It isn’t easy to decide what’s best. I’ve certainly enjoyed some more than others, but that might relate to my mood or expectations at the time. Anyway, I’ll list a few:

Horslips, Cork City Hall, December 1975

This was my first rock concert. I was only 13 at the time. I was aware of some of their songs, and of the fact that they were an Irish Celtic rock group. They mixed Irish folk music with rock music. I had little taste for Irish folk music, so I wondered if they would turn out to be more folk than rock. But they were largely rock, and I loved the concert. I saw them on numerous occasions over the next few years. I spent a few months at Cork Regional Technical College (Now MTU) in early 1980, where they played a gig. I remember sitting in a public area and seeing these guys walking by. They were on their way to the canteen – and lo and behold, it was Horslips. I had several of their albums by then. I could have easily met them and even had tea with them, but maybe I was a little shy.

I watched the funeral Mass of their main guitarist, Johnny Fean, three years ago. He’s from Limerick, which is where I currently live. It was interesting that little was said about his rock career. They weren’t huge internationally, but we loved them in Ireland.

The Stranglers, Cork Arcadia, October 1979

I had seen The Stranglers in the Cork City Hall in November 1977, but I didn’t know many of their songs at that stage. I did enjoy the concert and became a huge fan throughout 1978 and 1979. And I became a fan of the whole punk/new wave scene. So, when The Stranglers arrived in 1979, I had all their albums, including their brand-new Raven album. I managed to get my Black and White album signed, but I didn’t meet them. I think Pat Egan, the promoter, or one of his assistants, brought it into their dressing room for me. The funny thing is that recently I learned that they had been in the pub next door mingling with fans before the concert. I didn’t mix much with the punk fans in Cork at the time, so there’s no way that I could have known. Two of them have now passed away, and their main vocalist, Hugh Cornwell, split from them back around 1990.

U2, Cork Arcadia, December 1979

I was more interested in Northern Ireland punk group, Protex who played with U2 that night. U2 came on first. I mention it because nowadays, I’m pleased to have seen them before they became famous. When I was into the Beatles, I wished that I had been at the Cavern in the early 1960s. And when I was into punk, I was peeved that my first concert was in 1977 rather than in 1976. I was interested in U2 throughout their career. I became a Christian in August 1980. From that point, I thought that going to gigs might be bad for me. It’s not that I thought that I’d fall into an utterly hedonistic lifestyle, but most of my Christian friends tended to steer clear of “worldly” activities.

A Christian friend persuaded me to come and see U2 in the Cork City Hall in early 1982. I didn’t enjoy it much. I was only 19, but I noticed lots of teens much younger than I was, and I felt old 😀. I saw them at Live Aid in 1985, but Bono seemed a little pompous. The funny thing is that they were in the new evangelical scene in Dublin at the very time that I was mixing in the new evangelical scene in Cork. Anyway, I would have liked to have seen them live in 1993 in their Zoo TV tour. That’s when I started to like their music. I did get the concert on video and DVD. And I bought a blu-ray of their 2009 U2-360 at the Rose Bowl concert in 2014. Magnificent is now my favourite song of theirs. I did buy their first single back in 1979. It was a limited edition 12 inch, and I bought it in the hope that they might become famous and that it might be valuable. I gave it away to someone in 1986 who subsequently lost it 😀.

The Undertones, Cork Arcadia, March 1980

Unlike the Stranglers, which weren’t pure punk, I think that the Undertones were. And I loved them. I generally categorize this as the best concert that I’ve ever been to. They opened with You’ve Got my Number, which is one of my favourites. Another one I liked, even after I’d become a Christian in 1980, was It’s Gonna Happen. I’ll add both here. The lads in the group were the sort of guys that I could imagine myself hanging around with, though they were from Derry, the other end of Ireland:

Thin Lizzy, Cork City Hall, April 1980

I was into punk in April 1980, so I didn’t buy any Thin Lizzy albums. But their 1972 single, Whiskey in the Jar, was one of the songs that got me into pop music to start with. I was so proud to see an Irish group becoming successful in the UK. I felt the same way about Gilbert O’Sullivan, who was from Waterford. I almost went to his concert in the Savoy, Cork, in 1973, but £2 was a lot of money for an 11-year-old 😀. I saw him in Limerick in 2015. Anyway, the Thin Lizzy concert was great. Phil Lynott was such a charming, friendly guy. I remember him waving at us when we glanced at him down a lane behind the city hall. He died in 1985 – something drug-related. He was quite wild in his own way. Here are a few of my favourite Thin Lizzy/Phil Lynott songs:

Bob Dylan, Earl’s Court, London, June 1981

I often mention that I committed my life to Christ in August 1980. From that point, I tended to steer clear of rock concerts. I remember Ian Dury coming to the City Hall in Cork in 1981. I’d like to have gone, but I was afraid that I might be sucked back into my old lifestyle. It’s not that I was doing anything notorious. It’s more that most young people put God out of the picture and tended to celebrate stars who glorified sex and drugs and rockn’roll. I didn’t want to do that. The funny thing is the Ian Dury’s song Sex and Drugs and Rockn’roll, wasn’t intended to promote hedonism. He was saying, don’t just fall into the normal pattern – think for yourself. He wasn’t promoting Christianity or anything, but to me it’s a little like when Jesus advised against going down the broad and easy road that leads to destruction.

Anyway, where was I? Ah Bob Dylan! There was an advert in the Evening Echo for an all-in-package in June 1981 for Bob Dylan. So, some of us availed of it. We travelled by coach and ferry, with the hotel and gig included. It was my first time in London. He did many of his Christian songs along with his other songs. You could easily identify the Christians in the audience by who was clapping for each song. I was pleased to see that the very concert featured in the extended version of his 2017 Trouble No More album. His 1981, Shot of Love album probably got better reviews than his other two Christian albums, but his other two were my favourites.

I could have also got to see Pink Floyd in the summer of 1981. There was an all-in-package to their Earl’s Court gig too. I’m sorry that I didn’t avail of it. And they were in Cork Arcadia in 1967, but I wouldn’t have been into hippy music when I was five. I do remember seeing hippies around Cork back then, and I despised them 😀.

Live Aid, Wembley Stadium, London, July 1985

What was I doing at Live Aid? I happened to be in London for a Christian conference. I was very impressed with what the pop stars were doing for Band Aid. I heard about the concert months earlier. I didn’t think that it would be easy to get a ticket. Anyway, I was free on that Saturday, and I had one of these tourist London Transport tickets, so I thought I’d take a ride up to Wembley on the tube and see what was going on. I didn’t expect to see tickets on sale, but they did have some. So, I went in. It was strange because I saw all these famous people, such as Style Council, U2, Queen, David Bowie, The Who, Paul McCartney and so on, but it didn’t feel much different to watching it on TV. I was nowhere near as excited as I was at The Undertones concert in Cork five years earlier. But I’m glad that I was there.

Paul McCartney, RDS, Dublin, June 2010

I was pleased to have seen Paul McCartney at Live Aid. I’d like to have seen him back in the 1960s or 1970s. It’s interesting because I didn’t think that I’d ever see him again after than 1985 concert. But, I did see his full concert 25 years later. And he’s still touring. Our whole family went to Dublin for that concert. My youngest daughter was big into the Beatles, so that was the motivating factor. Bob Dylan played in Limerick in 2010 too. I got tickets, but I gave mine to one of my sons who was more into him than I was. I did listen to the concert outside the stadium though.

Paul Weller, King John’s Castle, Limerick, July 2024

My son got us tickets for that concert. I was slightly dreading it. In church, if we need to stand for more than two songs, I usually feel a little strange or sore and want to sit down. The odd thing is that I was able to stand for a full two hours, right in front of the stage. It helped to slightly dance. I try that in church nowadays too 😀. I used to listen to The Jam back in my punk days. I liked the Style Council in the 1980s and Paul Weller’s solo work in the 1990s. I actually went to see him in Cork in 2010. But the Limerick concert was excellent. I could almost classify that as the best gig that I’ve been to. I remember hearing a few girls singing along to one of his songs behind me. I turned around and they were two old ladies 😀. We were nearly all old. Paul Weller himself was 66. In fact, that’s the title of his 2024 album.

Martin McAloon, Dolans, Limerick, October 2024

I mention this because it’s the last concert that I’ve been to. One of my daughters discovered Prefab Sprout back in 2021, and that provoked me to rediscover them. This was just a solo gig by one of the members. His brother, Paddy, who wrote and sung the songs, isn’t well enough to tour, and he never liked touring much to start with. But we managed to meet Martin. He’s the only member of a rock group that I ever met in person. And it was nice to hear him sing all the old songs. I bought some Prefab Sprout albums back in the early 1990s, but here are two songs that I only discovered in 2021:

So which one is the best? It’s so difficult to say. I’d probably like to go back to December 1975 and see Horslips again. But that’s just me being nostalgic and wanting to be young again.

1980 was probably the most exciting year of my life in terms of concerts. In addition to lots of local Cork groups, I saw Lene Lovich, The Undertones, Thin Lizzy, Rory Gallagher, The Police, Squeeze, U2, Horslips, and maybe a few more that I’ve forgotten about. And that year, I was involved in the communist Militant Tendency, pacificism, and on my way to becoming a Christian. Things got much duller in worldly terms after August, when I stuck to the church scene. But I have many golden memories if the Christian scene too. And nowadays, Christian contemporary music seems to be as good as secular contemporary music. But, in Christian music and secular music, I still tend to look backwards to my earlier life. I’m grateful to have lived in a golden era for music. And in the 1990s, we got computer games – but that’s another story 😀.