Six of the Best - October 2nd 1982

  • While this doesn't exactly qualify as news, today is the anniversary of the reunion at Milton Keynes in 1982.


    It was 12 hours of bus rides, queuing, rain, waiting, rain, standing, rain, neverending support bands, drizzle, waiting, more rain and then finally a magical 2 hours that I will never forget.


    The atmosphere when the band hit the stage, and then for the whole show, and something else. For me, it was only matched by the atmosphere at the Kate Bush show a few years ago.


    To this day I have to pinch myself when I think I did see (almost) the classic lineup playing Back in NYC, FOF, Musical Box, Supper's Ready etc etc.


    Anyone else with memories of a great occasion?

  • Really, 38 years ago today! You have summed it up for me exactly including the Kate Bush thing. You were at both too then.

    I went with friends from Cheltenham in a little red metro type car. I hadn't got to know them all that long. And lost contact fairly quick as I was had moved to Coventry . No social media . Can't even remember their names. Would love to contact them again but not much chance. I remember someone I was with throwing an apple core at Talk Talk and hitting the drum. Not that I approve but it seemed to cheer a lot of people up. I also remember near the end my mate saying " all we need now is Steve Hackett" and then as if by magic he appeared. " A great show full of mistakes but that seemed make it better for some reason. It was very warm feeling in very cold weather! Might have been better without the support bands because quite frankly no one was interested.

  • Fascinating to read your first-hand stories. I didn't have much chances to get there, me being one and a half years old back then - just give me a time machine... :rolleyes:


    Just wondering: who were the support bands?

    • Official Post

    Was far too young back then (6 years old), so tja NS for sharing your memories!

  • I don't always like it when people say "you had to be there", but, you know, you had to be there....


    Not trying to be clever. It's just difficult to communicate how electric the atmosphere was - people were losing their minds en masse.


    After a very long day of being very wet (I've never been wetter) the anticipation was growing and growing, and obviously nobody knew whether it would live up to the expectation.


    Peter was carried onstage in a coffin - when he emerged, and launched into Back in NYC, the whole stadium went BESERK!!!


    Despite the mistakes, the weather, the cold, it absolutely lived up to the expectation. And when Steve appeared for the encore, people lost their minds all over again!


    For some reason, the reunion doesn't seem to get discussed as much as I would expect, given how huge it was. I know it had only been a few years since Peter had left the band, but in 1982 it seemed like it had been a lifetime!

  • Really, 38 years ago today! You have summed it up for me exactly including the Kate Bush thing. You were at both too then.

    I went with friends from Cheltenham in a little red metro type car. I hadn't got to know them all that long. And lost contact fairly quick as I was had moved to Coventry . No social media . Can't even remember their names. Would love to contact them again but not much chance. I remember someone I was with throwing an apple core at Talk Talk and hitting the drum. Not that I approve but it seemed to cheer a lot of people up. I also remember near the end my mate saying " all we need now is Steve Hackett" and then as if by magic he appeared. " A great show full of mistakes but that seemed make it better for some reason. It was very warm feeling in very cold weather! Might have been better without the support bands because quite frankly no one was interested.


    It's nice to talk to someone who was at both - the atmosphere at KB was amazing, wasn't it.


    Not sure what Talk Talk had done to deserve getting bottled off - they weren't too pleased =O^^

  • It's nice to talk to someone who was at both - the atmosphere at KB was amazing, wasn't it.


    Not sure what Talk Talk had done to deserve getting bottled off - they weren't too pleased =O^^

    Genesis always edge it for me as my favourite but the KB gigs just edge it as my favourite . SOTB has to be my favourite " I was there moment though" Never thought afterwards that it wouldn't happen again.


    I think the crowd were wet cold and bored. There was nothing there and nothing to do nowhere to sit unless you wanted to sit on wet grass/ mud so we all wanted to pick a good spot and keep it and stayed for hours. Talk Talk interested no one and didn't keep help keep spirits up so throwing things at them helped cheer spirits a little. Its.not a nice thing but they were bad. Simply not a Genesis fan thing. What an earth possessed Genesis to inflict them on their fans? John Martin a bit more palatable I suppose but very boring when you're out in that weather . He needs a smokey bar or sunshine outside. A good rocky band to lift spirits in the cold was needed. I read know The Blues Band were there but I have no recollection of them. Didn't like that sort of thing at the time, love it now. I did spend quite some time trying to meet up with up with a mate and failed maybe they played when off on a search. No mobile phones. I still remain mystified as why they had support bands. Maybe one upbeat fun band would have done. It was a fundraiser so there would have been a bit more cash with fewer bands.

  • I would have loved to see that concert I was old enough just at 17, but at that stage didn’t attend concerts on my own so therefore wasn’t allowed to go. I did see Pink Floyd Perform the Wall at the old Earls Court around the same time and Neil Young at Wembley Arena (both taken by a mate and his dad thankfully) but I missed this. Probably one of the greatest regrets of my concert going as a teenager and then an adult along with Led Zeppelin at Knebworth (I did try to go on my own as a 15 year old but I got rumbled!!). Can I ask how easy was it to get a ticket for the event?, and it’s a massive shame they didn’t decide to film it which I believe the band also regret to this day?.

  • I would have loved to see that concert I was old enough just at 17, but at that stage didn’t attend concerts on my own so therefore wasn’t allowed to go. I did see Pink Floyd Perform the Wall at the old Earls Court around the same time and Neil Young at Wembley Arena (both taken by a mate and his dad thankfully) but I missed this. Probably one of the greatest regrets of my concert going as a teenager and then an adult along with Led Zeppelin at Knebworth (I did try to go on my own as a 15 year old but I got rumbled!!). Can I ask how easy was it to get a ticket for the event?, and it’s a massive shame they didn’t decide to film it which I believe the band also regret to this day?.

    Never an issue with tickets as far as I remember. Can't remember how I got a ticket. It was either a self stamped addressed envelope with a cheque sent off or in person at the local ticket agency, just pop down and buy a ticket. I share your pain though. At 17 I could have gone to see Led Zeppelin at Knebworth some people offered me to go with them but parents wouldn't let me. Even all these years later still not decided if I should have just gone anyway but things were bad enough for my teenage self! Great hearing the your stories . I was at The Wall to at Earls Court. , went with a group of friends . Was it 1980 , I was 18.

  • I can’t remember but it was Definitely a year or so after the album maybe a little more, I remember that concert like yesterday especially the sound circulating around the arena (if you don’t eat your meat etc) and the plane flying into the wall. Also Snowy white doing a solo from the top of the wall. I think it was about £8.50 - £9.50 or something like that I bought a sweatshirt and a programme and that was me skint!. I do actually have a dvd of the concert (one of them ) somewhere which I traded with someone years ago. Sweat shirt long gone , programme same but memories really vivid even now.

  • I can’t remember but it was Definitely a year or so after the album maybe a little more, I remember that concert like yesterday especially the sound circulating around the arena (if you don’t eat your meat etc) and the plane flying into the wall. Also Snowy white doing a solo from the top of the wall. I think it was about £8.50 - £9.50 or something like that I bought a sweatshirt and a programme and that was me skint!. I do actually have a dvd of the concert (one of them ) somewhere which I traded with someone years ago. Sweat shirt long gone , programme same but memories really vivid even now.

    One of the best bits was the American guy introducing it and getting booed and running off when he got his timing wrong. Then doing all over again as a zombie and we realised he worked out how to get booed deliberately and his timing was spot on. I think my sweatshirt is ina bag in my loft. Last time I tried it on it was far too small. It must have shrunk.;)

  • One of the best bits was the American guy introducing it and getting booed and running off when he got his timing wrong. Then doing all over again as a zombie and we realised he worked out how to get booed deliberately and his timing was spot on. I think my sweatshirt is ina bag in my loft. Last time I tried it on it was far too small. It must have shrunk.;)

    my sweatshirt also shrunk , it had lots of hammers marching on the front of it nothing on the back. I do have a picture of me wearing it hitching to Donnington Park to see the second Monsters of Rock festival with AC/DC , Whitesnake , Slade , Blue Oyster Cult , Blackfoot , More and Tommy Vance on the turntable . My first outdoor concert. Incidentally, Tommy Vance used to have an annual top 10 tracks of all time and I remember Suppers Ready always was in The top 3 once. Memories flooding back. I vividly remember an ice cream van but not much else as regards facilities (It was freezing and pouring ) and the ice creams didn’t sell that well!.

  • my 82 t shirt perished many moons ago....however it was a medium size and think i would struggle to get half of my torso into it now...i do believe that shirt sizing has changed drastically! 😂

  • Incidentally, Tommy Vance used to have an annual top 10 tracks of all time and I remember Suppers Ready always was in The top 3 once ..comment from Wayne


    Now that takes me back...had a recorded show on tape that played to death. Each year you voted for best rock tracks....from memory my tape had Stairway..SR...Freebird...Xanadu..Stargazer..and some others that may come to me...good memory

  • my sweatshirt also shrunk , it had lots of hammers marching on the front of it nothing on the back. I do have a picture of me wearing it hitching to Donnington Park to see the second Monsters of Rock festival with AC/DC , Whitesnake , Slade , Blue Oyster Cult , Blackfoot , More and Tommy Vance on the turntable . My first outdoor concert. Incidentally, Tommy Vance used to have an annual top 10 tracks of all time and I remember Suppers Ready always was in The top 3 once. Memories flooding back. I vividly remember an ice cream van but not much else as regards facilities (It was freezing and pouring ) and the ice creams didn’t sell that well!.

    Wow this great . You were there , so was I. It's great talking to normal people that were at these events/ places. It seems there are not many of us. I meet so few normal people in the wider mad crazy world . Weren't BOC terrible. Let down badly I believe. They were very bad tempered about it all,

  • I meant to say earlier although I don't remember the gigs I have been to in as much detail as would like I remember the Musical Box very well. I remember PG emerging during the musical break to sing the closing section in his old man mask. He walked very very very slowly towards the microphone as he was getting closer I was thinking he had mistimed it and would never there without a quick hop but he spot on and final slow step and immediate singing so slow and right on cue, really dramatic. ( If they do ever do reunion no mask will required now of course)