nobby

“I was in chippy in Rusholme (obviously a long time ago) and me and my girlfriend had been to a pub- might have been the Whitworth, maybe the Lord Clarence- and Greasy Bear played that gig, wherever it was- and in front of me in the chippy queue was the unmistakeable Bruce Mitchell. I asked him to sign my bag of chips and he said "Piss off." I will never forget it unfortunately.”

“I saw two of the bands on the flyer, at Stoneground, in 1972 or early '73, AWB played there as one of their first gigs after a tour of the USA and were absolutely electric (yes I know, later bloated and bland to the max, but this was when they were young and had BALLS) and Commander Cody and the LPA were v. stoned and CC said he felt right at home. I also recall my feet sticking to the carpet and the truly awful upstairs bog.”

“this place sort of paralled my life- I used to hang out in the bowling alley as a scooter rider- trying to be a Mod but I did get a couple of girlfriends and made some lifelong mates, and slightly later attended some epic gigs, like Thin Lizzy (loudest I've ever heard, I was deaf for several hours,and I went to Led Zep at UMIST in a totally wooden room- floor, walls, ceiling, and they were not as loud as TL, ) Hardrock had some kind of overhead PA, which when me and my bro saw Traffic with the Muscles Shoals Rhythm Section (Barry Beckett et al) was used to great effect, however the late Chris Woods was off his trolley and at one point fell off stage. Then again me and bro saw early Roxy Music, with Eno doing his stuff, memorable! But this all leads me to one of the best gigs I have ever been to in my miserable life, BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS! Support band was Third World! When Bob came on the place exploded, and I have to say, never been beaten even by BB King or anyone else.”

“First memory of Stoneground is the carpet- your feet made this velcro sound when you walked across it. Then the bogs- upstairs along a balcony?? I loved it, a proper rock club. I saw Golden Earring there, the first quadrophonic sound system I ever heard, Average White Band who were terrific, not like when I saw them at the Apollo- dreadful- and Kevin Ayers, who went offstage halfway through to throw up in the wings! Also saw a band called Home, whose 1st LP I bought with my own good money, good rock band- and they were shit. Broke up shortly afterwards.”

“Me and the Plaza have a history... in the late 60's (I kid you not) me and my buddies/workmates were regular consumers of the famed biryani, and used to buy our quid deals- remember them- from a waiter called Mani who put them under the plate as said delicacy was served. Was also popular with the Irish, I remember once observing a sausage-fingered son of toil face down IN his bacon and cabbage. Mid-70's, took my then girlfriend, later ex-wife, for one of the fabled biryanis. As we finished our vast mound of rice and chicken, an Irish patron helped hisself from a passing waiter bearing trays of the B. Cue huge fracas, waiters wielding gross kitchen utensils rushing into dining area, tables over, blood, teeth and snot everywhere, me and herself legged it without paying! Later they were prosecuted for having Alsatians in the meat cupboard. Just remembered- I had THE WORST food poisoning ever (worse than Turkey and that was bad) in 1972, every orifice in my body leaked immensely including my ears, and that was after a Plaza biryani. Strangely my fellow diners were all fine but I was so bad I had to go stay with my parents, that's how ill I was.”

“I was there, went wearing blue suede chelsea boots and came home wearing brown clay clogs. Yes it pissed down every day, but I got to see the Grateful Dead playing Dark Star, and NRPS, the captain and some nob called Tom Mcmaster who got booed off at like 3 in the morning, and when i got back to our tent some wretch had nicked all our food and remaining beer, this on top of, as we approached the site, on the one-track lane, Plod were searching eveyone and my mate hid our big bag of weed in the air filter above the carb. passed scrutiny but as soon as the engine was fired up, said valued content was sucked into carburettor and have you ever tasted petrol-flavoured Durban Poison?”

“I saw Led Zeppelin at UMIST in '69, in a room that was small and entirely wood-- floor, walls and ceiling. I was deaf for about an hour after the gig finished, and the acoustics were dreadful, but it was BRILLIANT!”

“I was at the Golden Earring gig at Stoneground and they had the first quadraphonic P.A. I ever heard, with the lead guitar going right round the room. Also my feet sticking to the carpet as I walked from the bar back to my seat! Saw Average White Band in '73 after their tour of the States- they were dynamic, so intense, like throwing a match into a bag of ripraps (remember them?), saw them 4 or 5 years later at the Apollo and they were shite, wearing white suits and a look of boredom. Their support band was the excellent Inner Circle who made AWB look very ordinary. Saw Kevin Ayersat Stoneground as well, he ran off stage past me and threw up in the bog then went straight back on stage and carried on. My mate Dave said the club's name reminded him of an 8th.Day loaf!”

“I used to go to the Oasis '66/'67, it was alcohol-free as I recall, and there was a drag racer in the coffee bar! I saw lots of bands there, most famously the Young Rascals, Steam Packet (Baldry, R. Stewart, B. Auger), and not so famously Rockin' Vicars, Measles, Frankenstein and the Monsters (?). Dancing to Prince Buster and Motown but also lots of rubbish pop. Place got burned down by some nutter I went to school with and who ended up in Stangeways.”

“I wuz there! Well sort of. Me and a few scruffy mates heard about this thing that was going on down the road from us, at the disused Wilbraham Road station on Alexander Road South. We pedalled our choppers and home-made clunkers down to the road bridge over the railway, and propped our bikes against the brickwork and stood on the crossbar to look over the parapet. We looked down onto the "Chorltonville" station, all done up like a western station, and watched Sister Rosetta Tharp do some Gospelly stuff. As it was getting dark and I was only 11, I had to leave, but however briefly, I wuz there!”