Tickets Please

These are tickets from the gigs I have attended over the years - my first was Dire Straits @ Deeside Leisure Centre (obviously they took the Ice away first) in 1985 - but I lost that one!!! You may be shocked and saddened to learn that my ticket stubs for Queen (Maine Road 1986), Iron Maiden (Liverpool Empire 1987), U2 (NEC 1987), The Damned (Liverpool Royal Court Theatre 1986) and The Cult (Manchester Apollo 1986) have all gone missing!!! Future gigs will turn up in the what's new? section of the site - but at least here you can trace my travels from my teens into my thirties!

Genesis - Roundhay Park, Leeds - 28th June 1987 - a massive outdoor gig, Leeds City Centre, poorly planned transport and a very warm day - recipe for disaster? Well - it was a chance to catch Collins era Genesis at the height of their powers and to see Paul Young on the cusp of a downward slide.....so perhaps not. Memory tells me that this gig was attended with Craig Williams (AKA Skoda) and we were some distance from the stage.

Rush - Sheffield Arena - 10th April 1992 - the big one as far as I am concerned - one of the most important musical events of my life - and the last time Rush visited these shores until 2004!

Pink Floyd - Earl's Court, London - 28th October 1994 - Pink Floyd show how it is really done - massive stage set, quadraphonic PA, superb lighting and killer set (including all of Dark Side of the Moon!). Important historical document because, Live 8 obviously not included, perhaps the last time Pink Floyd would tour (never say die).....

Fleadh - Finsbury Park, London - 10th June 1995 - I don't really go for festivals - but a chance to see Big Country (RIP Stuart Adamson), Kirsty McColl (also sadly RIP), Van Morrison (not dead but looked like he was most of the way there), Sinead O'Connor and the Beautiful South was just too much to resist. We were also able to time our arrival to avoid Boyzone (tragically all still with us). The promoters had wisely put them on very early to avoid them getting botteled off the stage.....

Page & Plant - Wembley Arena, London - 25th July 1995 - one half of Led Zeppelin in a crusty old venue - like visiting an old country estate - superb - P&P employed most of a symphony orchestra to bolster their sound - so a bit complicated - but brilliant all the same!

Jean Michelle Jarre - Nynex Arena - 7th June 1997 - this is the biggest ticket in my collection (almost A4 size in length!) so I have obviously had to shrink it here. Great gig - lights, imagery and sounds all brilliant - even our seats being at the back could not take anything away from it!

Tangerine Dream - Manchester Apollo - 4th November 1997 - when they fall, they fall big. I am very sad to report that this was a truly woeful gig - and every TD fan in the house bit their lips and walked away without a word (apart from Martin who, without reservation, informed me that they were bloody terrible). The problem was not with the set (one set of classic material and one of new), but instead its delivery; TD employed a drummer (not that I have a problem with that!) who played an electronic kit that was made of upturned bass drums fitted with electronic triggers - and boy did he hit them - they were so loud in the mix that they just about drowned everything else out and made a real hash of some classic TD tracks - including White Eagle - which I loved. The new material was similarly bad! I'm sorry guys - but this really must be the lowest point in your history...... even lower than when you employed that girly saxophonist or Cyclone!

Yes - Liverpool Empire Theatre - 19th April 1998 - superb classic rock brought back to life by nearly all of the classic Yes lineup - Rick Wakeman had left (again) and had been replaced by a Russian keyboardist - all of the classics were there - as well as some items from non-classic yes - such as material from 90125 (which must have really annoyed the purists). My companion to this gig, Mark Meadows, never forgave me for making us leave before they played Roundabout as an encore - sorry, Mark - but the car park was full and we were right at the top.

China Crisis - Queen's Hall Studio, Widnes - 29th May 1998 - the return of the 1980's - we managed to bump into the band whilst we were eating our pizzas outside the gig (I just assumed they were friends of my companions) - good gig - and no sequencer!

Page & Plant - Manchester Evening News Arena - 3rd November 1998 - my second trip to see one half of Led Zep. This time the band was small, tight, loud and totally deserving of a second chance. Still, no Stairway.

The Australian Pink Floyd Show - Southport Arts Centre, May 26th 1999 - as any self respecting Manchester United fan will tell you, this was the night they beat Bayern Munich in the ECF - however it clashed with this.... the OZ Pink Floyd were brilliant and sounded just like the real thing. Covers bands are very big in OZ - not many bands like to tour there. You may have also heard of the Australian Doors or Kiss shows.....

Alice Cooper, July 24th 2000 - a real shock to the system - I suppose it can be a bit of a shock to see a bona-fide rock star beheaded at the climax of his performance - if you don't like this sort of thing what are you doing at an Alice Cooper gig?

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