I can't remember when ...

[Happy Jack]

Totally inspired by Bilbo's "I Was There When ..." topic, where I posted:

One of the early monster gigs at Knebworth with a line-up to die for ... so good that 40 years later I don't remember anything about the gig except the point when the DJ between bands put on Jilted John.

When we got to the appropriate moment, about 40,000 people all yelled "Gordon is a moron" in unison.

So I thought, that's ridiculous, how can I not remember any of the bands who were there? I had a vague memory that Zappa might have been involved, but was I confusing that with seeing him at Empire Pool Wembley (along with a bottle of amyl nitrate)? Surely I saw The Tubes around then, but was I confusing that with seeing them at Hammersmith Odeon and just three weeks later in (of all places) Oxford?

So ... Jilted John was a big hit in the Summer of 1978. I checked the line-up for the 1978 Knebworth Festival - no chance. I've never seen any of those acts live - Genesis, Jefferson Starship, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. 

Kept searching and discovered "the Knebworth Park Concert", looked it up and Bingo:

FRANK ZAPPA

THE TUBES

PETER GABRIEL

BOOMTOWN RATS

ROCKPILE

WILKO JOHNSON'S SOLID SENDERS

Blimey! I've seen Peter Gabriel live? I had no idea. Boomtown Rats? Ditto. Even more embarrassing is that I have been for many years a big fan of both Rockpile and of Wilko Johnson without realising that I saw them in 1978.

[oldslapper]

a bottle of amyl nitrate
 

Now that’s a literal blast from my past. 🥳

[Balcro]

A simple explanation from 20 hours ago?   ---------

 "In 1979 I went with a friend to The Nashville Rooms in West Kensington to score some dope. William & I were hanging around the main bar, which was rapidly filling up with a bizarre assortments of mods, rockers, punks and new romantics ... these were people you never saw in one place unless something was kicking off between them.

Will had the self-preservation instincts of a lemming and flagged down a passing skinhead to ask what was going on.

"It's a great new band called Madness" he shouted.

Will and I looked at each other, said "nope, me neither", and we went off to find our dealer."       H J.

[Monkey Steve]

I'm increasingly the same - some bands I remember seeing but can recall very little, if anything, of the actual gig, some I cannot recall seeing at all but am pretty sure that I must have done based on when and where they played, and some I am confusingly reminded of by Wikipedia.  Festivals are particularly bad

For instance, my head tells me that until seeing them at Download a few years back, the only time I'd seen UFO was on their utterly dreadful Misdemeanours tour in '85 or '86

Wikipedia tells me that I saw them a few months earlier at Knebworth as one of the support acts for Deep Purple's reunion gig.  No recollection whatsoever, despite me having clear memories of seeing the bands on before and after them, and in the days before a second stage there wouldn't have been anything else to do but watch the bands

I put it down to that Sherlock Holmes thing of only having so much room in my brain, so every time I go to a new gig the memories of an old one get pushed out

that and the amount if booze I drank at those gigs...

[MacDaddy]

48 minutes ago, Monkey Steve said:

I'm increasingly the same - some bands I remember seeing but can recall very little, if anything, of the actual gig, some I cannot recall seeing at all but am pretty sure that I must have done based on when and where they played, and some I am confusingly reminded of by Wikipedia.  Festivals are particularly bad

For instance, my head tells me that until seeing them at Download a few years back, the only time I'd seen UFO was on their utterly dreadful Misdemeanours tour in '85 or '86

Wikipedia tells me that I saw them a few months earlier at Knebworth as one of the support acts for Deep Purple's reunion gig.  No recollection whatsoever, despite me having clear memories of seeing the bands on before and after them, and in the days before a second stage there wouldn't have been anything else to do but watch the bands

I put it down to that Sherlock Holmes thing of only having so much room in my brain, so every time I go to a new gig the memories of an old one get pushed out

that and the amount if booze I drank at those gigs...

i think that was Homer Simpson! 🤣

Edited March 12, 2020 by MacDaddy

[Monkey Steve]

8 minutes ago, MacDaddy said:

i think that was Homer Simpson! 🤣

great minds

[MrCrane]

4 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

I checked the line-up for the 1978 Knebworth Festival - no chance. I've never seen any of those acts live - Genesis, Jefferson Starship, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.

I was at that one, but checking the line up, I can't believe I have no recollection of Devo.

(I do remember that Starship were pony though).

[oxfordchris]

sorry is pony good or bad ?????

[Ricky 4000]

I assume 'pony and trap' -- not good.

[oxfordchris]

Thanks

[Skinnyman]

On 12/03/2020 at 15:28, MrCrane said:

I was at that one, but checking the line up, I can't believe I have no recollection of Devo.

(I do remember that Starship were pony though).

I was there too. 

Devo were the recipients of a lot of urine-filled bottles. 

[MacDaddy]

54 minutes ago, Ricky 4000 said:

I assume 'pony and trap' -- not good.

I thought a pony was £20?

[MrCrane]

Just to confirm, I did mean "pony and trap".🙂

[Oopsdabassist]

On 12/03/2020 at 13:12, Monkey Steve said:

Wikipedia tells me that I saw them a few months earlier at Knebworth as one of the support acts for Deep Purple's reunion gig.  No recollection whatsoever, despite me having clear memories of seeing the bands on before and after them, and in the days before a second stage there wouldn't have been anything else to do but watch the bands

I was there for the Deep Purple, I remember Meatloaf came on with his broken leg plastered up to his nuts, and he went off in a huff after about 15 mins cos of the amount of mickey taking......apart from that...nada...not a sausage, other than Purples set.  You say UFO were there, I'll take your word for it...I wonder who else was on the bill?

[Ricky 4000]

1 hour ago, MacDaddy said:

I thought a pony was £20?

Is it 20 or 50? How much is a monkey? 500 is it? I'm sure a Jeffrey is 2000. 👍

[Monkey Steve]

12 hours ago, Oopsdabassist said:

I was there for the Deep Purple, I remember Meatloaf came on with his broken leg plastered up to his nuts, and he went off in a huff after about 15 mins cos of the amount of mickey taking......apart from that...nada...not a sausage, other than Purples set.  You say UFO were there, I'll take your word for it...I wonder who else was on the bill?

I remember Meatloaf limping around.  And the Scorpions were main support and superb.  I remember Mountain playing Nantucket Sleigh Ride, and I vaguely remember Blackfoot and Mama's Boys.

But my main memory is standing around for two hours in the pissing rain waiting for Deep Purple to start