Concerts/gigs I've been to Part 4

There’s one more gig from 1992 I haven’t written about. Ran out of puff on the last blog! This was the second and last time I would see my all-time favourite artist, Prince. On this occasion, Dublin’s RDS Arena would be the place and Prince was promoting the ‘Diamonds and Pearls’ album, with the ‘Love (Symbol)’ album around the corner. This was the start of Prince throwing the infamous symbol about, he had a guitar shaped like it and the big excessive program I bought had it all over it. As I mentioned in a previous blog, Prince just didn’t do bad shows, even if his albums were now starting to get increasingly patchy. Not going to lie, it took me a check-in with a setlist website to remind myself of what he played. There was a substantial amount of material from the Diamonds album and a terminally long section of ballads in the middle where I can only assume piss breaks were had by all! He did come back again to play Ireland, but I didn’t venture back to see him. Obviously now I regret that decision. Still, I have it to say I did see the great man play twice.

1993 was a quiet affair on the gig front for some reason, so I’ll throw in Catherine Wheel in the Limelight here to bolster that year. A very much underrated shoegaze band, I wore the magnificent t-shirt of the ‘Chrome’ album cover until it fell apart. I’ve recently listened to some bonus track CD singles from the band. They were exceptionally good and should have been bigger than they were.

Having previously seen Nirvana, I got the chance to see another of the big Seattle grunge bands when Alice In Chains rolled into the Ulster Hall. The album ‘Dirt’ had been released to great critical and commercial acclaim and Layne Staley was still in the band albeit his health decline had already started. The band were moody and magnificent, Staley prowling the stage with wraparound shades and corn row hair pulled back. When he told the crowd he was having a bad trip they cheered loudly. Staley scolded them saying it wasn’t a good thing he was experiencing. But my memory of the show is of a band at the peak of their powers, whether Staley was feeling it or not mattered not given his surly demeanour and growling vocals. Jerry and the boys played brilliantly as they blasted through the key songs from ‘Dirt’ and ‘Facelift’.

The indie band Pavement were creating waves from some excellent coverage in the NME of their live/tour antics and ‘Slanted And Enchanted’ receiving accolades galore. They played the Limelight in 93, back when it was a tiny wee venue with a door to the side of the stage that led out to the street/tourbus. My main recollection of this show is Malkmus and company shambling onstage, fiddling about a bit, like they were doing a soundcheck, then just starting the gig with zero fanfare at all. It was effortlessly cool and just typical of how they did things. I don’t remember them ever coming back here, or I would have been at it. We didn’t know the revered status the band would eventually have but you knew there was something special about them.

Back then, I was very much guided by the NME and Melody Maker as to what music I listened to. Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley’s Evening Session also played a massive part in shaping my ears too. Along came a band with a swagger and grandeur that really appealed to me. With their singer taking sizeable direction from David Bowie, Suede had released some truly exceptional singles and I had bought their vinyl editions, they all had ridiculously good b-sides too. The night before their debut album ‘Suede’ came out, they played the Limelight. I made sure to be there and get down the front row. I was obsessed with Brett Anderson and my student card from 93 shows this with a terrible floppy haired me peaking back out of it. My Mum had knitted me this amazing Fisherman’s Rib jumper that I wore most of the time as a student. It was made out of harsh wool and there was a ribbed pattern to the stitching that acted like a corrugated surface. This was most unfortunate for the poor girl who was pressed up against me for the duration of the show. With the bare arms turned a deep shade of red, she lambasted me asking if I could have worn a softer jumper! Not sure what I replied but luckily, I didn’t get a thump for my trouble.

Against a backdrop of draped red curtains, like something out of a seedy strip-club, the band powered their way through songs from their soon to be released debut and those marvellous b-sides. Brett swayed and sashayed across the stage smacking his arse and flicking his hair while Bernard swung his guitar around and flopped his floppy hair. One of the bets gigs I’ve ever been to and when I saw an advert in the NME for a VHS recording of this very show I duly sent away for it. I had just started making music properly and had sent a demo tape to Suede’s label Nude. I remember hollering up to the band to “ASK NUDE ABOUT FUNKSMITH!”. I’m sure they did that for me as soon as they left the stage. Not. Anyway, you can see the back of my head in the video, and I’ve convinced myself I can hear the aforementioned request too. That’s all for now, 94 up next and my first all-day festival…

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