My Top 6…biggest gigs

I tend not to go to big, outdoor gigs anymore. I'd much rather be in a small sweaty dive than in a field so most of my big gigs are a little embarrassing...these are possibly not the biggest gigs I ever went to but are the big gigs that I remember...

• Queen - Wembley Stadium - 1983
  
  I was never a Queen fan and was dragged along to this because a couple of mates were fans of support act Status Quo (who, because of that, I've seen far too many times for my liking). Quo were awful, hampered by crap sound and being a second-rate pub band on a huge stage. Queen however were sensational, I still don't really like them but for pure "show" I'm not sure there's too many who could match them (or Freddie Mercury anyway - I think they really were a one man band which sort of makes the fact that they still tour a bit of a laugh)
• Monsters of Rock - Castle Donnington - 1983
  
  Not entirely sure why we went to this, maybe because of ZZ Top. Whitesnake were (I think) headlining. Meat Loaf and maybe Nazareth were also on the bill as well I think. ZZ Top were good fun but played a really short set and everything else is long since forgotten. I remember lying on the floor sleeping during the headline act.
• Reading Festival - Reading - 1989
  
  I remember going to this wearing a Jason Donovan T-Shirt - which seemed like a really funny idea at the time (a friend was wearing a Kylie Minogue T-Shirt). We only went for one day, The Pogues were great, Les Négresses Vertes were also good, can't remember much else to be honest.
• Motörhead + Ozzy Osbourne - Port Vale - 1981
  
  This was my first great excursion. Two of us got a scarily early bus from Victoria to get there early enough. There weren't enough toilets or bars. Motorhead were always great live, Ozzy was fantastic, this show turned me, briefly into a fan. A woman fell asleep on me on the coach home and drooled on my shoulder.
• The Cult In The Park - Finsbury Park - 1992
  
  Ken gave me a freebie to this so I went along on my own - saw a stack of great bands, Mercury Rev, PJ Harvey, Stereolab, Miracle Legion - I stayed for a bit of The Cult's big finale but then got bored and went home.
• Pixies - Crystal Palace Bowl - 1991
  
  Another gig on my own (poor old Billy-no mates). This was the last time I saw Pixies, they were great...the slightly other-worldly Crystal Palace Bowl sort of suited the sci-fi thing that the band had going on at the time. Ride were a good support.