Who did you see live in the 80s? How good were they?

[BettyUnderswoob]

Just reminiscing and getting a bit nostalgic today! I was a teenager in the 80s, and had the best time. Was recalling some of the gigs I went to. Who did you see, and were they good live?

I saw, amongst others:

Bruce Springsteen ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (6 out of 5! wasn't even a fan before!)
U2 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Cure ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Ramones ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Smiths ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Alice Cooper ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Siouxsie and the Banshees ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Iggy Pop ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tom Waits ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Iggy Pop ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tom Waits ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Simply Red ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Didn't like them, went to keep friend company... good show!)
The Pogues ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Mission⭐⭐⭐
The Cult ⭐⭐

There must be others I've forgotten!

What were your good (or bad) gigs?

U2 - Manchester Uni - they were babies but very good.
The Police - loved them but not very good live at the time. Joe Jackson as support was much better.
Genesis
Boomtown Rats
The Tourists
Chumbawamba

Rolling Stones at Wembley, omg awesome!!

INXS and The Police ❤️

@Fleamaker King! I used to fancy him!

Shawaddywaddy though

@

Oops too early!

Iron Maiden, Kiss and David Lee Roth on the same bill but I wasn't really there to see them

Intriguing! Was alcohol involved @ProfYaffle ? 😅

Oops, I understand what you mean now... you weren't there to see THEM!

Michael Jackson supported by Kris Kross
I was 8. It was a great show but judgement rather clouded by fact I thought he was god. Bawled my eyes out with love!

Prince ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Madonna ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
David Bowie ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Blondie ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Abba ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Queen⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Michael Jackson⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Whitney Houston⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Simply Red⭐⭐⭐⭐
Bruce Springsteen ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I still have the 'programmes' to many of these. And not in order. I was a BIG music fan
Duran Duran (my first concert aged 13, at Villa Park), many after
Spandau Ballet
Wham
Howard Jones
Nik Kershaw
The Thompson Twins
Tears for Fears
Yazz
King
Yazoo
Echo and the Bunneymen
David Bowie
The Cult
The Cure
Hole
Nirvana
Jesus and Mary Chain
Guns 'n' Roses
Aerosmith
Bon Jovi
Robert Palmer
The Alarm
Deacon Blue
James
OMD
INXS
Skid Row (I had actually forgotten about them until @ProfYaffle mentioned them)
Happy Mondays
Stone Roses
New Order

AND... Prince... I saw him many times. Still miss his presence

I had many musical loves in the 80s: pop, rock, indie. This has been a fun memory exercise!

Cookerhood Simon & Garfunkel at Hyde Park was mind blowing when they did their whole set without acknowledging one another!
REM at Twickenham
U2 in Dublin
Snow Patrol in Dublin and Shepherds Bush Empire
Iron Maiden in Paris
Moody Blues at the Royal Albert Hall
Elton John in Paris and Wembley
Billy Joel at Wembley
ELO at Wembley
Genesis in Paris
Seasick Steve in Paris
The Zombies in Paris
CosmosQueen all of them and in the 1960s
The Beatles and Stones at the same gig at the Royal Albert Hall.
Precious memories! Just so many fantastic gigs my memory fails me now. In most cases just fantastic music without the fancy dancing and pyrotechnics that you get now.

Earth wind and fire
ELO
Sister Sledge
Status Quo
Queen

All great.

Actually some of those may have been 1970s

Simple Minds
David Bowie
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Then Jerico
Wet Wet Wet
Simply Red
Erasure
Berlin (supporting FGTH)

Lots of others that escape me just now. I loved them all!

Bauhaus
The Ramones
Japan
Spandau Ballet
Public Image
The Ramones again

Well, the other version isn't necessarily untrue!

Paul Young ( Blancmange were the support act) - was taken by an Aunt and was pretty underwhelmed. Blancmange were exciting though.

Nik Kershaw - my first gig on my own when I was 14

Tears for Fears - brilliant

Aha - also brilliant

Spandau Ballet - ok but they were already old hat by then

Depeche Mode in 1986 - amazing

Pet Shop Boys - great but they were even better when I've saw them recently

Erasure - so much fun

Depeche were the best of the lot and I've seen them live many many times since including twice on the last tour.

I saw Blur in a pub in Windsor in the late 80s or early 90s. They were absolutely brilliant!

Dire Straits on tour when I was on a kibbutz in israel - first outdoor concert, loved it

dexys midnight runners

Temple Tudor

Soft Cell

and …..my all time favourite …..Heaven 17 😂…. Just loved them!

if we are in the late 80s then anything i will have seen would have been in Newcastle - at the mayfair or the city hall. I was 15/16 in 1989/90. I know i saw quireboys, dogs d’amour, faith no more, iron maiden, wolfsbane, Kreator. Possibly mike monroe but that might have been wishful thinking. Possibly the almighty. Not much recollection of anything else. My long term memory is shit 😂

Depeche Mode (repeatedly)
Duran Duran (repeatedly)
Gary Numan
Human League (truly truly awful, those women could NOT sing)
Bryan Adams
The Cure
The Smiths
Jesus and Mary Chain
Rick Springfield
Spandau Ballet
Prince - how could I forget, amazing live

I miss those days - I only go to concerts now if it's an artist I know I'll love. Saw Bruce Springsteen at the weekend - absolutely magic night, couldn't speak the next day for shouting!

Michael Jackson
Whitney Houston
Seal

also. I never saw Skid Row. But I loooved Sebastian. I named my Sylvanian Families cat after him 😂

Seasme Street on Ice
The Polka Dot Door Gang
Shamu @ Seaworld
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Harlem Globe Trotters

I was kid in the 80s and this was all epic.

Well, a lot of those bands were performing together at a couple of Prince's Trust concerts, so I didn't actually go to that many gigs😉. I did see a lot more bands in the 90's as well at similar festival type gigs including Knebworth '90, and the last concert at the old Wembley stadium in '97.

Don't knock Shawaddywaddy!

They were part of my yoof in the 1970s and were on the university circuit in the 1980s. I saw them live at the student union building in 1986ish (went there as a mature student) and they were brilliant.

Acker Bilk also did a turn on campus a year or so later and he was also awesome.