Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Friday Music: The First Time

Mo MO

Thu, 13 Jun 2019 17:05:53 +1200

OMG I was also at the Gary Glitter concert in Napier, I remember vividly standing on the piano at the front of the stage and him giving me a red rose which got attacked by all the other frenzied girls so all I ended up with was a stalk lol.…

Rich Lock

Mon, 30 Dec 2013 03:46:39 +1300

Anyone else heard/heard of them?

Yes, they're excellent. They blew up here last year. They've been touring the shit out of the UK and some of Europe. They might make it further afield next year.

Here's one with a kiwi flavour:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhgfzEm3CWU

Although personally I prefer 'signal 30'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7quFOoUT08c

Geoff Lealand

Sun, 29 Dec 2013 17:44:50 +1300

Of new music: thoughtful son in London sent me a CD of Public Service Broadcasting (the British group, that is). An interesting venture--inserts of 1940/50s news audio and old films (eg Night train), over driving instrumentals?
Anyone else heard/heard of them?

Kyle Matthews

Fri, 27 Dec 2013 14:11:31 +1300

Then various orientation tours – what year was it that the lemon heads headlined?

1993. Though at Otago I thought Muttonbirds were better. They had just released Nature the year before and smashed it on stage.

My first real concert was Elton John at Mt Smart in 1992 – Dad…

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 27 Nov 2013 19:27:56 +1300

A Who's Who of Kazoos
Bulldogs Allstar Goodtime Band ... Awesome.
and back before shredding there was
The Temple City Kazoo Orchestra...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeXcBs9TMEM

Russell Brown

Wed, 27 Nov 2013 18:55:27 +1300

I lived in the country with unmusical, Merv Smith loving parents so never got to any gigs until I was 20, with one exception – a member of the Bulldogs Allstar Goodtime Band taught at my school, so they put on a show when I was about 11, in 1972…

Wendy Stewart

Wed, 27 Nov 2013 16:20:42 +1300

First concert – Bob Marley at Western Springs 1976 or 77, jumped the fence as we always did back then. Fleetwood Mac soon after.
Just took our son to his first gig at the Powerstation – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club- he loved it. He kept saying he would be heading…

Biobbs

Tue, 26 Nov 2013 08:55:32 +1300

First free school concert: Craig Scott and Angela Ayers. Hmm. I can vaguely recall my 11-year-old self liking Angela a lot but thinking Craig was boring.

First paid gig: Robert Plant, Mt Smart, on The Principle of Moments tour, with the Pink Flamingoes as support. During the PF slot, people…

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 26 Nov 2013 08:11:20 +1300

Hmmm – too far back to remember with clarity to be honest...
First 'festival' – Ngaruawahia
First 'concert' – probably Bo Diddley or Chuck Berry (or both together?)
First 'Free' probably Butler at a riverside concert
First Horticultural Hall 'gig' with The Head Band and Human Instinct and Ticket was…

Barry Allan

Tue, 26 Nov 2013 02:03:11 +1300

Rob Hosking

Mon, 25 Nov 2013 14:48:45 +1300

Edit: although looking at it, it ain’t February so …

Looks too green for February.

That touches on something I meant to mention re: Sweetwaters – final weekend of January, lower Waikato basin, baking, broiling heat, and there is Graham Brazier in black leather trousers, fronting the Legionnaires.

Just about…

Paul Rowe

Mon, 25 Nov 2013 11:50:10 +1300

First proper concert was Split Enz, Enz With a Bang Tour, Napier Municipal Theatre, November 27, 1984. I think the support act were Coconut Rough, but they didn't play Sierra Leone, so no-one knew who they were. Wow, 29 years ago this week! I was 13 at the time. Me…

Lucy Telfar Barnard

Mon, 25 Nov 2013 11:43:02 +1300

The first "gig" would have been some itinerant band passing through the Coromandel in the 1970s, and thus up to the Colville Town Hall. I doubt I wanted to be there, and have blocked it out. The only one I remember enjoying was Red Mole, but does that count as…

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 25 Nov 2013 08:22:06 +1300

Regunned tubes...
I’m a tad disappointed that the TV’s not plugged in....
shades of Hunter S Thompson's FALILV Samoan lawyer in a bathtub scene...

I do remember though, that an imploding TV tube though a PA sounds pretty damn loud – during Toy Love's Tuesday residency at The Civic in…

Chris Lipscombe

Mon, 25 Nov 2013 07:53:46 +1300

Good Lord... first international concert? Slade at Te Rapa, Hamilton on a hot day in January 1973, when I was 16. Don't think I've intentionally listened to the group since :)

Henry Barnard

Mon, 25 Nov 2013 06:10:17 +1300

prehaps

Definitely prehaps but I was willing :)

Simon Grigg

Sun, 24 Nov 2013 22:38:16 +1300

and so did Blam Blam Blam.

This shot is at Canterbury Uni and it might be the same tour. It says 1981/2 on the back and I’m thinking it’s either The Screaming Blam-matic Roadshow or the Marsha tour.

Edit: although looking at it, it ain't February so ...

Kumara Republic

Sun, 24 Nov 2013 22:20:53 +1300

Very nice indeed, though I'm a tad disappointed that the TV's not plugged in. My understanding, based entirely on hearsay, was that you got enough extension leads to allow for the drop, so the working TV gave a great rainbow splash on impact with the pool below.

There would have…

Joe Wylie

Sun, 24 Nov 2013 20:50:24 +1300

here’s a salute to the golden age of hard rock.
Very nice indeed, though I'm a tad disappointed that the TV's not plugged in. My understanding, based entirely on hearsay, was that you got enough extension leads to allow for the drop, so the working TV gave a great rainbow…

Sacha

Sun, 24 Nov 2013 20:50:06 +1300

early WWOOF

Unwilling Workers, prehaps

Kumara Republic

Sun, 24 Nov 2013 20:30:05 +1300

I've started doing 3D art in my spare time, and for your amusement, here's a salute to the golden age of hard rock.

Henry Barnard

Sun, 24 Nov 2013 20:25:33 +1300

Yes, that's right, Geoff and Rob. My tasks involved, if I recall rightly, putting honey in tins as well as helping out with fruit picking. Kind of early WWOOF. I was in a state of culture shock for most of that time adjusting to NZ after spending most of my…

Rob Stowell

Sun, 24 Nov 2013 18:54:15 +1300

First concert: Lou Reed at the Chch town hall, 1977. Thought I was still 16, but judging from the concert archive Oct 24th, I would've been 17.
It wasn't a great concert, musically. The band were far too loud, and you just couldn't hear Lou. He seemed annoyed by this,…

Rob Stowell

Sun, 24 Nov 2013 18:43:56 +1300

We lived in 'Beeville' for a few months when I was a tyke. I seem to remember long rows of feijoas along the roadside.

Geoff Lealand

Sun, 24 Nov 2013 18:18:08 +1300

Beeville was in a little burg called Orini, off the the Gordonton to Taupuri Road. Honey was the primary production? Bizarre to think of Roy Orbison playing there.

Dave Patrick

Sun, 24 Nov 2013 15:39:18 +1300

First School gig A local band made up of a few blokes a year or two ahead at school. Bass player sang most of the songs – a lot of covers of Police numbers. [this was around 1980-81.]

Dave Patrick, who comments up-thread, might remember this outfit – I think…

Grant McDougall

Sun, 24 Nov 2013 15:00:35 +1300

Thursday before last when I was waiting to catch the free bus out to Chicks in Port Chalmers for the Astro Children album launch gig, some young guy came up to me and said "It's really good that old guys like you are still coming out to see bands".

I…

Reg Bloor

Sun, 24 Nov 2013 14:46:06 +1300

In the mid seventies I took the bus from the West Coast to Christchurch, stayed at a B&B and saw Janis Ian at the Christchurch Town Hall. I was still at high school at the time. Janis played an electric guitar which totally stunned me as she was a girl(uhumm).

Local…

Henry Barnard

Sun, 24 Nov 2013 13:43:49 +1300

Ironically, I have had to think carefully about my early days in Aotearoa New Zealand recently. I arrived in Wellington straight from Calcutta (and Schooling+First year at University) in August 1966 at the age of 17. I immediately enrolled in the Correspondence School so as to be able to get…

FletcherB

Sun, 24 Nov 2013 13:04:32 +1300

International: David Bowie @ Western Springs on his Glass Spider Tour (1987?)

My recall of that concert:
Great Band, Great lights, Great Dancers, and a Mr Bowie who was obviously sick and tired of the tour and was clearly just going through the motions...
(it was the very last date…

FletcherB

Sun, 24 Nov 2013 12:41:55 +1300

Update: just remembered: also during primary school- year/age forgotten… Being bus-ed to the Moorrabbin Town Hall to see Melbourne Symphony Orchestra playing a selection classics for kids, theme from Peter and the wolf, 1812 Overture, Flight of Bumblebee, and such… including conductor explaining different sections (i.e., brass, woodwinds, strings, percussion,…

FletcherB

Sun, 24 Nov 2013 11:58:22 +1300

First concerts with parents? I Don’t recall them as I was a baby in a bassinet… many and various Jazz concerts and gigs

First concerts with that I recall (with parents). Melbourne City Council sponsored “FEIPS” (free entertainment in parks) a whole summer afternoon/evening of various big-band and small combo…

Rob Hosking

Sun, 24 Nov 2013 07:46:50 +1300

I've seen a lot of local (and a few international) bands in pubs and at Uni and Polytech and the like but I've never done the big concert Western Springs/Mt Smart type of gig. Don't like crowds much.

Sweetwaters is the biggest I've managed: the 1984 one which had Talking…

Hebe

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 23:47:38 +1300

kiwicmc

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 20:55:35 +1300

Sweatiest gig Trouble Funk – Hammersmith Palais 1987 Washington DC GoGo, crowd was bouncing from the DJ intro and didn't stop for 2 hours.

Simon Grigg

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 20:54:47 +1300

I fell asleep about 5 minutes into Knopfler’s first guitar solo and woke up as they played their final song.

I did that for the Doobie Brothers in 1976 or so. Every song of theirs sounded roughly the same so the beginning of the first song segued perfectly into the…

lloydois

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 20:52:45 +1300

Pretty sure it was Millie Small at the Whangarei Town Hall with my gran. Solo was Four Tops at the Auckland Town Hall in my 1st year at university.

Memorable gigs following were the Stones at Western Springs 1973. Led Zep around the same time and Elton John's 1st NZ…

Stephen D. O'Hoy

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 20:43:04 +1300

I saw Dire Straits play in Sydney in 1991. I fell asleep about 5 minutes into Knopfler's first guitar solo and woke up as they played their final song. It's still the only gig that I've managed to sleep most of the way through. Thankfully we didn't pay for the…

Sacha

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 20:17:29 +1300

Best crowd engagement would be that Grooverider gig, Derrick May in K'Rd , and Michael Franti acoustic in a tiny cafe on upper Queen St. Oh, and Chris Knox as MC at the Flying Nun anniversary gig at The Powerstation (no earbleeds).

Sacha

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 20:14:57 +1300

Deepest sounds would be Grooverider at The Box and sundry other d'n'b gigs.

Sacha

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 20:13:27 +1300

contrastingly, biggest sound system ever (but used responsibly) would have to be U2's Zooropa tour at Western Springs in the early 90s. Giant beast run at less than half capacity as I recall. Big Audio Dynamite sounded awesome on it beforehand.

By then I'd seen a whole lot of brilliant…

Sacha

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 20:07:45 +1300

ringing for days

Hebe

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 19:51:44 +1300

And Dylan was INTENSE.

He was, wasn't he. Time Out Of Mind was one of the boys' lullaby albums when they were tiny babes. Both of them only liked growly male voices singing: Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Lou Reed/Velvets (the melodic songs), Nirvana Unplugged. If we put on soft baby-go-to-sleep…

Neil Kirkland

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 18:26:00 +1300

Fleetwood Mac 1977 first ever concert, Kiss 1980 then Sweetwaters 1982, that is the year that live music really took off for me and I have never looked back, still going to gigs every other weekend ...

Ian Dalziel

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 13:56:41 +1300

Nick Strong
(who may have been in the Playthings)
He wasn't in this iteration of the Playthings, though...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iyEITHnylE

...but he was definitely Expendable!
;- )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S98HIlb5DVM

Alan Perrott

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 12:55:12 +1300

hell yeah Sacha – so loud I couldn't hear anything. just white noise, then stop, then "1 2 3'' and white noise again.

mad really.

Richard Grevers

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 12:29:03 +1300

Conservative parents, so they didn't take me to anything. First big gig was Hunters and Collectors playing Canty Uni Orientation (1985 I think, I had wheels by then). I believe I had successfully suppressed the memory Certain Sounds.
I do recall being taken to a scout Gang Show in the…

Samuel Scott

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 12:24:26 +1300

One of the best ever: Patti Smith and Bob Dylan in Christchurch in 1998 or 1999.

I saw the Wellington leg of that tour. I hadn't really paid any attention to Patti Smith before that gig. I left it a huge fan. She was amazing.

And Dylan was INTENSE.

Nora Leggs

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 10:48:33 +1300

Battle of the bands, mainstreet, don't know what year – The Clean. Don't actually remember it too well, but it was one of those "they're great!" moments (and by contrast everyone else in the 'battle' were dull and uninteresting. There were other gigs which should be memorable before this one,…

JWT1

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 10:24:40 +1300

Howard Morrison quartet Memorial Park, Palmerston North about 1963. Jefferson Airplane in San Francisco 1967. Been in love with Grace Slick ever since! Crap concert in Opera House Palmerston North in 1976; Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge. Music OK but zilch audience interaction. Dire Straits at the Gaumont Theatre, Southampton…

bmk

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 09:29:00 +1300

One more memory on when I saw The Smashing Pumpkins was the opening band were Garageland and they blew the crowd away – rapturous cheering. It was a case where they'd matched the opening band to the main act really well. Unlike another gig where I saw Prodigy and the…

Kate Hannah

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 09:00:58 +1300

First gig: exponents at the Albert, Palmerston North in I think 1991? Would have been 14.

Then various orientation tours – what year was it that the lemon heads headlined?

First saved up my pennies and travelled to Wellington gig: Smashing Pumpkins & the Breeders, 1994, when I was 17. We…

bmk

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 08:52:51 +1300

First paid gig was Smashing Pumpkins at the Super top in 1995 or 1996, after Mellon Collie was released. My family had just moved up from Hastings to Auckland, and I didn't know anyone here, but damn it I wanted to see them play. I remember the gig as being…

Andre Alessi

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 08:43:48 +1300

My first free concert was John Farnham in a paddock at the AMP Showgrounds in Hastings in the late 80's. His parents lived in Havelock North and he was visiting them so decided to put on a show for the locals. I was about ten or eleven and only remember…

Harry Musgrave

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 08:10:26 +1300

I thought we might be having this discussion for some reason like that.
I took my oldest daughter to see Rihanna and Chris Brown when she was 12 or 13. Nowadays she goes to Taylor Swift with her friends (we still have to provide transport :))
Both the girls saw…

Harry Musgrave

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 08:05:50 +1300

drum and bass heavy

not that there’s anything wrong with that

Not at all – it works for the newer Simple Minds songs from their stadium days but not so much for the older stuff where you actually want to make out what is hapenning on the keyboards.....

philipmatthews

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 07:59:23 +1300

We kicked this one off on Twitter after I posted that my wife is taking our daughter (who is 10) to see Bieber tonight and someone else in the office thought, isn’t that young to be going to a gig? I dunno. I remember when the Wombles, as a live…

andin

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 07:34:09 +1300

Ahh someone who just shares my vintage.
First international gig The Who and Small Faces at the Auckland Town Hall.
I was a roadie for a lot of the gigs mentioned here hmmmm…
I was sneaking out to clubs in Ak when I was young and saw the Underdogs, LaDeDas,…

Kimberley Verburg

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 02:42:06 +1300

Cliff Richard for me too, early 90's and definitely in the Michael Fowler Centre. My aunt was a huge, huge fan and I guess I had a usual kids' attitude to him, though he did put on a good show. Since my aunt died early, I'm glad that I went…

Simon Grigg

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 23:40:55 +1300

My first proper date was going to see Split Enz play at the St James in 1981, with the Blams in support.

I was side stage on that gig as part of the Blams touring party. The smoke machine jammed and filled the stage. I was able to wander out…

Hebe

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 23:37:03 +1300

The Cure pre goth and kinda what we got in 1980.

Yes. That's it exactly.

Hebe

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 23:33:53 +1300

The Cure @ Chch Town Hall. Hebe, did they play a second concert?I don’t recall – though I do recall it cost $6 to get in; Town Hall was pretty full. I think DD Smash were support or was it the Newtones?

I thought it was the Town Hall, but…

Robyn Gallagher

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 23:28:16 +1300

I remember that ’92 Chili Peppers show. They’d just got a new guitarist in after Frusciante quit (Axel somebody?) and he wasn’t much cop, and it just wasn’t all that great. Until Flea told everyone to take off their tops and fling them round their heads while he launched into…

Robyn Gallagher

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 23:22:58 +1300

I think we saw Rolf Harris at school once. He probably felt that Christmas had arrived early.

Rolf Harris came to my intermediate school, which would have been '86 or '87. My memory of it is not his performance, but that he drew a cartoon for a boy in my…

Dave Patrick

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 22:41:37 +1300

Loudest? That would be either Motorhead at Mainstreet or the Hoodoo Gurus at the Gluepot. Motorhead you could feel the bass in your bones, the Hoodoo Gurus I had constantly ringing ears for a couple of days and secondary ringing whenever something made any noise.

Best concert might just be…

Sacha

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 21:12:22 +1300

Dire Straits in 1986, aged 13 – although I remember it as being at Mt Smart.

Same recollection (sad to say).

paul reifel

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 21:01:30 +1300

I remember Bowie and Cheap Trick. Especially at Cheap Trick as I recall the Town Hall was likely to fall down if we got out of our seats! Didn't seem to stop us...

RaggedJoe

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 20:59:27 +1300

Like a few others, it was Bowie in '78, at the Springs for me. During or just after school C exams, loaded on the back of a mates Dad's Holden ute. My poor mother was ignorant of the transport arrangements thank God. No memory of the show at all, but…

paul reifel

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 20:53:15 +1300

March 1977 when I was 14. Rockin Rod Stewart! At the grand old Western Springs. I grew to hate his output from about when Hot Legs was a huge hit but back in the days of Maggie May and Sailing etc he was ok. And a good show to start…

Eediot

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 20:51:28 +1300

I thought it was the other way around but according to that website my first gig was Leo Sayer at The Maj in 1978, followed by Split Enz at the same venue the following year. Both gigs my Dad took me to and I was 12 for the first one.…

Chris Waugh

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 20:34:46 +1300

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bands_from_New_Zealand

Doesn't seem to include The Lads, which I won't include as any kind of first because I attended the same church as them in my teenage years.

Nope, I think I would have to say Cliff Richard in the very late 80s or very early 90s in I think…

Matthew Hooton

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 20:27:02 +1300

Same. Dire Straits in 1986, aged 13 – although I remember it as being at Mt Smart.
First at Western Springs was Eurythmics in 1987.
First gig would have been the the Psychodaisies in about 1988 at some dodgy Queen St nightclub. The guitarist , Dave Graham, was in some…

Sacha

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 20:21:09 +1300

drum and bass heavy

not that there's anything wrong with that

Sacha

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 20:19:41 +1300

Loudest gig

Ramones, Powerstation. Only time I've ever seen people with bleeding ears.

Harry Musgrave

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 19:45:39 +1300

First school concert – we had the Happen Inn singers come to school sometime in the late seventies.
First concert – Auckland university orientation 1980 headline was scheduled to be Split Enz but then they started becoming popular and decided to do their own proper shows and we had to…

Jackie Clark

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 19:29:03 +1300

My first concert was, I believe, not really a concert. Sweetwaters when I was about 18 or 19. So around 1982/3? The best concert I ever went to though was around the same time – Dire Straits at Western Springs (fooled you! you thought I was going to say Elton…

Sacha

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 19:25:38 +1300

My parents dragged us along to see Patsy Rigger and Suzanne Prentice at the Tomarata Hall when I was 10.

Fortunately blanked from my memory.

JacksonP

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 19:19:43 +1300

My first recollection was seeing Screaming Meemees in the Whakatane Town Hall in 1981, but I’m starting to wonder whether I dreamed it. I did apparently see Dave McArtney and The Pink Flamingos, with the Newmatics supporting, in January 1982, at the Ohope Primary School grounds. Aged 13.

Anyway, did…

nzlemming

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 18:39:36 +1300

Didn’t that make scandalising headlines when lots of drunk people got in the water and tried to get to the stage?

Yep. There's a lovely moat (deeper than it looks) in front of the sound shell. I don't remember that it was a huge amount of people, probably only a…

Russell Brown

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 18:33:49 +1300

Talking of Christian rock, two bass players + drums Youth For Christ from Christchurch were anything but!

Ha yes, saw them a bunch of times. Good noisy fun!

Oh, well. I have a story about this.

Ross McA.

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 18:33:19 +1300

The Cure pre goth and kinda what we got in 1980.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCCLhCBb1I4

Ross McA.

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 18:25:55 +1300

Next life-changer was The Cure at the Theatre Royal (think it was underpopulated) in 1980

Pretty sure this gig was at the town hall. A fantastic gig and right after their first album, with 'A Forest' on Ready To Roll every week.

Ross McA.

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 18:18:11 +1300

Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar (with Jon English as Judas).

Hells bells! I'd forgotten about that one too. Doesn't count as a gig tho. I thought Jon English was the bees knees for a while.

First Concert David Bowie, QEII, 1978. Was it Station To Station? Big train stereo…

Samuel Scott

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 18:01:55 +1300

First gig; Crowded House at the Wellington Town Hall aged 11 (I think). I met Neil the day before the show and he was really nice and gave us tickets so the whole experience seemed completely deluxe. Crowded House were great. I think the support band was the Dead Flowers.…

Peter Darlington

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 17:23:04 +1300

Talking of Christian rock, two bass players + drums Youth For Christ from Christchurch were anything but!

Ha yes, saw them a bunch of times. Good noisy fun!

Simon Bennett

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 17:19:52 +1300

Hi Gary that would be right. It was still a thrilling 1st gig for a 14 (or maybe 15) year old!

Gary Steel

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:56:39 +1300

First (free) gig: Howard Morrison Quartet in a Sound Shell, possibly in Rotorua, or New Plymouth in the mid-'60s.
First rock gig: A "happening" on Sunday afternoon at the Lake in Hamilton featuring various hippy bands, including Ticket, around 1970.
First international gig: Daddy Cool, Founders Theatre, Hamilton, 1971.

kiwicmc

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:54:10 +1300

First international concert: Alice Cooper: Welcome to my Nightmare – Western Springs, 1977 so age 16

Loudest gig: A tie between the Gordons at Reverb Room 1981 (where the two guitarists exchanged instruments mid song and I couldn't hear a bit of difference) and the Swans at the…

Gary Steel

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:54:07 +1300

Hi Simon,
Hate to be pedantic (oh, okay, I don't) but the Numan Majestic Theatre gig was 1980.
Hence: http://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/index.php/2011/05/barely-numan/

Russell Brown

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:49:54 +1300

First gig doubles (trebles) as first international and first stadium (sort of): 1973 The Sweet (and Daniel Boone) at Bowl of Brooklands, New Plymouth, with a mat and his older sister.

Didn't that make scandalising headlines when lots of drunk people got in the water and tried to get to…

Russell Brown

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:47:40 +1300

Never got taken to a concert by my parents – Dad was in to jazz and there wasn’t a lot of that around (or that he could afford on a minister’s stipend with 4 kids). We did see Godspell at His Majesty’s in (I think) 1978 or possibly 1977 –…

James Butler

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:33:20 +1300

I'm young enough that the details of the first couple of international bands I heard are available online as an aid to memory, no doubt due to the efforts of a few geeky fans: Supergrass at Wellington Town Hall and The Gurgs at the VUW Student Union, both in 2000.…

Alan Perrott

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:22:58 +1300

first local gig: Fourplay at the Papatoetoe Community Hall. was all rather exciting for a young fulla having one of his first nights out on the turps. they played Who covers and such like Brit beat pop. As I recall, I ended up dancing among the band – not too…

Julian Melville

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:22:43 +1300

I think Toni Childs played before Stevie Ray Vaughan. Amazing show. And Dave Dobbyn did an excellent solo turn in between the very slow set changes, just him and an electric guitar that cut out mid song. All the roadies were busy switching the set around so he was running…

nzlemming

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:20:30 +1300

First gig doubles (trebles) as first international and first stadium (sort of): 1973 The Sweet (and Daniel Boone) at Bowl of Brooklands, New Plymouth, with a mat and his older sister.

First "I paid for this" was Split Enz in Dunedin (unless my brother did – not sure). They were…

Julian Melville

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:18:43 +1300

I remember that '92 Chili Peppers show. They'd just got a new guitarist in after Frusciante quit (Axel somebody?) and he wasn't much cop, and it just wasn't all that great. Until Flea told everyone to take off their tops and fling them round their heads while he launched into…

BlairMacca

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:11:19 +1300

First international concert was Ray Charles (!) in about 1993 with my parents at the Mission in Napier. At the time I wasn't interested really at all.

First concert by myself was Pearl Jam in 98 at Mt Smart when I was 15, whole group of us went up from…

Jane Brotheridge

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:07:00 +1300

Boomtown Rats at the Town Hall, I was 14. Was shocked when Bob Geldof said 'fuck' on stage.

Luke Williamson

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 15:50:59 +1300

Thank God there are a few other ancients here.
First School concert: Living Force I think.
First solo real concert: Bo Diddley ( I won tickets off the radio) at Auckland Town Hall which would probably have been early 70s. I had two older brothers who were the perfect chaperones.…

Hugh Wilson

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 15:49:28 +1300

@Robyn – I went to the De La Soul show at the Auckland Town Hall in 1991, as well, aged 15 or 16, and mainly remember how dorky me and my buddy were sitting right at the back, up top, some way away from all the action ....

Pretty sure…

wendyf

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 15:31:17 +1300

Oh. *that* kind of concert :-{{ But I'll tell you anyway. It was Lili Kraus and I was about 10. Just after WW 2. At Kawakawa in the King's Theatre. She was a German pianist. And just thinking about that day, when the whole school marched down to hear her,…

Morgan Nichol

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 15:31:10 +1300

I was going to talk about my first concert (Alice Cooper, 1990, Supertop, age I thought younger until I looked up the date, and must have been 13) but then I watched that Knoxious video and it's all I can think about. It's fucking fantastic and I'm so happy for…

Simon Bennett

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 15:28:27 +1300

Concert I never saw but will always wish I had: Pink Floyd at Western Springs. 1989.

Gaz Tayler

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 15:13:24 +1300

First stadium concert... 1984, Elton John @ Western Springs.. looking back it was pretty good despite what was clearly an odd time for him having just married German Renate Blauel and his new stuff was not quite as good as his old stuff, I went with a couple of mates…

Dave Patrick

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 15:07:27 +1300

Mike O'Connell

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 15:07:09 +1300

Talking of Christian rock, two bass players + drums Youth For Christ from Christchurch were anything but!

Martin Lambert

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 14:56:38 +1300

I have a sad feeling it was probably MC Hammer at My Smart, sometime about 1991ish, followed by EMF at the Auckland Town Hall......

Mike O'Connell

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 14:56:03 +1300

First big concert, The Cure @ Chch Town Hall. Hebe, did they play a second concert?I don't recall – though I do recall it cost $6 to get in; Town Hall was pretty full. I think DD Smash were support or was it the Newtones? So a story goes, Robert…

tim

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 14:26:54 +1300

Talking Heads at Sweetwaters South in 1984
Thankfully before the internet, so had no idea what they would be doing until David Byrne walked out on stage on his own, wearing an oversized suit & carrying a ghetto blaster...

Andre

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 14:24:43 +1300

I'm having fun finding bands that don't appear on Wikipedia's list of kiwi bands. In fact, the list doesn't seem to include hundreds of major kiwi bands. Like Peking Man. Or Love's Ugly Children. Or the Hallelujah Picassos. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bands_from_New_Zealand

Martin Lindberg

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 14:18:13 +1300

The Sweet in 1977 or 1978 at some sports arena in Lund, Sweden. I would have been 10 or so. I was a bit too short to see the guys in the band, but I did indeed notice the soft-porn video- art (well, film probably) playing on the wall behind…

Peter Darlington

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 14:15:09 +1300

The travelling Christian supergroup Certain Sounds

Aaarghhh the memories, the terrifying, grisly memories....

richard maclean

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 14:12:56 +1300

Bulldogs Allstar Goodtime Band at Titahi Bay Intermediate, Quincy Conserve at Mana College, then Rod Stewart at Athletic Park (1979?). My sister saw the Jackson Five at the Opera House (I think) in Wellington.

Greg Akehurst

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 14:06:00 +1300

First Free School Concert: Golden Harvest played the Northcote College hall in 1978 or '79, I think. They were pretty cool at the time. I remember some of the 4th form girls had "partied" with the band after the show and I learnt (at 13), what the term groupies actually…

Stephen D. O'Hoy

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:58:02 +1300

First gig: 1985 The Hoodoo Fuck Buckets at the Court House Hotel, Bendigo, Australia. It was a mate's band. They sucked. Cool name though.

First Concert: 1988 Pink Floyd, Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour, Melbourne Tennis Center. Just found someone has put some images and audio from this gig on…

Gareth Swain

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:55:22 +1300

International: David Bowie @ Western Springs on his Glass Spider Tour (1987?)

New Zealand: An all-day bFM thing at the Gluepot. I wasn't planning to attend – I just popped in because a mate of mine was running a food stall set up inside for the day and he asked…

Andre

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:54:04 +1300

I just remembered... I saw INXS at the Logan Campbell Centre on 11 January 1986. The sound sucked.

Grant McDougall

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:53:18 +1300

I was 10 when my mum took me to see Mark Williams at the Sandown Hotel, Gisborne, in 1978. It probably cost a couple of bucks per ticket. On Wednesday evening I walked past Knox Church, just around the corner from where I live in Dunedin. Mark Williams now sings…

Andre

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:51:13 +1300

I think we saw Rolf Harris at school once. He probably felt that Christmas had arrived early.
My parents dragged us along to see Patsy Rigger and Suzanne Prentice at the Tomarata Hall when I was 10. Luckily this experience didn't put me off music forever,
The Aotea Square riots…

Simon Bennett

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:48:48 +1300

Yes! My memory of Don will always be him leaping around the stage in a woolly jumper, while singing and playing the euphonium – this led me to fandom of The Front Lawn, who became a huge influence on my work later on.

Hebe

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:48:37 +1300

I am way too old to be posting on this thread (or possibly even reading PAS) as my first real concert was Lulu at the Christchurch Town Hall in 1974. It was my birthday present; I really really wanted to see The Sweet who were playing about the same time…

Peter Johnston

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:43:23 +1300

I went to both those shows – made a special trip down to Wellington to see The Boomtown Rats at the Town Hall and ended up going to Gary Numan as well. The Blams were very impressive at the Enz show – especially Don McGlashan the amazing singing drummer!

Peter Johnston

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:39:15 +1300

First international concert: Gary Glitter and the Glitter Band, Napier Municipal Theatre, 1975?, aged 12. (they were glam-tastic, but little did we know...)

First real gig: Space Waltz, Napier Municipal Theatre 1974? aged 11 (they were glam-tastic too)

Also saw Sharon O'Neill around this time supporting Leo Sayer (aargh!) -…

Paul Campbell

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:36:35 +1300

Bowie QE2 park mid 70s? – set up directly opposite the grandstand by someone who just didn't understand acoustics – Bowie to his credit played to the echo which where we were standing was about as loud as he was

bob daktari

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:35:24 +1300

I'm having The Club flashbacks too.... seems a few of us did time in the Tron, other notable acts I saw there not already mentioned – Hunters & Collectors, Shriekback, Supergroove and a bunch of Auckland hip hop groups (names I can't remember), Straitjacket Fits... Some friends and I hosted a…

Geoff Lealand

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:32:10 +1300

International. The Pretty Things (with Sandie Shaw) at the State Theatre in New Plymouth; a concert which resulted in their life-time ban from New Zealand. This ban was lifted last year, when they performed at The Powerhouse, I have written a piece on this nice symmetry (and their influence on…

Simon Bennett

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:30:33 +1300

My first international gig was Gary Numan at the Majestic Cinema (long gone) on Willis Street. The tickets were 14th birthday presents and I remember the concert being deafeningly loud, with a stripy fluro-tube light show and remote controlled pyramids with lights inside that lumbered around the stage. This was…

Richard Irvine

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:20:36 +1300

@Jeremy and @Robyn I'm getting serious The Club flashbacks from this – I was at the Pop Will Eat Itself show, which is still one of the loudest I've ever been too, an Exponents show when they'd *just* released Something Beginning With C, and Bjorn Again, who I recall were…

tim kong

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:17:39 +1300

Sorry for double post – editing window timed out.

I have useful memories of that 1991 Icehouse gig at the Christchurch Town Hall.

But I've always had Transvision Vamp, also at the Town Hall, as my first "I've paid and I'm going out with my mates" gig. Can't be sure…

Robyn Gallagher

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:11:12 +1300

First free concert: the one at Mt Smart Super Top, 1991, age 16
I don't remember what it was called, but there was this big festivally concert planned. Tickets weren't selling so Pepsi picked up the tab and made it free. It was full of people who weren't necessarily fans…

Hadyn Green

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:09:25 +1300

First concert avec parents was Elton John at Mt Smart in the early 90s so I must've been 11 or 12

First concert sans parents was REM at Western Springs on their Monster Tour. I was 16. The openers were Grant Lee Buffalo and Crowded House.

I went to that…

Martin Brown

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:08:04 +1300

Alexandra. The New Zealand Army band doing Summer Pops. Blossom Festival. 1972. I was in Primer 3. Amazeballs. So impressed, I wrote to the regiment and they replied with an autographed 10x8 glossy photo and typewritten letter from the C.O. First real show? Mark Williams in about 1976. Alexandra. Music…

Che Tibby

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:07:13 +1300

never said i was a fan.

was just a great new place to get turned down by girls.

Tom Beard

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:00:11 +1300

Argh! PA ate my post. Anyway, I'm glad to see I wasn't the only Pseudo Echo fan. How can you not love a band named after an ARP Odyssey patch?

For those who only know them for Funky Town, their debut album Autumnal Park had some of the best synth…

Jeremy Andrew

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 12:57:46 +1300

The Concert Archive folks and me must move in different circles. None of my formative live music experiences are on their list. My first real international band was Poison at the Mt Smart Supertop during the height of hair-metal in the late 80's. I recall a gig by the Angels…

bob daktari

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 12:56:31 +1300

First international concert: 1984, The Cure Logan Campbell Centre

First real gig: 1982 I think, Divine Faction (I think they were called, not D Faction – played Echo & The Bunnymen and Psychedelic Furs etc covers ), Caroline Bay Hall, Timaru

If school counts: Certain Sounds, at least 4 times

Mark Easterbrook

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 12:56:31 +1300

My first proper gig and first proper international were one and the same: The Red Hot Chilli Peppers at the Mt Smart Supertop in 1992, aged 17, when they were touring Blood Sugar Sex Magik. My mate’s dad was head of security and got us in for free. We thought…

tim kong

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 12:55:39 +1300

Pretty sure I was at that 1991 Icehouse gig at the Chch Town Hall.

But I've always had Transvision Vamp, also at the Christchurch Town Hall, as my first "I've paid and I'm going out with my mates" gig. Can't be sure what year it was though.

Also, strange memories…

Jonathan King

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 12:53:16 +1300

My first was The Clash, at the Logan Campbell Centre in 1982 – 14 yrs old, shortly after getting First Record I Ever Bought – London Calling. And speaking of Jonathan Ganley, pics of that night by him here: http://www.pointthatthing.com/2009/03/to-faraway-town.html

There is also a live recording of the show –…

Che Tibby

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 12:44:23 +1300

1986: dire straits at western springs. caught the bus up from the mount with a mate from school.

i remember security looking suspiciously at my carry-all, and how disappointed they were to see it filled with a packed lunch.

the first low-down and dirty gig must have been the Fits…

matthew

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 12:42:03 +1300

1994 aged 14. REM, Crowded house and grant lee buffalo at Western springs. GLB were only the support act but out of the three they are the group I still listen to on occasion now.

Emma Hart

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 12:39:18 +1300

This question puzzled me for a while. I went to Icehouse in the Chch Town Hall in 1991, but in memory it doesn't feel like my first concert experience. Was it just sneaking under-age into Dance Exponents pub gigs?

Richard Irvine

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 12:38:46 +1300

Hoodoo Gurus at Founders Theatre in Hamilton when I was 14. Would have been just after Mars Needs Guitars came out. Loved it!

Simon Chamberlain

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 12:32:08 +1300

1986: Icehouse supported by Boom Crash Opera in Wellington. Aged 13. (Went with a friend, no parents).

The Kiwi Concert Date Archive says it was July 26 at the Town Hall, but it was definitely the Show Buildings. I remember not liking Boom Crash Opera much and Icehouse just fine.…

Chip Matthews

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 12:29:33 +1300

My old man and I, we didn't get on a lot. We butted heads always. It always seemed I was on the cusp of getting a bloody good hiding, or the buckle end of a belt in my direction. But one thing we could agree on, was country music. So…

Public Address

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 12:29:33 +1300

Discussion from blog post.