This was a mad one. I just had to go down into that mental crowd. My mate Winnie, who went with me said ” When you went in, it was like you were parting the seas as you plowed through the crowd!” (Or words to that effect)
I ended up going to this one as my mate Andy was having problems with his girlfriend, so, he offered me the ticket. At the time, i was in a pretty bad place personally, so i was really undecided. But in the end it was a case of “lets stick together when these women are fucking up our lives!”. If i’m honest, at the time i didn’t really enjoy the show. However, some years later i found a bootleg CD of the show that was recorded from the soundboard & i’m enjoying the gig now…just about 15 years later lol
I don’t want to sound over dramatic,but, the importance of this gig to me is pretty much immeasurable. For the last 6 months, since my wife had cheated on me , i hadn’t seen a single gig. I was in a very dark place & things were getting worse daily. I was a bloody mess (not that i let anyone really see it) suffering silently with depression & having the strangest of thoughts. I had totally lost direction in my life. How could the woman i loved do that shit? I was at the end of my tether & wondered whats the point in carrying on? (That is so NOT like me) But then, something just clicked. My friends were going to see Skunk Anansie & i decided wanted to go. I remembered seeing their videos the last couple of years & thinking how i should have gone to see them, but didn’t because of… well, you get it. This was my first step of “She aint worth it”. Pull yourself together. So, lets give it a go & see what happens. Well, i enjoyed the support acts,but, Skunk were just bloody amazing. I thought they were the best live band i’d ever seen. Honestly, this gig turned my life around back to being positive. I got my enthusiasm back for gigs because of this gig. It was still going to be a long journey for me back to normality, but, Skunk Anansie, thank you for “saving me” 🙂
I don’t remember much about this one & it’s hardly surprising really. My personal life was in turmoil. Since my dads passing at the end of ’93, my world was falling apart. I got ill with colitis,which is stress related. At the worst i was just shitting myself away with no control of my bowels & often blood was involved. There was extra stress at work as i could see the place was going down hill ,partly due to the new “manager”. My wife wasn’t supporting me, she was just getting further away at i time i really needed her support. They were dark days. When i was diagnosed with colitis, someone said to me “You must be pleased to know it’s not bowel cancer”. Strange as it sounds, i hadn’t even considered that to be a possibility. I always thought i was indestructible, but things were proving me wrong.I was wasting away & losing the fight. I knew there were problems with the wife, but, when she wont talk about it, it’s hard to try put things right. I’ll also admit it wasn’t one sided, i had made mistakes. But, it was becoming too much of a struggle for me to get through the days as i was so weak (physically & mentally), so i needed to try look after myself more, or i wouldn’t make it through. So the Metallica show….All i remember is i met my old friend Andy there as at the time he was living in Lincoln (he’s since moved back to Boston). I said to him something like “It’s really falling apart with me & Jack. I think we’ll end up splitting up”. Little did i know that that night, whilst i was out, she would be fucking an absolute slime ball…i’d find out the following day. I still think it was partly because she didn’t have the guts to talk or even finish things between us. An easy cop out & she could blame someone else. For me, the most important thing in any relationship is honesty. If there’s a problem, talk about it & try work things out or call it quits. As much as i was furious,disappointed, betrayed, i said lets try work through this. (Yeah, i know, a stupid thought from me, but …) Damn it’s hard reliving this era of my life. Even now it ties my guts in knots. But i will say, there was one redeeming thing about this shit from her, she did eventually realise what she did was scummy & was perfectly “fair” with our divorce. No silly demands & just wanted a large cash settlement. Ironically, i had secretly set up a P.E.P. The plan was to surprise her with a trip to Australia to see her cousin. She cleared me out of all my money & then some. At least she didn’t put up a fight. I think that’s also because she knew i would not give in easy & we’d have both ended up with nothing.
So this show is one i’d like to forget & yet i will never be able too due to events around it. Jump forward to 2015 & i’m in such a good place now. The happiest i’ve ever been maybe. I’m surrounded by great friends, both local & abroad. Sure, there are times i wish there was that one special person in my life,but, i don’t think i can ever trust anyone again…
As much as i was looking forward to this show, it was a bit of a disappointment. Why? I thought their sound was atrocious. Normally, i would have gone to see them at Rock City, but, i was going through my “I hate Rock City” stage (yeah, i know, stupid of me). As it was, a mate went to R.C. & he also thought the sound sucked. Well, despite the crappy sound, i still really enjoyed finally seeing Garbage live.
This was a really great show. Tori was brilliant.
I think for this one both Johhny Mac & my missus (at the time-horrible cheater) went to this one.
Blimey ! Getting to see Maiden at Rock City was something i’d always dreamed of happening. But what a shame it was at their lowest point in their career & what i refer to as the “fake Maiden”. Of course, this was when they had Blaze on vocals. For myself, he just couldn’t cut it. But as it was “Maiden” playing R.C. i just had to go.
Well this was a bit of a bad joke. Via the Metallica fan club, i’d got meet n greets. A local friend was meant to go, but dropped out. So my girlfriend went instead. Big mistake! We waited around for hours only to see James & Jason. We missed most of the bands! The missus was in one of her moods & she wanted to leave. So we did.Only saw about 30mins of Tallica i think…
