tim 747 sykes
04-01-2007, 01:15 PM
has anybody on here got a claim to fame... a tale only told after a few beers... a tale which either shattered your illusions about a band or re-inforced your belief in them been metal gods
for what its worth heres mine
a long time ago (1983/84)there was a music venue in leeds called leeds queens hall
now it was the venue where i first saw a live band so i hold the place close to my heart, during the day it was an indoor carpark , but on concert days it became a venue with a capacity of about 4500
now the acoustics wernt great i admit but the list of bands that played there was pretty impressive , whitesnake, acdc,saxon,rainbow,ozzy,black sabbath,motorhead, genesis,and thats just who i saw ,there was also groups from different genres ,duran duran,culture club , thompson twins etc (massive groups of the day) all the above played to sell out crowds
on the crusader tour i went to purchase my tickets with a friend from the box office , i use that term lightly as it was the ticket booth where you paid for parking, it was the morning of the concert and the stage had all been set up (remember gothic castle,medievil knights at the side of the drums stained glass window at back of the stage as well as the mighty eagle only to be told by the attendant that the gig was cancelled due to health and safety regs and that the venue had to apply for a new licence.... i kicked off as i was well pissed off at missing out on seeing saxon and a young woman whose name i never got said " if your so annoyed why not do something about it , start a pertition"
we were then taken to see the manager of the queens hall who informed us that the council were trying to get the queens hall shut down so that they could bulldoze it for a bigger car park, but if we started a pertition at the whitesnake concert ( which was going ahead ) in a few weeks time then maybe that might stop them shutting the place
with that we were told to return on the morning of the first whitesnake gig ( they were playing 2 nights (sold out) which we did we were given access all area passes a clip board with paper and pens and then given a tour of the venue , support acts (great white) dressing room , whitesnakes dressing room, and then onto the stage, i was allowed to sit at cozy powells drums ( but not to touch anything...lol) watch the technicians wiring the pyros , chat to neil murray ( and share a beer as he did a sound check ) as a 17 yr old i was in heaven, i never got to meet david coverdale to talk to ,the nearest i got was when his car ( a big merc with blacked out windows) drove into the arena and he wound his window to chat to neil murray , i watched great white do there sound check then went to my position by the doors to collect the signatures... everybody signed who i met but alas this story dosent have an happy ending........ the council got its way.... the place was demolished and a new car park put in its place.... and leeds lost there only arena size venue which to this day has never been replaced , it saddens me to think that leeds is the 7th largest city in the uk and it doesnt have an indoor arena
but hey...........
what a venue they once had
for what its worth heres mine
a long time ago (1983/84)there was a music venue in leeds called leeds queens hall
now it was the venue where i first saw a live band so i hold the place close to my heart, during the day it was an indoor carpark , but on concert days it became a venue with a capacity of about 4500
now the acoustics wernt great i admit but the list of bands that played there was pretty impressive , whitesnake, acdc,saxon,rainbow,ozzy,black sabbath,motorhead, genesis,and thats just who i saw ,there was also groups from different genres ,duran duran,culture club , thompson twins etc (massive groups of the day) all the above played to sell out crowds
on the crusader tour i went to purchase my tickets with a friend from the box office , i use that term lightly as it was the ticket booth where you paid for parking, it was the morning of the concert and the stage had all been set up (remember gothic castle,medievil knights at the side of the drums stained glass window at back of the stage as well as the mighty eagle only to be told by the attendant that the gig was cancelled due to health and safety regs and that the venue had to apply for a new licence.... i kicked off as i was well pissed off at missing out on seeing saxon and a young woman whose name i never got said " if your so annoyed why not do something about it , start a pertition"
we were then taken to see the manager of the queens hall who informed us that the council were trying to get the queens hall shut down so that they could bulldoze it for a bigger car park, but if we started a pertition at the whitesnake concert ( which was going ahead ) in a few weeks time then maybe that might stop them shutting the place
with that we were told to return on the morning of the first whitesnake gig ( they were playing 2 nights (sold out) which we did we were given access all area passes a clip board with paper and pens and then given a tour of the venue , support acts (great white) dressing room , whitesnakes dressing room, and then onto the stage, i was allowed to sit at cozy powells drums ( but not to touch anything...lol) watch the technicians wiring the pyros , chat to neil murray ( and share a beer as he did a sound check ) as a 17 yr old i was in heaven, i never got to meet david coverdale to talk to ,the nearest i got was when his car ( a big merc with blacked out windows) drove into the arena and he wound his window to chat to neil murray , i watched great white do there sound check then went to my position by the doors to collect the signatures... everybody signed who i met but alas this story dosent have an happy ending........ the council got its way.... the place was demolished and a new car park put in its place.... and leeds lost there only arena size venue which to this day has never been replaced , it saddens me to think that leeds is the 7th largest city in the uk and it doesnt have an indoor arena
but hey...........
what a venue they once had