BIRTHDAYS
1940: Brian Bennett (The Shadows)
1942: Carole King
1947: Joe Ely
1950: Ted Turner (Wishbone Ash)
1955: Jimmy Pursey (Sham 69)
1966: James Southworth a.k.a. Rachel Bolan (Skid Row)
EVENTS
1981: Death of rock ‘n’ roll singer, Bill Haley [aged 55].
1982: George Harrison presented UNICEF with a cheque for 5.3 million pounds.
1992: Nirvana played a concert at Logan Campbell Centre, Auckland ~ I was there and met the band after the show!
1996: Jeff Buckley played a concert at St. James Theatre, Auckland ~ I was there and met him and his band after the show!
Setlist: Mojo Pin / Dream Brother / So Real / Lilac Wine / Grace / Last Goodbye / What Will You Say / Eternal Life / Kick Out the Jams / Lover, You Should’ve Come Over / I Woke Up in a Strange Place / Vancouver / Kanga Roo / Hallelujah
1997: Death of singer, Brian McManus a.k.a. Brian Connolly of Sweet [aged 52].
2007: Death of soul singer, Tyrone Davis [aged 67].
2018: Death of bassist, Craig McGregor, of Foghat [aged 68].
2021: Death of keyboardist / composer, Chick Corea, of Miles Davis Band, Return To Forever & many other solo and group projects [aged 79].
2022: Death of soul / funk singer / songwriter / model, Betty Davis [aged 76]. The second wife of Miles Davis, Betty appeared on the cover of his 1968 LP, ‘Filles de Kilimanjaro’. She also introduced him to Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone.
2022: Death of multi-instrumentalist / composer, founding member of King Crimson and Foreigner, Ian McDonald [aged 75]. Ian’s superb flute, clarinet and saxophone playing can be heard on one of the greatest debut albums of all time…. ‘In the Court of the Crimson King’. He and Peter Giles quit the band after their 1969 tour, to form McDonald and Giles. Ian recorded with King Crimson again in 1974, adding his wonderful playing to the brilliant ‘Red’ LP. When the group dissolved shortly after, he founded Foreigner with Mick Jones, of Spooky Tooth.
2024: Death of singer / musician, Damo Suzuki, of krautrock group, Can [aged 74].
33 years ago today, Nirvana played their one and only concert in New Zealand! I can’t remember the finer details of the gig in 1992, but they played most of ‘Nevermind’ and ‘Bleach’ very LOUD! It was a wild, brief concert (only 60-70 minutes) but what a fantastic experience! The clearest memory I have was meeting them outside after the gig. Kurt drifted right on past, like a zombie… he had a glazed look in his eyes, and said nothing at all to anyone! Dave and Krist were very friendly, stopping to chat for a few minutes. Wish I had taken a camera!
Note: The reason my ticket and the poster have venue as Auckland Town Hall is because the band had suddenly got massive worldwide and demand for tickets far exceeded the capacity, so the concert was moved to the larger LCC building. List of songs shown is Dave Grohl’s actual handwritten set list for the Auckland show!
