My favourite live show: Men At Work
Another music writing challenge set by The Riff, and it’s a significant one. Your favourite live show!
Now, given my vintage, and my passion for music, I have been to a lot of gigs. And I mean A LOT! Choosing a favourite live show is a very difficult task. Some gigs are memorable for multiple reasons, and some have a special place in my memory because of the time, place, artist, or even who I was with.
A little while back someone challenged me to list all of the bands I’d ever seen. I spent a great deal of time (perhaps too much, but hey, we were in lockdown) thinking about bands I’d seen, and methodically listing them in a spreadsheet. I got to 266, but I reckon that is a conservative estimate, particularly given the huge number of small or unknown bands that I saw in Melbourne pubs and clubs in my early 20s. So I’m going for an estimate of 300+, possibly 350. The actual number of shows would be incalculable.
I’ve seen some incredible shows, including Rage Against The Machine with The Jesus Lizard, Smashing Pumpkins playing to 800 people in a pub prior to a festival performance, Nirvana thrice, Midnight Oil at Kooyong. I’ll stop there.
Some of my most treasured musical moments include intimate or low-key sets. For example, The Moffs…
