Seeing as how I'm starting off here on a music angle.. (and forgive me if this is an old thread).. whats the best gigs you've seen at the City Hall

AC/DC on the Back In Black Tour has to rank amongst the best ever, right before they went stellar.

UFO never failed to entertain

IRON MAIDEN though I'm not really a fan they were amazing on that first tour with Bruce Dickinson

I also used to love SAXON with the Russ Abbott of Rock Biff Byford, absolute class.

I've seen so many great bands there, I hope the refurb isn't too extensive.. it won't be the same without the grubby edge LOL

BTW - Whitesnake in the mid-90s had to be the worst gig ever.. only one I ever walked out of.

Also does anyone remember having to get past the skins who used to hang around The Showboat in Pond Street.. cripes I've had some scrapes there LOL

Originally posted by Wavey
Also does anyone remember having to get past the skins who used to hang around The Showboat in Pond Street.. cripes I've had some scrapes there LOL

Never Pond Street - but I do remember some hanging around Castle Market. They gave me grief a few times - but nothing more than verbal abuse.

Hey Wavey
I think I was at a few of those gigs, deffo AC/DC
Used to be a bit of a rocker when I was about 16

Best for me was Thin Lizzy

seen loads though
Judas Priest
Def Leppard
Saxon
Michael Schenker
UFO
Iron Maiden
Motorhead - banned after that gig

Did you ever jump from the circle? I did once, it was a bloody long way down, but I did get down to the front:thumbsup:

I think it may be Iron Maiden for me.

Did anyone manage to do a stage dive?

Def Leppard for me.:)

So many to choose from, but mainly from a different era to you guys.

Stones, Led Zep, Sabbath, Hendrix, Move, Who, Small Faces, Floyd, Cat Stevens, Wishbone Ash, Bolan, Deep Purple, Atomic Rooster.

But for absolute quality I would have to say....Leonard Cohen.
Honest, he was brilliant.

Best I wish I had seen... Buddy Holly about 1958. Sadly i was too young but spoken to people who were there.
Try to imagine what Sheffield must have been like in 1958 and then think of the biggest star in the world turning up. Mind blowing.

Andy

Worst gig I have seen there was The Flaming lips last year. Best was Pulp in 1994 just as they were starting to make a name for themselves.

Originally posted by carcrash
Worst gig I have seen there was The Flaming lips last year.

Interesting...because they were the undoubted stars at Glasto last year.
Yoshimi Versus the Pink Robots was also one of last years best albums. In my opinion of course.


Andy

My first ever visit to the City Hall was to see Shakin Stevens when I was about 6 years old. It was the first time I had heard real live loud music and it got me hooked. Over the many years since then, I have been to loads of gigs of all sorts and sounds, from Metallica to Tom Jones, from Elton John to Pink and the odd outdoors classical concert too.

No matter what you are into, live is definitely best........ but back to the question, the best gig at the City Hall for me, was Thunder. They get everyone out of their seat and dancing - Danny is fabulous live and the atmosphere is always fantastic.

LOL
Hey.. I bet we've been in the same crowds Loopy.. me and the Mrs have seen Thunder on every tour since we saw them supporting Aerosmith years back.
If she wasn't hitched to me Mrs Wavey would have run off with Danny yonks ago.
Top band every time. In fact when they support Deep Purple at the Arena, it'll be the first time we've missed them play here I reckon. We saw Deep Purple last year and they've become SO old.. sad. (deep purple that is)

Black Crowes on their 1st tour of the UK. Amazing

Wavey, we probably have.

I have seen Thunder at many different venues over the years. They are equally at home in smaller venues (Nottingham's Rock City) and the larger stadiums (Don Valley).

I have tickets to see them in december with Deep Purple, but not sure if I'll hang about to see the full show from DP. I went to see Thunder support Alice Cooper last time around and he was defintely getting too old to prance around. Stayed the course that night though cos we had back stage passes to meet the thunder guys!

Arena has had some good line ups over the past few years, best all time gigs there would have to be Metallica and Bon Jovi! not much difference!!

Yeah I saw Thunder on The Alice Cooper do.. I thought Alice was 4th best band on the night but saved himself with a run of hits for the last half hour. Don't be put off DP by what I said though. It was the excrutiating 20 minute solos that very nearly spoiled the night.. like Alice they saved the day with a greatest hits finale.

I saw Thunder at Don Valley too.. with Bon Jovi right? Mrs Wavey was in 7th heaven with old JBJ AND Danny in one day.. I went for Van halen more than anything. Thunder were knockout when we saw them at the Uni. I'm really sad they never REALLY made it, when you see some of the crap that HAS made it.

I'm not a fan but Bon Jovi at The Arena were magnificent.

Ooh, I saw the Black Crowes' at the City Hall too, absolutely incredible!!!

so how did you manage to get backstage Loopy?
Are they as nice a bunch of geezers as they appear?

I've (surprisingly) not been to that many City Hall gigs. Back in the late 80s early 90s I saw Thunder, Skid Row and Skin there. More recently I saw Alice Cooper and Bad Company. Also saw Then Jerico and I think I saw Little Angels play (or was that somewhere else???)

1. JUDAS PRIEST /IRON MAIDEN 1980 .....first ever concert can still remember it:thumbsup:
2.AC/DC 1980
3. W.A.S.P 1989
4. CHEAP TRICK 1986 ........opener for motley crue
5. BANANARAMA ...1989....................... dont laugh went both nights front row seats too:thumbsup:

Ah, Cheap Trick. Blew Motley Crue off stage in terms of slick professionalism (and tunes) couldn't believe they were the support.
As for Crue..nice trick with the drum kit is all I can say.

RE: how do you get backstage?

Make sure your at the front, go wild and make a grab for the back stage passes when they are handed out!

They are a great bunch of guys. Harry is as mad in person as he is on stage - wore a giant afro wig for most of it last time. Danny is pocket sized in person, but I don't old that against him. They all remained very sober, quite quiet and spent time moving around the room signing autographs and making sure that they spoke to everyone there.

Don Valley had a mixed set up!. Ugly Kid joe, Thunder, Bon Jovi and Val Halen. Something for everyone!! The funniest bit on the day was Jon BJ, mentioning his friendship with Joe Elliot and the ground going wild thinking he was about to come on stage. JBJ then had to apologise for him not appearing and got Boo'd!!!

Next live gig for me is Red Hot Chillis in Manchester in a few weeks. Hopefully a sunny day!

I went to the Don Valley gig.. it was Crown of Thorns as well. Didn't see Ugly Kid Joe though.. I was probably in the Carbrook at the time.
I was there for VH.. not at their best.

I doubt a big bruiser like me would get a Thunder pass.. my little wife might though, she wigs out good and proper for Thunder LOL

The Chilis will be magnificent. My daughter saw them in London last year and still talks about it now.

Saw Dr Feelgood at the city hall late '75. Absolutely amazing, and I remember thinking the band were stunned by the reaction of the crowd...sometime later they released a live album on inspection I found the legend "recorded live at Sheffield City Hall".

motorhead-bomber tour,top class...
saxon,lutrec,geddis axe..

OH MATRON...

Jerry Lee Lewis .. Great Night about 45 years ago ... but months before that my Mate saw "Slim Whitman" and he "stormed" Sheffield that night .

I saw

Deep Purple.....deaf for three days
Jethro Tull..grew a beard and stood around on one leg for a week
Family...wanted Roger Chapman for PM
Emerson Lake and Palmer...all gods
and laterly The Saw Doctors...bloody hell those guys are worth watching.

Always out at 29 mins past ten though no matter how good they were, then a quick three pints in the Albert before legging it down to Pond St for the last bus home.

Early sixties I saw the like of

Jerry Lee Lewis
Little Richard
and in '63 The Beatles.

Just has to be Jimi Hendrix, closely followed by a number of bands.
Eg. Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, The Nice, PInk Floyd.
My best mates Uncle was landlord of The Albert so every gig started and fin9ished in there for us.

Originally posted by mullet
Saw Dr Feelgood at the city hall late '75. Absolutely amazing, and I remember thinking the band were stunned by the reaction of the crowd...sometime later they released a live album on inspection I found the legend "recorded live at Sheffield City Hall".

The live album was called "Stupidity"
The support act for this concert was "Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias" a fourteen piece comedy/parody band from Manchester, who were great. The highlight of the night was when their lead guitarist did a take off of Hendrix at Woodstock, playing the theme from "The Archers"


Anybody else seen any really great support acts?

Best gig at the City Hall has to be Tyrannosaurus Rex, (remember what they turned into?).

Also saw AC DC at the Top Rank, that was an experience, and the first time I'd ever seen a 'radio guitar'.

I'm in complete agreement with Ned and Ruby,
Black Crowes was by far the best gig i have ever seen at the city hall, i haven't seen anything else that comes close, an amazing performance that will stay with me for always!! :thumbsup:

Manic Street Preachers in either 97 or 98 for me. It was my first ever gig.

Gong in 1976. I ought to keep it to myself really...

Emerson Lake and Palmer (twice) - started and ended in the Buccaneer where they played ELP music just to get you in the mood

first gig at the City Hall was Whitesnake in 81 ish - ready n willing tour, followed by Gillan who always put on a good show.
Others i saw were UFO, MSG,Thin Lizzy,Blue oyster cult, Blizzard of Oz, Marillion,AC/DC ,The Alarm, Robert Plant + loads others

Best was Thin Lizzy - Renegade tour

The skinheads seemed to come out in numbers when there was a heavy rock band on at the city hall

Wow, there's an impressive collection of metalheads posting on here. Not my scene, though.

The first City Hall gig I went to were the Ramones in about 1980 when Joey drawled "We're the Ramones, stop spitting on the Ramones" and threatened to take the band offstage. Classic.

The support act for this concert was "Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias" a fourteen piece comedy/parody band from Manchester, who were great. Never saw them live, but they were a riot.

My brother went to the Feelgood concert recorded live at the City Hall (excellent album). He swears he can hear himself shouting a request for Gong Back Home to Wilco Johnson. But he would say that.

Originally posted by docmel
Emerson Lake and Palmer (twice) - started and ended in the Buccaneer where they played ELP music just to get you in the mood

Good times doc, did you see them at the Polly too ? Emo broke some ribs down there , and one of the council security men came on...uniform and all and shouted you might as well P*** off home as he's bust a rib..classic.

I've seen maybe hundreds of bands over the years, but without doubt the most memorable was Jimi Hendrix at the City Hall about 1967/8.

As a budding but skint guitarist at the time, I stood there with my mouth open while Jimi proceded to pour lighter fluid on one of his many stratocaster guitars and then set fire to it!

Great gigs then, and you got loads for your money.

How many people know that there's a smaller auditorium behind the City Hall (but in the same building). I forget the name of it, but I saw Tyrannosaurus Rex there as an acoustic duo (pre-T.Rex) in 1969. They were introduced by John Peel, who was a big champion of Marc Bolan in the early days.

Not the best City Hall gig, but one of the most memorable was the Incredible String Band, again around 1969. When we came out after the show there was a gang of skinheads waiting outside chanting "kill the hippies". We managed to escape, but I heard later that the skins chased some fans through town as far as Pond Street where they gave them a good kicking.

Originally posted by mojoworking
How many people know that there's a smaller auditorium behind the City Hall (but in the same building). I forget the name of it,

Mojo - Its called the Memorial Hall - It is highly praised in the music industry for its acoustics.

Seen a couple of gigs myself in there and it is a bit special.

Lets hope the current refurb plans dont spoil it.

I still advocate the best gig for me was Thin Lizzy, One memory I have is Phil Lynott using his bass guitar to reflect the light around the hall. Magical.

Originally posted by mikey
Mojo - Its called the Memorial Hall - It is highly praised in the music industry for its acoustics.

Seen a couple of gigs myself in there and it is a bit special.

Lets hope the current refurb plans dont spoil it.

I still advocate the best gig for me was Thin Lizzy, One memory I have is Phil Lynott using his bass guitar to reflect the light around the hall. Magical. Remember the thin lizzy one, as we got in for nowt as we new someone on the door and when everyone rushed the front we just walked in!

1. David Bowie (Ziggy Stardust era) qued all night and had to wag school.

2. Thin Lizzy (rip Phil)

3. Kraftwerk

4. Sensational Alex Harvey Band (not a brilliant live sound but good for a laugh and camp as a row of tents)


Worst one Rik Wakeman (I still want my fiver back)

Originally posted by mikey
Mojo - Its called the Memorial Hall - It is highly praised in the music industry for its acoustics.

Seen a couple of gigs myself in there and it is a bit special.

Lets hope the current refurb plans dont spoil it.

I still advocate the best gig for me was Thin Lizzy, One memory I have is Phil Lynott using his bass guitar to reflect the light around the hall. Magical.

Cheers Mikey,
As I recall, it is a very small hall holding no more than a couple of hundred. More like a lecture hall, in fact. Do you know what its original purpose was? Classical recitals, perhaps?

The Best Gigs I Saw At The City Hall Were:
Anthrax '87-Amazing Crowd-Loadsa Stagediving,Moshing,Etc. Metallica '88-When They Were In Their Prime,Met The Guys After The Gig.Top Blokes!
Any Of The 4 Times I Saw Maiden There-Always A Good Professional Performance.
Ozzy Osbourne:Can't Remember The Year,But He Had Zakk Wylde With Him.What Ozzy Lacks In Singing Ability,He Certainly Makes Up For In Stage Charisma.Legend.
The Biggest Disappointments Were Anthrax's Return In '89.They Wouldn't Allow Anyone Near The Stage And There Was Hardly Anybody There.And When Motley Crue Cancelled On Their Girls,Girls,Girls Tour.
Hope There's More Memories To Come When They Re-open It,But It'll Take Something Special To Top These.

I can remember a film crew turning up and filming a load of us sitting on the steps before they opened the doors to a judas priest gig.
we were told it was to be included on a video but i don't know if it was.
Lizzy with magnum suporting top show.
Nazareth on the No mean city tour too.

metallica on the justice for all tour :)

i missed danzig but managed to buy a ticket off a tout for the proper price.........was kicked out once for stage diving but was let back in, the rest of the gig was spent getting on stage, waiting for the bouncers then diving off before being grabbed :)

Was That On The "Ram It Down" Tour? That Was The Only Time I've Seen Priest.A Mate Gave Me A Free Ticket (Right Up On The Balcony).
They Filmed Maiden On The First Night In '86,For The "Stranger In A Strange Land" Video.I Actually Got A Full Video Of The Gig.At The Time Someone Was Sneaking A Camcorder In And Recording A Lot Of The Gigs,Think Someone Gone Done For It In The End (After He'd Made A Few Quid,Mind).Kinda Made The Security Look Bad I S'pose.

mullett - I was at the Dr Feelgood gig in 1975. The Sheffield concert formed side 1 and the Southend concert formed side 2 of Stupidity. I'm on the Sheffield side! I waited for a quite moment between songs and whistled as loud as I could. Can't remember which songs they were, but I'm on it.

Iron maiden 85-86?, SOMEWHERE IN TIME TOUR? although ive seen them many times this one stands out for me, because i met the whole band after.............
:thumbsup:
Also seen:

AC/DC
SAXON
MEATLOAF
METALLICA
MARILLION
WHITE SNAKE:
:headbang:

Early 70's I saw Queen, Argent, Sensational Alex Harvey Band and Cockney Rebel. All very good in those days.

Edit--
And I just remembered the best rocker of them all Suzi Quattro.

In 1965,ish I played with a group called "The Questors, with Bob Andrews on Vocals" Bob was later to be renamed "Bobby Knutt"..We used to play every Saturday night at the City Hall Ballroom for while the "Bernard taylor band" was having a break..One night a Guest Group called the "Mersey's"was booked to play on a Thursday night and we were asked to be the support group..It wasn't a successfull night as not many punters turned up..but in the audience was another band that had just made a hit recording called (My Generation) I was told that this band was called "The Who"...I remember the lead singer had a very long scarfe wrapped around his neck and he reminded me of Dr Who and the drummer was a "gent" with crocodile shoes, his name was Keith Moon and he told me he was earning £300 a week, I was amazed co's I was working two jobs at the time and was earning about £30 on a good week.. Anyway the night was a flop and the dance hall soon became deserted..So "The Mersy's and The Who" and our band got chatting..and in the end decided that we all got up on stage and had a "Jam" I remember we played "CC Rider" and one or two other standard rock type numbers of the time... It was great for a while then all this great event in my life came to a sudden end when the "security guard" with his flashlight came in, and chucked us all out.

Saw Slade and Suzi Quatro whan I was about 11. Anyone recall the Black Sabbath gig that ended early. Everything just went dead after they were blown off by Van Halen.

I stumbled across an AC/DC gig one night, we were walking past and the doormen had the doors open at the side and let me and my mate in for a quid each. Must have been about 1980.

Thought UFO were dire. Saw Rush a few times and Steve Hillage (not as uncool as Gong but getting there).

I was also at the Feelgood gig aged a mere 13 years. Didn't get Alberto Y Trios at all. It was so hard to hear decent music in those days unless there was someone to ordain us youngsters
and lend us some decent albums.

Originally posted by Bloomdido
Saw Slade and Suzi Quatro whan I was about 11. Anyone recall the Black Sabbath gig that ended early. Everything just went dead after they were blown off by Van Halen.

I stumbled across an AC/DC gig one night, we were walking past and the doormen had the doors open at the side and let me and my mate in for a quid each. Must have been about 1980.

Thought UFO were dire. Saw Rush a few times and Steve Hillage (not as uncool as Gong but getting there).

I was also at the Feelgood gig aged a mere 13 years. Didn't get Alberto Y Trios at all. It was so hard to hear decent music in those days unless there was someone to ordain us youngsters
and lend us some decent albums.

bloomdido you named after a certain gong members alter ego "bloomdido bad de grass"? :)
ive seen gong a couple of times, once in sheff i think.......refrectory? and once at glastonbury fest

Yeah. Didier Malhide I believe. When translated malhide becomes 'bad grass'. Never saw Gong but a friend was obsessed and used to take me outside on winter nights to show me the flying teapots. Must have been all the nutmeg and banana skins he was smoking.

Don't know where the 'Bloomdido' came from - Oh just looked it up, a Charlie Parker album.

www.planetgong.co.uk

Can you believe Angels Egg is on sale at Tesco for £6.74?

Devo, Thin Lizzy, The Tubes and Gary Moore.

Originally posted by Bloomdido
Yeah. Didier Malhide I believe. When translated malhide becomes 'bad grass'. Never saw Gong but a friend was obsessed and used to take me outside on winter nights to show me the flying teapots. Must have been all the nutmeg and banana skins he was smoking.

Don't know where the 'Bloomdido' came from - Oh just looked it up, a Charlie Parker album.

www.planetgong.co.uk

Can you believe Angels Egg is on sale at Tesco for £6.74?

didier malherbe

pierre moerlen died a couple of months back :(
love some of his gong albums too.....gazeuse and shamahl
angel eggs the best

i saw devo there with there plantpot hats......very good!

I hope when the place re-opens we'll get some good bands back into Sheffield.

No more Destiny's Child!

Marillion on the Brave tour.

The Who................................twice!

went to see Black Sabbath when I was about 15, can't remember the year. But it was great... :headbang: Apart from the guy in front of me who kept whiping me with his hair as he was headbanging

Many rock gigs spring to mind but most notably:

1969 Jimi Hendrix with Nice, Pink Floyd, Move and it only cost 7/6

Family - many times with and without the Pink Fairies

John Mayall's Blues Breakers

Marillion - Script for a jester tour
Alice Cooper
Counting Crows

First gig I ever went to was John Mayall and his bluesbreakers,Others were Groundhogs,ELP,Deep purple,Genesis,Peter Gabriel,Free,King Crimson still got the ticket stubs for most of them don't think I paid more than a pound for any of them. Saw the Police at the top Rank for 50 p.

Rory Gallagher...Zeppelin, Queen, Lynyrd Skynrd...I couldn't get a ticket to see the meisters of Louisiana but was walking down Pinstone Street the day they were due. About seven blokes walked towards me shoulder to shoulder....The man in the middle was small with a black hat...I was gobsmacked so much so they asked if I was ok! They gave me a backstage pass.... The rest is history.

Remember the small group of youngsters who used to sneak in for all the gigs?

Kraftwerk in about 1990 were everything I expected they would be eg cool as f***. Also Donovan in the small room round the back around the same time.

Like other posters I have seen Gong several times in the city and, in a similar vein, Roy Harper - all excellent.

On the downside, I have to take my mum every year to see Daniel O'Donnell at the city hall - pity it's been closed this year.....!!

Originally posted by bensonhedges
Kraftwerk in about 1990 were everything I expected they would be eg cool as f***. Also Donovan in the small room round the back around the same time.

Like other posters I have seen Gong several times in the city and, in a similar vein, Roy Harper - all excellent.

On the downside, I have to take my mum every year to see Daniel O'Donnell at the city hall - pity it's been closed this year.....!!

the kraftwerk gig was exellent prob one of the best concerts ive ever been to:)

I was not into heavy rock, but I did see Roy Orbison, Bobby Vee, Brenda Lee, Sounds Incorporated plus many more who I just cant re-call and across the road at the Gaumont I was priviliged to see Eddie Cochran just before he was killed in a horrific car crash , on the same bill was Gene Vincent and our home grown artist Vince Eager.
To see all these top artist the most I paid was 3/6 in to-days money seventeen and a half pence.

I saw Judas Priest - it was my one and only rock gig at City Hall, so I would say it was great.

I saw Little Angels, the one I went to was at the Octagon, still have a plectrum with the Little Angels logo on it stashed away somewhere that I picked off the floor at the gig.

Iron Maiden on the 'World Slavery Tour' in 1984, my first ever rock gig so I remember it quite well as it was my first.

Metallica supported by Anthrax in 1986 on the 'Puppets' Tour. Now that was excellent, two great bands for £4.50! Just before Metallica went stellar and of course only a few weeks before the death of Cliff Burton.

A very close call this. Saw loads of bands, even some which were not my favourites put on agreat live show

The best few were Alex Harvey, Thin Lizzy, Be-Bop Deluxe (Sunburst Finish tour), Rory Gallagher & Status Quo

The tightest band out of the lot were Thin Lizzy in 1976

Does the audience still shout for Wally whilst waiting during the sound check?

My favourites - all between 1970 - 73

1. Pink Floyd (1970 - played "Ummagumma" type stuff)
2. Bowie (1973 - I know it's referred to as the "Ziggy" tour but it was actually after Aladinn Sane came out - he played Ziggy stuff at Top Rank in 72)
3. Tyrannosaurus Rex (Bolan spent entire gig sat cross legged on floor)
4. Taste (Rory Gallagher's band)
5. Pink Floyd (1972 - DSOTM tour)
6. Traffic
7. Roxy Music
8. Genesis / Lindisfarne / Audience (Charisma label tour - 3 bands for 60p)
9. Family
10. King Crimson

Then they started charging over £1..............

I remember the ELP gig when they started "Pictures" - Emerson going up to play the City Hall organ only to find it wasn't working.

Dr Feelgood, the one they made the live album from.

Louden Wainwright III. Superb solo concert. Laughed a lot.

Ian Hunter/Mick Ronson. Great gig.

Does anyone remember Thin Lizzy playing at the Crucible?

Hendrix, Floyd and The Nice on the same bill....
Also Amen Corner, Bill Wyman's The End and a few others on the same night......
Best tickets cost the same as a new pair of Lee Riders - quite a choice in those days!
Pleased to say that the music won!

No.2 gig has got to be Rory Gallagher, but I can't remember whether it was Taste or the RG band.....either way, terrific.
I remember he backed his Strat volume completely off in one number, and played it like an acoustic.
The hall was completely silent and in awe.....
Was a guitarist that Irishman was....sadly no longer with us....

Who are all these 2nd raters?
The Beatles in 1966.Incredible.
The stage was knee deep in smarties.
The audience made so much noise you couldn't hear a note but what a night.

Originally posted by Dick
Who are all these 2nd raters?
The Beatles in 1966.Incredible.
The stage was knee deep in smarties.
The audience made so much noise you couldn't hear a note but what a night.

Your memory is playing tricks on you. The Beatles last played at the Sheffield City Hall on November 9, 1964.

They did play the Gaumont across the road in Barker's Pool on December 8, 1965, but they certainly didn't perform anywhere in Britain in 1966.

All their concerts in 1966 took place in Germany, the Philippines, USA & Japan, before they retired from live performance on August 29, 1966 with a show at Candlestick Park in San Francisco

I saw Free at the City Hall on their last tour I think it was 1974 great time, also saw UFO at the CH and much to my shame Mott the Hoople at the old Top Rank (knew I used to drink to much).

..............

Originally posted by Wavey
Seeing as how I'm starting off here on a music angle.. (and forgive me if this is an old thread).. whats the best gigs you've seen at the City Hall

AC/DC on the Back In Black Tour has to rank amongst the best ever, right before they went stellar.

UFO never failed to entertain

IRON MAIDEN though I'm not really a fan they were amazing on that first tour with Bruce Dickinson

I also used to love SAXON with the Russ Abbott of Rock Biff Byford, absolute class.

I've seen so many great bands there, I hope the refurb isn't too extensive.. it won't be the same without the grubby edge LOL

BTW - Whitesnake in the mid-90s had to be the worst gig ever.. only one I ever walked out of.


Probably Motorhead (around 1980? - First album) - I was on crowd control with my mate Big Mick, we were at the front attempting to pull out a girl who'd flaked out when they came out on stage and started playing. The first 4 rows of seats got completely flattened in the surge, luckly me and my mate are both over 6'2, so we managed to keep the girl held high above everyones heads! Took us about 25 minutes to get her out to safety, I remember the PA stacked right to the City Hall ceiling, I was completely deaf for 3 days after that gig lol

Ah, Thin Lizzy when they were promoting the Black Rose album. That was a good one.

Originally posted by Zinc
Probably Motorhead (around 1980? - First album) - I was on crowd control with my mate Big Mick, we were at the front attempting to pull out a girl who'd flaked out when they came out on stage and started playing. The first 4 rows of seats got completely flattened in the surge, luckly me and my mate are both over 6'2, so we managed to keep the girl held high above everyones heads! Took us about 25 minutes to get her out to safety, I remember the PA stacked right to the City Hall ceiling, I was completely deaf for 3 days after that gig lol

Ah, Thin Lizzy when they were promoting the Black Rose album. That was a good one.

was prob 1979 motorhead didnt do the city hall in 80

It has been mentioned many times, but it has to be Thin Lizzy. I think it must have been about '77. Around that time Supertramp did a good gig too. And Feelgood (I was entranced by the antics of Wilko - who is playing the Boardwalk next week).

One of the worst gigs I saw was when Blondie were supporting someone (cant remember who). It was before Blondie made it of course, and Debbie Harry's voice was terrible live, like nails down a blackboard, she also looked dog rough in the flesh. The band hadnt got it together either. When I see a Blondie vid on tv I am aware just how much their sound has been manufactured and Harry's looks airbrushed up!

One that hasnt been mentioned is Lou Reed. That was my first gig when I was 13, so it must have been 73/74. How cool is that for a first gig? It wasnt my favourite, but it was OK, worth mentioning.

Another poor show was Hawkwind, cant remember what year, but I remember we were all totally disinterested sitting in the balcony, supping from a gin bottle, the highlight being when Dave Brock (? I think) got his whip out to go with his Nazi uniform. Must have been about 1975 ish?

I have also seen Elvis Costello there three times I think, the earliest being 1980. He is great everytime.

alyson

Lou Reed: Saturday, June 1, 1974.

I was there! What a brilliant concert. Don't ask me why I remember that day and date.

It was the same band on the Rock and Roll Animal and Lou Reed Live LPs.

Also the first Elvis Costello gig. Did he headline after sets from Richard Hell and the Voidoids and John Cooper Clarke?

Originally posted by dishwasher
alyson

Lou Reed: Saturday, June 1, 1974.

I was there! What a brilliant concert. Don't ask me why I remember that day and date.

It was the same band on the Rock and Roll Animal and Lou Reed Live LPs.

Also the first Elvis Costello gig. Did he headline after sets from Richard Hell and the Voidoids and John Cooper Clarke?
Thanks for the date! I remember now you have said it, and can see the ticket! I was 14 then,not 13. But it was still cool! I remember that before he came on we heard a group of girls at the front say "he's dyed his hair fluorescent blond" and we couldnt picture that ... until he came on of course. And naturally I bought Rock and Roll animal afterwards, still have a copy, and love to listen to the best ever version of Sweet Jane with full intro! My friend and I were Bowie fans which of course led to our interest in Lou Reed.

Neither myself,nor my partner can remember who supported Elvis the first time we saw him. Age ... and dropping off of neurones Im afraid!!!

Did you see him this year at the Octagon? Excellent once again. Made me all emotional!

alyson,

The last time I saw Elvis was at the City Hall, must have been early 90s, when he toured with the original Attractions.

I left it very late to get tickets and consequently the only ones I could get were in the gods, at the far right hand side almost parallel to the stage.

The sound from that position was fairly dreadful and I just couldn't believe how much weight he'd slapped on! Nothing like the skinny kid on the cover of My Aim Is True!

Like yourself, I discovered Lou Reed (and the Velvet Underground) courtesy of David Bowie.

I think I remembered the 1974 date so vividly because, at the time, I was revising for my O-levels, and a Lou Reed concert was indeed a welcome break from all of that.

Rock & Roll Animal is great. It's come out on CD now with some extra tracks.

Right at the end, as the applause begins to die down, somebody from the audience shouts out: 'Lou Reed sucks!'

It always amuses me because Reed is supposed to be such a control freak. I'm surprised he didn't airbrush it out.

"Lou Reed Sucks" ... must have been my partner.

I will listen to Rock and Roll Animal again tomorrow for this, just to annoy him!

On the Elvis Costello post, I have sought clarification. First time I saw him it was "Tour to Trust" cant remember support, might have been Dave and the Mistakes. Second time it was the "Imperial Bedroom" Tour, third time "Brutal Youth" tour supported by Cast.
And of course last time at the Octagon spring 2005 he didnt have a support.

Incidentally, according to this month's Q magazine, Lou Reed now has a special range of glasses which flip up when you dont need them, called "Lou's Lenses". How rock and roll is that???:loopy:

I've just unearthed by ticket stub for the Elvis concert at the City Hall, which must have been in either 1878 or 79.

It took place on Thursday, January 18, and cost the princely sum of £3!

Lou's Lenses - I like the idea. Presumably they only work with Lou's much-loved mirrored shades!

If you really want to pee off your partner, via the Lou Reed route, just drop Metal Machine Music into the tray, turn up the volume, and wait for him (your partner) to start screaming!

Just touching the sleeve of Berlin does it ...

By the way, on the Elvis thing, it wasnt that gig I saw. It was definitely 1980 or possibly 1981 - Tour to Trust. I remember cos I worked at the Town Hall then and saw one of my colleagues in the foyer.

The Lou's lenses are just normal specs ... but the lense has a little hinge that flips it up ... like I said not very rocknroll.

Originally posted by Zinc
Probably Motorhead (around 1980? - First album) - I was on crowd control with my mate Big Mick, we were at the front attempting to pull out a girl who'd flaked out when they came out on stage and started playing. The first 4 rows of seats got completely flattened in the surge, luckly me and my mate are both over 6'2, so we managed to keep the girl held high above everyones heads! Took us about 25 minutes to get her out to safety, I remember the PA stacked right to the City Hall ceiling, I was completely deaf for 3 days after that gig lol

Ah, Thin Lizzy when they were promoting the Black Rose album. That was a good one.

I was at that one too. I remember those seats, they got barred after that, but strangley they are appearing there soon.

In the 60's we saw hendrix, cream, pink floyd,the who, and loads of other top class groups, all for about five bob. any one recall agroup calles McCluskeys Apocolypse with the crazy singer doing Wild Thing

Best gig i ever went to was when black sabbath were the main act with van halen supporting. Also went to see motorhead on the bomber tour. Jeez i had a stiff neck and ringing ears for ages after that one.

Definitely Shakin Stevens in 1985!

Well I have to go with those who remember the Hendrix concert. Certainly the line up included Move, Amen Corner, Nice and Pink Floyd and yes until some years ago I still had the ticket that showed all that lot cost 7/6. I don't remember the lighter fluid, maybe that was a different performance to the one I saw. At the end of his set, Hendrix simply flung his guitar back over his head to crash into the speakers......equally heartbreaking to one scraping up enough cash to buy one. I reckon that was 1968.
Funniest I saw was in the early 1970s. Supertramp supported by Gentle Giant. The support band played a blinder and brought the house down, by comparison Supertramp were pompous and pretty full of themselves. Each song had a tedious introduction. Half way through one of these, a dry Yorkshire voice from the balcony shouted "Has it got any sex in it?"....brought the house down. Supertramp played about two more songs and stormed off!!

First post guys...nice to find you

Originally posted by slw2201
Definitely Shakin Stevens in 1985!
I bought tickets for that one but lost them. Did you find them? :)

as someone too young to remember the days of rock n roll, the best city hall gig I've seen was Chuck Berry some time early 90's Also Iron Maiden pre Dickinson, what was the original singer called ??

Originally posted by hockeybear
as someone too young to remember the days of rock n roll, the best city hall gig I've seen was Chuck Berry some time early 90's Also Iron Maiden pre Dickinson, what was the original singer called ??


the original singer of iron maiden was paul dianno did 2 gigs with him 2 where backing judas priest in 1980 and the third was a headlining tour in 1981

Best:
Rush (1977)
Alex Harvey (1979?)
Blue Oyster Cult (1978)
UFO (all)
Uriah Heep (1980)
Devo

Worst:
Robin Trower
Mike Oldfield
Marillion

Trower *really* sucked that night. Big disappointment.

Wishbone Ash 73 or 74,Rory Gallagher same time.
Worst was Ralph Mctell(got free tickets)

I can remember going to see the film' Jimi Plays Berkley' at the city hall it toured like a live band. The support for it were Gentle Giant and their transport broke down on the way to Sheffield so they played the Hendrix film first. When Gentle Giant came on the place was half empty as they had all gone to the Albert for a beer we stayed for about 20 mins of their show then went to the Albert too.

Originally posted by Wavey
Also does anyone remember having to get past the skins who used to hang around The Showboat in Pond Street.. cripes I've had some scrapes there LOL

ahh yes the good old days rocker bashing. :D

best i saw was chuck berry!!
met him backstage as my pals dad worked in security. must have been early sixties i suppose. he was writing "freuleine" on bit of paper and later released it on an album. said it was about a girl he met in germany.
god, where have all the years gone ?

For me it has to be Tull's Aqualung tour early 70's. Sent me mum down to Willy Peck's dead early for tickets - had to write their name down for her - she got us got row A stalls! Got backstage after, band were playing cricket with Gibson's! Still got the signed programme.

Other memorables include Roxy with Eno (though the early gig at Ranmoor Hall gym for 50p might shade it)! Mott the Hoople in their prime were also up there.

We always kicked off in the Museum, followed by the Albert. Rmember being chased by skins throught the multistory behind the Top Rank on the way back to Pond Street - we were too quick for them fortuanately - no one ever won a medal in Doc Martin's :help:

If you move fast in front of a skinhead he cant see you, their brains dont work fast enough :hihi:

Anyone remember "Doctors of Madness". They played there in the late 70s. I remember one of the band player an electric violin. Awsome.

Saxon on the Denim and Leather Tour for me, 1981 ish !!!1 Always went in The Museum for a pint first (now long since gone)

I shouldn't really but I'm going to throw in Emile Ford and the Checkmates, 1959 and the following year the 6.5 Special Road Show complete with Don Lang and his Frantic Five. Its not rock 'n roll but I did enjoy the Shadows Final Reunion Concert May 2004.

Best Gig at The City Hall, without a doubt Thin Lizzy, Black Rose Tour although a close run thing.

Also saw Gillan, Black Sabbath with Van Halen on support (who blew them away), Robert Plant, Y&T, Big Country, Marillion, Dr Feelgood with Squeeze on support, Lindisfarne with Chubby Brown and Chris Rea on support, Motorhead (Bomber Tour) with Saxon on Support (LOUD!!!!!) and lots more.
It was a great venue in its' time and sadly since the advent of arenas we no longer get to see major bands in that size venue.

All my best memories are from the early 70's. Rory Gallagher on the Tattoo tour, Yes touring Close To The Edge, Zeppelin was a highlight despite Percy's bad throat. Gong around 1974 - just what was that aroma?:D But the most entertaining for me was seeing Alex Harvey - Vambo Rools!

Albatross - Jimi Hendrix for me too!.
I can still see him now xpalying guitar with his teeth.
I remember he wore a sparkly multi coloured waistcoat. I think the Nice and Pink Floyd were on the same bill that night. I will never forget it.

Tommy Steel
Alma cogan
Helen Shipiro
Shirley Bassy. Long,long time ago, :)

the city hall is without doubt one of the best places you can see a gig.seen some fantastic ones over the years.maiden,priest,saxon,ufo etc.but one that always stands out in my mind is sammy hagar.cant remember the exact date(must have been early 80s) but he was awesome that night,finishing with a cover of zeppelins whole lotta love.

Comics, Boybands, other random ones but not many rock ones.

So at the risk of serious heckling under a rock title, I'll say Robert Palmer. (RIP)

Hendrix/Pink Floyd gig in 1968, 2 shows at 6.30 and 8.30, I think. The Who were always great live. Enjoyed Genesis "Supper`s Ready" tour, also when they appeared with Lindisfarne & Van der Graaf Generator on the Charisma Tour, 6/6 all seats! King Crimson were excellent doing " In The Wake of Poseidon". Saw short-lived group Peace who were very good. ELP were always good to watch, very gifted musicians. Groundhogs were regulars and always played well. Byzantium were good in support to Status Quo, who also played well doing numbers from "Ma Kelly`s Greasy Spoon". Focus played well, great musicianship. Trouble is.. I don`t like this type of music anymore! However, I am glad I had the opportunity to see them all, mostly to the shouts of "Albatross!" and the smell of Joss-sticks!:cool:

Marillion just after Fish had left, I thought Steve Hogarth was amazing that night, not been much of a fan since Holidays in Eden though, also saw Jethro Tull a few years later, I fell asleep during that one;)

great to see all the lists of great gigs.the early 70s were indeed halcyon days.favourite gigs for me were deep purple about 71,free around the same year.i too saw the zeppelin show in 73 where robert plant couldnt reach any high notes due to flu-the only gig ive ever been to that had scaffolding in front of the stage to keep the women at bay.other gigs-mott the hoople were magnificent,saw them twice.ian hunter had his iron cross guitar and then saw their rock n roll circus that included a knife throwing act and also the awful max wall,i can remember him doing his funny walk up and down the aisles but getting booed off due to nobody finding his jokes funny at all.humble pie with peter frampton supporting.curved air with the lovely sonja kristina on vocals.the superb van der graaf generator,edgar broughton band.watching roger chapmans streetwalkers and chappo breaking mike stands and several tambourines.the awesome yes,rick wakeman had just joined them-just fantastic times!!!

great to see all the lists of great gigs.the early 70s were indeed halcyon days.favourite gigs for me were deep purple about 71,free around the same year.i too saw the zeppelin show in 73 where robert plant couldnt reach any high notes due to flu-the only gig ive ever been to that had scaffolding in front of the stage to keep the women at bay.other gigs-mott the hoople were magnificent,saw them twice.ian hunter had his iron cross guitar and then saw their rock n roll circus that included a knife throwing act and also the awful max wall,i can remember him doing his funny walk up and down the aisles but getting booed off due to nobody finding his jokes funny at all.humble pie with peter frampton supporting.curved air with the lovely sonja kristina on vocals.the superb van der graaf generator,edgar broughton band.watching roger chapmans streetwalkers and chappo breaking mike stands and several tambourines.the awesome yes,rick wakeman had just joined them-just fantastic times!!! You saw zeppelin, you lucky *******::thumbsup: :

yes the beatles were there in 64, in 66-67 can't remember which but i saw the american folk and blues festival with such greats as muddy waters, johnny lee hooker, mississippi fred mc dowell,sonny boy williamson,son house,willie dixon and the list goes on,the show went for hrs, really didn't know who i was watching at the time but i do now:D , the rush concert was great, and the tubes was a great show also, it's been a great line up at the city hall. hope it still happens?

By the time the City Hall started holding rock concerts,as opposed to package shows,I'd already seen most of the big names at the Mojo club and believe me nothing can compare with seeing Hendrix playing on a one foot high bandstand. from a distance of six inches.The Mojo spoiled me and I never saw a truly great show at the City Hall.The staff were a load of officious,jobsworth,killjoy anal orifices and the manager,Mr Gummer was the dour Yorkshireman's dour Yorkshireman.Even the operatic societies who used to put shows on there couldn't get on with him so you can guess how he felt about rock and rollers.However,Dylan was good after a nervous start,the Beatles were inaudible and the Floyd always put on a good show.

Saw lots of groups at the City Hall.Slade twice and the support acts were Status Quo and The sensational Alex Harvey band.

Pete Gill played drums for Saxon for a while.

Saw Roxy Music before all the Avalon pish as well.

Metallica backed up by Danzig in 89
Skid Row being blown away by Vain in 89
Aerosmith backed by Thunder was incredible
Ocean Colour Scene the other year were absolutely fantastic - much better than I'd expected.
Maiden are always fantastic, as are Motorhead.

Best? Vain's performance. Skid Row were excellent that night, but Vain were astonishing.

I can remember going to see the film' Jimi Plays Berkley' at the city hall it toured like a live band. The support for it were Gentle Giant and their transport broke down on the way to Sheffield so they played the Hendrix film first. When Gentle Giant came on the place was half empty as they had all gone to the Albert for a beer we stayed for about 20 mins of their show then went to the Albert too.
I went to that one.
one other thing that comes to mind,can't remember which concert, was going round writing man in felt tip under all the way out signs.
well it was funny at the time.

The live album was called "Stupidity"
The support act for this concert was "Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias" a fourteen piece comedy/parody band from Manchester, who were great. The highlight of the night was when their lead guitarist did a take off of Hendrix at Woodstock, playing the theme from "The Archers"


Anybody else seen any really great support acts?I saw a band called Genesis supporting Lindisfarne in 1972 or 73 promoting Foxtrot. Wonder what happened to them and their scruffy long haired bearded drummer.

I also saw Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias at Bradford University, one of them took all his clothes off and stood there completely naked and carried on playing. I think they were supporting Supertramp on Crime of the Century Tour but stand to be corrected on that.

Being a nerd I just checked that out. Genesis supported Lindisfarne at Sheffield City Hall on Oct 3rd 1972, anyone there? I saw them Oct 11th in Bradford and by December they had cracked America. Someone tells me Supertramp were in fact supported by Chris De Burgh. Used to go to so many gigs sometimes 2 a night in various mental conditions I can't remember who I've seen!

Being a nerd I just checked that out. Genesis supported Lindisfarne at Sheffield City Hall on Oct 3rd 1972, anyone there? I saw them Oct 11th in Bradford and by December they had cracked America. Someone tells me Supertramp were in fact supported by Chris De Burgh. Used to go to so many gigs sometimes 2 a night in various mental conditions I can't remember who I've seen!
A friend of a friend told me a story about when he saw Genesis in a church hall many many years ago.The police were called following a complaint and they were asked to tone down the volume a bit

Being a nerd I just checked that out. Genesis supported Lindisfarne at Sheffield City Hall on Oct 3rd 1972, anyone there?

Me - remember it pretty well - Van Der Graaf Generator were top of the bill! It cost 60p - the bands were all on the Charisma label who promoted the tour. Lindisfarne were by far and away the best of the three bands that night, especially their finale of "we can swing together". And if memory serves Genesis were promoting "Trespass" - they finished the set with "The Knife" - Gabriel singing "some of you are going to die" and pointing the mike stand at the audience pretending it was a gun.

Damn - this was the Jan 1971 gig I saw - age playing tricks on the memory etc.

:) black sabbath[1975ish] louder than the steelworks i worked in,the support band were some yanks called black oak arkensaw who did a 20+ minute drum solo [boooring] then the drummer threw his sticks in to the crowd. we came out with ears bleeding,spent rest o nite seein if i could spot any 1 with drum stix stickin out their heads. missed the best 1 rod & faces due 2 tonsilitis 1972.to the guy who topped us all with the beatles[yep must agree yu'r rite]mum took me & our kid 2 the city hall 2 see the beatles arrive there [bout 63ish] she put me on her shoulders & i saw these guys get out of a limo & sprint faster than seb coe up the big steps,people were screamin & carryin on like mad there seemed 2 b thousands there. strange innit,recently here in scarboro the guy from the building society advert came to town [think its the annoying halifax rap style 1]& people were queing up 2 get his autograph & carryin on like e we'r paul mcartney or summat.

Wishbone Ash

Rory Gallagher

Thin Lizzy about '82

Sammy Hagar- around the similar time,

stick in the mind as being fantastic live, much better than some of the terrible NWOBHM band I used to go and see at the time.

Motorhead were big disapointment- just one big wall of sound

Me - remember it pretty well - Van Der Graaf Generator were top of the bill! It cost 60p -

Damn - this was the Jan 1971 gig I saw - age playing tricks on the memory etc.12 bob actually.

..........

I can remember seeing Chris De Burgh supporting Supertramp at the City Hall. If my memory serves me right it was in January 1975. Supertramp were awesome that night and Chris De Burgh performed solo, just him and his guitar. Never thought he'd become the big star that he did though.I saw them on that tour on Nov 5th 1974 I remember cos on way a rocket landed on pavement in front of me and I tried to get in with it sticking out of my pocket. I was with ex wife to be with false DOBs on our Union cards cos we were underage.

Saw Purple,Zeppelin,Sabbath etc but to be honest my most memorable concert has got to be Tangerine dream in 73/74?? it was so different to anything I had seen before,took me a while to get my head round it actually.

Saw Purple,Zeppelin,Sabbath etc but to be honest my most memorable concert has got to be Tangerine dream in 73/74?? it was so different to anything I had seen before,took me a while to get my head round it actually.Tangerine Dream was memorable for me because it was first gig I left before it finished, far too weird for me. They are still on the go. I also left gig by Judas Priest in mid 70s at Leeds Town Hall and Eddie Izzard as I had been expecting to see a comedian (I'm told he's an alumni of University of Sheffield, whatever that means).