In last month’s UNCUT, our writers, friends and favourite musicians reminisced about their favourite gigs.
Well, in this month’s issue we’re looking back on the worst gigs we’ve ever seen – including The Stone Roses, Bob Dylan, Kevin Rowland and David Bowie – with rare photos from the shows too.
We’re also going to publish one of the worst gigs every day, with online exclusives, so feast your eyes on this, and be glad you weren’t there!
*****
8 | BLUR
Brixton Academy, London, April 1992
DAVID STUBBS By 1992, Blur looked like yesterday’s pop chancers. Their initial burst of hits had dried up, there were rumours their label wanted to drop them, and they were barely, drunkenly, hanging in there. It was perhaps unwise of them to join the Rollercoaster tour, which pitted them alongside Dinosaur Jr, who had impacted like a hurricane with “Freak Scene”, the ever-cool Jesus & Mary Chain and
My Bloody Valentine, who were raising the barrier for sheer white rock noise way out of sight. Indeed, when they stepped onstage at the Brixton Academy in early 1992, following a typically obliterating set by MBV, Blur must have scratched their chins a bit doubtfully, the way The Monkees did back in 1967 when they followed The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
They would have been right to quail. They’d attempted to add a bit of punk to their sound but this only made them seem still more pitifully opportunistic. From Damon Albarn’s dreadful, grandma-knitted jumper, to a slideshow that included a goldfish on a gas ring, everything about their set seemed designed to distract from the wretched musical quandary in which they found themselves.
And then, Damon pulled his trousers and pants down. He is apt to do this, rumour has it, in moments of high emotion. He bounded gamely around the stage, but even this bold gesture did not save the night. Rather, it confirmed the impression that the band were having a collective nervous breakdown. Thankfully, Britpop lay just around the corner.
*****
plus WERE YOU THERE?
Not even UNCUTs war-weary gig-hounds have been to every show in history – but you lot probably have.
Email Allan_Jones@ipcmedia.com to share your memories, of the ones we’ve published or any which we have missed, and we’ll publish the best in a future issue