Ever since my first concert at the Hammersmith Odeon, I have loved a live concert. Every time I look at the price of big concert tickets I think, “how much?” but then I go and think, “why don’t I do this more often?” For every concert there is a memory that will last forever, a time and space that will never be repeated.
And so have started to list all of the concerts I have ever been to. It’s a still incomplete list but I wanted to share it as a living record to some of the great shows I have seen.
Compared to some I have seen loads of concerts (over 60) but a lot fewer than others.
Concert Highlights from 2024
This year turned out to be pretty big for concerts, with two major acts announce ‘snap’ tours that we didn’t expect this time last year.
The year started strong with a trip to see Eric Clapton at the Newcastle Arena. It was a first proper visit to Newcastle and to the arena which was just a few minutes walk from the hotel. EC was in top form, opening with a recent track called ‘Blue Dust’ that he’d composed for his late friend Jeff Beck, before delivering a mixed set of ‘old’ tracks and vintage classics. Tracks like ‘Back Home‘ from 2005 which just one example of a stripped down track that sounded wonderful up North.
In the summer I had two firsts, the first time seeing Sting live and first time seeing a ‘Forest Live’ concert up on the edge of Norfolk in Thetford Forest. We were blessed with a hit dry night to enjoy mr Sumner deliver a set almost single handedly, just him and two other musicians, sharing vintage Police classics with solo tracks like ‘Mad About You’ from the ‘Soul Cages’ album.
The autumn has been busy. Two visits to see David Gilmour at the Royal Albert Hall (Lucky me!) playing tracks from ‘Luck and Strange’, his fantastic new album.
A more intimate show with Steve Hackett performing solo tracks and highlights from ‘The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’ at the Cambridge Corn Exchange.
We were also lucky to get tickets for London Grammar‘s brief UK tour, catching the last night of the tour at London’s O2. This was a wonderful show with the band of three truly filling the arena with wonderful sounds and Hannah Reid’s incredible voice.
I’ve been taking plenty of concert photos in my ongoing quest to capture the memories and spirits of these evenings, but mindful of the growing debate. Should I be taking pictures at concerts?
Concert Highlights from 2023
The first half of 2023 has been pretty good for concerts. I loved Inhaler at the UEA LCR, said goodbye to Panic! at the Disco, and maybe the last Roger Waters tour before a weekend double header of Depeche Mode and Peter Gabriel.
Roger Waters arrived in the UK with a lot of bad press for his politics and performance. In typical Roger style he tackled it head on and did not mince his words. The music and performance however was fantastic. The concert was very cinematic shining to all the corners of the fabulous Birmingham venue. I took quite a few videos of the night, which you can find my YouTube Channel, but here are two of my faves.
The weekend double header of concerts were equally different and brilliant. My second ever concert at Twickenham (the first was the U2 Vertigo tour) was great to hear so much of Violator, live.
Peter Gabriel at the O2 was a revelation. I had looked at the set list and was a little nervous there weren’t too many hits. However, the opening set consisted of his new songs from the I/O Input Output project (not an album yet.) For each track Peter introduced the song and his thoughts behind the music and lyrics. For each song there was dedicated artwork by renowned, and emerging artists who again got name checked and referenced. These new tracks were fabulous and have been played on repeat since I came home. The latter part of the concert included many of the big tracks from So, including Sledgehammer, Big Time and Don’t Give Up. In Your eyes, and Solsbury Hill were also played to my delight. But it was the finale that sealed it for me. An impassioned performance of Biko with striking visuals left the whole arena singing just one word. Biko. A triumph from Mr Garbriel.
My First Concert
The first ever concert I went to was Marillion at the Hammersmith Odeon, for the Clutching at Straws Tour in 1987. The support was Jadus, a band i’d not heard of before, or since. I was too young to realise the chap who slept through the entire, next to us, may not have been simply tired! The wonderful cover art here was designed by Mark Wilkinson.
My first proper stadium gig was Pink Floyd’s Momentary Lapse of Reason at Wembley Stadium in 1989. The tour was the first without founding member Roger Waters, who had left the band in 1985. David Gilmour took over as the band’s creative leader, and he, along with Nick Mason and keyboardist Richard Wright, were joined by several session musicians to fill out the live sound. The light show, the videos and the rock were on a scale I’d never seen before.
The Best Concert?
It is hard to pick just one concert as ‘the best’. Different concerts tick different boxes. Certainly the most memorable has to be Desert Trip in 2016. Three nights, two concerts every night. Watching Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, The Who, Paul McCartney and Roger Waters perform at the Empire Polo Ground (Coachella location) has to be up there.
So too does watching Supertamp’s Roger Hodgson performing as the sun set in Nice; enjoying the music then wandering home along the Promenade Des Anglais to sleep at Hotel Negresco. All of those concerts were with my girls which always adds to the experience.
The first Rolling Stones gig at Wembley Stadium was pretty incredible. Zoo TV, also at Wembley Stadium was something I will never forget.
But I can’t rule out Roger Waters, The Wall in Berlin. I booked a ticket as soon as they came on sale but didn’t collect it until I was there for the event. As I entered the Olympiastadion, the guides had to help me translate the ticket and point me to … the front row. So, Roger Waters performing the Wall in Berlin’s Olympiastadion also has to be up there.
Coldplay in 2022 was pretty special. The British weather can make or break open air gigs but Wembley Stadium on one of the hottest days of the year was incredible.
And we haven’t even mentioned Kate Bush performing for the first time in 20+ years!
Which band have I seen the most?
I’ve seen U2 the most, all in the UK. If they tour again, I’d like to see them in a European city, for a change, or hop across to their rumoured Las Vegas residency…
All the Concerts, so far!
| Artist | Tour | Concert Location |
| Belinda Carlisle | Runaway Horses | Wembley Arena, London |
| Belinda Carlisle | Runaway Horses | The UEA, Norwich |
| Billy Joel | . | Wembley Arena, London |
| Bob Dylan | Desert Trip | Empire Polo Ground, Indo California |
| Cyndi Lauper | Twelve Deadly Cyns | The Usher Hall, Edinburgh |
| David Gilmour | Luck and Strange | The Royal Albert Hall |
| David Gilmour | Luck and Strange | The Royal Albert Hall |
| Duran Duran | Castle Howard, Yorkshire | |
| Depeche Mode | Momento Mori | Twickenham, London |
| Elbow | The Seldon Seen Kid | Wembley Arena, London |
| Elbow | Build a Rocket Boys | The O2, London |
| Elton John | Peachtree Road | Ipswich Town, Ipswich |
| Elton John | Goodbye Yellow Brick Road | Carrow Road, Norwich |
| Eric Clapton | . | The Royal Albert Hall, London |
| Eric Clapton | Summer 2024 | Utilita Arena, Newcastle |
| Fish | Clutching at Straws 30th Anniversary | Cambridge Corn Exchange |
| Fish | Weltschmerz | UEA, Norwich |
| Gary Numan | (R)evolution 40th anniversary tour | The UEA, Norwich |
| Peter Gabriel | I/O | The O2, London |
| Genesis | We Can’t Dance | Knebworth, England |
| Gorillaz | Humanz | The O2, London |
| Inhaler | Cuts & Bruises | LCR, UEA – Norwich |
| Kate Bush | The Ninth Wave | Hammersmith Odeon, London |
| Level 42 | Sirens II | The Regent, Ipswich |
| London Grammar | The Greatest Love | The O2, London |
| Lucius | Nudes | Union Chapel, London |
| Madness | Madstock | Finsbury Park, London |
| Madonna | Blonde Ambition | Wembley Arena, London |
| Marillion | Clutching At Straws | Hammersmith Odeon, London |
| Marillion | Holidays in Eden | Cambridge Corn Exchange |
| Marillion | Holidays in Eden | Wembley Arena |
| Marillion | Sounds that can’t be made | Cambridge Junction |
| Lauren Mayberry | Vicious Creature | The O2, London |
| Midnight Oil | Brixton Academy, London | |
| Neil Young | Desert Trip | Empire Polo Ground, Indo California |
| Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets | . | The Roundhouse, London |
| Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets | . | Cambridge Corn Exchange |
| OMD | English Electric | The Regent, Ipswich |
| OMD | The Punishment of Luxury | The Regent, Ipswich |
| Panic! At the Disco | Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die | The Forum, Kentish Town, London |
| Panic! At the Disco | The Death of a Bachelor | Alexandra Palace, London |
| Panic! At the Disco | Pray for the Wicked | Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff |
| Panic! At the Disco | Viva Las Vengeance | The O2, London |
| Paul McCartney | Desert Trip | Empire Polo Ground, Indo California |
| Pavarotti | Hyde Park | Hyde Park, London |
| Pink Floyd | A Momentary Lapse of Reason | Wembley Stadium, London |
| Pink Floyd | Division Bell | Earls Court, London |
| Prince | Nude (1990) | Wembley Arena, London |
| R.E.M. | Monster | Murrayfield, Edinburgh |
| R.E.M. | Once Around the Sun | Ipswich Town, Ipswich |
| Rod Stewart | 1995 | Wembley Stadium |
| Roger Hodgson | Crazy Week | Nice |
| Roger Waters | Hyde Park Calling | Hyde Park, London |
| Roger Waters | The Wall | The O2, London |
| Roger Waters | The Wall | The O2, London |
| Roger Waters | The Wall | Olympiastadion, Berlin |
| Roger Waters | Desert Trip | Coachella, Desert Springs |
| Roger Waters | This is not a Drill | Utilita Arena, Birmingham |
| Sheryl Crow | Home | Shepherds Bush Empire, London |
| Simple Minds | Street Fighting Years | Wembley Arena, London |
| Simple Minds | Crazy Week | Nice |
| Simply Red | Stars | Wembley Stadium, London |
| Soul II Soul | Apex Bury St. Edmunds | |
| Steely Dan | . | Wembley Arena, London |
| Steve Hackett | ||
| Steve Hackett | Genesis Hits | Cambridge Corn Exchange |
| Steve Hackett | Foxtrot at Fifty | Ipswich Regent |
| Steve Hackett | Lamb Highlights | Cambridge Corn Exchange |
| Steve Winwood | Live the Life | Cambridge Corn Exchange |
| Sting | Sting 3.0 | Thetford Forest |
| Tears for Fears | Rule the World | The O2, London |
| The Cure | Wish | Cambridge Corn Exchange |
| The Manfredds | Making Tracks | Spa Pavillion, Felixstowe |
| The Rolling Stones | Urban Jungle | Wembley Stadium, London |
| The Rolling Stones | Urban Jungle | Wembley Stadium, London |
| The Rolling Stones | Desert Trip | Coachella, Desert Springs |
| The Who | Desert Trip | Empire Polo Ground, Indo California |
| The Who | Hyde Park Calling | Hyde Park, London |
| The Who | Quadrophenia | Wembley Arena, London |
| U2 | Zoo TV ( Achtung Baby Tour) | Wembley Stadium, London |
| U2 | Zoo TV ( Achtung Baby Tour) | Wembley Stadium, London |
| U2 | PopMart | Roundhay Park, Leeds |
| U2 | All That You Can’t Leave Behind | Earls Court, London |
| U2 | Vertigo | Twickenham, London |
| U2 | 360 | Wembley Stadium, London |
| U2 | Innocence & Experience | The O2, London |
