My gig history
Primal Scream supported by Roni Size & Reprazent and Asian Dub Foundation
Victoria Park, Mile End
Friday 12 September 1997
This show followed the release of the album ‘Vanishing Point’ in July 1997. The date on the ticket is different to the date of the actual show. The UK tour was initially postponed, and drummer Paul Mulraney left the band. According to this interview with Mani, the show was then postponed again by the promoters “as a mark of respect”, as it clashed with the funeral of Princess Diana on 6 September 1997. The band put out the following statement saying they had wanted to go ahead with the gig:
We have no respect whatsoever for Diana Spencer or any member of the English Royal Family. We are totally opposed to the monarchy. With regard to the London shows, the Police refused to police the event which meant the council would revoke the licence. We wanted to play. The subsequent statement was issued by the promoter (Metropolis Music) and we are glad that people care enough about the band to be offended by the statement. We are.
It eventually went ahead on 12 September, with another show in Victoria Park the following day. Webadelica has a good interview with Bobby Gillespie from around the time of this gig.
Roni Size & Reprazent were to go on to win the Mercury Music Prize for their album ‘New Forms’ that year, and the following year Asian Dub Foundation were also nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, for their album ‘Rafi’s Revenge’.
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The Lemonheads supported by Eugene
Shepherds Bush Empire
Wednesday 14 September 2005
The Lemonheads performed ‘It’s a Shame About Ray’, plus I think a couple of other songs at the end, as part of the ‘Don’t Look Back’ series of gigs.
Marilyn Manson supported by 3 Colours Red
Brixton Academy
Thursday 17 December 1998
This was the only date on Marilyn Manson’s ‘Mechanical Animals’ tour, and it was stunning. The tour had originally been planned as a six-date European tour in June-July 1998, but was postponed because drummer Ginger Fish was ill. The tour therefore happened after the release of the album ‘Mechanical Animals’ in September, running from October 1998 to January 1999.
The show felt like a stadium show squeezed into Brixton Academy, and emphasised the glam rock direction of the ‘Mechanical Animals’ album. The Manson Wiki has links to a number of interviews from around this time, when Marilyn Manson talked up his interest in glam rock, particularly David Bowie.
‘Mechanical Animals’ is by far my favourite Marilyn Manson album, and I feel that this new creative direction was cut short by external events. In 1999, the ‘Beautiful Monsters’ tour with Hole soon became the ‘Rock Is Dead’ tour, which featured a rather workmanlike performance at Metallica’s Big Day Out in Milton Keynes in July 1999. By that point, the Columbine High School massacre had happened, and the rest of the ‘Rock Is Dead’ tour was cancelled in light of media coverage linking the music of Marilyn Manson to the events at Columbine.
When Marilyn Manson re-emerged in late 2000 with the ‘Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)’ album, he had largely abandoned the glam rock sound and aesthetic. While Manson claims that ‘Holy Wood’, ‘Mechanical Animals’ and ‘Antichrist Superstar’ are a trilogy, I can’t help thinking that ‘Mechanical Animals’ stands out as something creatively different to the others, a progression of the band’s sound that was reversed with ‘Holy Wood’.
Marilyn Manson didn’t play Brixton Academy again until June 2003. You can find Marilyn Manson’ setlist for this show here, and indeed a fan-shot video of the whole performance here. My highlight of the night was the stilts. Still completely brilliant.
3 Colours Red seemed like an odd choice for a support band, but they supported Marilyn Manson on the whole European tour. This was leading up to the release of their second album, ‘Revolt’, in 1999, which saw them achieve Radio 1 airplay, a slot on the Radio 1 Evening Session, a UK Number 11 hit with ‘Beautiful Day’, and tour slots with Aerosmith and Silverchair. Sadly they split up less than a year after this show, after their performances at the Reading and Leeds festivals.
I missed 3 Colours Red as the queue was absolutely massive, so me and my mate opted for a pint in a local pub instead. Despite that, I thought Marilyn Manson were on fire at this show, it was one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to.
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The Wildhearts supported by Devin Townsend and Antiproduct
Cambridge Junction
Monday 18 June 2001
I think this was the night after the gig where Danny McCormack (bassist in The Wildhearts) left the band/got thrown out mid-tour. Toshi from Antiproduct played bass for The Wildhearts and I seem to remember that it was a very decent performance, all things considered.
I can’t remember why the ticket has got my name on it, but hey, it’s unique.
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Less Than Jake supported by The Pietasters, Teen Idol and Allistar
The Forum, Kentish Town
Sunday 11 May 2003
A nice ticket, this.
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Ginger supported by Our Lady of Miracles
The Garage, Highbury
Wednesday 19 December 2001
The ‘Too Many Tunes to Rest’ show. If I remember rightly, this was an early incarnation of what would become the Ginger Wildheart birthday gigs.
Belinda Carlisle supported by Martyn Joseph
Cambridge Junction
Monday 1 March 1999
This was an acoustic show by Belinda. There was some particularly memorable stage banter as she encouraged the crowd to enjoy the bar facilities, stating, “the more you drink, the better I sound!”
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‘You Love Us’ - Manic Street Preachers fan convention, featuring Generation Preachers, Patrick Jones, and Simon Price DJing.
The Garage, Highbury
Saturday 8 August 1998
This was a slightly random event, around the time of the release of ‘If You Tolerate This, You Children Will Be Next’. Was good fun and Generation Preachers played a fine show.
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Keith Caputo
Borderline, London
Tuesday 28 March 2000
As far as I can recall, there was no support band for this gig. It was just Keith and another guitarist performing an acoustic show. Keith walked off after a couple of songs, I think because someone’s phone was going off, but he came back on and it was a nice intimate show.
As well as most of the songs on ‘Died Laughing’, he also played Life of Agony’s ‘Let’s Pretend’.
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