I’m too tired to be desperately creative tonight so I decided to talk about something from memory my gig history.
Surprisingly enough the first gig I went to wasn’t until 2003 but that was simply because I didn’t have suitable means of a) buying a ticket and b) getting there. In case you don’t know I live on the east coast of Scotland with most of the major bands only getting as far as Glasgow some 100 or so miles away.
That said I certainly picked a great band for my first gig. The band in question was a certain London based 6 piece metal group by the name of Iron Maiden! I actually arrived at the venue quite early and got a spot at the front early enough to see the support act – they were horrible!
Luckily Maiden were on the scene soon enough with a killer set list and a stunning light show to boot. I consider that possibly to be the best first gig ever and I think you’ll struggle to find anything better.
The following year I managed to go and see The Offspring at the same venue. Sadly this was just after their drummer had left the band to do other things and they arrived on stage with no drummer at all. Still they played some of my favourite songs so it wasn’t all bad.
After that there was a huge gap before my next gig. Two and a half years or thereabouts if I have the right dates in mind. However that 1 week in December 2006 was a very special one. On the Monday I saw the amazingly funny Tenacious D who were brilliant as expected but the Friday saw me returning to the same building for my next viewing of Iron Maiden!
Sadly there was another massive gap before seeing any bands which just under two years. That emptiness was filled by seeing Airbourne in a tiny club in Dundee which was pretty much the best thing ever – no fancy light shows, just a band and their fans and a pretty mental front man as well!
The following February I grabbed myself a ticket to the ‘Priest Feast’ tour which saw an excellent evening of Testament, Megadeth and Judas Priest all back to back!
I had no further plans until my friend told me he was no longer in his band that was going on tour so we decided on a mental plan to go to Sonisphere in 2009.
It was not long after that plan was concocted that my boss at work informed that extra tickets for AC/DC had been released! Awesomeness indeed. I had the day off on the on sale date which made it very easy and amazingly enough the website didn’t fall to bits! I grabbed 2 tickets and texted my friend who’d introduced me to them. The conversation went something like this:
Me: Guess who I got a ticket to go and see?
Him: Dunno
Me: AC/DC!
Him: Bastard!
Me: Relax I bought 2!
Then my phone rang about 4 seconds later. The following day he was stood at my door money in hand. Two and a bit months later we headed to Hampden Park in Glasgow for possibly the best gig ever! A brilliant night from start to finish even if it did nearly kill me. (Pro-tip: 30 degrees plus black clothes = fail)
Just one month later the crazy plan of going to Sonisphere was upon me – my first festival! Headlined by Linkin Park and Metallica and also featuring Airbourne, Coheed and Cambria, Heaven & Hell (RIP Dio!) and Lamb of God! A few other names worthy of mention would be Machine Head, Avenged Sevenfold, Limp Bizkit and Feeder. A cracking weekend that was!
It was a cold day in November when I received an email informing me that a band was returning to Scotland after a 19 year absence and I immediately ‘found’ money for a ticket. In May last year the big day arrived and I went to see KISS! Absolutely amazing show and a fantastic atmosphere to boot!
Very soon after that it was time to head back to Knebworth for round 2 of Sonisphere with yet more fun to be had – Alice Cooper, Rammstein and Iron Maiden headlined each day with some excellent support from Motley Crue and Iggy and the Stooges. Another great weekend sadly over too fast.
Which brings me to the reason for this post – there was a gig I wanted to go to this week but my shifts really don’t suit so sadly I’m giving it a miss. I have seen Evile before they so it’s not a huge loss. Fingers crossed they’ll be back at Sonisphere again though as they were a definite highlight in 2010.
I’m also booked in again for Sonisphere 2011 as I mentioned back in January which should be another great weekend!
What gigs have you been to? Any that particularly stand out as special? Let me know in the comments!
