Man of Honour
- Joined
- 29 Mar 2003
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- 57,397
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- Stoke on Trent
After reading the Tenacious D thread this got me thinking about venues.
My first gig was Status Quo in 1971 at the Victoria Hall in Hanley and if you stood at the back it was about 4 goals from the stage (32 yards).
My second gig was in 1971 and I saw Led Zeppelin at Trentham Gardens. Trentham Gardens was a ballroom and looked massive however if you stood at the back you were probably the length of 6 goals away from the stage (48 yards).
These two places was where I watched all the most famous bands and you could touch them eg Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Queen, Pink Floyd, Uriah Heep, Alex Harvey, Led Zeppelin, Yes, ELP, Thin Lizzy and a thousand others. Most of them came around every year too. Imagine the experience of virtually standing next to these bands who were basically playing in a big pub.
Around the mid 70's came the first 'big' venue with Bingley Hall and I can't be sure who the first band was but I remember walking in and being disgusted that the band was so far away if I ended up at the back (90 yards). (Incidentally I'm gigging there next wednesday). I saw hundreds of bands there including The Who (with Keith), Rolling Stones, Boston, Rainbow, Sabbath, Styx, Lizzy, Genesis, Floyd etc and once again because the place could only sell x amount of tickets you were never more than 45 yards from the satge (close enough to touch).
I went to Earls Court in 75 to watch Zeppelin and was disgusted at the size of it. It was not a nice experience to watch a band in because of how far we were from the stage. They were the first band to use screens so at least you could see something. It was also recorded as the loudest gig ever but not where I was sitting.
So basically up until the end of the 70's I was watching great bands like Rush, Kiss, Ted Nugent in 'picture houses' like the Manchester Apollo and Birmingham Odeon and our own Victoria Hall and slightly bigger places like Bingley Hall but then the rot set in.
I can't remember the first time but in 1980 I went to see Bruce Springsteen at the NEC and it was the beginning of the end for me. It was 24 years later when I decided to go see Rush at the same place but watching a band in a venue like that is crap.
I'm not a big fan of Maiden and I've seen them at least 6 times during their early years but I take my hat off them during the late 80's when they decided to stop playing the big arenas and got back to playing the small halls and they came to Victoria Hall again. They built a stage in front of the normal one and where I was sitting in the balcony I could have touched Bruce. However, playing to only about 1200 people would mean a great big loss.
I feel sorry for the young generation who have never seen their favourite bands at a decent size gig and have to put up with matchstick men about one inch high.
My first gig was Status Quo in 1971 at the Victoria Hall in Hanley and if you stood at the back it was about 4 goals from the stage (32 yards).
My second gig was in 1971 and I saw Led Zeppelin at Trentham Gardens. Trentham Gardens was a ballroom and looked massive however if you stood at the back you were probably the length of 6 goals away from the stage (48 yards).
These two places was where I watched all the most famous bands and you could touch them eg Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Queen, Pink Floyd, Uriah Heep, Alex Harvey, Led Zeppelin, Yes, ELP, Thin Lizzy and a thousand others. Most of them came around every year too. Imagine the experience of virtually standing next to these bands who were basically playing in a big pub.
Around the mid 70's came the first 'big' venue with Bingley Hall and I can't be sure who the first band was but I remember walking in and being disgusted that the band was so far away if I ended up at the back (90 yards). (Incidentally I'm gigging there next wednesday). I saw hundreds of bands there including The Who (with Keith), Rolling Stones, Boston, Rainbow, Sabbath, Styx, Lizzy, Genesis, Floyd etc and once again because the place could only sell x amount of tickets you were never more than 45 yards from the satge (close enough to touch).
I went to Earls Court in 75 to watch Zeppelin and was disgusted at the size of it. It was not a nice experience to watch a band in because of how far we were from the stage. They were the first band to use screens so at least you could see something. It was also recorded as the loudest gig ever but not where I was sitting.
So basically up until the end of the 70's I was watching great bands like Rush, Kiss, Ted Nugent in 'picture houses' like the Manchester Apollo and Birmingham Odeon and our own Victoria Hall and slightly bigger places like Bingley Hall but then the rot set in.
I can't remember the first time but in 1980 I went to see Bruce Springsteen at the NEC and it was the beginning of the end for me. It was 24 years later when I decided to go see Rush at the same place but watching a band in a venue like that is crap.
I'm not a big fan of Maiden and I've seen them at least 6 times during their early years but I take my hat off them during the late 80's when they decided to stop playing the big arenas and got back to playing the small halls and they came to Victoria Hall again. They built a stage in front of the normal one and where I was sitting in the balcony I could have touched Bruce. However, playing to only about 1200 people would mean a great big loss.
I feel sorry for the young generation who have never seen their favourite bands at a decent size gig and have to put up with matchstick men about one inch high.
) and i thought it was great. A bit bigger iirc but the sloping floor made up for it, and you can always get as close as you want in a venue that size. It's been either that or the smaller tents at Reading or the Warped Tour.
Sitting at the back - we had VIP Franz Ferdinand seats beside the family - was awful 
. How was the Minehead venue - did you go to the previous Camber Sands ATPs? Got my tickets booked for April 2007 this weekend, which should be amazing.
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