The (pre) Christmas concerts - when did this tradition start?

[Stephanie]

In light of the upcoming Cologne gig tomorrow I have been thinking about how many pre-Christmas shows we may have been to - and I can't really remember.

The ones in Cologne have been at the Palladium for many years now, before that, they were always at the E-Werk, which is opposite the Palladium. I also remember tons of NMA shows at what was then the Philipshalle in Düsseldorf - but am not really sure if we already had the Christmas shows back then...or when it all moved to Cologne.

Also, the shows in Amsterdam and Nottingham - did they all start at the same time?

To me, it seems that there have ALWAYS been Christmas shows - hey, it had gotten to the point where I was sure that, should these shows not take place one year, Christmas wouldn't be happening.  Well, we now know that this is not the case, but still...

Does anyone really remember?

Looking foward to tomorrow - everyone going to any of the shows, have tons of fun and...happy holidays everyone 

[cthulhu]

I just wanted to reply that there must be somewhere a catalogue out there to search all the gig history...and then i found this:

https://www.concertarchives.org/bands/new-model-army?date=past&page=106#concert-table

Haven't scrolled through it all but i remember seeing them i think in Düsseldorf with Fields of the Nephilim and i also don't know when i went the first time to cologne. But maybe this list will bring back some memorys..

And i think someone here also made kind of an archive website, but i can't remember if that's true

Found my first NMA concert: Apr 16, 1990 WDR Rocknacht - also with Soundgarden, Dubrovniks and The Godfathers...what a night!!

[Stephanie]

Oooh, that page is super interesting!!! Thanks!

If it is indeed complete, my first NMA gig was later than I thought, March 1989 at the Zeche in Bochum. Then there was a Christmas show in Düsseldorf in 1990, but it seems they only started to become regular at the Palladium as of 2001. 🤔
I could have sworn there were Christmas shows at the EWerk as well…but maybe not. 

So…not much longer till tonight‘s gig then…Wooohooo! 

[Karsten]

There were shows at the Philipshalle before, but the first x-mas show there was on 21 Dec 1991 (as it was printed on the ticket, also my first Army gig) with a run of a few gigs in England the previous days. But I guess the real beginning of the tradition was the 20th anniversary shows in London/Cologne 2000.

[Master Ray]

I raised this point earlier this year and Shush informed me that the Nottingham gigs started in 2012.  This seems to tie up with my memories, I think I've been to every one... although me old memory ain't what it used to be!   

[Guillaume]

I went to four NMA pre Christmas shows in Paris in 2008 (Elysée Montmartre), 2012 (Trabendo), 2013 (Divan du Monde), and 2018 (Trabendo).

my first NMA gig was later than I thought, March 1989 at the Zeche in Bochum.

The first time I saw NMA was in April 1995, 30 years ago, in my hometown of Evreux, at the now-defunct "Rock Dans Tous Ses Etats" festival where NMA was the closing act. At the time, I didn't have any money, so I stayed outside the venue for 15-20 minutes (the band was actually playing under a big tent), and I still managed to hear the beginning of their set!  I remember seeing Robert Heaton enter the tent in the distance at night, and a minute later, "Here Comes the War" was starting the setlist! Memories...

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/new-model-army/1995/hippodrome-devreux-navarre-evreux-france-5bc72b60.html