In Birmingham to see Alice Cooper and his big show, with just about the best support I could wish for: The Stranglers
Tag Archives: Live
“Oh no, they’re playing the NEC.” Birmingham’s premier gig venue revisited.
Looking back at my occasional visits to see bands at the NEC Birmingham in the 80s and 90s and in recent years.
The Professionals pack ’em in
Anvil, Bournemouth 10.10.19 The start of three gigs in three days for me. The venues couldn’t be more diverse and in three towns and cities. Tonight, my 59th gig of the year, is a short hop on the train to Bournemouth and the tiny Anvil Rock Bar for The Professionals with Poole punks The Mistakes …
Psychedelic Furs back in the UK and back in Pompey
Pyramids Centre, Portsmouth 3.10.19 The Pyramids Centre – the venue The Pyramids Centre is on the sea front at Southsea and boasts “fun leisure pools, funky flumes, wacky waves, pool inflatables and a three-level soft play adventure world filled with mazes, climbing nets and ball pits”. Perfect for a King Kurt gig maybe but is …
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Live and Unheard – in Poole – Part Two
Poole Lighthouse 2.10.19 On Wednesday evening I returned to Poole Lighthouse for another ‘Live and Unheard’ session in the Sherling Studio. Three local acts given a showcase in surroundings where everyone can focus on the music and the artists, rather than accommodating the distractions of a rowdy pub gig – not quite everyone respects that …
80s Classics – China Crisis
Engine Rooms, Southampton 27.9.19 Can there be anyone more classically early 80s than China Crisis? I associate their synth pop sound with 1982-83-84….. and I had largely left it back there until recently. I saw them support The Thompson Twins at Hammersmith Palais on 12 April 1982 and later in ’82 supporting Simple Minds at …
The Sisters of Mercy: out of the darkness
London Roundhouse 20.9.19 Fighting Cocks 1983 One night in January 1983 (I looked it up – it was 21 January), I wandered into the Fighting Cocks pub in Moseley, Birmingham to see the Sisters of Mercy, the princes of 80s darkness. They played from within clouds of dry ice in the pub’s upstairs gig room. …
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My Kirk Brandon Years
My Kirk Brandon years? I suppose that would be 1982 until now. Maybe I had a lull; Kirk himself had a lull, but from Westworld onwards, with or without bassist Stan Stammers, Theatre of Hate or Spear of Destiny, I have never let it go. Kirk is back on tour and up the road in …
Live and Unheard – Poole
Capulus. Poole Lighthouse 4.9.19 Wednesday night in Poole. My 51st gig of 2019. 133 performances by 123 different bands this year. Still there are surprises; exciting surprises. After a four hour round trip to Bristol on Tuesday it was a relief to be able to walk to tonight’s gig in the studio at Poole Lighthouse …
‘An Evening with Richard Jobson’
St. George’s, Bristol 4.9.19 Beforehand I wasn’t quite sure of the format of Tuesday night’s gig. At one point I had a question mark over whether this was a gig or a chat but ‘an evening with Richard Jobson’ was exactly what it was. A gig and as billed. In the recently renovated, historic and …
Gigs with Ivan 