Well after moving from Essex to the West Midlands who should come and play just around the corner
Used to follow the Army around a lot in the late 80’s early 90’s. Attended some of what I consider to be the iconic gigs of that time. Raw Melody Men London; Great Cornard Village Hall; some great gigs at the Town & Country Club; Nottingham Rock City with Joolz/NMA as support doing Hex and the recording for Thames TV. Also some of the first Red Sky gigs and many more
Most vivid memory or me was sitting around talking and catching up until we heard the intro music - Dam Busters was a favorite - and then march off down to the front and secure OUR space. Hearing and feeling the clogs moving though the crowd at Bilston really brought that back to me.
Was never lucky enough to get enough time off work to warrant a season ticket (do they still do those?) and gutted that I didn’t get my act together to see any of the Anniversary shows.
Must confess to preferring the older stuff still - which is why Bilston was such a fantastic gig! A real trip down memory lane. And great to see that the band had lost none of their passion.
Not sure why I stopped going to the gigs, I guess these things just happen. I remember not understanding the logic behind them playing at The Bulldog Bash which was run by the Hell Angels and didn't seem to fit with their drugs/racial stance. Saw them once after that and the atmosphere just didn't feel right. A lot of the old faces were missing and the following didn't seem as ‘structured’ as it used to be. Hard to explain really, not sure if it was a rough patch or just me! The atmosphere at Bilston was much more ‘how it used to be’
Real bummer about the van being broken into. Keeping my ears and eyes open up here.
Going to have to make the effort and get to a few more gigs I think
Cheers for reading
Simon
