go for one that has always held a special place for me, and has one of The Smiths best lyrics, especially this wonderfully, true to life couplet, A double-bed and a stalwart lover, for sure, these are the riches of the poor...

On the day that your mentality
catches up with your biology
I want the one I can't have
and it's driving me mad
it's written all over my face
A double-bed
and a stalwart lover, for sure
these are the riches of the poor
A double-bed
and a stalwart lover, for sure
these are the riches of the poor
A tough kid who sometimes swallows nails
raised on Prisoner's Aid
he killed a policeman when he was thirteen
and someone that really impressed me
it's written all over my face
On the day that your mentality
catches up with your biology
And if you ever need self-validation
just meet me in the alley by the
railway-station
it's written all over my face 

I Want The One I Can't Have

19 comments:

  1. Technically my first gig was Sha Na Na. My parents took me when I was a little fella.
    My first real show though was R.E.M./Throwing Muses
    Favorite was Pavement in 99 at Howling Wolf's in New Orleans. I'd seen them before but they were lights out that night.
    Though...the BEST show was easily Southern Culture on the Skids here in Jackson at Hal and Mal's..98/99 somewhere in there. They do this medley at the end of the show....surf, rockibilly...a wall of fuzz that I believe lifted the entire building 3ft off the ground.
    The one I missed was the Replacements in 87 at the Musical Moon in Tallahassee Fl. I still occasionally find myself reflexively cursing my parents under my breath over that one...and then myself for minding them. I'm gonna resurrect an old post about it soon.
    Last show was BB King here in town a few years ago.

    Seeing The Smiths in the early 80's would have been something to hang on to.

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  2. I had tickets in hand to see The Smiths twice, yet failed to make it to the gig both times. The reasons for my absence are lost in the mists of time, but the fact of it still gnaws. My biggest gig-missing regret (one I wrote about over at my place a while back) is when I made the daft decision not to go and see Roy Orbison in Ipswich in 1985. I could've been the only concert that I ever went to with my Dad. In the end, he didn't go either. Every aspect of that one upsets me to this day.
    First) T.Rex in 1972. Last) Abdullah Ibrahim, last week. Next) Young Fathers, on Friday (although I'm trying to make time for Michael Chapman & Bridget St John tomorrow evening). Best) Blimey, now you're asking. A very, very tough one to call, but probably either Clash at the Electric Ballroom in 1980 or a night of Bob Dylan's Hammermith Odeon residency in 1990, though which one I'd pick is another can 'o' worms completely.

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    1. Hammermith? Sorry, I didn't have my teeth in.

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  3. First gig Queen at the Apollo
    Last gig Allison Moorer at Celtic Connections - I don't get out much
    Favourite gig is a hard one -at least half a dozen immediately spring to mind
    I would have loved to have seen Johnny Cash
    Thankfully I've never seen Hawkwind
    Thankfully

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  4. would love to have seen Hawkwind. My first gig was Motorhead at the Apollo, last gig ATE, next gig, nothing planned at present but maybe Ratboy if under14s allowed as Max wants to go, his first gig was Belle and Sebastian in Kelvingrove Park aged 8 months. Favourite Roddy Frame Paisley Abbey. Worst gig is easy as well that feckless fucker MES in Studio 24, or something, Edinburgh a few years back in April, fucking woeful.

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  5. First gig Wishbine Ash (well, the support act but I don't know who they were). I saw the Smiths twice, the second time at the same mini-festival as Terry and Gerry. T & G were in a different league, so much better, but then again Mari Wilson who also played was better than The Smiths. T&G one of my favourite gigs ever. I suspect my last gig was Low, in Birmingham, unless you count the woman here in our town who played in the local community hall about this time last year. She played accordion, had one of those backing track things, and sang, sometimes in tune.

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  6. First: The Wedding Present, Exeter Uni Great Hall, 1988
    Last: Laura Marling, Colston Hall, Bristol, May 2015
    Next: at the moment, it's Slaves at Cardiff in November, but I suspect something else will precede it. I'm not waiting that long!
    Fave: Various for different reasons. Arcade Fire, Public Enemy, Johnny Cash, First Aid Kit...
    Worst: My Bloody Valentine, Exeter Uni 1992. Godawful band, never understood why people revere them.
    Would have loved to have seen the Sugarcubes and David Bowie, though Kate Bush's London residency last year I think would have to be the one I really do regret not doing.

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    1. I would be happy to take the MVB show off your hands if such a thing was possible.

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  7. 'If you ever need self validation, meet me in the alley by the railway station' is one of the best lines ever by anyone.
    First gig- Madness, Mcr Apollo
    Last gig- The Charlatans at Mcr Albert Halls a few weeks back
    Next- no idea
    Favourite- quite a few to choose from. The Stone Roses secret gig at Parr hall in 2012 stands out fro recent times

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  8. I would love to have seen the Smiths. And I'd sell family members to have seen the Clash

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  9. Just arrived home from work to find that this post was a lot more popular than I thought it would be when I was writing it last night, so thank you to everyone that has commented. It really is the main reason for doing the blog and it makes it all worthwhile when so many great bloggers take the time to comment.
    Some great first gigs, especially Erik, Drew, The Robster and Swiss Adam.
    Erik - managed to see Paul Westerberg a few years back but sadly not the Replacements.
    Swede - missing The Big O would upset me to this day if I had decided not to go when I had the chance to, would love to have seen Roy Orbison live.
    CC - thankfully most of us can say we have never seen Hawkwind, worrying thing is that my mate still listens to them to this day.
    Drew - Roddy Frame would definitely be high up there on my favourite gigs also, as would Edwyn's comeback gig at Oran Mor when Roddy was on guitar. Such a special evening to see the two of them on stage together.
    George - although I am sure T&G were better I am pretty envious that you saw the Smiths not once,but twice.
    Robster - totally agree bout MBV, never got them. Saw them years ago on The Rollercoaser tour with The Mary Chain, Dinosaur Jr and Blur and I just didn't get it.
    SA - every time I hear that line it just makes me smile, such a terrific lyric. I would definitely sell family members to have seen The Smiths and The Jam, who I never got to see either.

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  10. Oh no, I'm late to the party!
    Great post - great comments too.
    My first was Siouxsie & the Banshees at my local venue January 1978, I was 14... but my favourite I'd have to think long and hard about, and I'm not sure I could come up with just one, and my last is sadly more long ago than I wish it was that I can't remember who, but it may have been Eels. However, I can confirm that my big sister's first gig was....yes...Hawkwind! I was so embarrassed when she told me, in hushed tones, that there had been a naked woman dancing on the stage....

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  11. Hi C, welcome to the party. SATB, now that is a great first gig. Trying to pick a best gig is an almost impossible task. The dozen or so that I manged to get mine down to were mostly for varying reasons, but would be hard pushed to narrow it down to just one.

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  12. No fair. There are way too many jaw droppers for first gigs on this page. Mine was Utopia the day after finishing middle school. I lived in the sticks, and getting Todd Rundgren to come to my neck of the woods was quite a coup. I don't recall seeing anyone else near my hometown. I don't think I saw anyone else until my friends started driving quite a while later when we could make the three hour drive to Chicago.

    I have seen some big names that are important to me but they weren't necessarily the best performances. I finally saw Bowie on the Sound and Vision tour in the summer of 1990, but I was slightly annoyed by Adrian Belew's guitar solos. I had tickets to see the Replacements in 1987, but the show was cancelled due to low ticket sales. By the time I finally saw them in 1991 it felt like they were going through the motions a bit. I saw Nirvana on Oct. 12, 1991, before the the explosion, and it makes a good story, but I'm not even that big of a fan. I should mention that I took my 14-year-old brother to that 18 and over show... his first gig. I was a big hero that night. I can't seem to stop.

    OK, I have the best show down to three. Elvis Costello with the reunited Attractions in Osaka, Japan, Sept. 30, 1994. I was too young to ever see them in their heyday, but I was really into Brutal Youth, and that helped. Brian Wilson at the Tropicana, Atlantic City, July 8, 2000. Pet Sounds from beginning to end with the most talented backing band I have ever witnessed. I shed a tear during Caroline No. Finally, Frank Sinatra at Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois, May 18, 1991. This has more to do with the entire night, not just the show. Too long for a comment board. Man, did I love this post, Scott.

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    1. Hi Brian, thanks for the kind words. I was fortunate enough to see Brian Wilson on the Pet Sounds tour and that would definitely be up there for me as one of the best shows I have ever seen. I had tickets to see Nirvana round about the time of Bleach but sold my tickets a few days before the gig. Was never a huge fan anyway. Great gig to take your younger brother too right enough.

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  13. Nearly 40 years later and I'm still talking about 50 of my most memorable gigs: http://johnmedd.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/50-odd-gigs.html

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  14. Will be heading over here on Thursday John, on my day off, so I can spend some time looking through your rundown..

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