Rock Gigs in the Sneck

[Guest Glen Mhor]

Does anybody remember notable rock gigs staged in the Sneck ?

One particularly memorable gig was Rory Gallagher supported by the prog rock band Greenslade in the Caley Hotel Ballroom in 1972 or 1973.  What sticks in the memory is that Rory was in really top form that night and the sound system was incredibly loud.

:music05:

[SMEE]

Didnt The Who play here once upon an oatcake? :024:

[Kingsmills]

Sweet and Slade too.

[Guest eliza]

I was a "rock chick" in the swinging sixties! when live bands were always visiting the area - in the days when we went to the Strath (Pavilion), or  the Ballerina in Nairn, or the Two Red Shoes in Elgin, by double decker bus, for the dancing!  None of your discos then.

It was usually bands on the way up the charts, or on the way down, but I remember seeing Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, Faces, Slade, Manfred Mann, amongst others, and umpteen Irish Showbands, many of whom were really great.

Those were the days when the top tipple (for the girls) was a Carlsberg Special and/or a brandy and babycham! hoping the barman wouldn't ask our age (underage) and missing the bus for the Strath and ending up at Nairn again  :015:as that bus left later.

Oh happy days....  :015:

[Premier ICT]

Worst gig of my life has to be "Echo and the Bunnymen" at Inverness Ice Rink in the early eighties.

Horrendous acoustics. Stayed for "The cutter" and then left before my ears imploded.

[Scotty]

Echo & the Bunnymen @ Ice Rink

Siouxsie & the Banshees @ Ice Rink

Jesse Rae @ Ice Rink (his backing singers were cute at least ! - he was terrible  :015:)

Deacon Blue @ Black Isle Show

Goodbye Mr MacKenzie @ Black Isle Show

Gun @ Black Isle Show

[RednBlackComeback]

BIG COUNTRY at rollerbowl...with the late great Stuart Adamson

GUN at 'Party In The Car Park' in Aviemore......think this was round about the time of the first T In The Park ?

[Hamish]

The Smiths played Inverness around 1985...

[beachcomber]

SLF and the Clash at the Ice Rink circa 1981 - amazing stuff for a 17 yr old mad on punk at the time.

Thin Lizzy played there around that time too, before going I thought they were a bit old hat but Phil Lynott was a brilliant showman and I've liked their stuff ever since.

The Ballerina was definately the place in the 60's - it's recently closed as a bingo hall and is empty, available for rent if anyone fancies re-launching it as a rock venue.

[ymip]

The Smiths played Eden Court in 1984 and 1985.

Anyone on here in attendance?

[tm4tj]

It was the Osprey ballroom for me, get drunk in Grantown, off to Aviemore, shot of the go karts, down to the skttle bar, up to the Osprey, throw up all over the toilets (yeugghhh, don't try this at home children), then scoff about six hot dogs (9d each, hamburgers were 1s 3d) then thumb a lft home, sometimes walking for mles.

Kenny Rodgers and the First Edition..............(oh Ruby....................don't take your love to town)

Eddison Lighthouse...............(who)

Argent.................they were brillant, only eight shillings to get in, most big bands were twelve and six

Chris McLure

The Poets

Beggars Opera

Also saw If or Yes, can't remember whch ones, or maybe both :drinking09:

Sweet

Tam White and the Dexters

Gosh, plenty of air guitar in them days

When my heads better, I'll come up with some more

There was also the concert at Telford Street...............but thats another thread. :music05:

[Kind of Blue]

ymip, I saw the Smiths at Eden Court in 1984.  It was a good gig and they were in good form.  Del Amitri were the support band.

Other gigs I saw in Inverness:

Echo and the Bunnymen - Ice Rink

Death Cult - Ice Rink

Jack Bruce  - Eden Court

The Proclaimers - Ice Rink 1983 (years before they played the Market Bar)

[Guest Glen Mhor]

Eden Court gigs - I saw Nils Lofgren and John Martyn there.

:music03:

[Heilandee]

It was the Osprey ballroom for me, get drunk , shot of the go karts, down to the skttle bar, up to the Osprey, throw up all over the toilets (yeugghhh, don't try this at home children), then scoff about six hot dogs (9d each, hamburgers were 1s 3d) then thumb a lft home, sometimes walking for mles.

FFS Manny,thon is a mirror of many a weekend eh mind of in Aviemore, me and mates used to hitch from Dundee on a Friday , camp in a field that is fast getting developed for housing now, then doon the Winking Owl,up to the Viking bar , watch the fights ,then off to the Osprey ballroom,mind oh a chip van that sold whole chickens on a spit,hmmmmmmmmm,eh can still smell them now, braw......

on the original thread subject eh mind of a cracking night in the Caley ballroom with Dr Feelgood,still think it may have been part of meh hearing problem

[beachcomber]

The Smiths played Eden Court in 1984 and 1985.

Anyone on here in attendance?

Certainly was at one of them, think it must've been the first, right down the front, Morrisey chucked his shirt into the crowd, I caught one part of it, but couldn't hang on tight enough in the mellee fighting for it.

Other good gigs that come to mind were Roddy Frame/Aztec Camera at Eden Court and the Pretenders at the Ice Rink.

I also recall seeing the Proclaimers in their very early days in wee upstairs bar in a hotel somewhere in the town centre.

Talking of old musical heroes, anyone see the documentary the other night about Edwyn Collins from Orange Juice and his journey of recovery from a stroke. He apparently spends some time at a house his family own in Helmsdale.

[strathyjags]

ok not in sneck,but in aviemore,fish of marillion fame was supposed to be playing the osprey suite,but it was double booked with a religious conference,so he played a impromptu gig in crofters that night instead,i was there great stuff

[beachcomber]

The Osprey Suite - saw Theatre of Hate playing there, must've been early 80's sometime - another one of my top bands.

[buckett]

KoB - I was at that Proclaimers gig too. They were the support act for some other band (from Fort William I think) and ended up playing 3 encores. There was something about them!

I must have met you too beachcomber - I was at that Theatre of Hate do at Aviemore - brilliant it was.

Thin Lizzie (Ice Rink), Errol Brown of Hot Chocolate (Eden Court), Wolfstone (think it was Ice Rink), Nazareth (Ailsa Suite - Ice Rink).

Also some excellent local bands over the years - can't remember many names but Vizion, As The Crow Flies, BIRO, and Shoe spring to mind.

And some pish local bands like No Reaction and just about every band that turned up for a heavy metal night in the Hay Loft about 15 years ago.

I made a note in the diary to see Fish in September this year at the Ironworks and forgot all about it. Ironically I was out catching fish the day I should have been watching Fish. Did anyone here go?

[+weeman]

Fleetwood Mac in the Ballerina  1971?

Chicken Shack about the same time also in the Ballerina

Yes and the Strawbs at Aviemore, Rick Wakeman played with both bands. Argent also (funny how our paths keep crossing TMFTJ)

Slade at the Ballerina was in their pre glam days when they were still a skinhead band.

A few bands in the Boy's club but the memory fades, Beggars Opera and Alex Harvey's band? before they were the Sensational Alex Harvey Band.

John Otway at Eden Court .

Tyrannosaurus Rex also played in the Empire but I wasn't at that one 

[Fanoffooty]

KoB - I was at that Proclaimers gig too. They were the support act for some other band (from Fort William I think) and ended up playing 3 encores. There was something about them!

I must have met you too beachcomber - I was at that Theatre of Hate do at Aviemore - brilliant it was.

Thin Lizzie (Ice Rink), Errol Brown of Hot Chocolate (Eden Court), Wolfstone (think it was Ice Rink), Nazareth (Ailsa Suite - Ice Rink).

Also some excellent local bands over the years - can't remember many names but Vizion, As The Crow Flies, BIRO, and Shoe spring to mind.

Yup i remember As the crow flies too

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

I can remember Slade, The Who, Mott the Hoople and Sweet in the Ballerina. Heard that Floyd and the Beatles played the dog shitt shoes in the 60's. As fer the Strath _ Saturday nights alright fer fiting.  :001:

[ymip]

Well jealous of KoB / Beachcomber catching The Smiths, The Clash, Aztec Camera, etc. 

I was too young to see any of these and my teenage years were a barren wasteland as far as decent gigs in the sneck went.  Weird how we got some great bands in the early eighties and the late eighties/nineties were a dead loss. 

Does anyone know if Orange Juice ever played the sneck ? Watched the Edwyn Collins documentary on Friday night.  Lump in throat time watching the great man's slow road to recovery.

[beachcomber]

ymip - Aye, there was a real upsurge in quality bands just as I hit the gig-going and boozing age. It was mostly punk bands which suited me to a tee, Clash, SLF, Siouxsie, Bunnymen, Pretenders etc. It certainly dried up after that.

I also saw Death Cult (or were they still Southern Death Cult) at the Icerink, and Jessie Ray (what a crazy guy), a group called Roman Holiday who I think were a kind of one hit wonder thing plus quite a few others who slip my mind.

I also remember As the Crow Flies, I'm sure my mate's sister married the guy who sang with them.

Don't know who promoted all those big names, but I always imagine it was someone caught up in the punk 'do it yourself' ethos. If you know otherwise, that it was some sleazy chancer, please don't bother correcting me - I don't want my pure vision of the punk revolution sullied.

Don't remember Orange Juice or any of the Postcard bands coming North, but I may just have missed them. Seeing things like the Edwyn Collins documentary certainly puts your sh1t in perspective.

Still hard to believe that the Ballerina was once the epicentre of the music scene in the North with a list of artists to shame the Glasgow Apollo. I wonder if it could be resurrected - almost certainly not now, given the presence of the Ironworks (where I've yet to visit).

I'm sure The Majestics would've played there too, possibly the inspiration that brought Scotland's coolest couple John Byrne and Tilda Swinton to their spritual home.

[Kind of Blue]

ymip, I don't think Orange Juice ever played Inverness but Edwyn did play up north about 4 years ago.  I saw Orange Juice play in Edinburgh in 1981 - they were a bit shambolic in places but it was a good gig.

Beachcomber, I was at the Roman Holiday gig too - we must have crossed paths.  BTW, it was Death Cult, they dropped "Southern" by that stage.  I was one of the organisers for the gig and I remember Ian Ashbury being a total arrogant a**hole.

[Proctor]

s a dance on in the town hall the same night.