What was the first gig you ever saw?

First ‘proper’ gig I ever saw was the UK Subs, at the Top Rank Suite, in Cardiff, when I was fourteen years old.
That was October 1980 and the following month I saw The Damned at the same venue.

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What’s the best gig you’ve ever seen?

I have been lucky enough to be present at many fantastic concerts and could not single out the all round best one, but here are just a few which are definitely worth a mention:

Roger Waters
Birmingham N.E.C. June 1984.

My first ever ‘big’ gig, so I suppose it’s obvious that I should remember it well. Then again, Pink Floyd songs performed by a great band including Eric Clapton on guitar – I suppose it was pretty special.

Ozzy Osbourne
Donington Monsters Of Rock Festival, August 1984.

This must be the one single gig that has had the most impact on me, as I’ve never had quite the same shock since.
At the time I had no Ozzy Osbourne albums and had gone to Donington for the first time to see Van Halen, AC/DC and Gary Moore, all of who were and still are great favourites of mine.
Ozzy was added to the bill so late his name didn’t even appear on the posters or T-shirts and he had to settle for third from the top of the line-up.
The day saw early sets from Motley Crue, Y & T and Accept, but when Ozzy took the stage after Gary Moore, the whole place was transformed into a crazy ‘mosh pit’ for want of a better description.
With Jake E. Lee on guitar, Bob Daisley on bass, Tommy Aldridge on drums and Don Airey on keyboards, Ozzy took control of Donington and shook it by the scruff of the neck.
Even to me, as somebody who knew virtually none of the material, the short set was blistering and awesome.
As much as I had wanted to see Van Halen and AC/DC (both for my first time), neither could follow him and Mr. Osbourne stole the show.

Eighteen years later, in a 2002 NME interview, before that year’s ‘Ozzfest’ at Donington, Ozzy was asked about his memories of the place:
“My favourite Donington memory is when I was third on the bill in 1984 with AC/DC and Van Halen. I played an incredible gig. There’s few gigs I’ll take to the grave with me and that’s one of them.”
Obviously it wasn’t just us in the crowd that sensed the moment!

Live Aid
Wembley Stadium, July 1985.

What can I say?

Prince’s Trust Gala
Wembley Arena, June 1986.

Another ‘Live Aid’ type fund-raiser with a huge all-star cast.
Elton John, Rod Stewart, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Sting, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, George Michael, Dire Straits, Status Quo, Big Country, Suzanne Vega, Level 42, Paul Young, Midge Ure, Howard Jones, Joan Armatrading, Bryan Adams etc. Badly organised, but good fun.
When Paul McCartney came on at the end and belted out ‘Long Tall Sally’, one of my favourite Beatles recordings, I thought I was in Heaven

David Lee Roth
Birmingham N.E.C. November, 1988.

I saw Roth once when he was still fronting Van Halen and another six times as a solo artist, but this is the gig that stands out.
The ‘Skyscraper’ Tour with Roth, Steve Vai on guitar, Brett Tuggle on keyboards and Matt and Gregg Bissonette on bass and drums. Fantastic!

Knebworth Fayre
June 1990.

Another huge fund-raiser - Tears For Fears, Oleta Adams, Cliff Richard & The Shadows, Status Quo, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Phil Collins, Genesis, Elton John, Dire Straits, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney and Pink Floyd.
A great day.

The Sex Pistols
Finsbury Park, London, June 1996.

Having been too young to catch them the first time around, the news of a Pistols reunion was of great interest, both to me and to some of my school friends. When the show opened with a very familiar guitar intro and John Lydon began bellowing “She was a girl from Birmingham……” it was always going to be a great night – and it was.

Eagles
Birmingham N.I.A. July 2001.

This was the fourth time I had seen the Eagles, but in terms of sound quality and choice of songs it was the best.
The best live vocal performance I’ve ever seen.
The only sad thing was that Don Felder wasn’t with them, as he had been the first three times I saw them.

Larry Carlton & Steve Lukather
Ocean Club, Hackney, London, July 2001.

I know the thought of two guitarists doing an instrumental gig is usually a huge turn-off to any guitarist to whom musical content is more important than technical ability and it is to me too, but this night was different.
It wasn’t the usual everybody play as many notes as you can per second with no regard for melody or structure, but a night of contrast and sheer class.
The ‘100 gold albums’ master-craftsman and the lesser known wild-man, side by side, with body language and microphone interjections clearly showing that as brilliant as he was himself, Steve Lukather was totally in awe of Larry Carlton.
When the set came around to Carlton’s ‘It Was Only Yesterday’, a smiling Lukather introduced it by saying that Carlton always played a long introduction to the song, on his own and that although they had been on tour for months, he had not heard him play the same thing twice – “Just have a listen to this!” he said as he left the mic.
Carlton then said he would try something totally different and let the crowd choose a theme for him. He asked the crowd for a note - “G” was the reply; then he asked for another - “Bb”; and a third – “F#”, to a burst of laughter from the whole hall.
After laughing himself and pausing for a few moments to plan, he began to play a totally improvised introduction, based perfectly around the difficult ‘Gm/maj7’ theme he had been given. It went on for several minutes and gradually turned into the introduction of ‘It Was Only Yesterday’ seamlessly. It was fabulous.
During the whole thing Lukather stood in the darkness smiling, whooping, clapping and clutching his face, as Carlton played the most amazing phrases.

We met them afterwards and they were both nice, talkative guys, but so different – Steve Lukather the drunken, child-like, fun guy having the time of his life and Larry Carlton, the sober, father-like, serious guy, who looked as though he might shout “Behave yourself!” to Lukather at any moment.

Brian Wilson
S.E.C. Glasgow, January 2002.

I had been waiting to see the great man perform for years and had narrowly missed him in Miami in 2000, so the news of Brian Wilson gigs in the UK was obviously of great interest to me.
In fact, such was the interest in his first ever solo UK tour that the only tickets we could get were for Glasgow - hence the long distance travel for a single gig.
It was the first time I have ever seen anybody receive a several minute long standing ovation, just for walking on to a stage.
The night didn’t disappoint, as backed by the wonderful vocal and instrumental talents of ‘The Wondermints’, Brian Wilson gave a brilliant show.
Lots of Beach Boys classics and ‘Pet Sounds’ performed live in its’ entirety.
My favourite moment was when Brian Wilson, whose voice isn’t quite what it used to be, started ‘Caroline No’, croaked, stopped and apologised, saying “I’m sorry, but I refuse to sing the song as badly as that for you”, then started again from the top and pulled it off.
Well worth the trip.

Foo Fighters
Carling Festival, Reading, August 2002.

A great gig, featuring material from throughout their career, including songs from the ‘One By One’ album (which was at that time unreleased). These new songs were done so well that I remembered them clearly when the album came out – none more so than ‘Tired Of You’, which even at first listening, in a live situation was fabulous.
Most memorable set I’ve seen in many visits to Reading.

Paul McCartney
King’s Dock, Liverpool, June 2003.

A pint in ‘The Cavern Club’, then over to Liverpool’s King’s Dock on a lovely sunny afternoon for a great Paul McCartney gig, then drive home past Penny Lane – it all seemed a bit unreal!
The sixth time I had seen McCartney perform live, but with the added Liverpool connection, even including a comical version of ‘Maggie May’, it was an even more fantastic gig.

Shania Twain
N.E.C. Birmingham, February 2004.

We were moved from our allotted seats as they had been ‘double-booked’ and put in house seats, which were much better and closer to the central ‘in-the-round’ stage. In fact the seats hadn’t been ‘double-booked’ at all, but happened to be part of an eight-seat area kept aside for Shania and guitarist Paul Franklin to sit and perform an acoustic version of ‘The Woman In Me’ from within the crowd.
Brilliant sound, brilliant band, brilliant visual performance from everybody on the stage and one of the most all round entertaining shows I’ve ever seen.
Vocally Shania was fantastic and definitely all ‘live’.
The band recreated the harmonies so perfectly true to the original recordings that either they were backed up by samples, or it was the best harmony vocal performance I’ve ever witnessed - apart from the Eagles and Brian Wilson.

The Stray Cats
Brixton Academy, London, July 2004.
Ninety minutes worth of hot, sweaty, nasty rock ‘n’ roll. Perfect!

PINK
C.I.A. Cardiff, November 2006.
Great show, great attitude, lots of fun and amazing voice, backed up by a powerful five-piece band and great backing singers. Probably my favourite vocal performance I've ever seen from a female artist and, unusually for the echo-chamber acoustics of the CIA, a good sound too!
Apart from the fact she didn't bother to introduce the band it was just about a perfect show.

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Which guitarists have you seen live?

(As of 21/08/08).
The total list of people I’ve seen live altogether shows there are a lot more, but I’ve listed people ‘famous’ for playing guitar, rather than just every guitarist I’ve ever seen:

David Gilmour (four times)
Gary Moore (six times)
Larry Carlton
Lindsey Buckingham
Eric Clapton (five times)
Brian May (six times)
Albert Lee (fourteen times)
Brian Setzer
Angus Young (twice)
Malcolm Young (twice)
Edward Van Halen (three times)
Sammy Hagar (twice)
Slash (four times)
Dave Kushner (twice)
Izzy Stradlin
Gilbey Clarke
Joe Walsh (four times)
Don Felder (three times)
Stuart Smith
Richie Blackmore
Steve Morse (three times)
Steve Lukather
Robben Ford (three times)
Jeff Beck
Jimmy Page
John 5
Joe Satriani
Steve Vai (five times)
Jake E. Lee (twice)
Nuno Bettencourt (three times)
Jerry Donahue (three times)
Jeff Healey
Joe Bonamassa
Robbie McIntosh (twice)
Mark Knopfler (six times)
Richie Sambora (four times)
Chuck Berry (twice)
Pete Townshend (three times)
Paul Wellar (four times)
Paul Stanley (four times)
Ace Frehley
Bruce Kulick (three times)
Bob Kulick
B.B.King
Johnny Winter (twice)
Joe Perry (twice)
Brad Whitford (twice)
Billy Duffy
Allan Holdsworth
Adrian Legge
Paul Gilbert
The Edge
Nils Lofgren
Nile Rodgers
Scott Gorham (twice)
John Sykes (twice)
Ry Cooder
Tom Morello (twice)
Keith Scott (four times)
Bryan Adams (five times)
Keith Richard (twice)
Ron Wood (twice)
Mick Taylor
Justin Hawkins (three times)
Dan Hawkins (three times)
Bonnie Raitt
Captain Sensible (nine times)
Wilko Johnson (three times)
Steve Walwyn (three times)
Tim Renwick (four times)
Dave Kelly (three times)
Tom McGuinness (three times)
Sherman Robertson
Dave Grissom
Doyle Bramall
Dave Hill
Dave Grohl (four times)
Chris Shiflett (four times)
Eddie Clark
Doug Aldrich (three times)
Reb Beach (three times)
Uli Jon Roth
Phil Palmer (twice)
Dave Murray
Adrian Smith
Dave Mustaine
Davey Johnstone (three times)
Jeff Cease
Geoff Whitehorn
Jason Becker (twice)
Del Marquis
James Taylor
James Dean Bradfield (three times)
Herb Ellis
Fraser T. Smith
Francis Rossi (eight times)
Rick Parfitt (eight times)
Francis Dunnery
Eric Schenckman
Eric Sardinas
Hank Marvin
Leslie West
Kyle Fredericks
Kirk Hammett
James Hetfield
Peter Frampton (twice)
Andy Fairweather-Lowe (three times)
Kenwyn House
Paul Simon (twice)
Kenny Wayne Shepherd (three times)
Paul Samson
Jon Greenwood
Paul Barrere (twice)
Fred Tackett (twice)
Mark Flannagan (three times)
Lubos Arnst
Chris Rea
Chris Hayes (four times)
Snowy White (three times)
Mike Rutherford (three times)
Darryl Steurmer (twice)
Mickey Gee (four times)
Mickey Jones (three times)
Mick Mars
Mick Green
Mathias Jabs (twice)
Rudolph Schenker (twice)
Noel Gallagher (twice)
Matt Bellamy (twice)
Martin Taylor
Mark Yates
Warren Cucurrullo
Steve Jones
Steve Cropper
Matt ‘Guitar’ Murphy
Roman Pokorny
Jacob Wolf
Andres Segovia
Julian Bream
John Williams

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Who have you seen live altogether?

Not including all the local, un-signed and tribute bands I have seen, as of 21/08/08, the list, organised roughly into ‘alike’ sections, reads:

Paul McCartney (six times)
‘The Beach Boys’
Brian Wilson (three times)
‘Pink Floyd’ (three times)
Roger Waters (four times)
David Bowie (three times)
Elton John (five times)
Eric Clapton (five times)
Simon & Garfunkel
Paul Simon
Billy Joel
Rod Stewart
Bryan Ferry
‘The Rolling Stones’ (twice)
Mick Jagger
‘The Who’ (three times)
‘The Eagles’ (four times)
‘Queen’ (four times)
'Queen & Paul Rodgers'
‘Dire Straits’ (six times)
‘Fleetwood Mac’
‘Steely Dan’
‘Status Quo’ (eight times)
Bryan Adams (six times)
‘E.L.O.II’
‘Genesis’ (twice)
Peter Gabriel
Phil Collins (three times)
‘Mike & The Mechanics’
Paul Carrack
Tina Turner
Tom Jones (twice)
The Everly Brothers
‘The Hollies’
‘The Monkees’
‘Steve Marriot's Packet Of Three’
‘The Band’
Lulu
Marianne Faithful

‘Cliff Richard & The Shadows’
Chuck Berry (twice)
Little Richard
Jerry Lee Lewis
Fats Domino
Charlie Gracie & D.J.Fontana
P.J. Proby
‘The Pirates’
‘The Stray Cats’
‘The Big Town Playboys’ (twice)
‘Barence Whitfield & The Savages’
‘Rocket From The Crypt’

Ozzy Osbourne (twice)
‘Aerosmith’ (twice)
‘AC/DC’ (twice)
‘KISS’ (four times)
‘Van Halen’ (three times)
David Lee Roth (six times)
'Deep Purple' (four times)
‘Bon Jovi’ (four times)
‘Extreme’ (three times)
Robert Plant & Jimmy Page
‘Guns ‘n’ Roses’
‘Slash's Snakepit’
'Velvet Revolver' (twice)
‘Whitesnake’ (three times)
'Thin Lizzy' (twice)
'Def Leppard'
‘Metallica’
‘Iron Maiden’
‘The Scorpions’ (twice)
‘The Cult’
‘Meatloaf’
‘Thunder’ (twice)
‘The Quireboys’
‘Motley Crue’
‘Megadeth’
‘Mountain’
‘Mr.Big’
‘U.F.O.’
‘Heart’
'Styx'
‘Little Angels’ (three times)
‘Accept’
‘Y & T’
‘Blackfoot’
‘Helloween’
‘Great White’
‘Ratt’
‘Mama’s Boys’
‘Man’ (twice)
‘Tigertailz’
‘Warrant’ (twice)
‘F.M.’
‘Fastway’
‘Samson’

‘The Sex Pistols’
‘The Stranglers’ (five times)
‘The Damned’ (ten times)
Captain Sensible
‘U.K. Subs’ (twice)
‘The Angelic Upstarts’
‘Stiff Little Fingers’
‘The Buzzcocks’ (twice)
‘The Dickies’
‘Squeeze’ (twice)
‘Blondie’
‘The Boomtown Rats’
'Echo & The Bunnymen'
‘Chron Gen’
‘The Anti Nowhere League’ (twice)
‘Anti Pasti’
‘The Lurkers’
‘Peter & The Test Tube Babies’
‘Vice Squad’ (twice)
‘Charge’ (three times)
Iggy Pop (twice)
‘The Jam’
‘The Style Council’ (twice)
Paul Wellar
‘Madness’ (three times)
‘The Selector’
‘Clint Eastwood & General Saint’
Elvis Costello (twice)
‘Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros’

Robben Ford (three times)
Larry Carlton & Steve Lukather
Gary Moore (six times)
Jeff Beck
Joe Bonamassa
Steve Vai (twice)
Joe Satriani
‘The Jeff Healey Band’
Allan Holdsworth
Adrian Legge
Eric Sardinas
‘The Geoff Whitehorn Band’
Nils Lofgren

Jerry Donahue (three times)
Albert Lee (thirteen times)
Shania Twain
Kenny Rogers
Dolly Parton
‘Emmylou Harris & The Hot Band’
‘Joe Sun & The Solar System’
John Hiatt (twice)
‘Little Village’
John Mellencamp
Joe Ely
Guy Clark
Sonny Curtis
Rick Trevino
Zachary Richard
‘Pinto Bennet & The Famous Motel Cowboys’
Marty Stuart
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Trisha Yearwood
Linda Davis
Lyle Lovett
James Taylor
Newton Faulkner
Joni Mitchell
Mary Black
Amy MacDonald
James Galway
‘The Hothouse Flowers’
‘The Waterboys’
‘The Beautiful South’
'Crowded House'

' Slade’
Gary Glitter
‘Hot Chocolate’
‘Chic’
‘Rose Royce’
Michael Jackson
Kiki Dee
‘The Real Thing’
‘Tavares’

‘U2’
‘Duran Duran’
‘Huey Lewis & The News’ (four times)
Chris Rea
Sting (twice)
‘Wham’
George Michael
‘Kid Creole & The Coconuts’
‘Shalamar’
Alexander O’Neal
Nik Kershaw
Howard Jones (twice)
Suzanne Vega
‘ABC’
‘The Alarm’
‘Big Country’ (three times)
‘It Bites’
‘Level 42’
‘Belois Some’
‘Run DMC’
‘Sade’
Joan Armatrading
Sinead O'Conner
Cindi Lauper
‘Fairground Attraction’
‘Bucks Fizz’
‘Was Not Was’
Adam Ant
Gary Numan
Alison Moyet
‘Ultravox’
Midge Ure
Thomas Dolby
‘Tears For Fears’
‘Spandau Ballet’
Paul Young (twice)
‘INXS’ (twice)
‘Roxette’

‘R.E.M.’
‘Radiohead’
‘Oasis’ (twice)
‘Blur’
‘Foo Fighters’ (four times)
'Jet' (twice)
'The Feeling'
'The Fratellis'
‘Muse’ (twice)
'Kings Of Leon'
'Kaiser Chiefs'
‘The Spin Doctors’
‘The Verve’ (twice)
‘Travis’
Marilyn Mansun
‘Feeder’ (thirteen times)
‘Ash’ (three times)
‘Green Day’
‘Blink 182’ (twice)
‘Rage Against The Machine’
'Audioslave'
‘System Of A Down’ (twice)
‘Skunk Anansie’
‘Slipknot’ (twice)
‘Weezer’
‘Sum 41’ (twice)
‘Terrorvision’
‘Reef’
‘Reel Big Fish’ (five times)
‘Save Ferris’ (twice)
‘Less Than Jake’ (twice)
‘Limp Bizkit’
‘Linkin Park’
‘The Stereophonics’ (three times)
Kelly Jones
‘Manic Street Preachers’ (three times)
‘The Darkness’ (three times)
‘The Offspring’ (twice)
'The Zutons'
Razorlight'
'The Coral' (twice)
'The Subways'
'Snow Patrol' (twice)
'Embrace'
'The Hoosiers'
'The Kooks'
‘Fun Lovin’ Criminals’
'Ocean Colour Scene'
Lenny Kravitz (twice)
‘Matchbox Twenty’
‘Bowling For Soup’
‘Supergrass’
‘Puddle Of Mudd’
‘Queens Of The Stoneage’
‘Papa Roach’
‘The Black Crowes’
‘Placebo’ (twice)
‘The White Stripes’
'Lost Prophets'
‘The Wildhearts’ (twice)
‘Staind’
‘New Found Glory’
‘Hundred Reasons’ (twice)
‘A’ (twice)
''Badly Drawn Boy'
'Keane'
'The View'
Beck
'Maximo Park'
‘The Libertines’ (twice)
‘Alien Ant Farm’
‘Incubus’
‘3 Colours Red’
‘60 Ft Dolls’
‘Alkaline Trio’
‘The Dandy Warhols’
‘Toploader’ (twice)
‘All American Rejects’
'The Futureheads'
‘Amen’ (twice)
‘The Streets’
‘The Datsuns’ (twice)
'Juliette & The Licks'
‘The Hives’ (twice)
‘The Strokes’
‘The Used’
‘And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead’
Andrew WK
‘Good Charlotte’
‘Animalhouse’
‘Rancid’
‘Arab strap’
‘Asian Dub Foundation’
‘Biffy Clyro’
‘Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’
‘The Bluetones’
‘Boy Sets Fire’
‘Capdown’
‘Cave In’
‘Delirious
‘Dillinger Escape Plan’
‘Doves’
‘The Dropkick Murphys’
‘Easyworld’ (twice)
‘Eels’
‘Electric Six’
‘Fear Factory’
‘Shed Seven’ (twice)
‘Fenix TX’
‘Finch’
Duke Special
‘Fluffy’
‘Frank Black & The Catholics’
'Camera'
‘Funeral For A Friend’
‘Fuzz Lightyears’
‘Good Riddance’
'Makemodel'
‘Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci’
‘Grand Theft Audio’
‘Guided By Voices’
‘Headway’
‘Hooverphonic’
‘I Am Kloot’
‘INME’
‘Jackson’
‘Junior Senior’
‘King Adora’
‘King Prawn’
‘Lo Fidelity Allstars’
‘Mercury Rev’
‘Midtown’
‘Mogwai’
‘No FX’
‘OPM’
‘The Polyphonic Spree’
‘Primal Scream’ (three times)
‘Proud Mary’
‘Public Domain’
‘Raging Speedhorn’
Richard Hawley
‘Saves The Day’
‘The Screaming Blue Messiahs’
‘Seafood’
‘Serafin’
‘Supersuckers’
‘The Vegastones’
‘The Verve Pipe’
‘The Zephyrs’
‘Sugarcult’
‘Super Furry Animals’
‘Vex Red’
‘Voy’
‘Teenage Fanclub’
‘Terris’
‘The Blood Brothers’
‘The Cosmic Roughriders’
‘Utah Saints’
‘The Living End’
‘The Raveonettes’
‘HED (P.E.)’
‘28 Days’
‘The Donnas’
‘The Sleepy Jackson’
‘The Soft Parade’
‘The Soundtrack Of Our Lives’
‘The Steamboat Band’
‘Shack’
‘Skindred’ (twice)
‘Spooks’
‘The Hooters’
'The Blue Van'
‘The Distillers’
‘Taking Back Sunday’
'Hayseed Dixie'
'The Fray'
'Editors'

Sheryl Crow (twice)
Alanis Morissette
Rickie Lee Jones
Pink (twice)
Avril Lavigne
Amy Winehouse
Duffy
Celine Dion
Oleta Adams
Ute Lemper
P.J.Harvey
Christina Aguilera
‘The Spice Girls’
‘All Saints’
'Girls Aloud'
Heather Small
Happy Mondays
Robbie Williams
'The Scissor Sisters'
‘Westlife’
Eminem
‘D 12’
'Naturally 7'
‘Jurassic 5’
Goldie Lookin’ Chain’ (twice)
‘The Prodigy’
‘Black Eyed Peas’
Craig David (twice)
Shayne Ward
Paolo Nutini
‘Damage’
'Lemar'
‘Bellefire’
‘Cornershop’
'Liberty X'
'Mudbone'
'The Proclaimers'
'Just Jack'
'The Jonas Brothers'
'X Factor Live' (Leon, Rhydian, Same Difference, Nikki etc)

‘Little Feat’ (twice)
‘ZZ Top’ (twice)
B.B.King
‘Paul Jones & The Blues Band’ (three times)
‘The Blues Brothers Band’
‘Dr. Feelgood’ (three times)
Dr. John
Ann Peebles
Bonnie Raitt
Johnny Mars
Katie Webster
‘The Rackateers’ (three times)
Kenny Wayne Shepherd (three times)
‘Jools Holland & his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra’ (three times)
Van Morrison (twice)
Georgie Fame (twice)
‘The Balham Alligators’
‘Le Rue’
Johnny Winter (twice)
Wilko Johnson (three times)
Sherman Robertson
‘Lubos Arnst Blues Band’
‘Roman Pokorny & Blue Box Heroes’
'The Curtis Salgado Band'
‘The Steve Gibbons Band’
‘Mick Taylor’s Allstar Band’
‘The James Brown Band’
‘Canned Heat’
‘The Commitments’
‘Tower Of Power’
Curtis Stigers (twice)
‘Nine Below Zero’
‘Peter Frampton’

Andres Segovia
John Williams
Julian Bream
Stefan Grappelli
‘The Herb Ellis Trio’
Larry Adler
Frank Sinatra
Harry Connick Jnr.
Michael Buble
Russell Watson (twice)
‘Ladysmith Black Mambazo’
‘Vocal Sampling’
Charlotte Church
Katherine Jenkins
Aled Jones

'The Phantom Of The Opera' (four times)
‘Crazy For You’ (twice)
'The Lion King'
‘West Side Story’
‘Chicago’
‘Godspell’
'The King & I'
‘Carousel’
‘Beauty & The Beast’
‘Grease’
'Fame'
‘Miss Saigon’
'High Society'
'Mary Poppins'
'The Sound Of Music'
'Mamma Mia'
'Doctor Dolittle'

‘Carmen’
‘The Magic Flute’ (twice)
‘The Marriage Of Figaro’
‘The Barber Of Seville’
‘The Elixir Of Love’

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Is there anybody you would like to see live and have not?

Yes, people that spring to mind are:
The Glitterati, Ringo Starr, Aretha Franklyn, Neil Sedaka, Joe Cocker, Sass Jordan, Shelby Lynne and Olivia Newton-John.

It will probably never happen, but if they ever re-formed I would also love to see ABBA, Talking Heads, Led Zeppelin, Supertramp, The Kinks and The Manhattan Transfer.

It would also be good to see bands again if they were re-united with ex-members, such as Pink Floyd with Roger Waters, or E.L.O. with Jeff Lynne.

Regrettably I made the mistake of turning down chances to see Albert Collins, Ian Dury and Frank Zappa before they died and when Stevie Ray Vaughan was so tragically killed, I was set to go and see him at the Hammersmith Odeon.

In terms of wishing I’d taken my chance to see someone, one concert stands out above all others.
When I was in New York, in May 1992, Ella Fitzgerald (a huge favourite of mine whom I never saw on stage) was performing at the Radio City Music Hall. I was travelling with a friend, who had no real interest in seeing her and we were only there for the day on our way to Rochester. Seeing the show would have meant getting tickets from touts, missing our Greyhound to Rochester and probably having to sleep at the bus station to catch the early bus next morning. So, due to the circumstances I just pretended it wasn’t happening and we went on to Rochester.

Later in 1992 Ella performed for the last time, in the Michigan Music Hall, having already lost some toes, due to complications from diabetes.
The following year the same problems led to her having to have both legs amputated and she died on 15th June 1996.
Not going to that New York show in 1992 is without doubt the biggest mistake I ever made in turning down the chance to see a concert and one of the reasons I make sure to go to as many as I can now.







Nick Brown - Guitar Tuition, Newport, South Wales.