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The small gig thread, 1980s edition

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    The small gig thread, 1980s edition

    Occasioned by two recent head-scratching web searches:

    1) I wanted to check out the Imperial Cinema, Moseley, as we are returning to Birmingham for a little pre-xmas nostalgia trip. We saw several gigs there, early 80s, most notably Orange Juice and also The Fall, supported by Nico (as mentioned in a recent thread. Don't ask me which one). The only image I could find on the web was from the 1920s.
    The Birmingham Mail has a popular 'music venues' part of its site, with pics of The Barrel Organ, Digbeth Civic Hall, Barbarella's etc and comments from readers about best/worst gigs there. And not a single mention of the Imperial...

    2) The Go Betweens, who I love, have various fan sites supposedly listing where they played and when. This is sometimes called a gigography, but that's a fucking stupid word.
    Anyway, there is no mention on any of them of the gig they did at Wolverhampton Poly, mid-to-late 80s, that I was definitely at. In the Upper (Mandela) Bar.

    Anyone else wondering if their whole memory bank is a vast tissue of fabrications..?

    #2
    The small gig thread, 1980s edition

    Those gigography things are notoriously shite. They're generally put together by fans, 30 years after the fact. I saw a gig once that said Glass Tiger had supported, and that was about 12 years before they existed.

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      #3
      The small gig thread, 1980s edition

      i have never heard of the place and believe me I have been a festival attendee in Birmingham since 1974.
      Where in Moseley was the cinema?

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        #4
        The small gig thread, 1980s edition

        Not that I've ever been there, but...

        The Imperial Cinema

        I find this phenomenon frustrating as well. A few week back, I started to scan all my (surviving) ticket stubs from the gigs I went to - mostly in the 90s. However, sometimes I would look for clues about the more mysteriously anonymous pieces of paper I've kept, but be able to find precious little info about the gig in question. Personally, I'm therefore thankful for those obsessives who do keep records of certain artists' performances.

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          #5
          The small gig thread, 1980s edition

          My two favourites: gigs you think you saw, but can't find proof; and gigs you find a stub for but can't recall going to.

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            #6
            The small gig thread, 1980s edition

            A selection of Lost Gigs from the early 80s.  I went to loads, these are memorable either because they were good, or the band subsequently became huge.

            ABC at the Barracuda in Baker St
            Haircut 100 at some pub in Southgate
            Rip Rig and Panic at Dial 9 for Dolphins in Mayfair

            I got stopped by the police on the way home from the latter, on suspicion of soliciting, and had to repeat the details to an incredulous (and horrible) policeman.  Andi Oliver sang with them that night but doesn't remember the gig.

            Pigbag somewhere or other.  Shillelagh Sisters in Bournemouth, God knows where. Divine at Heaven.

            Later in 80s, 87-88: Stone Roses at a pub in Islington and one in Finsbury Park, (as well as Brunel and Ally Pally, which are well documented).

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              #7
              The small gig thread, 1980s edition

              ABC played a free gig one Monday night in 1981 at Penny's in Sheffield. I was there.

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                #8
                The small gig thread, 1980s edition

                Slightly off topic, but I went to see The Fall at Sunderland Poly around 1990 with a couple of mates. The sister of one of them drove, and she went off out with her mate who was a stude there. We slept on the friend's bedroom floor.

                A couple of weeks ago I was having a vape outside work, chatting to a woman from down the other end of the office and it turns out she's the sister.

                Not as good as my mate's Incantations story, but still.

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                  #9
                  The small gig thread, 1980s edition

                  Wearmouth Hall, Sund Poly, sans2boro?

                  I used to work next door. And occasionally lectured IN it.

                  Imperial: That was the only link I found, evilC

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