Ten Rock Related Things About Me
1. I saw the original line up of Guns'n'Roses at a small club called Rock City in my home town of Nottingham in October 1987. They rocked, but Axl threw a strop and refused to come back for an encore.
2. In August 1988 I had a brush with death during G'n'R's set at the Monsters Of Rock festival when after a few hours of rain I was in the group of peolpe who lost their footing and ended up in a very scary crush situation. Two people died, and to this day I'm sure I stepped over one of them after I was pulled out of the crowd.
3. I was caught up in the middle of a full scale riot at an Ozzy Osbourne concert in October 1988 at Rock City when he cancelled due to a 'sore throat' at 11pm. The venue was completely trashed.
4. I entered the 2010 UK Air Guitar Championships. I didn't win, but I didn't come last either. My chosen song was Vinnie Vincent's Boyz R Gonna Rock, and there's video evidence on YouTube!
5. I got very drunk with Fish (ex of Marillion) backstage at a festival in 1995. He was a lovely charming man but thanks to his thick Scots accent I couldn't understand a word he said after the first couple of hours. (The dozen or so pints I had drunk didn't help!)
6. The first rock song I can remember hearing is Detroit Rock City by KISS, in a basement in Canada in 1976. (I was 6.)
7. My first rock gig was Iron Maiden on their Somewhere In Time tour when they played at the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall on 22nd October 1986.
8. My first band, Black Diamond, which I joined in March 1987, used to rehearse in the Nottingham Centre For The Deaf.
9. I started out playing guitar, but switched to the bass in 1987 and have played ever since. My sytle is kind of a hybrid between Nikki Sixx and Flea.
10. I once created a mashup using a sample of AC/DC's Back In Black and received a cease and desist letter from their lawyers asking me to remove it from my website. Not wanting to feel the wrath of their lawyers I complied, but it is still out there if you know where to look.
I'm giving you the Dio devil horns in salute of this list. Almost dying at a concert? That's rock and roll.
My first show was Maiden also, Detroit 1985. Just saw them again in June and they still bring it.