# Bands you wish you'd seen.



## Kerr

Just watching a Queen documentary on Pick TV now. 

I'd have loved to have seen Queen with Freddie.

Another band I'd love to see is Big Country with Stuart Adamson. 

Who would you like to rewind time for?


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## Cookies

When I was at school, AC/DC were in the Kings Hall, Belfast. I managed to get tickets, but took sick before the concert and couldn't go. I have my mate Digger the tickets, and as it was the Money Talks tour, he brought me back one of the Angus dollar bills. 

Should have went to see Simple Minds too. Did manage to go and see Def Leppard in Belfast at Christmas 2018. Brilliant gig.p 

Ah well. Getting too old and impatient for crowds and discomfort nowadays lol 

Cooks 

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## bibby142

I saw Queen at knebworth, and big country were one of the backing bands. Queen were outstanding, big country not so much! I had tickets to see Pink Floyd didn't go ,and took a girl out instead, big mistake! We divorced a number of years later, cost me a fortune!!!


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## President Swirl

Would've loved to have seen Guns n' roses. Also Priest. They technically are still around, but not the same. Queensryche also. (Apologies officionados, not sure how to place the diaeresis over a letter.) Most bands I've been fortunate enough to see. Others have slipped the net. Sadly, I don't have the knees for gigs anymore. I get to pick and choose. A good dose of metal gets me through some days. Does anyone else pause a song, if they think a solo will be interrupted by traffic or a light? Is it just me?


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## Kerr

bibby142 said:


> I saw Queen at knebworth, and big country were one of the backing bands. Queen were outstanding, big country not so much! I had tickets to see Pink Floyd didn't go ,and took a girl out instead, big mistake! We divorced a number of years later, cost me a fortune!!!


I've always had the opinion it's hard to gauge a band when they are the support. It's not as bad now, but in the past I'm sure the support bands had their volume button and sound quality limited.

Their footage on YouTube is superb.


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## Kerr

Cookies said:


> Should have went to see Simple Minds too.
> 
> Cooks
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


I might have seen them a few times. Great band.

They are still going.


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## bibby142

Kerr said:


> I've always had the opinion it's hard to gauge a band when they are the support. It's not as bad now, but in the past I'm sure the support bands had their volume button and sound quality limited.
> 
> Their footage on YouTube is superb.


I agree, definitely not the best time to see them.


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## Cookies

Kerr said:


> I might have seen them a few times. Great band.
> 
> They are still going.


Oh yes I know. Fab band indeed! They're on the hard drive in the car!

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## wayne451

Wham. 

Blondie.


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## Kerr

wayne451 said:


> Wham.
> 
> Blondie.


I had you down as a Wham fan. 

I've seen Blondie. She was way past her best though.


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## wayne451

Kerr said:


> I had you down as a Wham fan.
> 
> I've seen Blondie. She was way past her best though.


Love Wham. :thumb:

Debbie Harry was amazing in her prime. I keep thinking of getting a full custom wallpaper done so I can have her plastered on my wall from the 'Heart of glass' video. Always struggle to find the right shot in a scaleable hi-res image though.


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## sevenfourate

INXS...


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## wayne451

sevenfourate said:


> INXS...


That's a damn good shout.

I'd not want to see Michael Hutchence when he's 'tinkerbelling' from a light fitting though...


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## macca666

Read the title and before I'd even clicked on the thread to read it I thought of two.....

Which were the first two posts :lol:

I've seen Queen with Adam Lambert a couple of times and I know they can be criticised but it was a great show I'd highly recommend though I'd have loved to see them with Freddie John Deacon.

Secondly I always regret I never tried to get tickets for ACDC when they were at Hampden a few year back. I'm too young for the original line up but think they'd have been fantastic live.


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## baxlin

As a teenager in the 60s I saw most of the bands, Beatles, Orbison, Shads etc, but not the Hollies, and I always wanted to see them.

Saw them eventually, but it was just before Allan Clarke retired - unfortunately his voice had gone, and obviously Graham Nash had left a long while before - so TBH it would have been better had I not seen them.......


Unless of course I could have turned back the clock, as the OP suggested!


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## Caledoniandream

Tina Turner in her later years, seen Ike & Tina before they where famous, and thought she was amazing.
Missed the Beatles (short of funds) 
Would have liked to see Mike Oldfield.
Seen Prince, Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac (travelled to the States as they where not touring Europe) 
Would have loved to see ELO in their early years,seen them a couple of years ago in Amsterdam. 
This year planned to see Simple Minds, Lionel Richie and Andre Rieu, but it’s not going to happen .


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## Stoner

Deep Purple, INXS and Dire Straits.

I grew up in London so was very lucky to see a lot of the bands in the 70/80's - Queen, AC/DC (numerous times), Rainbow, Saxon, Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy etc. I also went to the first 3 Monsters of Rock concerts so saw plenty of others there.

I was into heavy metal if you didn't realise!


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## muzzer

Stoner said:


> Deep Purple, INXS and Dire Straits.
> 
> I grew up in London so was very lucky to see a lot of the bands in the 70/80's - Queen, AC/DC (numerous times), Rainbow, Saxon, Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy etc. I also went to the first 3 Monsters of Rock concerts so saw plenty of others there.
> 
> I was into heavy metal if you didn't realise!


We weren't that far apart then as i went to them too, i think i stopped going very late 90's.

Seen Queen and Big Country at Knebworth, The Cult and Soul Asylum supporting G n R - second time i saw them but Izzy had left by that point.

Bands i wish i'd seen
Led Zeppelin
Free
Depeche Mode
Deep Purple but the Coverdale Hughes line up
Rodrigo y Gabriella

Pretty much seen most other bands over the years, ELO, Gary Moore, Jethro Tull, Heart, Motorhead - several times, The Stranglers, Iron Maiden, Queensryche, Jeff Healy Band, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Ozzy with Jake E Lee, Pride and Glory are just some that i can remember

Jeff Healey was immense, i knew he was good from Roadhouse but live he was something else.

I'm getting old


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## Gafferinc

Pixies for me. Classic line, up early nineties


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## Soul boy 68

The SOS band

The Whispers

The Sunburst band 

Down to the bone 

The Temptations, I could go on and on, I’ve seen a fair few bands and artists over the years but these are the one I wished I’d had the chance to see live.


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## Derek Mc

The Beach boys in the heyday, Guns'n'Roses, and Dire Straits in a stadium


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## uruk hai

Motörhead


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## Gas head

Some more of Pink Floyd (seen once)
Jean Michel Jarre
Sex Pistols
The Clash


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## RS3

Jimi Hendrix.

Dr John.

AC/DC with Bon Scott.

Van Halen with Dave Lee Roth


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## Fentum

I went to the Vienne Jazz festival for a few years and saw/heard many of the greats. I saw Miles Davis a couple of times there in the late Eighties, but he was way past his best. I'd have liked to have been to a concert of his before he went all psychedelic. 

At Vienne, I saw the Count Basie Band (for a more traditional sound) - that was great! Womack and Womack also played and weren't too shabby. This festival also included sets by Sarah Vaughan, Dave Brubeck, Stan Getz, Chick Corea, Curtis Mayfield, Cab Calloway, Ben E King, Horace Tapscott and George Russell as well. All this in a Roman Amphitheatre by the Rhone in June/July. Great in its way but I had the sense that the heroes of jazz were all in terminal decline and slightly going through the motions, with the exception of Herbie Han**** and Chick Corea.

Anyway back on topic, in 1988 I had tickets for the festival because Chet Baker was on the slate but he died just before it; that is one set I'd have loved to have been at.

I saw the Mingus Big Band in NYC in the mid-nineties, being run by Ma Mingus. A shadow of what it was under Mingus himself and more of a retirement fund for her and the old codgers. What I would have given to see him live, though. Ditto John Coltrane. 

On a different note (!), I went to a Kiss concert in the early eighties but was taken violently ill by a hot dog I had eaten and missed all of it, talking to the big white telephone. I heard every note but missed seeing the spectacle (which is rather the point, I suspect You don't go to a Kiss concert for the music, after all:lol.


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## claymore

Before me time, but think David Bowie would have been good to see and there was rumors of him doing T in the Park but unfortunately never happened.


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## Shiny

I spent much of my younger years going to gigs, mainly smallish venues where it was more personal. Saw the Pixies at their prime a few times, Stones Roses in a half empty Bierkeller, Sonic Youth, Mudhoney, My Bloody Valentine, the Fall, the list goes on.

Saw a few stadium gigs, all pretty pants and lacking the atmosphere of a pub gig, Inxs, U2, Rush, Smashing Pumpkins...

Inxs were good, but near the bottom of the list of good gigs.

Wish I'd seen the Cure in the 80s, they're probably still going but they were at their prime in the 80s. 

In a different life i'd have loved to have seen Indian Summer and Orchid, but I discovered them after they had disbanded and they only really played a handful of college type gigs in America.


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## pxr5

In their heyday in the 70s, but I was too young then anyway:

King Crimson
Genesis
Yes
Van Der Graaf Generator
Jethro Tull
Gentle Giant
ELP
Camel
Caravan


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## Tykebike

Would love to have seen the original Temptations before David Ruffin left. I've seen the Fabulous Temptations when Stringfellow had them on numerous times in Sheffield. They were excellent whoever they were!


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## Walesy.

Queen (With Freddie) and Hendrix.


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## AndyA4TDI

Simple Minds
Dire Straits
Genesis
David Bowie


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## sharrkey

Van Halen
Metallica 
Counting Crows
Dire Straits 


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## ianrobbo1

MOTORHEAD!! Sheffield city hall, I was deaf as a post for days after, ZZ Top, a couple of times, Sweet, and a great many others when the big workingmen's clubs were at their height. Brian Adams when he supported the Top and he was chronic, a bit before that bloody awful record that just wouldn't go away.


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## Rab W19

Prince. Hands down, fave artist and if you youtube his gigs especially his superbowl halftime you will be blown away.

I would've loved to have seen Queen during the Freddie Mercury era, particularly the live aid.

been lucky enough the see Velvet revolver which at the time was 3 out of the 5 guns and roses band including Slash which was amazing, so that was a bucket list tick.


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## muzzer

Rab W19 said:


> Prince. Hands down, fave artist and if you youtube his gigs especially his superbowl halftime you will be blown away.
> 
> I would've loved to have seen Queen during the Freddie Mercury era, particularly the live aid.
> 
> been lucky enough the see Velvet revolver which at the time was 3 out of the 5 guns and roses band including Slash which was amazing, so that was a bucket list tick.


I saw G n R twice, 1986 i think it was at Donington ,when those two guys sadly died in the crush, with the Appetitie for Destruction line up then again at MK Bowl when Izzy and Steven Adler had gone, so Matt Sorum and Gilby Clarke.

I also saw the a certain well known "entertainer" at the Bowl when Status Quo announced they were retiring...funnily enough i think that was '86 too. Said entertainer was amazing including being lowered onto the stage from the lighting rig.
Shame he turned out to be a collosal sex pest.


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## Gas head

Saw G n R as support band for Bon Jovi cant remember when.

Anyone remember the Hummingbird in Brum? saw loads of bands there and the Irish centre.
Grace Jones offered her A*&E for audience to touch "if you dared"


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## JOLLYRANCHERS

Linkin Park

Had tickets to see them in brum but my mate let me down last minute and I didn't fancy going alone so left it.....It turned out to be their last ever gig as Chester committed suicide not long after. I was gutted that I didn't go.


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## jenks

Kerr said:


> I might have seen them a few times. Great band.
> 
> They are still going.


Any relation to Jim ?

I've seen then a few time too, including at Leeds Roundhay park when they were in their prime, late 80s I think. Got to the front of the 100k crowd!

Like the OP I'd have liked to see Queen with Freddie.

Also missed out on Robbie at Knebworth. We had tickets but the Mrs was 8 months pregnant when it was on ( she sold the tickets for face value!)


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## Gheezer

Paul Weller in Japan. Had a ticket but had to work. Gutted.


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## RS3

Whilst living in Australia and on the day that he died, I was introduced to Jeff Buckley on Trpple J radio station. Within months I had 20 - 30 of his bootlegs.
Incredible talent, such a waste. Wish I saw him live.


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## Shug

Most bands I've really wanted to see I have, but a couple have eluded me so far.
Nirvana. In school mate had gotten tickets but circumstances dictated otherwise. Seen Foo fighters a couple times, so got a third of the way there!
Metallica, Killswitch engage tho there's still time on those two.


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## RS3

Shug said:


> Most bands I've really wanted to see I have, but a couple have eluded me so far.
> Nirvana. In school mate had gotten tickets but circumstances dictated otherwise. Seen Foo fighters a couple times, so got a third of the way there!
> Metallica, Killswitch engage tho there's still time on those two.


Really want to take my youngest (10) to see Metallica, he loves them even more than I do and iv'e seen them a few times. Wanted to take him to the Etihad last year but the wife wouldn't let me as it was a school night - Last time I fall for that one.


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## SteveW

*Marillion circa 1985 Misplaced Childhood* - one of my all time favourite albums. I was lucky enough to see Fish perform the whole of this album Fairport Convention's Cropredy festival in 2015 and it was the last time he was ever going to perform it in its entirety at an outside venue, so that was a very pleasant surprise! I've seen Marillion a couple of times and also seen Fish a couple of times too, but never got to see Marillion with Fish.

*The Hollies* - I probably wouldn't have thought of these had I not read it in a previous post, but I was brought up on The Hollies. My dad was a massive fan and always said they were musically better than The Beatles but they never got the breaks (his opinion). Always loved the bass lines in their songs too.

*Queen* - Would have loved to have seen Queen with Freddie, like probably nearly everyone else that hasn't seen them I guess.

*Pink Floyd - with Syd Barret and/or Roger Waters* - Massive floyd fan here, and I've seen them live twice, but both since Waters left. Daughter is named Emily after "See Emily Play" so I'd have loved to have seen them live throughout all the stages of the band's life.

I could go on and on about a subject like this - but those above are the main ones that come to mind immediately


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## Alan W

Showing my age here: :lol:

Jimi Hendrix
Cream (Ginger Baker on drums)
David Bowie


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## Kerr

I wish I could go see anyone just now. :lol:

I'm really missing live music in all of this.


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## SteveW

Kerr said:


> I wish I could go see anyone just now. :lol:
> 
> I'm really missing live music in all of this.


Agree with that 100%

I don't really see a lot of live music nowadays - time, family, other stuff all seems to take precedent, but I've been going to Fairport's Cropredy Convention festival every year since 2014 with my eldest daughter and I really missed it this year.

We usually meet up with some cousins of mine there too, so it's always good to meet up with them and not being able to go this year is really crap to be honest.

Folk isn't really my genre of choice at all, but I've seen some cracking bands there over the years I've been going. And although I was aware of Fairport Convention prior to going to Cropredy for the first time, I'd never really heard much of their vast work. They're amazing live though I have to say.

Anyway I digress, but yeah, this Covid thingy is really hitting the music scene hard eh? I just hope the festivals, bands and venues can weather the storm because otherwise the future looks somewhat bleak


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## Kerr

I do worry how many venues will survive after this. I don't think they got much financial support and they must all be in serious financial trouble.

I've paid to watch bands online once their free performances dried up. It's not the same, but they were raising money for their team who've been getting nothing. 

Reading about some of the festivals planned for next year it sounds as if they have been forced to go bigger to attempt to recover costs. Festival are adding extra days, while Leeds and Reading are going with two main stages to get a far higher capacity. 

I do wonder if some of the artists will be doing a bit better with music streaming. I know it doesn't pay well, but my Spotify listening time is through the roof.


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## SteveW

Fairport sold off all their wristbands for the 2020 festival so that people that collect them every year didn't miss out on a year. They even sold the VIP access all areas ones for a tenner each and people were jumping at the chance to finally get one :lol:

I bought their specially made 2020 POSTPONED t-shirt, and they also sold a special "Team Cropredy" T-shirt (bought one of those too) to raise money for the team behind the festival, the security and events management company etc who had most of their employees on furlough etc. Felt like it was the least I could do really.


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## Bulkhead

I would have loved to see The Jam in their heyday. Also Pink Floyd and Cream. I've been lucky enough to see most of the bands I really wanted to see - U2, Metallica, Green Day, The Waterboys, Eric Clapton (complete with Derek Trucks in his band!), Radiohead, Micheal Buble (don't laugh, he was so good we went to see him again!). Since moving to Oz, opportunities don't come up that frequently. I waited years for Goldfrapp to play hear and then two days before the gig, the wife broke her knee. I could even sell on the tickets as the website was down. Being an Oxford boy, I also really want to see Ride, who recently re-formed and are sounding great. Hopefully, they'll both be here sometime soon.


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## bigcarpchaser

I’m with you on Buble, my Mrs is a massive fan and she’s dragged me along twice and he’s a very, very good entertainer. 
I really need to see Brookes and Dunn somewhere like Vegas before they split up again. 
On a complete tangent I wish I’d seen The Sex Pistols live, no idea why, it just appeals now more than it did back when I was a kid. 


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## SteveW

Bulkhead said:


> I would have loved to see The Jam in their heyday. Also Pink Floyd and Cream. I've been lucky enough to see most of the bands I really wanted to see - U2, Metallica, Green Day, The Waterboys, Eric Clapton (complete with Derek Trucks in his band!), Radiohead, Micheal Buble (don't laugh, he was so good we went to see him again!). Since moving to Oz, opportunities don't come up that frequently. I waited years for Goldfrapp to play hear and then two days before the gig, the wife broke her knee. I could even sell on the tickets as the website was down. Being an Oxford boy, I also really want to see Ride, who recently re-formed and are sounding great. Hopefully, they'll both be here sometime soon.


Oh yeah, The Jam would have been a good band to have seen actually!

I've seen The Waterboys a couple of times, they're brilliant live. I'm not particularly a fan of theirs but I do enjoy their music, they've just been playing at festivals I've been at and I always enjoy their set. Green Day I'v'e seen three times now, once waaaay back in 1995 (saw Radiohead then too  ) and then again in 2009 and 2017


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## Shiny

Bulkhead said:


> Being an Oxford boy, I also really want to see Ride, who recently re-formed and are sounding great. Hopefully, they'll both be here sometime soon.


Great band, I've seen Ride in the early 90's, i'm guessing it must have been at the Jericho Tavern or possibly the Bristol Bierkellar. My mate was doing a PHD at St Catherines so I used to kip on his floor a lot! Saw loads of bands at Jericho Tavern, Family Cat, Heart Throbs, Mega City Four and loads i can't remember. Was a great venue for indie/shoeglaze at the time.

My early vinyl is starting to increase a bit on Discogs too, can't believe Nowhere sold for £180 last year :thumb:


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## Bulkhead

Shiny said:


> Great band, I've seen Ride in the early 90's, i'm guessing it must have been at the Jericho Tavern or possibly the Bristol Bierkellar. My mate was doing a PHD at St Catherines so I used to kip on his floor a lot! Saw loads of bands at Jericho Tavern, Family Cat, Heart Throbs, Mega City Four and loads i can't remember. Was a great venue for indie/shoeglaze at the time.
> 
> My early vinyl is starting to increase a bit on Discogs too, can't believe Nowhere sold for £180 last year :thumb:


I used to work at St Catherines. Oxford was a good place to be in the early 90s - Ride and Supergrass were flying high, although Ride would soon give way to Hurricane Number 1, and Radiohead were emerging. My mate went to school with most of the Radiohead guys - Abingdon School. Good times.


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## Shiny

St Catherines was pretty cool as they had their own punts on the Cherwell. We used to drive to Oxford Saturday morning, get a punt about lunch time, giggle at the naked professors as we went past Parsons Pleasure, fill up on beer and then head back a few hours later. Then off the Jericho Tavern if a band was on, then back to the Uni JCR or MCR for a 60p bottle of Newcastle Brown, then out in the streets to find a kebab van, finally back to the digs to kip on the floor.

The uni used to put on a decent breakfast, then later we drove to Blenheim Palace, had a walk round the grounds to blow off the hangover cobwebs, followed by a posh pub meal in Blenheim. Back home to Swindon to walk to pub for a top up! 

Good old days for sure.


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## P2K

I'd have loved to have seen Queen live too.
Grew up listening to them with my old man.
I remember watching them in concert live on TV when I was a kid.

Can't leave out The Beetles either, although all you would hear in concert would have been the girls screaming :lol:


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## McGrath 5

Saw The Jam in '82 at Bingley Hall in Brum. The Trans Global Express tour. Was too young to appreciate it tbh. Was always a massive Weller fan afterwards. (Style Council excepted....embarrassing) Have seen him loads in the last 20 years,an amazing gig at the Aston Villa leisure centre,in '95 was a highlight  Really can't stand most of the stuff he's done in the last decade though He's become self-indulgent and bloody awful.


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## Richors

Been lucky enough to see most bands that I wanted to over the years. The Clash being one of my first gigs while still at school.
One band I never saw with proper line up that I always wanted to was Thin Lizzy with Lynott. Seen them without but that's the one I always regret not doing.
Weirdly I have seen some pretty good cover bands in recent years - an Oasis one in particular was very good and I often look for these type of bands that cover those that can never be seen again like Queen etc.
The sooner we can go to gigs of any type again the better for everyone I think...…...


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