Ray's Gigs

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Best Gigs of 1997

At the start of the year I won a contest in Q Music Mag about who had been to the most concerts. They did a 2 page article on my love of live music which led to me getting a part time job reviewing concerts in the London area for my local paper. Mainly it was shows at Shepherds Bush Empire, Hammersmith Apollo, Earls Court Arena etc. I did a couple of reviews a month on shows I was going to go to anyway and it was handy to be on the guest list as some shows were well sold out like David Bowie, Paul Weller, U2, Oasis etc. This lasted for about 4 years altogether. Highlights of the shows I saw this year were the return of KISS and Aerosmith which also included a few days in Europe to see KISS in Belgium then driving down to Paris to see Aerosmith. To see your fave bands outside of the UK is something I'd really love to do more. David Bowie was superb at a small venue like The Shepherds Bush Empire. U2 brought their huge tv screen and lemon spectacle to stadiums all over the world. Oasis had been savaged by critics the past few months but their show at Wembley Arena was just a brilliant rock n roll celebration. Glastonbury Festival was a nightmare as it became a total mud bath after all the rain. Other highlights of this year included Eels, Trextasy With Mickey Finn, Whitesnake, Stiff Little Fingers, Insane Clown Posse, Denim, Jamiroquai, Spice Girls, Ocean Colour Scene, Steve Earle, Black Crowes, Sham 69, Ray Davies, Paul Young, Gary Glitter, Buzzcocks, Prodigy, Placebo, James, Bryan Adams, Screaming Lord Sutch, Specials, Supertramp, Ian Hunter, The Plimsouls, Wasp, Average White Band, Dream Theatre, ABC, INXS, Diana Ross, Alice Cooper, Micheal Jackson, Roy Wood Big Band, David Byrne and Sinead O'Connor.

  # Artists Venue Date Rating
1 3107 KISS + Rage Against The Machine Finsbury Park, London 05.07.1997 10
2= 3097 KISS Flanders Expo, Ghent, Belgium 10.06.1997 10
2= 3098 Aerosmith + 3 Colours Red Bercy, Paris, France 11.06.1997 10
2= 3093 + 3094 Aerosmith Wembley Arena, London 04/05.06.1997 9,75
3 3122 David Bowie Shepherds Bush Empire, London 11.08.1987 9,75
4 3128 U2 Wembley Stadium, London 23.08.1997 9,75
5 3173 Oasis + Supergrass Wembley Arena, London 17.12.1997 9,75