14 February 2005

Oh, those lips



My first ever long distance gig. Travelled down by train to Birmingham on a Sunday for the Cure show at the Birmingham NEC, a soulless arena if ever there was one, full of totally anal security guards. Being a Sunday in the 80s in Birmingham, bugger all was open, so we (me & John B) spent the day bored in the station and MacDonalds (spit). It was 6 December 1987. I don't think they even had a support band. We had front row seats, and as soon as the lights went down made a rush and got in prime position standing against the barrier. Of course in a big venue like that, it meant cricked necks looking up to see the band!


The show started with a projection of bright red lips on a huge screen, before they launched into The Kiss. The set list was:

the kiss
torture
a strange day
a japanese dream
catch
just like heaven
hot hot hot
if only tonight we could sleep
like cockatoos
the walk
inbetween days
how beautiful you are
the perfect girl
the snakepit
a forest
fight
close to me
let’s go to bed
one more time
charlotte sometimes
faith
three imaginary boys
primary
boys don’t cry
why can’t i be you

Fantastic show, I even have some photos somewhere in a file at home. Of course, no zoom, no digital camera, so the band look tiny.

Then, there was the train journey home, late on a Sunday, with BR at its finest. We had to hang around at Crewe station for an hour or more, and I think we got in at about 3am and had school the next morning. But it was worth it, though I probably still owe my mum for the tickets.
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2 Comments:

Blogger Francis said...

hey - this was my first ever gig...i remember it pretty much as you do - I was going to do a post on my mp3 blog as one of my most memorable gigs but I think you beat me to it!
http://frankosonic.duckworthsquare.com

13/09/2006, 19:10  
Blogger roverinexile said...

A copy of the radio transmission of the gig was posted on dimeadozen recently, but it's not the whole show.
Nice blog btw - been checking out the Ted Chippington stuff, which is a blast from the past. As you can see, mine is way out of date, but I do intend to post some updates soon. I'll add a link to your blog.

20/09/2006, 01:51  

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