the great big gig in the sky

a gig meme! well hello. i love music i do. i like lots of different types of music. i can play lots of different instruments, not all very well though. it started with my parents who brought me up in a house continuously full of music. they both play guitar, my mum classical spanish stuff and the occasional la bamba and my father on his fender bashing out a bit of eric claptons, well maybe not just his but derek and the dominoes, leyla, whilst my mother jumps round the room like a loon, her name is leyla. this was my childhood. as i grew up and entered the early years of adulthood, i went on to work in the greatest pub in the world. the castle in brentwood. brentwood essex. yes home of the sugar hut, but before all that nonsense kicked in brentwood was a melting pot of punks, rockers, goths & ravers. the castle was a heady mix of everyone and the focus was on music. such a great place. however it most certainly is not now.

so here goes me and live music

what was your first gig?

oooo not sure if this really counts but before gigs really kicked in my mum used to take me to the royal opera house in convent garden. so not a gig as such but definitely the most powerful introduction to classical music you could possible ever think of. it was madam butterfly. i was lucky to see this performance by Montserrat Caballé. a very powerful woman. i cried and cried, waiting for her to die. madam butterfly not my mum you understand. she is alive and very well thank you. still jumping around to leyla every now and again. she’s a bit of a mental hippy at heart.

what was your worst gig?

without a doubt cinematic orchestra. oh jesus. i couldn’t wait to get out of the place. it was like hell. there was this saxophone and he went all whiney jazzy solo on everyone it was pure pain. i’m not embedding a you tube thingy here because your ears deserve better and i’m not being responsible for them if they start to bleed. worst thing was a friend who works in the music industry had got us tickets and then i thought it was shit, and the problem i have is the inability to lie convincingly, so i had to tell him it was shit. it’s ok though i think he forgave me.

what was your best gig?

mmmm though this one. many many choices to be had here but i think i’m going to go with primal scream in sheffield in 1991. i hadn’t long been driving and we drove there and back in one night from sunny old essex in my little black fiat uno. i have a vivid memory of bouncing down the m1 to the monkees on the way home. i probably shouldn’t have been driving either especially on the way home! what a night. however i would like to mention that my close second was the who at the royal albert hall. outrageous gig. so i’ve snuck them in too. what a spectacular film tommy is.

what was your last gig?

mr paul weller at the royal albert hall. however not at his best i’m afraid and it was all rather disappointing to be honest. shame, talented man, hugely talented man. but this i’m afraid was a little tragic. i wish i hadn’t gone really. one man in the same box as us was clearly fucked off as at the end he shouted at the top of his voice “that was shit and you know it” harsh? a little. true? yes

i’m going to ignore this though and link up to one of his goodies instead.

what is your “dream gig”?

mmmmm well today i heard that wham might get back together, so maybe… nah. i’m am going to see new order with @notsoslummy and @melkshammum in august so that is going to be pretty ace. they are playing with blur and the specials. big fan of all, so that i think maybe a “dream gig” i will of course let you know in due course.

the end