Roots Archives Forum

It brings a tear to your eye don't it 6anbatte...

I don't suppose you ever saw the Slabs play did you?

They were a great Punk combo from Portsmouth who played almost exclusively their own numbers - all time greats such as:

Let's do the epileptic

I'm a necrophiliac

Triumphs are Best so F*ck the Rest

(well, Political correctness hadn't been invented back then)

I knew them well as I was their lead singer (shouter!)

Boy o Boy, do I miss those heady heady days!

I think things are so lame and tame nowadays...

(this thread has been officially hijacked by 40-something Punk rockers!)

Hi Leggo Rocker

You've definitely got my mind racing now, but will have to continue tomorrow.
In the meantime a couple of teasers;

First gig - Hawkwind (with Lemmy on bass) when "Silver Machine" had just been released. I think I was 12.

Thin Lizzy supporting Slade! Seriously. "Whisky In A Jar" had just been released!

More tomorrow.

Sadly, I have to confess my first Gig was Gary Glitter, but I was into rock and roll back then which was what he originally played.

Now this will get you thinking 6anbatte!

Other Gigs attended (this list all non reggae):

The Adverts
Be-Bop Deluxe
Buzzcocks
Killing Joke
The Tom Robinson Band
UK Subs
The Squeeze
X-Ray Specs
Crass
Generation X
The Patti Smith Group
Spiz Energi
Magazine
Television
The Tubes
Siouxsie and The Banshees
Slits
Thin Lizzy
J Cooper Clark
Joe Jackson (in a very small club that we - the Slabs - also played at in Portsmouth before he was famous!)
MotorHead (absolutely crap - awful - rubbish - I was forced to go by a friend who wanted a lift there)
Boomtown Rats
The Vibrators
Clash
Damned
Stranglers

and lately....
Rolling Stones (as a VIP guest at Wembley Stadium - a very very memorable night)
The Happy Mondays (and backstage by personal invite with good old Bez afterwards - I find details of that night hard to remember for some reason...)

Jog your memory by going here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mu ... punk_music

Hi Leggo

I saw Gary Glitter as well. Not sure when. 1973? In Hastings, I think. Was that the gig you were at?

Good list, by the way. I am still thinking of some classics and will give an epic rundown when I get a chance.

As another taster Emerson, Lake and Palmer - 18 April 1974 at Wembley. The day before my 15th birthday!!

My first one was Led Zeppelin at the King's Theatre in Edinburgh in 1972 for £1 and although I've been to a good few since including the Stones and Bob Dylan it remains the best rock gig (maybe any sort of gig to be honest) I've ever seen. They kicked off with Black Dog and Rock and Roll and it was just mayhem!

Hi Jesco77

Awesome!!! Never got to see Led Zep!

I saw Kraftwerk at the Brighton Dome in 1975 and they really freaked people out.

I remember the audience pretty hostile. It was really odd seeing them standing behind those "lecterns".

Hi 6anbatte

Never seen a really hostile audience though I gor a bit bored at a Hatfield and the North concert and walked out...

Hi Jesco77

It was weird because people just weren't used to seeing a "band" without any instruments as such. I can still see it in my minds eye. It was an odd sight. They definitely weren't viewed with the respect they now garner.
I think "Autobahn" (which I think must have just come out) went on for about 40 minutes and some of the sounds they were producing were ear splittingly painful. I would imagine there were dog's all over Brighton fleeing the scene with their tails between their legs and their paws over their ears.

At the Clash gig at Crawley Leisure Centre members of the crowd got up on stage and beat up the support act - Suicide. Seriously.

The Autobahn album was OK- with a half decent ambient track called Mitternacht on side 2. Sold it long since though.

I envy you guys a lot for all those gigs you were at. Leggo, that list is incredible. Pity I was born to late. Did any of you see the Specials too?