This was a very cool small show from the Sabs. Theres a boot video of the show, as well as a boot CD from radio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzCDG7C1_2Q
Black Sabbath, Breed 77, Astoria, London 5-12-99
Category: Gigs
The Mission, All About Eve, Crazyhead , @ Rock City, Nottingham 24-11-99
The ’80s revisited ! 🙂
Skunk Anansie, Muse, @ Rock City,Nottingham 21-10-99
The rubbish photo was took by me whilst on stage! Every so often on this tour, towards the end of the show, if Cass started playing a certain bass riff, it was a signal to get the audience up on stage! Obviously,being on front row, i had to do it. It’s rubbish photo as i was more interested in jumping around onstage with Da Skunks (plus, i was using film camera & never really took photos back in the day)
Skunk Anansie, Muse, @ Brixton Academy, London,19-10-99
Skunk Anansie, Muse, @ Civic Hall ,Wolverhampton, 14-10-99
Cass, true to his word, put me on the guest list for the show.
Skunk Anansie, Muse, @ Manchester Academy, 11-10-99
Got there early & hung with a few others outside. I showed Ace some photos from previous gig. When Cass arrived, he invited us all into the sound check. Not only that, he also said if anyone’s going to other shows & hasn’t got tickets (except for London) give him their details & he will put you on guest list ! How cool was that? 
After the sound check, security kicked everyone out of the venue, so there was a big queue to join. Well, how’s the phrase? “Have your cake & eat it”. I didn’t wanna be at the back, it had to be front row. This is where the ever wonderful skin comes in 😉 I wandered round the back of the venue & happened to see skin coming off the bus. She was struggling with the door or something & had a laptop in her hand. “Hold this for me please”. I obliged & explained how after soundcheck we were sent out etc. She said she’d sort something out for us. The promoter or venue manager (?) came out & told us to wait at side door. Once the main doors are opened, the side door will be opened at same time & thus we would get front row ! Result 🙂 The ironic thing was the crowd was VERY rough. So much so, that my mate Ian (who’d also been following the tour) bailed over the barrier. Must confess, this was probably the closest i’ve been to bailing due to the roughness…but i didn’t….i’m hard core when it comes to Skunk Anansie 😉
Skunk Anansie, Muse, @ Corn Exchange,Cambridge 9-10-99
An interesting observation i made at this gig : “Muse are class! I reckon they’ll be huge!”. Sure enough, jump forward a few years & they’re headlining stadiums/arenas 😉
Skunk Anansie, @ The Waterfront, Norwich 2-10-99
The previous night they also played a “student only” gig here. Couldnt get tickets for it though 🙁 Today, i met an online friend,Heather & we hung around to meet the band before the gig. What a cool bunch of peeps they are! Had a good old chat with Mark about the Little Angels days etc. Mark put Heather on the guest list…she hadn’t planned on seeing the gig, she’d just come to meet me….i’m sure if i’d met them the previous day i could have got in !! Got autographs,took some photos & had a good chat. It was my first time meeting Skunks,but, i automatically felt an instant connection to them. Great down to earth people.
Guano Apes, @ The Borderline, London 23-9-99
Ok, this was a BIG deal for me. I’d been wanting to see these live ever since catching them on satellite tv back in ’97. They just never played the UK though:-( Well, I
I planned to go see them in Utrecht ,but then they announced a London gig. No contest; London it is. If anyone would have told me how this gig would effect my future gig going, I wouldn’t have believed them. Never in my wildest dreams, could i have prepared myself for the unexpected fun all thanks to my (soon to be) buddy, Henning. I got there early & had took CDs hoping to get them signed. Well, I managed everyone except for Sandra. I told Henning & he said “Go in after her”. I went in with the rest of the band. Got autographs & some nice photos with Sandra & Henning. 
I told Henning about being a fan for years & that I had seen live broadcasts via satellite tv & that I’d collected a bunch of live audio recordings as well. He seemed impressed. In fact, there were some that he didn’t have, so, he asked me to send him copies…yes, he gave me his private address 😉 The band & crew were going to find a nearby bar & I was invited to join them. What? Seriously? For sure I’ll join. 
The gig was just great. I’d earlier told Henning that “Innocent Greed” was my favourite song (coincidentally, also his at the time) & before they played it, he dedicated it to me 🙂 So, I guess you now think I’m the luckiest SOB out there (& someone may be wildly jealous). I’d agree, I am/was. But as “someone” once said to me, “sometimes you get a feeling that a person is genuine…” 
And this started my amazing Guano Apes “journey”.
P.S. I’ll never forget how a couple of times Henning told me his memory of arriving at the Borderline & seeing a guy in a Rock am Ring shirt, thinking it was a German tourist 😉
ALL the photos from the day are here..
EDIT 24-9-15 : Yesterday was the anniversary of me seeing my first Guano Apes gig in London, back in 1999. The band posted a link on their Facebook page to this entry of my blog! Thank you GA 🙂 
If you have got here via that link, firstly, thank YOU for checking it out. Please take a look around my blog for other entries from where I’ve seen Guano Apes (& many other bands) & feel free to comment. If you put Guano apes in the search on the left, it will list all the GA shows I’ve seen around the UK/Europe (over 50 shows) including my first time in Amsterdam, where they filmed the live DVD, travelling on their tour bus in 2000 & being interviewed for a tv documentary!, managing to meet Dave Grohl at a German festival, following every date of the “final” tour in 2005. The reunion shows at Portugal & then Sofia, Bulgaria in 2009 (Sofia was THE BEST ever) & of course stories of meeting my old friends I’d met on the road along the way back in the day. I’ve said it before, but will again ; thank you Guano Apes for accepting me into the family & giving me so many unique moments on tour. You rock guys ! Here are a couple of direct links to some of the other shows :
17-4-00 Paradiso, Amsterdam no hotel, no sleep haha
Melanie C, @ The Leadmill, Sheffield 19-8-99
Yes, you read that correct. Melanie C as in from the Spice Girls ! I met Claire & Mel (Garbage travelling friends) for this one. Obviously, we got front row. Was quite funny when we saw the other Spice Girls turn up later on. The show? Well, not really great tbh. Her cover of the Sex Pistols “Anarchy In The UK” was just plain embarrassing.